THE END OF WORLD WAR II
PROBLEMS WITH THE GRAND ALLIANCE AND THE COMING OF PEACE
Goals of the U.S.:
1. End the war with a minimum loss of life and money.
2. Destroy fascism.
3. Spread U.S. democratic and capitalistic principles.
4. Return to traditional U.S. non-involvement but with a global awareness.
5. Trust the peace to the international cooperation to be established in a reconstituted international
organization, the United Nation, which recognizes the World War II alliance as powers.
a. Learn from the mistakes of the League of Nations
b. Have all great powers as members.
5. Learn from the mistakes of World War I: Do not leave the losers so devastated so as to wreck the world’s
economy or plan for future revenge.
Goals of the Soviet Union:
1. Ensure the survival of the Soviet system.
2. End the war with the maximum gain for the Soviet Union.
3. Restore the old pre-World War I and pre-Russo-Japanese War boundaries (Czarist Russia)
4. Protect the Soviet Union from future invasion especially from the capitalist Western Europe.
5. Repair the damage of the war through reparations from the losers.
6. Trust the future peace to a strong defense and a sphere of influence that surrounds the Soviet Union with
friendly, not unfriendly, nations.
Goals of Great Britain:
1. End the war restoring Britain to power and by regaining the lost portions of the British Empire.
2. Expand the Empire if possible.
3. Restore the balance of power in the world. This will recognize:
a. The recognition of colonialism (imperialism) as a stabilizing force in the developing world.
b. The need to restore France as a continental power. This includes the restoration of the French Empire.
c. The recognition of the Soviet Union as the stabilizing influence in Eastern Europe replacing Germany.
d. The division of the world into spheres of influence:
i. Western Europe: Britain and France
ii. Eastern Europe: the Soviet Union
iii. Africa: Britain France
iv. The Middle East: Britain and France
v. The Western Hemisphere: the United States
vi. East Asia: China (under Chiang Kai-shek)
vii. Southern Asia: Britain, France and the Netherlands
4. Establish a new international organization, the United Nations, recognizing the mistakes made by the League
of Nations.
Goals of France:
1. End the war by restoring France to its former great power status.
2. Restore the French Empire to its former status.
3. Establish a new balance of power in Europe that recognizes and re-establishes the importance of France.
4. Rebuild France with international aid and reparations.
5. Participate in a new international organization, the U.N., that recognizes French importance.