Lessons Learnt from World War II to Avoid New World War

Wu Shicun, head of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, stated that the US military has deployed unprecedented numbers of its naval troops in the South China Sea. He warned that a military accident or accidental shooting might take place, which would be catastrophic to the US-Sino ties. That statement, as well as other relevant facts that the US has mobilized 375,000 soldiers and 60% of its warships in the Indian and Pacific oceans, heralds an imminent war between the Big Two, America and China.
This being the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, it may be useful to review some lessons learnt from that war to avoid the eruption of a new world war, a threat that is already looming. World wars have made a profound change in the geopolitical map of the world. The unforgettable traces of wars, with their victories and defeats, are still engraved in the minds of people across the globe.

Tracing the causes, outcomes, and some of the manifestations of the World War may be important to prevent past warfare from being prologue to a new war.
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the most substantial causes of World War II due to the harsh sanctions imposed on Germany and excessive compensations it had, according to the treaty, to pay to the Allies. The treaty also led to inter-European conflicts over boundaries. All this served a good purpose in the rise of the Nazi Party that played on the humiliation felt by the German population. They stirred the desire of vengeance and revived the aspiration to the “Great Germany”.
Any precarious situation may lead to a military conflict. A World War, however, is never an unforeseen event. The German invasion of Poland was not out of nothing, but several catalysts led to it. History seems now to be repeating itself.

The war left behind great material losses, the foremost of which were human. The Soviet Union back then lost 27 million citizens, which meant that one out of every 7 soviets was killed. America lost the equivalent of one out of every 320 of its citizens and Britain lost the equivalent of one out of every 127 of its citizens.
The war victors created a modern world system that involved several contradictions in the world power balance and their social, economic, political and technological parameters. Among the considerable material outcomes of the war was the formation of the League of Nations, on which hopes of achieving permanent peace and security for all were pinned. The League, however, was entirely under the domination of the victorious allies and failed, therefore, to prevent wars. One of the most horrendous repercussions of its weakness was the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, and conflicts in Europe did not stop until they had destroyed values before buildings.

The World learnt the lesson of the total failure of the League of Nations and started developing the structure of the United Nations, to whose “veto” I beg to object and propose establishing a “Security Council” in the General Assembly to play its role in the event of using the veto. I believe there should be no “veto” as a supreme decision-making power that issues binding decisions. Let it be taken into consideration that wars cause the formation of allies that lead to dividing and disbanding of all that is on earth and establishing international military courts that operate in favor of the war victors and probably punish those they describe as war criminals.
World wars have also left behind organizations somehow relevant to international warfare, like the Weapons of Mass Destruction Assembly, which was created in 1945, establishing the principle of dispute resolution. Add to this the economic crises caused by wars and the unjust, illegitimate usurping of world resources by some nations, unrightfully depriving others of them.
As for the nonmaterial outcomes of wars, they manifest themselves through relationships among the nations and peoples of the world. Selfishness has outdone all other concepts and symptoms of political cowardice appeared at a time when it should not. A culture of seeking to satisfy transgressors, moreover, has been ingrained in the most humiliating manner! The political elite has also shown exemplary negligence in performing their role and do not even attempt to look for solutions. All this reminds us of the situation in the Middle East, best represented by the case of the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

Another dire repercussion of wars is the mercenary political media, which plays a major role in causing and aggravating conflict. Its role in distorting history and facts to further political purposes is needless to state. Wars serve to make a media of liars and deceivers, a giant machine that overflows with a vast amount of disinformation tailored to serve the interests of one party at the expense of all others. It is an entire industry closely associated with and dependent on warfare. Its slogan is “Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it”! It is about time we choose “conciliation” as a better alternative to “dispute”. There need not be victories and defeats; let the whole world be victorious and prosperous.