World War II(1939-1945), was a brutal war, with great mass casualties and destruction. Even greater than what had been seen before in World War I. A question to ask in regards to this war is: did World War II become more brutal as time went on? If so, in what ways did the war become more brutal? Was this brutality only on one side?
When looking at this question one most likely would only see the brutality of one side. The Axis Powers(Nazis, Italy, and Japan), were very brutal, and as the war progressed on they became more brutal. The Nazis with the mass genocide of Jews and other minorities which further developed and progressed as the war went on. The unthinkable war crimes that Japan committed to many of the Asian countries which killed millions. Though this is very much true and the reality is that the Axis Powers were probably more brutal and committed more crimes to humanity than the Allied Powers, that does not mean that the Allied Powers were not brutal themselves, and that the brutality was only on one side.
Stalin who became part of the Allied side a little later on in the war(he had originally been actually on the side of the Nazis one could say), was a terrible person to say the least, and was a mass murderer of his own people. He was very brutal to the countries that the Soviet Union occupied. The United States with it’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Allied side was not completely innocent.
To conclude, though the Axis Powers most definitely committed many horrible crimes to humanity; more so than the Allied Powers, both sides including the Allied Powers were brutal during the war. This brutality increased as the war progressed on both sides.
The Dreamer 
War is brutal. All war is brutal.
The length of World War II had a contributing factor in decisions that led to the ending brutality. The Allies were tired, exhausted. The war had gone on a long time with many deaths including civilian.
During the Battle of the Bulge (late 1944), there were American soldiers who were captured by the Germans. The Germans shot many of them. When the American soldiers heard about this, they were very angry and wanted revenge. My dad was a soldier who was captured during this time period. He escaped. He chose not to seek retaliation or revenge.
It is easy for civilians who are far removed from a war to make judgments about things done or not done.
I’ve talked to people who lived during this time period. Many of them were in the military. Even they wondered about certain decisions made.
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