TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Aftermath of World War II
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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
•
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
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
Terms and People (continued)
•
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
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
After the war,
the horrors
committed
by the Axis
powers
became
apparent to
the world.
•
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.
TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.
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.