EUROPE AND JAPAN IN RUINS

Devastation in Europe

Close to 40 million Europeans had died Many displaced people were left homeless

Concentration camps, POW’s, refugees The Battle of Britain left very little to

salvage Warsaw’s population went from 1.3 million

to 153,000 Civilians tried to get on with their lives

Lived in partially destroyed homes and had no water electricity, or food

Misery Continues

Europe’s agriculture had been completely disrupted even years after the war

Thousands died from famine and disease As winter approached, people went

without shoes and coats

Postwar Governments and Politics Prewar governments in Belgium, Holland,

Denmark, and Norway returned Nazi government did not return to Germany for

it brought destruction Government under Mussolini in Italy did not

return for he led them to defeat Communist party starts to promise change

within these countries At first, communist parties were strong and

influential then they started a series of violent strikes which caused the parties to decline

Nuremburg Trials

Another issue aside from governments and devastation were how to deal with the war crimes

International Military Tribunal representing 23 nations put the criminals on trial

In the first round, 22 leaders were charged with waging a war of aggression Also charged with “crimes against humanity” –

murder of 11 million people Hermann Goring and Rudolf Hess were among

the criminals on trial

…continued

Hess was found guilty- sentenced to life in prison

Goring committed suicide after he received a death sentence

10 Nazi leaders were hanged The bodies of the executed were burned

at the concentration camp of Dachau and cremated in the ovens that they used for their victims

Japan after the war

Two million lives had been lost No longer a colonial empire MacArthur started demilitarization-

disbanding the Japanese armed forces Japan was left only with a small police force He also brought criminals to trial Democratization- process of creating a

government elected by the people- started by MacArthur This changed the Japanese empire into a

constitutional monarchy

New changes in Japan

The new constitution guaranteed that real political power rested with the people

All citizens over the age of 20 could vote Japan could no longer make war September a formal peace treaty was

signed The emperor had to declare he was not

divine His power was also dramatically reduced

The End

Russia and America emerge as the two superpowers

Their postwar goals were very different They ended the war as allies, but did

they remain allies?? Hmmmm….