Transcript WORLD WAR II FROM THE SOVIET PERSPECTIVE

APWH
Chapter 36
New Conflagrations:
World War II and the Cold War
Periodization 6: “Accelerating Global Change and Realignments”
– c. 1900 to the present (Chapters 33-38)
THE CHAPTER IN PERSPECTIVE
• From the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 to the
dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in the late summer of 1945, the people of the
world suffered through fourteen years of horrible war
and devastating deprivation. To an even greater extent
than the Great War, the World War II was truly a global
conflict. Unfortunately, the number of dead and
wounded would also be much greater in the second
confrontation. Civilians also suffered to a much greater
extent.
THE CHAPTER IN PERSPECTIVE
• Relations between imperialist nations and their colonies
were strained, finally, to the breaking point. Gender
relations were transformed once again by international
warfare. To the horror of many, the end of World War II
led directly into the uncertainty of the cold war and the
ever-present nightmare of the atomic age. The United
States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies
faced off in a fundamental struggle to shape the postwar
world. It was a contest based on power politics,
competing social and economic systems, and differing
political ideologies that lasted over fifty years and
touched every corner of the globe.
THEMES
• Between 1931 and 1945, a global struggle occurred
between revisionist powers, who sought to revise or
reorder the global structure established after the end of
World War I, and those powers who sought to preserve
and maintain the status quo. Conflict between these two
positions led to all-out war by 1931 between Japan and
China, a conflict that became global by1941, with two
opposing alliances, the Axis and Allied powers, engaged
in a total struggle for global dominance. Characteristics
of the conflict included notions of racial superiority that
motivated brutal warfare and occupation campaigns
directed against civilians, who died in far higher
numbers than did combatants.
THEMES
• Unprecedented demands led to the rapid expansion of
state power and authority over all areas of society, as
each side pressed its peoples for ever greater levels of
sacrifice and commitment in pursuit of victory. Women
and minority groups experienced immense challenges
and suffering throughout the war, either as recruits into
the armed forces or munitions industries, or as targets of
state-directed policies of genocide and sexual
domination. Despite these challenges and privations,
and the temporary nature of women’s economic
empowerment, the human spirit endured.
THEMES (continued)
• Ultimately World War II became a war of numbers, as
the greater resources of continental states such as the
United States and the Soviet Union proved too much for
the smaller Axis powers. These two nations would
emerge as superpowers after the conflict, and their
competition for control of global resources and
ideological supremacy would generate the decades-long
standoff known as the cold war. This rivalry gave rise to
a new set of global relationships and encouraged the
formation of military and political alliances.
THEMES (continued)
• The cold war encouraged military confrontation by
proxy, particularly as local conflicts became integrated
into the wider bipolar struggle. Korea and Cuba are the
most obvious examples of these proxy wars. By the late
1960s, however, despite challenges to their authority
from both allies and enemies, the U.S. and Soviet Union
entered into a period of détente, prompting a new spirit
of cooperation.
SOURCES
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
• http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/papers/coprospr.htm
• http://brian.hoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu/HST263/20.WorldWarII.html
World War II
• http://www.history.com/content/worldwartwo (World War II by the History
Channel)
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW.htm (Second World War --by category)
• http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/ (Archival Material)
• http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/wwii.asp (Documents)
• http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm (Timeline)
• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/w2frm.htm (Eyewitness Accounts)
• http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govinfo/collections/wwii-posters/
(Propaganda Posters)
• http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ww2.htm (a plethora of links)
• http://www.fsu.edu/~ww2/ (The Institute on WWII and the Human Experience)
• http://www.ushmm.org/ (The Smithsonian’s Holocaust Museum)
• http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=WR26 (The National Archives –
WWII Documents)
• http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/ (PBS’s The Perilous Fight: America’s WWII in
Color)
SOURCES
Truman Doctrine
• http://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/doctrine.htm
• http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/harrystrumantrumandoctrine.html
• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=81
Marshall Plan
• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=82
• http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/marshall/
• http://www.hpol.org/marshall/
Soviet Council for Mutual Economic Aid (COMECON)
• http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/germany_east/gx_appnb.html
• http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=206630
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=217811
• http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cwr/102468.htm
Warsaw Pact
• http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=225503
• http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/soviet_union/su_appnc.html
SOURCES
The Cold War
• http://www.coldwar.org/
• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/coldwar.htm
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ColdWar.htm
http://www.archives.gov/research/cold-war/
• http://www.thecorner.org/hist/europe/coldwar.htm
• http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/coldwar.html
• http://www.wilsoncenter.org/coldwarfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.flash
• http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=topics.home&topic_id=1409
• http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/coldwar.htm
• http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/The+Cold+War.ht
m
WORLD WAR II FROM THE SOVIET
PERSPECTIVE
• Approaching the war and its aftermath from the Soviet
perspective gives a fresh and invigorating feel to the topic.
The role of the Soviet Union in the interwar years, during
World War II, and in the early stages of the cold war, is a
topic that really needs to be discussed. Even now, in the
years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many
people are still operating within the framework of a
definite cold war mentality. Granted, the Soviets were as
guilty as the United States, if not more so, of generating
propaganda that reduced the international economic and
political world into a struggle of good versus evil.
WORLD WAR II FROM THE SOVIET
PERSPECTIVE (continued)
• To make the situation even more complicated, the
American propagandistic portrayal of Stalin alternated
radically in the years before and after World War II. The
fact that Stalin could be Time Magazine’s “Man of the
Year” twice (in 1939 and 1942) speaks volumes about the
confused image presented in the United States. It is
important to understand the extraordinary Soviet sacrifice
and loss of life in World War II and the Allies’ belated
moves to open a second front in Europe if you are going to
comprehend both the nature of World War II and the
Russian paranoia that played such a role in the origins of
the cold war.
THE GRAND ALLIANCE AND THE
WIDENING GULF BETWEEN THE U.S.
AND THE SOVIET UNION
• It is important to make sure to understand that many of
the origins of the cold war can be found in the dying days
of World War II. What problems were tearing apart the
Grand Alliance? Was it an alliance doomed from the very
beginning? Did the roots of this split really go back to the
Russian revolution and the Treaty of Versailles?
THE GRAND ALLIANCE AND THE
WIDENING GULF BETWEEN THE U.S.
AND THE SOVIET UNION (continued)
• A couple of quotes can help us gain an appreciation of the
delicate nature of the Grand Alliance and the widening
gulf between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Winston Churchill’s great quote about saying something
nice about the devil in the House of Commons if Hitler
invaded Hell helps to show the students what a marriage
of convenience the alliance was in the first place. Finally,
as Hitler waited out the end in the bunker in Berlin, he
pointed out in his last political musings that the United
States and the Soviet Union would come out of the war as
superpowers and thus be driven by historical forces to a
trial of strength.
THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
• It is almost impossible to over-emphasize the scope and
scale of World War II. Many people only focus on Europe
and the Nazis. While these topics certainly deserve
attention, the war in the Pacific should not be overlooked.
It was, if anything, more brutally racist on both sides than
were the European conflicts. All too often, people see the
attack on Pearl Harbor as merely senseless and
unprovoked without understanding the background.
• Explore the reasons for and development of the Japanese
drive to dominate Asia and the Pacific can be
an enlightening topic—especially when framed in the
context of European and American imperialist aspirations
and practices.
THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC (continued)
• Re-examining the Meiji restoration and the rise of
militarism in Japan before moving on to the long-standing
conflicts between the Japanese and the western powers
over China and the rest of Asia. While it cannot excuse
them, this might help you understand actions like Pearl
Harbor and the Rape of Nanjing, as well as clarifying why
the war in the Pacific took on the harsh racial overtones
that led to the Bataan Death March and the internment of
Japanese-Americans. A source like John Dower’s War
Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War is a
good place to start, for it shows that racist ideas shaped
both sides’ perceptions of the conflict.
THE EMERGENCE OF GENOCIDAL
POLICIES AND ACTIONS
• The emergence of genocidal policies and actions
during World War II is a harrowing but
necessary topic. Examine the various historical
arguments behind Nazi Germany’s and imperial
Japan’s occupation policies in China and
European Russia, and then in a comparative way
chart the course of the development of these
policies during the war.
THE EMERGENCE OF GENOCIDAL
POLICIES AND ACTIONS (continued)
• Much historiographical debate still surrounds
these issues, but it is important to emphasize to
students that both policies emerged (at least
partially) gradually, in response to contingent
circumstances, rather than part of some grand
nefarious scheme. Thinking about the “final
solution” or Japanese actions in China in this
way also helps students understand why
genocide has become increasingly prevalent in
world history since World War II.
THE DECISION TO DROP THE ATOMIC
BOMB AND WORLD REACTION
• The decision to drop the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an important, if
unpleasant, topic. Certainly the Japanese,
especially in the infamous Rape of Nanjing, had
been guilty of unspeakable atrocities. The war in
the Pacific was brutal and racist on all sides.
Still, it is important for people, especially
Americans, to grapple with this issue.
THE DECISION TO DROP THE ATOMIC
BOMB AND WORLD REACTION (cont.)
• Most Americans don’t understand that the
United States, even today, is associated with this
event in the minds of millions of people around
the world. First, ask yourself why the bomb was
dropped in the first place. What were the
obvious reasons? After Okinawa, what were the
military concerns? Could the bomb have been
meant as a display for someone else’s benefit?
Were there other reasons that dealt far more
with hate and revenge than national policy?
THE DECISION TO DROP THE ATOMIC
BOMB AND WORLD REACTION (cont.)
• Second, consider the issue of world reaction to
the atomic bombing. Start by looking at this line
from the Hermann Hagedorn poem The Bomb
That Fell on America, “The bomb that fell on
Hiroshima fell on America too.” What did
Hagedorn mean by that line? Why does the
legacy of that decision still haunt the United
States today? The Crazy Iris and Other Stories
of the Atomic Aftermath collection, edited by
Kenzaburo Oe, would make a great supplement,
as does Hiroshima by John Hershey.
THE HOLOCAUST
• No subject is more likely to profoundly move
students of history than a discussion of the
Holocaust. There are many great sources: from
books such as Elie Wiesel’s Night and Art
Spiegelman’s Maus to films such as Schindler’s
List and Sophie’s Choice (both also great books).
• How are human beings capable of such hate and
of committing such atrocities? What does the
Holocaust say about the balance of good and evil
in human nature? Why didn’t anyone do
something to stop this tragedy?
THE HOLOCAUST (continued)
• Walter Laqueur’s The Terrible Secret is a great
source. Rather than looking at it as a mere
recounting of horror stories, instead, center on
the more profound implications of this dark
chapter in human history.
• The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
maintains an excellent website that includes
tools and suggestions for educators on
this topic: http://www.ushmm.org.
ACTIONS AGAINST WOMEN IN
THE WAR
• Actions taken against women during World War II are
also a disturbing but important topic for discussion.
After an examination of the plight of groups of Asian
women forcibly coerced to serve the Japanese military
as “comfort women,” consider why, in the aftermath of
the war, the newly-formed United Nations declared
rape a war crime. What, if anything, does this suggest
about longer-term trends in world history pertaining
to women’s power and status? Has this criminalization
helped deter more recent attacks against women in
places like the Sudan or the Balkans? Why or why not?
THE FILMS OF WORLD WAR II
• If World War I is a great topic of study because of the
wealth of literate and despair-laden letters and poems,
then World War II is equally exciting because of the
mass of films available for viewing.
▫ Nazi propaganda films, ranging from the brilliant and
controversial Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will and
Olympia to the more scurrilous The Wandering Jew and Life
Unworthy of Life, are sure to inspire discussion.
▫ Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series, complete with animation
from Walt Disney, shows the students how Americans made
use of propaganda.
▫ The Battle of Russia from the Why We Fight series is probably
better than 95 percent of the movies ever made.
THE FILMS OF WORLD WAR II (cont.)
▫ The extraordinary Grand Illusion perfectly sums up the
disillusionment and pacifism of the interwar years.
▫ Sections from Charlie Chaplain’s The Great Dictator are
alternately hysterical and horrifying. Consider why Chaplain’s
career was almost destroyed by making the film.
▫ Popular films such as Casablanca, How Proudly We Serve,
North Star, and Mrs. Miniver display the propagandistic role
that Hollywood-type movies played.
▫ The Best Years of Our Lives can show the difficulty of the
soldiers returning from the war and can provide images that
could pertain to almost any veteran coming home from any
war.
THE FILMS OF WORLD WAR II (cont.)
• If you watch one of these movies or a part of one of
these movies, and determine what the message is in
the film. What were the goals of the propagandists?
How successful were they? Do nations still use film to
accomplish the same goals today? All these films, as
well as countless others, give the students something
to think about and allow you an opportunity to alter a
traditional approach.
WAS IT REALLY A “GOOD WAR”?
• More than any other recent conflict, World War
II has been seen as a “good war,” in which good
and evil are easily identified, and the good guys
won. However accurate this perspective may be,
in many ways it has directed our attention away
from some of the more ambivalent effects of the
war, particularly on American society.
WAS IT REALLY A “GOOD WAR”?
(continued)
• Sources like Michael Adams’s The Best War
Ever: America and World War II, challenge this
traditional perspective. Consider: what are the
merits and liabilities of the “good war” approach,
and how does this mythology ideas in general
serve as a source of historical memory?
THE ANXIETY OF THE NUCLEAR
AGE: THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
• It is hard to overstate to people who didn’t live
through it the anxiety of growing up in the
nuclear age. For all the complexity of your own
lives, people who were born during the last
twenty years have never to live through long
stretches with the fear of being vaporized. It
created an otherworldly experience.
THE ANXIETY OF THE NUCLEAR AGE:
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS (CONT.)
• The Cuban missile crisis illustrates a time in
history when the fate of the world was being
determined on a second-by-second basis—and
the world could follow along via radio and
television. Compare your experience with
terrorism to your parents’ or grandparents’
experience in the Cuban missile crisis. In the
worst case scenario, no one in the entire world
stood to benefit (or even survive).
THE ANXIETY OF THE NUCLEAR AGE:
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS (CONT.)
• How would other nations living in the shadow of
the missile crisis view the Americans and Soviets?
How does this help explain the move toward
nonalignment and independence in the rest of the
world? This subject is pertinent because recent
Russian reports indicate that the situation in
Cuba was even more dangerous than the
Americans feared at the time. The notion that
“rogue nations” might be able to hold the world
hostage certainly links back to this crisis.
MENTAL CALISTHENICS
• Explain the relationship between each of the
following pairs in fifty words or less. How does
one lead to or foster the other? Be specific in
your response.
▫
▫
▫
▫
Treaty of Versailles and the Munich Conference
“Asia for Asians” and comfort women
Stalingrad and the Warsaw Pact
Reparations and the Marshall Plan
MENTAL CALISTHENICS
• Explain, in fifty words or less, the relationship
between the following pairs. How does one lead
to or foster the other? Be as specific as possible
in your response.
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Yalta conference and the Berlin Wall
Truman Doctrine and the Hungarian revolution
NATO and the Cuban missile crisis
MAD and sputnik
Domino theory and Joseph McCarthy
MENTAL CALISTHENICS
(continued)
• Pretend that you are a member of a team of
American military advisors sent to South
Vietnam in 1965. Your task is to draft a
resolution to President Lyndon Johnson arguing
that the United States should continue to
support the government of South Vietnam
against the communists of North Vietnam.
Make use of the history of the cold war to
support your argument without going beyond
the relevant time frame.
MENTAL CALISTHENICS
(continued)
• Pretend that you are a student activist in 1967
who opposes American military action in
Vietnam. Your job is to draft a resolution that
argues why the United States should not be
fighting in southeast Asia. Your argument can
include moral and political principles but should
also be based on recent history in the region.