Coming just two decades after the First World War, the Second World War was the most widespread and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries and resulting in more than 80 million military and civilian deaths. Sparked by Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, the war would drag on for six deadly years until the final Allied defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945.
The war in Europe concluded with the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops and the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945. Following Japan’s refusal to surrender, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. This ended the war, marking the total victory of the Allies. Countries around the world marked May 8 and 9 (the days on which the battles in Europe ceased) as a Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War. Around 11 million lost their lives in perhaps the most horrifying atrocity ever committed in a time of war – the Holocaust. Around 200,000 died in the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Millions more died in the theatre of war, from the idyllic islands of the Pacific to the beaches of Europe.
Although world leaders vowed “never again” after World War II and established the United Nations for the express purpose of keeping peace around the world, there are doubts whether the lessons of the last global war had been learnt. There are at least 60 ongoing conflicts around the world, the deadliest among them being the ones in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. These have collectively claimed the lives of three million people. The world has around 15,000 nuclear weapons, with around 2,000 of them primed for use at a moment’s notice. Each one of them is much bigger than the ones dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has restricted nuclear weapons to the declared nuclear powers, but it is common knowledge that several other countries outside this list also possess nuclear weapons. Vast advances have been made in conventional weapons as well – the recent use of the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB, the real acronym being Massive Ordnance Air Blast) in Afghanistan is a good example. This 10,000 Kg, 11 TNT behemoth is the biggest explosive device this side of a nuclear bomb.
Chemical and biological weapons are even more dangerous – they will be able to literally snuff out entire cities, sans the destruction of buildings. The world recently watched in horror as chemical weapons were used in Syria. Rapid advances have been made in everything else from machine guns to combat aircraft. New products are coming into the defence market, from robotic tanks to lasers that can destroy enemy facilities. The world annually spends a staggering US$ 1.7 trillion for defence which is enough to lift much of the developing world out of poverty.
Today, the world is actually closer to a near-global conflict than at any other time after World War II. North Korea (it conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests in 2016 alone, defying six UN Security Council resolutions banning any testing) and Syria have emerged as flashpoints that many experts fear could lead to war on a much wider scale. There is also the distinct possibility of a terrorist group acquiring biological or even nuclear weapons. In fact, World War Three has already become a top search term on Google.
But will there be any victors in a global war, given that the weapons that could potentially be used are many times more advanced and powerful than the ones used in World War Two ? The nuclear arsenals of US and Russia alone can destroy the world many times over. Even if nuclear weapons are not used at all, a global war will end up destroying much of the world. And most estimates suggest that a nuclear World War Three will send any surviving humans back to the Stone Age. This is what Albert Einstein meant when he said “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones”.
The International Community must act before that happens. Fighting over various issues will be useless if we do not have a proper world to live in. Some conflicts have ended peacefully through negotiations in recent times – Colombia (FARC) and Spain (ETA) are just two examples. Likewise, the simmering tensions in other regions must be addressed diplomatically through a multi-country approach. The nuclear controversy in Iran is one example where several countries worked together to evolve at a solution that was acceptable to Iran as well as to the international community. Another global war is simply not an option because the very future of mankind is at stake.