WORLD WAR II
 

Origins

World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany's invasion of Poland. Although the outbreak of war was triggered by Germany's invasion of Poland, the causes of the war are more complex.
 

Treaty of versailles

In 1919, Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson from the US met to discuss how Germany was to be made to pay for the damage world war one had caused.
Woodrow Wilson wanted a treaty based on his 14-points which he believed would bring peace to Europe. Georges Clemenceau wanted revenge. He wanted to be sure that Germany could never start another war again. Lloyd George personally agreed with Wilson but knew that the British public agreed with Clemenceau. He tried to find a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau.
Germany had been expecting a treaty based on Wilson's 14 points and were not happy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. However, they had no choice but to sign the document.
 

The main terms of the Treaty of Versailles were

• War Guilt Clause - Germany should accept the blame for starting World War One.
•  Reparations - Germany had to pay £6,600 million for the damage caused by the war.
•  Disarmament - Germany was only allowed to have a small army and six naval ships. No tanks, no air force and no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland area was to be de-militarized.
•  Territorial Clauses - Land was taken away from Germany and given to other countries. Anschluss (union with Austria) was forbidden.

The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay the money and during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor. There were not many jobs and the price of food and basic goods was high. People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles. His name was Adolf Hitler.
 

Hitler's Actions 

Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany's army and weapons. In 1934 he increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German air force. Compulsory military service was also introduced.
Although Britain and France were aware of Hitler's actions, they were also concerned about the rise of Communism and believed that a stronger Germany might help to prevent the spread of Communism to the West.
In 1936 Hitler ordered German troops to enter the Rhineland. At this point the German army was not very strong and could have been easily defeated. Yet neither France nor Britain was prepared to start another war. Hitler also made two important alliances during 1936. The first was called the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact and allied Hitler's Germany with Mussolini's Italy. The second was called the Anti-Comintern Pact and allied Germany with Japan.
 

Invasion of Austria

Hitler's next step was to begin taking back the land that had been taken away from Germany. In March 1938, German troops marched into Austria. The Austrian leader was forced to hold a vote asking the people whether they wanted to be part of Germany. The results of the vote were fixed and showed that 99% of Austrian people wanted Anschluss (union with Germany). The Austrian leader asked Britain, France and Italy for aid. Hitler promised that Anschluss was the end of his expansionist aims and not wanting to risk war, the other countries did nothing.
Hitler did not keep his word and six months later demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia be handed over to Germany. Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain, met with Hitler three times during September 1938 to try to reach an agreement that would prevent war. The Munich Agreement stated that Hitler could have the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia provided that he promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Hitler was not a man of his word and in March 1939 invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Despite calls for help from the Czechoslovak government, neither Britain nor France was prepared to take military action against Hitler. However, some action was now necessary and believing that Poland would be Hitler's next target, both Britain and France promised that they would take military action against Hitler if he invaded Poland. Chamberlain believed that, faced with the prospect of war against Britain and France, Hitler would stop his aggression. Chamberlain was wrong. German troops invaded Poland on 1st September 1939.
 

Failure of appeasement

Appeasement means giving in to someone provided their demands are seen as reasonable. During the 1930s, many politicians in both Britain and France came to see that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles had placed restrictions on Germany that were unfair. Hitler's actions were seen as understandable and justifiable.
When Germany began re-arming in 1934, many politicians felt that Germany had a right to re-arm in order to protect herself. It was also argued that a stronger Germany would prevent the spread of Communism to the west.
In 1936, Hitler argued that because France had signed a new treaty with Russia, Germany was under threat from both countries and it was essential to German security that troops were stationed in the Rhineland. France was not strong enough to fight Germany without British help and Britain was not prepared to go to war at this point. Furthermore, many believed that since the Rhineland was a part of Germany it was reasonable that German troops should be stationed there.
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN: In May 1937, Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of Britain. He believed that the Treaty of Versailles had treated Germany badly and that there were a number of issues associated with the Treaty that needed to be put right. He felt that giving in to Hitler's demands would prevent another war. This policy, adopted by Chamberlain's government became known as the policy of Appeasement.
The most notable example of appeasement was the MUNICH AGREEMENT of September 1938. The Munich Agreement, signed by the leaders of Germany, Britain, France and Italy, agreed that the Sudetenland would be returned to Germany and that no further territorial claims would be made by Germany. The Czech government was not invited to the conference and protested about the loss of the Sudetenland. They felt that they had been betrayed by both Britain and France with whom alliances had been made. However, the Munich Agreement was generally viewed as a triumph and an excellent example of securing peace through negotiation rather than war.
When Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, he broke the terms of the Munich Agreement. Although it was realized that the policy of appeasement had failed, Chamberlain was still not prepared to take the country to war over "...A quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing." Instead, he made a guarantee to come to Poland's aid if Hitler invaded Poland.
 

Failure of the League of Nations

The League of Nations was an international organization set up in 1919 to help keep world peace. It was intended that all countries would be members of the League and that if there were disputes between countries they could be settled by negotiation rather than by force. If this failed then countries would stop trading with the aggressive country and if that failed then countries would use their armies to fight.
In theory the League of Nations was a good idea and did have some early successes. But ultimately it was a failure.
The whole world was hit by a depression in the late 1920s. In 1931, Japan was hit badly by the depression. People lost faith in the government and turned to the army to find a solution. The army invaded Manchuria in China, an area rich in minerals and resources. China appealed to the League for help. The Japanese government was told to order the army to leave Manchuria immediately. However, the army took no notice of the government and continued its conquest of Manchuria.
The League then called for countries to stop trading with Japan but because of the depression many countries did not want to risk losing trade and did not agree to the request. The League then made a further call for Japan to withdraw from Manchuria but Japan's response was to leave the League of Nations.
In October 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The Abyssinians did not have the strength to withstand an attack by Italy and appealed to the League of Nations for help.
The League condemned the attack and called on member states to impose trade restrictions with Italy. However, the trade restrictions were not carried out because they would have little effect. Italy would be able to trade with non-member states, particularly America. Furthermore, Britain and France did not want to risk Italy making an attack on them.
 

Long term causes of WORLD WAR II
 

World War Two was not caused solely by short term events in the 1930's such as Austria and Czechoslovakia. The anger and resentment that built up in Nazi Germany - and which was played on by Hitler during his rise to power and when he became Chancellor in January 1933 - also had long term causes that went back to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Patriotic Germans had never forgotten their nation's treatment in Paris in that year.
The League had some successes in this decade (the Aaland Islands, as an example) but the weaknesses of the League had also been cruelly exposed on a number of occasions when an aggressor nation successfully used force to get what it wanted and the League could do nothing. This process set the mould for the 1930’s and any would-be dictator would have been very well aware that the League did not have the ability to enforce its decisions as it lacked an army. Those nations that were best equipped to provide the League with a military force (Britain and France) were also not prepared to do so for domestic reasons and the aftermath of the Great War in which so many were killed or wounded.
From a political point of view, the British and French publics would not have tolerated a military involvement in an area of Europe that no-one had heard of. Politicians were responsive to the attitudes of the voters and neither Britain nor France were prepared to militarily support the League in the 1920’s - despite being the strongest nations in the League.
However, the apparent stability in Europe after 1925 and its apparent prosperity meant that conflicts rarely occurred from 1925 to 1929. In fact, Europe could have been confident in assuming peace would last as two treaties were signed that seemed to indicate that a new era of peace and toleration had been ushered in.
The Locarno Treaties were signed in December 1925. The major politicians of Europe met in neutral Switzerland. The following was agreed to:

•  France, Germany and Belgium agreed to accept their borders as were stated in the Treaty of Versailles.
•  France and Belgium would never repeat an invasion of the Ruhr and Germany would never attack Belgium or France again. Britain and Italy agreed to police this part of the treaties.
•  Germany also accepted that the Rhineland must remain demilitarized.
•  In other treaties, France promised to protect Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia if Germany attacked any one of them.
•  Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia all agreed that they would never fight if they had an argument between themselves - they would allow the League to sort out the problem.

However, nationalists in Germany were furious with their government for signing these treaties. By signing, the German government effectively agreed that it accepted the terms of the Versailles Treaty of 1919. This to the nationalists bordered on treason and was totally unacceptable. Their claims of treason went unheard as Weimar Germany was experiencing an economic growth and the hard times of 1919 to 1924 were forgotten. Moderate politicians were the order of the day in Germany and the extreme nationalists such as the Nazi Party faded into the background. The success of these moderate politicians was emphasized when France backed Germany’s right to join the League of Nations which Germany duly did in 1926.
The other major treaty which seemed to herald in an era of world peace was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928. This pact was signed by 65 countries. All 65 nations agreed never to use war again as a way of solving disputes.
Therefore, Europe was effectively lulled into a false sense of security by 1929 as the politicians of Europe had made it plain that war was no longer an option in solving disputes and that previous enemies were now friends. This new Europe relied on nations being at peace and harmony with one another.
The stability of Germany was shattered by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and the nationalists, who had spent 1925 to 1929 in relative obscurity, rose to the political surface once again. They had no intention of accepting either Versailles or the Locarno treaties and the League’s weaknesses in this decade had also become apparent. The League could only function successfully, if the politicians of Europe allowed it to do so. Hitler and the Nazis were never going to give the League a chance once they had gained power.

The Second World War, like the First, started in Europe and assumed the character of a world war. In spite of the fact that Western countries had acquiesced all the aggressions of Japan, Italy and Germany from the invasion of Manchuria to the annexation of Czechoslovakia, the fascist countries’ ambitions had not been satisfied. These countries were planning another redivision of the world and thus had to come into conflict with the established imperialist powers. The Western policy of diverting the aggression of the fascist countries towards the Soviet Union had failed with the signing of the Soviet German Non-Aggression Pact. Thus the war began in Europe between the fascist countries and the major West European Powers—Britain and France. Within a few months it became a world war as it spread to more and more areas, ultimately involving almost every country in the world.
 

What were the main factors which led to World War II?
Three main factors, all resulting from World War I, led to World War II: the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, and the Russian Revolution. Along with these factors the rise of the Nazis in Germany in the 1930's disturbances in East Asia, also contributed to the outbreak of war.
The treaty of Versailles had imposed sever sanctions on Germany and antagonized it. Treaty of Versailles had quite different results on France's and Britain's relations with Germany and each other. France shared a long border with Germany and had also suffered greatly during World War I. France signed a series of defensive pacts with Germany's neighbors to contain any future aggression by Hitler. Among these pacts was one with the Soviet Union, which France saw as the primary counterweight to German power. Britain, however, feared Stalin as much as it did Hitler, and signed a naval pact with Germany allowing it to increase its naval powers. The two powers consequently were disunited and lacked cooperation. They also followed a policy of appeasement with Germany which fueled Hitler’s hunger.
Russian relations with the Western powers were bitter due to Allied intervention during the Russian Civil War and the deep ideological differences between capitalism and communism. There was no concerted action between Russia and the West against Fascist aggression.
The fascists government during The Great Depression had resorted to producing war machinery to improve employment and hence stockpiled huge stocks of arms. Japan on other hand grew desperate for resources and militarily took over Manchuria from China. China due to its internal strife was no match for Japanese aggression. It further started expanding in South-East towards the colonies of France, Britain and Holland.
All these factors, the disunity between France and Britain, Russian hatred and distrust of the West, and the unchecked aggression of Japan in the East combined to expose the weakness and disunity of the former alliance against Germany.

The Phoney War

Allies policy of appeasement and their disunity had emboldened Hitler. After rearming Germany, he next embarked on reclaiming its territories. East Prussia had been separated from the rest of Germany. The city of Danzig which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany had been made a free city independent of German control. Hitler had demanded the return of Danzig to Germany but Britain had refused to accept this demand. On 1 September 1939 German armies marched into Poland. On 3 September Britain and France declared war on Germany which marked the beginning of the Second World War.
The German armies completed the conquest of Poland in less than three weeks as no aid reached Poland. In spite of the declaration of war, however, there was little actual fighting for many months. Therefore, the war during this period, from September 1939 to April 1940, during which no fighting actually took place is known as the ‘phoney war’.
Soon after the German invasion of Poland, the Soviet Union attacked eastern Poland and occupied the territories which were earlier in the Russian empire. It is believed that this occupation was a part of the secret provisions of the Soviet German Non Aggression Pact. In 1940, the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania which had become independent after the First World War were also occupied by the Soviet Union. They, along with Moldavia, became republics of USSR. In November 1939, the Soviet Union also went to war against Finland.
 

The German Blitzkrieg

Germany launched her invasion of Norway and Denmark on 9 April 1940 and within three weeks completed the conquest of these two countries.(Sweden was the major supplier of iron-ore to Germany and the occupation of Norway was crucial to protect the supplies from Sweden. The conquest of Norway was achieved by active support from Norwegian fascists led by Vidkun Quisling.)

In early May began the invasion of Belgium and Holland which was completed before the end of May. Soon the German armies marched into France and by 14 June 1940, the capital city of Paris had fallen into German hands almost without a fight. In the meantime, Italy also had joined the war on the side of her ally, Germany. On 22 June 1940, the French government surrendered and signed a truce with Germany according to which about half of France was occupied by Germany. The remaining part remained under the French government which was required to disband the French army and provide for the maintenance of the German army in France. The French government which had surrendered to Germany ruled from Vichy. With the defeat of France, Germany became the supreme power over the continent of Europe. The war conducted by Germany with great speed and force is known as blitzkrieg which means a ‘lightning war’.
Britain was the only major power left in Europe after the fall of France and believed that Britain would surrender soon as she was without any allies in Europe. German air force began bombing raids on Britain in August 1940 with the aim of terrorizing her into surrender. The battle that ensued is known as the Battle of Britain. The Royal Air Force of Britain played a heroic role in its defence against air raids and conducted air raids on German territories in retaliation. The Prime Minister of Britain during the war years was Winston Churchill. Under his leadership, the people of Britain successfully resisted the German air raids with courage and determination.
In the meantime, Italy had started military operations in North Africa. She also invaded Greece, but the Italian attack in both the areas was repulsed. However, Germany succeeded in capturing the Balkans —Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and also large parts of North Africa.
 

German Invasion of Soviet Union

Hitler had always coveted the vast territory and resources of the Soviet Union. Despite the Non-Aggression Pact with Soviets it attacked the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941.
He thought that the destruction of the Soviet Union would take about eight weeks. Hitler had grossly underestimated the strength of the Soviet Union. In the first phase of the war with the Soviet Union, Germany achieved significant victories. Vast areas of the Soviet Union were devastated, Leningrad was besieged and German troops were marching towards Moscow. However, in spite of the initial German successes, the German onslaught was halted. The Soviet Union had built up her industrial and military strength. She resisted the German invasion heroically and the German hopes of a quick victory were thwarted. In the process they were aided by harsh Russian winter which paralysed the arms and ammunition and the soldiers of German army and their supply lines.
With the German invasion of the Soviet Union, a new vast theatre of war had been opened. An important development that followed was the emergence of the British-Soviet-American unity to fight against aggression. Soon after the invasion, Churchill and Roosevelt declared British and American support to the Soviet Union in the war against Germany and promised aid to her. Subsequently, agreements were signed between the Soviet Union and the two countries. It was as a result of this unity that Germany, Italy and Japan were ultimately defeated.
 

Battle of Stalingrad
One of the most important turning points in the war was the Battle of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd). In November and December 1941, the German advance on Moscow met with stubborn resistance and the invasion was repulsed. Germany then launched an offensive in southern Russia. In August 1942, the German troops reached the outskirts of Stalingrad. For over five months, the battle raged. It involved about 2 million men, 2000 tanks and 2000 aeroplanes. The civilian population of Stalingrad joined the soldiers in the defence of the city. In February 1943, about 90,000 German officers and soldiers surrendered. In all, Germany had lost about 300,000 men in this battle. This battle turned the tide of the war. Germans suffered huge losses and their war machinery and morale was severly affected.
 

USA forced into the Second World War

Japanese invaded China in 1931 and occupied Manchuria. Again in 1937, the Japanese started another invasion of China. Japan was also one of the three members of the Anti-Comintern Pact along with Germany and Italy. In September 1940, these three countries had signed another pact which bound them together even more. Japan recognized the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe and Japan’s leadership was recognized for establishing a new order in Asia.
On 7 December 1941, the Japanese, without a declaration of war, conducted a massive raid on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The American Pacific Fleet which was stationed there was devastated. The Americans lost 20 warships, and about 250 aircrafts. About 3000 persons were killed. The Americans were completely taken unaware. Negotiations had been going on between the Japanese and American governments to settle their differences in Asia and the Pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor in the midst of negotiations showed that the Japanese were determined to conquer Asia and the Pacific. With this the Second World War became truly global. The United States declared war on Japan on 8 December 1941 and soon after Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
The Japanese achieved significant victories in the war in Asia. Within six months of the attack on Pearl Harbor, they had conquered Malaya, Burma (now Myanmar), Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Hongkong and numerous other areas. By the middle of 1942, the fascist powers had reached the peak of their power. After that the decline began.
 

The ‘Second Front’ heralded end of War.

After massive losses in Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943, the fascist countries began to suffer reverses in other areas also. Japan had failed to capture Australia and Hawaii. In North Africa, the German and Italian troops were routed by early 1943. The destruction of the fascist army in North Africa was also a major turning point in the war. In July 1943, British and American troops occupied Sicily. Many sections in Italy had turned against Mussolini. He was arrested and a new government was formed. This government joined the war against Germany. However Mussolini, who had escaped with the help of Germans, headed a pro-German government there. Meanwhile, British and American troops entered Italy and a long battle to throw the Germans out of Italy followed. The Soviet Union was attaining significant victories against Germany and had already entered Czechoslovakia and Romania which had been under German occupation.
Since 1942 in Europe the most ferocious battles had been fought between Germany and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had been demanding the opening of the second front for long, as this would compel Germany to fight on other fronts also and would thus hasten the defeat of Germany. From this time onwards the German armies were on the run on all fronts.
On 6 June 1944, more than 100,000 British and American troops landed on the coast of Normandy in France. By September their number had reached 2,000,000. The opening of second front played a very crucial role in the defeat of Germany.
After 6 June 1944, German armies had to face the forces of the Allies from three directions. In Italy, the British and American troops were advancing. Northern and western France and the city of Paris had been freed and the Allied troops were moving towards Belgium and Holland On the eastern front, the Germans were facing a collapse. The Soviet army from the east and other Allied troops from the west were closing on Germany. In May 1945 the Soviet armies entered Berlin. Hitler had committed suicide on the morning of the same day. On 7 May 1945 Germany unconditionally surrendered and the hostilities ended in Europe.
 

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

After the defeat of Germany, the war in Asia continued for another three months. Britain and USA had launched successful operations against Japan in the Pacific and in the Philippines and Burma. In spite of serious reverses, however, the Japanese were still holding large parts of China. On 6 August 1945, an atom bomb, the deadliest weapon developed during the war, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was the first time that the atom bomb had been used. With one single bomb, the city of Hiroshima was obliterated. Another atom bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The city was destroyed. In the meantime, the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan and had started military operations against Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea. On 14 August Japan conveyed its acceptance of the Allied demand to surrender but the actual surrender took place on 2 September 1945. With the Japanese surrender, the Second World War came to an end.
The use of Atomic bombs by USA has been regarded by many as an abominable act for both the number of people killed as well as its sheer uselessness. USA justified the use of these weapons as a means to end the protracted war with Japan which would have resulted in much more casualties.
But most of the scholars reject this argument because of several reasons. Firstly, after defeat of Germany and Italy, Japan was in no position to carry on a protracted war. Secondly, at the Yalta conference the USSR had agreed to enter the war against Japan.
Due to these reasons there was no need to use these weapons of mass destruction and the dominant belief is that the use of Atom Bombs was a means for USA to show her dominance in the post war period.

Major Consequences of World War II

• The End of the European Age.
• The rise of the US to superpower status.
• The expansion of the Soviet Union and its rise to superpower status.
• The emergence of the Cold War.
• The beginning of the nuclear age.
• The rise of nationalism and independence movements in Asia and Africa.
• A renewed effort to secure lasting peace through international organizations.
 

Resistance Movements

The liberation of countries under Nazi occupation was often won not by the Soviet or Allied forces but by internal resistance movements. These resistance movements were basically anti-fascist movements jointly organised by nationalists of the countries under Nazi occupation. Mostly these were lead by communists, socialists and democrats.
These resistance movements relied on Guerilla warfare and sabotage of Nazi officials and Nazi supporters. These movements grew particularly strong after Soviet entry into Eastern Europe nad often worked in collaboration with Soviet troops.
Some of the important leaders were Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia, Josep Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, General De Gaulle of free French Army and General Sirkoski of Poland.
These leaders being popular due to resistance movements were at the forefront of Nationalistic politics after war in their respective countries.

WW I VS WW II

The early twentieth century was mainly an extension of the nineteenth century. The dominant powers and their governments as well as political and social ideologies were largely unchanged. The First World War, or "Great War", as it was known, began the transformation of the world, but it took the Second World War to finish it.
Both world wars seemed to be inevitable. The dominant political movements of militarism, imperialism and entangling alliances, pushed by rapid industrialization, lead to constant conflict between the great powers of Europe. These powers were ready to fight, they just needed a reason. That reason came with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in the city of Sarajevo. The great powers of Russia, England and France (Triple Entente) quickly found themselves at war with Germany, Austria and the Ottoman Empire (Triple Alliance).
The Second World War was really an extension of the first. The Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War punished and humiliated Germany to such a degree, the rise of the Nazis and start of WWII was almost inevitable. In direct defiance of the treaty Hitler rearmed Germany and went on an expansionistic campaign that could only end in war.
The style of warfare between the two world wars showed the adjustments that had been made in the use of technology. The First World War introduced many new war making technologies. The Germans introduced the submarine to naval warfare, terrorizing the Atlantic and tipping the scales of naval power away from the British. The French used tanks for the first time to counter the strategy of trenches. Cannon technology advanced into long range shelling and machine gun technology made their use much more prevalent. Airplanes were used early in the war for reconnaissance and later became weapons of war. The use of chemical and biological weapons added a ghastly component to the new technologies used in the war.
Unfortunately for the soldiers in the field, the battle strategies of the First World War did not advance along with the technology. The trench warfare technique lead to fatalities on a scale that was unimaginable even five years before the war. In the Battle of the Somme alone the British lost 25,000 men in the first day.
The technology leap between the world wars was incredible for the relatively short amount of time involved. Submarines and tanks became larger, faster and more powerful. Naval ships also became larger and more powerful, and the introduction of the aircraft carrier may have been the most important development of the war. Of course, the Second World War introduced the most destructive weapon in human history when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
The Second World War was more of a total war than the first, in a variety of ways. More than forty-one million civilians died in the Second World War, more than any other war. Prior to WWII civilians were generally considered off limits for attack. However, the blitzkrieg strategies of the Nazis as well as bombing campaigns in both the European and Pacific theaters specifically targeted civilian populations.
The Second World War was a truly global conflict. Whereas in the First World War the colonies of the European countries did get involved in the fighting, the majority of the war was fought over approximately one hundred miles of territory. In the Second World War the fighting engulfed virtually every continent. Even neutral countries such as Switzerland found themselves either invaded or attacked.
The most important difference between the world wars was their long term impact. The First World War led to the rise of the fascists in Italy, Germany and Spain, and had a role in the creation of the Soviet Union, but the world structure was relatively unchanged. The major powers of the world, both politically and militarily were still in Europe. European issues dominated the international landscape. The world structure was still predicated on a euro-centric, balance of power model.
After the Second World War that model changed dramatically. The old powers were gone, the empires were disbanded and Europe itself was split. The new world organization was a bi-polar model with two super powers leading the discussion. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the focal points of the new international structure. Other countries either allied with one of these powers or made a go of it on their own. The new international hierarchy would last for the next fifty years and the fall of the Soviet Union.
While both world wars involved many of the same combatants there were many more differences than similarities. The First World War set the stage for the Second World War. WWII changed the world entirely.