The
Results of
WWII
Creation of the United Nations
The United Nations was formed in 1945 to
maintain peace, bring an end to war, improve the
standard of living for all nations, and to promote
human rights. It was led by the security council
(Britain, France, U.S., U.S.S.R., & China) and
included all major powers of the world.
Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and
Attlee, Truman, and Stalin at Potsdam.
Joseph Stalin at Yalta in Feb. 1945.
Ju;y-Aug. 1945.
During the conference (Potsdam), Truman mentioned to Stalin about an
unspecified "powerful new weapon"; Stalin, who knew of its existence long
before Truman ever knew through placing spies inside US borders,
encouraged the usage of any weapon that would hasten the end of the war.
Discovery of the Holocaust
Near the end of the war allied troops
discovered the concentration camps set up by
the Nazis. At these camps Jews worked for
the German war effort. In some cases they
were used in German medical experiments as
guinea pigs. At Auschwitz over 6,000 Jews
were gassed per day. By the end of the war
Hitler had killed over 1/3 of the Jews in
Europe, approx. 6 million people.
Holocaust Map of Concentration Camps
Naked Jewish women, some of whom are holding infants, wait in a line
before their execution by Ukrainian auxilliary police. Source: Main
Commission for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes, Warsaw, Poland.
U.S. troops watch a passing cart laden with corpses leave the
Dachau concentration camp, intended for burial. Allied
authorities required local farmers to drive their loaded carts
through the town of Dachau as education for the inhabitants.
Children subjected to medical experiments in Auschwitz.
Source: The Pictorial History of the Holocaust, Edited by
Yitzhak Arad, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York,
1990.
High-altitude medical experiments in Dachau. In order to test the
probable endurance of pilots who have to eject from their planes, SS
doctors exposed prisoners to high-altitude conditions simulated in a
chamber. Many victims died during such experiments. In order for the
simulation to be as realistic as possible, prisoners were hung by
parachute straps.
Medical Experiments on Jews
Auschwitz SS doctors, led by the infamous Dr. Josef
Mengele, performed different medical experiments on
Jewish inmates. Common were the sterilizations of young
Jewish men and women at the prime of their fertile lives.
Crude methods of local anesthesia were used during
experiments on their sexual organs, while young girls and
boys were forced to watch the procedures. Several of
these victims survived the ordeal and lived to tell their
story.
Other medical experiments were performed to test human
resistance to freezing temperatures and human endurance
under the most severe conditions.
Video Footage: Nazi Murder Mills
Manhattan Project & Atomic Age
The United States, led by physicist Robert Oppenheimer,
developed an atomic bomb under the secretive Manhattan
Project. By mid-1945 there was a belief by the
Americans that the Japanese were too proud to
surrender. This led American President Harry S. Truman
to order the dropping of the atomic bomb. On August 6,
1945 the U.S. bombed Hiroshima. More than 70,000
people were killed and 61,000 were injured instantly.
Many people were vaporized, and radiation burns scorched
others. The Japanese refused surrender and on Aug. 9
the U.S. dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki. Aug. 10,
1945 Japan surrenders ending WWII. This signaled the
beginning of the nuclear arms race and the Cold War.
Atomic bomb test explosion
Los Alamos was so secret that officially it did not
exist. Babies born there received birth certificates
indicating they were born at box 1663.
Watch towers and prison-like security
surrounded the U.S. top security, top
secret Los Alamos atomic bomb
development facility during WWII
The patterns of clothing were
permanently burned into the skin
because of the intense flash of light.
Hair loss due to radiation exposure
Atomic Blast Shadows
The shadow of the parapets are imprinted on the surface of the bridge, 2,890 feet
(880 meters) south-south-west of the hypocenter. These shadows give a clue as to
the exact location of the hypocenter
Little Boy
Fat Man
Birth of the Cold War
The Cold War resulted from disputes between
democratic and communist nations during
WWII. The US and the USSR could not agree
on how to deal with Germany at the end of
WWII. The US did not want reparations to be
paid while the USSR did. This led to the division
of Germany into separate zones (both communist
and democratic). A power struggle emerged
between the superpowers leading to an arms
race and the formation of alliances based upon
communist or democratic lines throughout the
world.
The countries
behind the iron
curtain are shaded
in red. Yugosalvia
(in grey) was
independent of the
Eastern Bloc, yet it
was still communist
run.
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Germany divided into
separate zones after
WWII ends. The
creation of West
Germany (democratic)
and East Germany
(communist) was a
result of the cold
war.
Berlin was located in
East Germany
(communist) but the
city itself was divided
into both democratic
and communist zones.
From 1949-1961, almost
three million East
Germans escaped to the
West. In July 1961
alone, 30,000 fled,
precipitating another
Berlin Crisis on August
13, 1961 when East
German authorities built
a 28-mile-long wall
(euphemistically called
the "antifascist
protective barrier")
along the border to
prevent East Germans
from escaping to the
West.
Baby Boom Generation
With the return of peace many Canadians began to
marry and start families. As a result the population
soared in Canada after the war. Between 1945 and
1965 the baby boom occurred. The average family had
3-4 children. As these children aged society had to
change to accommodate the large numbers. This led to
a boom in infrastructure, employment and housing.
How did the birthrate rise and fall during the baby boom
years in the US?
1940
2,559,000 births per year
1946
3,311,000 births per year
1955
4,097,000 births per year
1957
4,300,000 births per year
1964
4,027,000 births per year
1974
3,160,000 births per year
Symbols of the Baby Boom in Suburbia
1950
1960
Hot Dog Production (millions of lbs)
750
1050
Potato Chip Production (millions of lbs)
320
532
Sales of lawn and porch furniture (millions of dollars)
53.6
145.2
Sales of power mowers (millions of dollars)
1.0
3.8
Sales of floor polishers (millions of dollars)
0.24
1.0
Sales of Encyclopaedia (millions of dollars)
72
300
Number of Children age 5-14
24.3
35.5
Number of baseball Little Leagues
776
5,700
Music the Baby Boomers Have Taken to Heart
Rock Around the Clock
by Bill Haley and His Comets
Heartbreak Hotel
by Elvis Presley
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
by The Platters
Save the Last Dance for Me
by The Drifters
Duke of Earl
by Gene Chandler
I Want to Hold Your Hand
by The Beatles
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
by The Righteous Brothers
The Sounds of Silence
by Simon and Garfunkel
Aquarius
by The Fifth Dimension
American Pie
by Don McLean
Fads of the Baby Boomers
Hula Hoops
Frozen Foods
Poodle Skirts and Saddle Shoes
Panty Raids
Barbie and GI Joe Dolls
Bikinis
Frisbees
Yo-yos
Ouija Boards
Dune Buggies
Before: picture of the land that would become the American suburb of Levittown, in Long Island, NY.
After: An aerial view of the suburban development of Levittown as a result of the baby boom.