Review!!

1. Review!! 1. The Battle of Leningrad (later called Stalingrad) was A. the final battle in North Africa B. The most deadly naval battle of the war C. a Soviet victory that turned the tide of the war in the east D. Hitler’s greatest victory 2. D-Day refers to the A. Allied invasion of France B. British victory in North Africa C. End of World War II D. Entry of the United States into the war 3. What strategy did Allied leaders use against Japan? A. Appeasement B. Island Hopping C. Blitzkrieg D. Trench Warfare 4. The Battle of Midway was a turning point in WWII that A. Forced Japan to surrender B. Started Japan’s uninterrupted series of victories C. Allowed the United States to take the offensive in the Pacific D. Brought the United States into the war

2. From World War II to the Cold War

3. Aftermath of the War • Costs of the war • Killed as many as 75 million people around the world • In Europe, about 38 million people lost their lives, many of them civilians • The Soviet Union suffered the most casualties • More than 22 million died • New atrocities were brought to light • At the end of the war, the Allies saw the full extent of the Holocaust • At wartime meetings, the Allies agreed that Axis leaders should be tried for “crimes against humanity”

5. War Crimes Trials • The war crimes trials took place in Nuremberg, where Hitler had staged mass rallies in the 1930s • A total of 177 Germans and Austrians were tried, and 142 were found guilty • Similar war crimes trials were held in Japan and Italy • What did this show? • That political and military leaders could be held accountable for actions in wartime • As these war crimes trials progressed, it exposed the savagery of the Axis regimes and discredited the Nazi, fascist, and militarist ideologies that led to war • How could this be prevented in the future? • By strengthening democracy to ensure tolerance and peace and to protect the rights of all citizens

6. In his closing remarks Robert Jackson, the U.S. Chief Prosecutor issued the following warning: Two World Wars have left a legacy of dead which number more than all the armies engaged in any way that made ancient or medieval history. No half-century ever witnessed slaughter on such a scale, such cruelties and inhumanities, such wholesale deportations of peoples into slavery, such annihilations of minorities. These deeds are the overshadowing historical facts by which generations to come will remember this decade. If we cannot eliminate the causes and prevent the repetition of these barbaric events, it is not an irresponsible prophecy to say that this twentieth century may yet succeed in bringing the doom of civilization.

7. The United Nations • In April 1945, delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco to draft a charter for the United Nations • Under the UN Charter, each member had one vote in the General Assembly • A much smaller body called the Security Council was given greater power • Made up of five permanent members: The United States, the Soviet Union (today, Russia), Britain, France and China • Had the right to veto any council decision • Goal was to give these great powers the authority to ensure the peace • The United Nation’s work would go far beyond peacekeeping • Preventing the outbreak of disease • Improving education • Protecting refugees • Aiding economic development

8. New World Superpowers • A new power structure emerged • Germany was defeated, France and Britain had been drained and exhausted • Britain and France used the mandate system to control the Middle East after World War I • After World War II, they gave up those mandates • Two other powers: the United States and the Soviet Union brought about the final victory • These two would emerge as superpowers with the economic resources and military might to dominate the globe • After the war, the alliance crumbled amid suspicious, mutual distrust and conflicting ideologies • This soon led to a conflict known as the Cold War • A state of tension between nations without armed conflict

9. The Cold War • Stalin had two goals in Eastern Europe • 1. To spread communism • 2. Create a buffer zone of friendly governments as a defense against Germany • As the Red Army pushed German forces out of Eastern Europe, they left behind occupying forces • After the war, the Soviets tried to persuade the western democracies to accept Soviet influence in those areas • Roosevelt and Churchill rejected Stalin’s view, making him promise “Free elections” in Eastern Europe • Stalin ignored the pledge and local communists in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and elsewhere destroyed rival political parties and even assassinated democratic leaders • By 1948, Stalin had installed pro-Soviet communist governments throughout Eastern Europe

10. A Divided Europe • Churchill had long distrusted Stalin • Described the Soviet control of Eastern Europe as an “iron curtain” dividing the continent • In the West, the “iron curtain” became a symbol of the Cold War • Expressed the growing fear of communism and described the division of Europe into “eastern” and “western” blocs • In the East were the Soviet-dominated, communist countries of Eastern Europe • In the West, were the western democracies, led by the United States

12. New Conflicts Develop • President Truman also saw communism as an evil force creeping across Europe and threatening countries around the world • To deal with that threat, the United Nations abandoned its isolationism • Stalin soon showed his intentions by backing communist rebels in Greece who were fighting to overturn a right-wing monarchy supported by Britain • On March 12, 1947, Truman outlined a new policy to Congress • Truman said, “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures” • This policy, which became known as the Truman Doctrine, would guide the United States for decades • It made it clear that Americans would resist Soviet expansion in Europe or elsewhere in the world • Was rooted in the idea of containment, limiting communism to the areas already under Soviet control • Stalin saw containment as “encirclement” by the capitalist world that wanted to isolate the Soviet Union

13. The Marshall Plan • Postwar hunger and poverty made Western Europe prime for communist ideas • To strengthen democratic governments, the United States offered a massive aid package, called the Marshall Plan • Under the Marshall Plan, the United States funneled food and economic assistance to Europe to help countries rebuild • President Truman also offered aid to the Soviet Union and its satellites (dependent states) in Eastern Europe • Stalin saw this as a trick to win Eastern Europe over to capitalism and democracies and forbade any Eastern European countries to accept American aid

14. Divisions in Germany • Defeated Germany became another focus of the Cold War • At the Yalta Conference, the Big Three divided up Germany as well as the former capital of Berlin • Fearing the danger of a restored Germany, the Soviet Union dismantled factories and other resources in its occupation zone and used them to help rebuild the Soviet Union • France, Britain and the United States decided to unite their zones of occupation, encouraging Germans to rebuild businesses and industries • Germany became a divided nation • In West Germany, the democratic nations allowed their people to write their own constitution and regain self-government • In East Germany, the Soviet Union installed a communist government tied to Moscow

16. The Berlin Airlift • Stalin’s resentment at western democracy being introduced in Germany triggered a crisis over Berlin • The former German capital was occupied by all four Allies, even though it was deep within the Russian zone • In 1948, Stalin tried to force the western Allies out of Berlin by sealing off the railroads and highways into the western sectors of the city • The western powers responded to the blockade by mounting a round-the-clock airlift • For more than a year, cargo planes supplied West Berliners with food and fuel • This forced the Soviets to end the blockade, but the crisis deepened hostilities

17. Military Alliances • In 1949, the United States, Canada, and nine Western European countries formed a new military alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) • Members pledged to help one another if any one of them was attacked • In 1955, the Soviet Union responded by forming its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact • Included the USSR and seven satellites in Eastern Europe • Unlike NATO, the Warsaw Pact was a weapon used by the Soviets to keep its satellites in order

18. The Arms Race • Stalin’s top scientists were under orders to develop an atomic bomb of their own • They succeeded in 1949, and the arms race began • For four decades, the superpowers developed new, more deadly nuclear and conventional weapons • They also invested to improve “delivery systems”- bombers, missiles, and submarines, to launch these weapons • Churchill described the new balance of power as a “balance of terror” • Both sides participated in a propaganda war • The United States spoke of defending capitalism and democracy against communism and totalitarianism • The soviet Union claimed the high ground in the struggle against western imperialism

19. What were some of the effects of World War II? • Cold War • New superpowers • Nuremberg trials • United Nations • U.S. involved in world affairs • Arms race • New military alliances • Spread of communism