What Have We Learnt From the World War II?
A World War II aerial photograph collected from Wikimedia Commons via The Public Domain Review.
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As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2025, the warnings of philosopher George Santayana – 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it' – resound with chilling urgency. What was once hailed as the final, most brutal lesson in the futility of global conflict now appears to have faded into historical abstraction.
World War II was supposed to be humanity's last descent into large-scale, industrialised slaughter. Yet on May 11, 2025, Pope Leo XIV stood in St. Peter's Square and uttered a plea that rang as both a warning and lament: 'No more war.' His words come at a time when the world finds itself on the verge of repeating the gravest mistakes of the 20th century. As global conflicts intensify and militarisation escalates, the phrase 'third world war' has moved from speculative fiction to a real and terrifying possibility. The world's failure to heed the lessons of 1945 is no longer a philosophical concern – it is a matter of survival.
WWII's enduring warnings
World War II, fought between 1939 and 1945, remains the deadliest and most destructive conflict in human history. With a staggering toll of 70 to 85 million lives – including 27 million Soviet civilians and 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust – it left scars that continue to shape international consciousness. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki introduced a new era of existential threat, claiming over 200,000 lives and marking the dawn of the nuclear age.
Pope Paul VI later called these bombings 'a butchery of untold magnitude,' while American bishops, in a rare moment of candor in 1946, lamented the 'widespread, unspeakable suffering' they had unleashed. The creation of the United Nations that same year – founded to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war' – was born from this trauma and intended to be a global mechanism for peace.
Yet these lessons have faded. The reverence for the sanctity of human life, the moral clarity against indiscriminate destruction, and the commitment to dialogue over violence have all eroded. The years following WWII did not evolve into a promised era of peace, but into an increasingly fragmented and militarised world.
Cold War to cold reality
The end of WWII did not deliver the enduring peace it promised. Instead, it marked the beginning of the Cold War, a geopolitical standoff between the US and the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1991. This period saw the rise of proxy conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan, and the unchecked proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world closer to nuclear annihilation than ever before. Yet even after the Cold War's end, peace remained elusive. The 1990s saw bloodshed in the Gulf and the Balkans. The 21st century opened with prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while recent years have witnessed brutal civil conflict in Syria, Russia's war in Ukraine, and Israel's war in Gaza.
These are not isolated flashpoints. They are parts of a grim pattern: a global system that defaults to militarism, ideological division, and strategic dominance. On May 8, 2025 – V-E Day's 80th anniversary – the World Socialist Web Site remarked that the world is observing this milestone 'under conditions of escalating global conflict.'
Also read: Countdown to Surrender: How World War II Ended in Europe
Military spending, too, reveals the dangerous trajectory. In 2024, the world spent a record $2.7 trillion on arms. Alarmingly, former aggressors like Germany and Japan are now among the top spenders – indicative of a world regressing to militarism, ignoring Pope John XXIII's 1963 call in Pacem in terris to pursue negotiation over arms.
Hiroshima's echo
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in war – but the threat they introduced has only grown. Pope Francis, during his 2019 pilgrimage to these cities, condemned the possession of nuclear weapons as 'immoral,' and in 2024, Pax Christi USA echoed that view.
Yet nuclear stockpiles persist. The United States and Russia still hold 14,000 of the world's 15,000 warheads. Nine nations continue to rely on the threat of mutual destruction, undermining disarmament treaties like the Non-Proliferation Treaty (1970). The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Doomsday Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight – the closest it has ever been, reflecting unprecedented risk.
Einstein's 1946 warning – that 'the unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking' – remains heartbreakingly apt. While exhibitions by groups like Soka Gakkai have raised awareness among millions, progress toward disarmament is frozen. Nuclear deterrence remains state policy, while new threats – cyber war, space militarisation – compound the risks.
The new world disorder
Pope Leo XIV's reference to a 'third world war fought piecemeal,' echoing Pope Francis, captures the terrifying fragmentation of contemporary violence. Today's wars may lack the clarity of nation-state alliances, but they are no less interconnected or destructive.
Ukraine is now the site of Europe's largest land war since 1945. In Gaza, civilian suffering has reached horrifying levels, with statements like Israeli producer Elad Barashi's call for a 'Shoah' (Holocaust) sparking global outrage and chilling reminders of past genocidal rhetoric.
Elsewhere, tensions mount in the South China Sea, the Arctic, and even in space – fueled by nationalism, resource competition, and emerging technologies. The failure of international mechanisms to contain or prevent these conflicts exposes the weakening of multilateral institutions, including the UN. As Secretary-General António Guterres observed in 2020, the world's inability to fulfill the UN Charter's peace mandate reflects deep failures: rising inequality, eroding democratic norms, and unchecked disinformation.
Disarmament
The moral imperative for disarmament has never been clearer. From Pope John XXIII's era to Pope Leo XIV's, the message is consistent: humanity must walk away from the precipice. The United States, as the only nation to have deployed nuclear weapons in war, bears a unique responsibility.
Global initiatives – from the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission to the Toda Institute – demonstrate that alternatives exist. A world without nuclear arms is not fantasy but a matter of political will.
Moreover, reducing conventional arms flows, banning landmines, and curbing the global arms trade – largely driven by the U.S. – are essential to preventing future atrocities. Equally important are education, healthcare, and sustainable development. The World Day of Peace messages have long urged nations to divert resources from 'bullets to classrooms, clinics, and clean energy.'
Giving peace a chance
'Give peace a chance' – John Lennon's refrain – should no longer be dismissed as idealism. It is a mandate for survival. The 80th anniversary of World War II's end is not just a moment of reflection; it is a dire call to action.
Peace requires more than treaties – it demands global resolve. That means strengthening international cooperation, reforming global governance, and rekindling a collective moral compass. It means refusing the seductive logic of war and embracing the hard, unglamorous work of diplomacy and dialogue.
As Pope Leo XIV's voice rises above St. Peter's Square, the question is whether the world is listening. If we fail to remember – and act on – the lessons of 1945, we may find ourselves not at the edge of another war, but at the end of peace altogether.
Hasnain Naqvi is a former member of the history faculty at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
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