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Results of World War II. 1939-1945. Political. 1. The United Nations. April 1945, delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco and drafted a charter for the United Nations. Unlike the League of Nations, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the charter on July 28, 1945.
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Results of World War II 1939-1945
1. The United Nations • April 1945, delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco and drafted a charter for the United Nations. • Unlike the League of Nations, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the charter on July 28, 1945.
2. Polarization of the World • In what became known as the Truman Doctrine (1947), President Truman asked Congress for $400 million to protect Turkey and Greece from communist pressures. • The Truman Doctrine may have simplified the situation in Greece and Turkey as well as dividing the world into pro-Soviet and pro-American mentalities leading into the Cold War.
3. Controls on Civil Liberties • The Smith Act of 1940 made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force or to belong to an organization with this objective. • McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 (vetoed by Truman, passed by Congress) 1) Made it illegal to support establishment of a totalitarian government 2) Restricted employment and movement of members of Communist organizations 3) Authorized the creation of detention camps for “subversives”.
3. Controls on Civil Liberties Cont. • The Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) established 1939 and sought to find Communists in America, especially in Hollywood. • The American Civil Liberties Union and others opposed these security measures and argued the First Amendment protected free expression of political views.
4. Four Terms For FDR • Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first and only president to break the two- term policy set by George Washington in the election of 1940. • He was elected to a fourth term in the election of 1944, and died on April 12, 1945. • The 22nd Amendment (1951) limited a president to two terms only.
5. The End of Isolationism • After seeing the results of isolationism following WWI that led to WWII the Untied States decided to take an active role in foreign policy. • The United Nations (1945) • NATO (1949) was a military defense pact to protect Western Europe
6. Expansion of Presidential Power • Roosevelt’s leadership in domestic affairs like the New Deal as well as foreign affairs in the conferences at Tehran and Yalta made the office of president more active and assertive.
7. Foreign Aid • The Marshall Plan (1947) proposed by Sec. of Sate George Marshall provided a joint plan of economic recovery for Europe funded by the United States ($12.5million). The Soviets did not join. The Marshall Plan was a success in reviving Europe’s postwar economy.
8. Defeated Powers Occupation • Germany was divided into four military zones each one controlled by one of the Big Four powers. The Soviets controlled East Germany and then cut off supplies from Berlin while the US airlifted supplies for nearly a year to the desperate Berliners. • Reconstruction in Japan was led by General MacArthur who was very popular and Japan later passed a constitution with a Western style democracy that greatly aided it’s recovery. Occupation ended in 1951.
9. Territorial Changes • Pre-WWII, Europe had been occupied by the Germans and after the empire had been greatly reduced. However, the Soviet empire was on the rise. • The Philippines became independent in 1946. • Israel was created in the British mandate territory of Palestine in 1948 by Truman even though it was opposed by the Arabs, State and Defense departments, and European Allies.
10. Cold War • The Cold War lasted from the 1940s to 1991, the end of the Soviet Union and some say started with the foreign policies of Truman. • It was made worse when 1) NATO was formed and conversely, the Soviets created the Warsaw Pact. 2) The arms race began when the Soviets created their first atomic bomb in 1949. 3)The satellite Sputnik was launched, starting the space race.
11. Nuremburg Trials • The Nuremburg Trials (1945-1946) conducted by the Allies against Nazi officers. 12 were executed, seven sentenced to long jail terms.
1. Casualties • Approximately 300,000 Americans died in WWII, 800,000 wounded-more than any other US war combined (excluding Civil War). • Approximately 50 million worldwide died.
2. Displaced Persons • 15 million troops returned to the US following the end of the war. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill of Rights) provided education and employment opportunities to men and women veterans.
3. Impact on Colonial People • The Philippines became independent on July 4th 1946 following an act passed by Congress in 1934 but the US still controlled air and naval bases.
4. African Americans • 1 million African Americans fought in the war, however segregation was present in the military too. • Membership in the NAACP increased during the war. • The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was formed in 1942.
5. Japanese • 20,000 Japanese Americans served in the military. • In 1942 100,000 Japanese Americans were forced to live in internment camps. In 1988 the government admitted an injustice had been done and compensated those still alive.
6. Women • Over 200,00 women served in the military in noncombatant jobs. • 5 million women entered the workforce doing jobs normally done for men, this changed the traditional view of women’s roles in society.
7. Demographic Shifts • 1.5 million African Americans left the South to find jobs in the North and West. However, some race riots occurred in New York and Detroit in 1943. • “White flight” became the term for when African Americans would move into an area and whites would move out of it.
1. New Weapons • The atomic bomb is the most notable new weapon of WWII. • New advances were made in all areas from transportation to aircraft.
2. Expansion of Government Powers • The National Security Act of 1947 created 1) a centralized Department of Defense (replacing the War Department) to coordinate the Army, Navy and Air Force 2) creation of the National Security Council to coordinate foreign policy in the Cold War 3) the creation of the CIA to use spies for getting information from other countries.
3. Boom for Business • Many feared the post war economy would drop, however that was far from what happened. • The economic post war boom lasted until 1970 in which the national income doubled in the 1950s and doubled again in the 1960s.
4. Huge Cost of War • The war cost $320 billion, ten times the cost of WWI. • The national debt was $250 billion, five times what it was in 1941.
7. Atomic Power • The Manhattan Project was the top secret development of the atomic bomb led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. It employed over 100,000 people and spent $2 billion to create.
8. Military Industrial Complex "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”- Eisenhower’s Farewell Address, 1961 Defined as a "coalition consisting of the military and industrialists who profit by manufacturing arms and selling them to the government."
