20. World War II and the Cold War 1937 - 1949. World War II and the Cold War Portents of Disaster. Economists predict disaster soon after signing of Versailles Treaty Disruptions of food & coal supply Weight of reparation payments - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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• Germany– Hitler was virulent racist before WWI– Adopted Mussolini model for party after war– Weimar government popular with no one– France reinvades after 1923 reparations
default Hitler attempts putsch to overthrow government Failure leads to jail and manifesto Mein Kampf Blames Jews for German misery
• 1920s a time of peace (?)– League of Nations serves as an annual forum– Negotiated limits on navies at Washington– Locarno modifies German debt payments– Pact of Paris (1928) outlaws war– Great Depression and relative ability of
communist and fascist nations to survive while democracies struggle
• Steps toward war in the 1930s [cont.]– Germany rises under Hitler
Withdraws from League of Nations (1933) Saar region forced into pro-German stance (1935) Rearming of Germany begins (1935) Militarization of Rhineland (1936) Formal seizure of Austria (1938) Takeover of Czechoslovakia (1938) Invasion of Poland (1939)
• The War in the Pacific, 1937-42 [cont.]– Churchill: Entry of US “seals” Axis fate– Japanese spread rapidly after Pearl Harbor– Japanese hopes fade--colonies can’t produce
• Turning the tide, 1942-5– Allied counter-offensive begins in 1942– “2nd Front” for Russia deferred by West– Role of “underground” symbolic not decisive– Bombing of German cities begins (1943)
Dresden hardest hit--necessity of attack debated
– Allied invasion of Sicily (1943)– 2nd front opened on D-Day, June 6, 1944
• War in Asia & the Pacific, 1942-5– 1st naval victory in Pacific--Midway Island– Fire bombings of Japan begin (March, 1944)– Atomic bombs end war amid controversy
about necessity of their use 3 million Japanese die in the war 1/4 of national assets were destroyed Industrial production 10% of pre-war levels
United Nations, Postwar Recovery & Origins of Cold War
• Political Reconstruction: Japan & Germany– Japan
Emperor remains power but no longer sacred Colonial empire was dissolved Land redistribution in Japan Zaibatsu were dissolved Promotion of worker rights Restructured the educational system Economic recovery aided by Korean War
United Nations, Postwar Recovery & Origins of Cold War
• Political Reconstruction: Japan & Germany– Germany
Divided into four regions of administration Russian occupation harsher than that of others Major war criminals tried at Nuremberg Democracy promoted in western sectors Berlin blockade marked opening of the Cold War
United Nations, Postwar Recovery & Origins of Cold War
• Economic Reconstruction & the Cold War– Despite devastation, some factories and much
production knowledge remain intact– Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan– Western foreign policy goal of containment– Fear on both sides leads to NATO and other
Post-war Europe. Western and eastern bloc competition, following their alliance in crushing Nazi Germany, crystallized in the Cold War. The Soviet Union annexed territories in the Baltic states and eastern Poland and set up a string of puppet communist states later known as the Warsaw Pact alliance, from East Germany to Bulgaria. The Western Allies formed the countervailing NATO alliance. The stalemate continued for forty years.