Aftermath of WW2

• Yalta, 2/1945– Held at Crimea on the Black Sea– Purpose: to make immediate

arrangements for the post war situation• Adopt a general policy for the liberated

states of Europe (Poland in particular)• Determine the post war administration of

the conquered territories of Germany and Austria

• Determine voting arrangements in the UN

Aftermath of WW2• Decisions made at Yalta

– To divide Germany into 3 military occupation zones (American, Soviet, and British); France was added later

• Berlin, the capital would also be in zones– Austria would also have military occupation zones– Germany was to pay reparations

• An initial figure was $20 billion, half of which would go to the USSR

– Britain wanted no set number sp as tp destroy German war potential

– Free elections were to be held throughout eastern Europe

Aftermath of WW2– USSR would retain what is gained in 1939 from Poland

• The USSR would also ask for Germany east of the Oder and Neisse rivers, British and Americans do not agree.

– Non-communist Polish members exiled in London were allowed to return home and join the communist Polish gov’t set up in Lublin

– Stalin agreed to join the fight in Japan 2-3 months after the war was over in Europe in return for some land in Manchuria

– the San Francisco conference was planned to form the UN

• The great powers decided they owned a veto on any measures passed in the UN

Potsdam Conference, July 1945• Purpose: the war in Europe was over but

there were still some terms to come to agreement with– Very negative mood

• Truman and Churchill were personally hostile towards Stalin and the USSR

• Truman felt pretty powerful with the new Atomic-Bomb by his side

• Truman and Churchill were particularly annoyed with the USSR since they help Germany east of the Oder and Neisse line and made it a part of Communist Poland

– They had expelled 5 million Germans living there• Stalin was annoyed Truman was going to use the A-

Bomb to keep the USSR out of the Pacific

Potsdam Conference, July 1945– No significant decisions were made. This made

the Cold War seem inevitable and imminent.• The Potsdam Conference also called upon

Japan to unconditionally surrender or “The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter

destruction.”

Results of WW2• Millions are dead (See transparency)• Infrastructure is shot

– European coal production down 40% of pre-war levels; 23% of Europeans farmland is out of commission

• The decrease in farm production would lead to hardship in the winter of 1947-48

– Over 20 million people are displaced from home in 1945

• Refugees fleeing from invading armies• Slave workers from occupied Europe taken to

Germany and Austria• Prisoners in concentration camps

Results of WW2• Displaced Jews lead to the inheritance and

displacement of the Palestinians with the establishment of Israel

• Reprisals in Nazi occupied countries by lynchings and public humiliation of perpetrators

• Fascism failed:– Militarism led to defeat– Anti-Bolshevism led to extension of

communism over much of central and eastern Europe

Rise of Superpowers• European domination of the world ended

– USA emerged as clear power– Germany was destroyed as a power– Britain and France are destroyed as imperial powers,

although they cling to this status for a while– The USSR had

• Recovered and extended its empire• Formed a glacis in the west• Became a dominant military power in Europe• Gained prestige in defeat of the Nazis • Gained prestige outside its border as leading communist

countries• The only power that could resist the USA (Even though much

weaker economically, devastated by war, and without nuclear weapons)

• USA dominated the world by default– No body to keep them in check except the Soviets– Because the two powers don’t get along there is no

peace process post WWII at a time when one was needed

• Japanese strength during WWII had ended the myth of white superiority– The reoccupation of the Japanese occupied territory

made those people angry and eventually break up the imperial powers over them

• Racism and anti-Semitism became unaceptable to Western public opinion (except in some of the southern US)

EUROPE READY FOR CHANGE• People were ready for reform

– Conditions are ripe for social revolution; gov’ts comprised many socialist measures

• Social security systems• Nationalization of the means of production and

distribution• Progressive income tax• Measures to create full employment

– In Eastern Europe many of the people were getting on board with Communism

Other results

• Technological and scientific developments– Like the Atomic-Bomb

– What was the impact of the technological & scientific developments?? Write down a few

thoughts before we discuss.