Transcript Results of World War II 1939-1945

Results of
World War II
1939-1945
Political
1. The United Nations
• April 1945, delegates from 50 countries met
in San Francisco and drafted a charter for
the United Nations.
• Unlike the League of Nations, the Senate
overwhelmingly approved the charter on
July 28, 1945.
2. Polarization of the World
• In what became known as the Truman
Doctrine (1947), President Truman asked
Congress for $400 million to protect Turkey
and Greece from communist pressures.
• The Truman Doctrine may have simplified
the situation in Greece and Turkey as well
as dividing the world into pro-Soviet and
pro-American mentalities leading into the
Cold War.
3. Controls on Civil Liberties
• The Smith Act of 1940 made it illegal to advocate
or teach the overthrow of the government by force
or to belong to an organization with this objective.
• McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 (vetoed by
Truman, passed by Congress) 1) Made it illegal to
support establishment of a totalitarian government
2) Restricted employment and movement of
members of Communist organizations 3)
Authorized the creation of detention camps for
“subversives”.
3. Controls on Civil Liberties Cont.
• The Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) established 1939 and sought to find
Communists in America, especially in
Hollywood.
• The American Civil Liberties Union and
others opposed these security measures and
argued the First Amendment protected free
expression of political views.
4. Four Terms For FDR
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first
and only president to break the two- term
policy set by George Washington in the
election of 1940.
• He was elected to a fourth term in the
election of 1944, and died on April 12,
1945.
• The 22nd Amendment (1951) limited a
president to two terms only.
5. The End of Isolationism
• After seeing the results of isolationism
following WWI that led to WWII the
Untied States decided to take an active role
in foreign policy.
• The United Nations (1945)
• NATO (1949) was a military defense pact to
protect Western Europe
6. Expansion of Presidential Power
• Roosevelt’s leadership in domestic affairs
like the New Deal as well as foreign affairs
in the conferences at Tehran and Yalta made
the office of president more active and
assertive.
7. Foreign Aid
• The Marshall Plan (1947) proposed by Sec.
of Sate George Marshall provided a joint
plan of economic recovery for Europe
funded by the United States ($12.5million).
The Soviets did not join. The Marshall Plan
was a success in reviving Europe’s postwar
economy.
8. Defeated Powers Occupation
• Germany was divided into four military zones
each one controlled by one of the Big Four powers.
The Soviets controlled East Germany and then cut
off supplies from Berlin while the US airlifted
supplies for nearly a year to the desperate
Berliners.
• Reconstruction in Japan was led by General
MacArthur who was very popular and Japan later
passed a constitution with a Western style
democracy that greatly aided it’s recovery.
Occupation ended in 1951.
MacArthur at Atsugi
9. Territorial Changes
• Pre-WWII, Europe had been occupied by the
Germans and after the empire had been greatly
reduced. However, the Soviet empire was on the
rise.
• The Philippines became independent in 1946.
• Israel was created in the British mandate territory
of Palestine in 1948 by Truman even though it was
opposed by the Arabs, State and Defense
departments, and European Allies.
10. Cold War
• The Cold War lasted from the 1940s to 1991, the
end of the Soviet Union and some say started
with the foreign policies of Truman.
• It was made worse when 1) NATO was formed
and conversely, the Soviets created the Warsaw
Pact. 2) The arms race began when the Soviets
created their first atomic bomb in 1949. 3)The
satellite Sputnik was launched, starting the
space race.
11. Nuremburg Trials
• The Nuremburg Trials
(1945-1946) conducted
by the Allies against
Nazi officers. 12 were
executed, seven
sentenced to long jail
terms.
Social
1. Casualties
• Approximately
300,000 Americans
died in WWII, 800,000
wounded-more than
any other US war
combined (excluding
Civil War).
• Approximately 50
million worldwide
died.
2. Displaced Persons
• 15 million troops returned
to the US following the
end of the war. The
Servicemen’s
Readjustment Act of 1944
(GI Bill of Rights)
provided education and
employment opportunities
to men and women
veterans.
3. Impact on Colonial People
• The Philippines
became independent
on July 4th 1946
following an act passed
by Congress in 1934
but the US still
controlled air and
naval bases.
4. African Americans
• 1 million African
Americans fought in the
war, however segregation
was present in the military
too.
• Membership in the
NAACP increased during
the war.
• The Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE) was
formed in 1942.
5. Japanese
• 20,000 Japanese
Americans served in the
military.
• In 1942 100,000 Japanese
Americans were forced to
live in internment camps.
In 1988 the government
admitted an injustice had
been done and
compensated those still
alive.
6. Women
• Over 200,00 women
served in the military
in noncombatant jobs.
• 5 million women
entered the workforce
doing jobs normally
done for men, this
changed the traditional
view of women’s roles
in society.
7. Demographic Shifts
• 1.5 million African Americans left the South
to find jobs in the North and West. However,
some race riots occurred in New York and
Detroit in 1943.
• “White flight” became the term for when
African Americans would move into an area
and whites would move out of it.
Economic
1. New Weapons
• The atomic bomb is
the most notable new
weapon of WWII.
• New advances were
made in all areas from
transportation to
aircraft.
2. Expansion of Government Powers
• The National Security Act of 1947 created
1) a centralized Department of Defense
(replacing the War Department) to
coordinate the Army, Navy and Air Force
2) creation of the National Security Council
to coordinate foreign policy in the Cold War
3) the creation of the CIA to use spies for
getting information from other countries.
3. Boom for Business
• Many feared the post war economy would
drop, however that was far from what
happened.
• The economic post war boom lasted until
1970 in which the national income doubled
in the 1950s and doubled again in the 1960s.
4. Huge Cost of War
• The war cost $320 billion, ten times the cost
of WWI.
• The national debt was $250 billion, five
times what it was in 1941.
6. Property and Ecological Damage
7. Atomic Power
• The Manhattan
Project was the top
secret development of
the atomic bomb led
by physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer. It
employed over
100,000 people and
spent $2 billion to
create.
Hiroshima Before A- Bomb
Hiroshima After A-Bomb
8. Military Industrial Complex
"In the councils of government, we must
guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military industrial complex. The potential for
the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and
will persist.”- Eisenhower’s Farewell Address,
1961
Defined as a "coalition consisting of the
military and industrialists who profit by
manufacturing arms and selling them to the
government."
The
End