With reference to the consequences of World War II, explain briefly:

(a) Emergence of the Cold War and its consequences.

(b) Formation of the United Nations

(a) Emergence of the Cold War and its consequences — After World War II, the United states and Russia emerged as great powers in the world. The entire world was divided into two Power Blocs — Democratic or the Capitalist Bloc led by the USA and Communist Bloc led by the Soviet Union. This led to the emergence of Cold War between the two.
The consequences of Cold War were:

1. It set in motion a mad race for armaments.
2. It led to the formation of various military alliances such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and SEATO (South-East Asia Treaty Organisation) under US leadership and the Warsaw Pact signed by the representatives of Russia and other Communist countries.
3. It led to one crisis after another such as the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), crisis over missiles in Cuba (1962) and military intervention in Czechoslovakia.

(b) Formation of United Nations — The horrors of the two World Wars and the failure of the League of Nations led to a meeting of the Big Three — Roosevelt (President of the USA), Churchill (Prime Minister of Britain) and Stalin (Premier of the USSR) at Yalta in February 1945. They resolved to convene a conference of the representatives of all nations at San Francisco to draw up the 'Charter of the United Nations.' This led to the establishment of the United Nations Organisation on October 24, 1945.