1. PRELUDE TO THE COLD WAR
Both Germany and Japan were decimated by the war
The Potsdam Conference was held by the Allies in Potsdam, Germany to work out the details of their joint occupation of Germany.
The British, French and US divided up the Western side
The USSR occupied the Eastern and rural part
Berlin, in the Soviet zone, was divided likewise
Austria was also divided up

3. Soviet Actions that Caused Tensions
German Occupation
Agree to crush the Nazi Party
Re-establish local governance
Rebuild industry
Repatriate German Refugees
Soviet Actions that Caused Tensions
The Soviets demanded that Poland be given German territory won in the war
They also wanted reparations from Germany
The Soviets had absorbed the countries between them and Germany

4. The Occupation of Japan From 1945 to 1952
Emperor Hirohito was confined to his palace and had no power
Several million Japanese troops were demobilized
Democracy in Japan
In 1947 a new democratic Constitution was adopted:
Voting rights to women
Freedom of Religion
Abolished the army and navy- forever
Land redistribution and unions were legal
Broke up the “zaibatsu”- huge corporations run by single families- Japan made a huge recovery

5. The United Nations *The number 1 goal of the UN is world peace*
April nations met in San Francisco to draw up the charter
General Assembly- includes all member nations- deals with day -to -day stuff
Security Council- 15 nations, 5 permanent with veto power over the general assembly. The SC deals with military and political problems- US,GB, USSR, France, China
The US overwhelmingly joined in October of 1945 and Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the US’s first delegates
Many critics thought the UN would fail because of lack of enforcement powers