2. Effects of War in the
economy
Once a war has ended, losing nations are
sometimes required to pay
war reparations to the victorious nations.
In certain cases, land is ceded to the
victorious nations. For example, the
territory of Alsace-Lorraine has been
traded between France and Germany on
three different occasions.
Typically speaking, war becomes very
intertwined with the economy and many
wars are partially or entirely based on
economic reasons such as the
American Civil War. In some cases war
has stimulated a country's economy
(World War II is often credited with
bringing America out of the
Great Depression) but in many cases,
such as the wars of Louis XIV, the
Franco-Prussian War, and World War I,
warfare serves only to damage the
economy of the countries involved. For
example, Russia's involvement in World
War I took such a toll on the Russian
economy that it almost collapsed and
greatly contributed to the start of the
Russian Revolution of 1917 .
3. Effects of War in the
Society
Many wars have been accompanied by
significant depopulations. During the
Thirty Years' War in Europe, for example,
the population of the German states was
reduced by about 30%.The Swedish
armies alone may have destroyed up to
2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500
towns in Germany, one-third of all
German towns.
Estimates for the total
casualties of World War II vary, but most
suggest that some 60 million people died
in the war, including about 20 million
soldiers and 40 million civilians. The
Soviet Union lost around
27 million people during the war, about
half of all World War II casualties. The
largest number of civilian deaths in a
single city was 1.2 million citizens dead
during the 872-day Siege of Leningrad.
4. Effects of World War II
One of the starkest illustrations of the
effect of war upon economies is the
Second World War. The
Great Depression of the 1930s ended as
nations increased their production of war
materials to serve the war effort. [14] The
financial cost of World War II is estimated
at about a $1.944 trillion U.S. dollars
worldwide, making it the most costly war
in capital as well as lives.
Property damage in the Soviet Union
inflicted after the Axis invasion was
estimated to a value of 679 billion rubles.
The combined damage consisted of
complete or partial destruction of 1,710
cities and towns, 70,000 villages/hamlets,
2,508 church buildings, 31,850 industrial
establishments, 40,000 miles of railroad,
4100 railroad stations, 40,000 hospitals,
84,000 schools, and 43,000 public
libraries.