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The End of World War II in Europe

The End of World War II in Europe. Michael S. Neiberg neiberg102@gmail.com. The Horrors of Europe: Is Europe Still a Model for the USA?. “I never dreamed that such cruelty, bestiality, and savagery could really exist in this world” – Eisenhower to his wife, Mamie

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The End of World War II in Europe

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  1. The End of World War II in Europe Michael S. Neiberg neiberg102@gmail.com

  2. The Horrors of Europe:Is Europe Still a Model for the USA? • “I never dreamed that such cruelty, bestiality, and savagery could really exist in this world” – Eisenhower to his wife, Mamie • Ike urged Marshall to bring the entire US Congress to see the camps for themselves. Eisenhower and other senior American officers tour a liberated concentration camp

  3. Domestic Problems • Racial tensions and Riots across the nation • Economic concerns: will the Depression return • “Reconversion” of US industry and the integration of 12,000,000 young men Racial violence in Detroit, 1945

  4. Other Major International Problems • Rebuilding of Japan • Civil War in China • Resettlement of Jews in Palestine • Colonial issues in India, Vietnam, and Malaya George Marshall in China, 1946

  5. US Strategic Choices:Mass Demobilization • Europe “has degenerated into a state worse than that of animals” – a US soldier after seeing the Buchenwald concentration camp.

  6. US Strategic Choices:Stay Mobilized • "Let's keep our boots polished, bayonets sharpened, and present a picture of force and strength to the Red Army. This is the only language they understand and respect” – George Patton.

  7. US Strategic Choices:Constructive Engagement • “What Rome was to the ancient world, what Great Britain has been to the modern world, America is to the world of tomorrow” – two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Lippman.

  8. The New World • No peace conference like 1919 • European states devastated • Agriculture, transport, and industry all destroyed • US and USSR now in charge and their goals in conflict

  9. Potsdam Conference17 July to 2 August 1945 • Unconditional Surrender for Japan • “The freely expressed will of the Japanese people” will determine its government • Each power to take reparations from its sector of Germany • Germany to be “denazified” • Surrender of Japanese forces in Korea and Vietnam agreed. Clement Atlee, Harry Truman, and Josef Stalin at Potsdam.

  10. What to do with Germany? • Morgenthau Plan • British desires to rebuild Germany • USSR wants to devastate it • USA wanted Germany in a new alliance • Partition Starving children reaching for food in Germany, 1946

  11. Unresolved Questions • Can the USA trust Stalin? • Will the Germans try again? • When will America’s allies be ready to help? • Is a Cold War inevitable?

  12. US Strategy • The “Long Telegram” • Demobilization • Need to rebuild our allies reshape Europe

  13. The New Secretary of StateJanuary 21, 1947 • First general to serve in that role • Non-partisan image (GOP controlled Congress) • Had no interest in elected office

  14. Can America Meet Its New Challenges? • “I found the problems to be almost identical with those of the war years. There was the same problem between East and West; the same limitations as to our capability; the same pressures at home and abroad.”

  15. The First Phase, 1947-1953 • George Kennan’s “Long Telegram” and the policy of containment • “Lessons” of World War II • Truman Doctrine • Creation of NATO and Warsaw Pact • Korean War, 1950-1953 US and Soviet soldiers meet on the Elbe, April, 1945

  16. New US Defense Policies • 1950: NSC 68 recommended tripling defense budget • 1952: US introduced peacetime conscription • 1953: US builds first H-bomb • 1950-1953: US sends more military personnel to Europe than to Asia • 1955: (West) Germany rearmed The King gets drafted, 1958

  17. Phase Two: 1953-1979 • USSR and USA want to avoid nuclear war • So they fight “proxy” wars in the Third World • Connections to wars of anticolonialism • Few direct confrontations Soviet advisors in Vietnam, 1966

  18. Final Phase, 1980-1991 • Reagan and “evil empire” rhetoric • SDI and massive US military spending • Alliances with Saudi Arabia to reduce USSR oil values, bring Arab states into US alliances • Defeat USSR with economic effort, not direct military confrontation Building tight US – Saudi links seemed like a good idea at the time

  19. Soviet Initiatives • Perestroika (restructuring) and Glasnost (openness) • USSR spending 50% of its GDP on defense • Sign bipartisan disarmament agreements • Seek to use the US as a partner not an enemy • Dismantle Warsaw Pact, remove troops from Eastern Europe “I was talking about another time and another era” – Reagan when asked about his “evil empire” statement of 1982

  20. The End of History?

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