Question

How did the Second World War differ from all previous conflicts, including the First World War, in its effect upon civilian populations?

Answer 1

At 20 million dead the Soviet Union took the biggest blow. Six million German soldiers killed 11 million soldiers directly, and seven million civilians. Almost 3.5 million Soviet prisoners of war perished in slave labor camps in Germany. German soldiers were ordered to take their grain and kill all Jews, Communist leaders and Soviet citizens. Throughout Leningrad's two-year blockade, more than 1 million people were starving to death.

Germany lost roughly nine million. There were some 5.3 million soldiers, and 3.3 million were civilians. The Nazis murdered 300,000 German people, and 600,000 were killed by Allied bombings.

Allied forces had control over the powers of the Axis countries and territories. Millions of Germans and Japanese were forced out of the territories where they lived and sent "home" back. Victors dismantled the ability of their former enemies to wage war by demolishing factories.

East and West Germany, and Berlin, were split. The U.N. Palestine partition plan led to Israeli independence in 1948.

The Fair Deal called for national health insurance in 1949, and raised the minimum wage. The Equal Employment Practices Act was also proposed to make all religious and racial discrimination in employment unconstitutional. Congress opposed national health insurance, but passed the Fair Deal remaining.

The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act continued to create quotas for immigrants based on country of origin. It had lower quotas for the Asians, a remnant of racism that prevailed during the war. The federal government relocated 117,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to internment camps between 1942 and 1945. The Act prioritized the reunification of the family and required competences.