World War 2 Effects on Countries:

Political 

(think: government, laws, alliances)

Economic

(think: jobs, resources, 

trade)

Social

(think: people, community, daily lives)

The World

- Example: Shift in major alliances in Europe, Start of the Cold War, rivalry between the two new superpowers: capitalist USA and communist USSR (1947-1991) - leading to growing fears of communism in the US

The Women's Land Army (WLA) was established to encourage women to work in rural industries. Other women in urban areas took up employment in industries, such as munitions production. 1941

Millions of Europeans were left homeless after WWII and many were looking for a fresh start in a new

country.

The nation of Israel was formed in the Middle East to provide a home for Jews displaced by the war

and who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust.

Japan

In 1947, Allied advisors essentially dictated a new constitution to Japan’s leaders. Some of the most profound changes in the document included downgrading the emperor’s status to that of a figurehead without political control and placing more power in the parliamentary system, promoting greater rights and privileges for women, and renouncing the right to wage war, which involved eliminating all non-defensive armed forces. 

- Example: After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the United States led the Allies in the occupation and rehabilitation of the Japanese state. Between 1945 and 1952, the U.S. occupying forces, led by General Douglas A. MacArthur, enacted widespread military, political, economic, and social reforms….

- Example: Between 90,000 and 166,000 people are believed to have died from the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in the four-month period following the explosion. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that after five years there were perhaps 200,000 or more fatalities as a result of the bombing. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 75,000 people died immediately following the atomic explosion in Nagasaki, while another 60,000 people suffered severe injuries.

The threat of nuclear attack

loomed large over the post-WWII world and fuelled the Cold War that lasted until the early 1990s.

Australia

An increase in employment for women was crucial for Australia’s war economy.

After the war, women were expected to return to traditional roles, which

happened for the most part.

The war created many new jobs, which helped reduce unemployment to an all-time low of 0.95% by 1943. 

- Example: Between 1945 and 1965 2 million immigrants arrived in Australia, based on the ‘populate or perish’ policy that emerged during the end of WW2 (first time Aus gov encouraged immigration not from the British isles)

- Nearly 600000 Australians served overseas during WWII, with around 250000 still serving in the

Pacific and Europe when the war ended. Although there were fewer deaths in comparison to WWI,

more than 20000 returned servicemen suffered from the long-term effects of the brutal treatment

they received from the Japanese as prisoners of war.