The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest casualties in World War II, with nearly 30 million casualties. But although tens of millions of casualties have brought havoc to the country, it is their efforts that have pushed the country to the top.
Before World War II, the Soviet Union was generally rejected and squeezed by Western countries. Needless to say, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and so on almost all of Europe did not look good for the Soviet Union.
Because of ideology, the Soviet Union was in a state of encirclement, like Russia today. Although they have a thick foundation and a hard fist, and they have developed to the world's second largest industrial country in terms of industrial output after the United States, their lives are not good, at best they are just a strong country.
But after World War II, it was different, territorially, after the war, the Soviet Union pushed two or three hundred kilometers westward, taking more than 500,000 square kilometers of land, including the three Baltic states and half Poland, and the population increased by about 24.5 million.
Further eastward in the Asia-Pacific region, the Soviet Union acquired from Japan the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands south of kamchatka, and regained the rights and interests of the pre-Russo-Japanese War. It is worth mentioning that a lot of these things are ours, it is the Yalta conference, the three giants of the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain, and the private transaction. Without our consent.
In short, after World War II, the Soviet Union expanded territorially.
Of course, this was not yet the most important thing for the Soviet Union. The greatest achievement of the Soviet Union in World War II was actually the ideological export, which turned the entire central and Eastern European region into its own sphere of influence. These included Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, etc., and Yugoslavia was also separated from the Western bloc. These laid the foundation for the Soviet Union to be able to organize super-military groups such as the Warsaw Pact.
Speaking of which, one has to mention a military force. Thanks to World War II, the Soviet Union built up almost the most powerful army in the world at the time. Not only is it numerous, but it is also fierce. The size of the army of more than ten million, combined with the steel torrent of tens of thousands of aircraft and tanks, was the nightmare of the Western camp at that time, and it was unstable to sleep.
In short, after World War II, the Soviet Union grew from an ordinary power with an inferior international environment to the only two superpowers in the world at that time, and its benefits were not insignificant. Therefore, many people believe that the Soviet Union was the biggest beneficiary of World War II.
However, if you take a longer-term view, the biggest beneficiary of World War II was actually the United States.
First of all, the United States is strategically located, far from the scene of the war in World War II, and almost no shells have been dropped on the mainland, but because of the sale of weapons and other military supplies to other countries in the war, it has made a fortune. And because of the threat of war, a large number of funds and technical personnel have taken refuge in the United States, which has greatly enhanced the economic and technological strength of the United States, in short, the United States has not suffered much in the world war, but has gained enough benefits.
In addition, World War II broke the original framework of the world order, the colonial era ended completely, the old powers such as Britain and France gradually retreated to the second line, and the United States deservedly became the leader of the Western camp. Thanks to such a change in status, the United States has opened up an economic and military layout around the world.
Economically, the postwar United States easily gained the leading position in world politics and economy. At that time, the United States owned three-quarters of the world's gold reserves, and the United Nations was also located in New York, the United States, and the world financial center shifted from London to New York. After the war, the Marshall Plan introduced by the United States, the Bretton Woods monetary system, and even the later dollar oil peg undoubtedly laid the foundation for the economic hegemony of the United States.
This influence continues to this day, and the United States relies on this advantage to cut leeks all over the world, and other countries cannot resist.
Although the United States has become the richest country in the world from the early twentieth century, its industrial output value has ranked first in the world. But the United States could not dominate the world, because at that time, the international financial hegemony and political dominance were still in the hands of Europe, especially the European countries led by Britain and France, and the United States could not squeeze into it to get a piece of the pie, let alone dominate.
So, without World War II, the United States might have maintained its advantage as the world's largest economy with its strong national strength, but it felt unable to achieve that kind of control. Because Britain, France and even Germany, these European powers, will not let the United States grow leeks and then cut leeks.
In addition, militarily, it goes without saying. Before entering the war, although the United States had a strong industrial base, it was not a military power, and its navy was a little stronger. It was the war that unleashed its enormous military potential, which led to the creation of a large army. Of course, it is also because of its strong military strength that the United States has been able to station troops around the world and build its own global strategy. After decades of layout, the military strength of the United States is still the only existence in the world.
The most crucial point is that the United States is still the world's number one power, and the Soviet Union has long been history.