How Destructive
was WW2?
By Kurt Pelham
World War Two was the most destructive war ever in human history, with a total
number of 60 million deaths. These heavy loses did not just come from guns or
the ordinary tank, weaponry by then had advanced greatly and other things such
as artillery and bombing, which had become much more accurate. Tanks had
became faster and lighter which made it easy for the troops to maneuverer them,
new planes were introduced such as the spitfire which was very fast and again
easier to maneuverer. New explosives and bombs were used which made it
much easier for soldiers to clear bunkers. The most destructive bomb and
weapon in World War 2 was the Nuclear Bomb.
Bombing
Bombing was a huge part of the war, and the most destructive. It killed millions
of people due to the raging flames, explosions and the thick smoke which would
have suffocated people as there was no oxygen to breathe. Over 700,000 bombs
were dropped during the war and 3.4 million tonnes of them were dropped by
the Allies between 1939 and 1945. Here are some images of the planes that the
bombs would have been dropped by.
London Bombing
On 7th September 1941, Hitler had sent German bombers over to Britain and to
destroy cities, industries, factories, and more importantly, the populations
morale. London was the most badly hit as many famous buildings were hit or
destroyed, such as the Law Courts, the Tower of London, House of Commons,
West Minster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St Pauls Cathedral and many more.
The Bombing lasted for 57 consecutive days. This started to become normal for
the civilians as they just went through it. This started to show failure in Hitler's
plan to lower morale, as people kept there mental toughness. However, people
were being thrown across the roads from the huge blasts. 40,000 people died
from this attack.
Britain Bombing
30,000 bombs were dropped on Britain leading to a massacre with bodies,
limbs, and flesh mingled with little hats, coats and shoes. There were many
major historic places that were bombed and probably destroyed. Shops, roads
and buildings were bombed, also some of the countries water, sewage, gas and
electricity would have also been destroyed. This would have been bad as people
would have had nothing to put the fires out with. Despite all this, there was a
sense of excitement in the shelters as people were telling jokes and singing to
keep their morale up. Some people were wanting to fight back which also
showed Hitler’s intensions had failed. There many religious ways of keeping
there morale up, as some thought that it would be safer in the churches with
God.
Germany Bombing
The bombing of Germany was one of the worst. More bombs were dropped on
one city than the entire bombing of Britain. 50,000 bombs were dropped in three
days which killed 50,000 civilians. People were burning and suffocating to
death as the temperatures were at a high of 1000 degrees. People could not find
members of their family as they were burnt to death which made them
unrecognizable. Many industries were bombed which damaged the amount of
weaponry and resources for the German army. Civilians morale was decreasing
as every time they saw a person wearing a Nazi party badge, they tore them off
and started screaming an saying “Lets go and get that murderer!” On the other
hand, some of the people were growing toughness as they would have wanted
revenge for they had done.
Japan Bombing
Japan was one of the worst hit along with Germany. The first bombing killed
100,000 people in Tokyo, and over 120,000 people died while a million fled to
safety in the countryside. The temperatures were so hot, that if a person jumped
into the rivers they would boil to death. Huge amounts of buildings were blown
up, and 20% of Tokyo’s war industries and 60% of its business district was
completely destroyed by the bombers.
Nuclear Bomb on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
The Atomic bomb was the most devastating and destructive attack ever made.
When the war was coming to an end in 1945 after Nazi Germany signed its
instrument of surrender, the United States called for a surrender of Japan in the
Potsdam Declaration on 26 July 1945, threatening Japan with "prompt and utter
destruction". Japan ignored this so America deployed two nuclear bombs on the
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the bomb had hit it was recorded that
the effects had killed 90,000-166,000 in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in
Nagasaki. Six days after the bombing on the 15th August, Japan announced its
surrender to the Allies.
Pictures from after the Nuclear Bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
World War 2 affected many in different ways, such as Psychologically, Socially
and Economically, Physically and Politically. One of the main intensions of
bombing innocent civilians was to lower the morale to cause conflict within its
own country about whether they should stop fighting and to surrender or not.
Many people reacted in different ways to this. Some chose to keep their morale
and pride up by singing and joking and some grew toughness and determination
for revenge, whereas others started to blame their own soldiers and leaders for
starting the war in the first place. Religion came into the matter where people
went into churches because they knew that God would protect them. This
however may have put some peoples morale down, as they may have witnessed
bombing of churches which would put doubt in their minds that God doesn’t
exist.