Download World War II - The Northwest School

World War II
And how it ended.
The war in Europe ends
• 1944 – Allied forces begin to take the upper hand on
the European Front.
• 1945
- Allies (mostly US troops) take control of
Fascist Italy (parts of Italy were more w/Allies
by then)
- Allies (mostly Soviet and Polish troops) capture
Berlin, the capitol of Germany
- Mussolini is killed; Hitler commits suicide
- Germany surrenders; European war is over
Yalta Conference – February 1945
• The “Big 3” – Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin
• Focus was on Post-War Europe – how to handle
it?
• Differing agendas
- Churchill wanted democratic elections in Europe
- Roosevelt wanted Soviet support against Japan
- Stalin wanted increased land and power
Yalta Conference
• The Big 3 agreed on several things, including the
decision to split Berlin into 4 sectors, each to be
controlled by a different Allied power
• Breakdown around some of the agreements
made occurred later, increasing tensions
between the US/UK and the USSR
Divided Germany
Potsdam Conference – July 1945
• The Big 3 meet again, but:
- Churchill is accompanied by Clement Atlee, who is
soon to become the leader of the UK
- Truman represents the US, following the death of
Roosevelt (and he doesn’t trust Stalin)
- The USSR now occupies much of Eastern Europe
- The US has developed the Atomic Bomb
Potsdam Conference – general focus
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How to deal with Post-War Germany
How to re-allocate land in Europe
How to handle reparations
Alerting Japan to the need to surrender, which it
does in August of 1945, following the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Tensions between the leaders continue
The Aftermath
• Europe is devastated, but the US economy
benefits greatly from the war
• US institutes the European Recovery Plan (also
called The Marshall Plan)
- Many billions of $$$ go toward rebuilding/
upgrading infrastructure/technology/
industry in Europe
- Soviets/Soviet allies do not participate,
increasing political/economic divisions in
Europe
More aftermath
• The United Nations is formed
• The balance of world power is massively altered
• US/USSR emerge as world powers with
conflicting ideologies
• The era of European colonization begins to end,
leaving questions and concerns – what forms of
government will the newly independent nations
take?