Transcript Effects of World War II

 Meetings
between leaders of the Allies
during World War II
• Tehran Conference (at the Soviet Embassy in
Tehran, Iran)
• Yalta Conference (in Crimea)
• Potsdam Conference (in Potsdam, Germany)



November 28 to December 1, 1943
“Big-Three” (Stalin, Churchill and
Roosevelt)
Issues discussed
• Decide the direction of World War Two in Europe
(including opening a second front against Axis)
• Entry of the Soviet Union into the war against
Japan
• The possible creation of an international
organization after the war
 February
4-11, 1945
 “Big-Three” (Stalin, Churchill and
Roosevelt)
 Defeat of Nazi Germany was imminent
 Churchill saw a democratic Europe
headed by Britain
 Stalin wanted an increase in Soviet power
and safeguards against further attacks
 Roosevelt saw a world democracy
headed by the U.S.
.
 Germany
would be divided into zones of
occupation
 “Free elections” in liberated countries
 The Soviet frontier would advance westward
 USSR agreed to enter the war against Japan
 Trials would be set for leading war
criminals
 A meeting would be held to establish the
United Nations
July 17-August 2, 1945
 Stalin (USSR), Truman (US) and Churchill
and Clement Attlee (Great Britain)

• Attlee replaced Churchill as Britain’s Prime Minister on
July 26th
 Met
to decide how to administer
punishment to Germany
 The goals of the conference also
included the establishment of post-war
order, peace treaties issues, and
countering the effects of the war.
Truman
said that America had a
weapon of awesome power
Stalin wanted a buffer zone of
friendly countries to prevent attacks
Britain was concerned about a
Soviet presence in Eastern Europe
• Britain was bankrupt
• Many colonies were claiming independence
 USSR
would begin collecting reparations
from its zone of occupation
 Allies agreed to divide Berlin into four
sectors
 Germany was to be “de-Nazified”
 Created Council of Foreign Ministers to
deal with peace settlements
 Poland was ruled by the USSR
 Human costs
• WWII deaths were much higher than WWI
 Territorial changes
• Larger Soviet state
• Migration of millions of people
 Economic changes
• East v. West
 Social Changes
• Women and racial minorities
 International Relations
• Start of the Cold War
Country
Military Deaths
Total Civilian and
Military Deaths
Soviet Union
8,800,000-10,700,000
24,000,000
China
3-4,000,000
20,000,000
Germany
5,533,000
6,600,000-8,800,000
Poland
240,000
5,600,000
Japan
2,120,000
2,600,000-3,100,000
France
217,600
567,600
Italy
301,400
457,000
Austria
261,000
384,700
United Kingdom
383,600
450,700
United States
416,800
418,500
 USSR
increased its borders (taking
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and part of
Poland)
 Germany’s borders decreased and
divided into East and West Germany
 Poland’s borders shifted to the West
 Japan lost its territorial gains
 Korea gained its independence (although
divided into North and South)
Europe
after WWI
Europe after
WWII
US
spent $341 billion (including $50
billion in the Lend-Lease program)
Germany spent $272 billion
USSR spent $192 billion
Great Britain spent $120 billion
Italy spent $94 billion
Japan spent $56 billion
 Damage
to Europe and war zones of Asia
greater than WWI
 More
damage caused by more mobility
and greater air power
 Nearly
all major cities in Europe suffered
damage
 After
1945, intense suffering in Europe
 US remained involved in Europe and
became a major player in helping
Western Europe recover financially
 By 1948, Western European economies
began to revive and by the early 1950s,
Europe was twice as productive as they
were in 1938
 Women
• More women worked during WWII than ever
before
• Women were more financially independent
• Wartime work experience led to post-war
feminist movements and campaigns for equal pay
and rights
 Challenge to Tradition
• Class changes were significant – in Europe the
middle class rose and the aristocracy declined
• Monarchy was ousted in Italy
 Family
Life
• Family life was disrupted by war and roles of
mothers & fathers changed
• Homes were destroyed and people migrated to
new areas or new countries
• Perhaps the scale of the changes to the family
can never been known
 Racism
and Minority Rights
• Holocaust did not end ethnic conflicts
• Working women and soldiers had a larger
experience with the world which led to the
growth of civil rights
• War experience of black Americans led directly
to Executive Order 9981 which desegregated
the U.S. Military
 Cold War
origins started in with
ideological differences and
disagreements during the war and in the
war conferences
 U.S. adopted a policy of “containment” in
the Truman Doctrine (which opposed the
spread of communism)
 USSR was called the “Iron Curtain” by
Churchill
 The
development of atomic weapons had
the most profound effect on the post-war
world
 Between 1945 and 2000, the USSR built
55,000 nuclear warheads and the US built
70,000
 Atomic weapons stopped another world
war because it was too dangerous to start
 War
accelerated the end of the empires
• India given independence by Britain in 1947
which led to the creation of Pakistan
• Britain also withdrew from Palestine in 1948
and a state of Israel was created
• France refused to give up its territories in
Vietnam and in Algeria, but eventually lost
those colonies
 Creation
of the United Nations
 U.S. decided not to take reparations from
the Allies
 Creation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) a political and military
alliance
 Warsaw Pact (Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance
between 8 communist states