E FFECTS OF THE W AR 24.5

O BJECTIVES Evaluate the goals that Allied leaders set for the postwar world. Describe the steps that the United States and other nations took toward international cooperation. Explain the impact of World War II on the postwar United States.

K EY P ARTS Allies Set Postwar Goals A New World Takes Shape International Cooperation A New American Identity.

I NTRODUCTION Read Section 24.5 Answer Critical Thinking Questions 4&5.

A LLIES S ET P OSTWAR G OALS World War II was a fight to the very end, German and Japan forces took defeat after defeat knowing that they were going to lose the war. As the war ended and the defeat of the Japanese and Germans was certain Allies began making postwar plans. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta on the Black Sea in February 1945 to discuss final strategy and crucial questions concerning postwar Germany, eastern Europe and Japan.

C ONT. This gathering was called the Yalta Conference. The Big Three agreed that Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania would hold free elections. The Big Three met again in Berlin in July 1945 but the attendants were different. Truman represented the US because of FDR’s death and Clement Altee took over for Churchill as Prime Minister.

C ONT.. At the conference the Big Three formalized the decision to divide Germany into four zones of occupation: Soviet, American, British, and French. Also that the Soviets could collect reparations for War damage of the area of Germany that they controlled. Also Stalin reaffirmed his Yalta pledge to enter the war against Japan.

A N EW W ORLD T AKES S HAPE World War II altered the political realities of the world. The Soviet Union led to the division of Germany into two countries: communist East Germany and non communist West Germany. Nearly all the nations of Eastern Europe became communist states under Soviet control.

C ONT. Also in China a long standing civil war between Nationalists and communists resumed. Also in Japan General Douglas MacArthur headed an American military occupation and supervised the writing of a new constitution in Japan that abolished its armed forces except for purposes of defence.

C ONT.. Since the 1500s nations such as Britain, France, and Spain had exerted paramount influence on global developments and stood at the forefront of world military power. All of the British and French colonies were pretty much lost after the war, causing major economic issues for both. The balance of World Power begins to shift now to the United States.

C ONT … At the end of the war the United States and the Soviet Union became the two world superpowers. Of the two the United States was clearly the stronger of the two. The United States had superior industry, a powerful military, and confidence, and the atomic bomb. The Soviet Union still had control of a large portion of Europe, and the World’s largest Army.

I NTERNATIONAL C OOPERATION At the end of WWII Americans were ready to embrace the idea of world organizations. The United States took on major responsibilities in shaping the postwar world economy. In 1944 the United States pushed for the establishment of a World Bank, and provided much of the capital needed to stabilize it.

C ONT. The bank was designed to foster economic and financial stability. The United States also signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), this was used to lower tariffs to increase global trade. One of the most important decisions made was the establishment of the United Nations.

C ONT.. The United Nations Headquarters was in New York City, and the organization was based on the five Great Powers; United States, Soviet Union, China, Britain, and France. Over the next decades the UN aided the move away from colonialism and helped create the Jewish state of Israel, mediated regional conflicts, and provided food and other aid to much of the world.

C ONT … In the effort to creat a better world the Allies did not forget to punish the people who had caused so much destruction and death. During the war the Axis Powers had repeatedly violated the Geneva Convention, the international agreement governing the humane treatment of wounded soldiers and prisoners of war.

C ONT …. The Allies tried more than one thousand Japanese citizens for committing the crimes and were condemned to death. Also the Nuremberg Trials were the ones were the Allies prosecuted the Nazis for war crimes, the trial put a glaring spotlight on everyone involved in the atrocity of the Holocaust and hung most all of them.

A N EW A MERICAN I DENTITY A new American identity rose from the ashes of World War II. During the war millions of Americans followed the war closely and began to think in global terms. World War II ended the Great Depression and ushered in the decades of economic growth. It also redistributed wealth across the country.