•
Discussion
Today’s BW focuses on effects of WWII. If you need help, refer to your ch. 9 packet
1. Hitler and Stalin were personally responsible for the removal of
___________ people. How & why did they do this?
2. WWII was much more economically devastating than WWI……
WHY???
3. Read the excerpt from Judt’s Postwar: A History of Europe (pg179)
According to him, how were politics different post-WWI vs. postWWII?
4. Describe the political/territorial changes in Europe post-WWII.
5. List three changes implemented by the Allies in Japan post-WWII.
6. How did WWII affect European empires and colonies?
7. THINKER: List the primary military, political, and economic reason
that the US and USSR emerged as superpowers.
Effects of WWII
Social, Political, Economic and Military
Effects of WWII in Europe & Asia.
Human Cost
• Hitler and Stalin were personally responsible for
the removal of ___________ people. How & why
did they do this?
• 50 million deaths (2/3 civilians)
• 20 million displaced/homeless
• Stalin & Hitler responsible for forced removals of
30 million people
Hitler and the Final Solution
• “Once I really am in
power, my first and
foremost task will be the
annihilation of the Jews.
. . until all Germany has
completely been
cleansed of Jews.”
– Adolf Hitler
Concentration Camps
Central to Hitler’s Final Solution was
the German Railroad
Auschwitz
• 3 million died here by systematic starvation, forced labor, lack of
disease control, individual executions, and "medical experiments".
• Camp was divided into three parts:
– Auschwitz I – administration
– Auschwitz II – extermination camp
– Auschwitz III – labor camp.
• Soviet troops liberated the camp on January 27, 1947, which came
to be known as Holocaust Remembrance day.
Total Deaths: 9-11 Million
Stalin & The Gulag
• Gulag: abbreviation of Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey,
(Russian: “Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps”)
• System of Soviet labor camps and prisons from the 1920s to the mid-1950s
• Housed political prisoners and criminals of the Soviet Union.
• Under the control of the secret police
• The Gulag consisted of hundreds of camps, with the average camp holding
2,000–10,000 prisoners.
• Although the gulag was not a “death camp,” prisoners were often worked to
death
• In total, there were 53 separate camps and 423 labor colonies in the USSR
Stalin & The Gulag
• Most of these camps were “corrective labor colonies” in which prisoners
chopped timber, labored on general construction projects (such as the
building of canals and railroads), or worked in mines.
• Used as a form of political/ideological repression
• Constant threat of starvation or execution if they refused to work
• It is estimated that the combination of very long working hours, harsh
climatic and other working conditions, inadequate food, and executions
killed off at least 10 percent of the Gulag’s total prisoner population each
year.
• Western scholarly estimates of the total number of deaths in the Gulag in
the period from 1918 to 1956 range from 15 to 30 million.
• Today's major industrial cities of the Russian Arctic (Norilsk, Vorkuta,
Magadan) were originally camps built by prisoners and run by exprisoners
The camp established in Verkhoyansk (Siberia) reached
the lowest recorded temperature ever…… -90⁰F
Economic Cost
• WWII was much more economically devastating
than WWI……. WHY???
• Fighting all over Europe
• Aerial bombing left millions dead, destroyed
transportation, communication, industry and
farmland
• Victors emerged from the conflict almost as
devastated as the losers (Britain & USSR)
Economic Cost
Country
Cost ($ in 2000)
United States
$288 billion
Great Britain
$117 billion
France
$111 billion
USSR
$93 billion
Germany
$212 billion
Japan
$41 billion
Manila, Philippines
Discussion
• Read the excerpt from Judt’s Postwar: A
History of Europe (pg179) According to him,
how were politics different post-WWI vs. postWWII?
Effects in post-WWII Germany
• Germany was totally defeated,
and the Nazi regime brought
down. Its leaders were tried for
crimes against humanity at
Nuremberg.
• German cities were in ruins
from a massive bombing
campaign.
• Germany was divided into 4
zones of occupation by the
victorious powers
Effects in post-WWII England
• England was devastated by the
war, having experienced
extensive bombing during the
1940 blitz by the Germans.
• The economy depended on
recovery & aid from the United
States.
• England rapidly phased out most
of its remaining colonies in the
years immediately following the
war.
Effects in post-WWII France
•
•
•
France had not experienced the
enormous human losses sustained in
the First World War, but would have
to recover from the effects of Nazi
occupation.
Like England, France would be
compelled to dismantle its colonial
empire in the years following the war.
This was a particularly traumatic and
drawn out process for the French, in
Algeria and in Vietnam where they
fought prolonged and bitter wars in
an attempt to maintain their colonial
control.
England and France no longer held a
status of power comparable to the
United States or the Soviet Union.
Effects in post-WWII Soviet Union
• The Soviets had suffered
immeasurably during the war, and
western SU was devastated by the
land warfare which was primarily on
Soviet territory.
• But, in the process of defeating the
Germans, the Russians had built a
large and powerful army, which
occupied most of Eastern Europe at
the end of the war.
• WWII was seen as a triumph of
communism over fascism
• The great resources and population of
SU assured that the Soviet Union
would be, along with the United
States, one of two super-powers.
Effects in post-WWII United States
•
•
•
•
•
•
The United States economy was greatly
stimulated by the war, even more so than
in World War I.
The depression was brought to an end,
and new industrial centers were built all
over the United States.
By avoiding the physical destruction of
war, the U.S. economy dominated the
world economy.
After 4 years of military buildup, the U.S.
had also become the leading military
power.
US could no longer be isolationist since all
of Western Europe depended on strength
of democracy.
The position of the United States as world
leader was now more obvious than ever.
Political Consequences
• Describe the political/territorial changes in Europe postWWII.
• All the countries the Red Army liberated – Poland, Hungary,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania – became one-party
regimes under Stalin’s control
• Growing hostility between the Western Allies and USSR, led
to a permanent division of Germany in 1949
• How did WWII affect European empires and colonies?
• European countries could not maintain control of oversea
empires
Effects of WWII in Asia
• List three changes implemented by the Allies in Japan post-WWII
• Japan was eliminated as a major power
• Allied occupation of Japan; MacArthur was appointed Supreme
Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP)
• Removal of Japanese troops in China
– In 1949, China falls to communism under Zedong
• Territories are reclaimed: Taiwan, Korea (divided), Pacific Islands
• SU gets control of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands
• The Emperor would help maintain political stability and facilitate
reform
• Japan was turned into a democratic state with a new
constitution
Treaty of San
Francisco
• What did this treaty rule?
Who was left out? Why?
Japanese compensation to countries occupied during 1941–45
Country
Amount in US$
Date of treaty
Burma
200,000,000
November 5, 1955
Philippines
550,000,000
May 9, 1956
Indonesia
223,080,000
January 20, 1958
Vietnam
38,000,000
May 13, 1959
Total
US$1,012,080,000
N/A
Japanese overseas assets in 1945 (¥15=1US$)
Country/region
Value (US Dollars)
Korea
468,370,000
Taiwan
2,846,100,000
North East China
9,768,800,000
North China
3,695,800,000
Central South China
2,447,900,000
Others
1,867,600,000
Total
$25,300,000,000
In accordance with
Clause 14 of the Treaty,
Allied forces confiscated
all assets owned by the
Japanese government,
firms, organization and
private citizens, in all
colonized or occupied
countries
Establishment of War Tribunals
• Nuremburg Trials: November 1945-October 1946
– 21 leading Nazis charged with war crimes and crimes
against humanity
• International Tribunal in Tokyo: 1945 (three-year
period)
– 5,700 Japanese war criminals tried & about 1,000
executed
Defendants in the
Nuremburg Trials. The
main target of the
prosecution was
Hermann Göring (left,
front) considered to be
the most important
surviving official in the
Third Reich after
Hitler's death.
***Not included were
Adolf Hitler, Heinrich
Himmler, and Joseph
Goebbels, all of whom
had committed suicide
several months before
the indictment
Outcome of Nuremburg Trials
• Out of the 21 Nazis
tried, 12 were
sentenced to death.
• 2 committed suicide
prior to execution date
• Remaining 10 were
hanged
Chief American prosecutor Robert H.
Jackson addresses the Nuremberg court.
Nazi Escape through Ratlines
•
•
•
•
•
Ratlines: system of escape routes for Fascists
These escape routes mainly led toward havens
in South America, particularly Argentina,
Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Bolivia.
Other destinations included the United States,
Great Britain, Canada and the Middle East.
There were two primary routes: the first went
from Germany to Spain, then Argentina; the
second from Germany to Rome to Genoa, then
South America
13 top ranking Nazis escaped to South America
–
–
–
Joseph Mengele, head doctor at Auschwitz lived
rest of his life in Brazil
Gustav Wagner, Staff Sargent of SS lived rest of
life in Argentina
Other “missing” officials were assumed to escape,
but never found
War Tribunal in Tokyo
• Trials were carried out
by General MacArthur
and an appointed 11
judges (Australia,
Canada, China,
France, India,
Netherlands, New
Zealand, Philippines,
UK, US & USSR)
Defendants were charged
with conventional war
crimes, crimes against
peace, and crimes against
humanity.
The trial continued for
more than two and a half
years, hearing testimony
from 419 witnesses and
admitting 4,336 exhibits
of evidence, including
depositions and affidavits
from 779 other
individuals.
Execution of Hideki
Tojo
Discussion
• List the primary military, political, and
economic reasons that the US and USSR
emerged as superpowers.