Download Soviet Union

Chapter 17-World War II and Its Aftermath
Section 5: The End of World War II
Objectives:

Describe the issues faced by the
Allies after World War II ended.

Summarize the organization of
the United Nations.

Analyze how new conflicts
developed among the former
Allies after World War II.
What issues arose in the aftermath of World War II and how
did new tensions develop?
Terms and People
•
Nuremberg – city in Germany where Nazi war crimes trials were held.
•
United Nations (UN) – the body of nations formed to promote world
peace. (Replaces the ineffective League of Nations)
•
Cold War – state of tension and hostility between the United States
and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies; rarely resulted in direct
armed conflict.
•
Truman Doctrine – the policy of limiting communism to the areas
already under Soviet control.
•
Marshall Plan – massive aid package that funneled food and economic
assistance to Europe to help with rebuilding after World War II.
•
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – a military alliance
among several North Atlantic states to safeguard them from the
presumed threat of the Soviet Union’s communist bloc.
•
Warsaw Pact – the Soviet Union’s military alliance with seven satellite
nations in Eastern Europe.
Estimated Casualties of World War II
Military
Dead
Military
Wounded
Civilian
Dead
264,000
213,000
1,310,000
7,500,000
277,000
400,000
1,753,000
14,012,000
93,000
350,000
1,000,000
15,000,000
292,000
672,000
6,000
3,500,000
242,000
1,300,000
5,000,000
66,000
4,000,000
780,000
153,000
672,000
Allies
Britain
France
China
Soviet Union
United States
Axis Powers
Germany
Italy
Japan
Examine the chart. What do you notice / find interesting or surprising?
Which nation suffered the greatest number of both civilian and military causalities?
Answer: Soviet Union
In 1945, Germany, Japan, China, the Soviet
Union, and other countries were in ruins.
•
Cities, factories, harbors, bridges, and railroads
were destroyed.
•
More than twenty million refugees wandered
through Europe.
•
Hunger, disease, and mental illness were rampant.
The Allies needed to help these devastated countries.
Soviet Union
Germany after WWII Berlin
Hiroshima after U.S.
atomic bomb
After the war,
the horrors
committed
by the Axis
powers became
apparent to the
world.
Robert H. Jackson Chief of Counsel for the United States
Nuremberg, Germany November 21, 1945.
•
The full extent of the
inhumanity of the
Holocaust was revealed.
•
At the Nuremberg trials,
a number of Nazi leaders
were tried for war crimes
and sentenced to death.
Similar trials were held in
Japan.
•
The Allies built new
democratic governments
in Germany and Japan to
promote tolerance and
peace.
The United Nations was another attempt to
promote peace.
• In April 1945, delegates from 50
nations met to form a United
Nations charter.
• Each nation had one vote.
However, the five permanent
members of the Security
Council—the United States, the
Soviet Union, Great Britain,
France, and China—could veto
any decision.
• The UN was given the authority
to back up its resolutions with
economic sanctions or send a
peacekeeping military force.
Flag of the United Nations
In the meetings, American, British, Soviet, and
Chinese officials hammered out proposals for how
the United Nations would be organized.
Plans for world peace did not go smoothly as
conflicts developed between the former Allies.
The United States
and Britain wanted
Stalin to honor his
promise to hold
free elections in
Soviet-occupied
Eastern Europe.
Stalin ignored his
promise. He wanted to
spread communism
and make Eastern
Europe a buffer
against Germany.
Conflicting ideologies and mutual distrust soon led
to the Cold War.
By 1948, pro-Soviet communist governments were
ruling in Eastern Europe, backed by the Red Army.
New conflicts developed outside of Eastern Europe.
Stalin was menacing Greece, and also Turkey in the
Dardanelles.
President Harry Truman set forth the Truman
Doctrine. This policy said that communism should be
limited to the areas already under Soviet control.
Containment is a geopolitical strategy to stop the
expansion of an enemy. It is best known as the Cold
War policy of the United States and its allies to prevent
the spread of communism. A component of the Cold
War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by
the Soviet Union to increase communist influence in
Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa, and Vietnam.
The United
States helped
relieve postwar
hunger and
poverty in
Western Europe.
• The Marshall Plan provided food
and economic assistance to
decimated countries.
• Truman hoped the Marshall Plan
would strengthen democratic
governments.
• Stalin refused the aid and forbade
Eastern European countries to
accept aid.
Germany became a focus of the Cold War.
•
Western Allies
united their zones
of control and
extended the
Marshall Plan.
•
The Soviets were
furious at Western
efforts to rebuild
the German
economy.
•
Stalin held on to
East Germany.
Hungry Berlin residents greet planes
delivering supplies during the Berlin
Airlift.
•
In an effort to drive Western
powers out of Berlin, Stalin
blocked delivery of supplies
to the parts of the city they
controlled in June 1948.
•
The United States and
Britain organized the Berlin
Airlift to drop food and
supplies into West Berlin.
•
After more than a year,
Stalin was forced to end the
blockade.
As tensions grew, two competing military
alliances took shape.
Twelve countries,
including the United
States and nations
in Western Europe,
formed NATO.
Members pledged to
defend one another
against Soviet
attack.
The Soviet Union
and its satellites in
Eastern Europe
formed the
Warsaw Pact. The
Soviets often used
Warsaw Pact troops
to keep its satellites
in order.
What issues arose in the aftermath of World War II and
how did new tensions develop?
As many as 50 million people had been killed in
World War II. After it ended, the Allies faced
difficult decisions about the future.
The United Nations was formed as a peacekeeping
and humanitarian group. The U.S. Marshall Plan
offered aid in rebuilding Europe. But the Soviet
Union and the West quickly developed into
worldwide rivals—the beginning of the Cold War.