What were the root causes of World War 2 what two countries gained the most from the War other than Japan and Germany what countries lost the most as a result of World War 2?

Answer 1

It is interesting that the countries which lost the war, Germany and Japan, are the ones you identify as having gained the most from the war. While these countries certainly did gain something, which is, they gained democratic governments rather than the crazy dictatorships which they had during WW II, they made this progress at an extremely high cost. Many Germans and Japanese died in the war, and it took a long time to rebuild those countries, which were heavily bombed and suffered enormous devastation (in the case of Japan, let us remember, two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were bombed with atomic bombs). I am quite sure that neither country recalls the war as being a good experience, or is pleased that they had fought it. Germany also bears a crushing burden of guilt for the Holocaust, which has stained the German collective soul very deeply (I am tempted to say forever, but I know that sooner or later, all things get forgotten).

Both the US and the USSR emerged from WW II in a much strengthened position - but that only resulted in the long running and very destructive competition of the Cold War, in which both jockeyed for world domination, at great cost. So, they gained something from the war, but in the long run it didn't really give them what they wanted. The USSR is now gone, having broken up into its 16 contituent republics, and the US is struggling with several wars and overwhelming economic problems. Its dominant role as the great victor of WW II has largely faded away.

Poland suffered particularly badly during the war. Its large Jewish population was almost entirely slaughtered, and the infamous Auschwitz death camp was located in Poland. Even the non-Jewish Poles were not treated well by the Nazis.

England was extensively bombed by Germany and had to fight very desperately for its survival. They lost a lot during the war, but did emerge with a strengthened sense of national pride. So, they won something and lost something.

But to honestly reply to your question, even those who won something in WW II paid too high a price. The war was a global catastrophe for everyone. The Holocaust led directed to the revival of Zionism by the surviving Jews, and that in turn has led to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict which is the root cause of much of the conflict that now rages between the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds. The consequences of WW II continue to be felt.