Download Results and Consequences of WWII

Results and
Consequences of WWII
End of the War in Europe
 The End of the Dictators
 Hitler committed suicide April 30, 1945
 Italian resistance members executed
Mussolini
 V-E Day
 Soviet Union and American troops
moved into Germany in May of 1945
 May 7th, Germany surrendered
unconditionally
 May 8th is celebrated as Victory in
Europe Day (V-E Day)
 Germany was divided among the allies
 Captured territory was redistributed
Nuremburg Trials
 November 1945- September 1946
 Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany to bring Nazi
leaders to justice
 Crimes:
 Pursuing “aggressive war”
 Crimes against humanity
Europe in Ruins
 WWII was the most destructive
war in history
 Heavy bombing campaigns,
shifting battles lines
 12 million homeless
 Food, medicine, and clothing in
short supply
The End in Japan
 American forces had gotten close to mainland Japan by
1945
 Island hopping strategy
 Brutal, deadly fighting in the Pacific
 Japanese culture- no surrender, fight to the death
 America gave an ultimatum in July 1945, Japan rejected
The Atomic Bomb
 Led by Robert Oppenheimer, the
Manhattan Project successfully
produced two Atomic bombs
 Rationale- end the war quickly,
avoid enormous loss of life that
would result from an American
invasion of Japan
 “Show off” for the USAgrowing rivalry with the
Soviet Union
 On August 6th, 1945 a B-29
bomber called the Enola Gay
dropped the first Atomic bomb (the
Little Boy) on Hiroshima, Japan
 Three days later, a second bomb
(the Fat Man) exploded over
Nagasaki
The Bombs and V-J
Day
 The blasts leveled the
cities
 Killing 200,000 on impact
 Many more in the
following months and
years due to radiation
 Japan surrendered on
August 14th, 1945—thus
ending World War II and
beginning the Atomic Age
 Victory in Japan (V-J Day)
declared September 2nd
Effects of Global War
More than 70 million people fought in WWII
55 million dead
Soviet Union- 22 million
Germany- 8 million
Japan- 2 million
United States- 300,000
Millions more in genocides in the Holocaust, in
the Soviet Union, and in Asia
USA is a superpower- not devastated by war
Devastated European countries can no longer
control colonies around the globe
The UN
 In 1945, nations were in ruins. World War II was over,
and the world wanted peace
 51 countries gathered in San Francisco that year to sign a
Charter
 creating a new organization called the United Nations
 70 years later, the United Nations is still working to
maintain international peace and security
 Promotes development with humanitarian assistance
 Upholds international law, protects human rights, and
promotes democracy
Seeds of “Cold” War….
 The USA and Soviet Union emerge from the war as
superpowers
 Divided Germany
 Democratic West, Communist East
 Europe “divided by an Iron Curtain” –Winston Churchill
 USA and Japan become allies
 Growing hostility between US and USSR will last
decades
YouTube Clips
 Crash Course on WWII:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78COTwT7nE
 Oppenheimer’s A-Bomb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=486MZC8596g
 Churchill’s Iron Curtain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2PUIQpAEAQ
 How does the UN work?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoIafzc0k74