How Much Did the Second World War Change Britain

How much did the Second World War change Britain?

The Second World War fought from the years 1939 – 1945, was a global war which affected the majority of the countries on earth. It was coined by many in Britain as the ‘People’s War,’ as it appears on the surface to be the people of democracies standing up to the fascist dictatorship of Nazi Germany, but also because in the Second World War unlike the first, all people were involved and affected in some way. After the Second World War was won by the allies however, there arises a debate in history, how much did the war actually change Britain? And did it change for the better or worse? Many historians argue that the war was the direct reason for significant changes in British society, paving the way for a new era in British history. Aspects of society such as equality, general mood of the people, politics and the economy all were affected by the Second World War, but to what extent were these changes significant? In this essay, I will argue that the Second World War did change Britain socially, politically and economically, and these changes are what led the way into the development of a new era in Britain.

The Second World War was a total war fought between the Allied forces of Great Britain, United States of America, France and the Soviet Union and their respective colonies, and the Axis forces of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan. This war was marked by several very significant events that involved huge losses of life, the Nazi policy of eradicating certain types of people resulted in the Holocaust, causing death to an approximate of six million Jewish people in Europe. The first use of atomic weapons in warfare used against the Japanese by the USA also resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese civilizations. In 1945, the Japanese ignored a final plea from the USA to surrender, they threatening ‘prompt and utter destruction,’ making good on their threats, the USA dropped two atomic...