|
You could put it like this -
The Allies won the war but it meant different things to different nations.
The US ended WW2 as the richest nation on the planet. More Steel than it could use. More clothes than it could wear. More food than it could eat. The only country with the Atom Bomb. A Super Power.
The British won a moral victory but little else. The UK was virtually bankrupt at the end of WW2. Unrest in a lot of the colonies, particularly in the Far East (India, Malaya, Burma) and Africa saw the end of the British Empire with many nations gaining independance post war as Britain was simply too weak to hold them anyway.
The Russians were much in the same boat and had to re-build much of their infrastructure after it was destroyed by the retreating Germans. The Russians did however gain a foot hold in Eastern Europe which lasted until the late 80's during the Cold War. They also became a Super Power after acquiring through their spies, knowledge of the Atomic Bomb program in America to produce their own weapon in 1949.
The Germans despite actually losing the war found themselves winners. The Marshall Plan helped to re-build Europe post war and a modern democratic nation emerged from the ashes of the 3rd Reich.
The Japanese also became winners. The US was determined that Japan would be under it's sphere post war. Only US Troops were allowed in as an occupying force. Under General Douglas McArthur, Japan would emerge slowly as a highly industrialised, modern democracy with an extremely strategic and valuable position in World affairs in the Pacific Region.
|