Download Consequences of World War 2

Consequences of World War 2
1. Demographic: More than 55million people died (more than 6 million were Jews) and
a huge number of wounded military and civilian victims.
2. Economic: Huge economic losses: destruction of factories, lands, communication
infrastructures, cities, towns and villages as a result of the air raids attacks. Europe had
to depend on the American aid through the American Marshall Plan, rejected by the
Communist countries.
3. Politics:
a) Division of Germany: Germany and its capital, Berlin, were divided into 4 zones
of occupation by the victorious powers. A bit later, Germany were divided into
two countries: The Federal German Republic, in the West, democratic and
capitalist; and The Democratic German Republic, Communist, under the control
of the Soviet Union. The same happened with Berlin.
b) Changes in the borders of European countries: The soviet Union occupied the
former Baltic Republics and other territories in the East of Europe.
c) The foundation of the UN (United Nations) as an international assembly to
avoid new wars, maintain international peace and human rights. Its
headquarters are in New York in and the four winner countries of the WWII
plus China form the permanent members of Security Council with power of
veto. the International Court of Justice is set in The Hague)
d) The Nazi leaders were tried at Nuremberg for humanity crimes.
e) The end of European Age: USA and the Soviet Union became superpowers.
Europe and the world were divided into two big areas: the Western or
capitalist area, under the control of USA; and the Eastern or communist area,
under the control of USRR. This division was name by Churchill as the "Iron
curtain" (Telón de acero, in Spanish).
f) That division of the world into two blocks led to the Cold War, a period in
which a new global war could be possible. That led to military race and to
create military alliances: the Western block creates the NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organization) in 1949, while the Eastern block signed the Warsaw Pact
in 1955. The two superpowers never confronted directly but intervened with
military aid in other countries.
g) The rise of nationalism and independence movements in Asia and Africa. The
former colonies got their independence, forming new countries. The first one
was India. Achieving independence was very traumatic for most of the new
countries.
h) The creation of the Jew state of Israel in 1947 in Palestine, that would create a
lot of conflicts in the Middle East, mainly between Jews and Muslims but with
influence all over the world.
i) The beginning of nuclear age.
Questions
1.- Name the main consequences of WWII for Germany:
2.- Explain the political division of Europe:
3.- What happened with Nazism and its leaders:
4.- What is the Cold War? What elements are link to it?
It is the period that follows WWII and it is characterized by...
5.- Explain what the UN is. Why is it not unbiased or impartial?
6.- Why do you think that the state of Israel was created?
7.- What happened with the former colonies? It was easy or not?
Seven Major Consequences of World War II
•
1: The End of the European Age.
•
2: The rise of the US to superpower status.
•
3: The expansion of the Soviet Union and its rise to superpower
status.
•
4: The emergence of the Cold War.
•
5. The beginning of the nuclear age.
•
6: The rise of nationalism and independence movements in Asia
and Africa.
•
7: A renewed effort to secure lasting peace through international
organizations.
•
Germany was totally defeated, and the Nazi regime brought down. Its
leaders were tried for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg, the former
site of Nazi propaganda triumphs. Hitler escaped trial and execution by
committing suicide in his Berlin bunker at the end of the war. German
cities were in ruins from a massive bombing campaign.
•
Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation by the
victorious powers, pending a more permanent political
settlement.
•
Japan also was in ruins from extensive bombing. Prominent
military leaders were tried and convicted of war crimes, but the
emperor was allowed to retain his position.
•
Japan was temporarily placed under U.S. military rule.
•
England was devastated by the war, having experienced
extensive bombing during the 1940 blitz by the Germans. The
economy depended for recovery upon aid from the United
States. England rapidly phased out most of its remaining imperial
holdings in the years immediately following the war.
•
France had not experienced the enormous human losses
sustained in the First World War, but would have to recover from
the effects of Nazi occupation. Retribution was taken upon
collaborators. Like England, France would be compelled to
dismantle its colonial empire in the years following the war. This
was a particularly traumatic and drawn out process for the
French, in Algeria and in Vietnam where they fought prolonged
and bitter wars in an attempt to maintain their colonial control.
•
•
England and France no longer held a status of power
comparable either to the United States or the Soviet Union.
The Russian people had suffered immeasurably during the war,
and western Russia was devastated by the land warfare which
was primarily on Russian territory. But, in the process of
defeating the Germans, the Russians had built a large and
powerful army, which occupied most of Eastern Europe at the
end of the war. The great resources and population of Russia
assured that the Soviet Union would be, along with the
United States, one of two super-powers.
•
The United States economy was greatly stimulated by the war,
even more so than in World War I. The depression was brought
decisively to an end, and new industrial complexes were built all
over the United States. Spared the physical destruction of war,
the U.S. economy dominated the world economy. After 4 years
of military buildup, the U.S. had also become the leading military
power. The position of the United States as world leader was
now more obvious than ever.
•
The eastern victors demanded payment of war reparations from
the defeated nations, and in the Paris Peace Treaty, the Soviet
Union's enemies-Hungary, Finland and Romania were required
to pay $300,000,000 each to the Soviet Union. Italy was required
to pay $360,000,000, shared chiefly between Greece,
Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union. The much larger reparations
from occupied Germany to Russia were to be paid not by goods
or money but by the transfer of capital goods, such as
dismantled manufacturing plants.
•
A separate Reparations to the western victors consisted mainly
of free coal deliveries as well as of machinery and dismantled
factories, of which the majority went to France, with some going
to Britain. Germany and Italy also paid in the form of POWprovided forced labor; 100,000 in Britain and 700,000 in France.
The U.S settled for appropriating German patents as well as all
German company assets in the U.S. The "intellectual
reparations", such as patents and blueprints, taken by the U.S.
and the UK amounted to close to $10 billion, equivalent of
around $100 billion in 2006 terms. The program of also acquiring
German scientists and technicians for the U.S. was also used to
deny the expertise of German scientists to the Soviet Union.
•
Germany was totally defeated, and the Nazi regime brought down. Its
leaders were tried for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg, the former
site of Nazi propaganda triumphs. Hitler escaped trial and execution by
committing suicide in his Berlin bunker at the end of the war. German
cities were in ruins from a massive bombing campaign.
•
Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation by the
victorious powers, pending a more permanent political
settlement.
•
Japan also was in ruins from extensive bombing. Prominent
military leaders were tried and convicted of war crimes, but the
emperor was allowed to retain his position.
•
Japan was temporarily placed under U.S. military rule.
•
England was devastated by the war, having experienced
extensive bombing during the 1940 blitz by the Germans. The
economy depended for recovery upon aid from the United
States. England rapidly phased out most of its remaining imperial
holdings in the years immediately following the war.
•
France had not experienced the enormous human losses
sustained in the First World War, but would have to recover from
the effects of Nazi occupation. Retribution was taken upon
collaborators. Like England, France would be compelled to
dismantle its colonial empire in the years following the war. This
was a particularly traumatic and drawn out process for the
French, in Algeria and in Vietnam where they fought prolonged
and bitter wars in an attempt to maintain their colonial control.
•
England and France no longer held a status of power
comparable either to the United States or the Soviet Union.
The Russian people had suffered immeasurably during the war,
and western Russia was devastated by the land warfare which
was primarily on Russian territory. But, in the process of
defeating the Germans, the Russians had built a large and
powerful army, which occupied most of Eastern Europe at the
end of the war. The great resources and population of Russia
assured that the Soviet Union would be, along with the
United States, one of two super-powers.
•
•
The United States economy was greatly stimulated by the war,
even more so than in World War I. The depression was brought
decisively to an end, and new industrial complexes were built all
over the United States. Spared the physical destruction of war,
the U.S. economy dominated the world economy. After 4 years
of military buildup, the U.S. had also become the leading military
power. The position of the United States as world leader was
now more obvious than ever.
•
The eastern victors demanded payment of war reparations from
the defeated nations, and in the Paris Peace Treaty, the Soviet
Union's enemies-Hungary, Finland and Romania were required
to pay $300,000,000 each to the Soviet Union. Italy was required
to pay $360,000,000, shared chiefly between Greece,
Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union. The much larger reparations
from occupied Germany to Russia were to be paid not by goods
or money but by the transfer of capital goods, such as
dismantled manufacturing plants.
•
A separate Reparations to the western victors consisted mainly
of free coal deliveries as well as of machinery and dismantled
factories, of which the majority went to France, with some going
to Britain. Germany and Italy also paid in the form of POWprovided forced labor; 100,000 in Britain and 700,000 in France.
The U.S settled for appropriating German patents as well as all
German company assets in the U.S. The "intellectual
reparations", such as patents and blueprints, taken by the U.S.
and the UK amounted to close to $10 billion, equivalent of
around $100 billion in 2006 terms. The program of also acquiring
German scientists and technicians for the U.S. was also used to
deny the expertise of German scientists to the Soviet Union.