Transcript World War II and Its Aftermath, 1931-1949

World War II and Its Aftermath,
1931-1949
The West
CHAPTER 26
An Uneasy Peace
• 1918 peace settlements failed
• Fostered political instability in central and
eastern Europe
• League of Nations proved too weak to serve
as the basis for a new world order
• Persistence of a framework of alliances
within Europe
• Created resentment in Italy and Japan
The 1930s: Prelude to World
War II
• The Great Depression heightened international
instability
• Increased economic nationalism and territorial
expansion
• Japan, Italy and Germany pursued policies of
militarization and imperial conquest
• German invasion of Poland prompted declaration
of war by France and Britain, September 3, 1939
Evaluating Appeasement
• Britain assumed the initiative to respond to Nazi
aggression with a policy of appeasement negotiation and conciliation
• Belief that many German grievances were
legitimate
• Desire to strengthen Germany against the Soviet
Union
• Belief that resolving legitimate German grievances
would weaken Nazi appeal
A New Kind of Warfare
• Technological and tactical advances in offensive
warfare, since WWI
• Use of air force and tanks to break swiftly through
defensive lines
• Blitzkrieg - by June 1940, Germany, with its allies
and satellites, controlled most of continental
Europe
• British won the air war over Britain, preventing
German land invasion
The Invasion of the Soviet
Union
• Economic considerations caused by Italian
military weakness delayed the invasion
• German invasion was initially very successful,
June-October 1941
• German supply and communication lines became
overstretched
• Soviet resistance and industrial output increased
• Onset of the Russian winter proved fatal
The Globalization of the War
• Britain depended on manpower and resources
from colonies and the Commonwealth to survive
• The US, officially neutral, supplied both Britain
and the Soviets, against Germany
• Japanese occupation of much of South East Asia
and the Pacific
• December 1941 - US entered the war against
Japan and Germany
From Allied Defeat to Allied
Victory
• American and Soviet industrial supremacy pushed
the balance in the Allies’ favor
• Crucial defeats of Japan, at Midway, and of
Germany, at Stalingrad
• Allied offensive began to push back German
gains, in Europe, and Japanese gains, in the
Pacific
• May 7 1945 - Germany surrendered
• August 15 1945 - Japan surrendered
The Other Wars
• Formation of resistance and guerilla groups,
against German occupation in Europe
• German savagery against such resistance deterred
all but a minority
• Divisions, often between communists and anticommunists, weakened resistance
• In Yugoslavia, German occupation and resistance
activities led to a bloody civil war along ethnic
and ideological lines
The Home Fronts
• Targeting of civilian areas by bombing
raids, on both sides, led to huge noncombatant casualties
• Nazi racial ideology shaped the experience
of occupation - extreme brutality in Eastern
Europe
• Use of forced, foreign labor in Germany
cushioned civilian morale
Women’s Work
• In Britain and the Soviet Union, women were fully
mobilized into the war effort
• Women fought in resistance movements and in the
Soviet Army
• Nazi ideology and use of forced labor prevented
female mobilization, until 1944
• In the US, gender distinctions and the separation
between soldiers and civilians were maintained
What Are We Fighting For?
• Institutionalized propaganda by governments in all
combatant nations
• Enlistment of artists, musicians, film and mass
media to build morale and contribute to national
myths
• Emergence of a political consensus on the need for
social democracy in Europe
• Resistance to German rule enhanced the role of
the individual in modern society
Devastation, Death and
Continuing War
• Ca. 55 million people died in Europe,
during WWII
• Europe was physically and economically
devastated
• Refugees and forced deportations changed
the ethnic map of Europe
• Continued warfare in Eastern Europe over
ethnic and ideological divisions
Imperial Encounters
• After WWII, nationalist movements across Asia
resisted the reimposition of imperial government
• Economic pressure forced Britain to dramatically
reduce its empire
• Proclamation of the state of Israel, 1948, led to
Arab-Israeli conflict
• Independence of India led to bloody conflicts
among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs
From Hot to Cold War:
Fraying Seams, 1943-1945
• Clashing interests and aims between the Allies
even before the war’s end
• US sought to establish a new global order, based
upon international organizations and cooperation establishment of the UN, the IMF, and the World
Bank
• Yalta Conference, 1945 - guaranteed Soviet
influence over Eastern Europe, and divided
Germany and Berlin
From Hot to Cold War: Torn in
Two, 1945-1949
• Potsdam Conference, 1946 - division
between Allies over treatment of Germany
• Truman Doctrine, 1947 - policy of actively
containing communist expansion
• Marshall Plan, 1947 - US underwrote the
economic reconstruction of Western Europe
• April, 1949 - Formation of NATO
• 1949-1955 - Formation of the Warsaw Pact
The New Europe, the New West
• Reshaped the dominant idea of the West into a
commitment to democratic processes and values
• Division of Europe into two hostile, military blocs
• Geographical redefinition of the West, as the US
and its allies
• Beginning of the end of European imperial power