ABSTRACT
The Second World War had a profound impact on global affairs, touching virtually every continent in the world, and generating violence on an unprecedented scale. Some estimates of the total number of dead attributable to this conflict suggest that perhaps 30 million people died across the world—about three times the number of the First World War. The political map of Europe was dramatically altered during this period; nations were subjugated, crushed, or simply destroyed. Famous cities like London, Berlin, and Moscow, renowned for their cultural activities, now became military targets for intensive bomber operations, appearing to bomber crews as glowing smudges of light beneath darkened bombsights. The civilian as much as the soldier was a legitimate target. Ethnic affiliation was a matter of life or death in some countries, and millions were slaughtered in the pursuit of racial purity. On the front lines, survival was a highly relative concept and people lived from day to day with little regard for the future.
