Starting with Europe

 Impact of the War  No greater loss of life in such a short time  Estimates at more than 50 million  Impact on civilians huge  In Europe, only Germany and UK suffered military losses significantly greater than civilian losses

 Impact of the War  More than 20 million displaced  Not only due to fighting  Hitler and Stalin forced removals  Germans driven from Hungary, Romania, Poland after the war  16 million expelled from Central Europe, many died returning west  Suffering continued

 Economic Cost  More devastating than WWI  All over Europe  Aerial bombing destructive  Few cities untouched  Transport and communications disrupted, industry and farmland destroyed  Victors almost as devastated as losers  Food production failed to half of pre-war levels  150 million dependent on food relief  Britain bankrupted and Soviet economy suffering  25 million USSR homeless

 Political Consequences  Boundary changes smaller than after WWI  Slight with exception of Poland  Borders shifted west  New boundaries decided at Yalta, Feb. 45  Potsdam, July 45  No treaty was signed concerning Germany  At Yalta, Germany would be divided up into four occupation zones  Became permanent

 Impact on Japan and Asia  China lost 12 million, Japan 2 million  Japan eliminated as major Asian power  Occupied under MacArthur  Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers assumed more of a supervisory role  Dramatic, democratic reforms  Military and secret police dissolved  Aggressors were purged from office and industry  New constitution, no war clause  Human rights protections as well  Emperor remained, stability

 Treaty of San Francisco  Peace with Japan in 1951  USSR raised objections, refused to sign it  Other Asia nations did not participate  Japan handed over all claims to Taiwan, Sakhalin, Kuriles - Micronesia to the UN, Ryuku and Bonins to the USA, accepted judgments of war crimes courts  Renounced future aggression, no reparations  Became a US military base, promises of defense

 Other Effects of the War

 War Tribunals  Both for Europe and Asia  Nuremberg Tribunal  21 leading Nazis charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity  MacArthur held them in Tokyo  1,000 executed

 United Nations  Similar to League  Peacekeeping force  Found itself marginalized still by superpowers

 Arms Race  Invention of atomic bomb  Became central to Cold War  Development of nuclear weapons the priority  World now existed under threat of total destruction  Deterrents  No direct war ever resulted

 What was the Cold War? Everything.

 Why did the Cold War occur? You tell me.

 In my words…  Re-introduction of the Soviets into the world system  Long-term economic ideological conflict  Each nation seeking influence, markets  Necessary for each system  Center of it was Germany  Inherent fears of the other side  Only two remaining powers  Distrust throughout World War II  Was it the United States or was it the Soviet Union?  Historiography  Was there a winner?

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 Effects of the War on International Relations  Change in balance of power  Exception of Austria, major powers before and after WWI were the same  Situation changed radically after WWII  19 th century structure gone  USA and USSR emerged  Britain and France much weaker  Why?

  The USA’s economy was strengthened by the war. It was able to out-produce all the other powers put together  The USA was committed to more ‘open’ trade; its politicians and businessmen wanted to ensure liberal trade conditions and market competition prevailed. The USA was willing to play an active role in preventing the pre-war pattern of trade-blocs and tariffs re- emerging. The USA now took the lead in international collaboration through the International Monetary Fund and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade  The USA had the economic strength to prevent a return to instability in Europe  The small Eastern European countries that had been created by the Treaty of Versailles were not economically viable on their own; they needed the support of a stronger neighbor; and the USSR could replace Germany Economic Reasons

  To defeat Germany, the USA had acquired the largest air force in the world, with almost 73,000 aircraft. By 1945, it also had 12 million men in the armed forces and more than 70,000 naval vessels. It also possessed the atomic bomb  To defeat Germany, the USSR had acquired the largest land army in the world  France and Britain’s inability to defeat Germany had changed the balance of power. They had become ‘second rank’ powers. Without the USA and the USSR, there was no way that Britain could have defeated Germany on its own  The USSR now lacked any strong military neighbors. This made it a regional power Military Reasons

  For the West, the ideals of democracy and international collaboration had triumphed over fascism. Thus the political system of the USA was the right path for the future  For the USSR, it was communism that had triumphed over fascism, and the Communist Party was given a new lease on life. Indeed, communism had widespread respect in Europe because of its part in resisting the Germans. Many of the earliest resistance movements in occupied Europe had been dominated by the communists, and immediately after war there were strong communist parties in several Western European states. Also, in Asia, communism filled the power vacuum left by the collapse of colonial empires  The USSR’s huge losses and the role of the Red Army in defeating the Nazis gave Stalin a claim to a large role in forming the post-war world  The USSR also had the political and military strength to prevent a return to instability in Eastern Europe. Communism could fill the political vacuum there  Countries Soviets had liberated became one-party puppet regimes by 1948  Had been an agreement that elections would be held Political Reasons

 Impact of the Superpowers  New position for the USA and USSR in 1945  Strong compared to Europe  Became the heart of international relations  Conflict over the direction of post-war world  Clear divide between Eastern and Western Europe  For USA was the end of isolationism  Distrust of Soviet motives  Buildup of military

 Western Europe  Part of Cold War was the intervention of the USA and the USSR in economic recovery of Europe  USA sought to rebuild Western Europe  Marshall Plan  Economic aid program in response to potential communist parties  50s and 60s saw sustained growth  Rise of multi-party states, social progress  Led to defeat of conservative Churchill  Criticized by the Soviets  Led to European Economic Community in 1950s  Major cooperation

 Eastern Europe  Stalin had established control over Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania and Poland  Established one-party rule, dependent on USSR  Nationalization of private enterprise  Soviet-style Five Year Plans  Collectivization

 Eastern Europe  Sought to integrate Eastern European economy with its own weak areas  Established Comecon, Council of Mutual Economic Assistance  Not as much aid, more exploitation  Satellite states must produce what USSR demanded  Not to cooperate with each other  Not the same regeneration as in Western Europe  USSR’s real priority was nuclear weaponry  Soviets enforced it all  Social and ideological controls, e.g. secret police  Censorship of all media  Suppression of religious freedom  Military presence of Soviet troops  Political purges

 The Effect of the War in Europe  Symmetry had developed  Political, economic, military division of the continent  Western bloc under the USA, defended with the Truman Doctrine (containment)  1949 military alliance NATO  Eastern bloc under the USSR, Communist Information Bureau  1955 military alliance Warsaw Pact

 China  Chinese Civil War resumed  Victory of Mao in 1949  Communist China rises, widened the Cold War

 Decolonization  Weakness of Britain and France meant they could not hold on to territories  Nationalist movements in Asia had grown in fighting the Japanese  Key example is Vietnamese  Condemnation of imperialism also a factor

 Cold War Speeches