WHY DID THE AXIS LOSE THE SECOND WORLD WAR? A POLITICO-MILITARY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE.

Considering the magnitude of forces involved, the expenditures involved and the human and material losses produced, the Second World War has been the largest and most deadly uninterrupted conflagration of human history so far. It was the very first time when a considerable number of new technical breakthroughs including the atomic bomb were widely used against militaries and civilians alike, directly or indirectly, causing the death of over 50 million people, about 3% of the world population of that time1. War began on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, and ended six years later with the complete defeat of the Axis Powers - Germany, Japan and Italy - by the Allied Forces - United States, Great Britain and Soviet Union. 'Rivers' of ink have flowed on this subject; a large bibliography has analysed causes and factors that allowed Allies to be victorious in the Second World War but we cannot say the same about the causes that led to the defeat of the Axis powers. 'Vae Victis', as Romans would say, meaning 'Woe to the vanquished ones'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]