Transcript Europe and Japan in Ruins

Europe and Japan in Ruins
World War II had:
Caused more deaths and destruction than any other
conflict in history
Left 60 million dead
One-third of these deaths occurred in one
country, the Soviet Union
Another 50 million people had been uprooted
from their homes and wandered somewhere
else to live.
Property damages ran into the billions of U.S.
dollars
Devastation in Europe
Cities suffered much destruction:
The Battle of Britain had left much of London in
ruins.
Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was almost
completely destroyed. In 1939, the population
was 1.3 million people, however in January
1945, when the Soviet soldiers entered the city,
about 153, 000 people remained.
95% of Berlin was destroyed
Many people, such as those displaced survivors
of concentration camps, prisoners of war, and
refugees found themselves in the wrong
countries due to post war treaties. They
wandered Europe looking for loved ones.
Much of the war-time production cost agricultural
output. And so, harvests were not planted and
with transportation at a minimum many died in
the post war years of famine and disease.
Postwar Government and Politics
In countries such as Germany, Italy, and France a return to
the prewar governments that had left them in ruins
was not desirable (Nazis left Germany in ruins, Mussolini
led to Italy’s defeat, and France’s Vichy government had
collaborated with the Nazis).
After the war, the Communist Party promised change and
millions were ready to listen.
In both Italy and France Communist Party’s membership
increased dramatically.
However, alarmed French and Italians voted for
anticommunist parties and so the Communist Party
influence began to decline.
The Nuremberg Trials
During 1945 and 1946, an International Military Tribunal
representing 23 nations put Nazi war criminals on trial in
Nuremberg, Germany.
In the first of these Nuremberg Trials, 22 Nazi leaders
were charged with waging a war of aggression. They
were also accused of committing “crimes against
humanity”-the murder of 11 million people.
Adolf Hitler’s SS chief Heinrich Himmler and the Minister of
Propaganda Joseph Goebbels had committed suicide long
before the trials began.
However, Hermann Goring, the commander of the
Luftwaffe; Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s former deputy and other
high ranking Nazi leaders remained to face the
charges.
Hess was found guilty and sentenced to life in
prison.
Goring received a death sentence, but committed
suicide before he faced the executioner.
Ten other Nazi leaders were hanged on October 16,
1946.
Hans Frank, the “Slayer of Poles,” was the ONLY
Nazi to express remorse.
The bodies of those that were executed were
burned in the concentration camp of Dachau.
They were cremated in the same ovens that
had burned many of their victims.
Postwar Japan
2 million lives had been lost
Major cities: Tokyo, largely destroyed and
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were turned into
wastelands by the atomic bombs
General Douglas MacArthur took charge of the U.S.
occupation of Japan.
He wanted to be fair and not plant seeds for a
future war.
He began a process of demilitarization
(disbanding the Japanese armed forces).
He left a small police force.
MacArthur brought war criminals to trial.
Out of 25 surviving defendants, former Premier
Hideki Tojo and 6 others were condemned to
hang.
MacArthur then worked on democratization, the
process of creating a government elected by
the people. In February 1946, he and his
American political advisors drew up a
constitution changing the empire into a
constitutional monarchy like that of Great
Britain.
MacArthur also helped the economy, his plan:
Required absentee landlords with huge estates to
sell land to the government. The government
then sold the land to tenant farmers at
reasonable prices.
Occupation Brings Deep Changes
The most important achievement of the
occupation as the new constitution.
Traditionally, Japanese saw their emperor as
divine. He was now had to declare that he was
NOT divine. His power was also reduced. Like the
rule of Great Britain, the Japanese emperor had
become more of a figure head.
The constitution gave the people the power.
A two party house was elected called a Diet.
All citizens over 20, including women, could vote.
The prime minister was chosen by a Diet majority vote.
A constitutional bill of rights protected basic freedoms.
Article 9 stated the Japanese could no longer make war.
They could fight only if attacked.
In September 1951, the United States and 47 nations
signed a formal peace treaty with Japan.
The treaty eventually ended the war.
After the war, enemies became allies but also allies
became enemies. The Soviet Union and the U.S. were
allies and two super powers, however, with different
postwar goals they would generate conflicts that would
shape the modern world for decades.