1945-Present “The world we live in today was formed by the events of World War II and its immediate aftermath”.

“Before we can move forward, we must come to some kind of terms with 1945, with what it represents. A start would be the recognition that 1945, with its devastation, displacement, and horror, was the result not just of a few madmen and their befuddled followers, not just of ‘others,” but of humanity as a whole and of out culture as a whole” (Eksteins, 13).

What is Europe now? A rubble heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground of pestilence and hate” –Winston Churchill

Hiroshima: the pictures they didn’t want anyone to see

“Winners have no shame, no matter how they win” –Machiavelli.

What are examples of contradictions Eksteins is referring to What are examples of contradictions Eksteins is referring to? What are pre-war feelings and attitudes and what are post-war feelings and attitudes? “our historical sense is derived in turn from two directions: from the buildup that were the events of the pre-1945 past, with its inherent notions of agency and cause, and from the confusions of our own end-of-century, end-of-millennium present, with its immediacy and contradiction” (Eksteins, x).

Pre-WWII Build-Up Post WWI effects: introduction of total war/cult of the offensive Russian Revolution Economic Disaster with Great Depression League of Nations Rise of dictators and fascist states Dissatisfied Germany

“Europe After the Rain” –Max Ernst

Inter-War Period Europe 1919-1929

The Effect of the Depression in Europe: The World Economy was in collapse: starting with the Great Depression in the US—steel and iron prices fell after demand for tanks and artillery plunged, overproduction of oil and hydroelectricity caused the price of coal to fall, industrial jobs beginning to disappear, European agriculture-especially in Eastern Europe—was in a depressed state before the Crash of 1929. This lower farm incomes aggravated by burden of taxation, reduced demand for manufactured goods. Further, wartime loans and post-war debts made the finances of the larger powers more interdependent and helped de-stablize the international economy.

“a radically new government, based on socialism and one-party dictatorship, came to power in a great European state, maintained power, and eagerly encouraged worldwide revolution.”

The Rise The Rise of Dictators!

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) Originally a Marxist. By 1909 he was convinced that a national rather than an international revolution was necessary. In 1922, Mussolini was the first dictator to take power in Europe. Followed by all the Eastern European and Balkan states who became dictatorships in the 1920s and 1930s with the exception of Czechloslovakia. Hitler became chancelor of German, leading the National Socialist Party (Nazi) in 1933. Fascist Ideology celebrates the nation of the race as an organic community transcending all other loyalties and relies on powerful nationalism. Exclusively male dominated, this form of government intertwines with religion (as a way to manipulate public opinion, its symbology, and mythology) as it seeks to forcibly subordinate all aspects of society to its vision of organic community, accepts the tenets of Social Darwinism, and uses organized violence to suppress opposition. Thus the individual has no significance except as a member of the state

Mussolini Was Hitler’s Role Model

Inter-War Years: Conflict and Cooperation “Rendevous” Hitler to Stalin: “The scum of the Earth, I believe” Stalin to Hitler: “the bloody assassin of the workers I presume? As Thomas Mann wrote about the mood of despair prevalent among European intellectuals post Great War, “For us in old Europe, everything has died that was good and unique to us. Our admirable rationality has become madness, our gold is paper, our machines can only shoot and explode, our art is suicide; we are going under, friends.” Dark clouds of political instability, economic turmoil, and international tension descended on Europe pre-World War II.

Road to WWII Treaty of Versailles Great Depression Russian Revolution http://www.worldology.com/Europe/europe_history_md.htm By far, the most destructive aftershock of World War I was World War II, coming a mere 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles.  While the rise of the Nazis in Germany in the 1930's generally took center stage, events elsewhere, some of them as far away as East Asia, also contributed to the outbreak of war.  Three main factors, all resulting from World War I, would lead to war: the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, and the Russian Revolution. Treaty of Versailles Along with leading to the rise of the Nazis, the Treaty of Versailles had quite different results on France's and Britain's relations with Germany and each other. Just as they had been too eager to go to war in 1914, now they were overly cautious and willing to appease aggressors in order to avoid a war.  Unfortunately, dictators such as Hitler thrived on such weakness and announced Germany’s rearmament in 1935 (they had been doing so secretly for years).  Just as the lesson of 1914 was that too much aggression can lead to war, the lesson of 1939 would be that war can just as easily result from appeasement and giving in to aggression. The Depression and the Far East (1931-41) The Depression also had unsettling effects outside of Germany– and was a catalyst for the joining of nations: Warsaw Pact (known as the Axis later) to counter NATO (became the Entente) The Russian Revolution and Soviet Union That leaves Russia, the other big power that should have been opposed to the Fascists.  Unfortunately, relations with the Western powers were poisoned by bitterness over Allied intervention during the Russian Civil War and the deep ideological differences between capitalism and communism.  As a result, there was no concerted action between Russia and the West against Fascist aggression. All these factors, the disunity between France and Britain, Russian hatred and distrust of the West, and the unchecked aggression of Japan in the East combined to expose the weakness and disunity of the former alliance against Germany. The cycle of aggression and the road to war in the 1930's As a result, the weakening of the old alliance triggered a vicious cycle of encouraging Fascist aggression which the Western democracies failed to react to, thus causing more aggression, and so on.  This pattern was sadly played out several times in the 1930's before the West finally took its stand. It started in 1935 when Hitler announced that Germany was going to rearm itself in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles.  (Actually he had been secretly expanding German forces since 1933.) He justified this with the principle of national self-determination, Britain and France did nothing to stop him.  Ethiopia fell to Italy and Mussolini. In 1936 Hitler defied the Treaty of Versailles again by moving German forces back into the Rhineland, the demilitarized part of Germany.  Hitler, further encouraged in his contempt for the Western democracies, next moved on to an even bolder objective: the Anschluss (unification) of Austria with Germany.  Austria became part of Germany in 1938 whether the Austrians liked it or not. The next target of Nazi aggression was the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia with a large German population along with much of the country's industry and defensive fortifications.  Raising the cry of national self-determination once again, Hitler threatened war with anyone who got in his way.  A conference between Britain, France, Italy, and Germany met at Munich where the Fascist dictators bullied and persuaded France and Britain to agree to the Nazi takeover of the Sudetenland.  Convinced, or at least wanting to believe, that this was all Hitler wanted and that he also wanted peace, they gave in to him once more, without even consulting their Czech allies.  They figured this was all Hitler wanted. In March 1939, Hitler swallowed up the rest of Czechoslovakia without French or British resistance. Stalin was convinced that France and Britain would do nothing to stop any further Nazi aggression in Eastern Europe.  Therefore, he signed a pact with Hitler (August, 1939) that would carve up Poland between them. On September 1, 1939, believing Britain and France would do nothing to stop him, Hitler invaded Poland.  Two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany. A mere twenty years after the end of the First World War, the Second World War had begun.

Picasso’s “Guernica”

http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/etc/20/FC135

WWII and its effects World Politics Transformed Chaos in Europe “WWII was the deadliest, most destructive war in history” -- Scholastic World Politics Transformed Chaos in Europe Cold War (New Super Powers) Division of Germany Economic Recovery in Europe Schuman Plan on European Unity Decolonization-rise of new nations in Africa, identity in Middle East

http://www.flowofhistory.com/node/796

Unification and Fragmentation Post-War Era Unification and Fragmentation: Devastation of WWII led to the dawn of nuclear age, nationalized industries and collectivization of agriculture, Berlin remained divided, signs of poverty in every country, relative peace led to baby boom (especially in US), emergence of the welfare state, economic growth in Western Europe, poltical change in Greece, Spain and Portugal (repressive dictatorships gave way to Parliamentary systems), Gorbachev as head of SU initiated a bold seried of economic and political reforms (glastnost and perestroika) as a way to try to maintain communism but eliminate its authoritarians nature, in former communist states the challenges of achieving democratic rule and the ethnic and religionus complexities that existed in these states contribute to a struggle with national identity and entrance into the successful market economy, on the other hand-- economic cooperation among Western European states, globalization of the world economy, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Balkan states moved west, and finally the specter of increased terrorism across the globe has left an uneasy feeling for the future. Unification and Fragmentation

Post WWII had two important outcomes: Origins of the Cold War Post WWII had two important outcomes: Emergence of two superpowers: US and Soviet Union These two powers’ national interests and ideologies were fundamentally incompatible Two superpowers emerge—the United States and the Soviet Union. They are divided by national interests, ideologies, and mutual misperceptions. These divisions are projected into different geographic areas. A series of crises occurs—Berlin blockade (1948-49), Korean War (1950-1953), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Vietnam War (1965-73), Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979).

Cold War 1947-1989

Fall of Soviet Union Questions we will be thinking about: Was Western power and policy responsible for the Soviet demise? Did the West’s preparations for war or its strong alliance system force the Soviet Union into submission? OR Did events within the Soviet Union itself lead to its downfall: Was it that communism was an impractical economic structure? Or the failure of the Soviet bureaucratic system?

Key Developments in the Post-Cold War Era: New World Order Key Developments in the Post-Cold War Era: -Changes are made in Soviet/Russian foreign policy with the withdrawals from Afghanistan and Angola in the late 1980s as monitored by the UN -Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and multilateral response unite the former Cold War adversaries -Glasnost and perestroika continue in Russia as reorganized in 1992-1993 -the former Yugoslavia disintegrates into independent states; civil war ensues in Bosnia and Kosovo, leading to U.N., NATO actions -Widespread ethnic conflict arises in central and western Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent -Al Qaeda terrorist network commits terrorist acts against the homeland of the US and their interests -Terrorist attacks occur in Saudi Arabia, Spain, Great Britain, and the US

Global Networks and the Economy Market economy Nation state in global age (common market to EU) East Joins West Redefining the West: Radical Islam meets West--Problems of Immigration

Human rights around the world remains a European concern more than 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Watch. Genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, starvation in Ethiopia, massacres in the Darfur region of Sudan, and explosive situation in the Middle East have also been the focus of human rights groups—just as the EU has now entered that conversation and has made support of human rights one of its priorities. The EU has brought a single market to much of Europe and will continue to expand—though how much that is uncertain. Moreover, arguably the most important success of the EU has been to make war between member states unlikely. But “when will Europe end?”