Essential Question: Under what conditions do you think leaders should be charged with

waging a war of aggression? Justify your answer.

16.5 Europe & Japan in Ruins

Main Idea:WWII cost millions of

human lives and billions of dollars in damages.

It left Europe and Japan in ruins.

Why it Matters Now:

The U.S. survived WWII undamaged,

allowing it to become a world leader

World War II ends with the surrender of Germany on May 9th and the surrender of Japan on Sep. 2nd 1945.

Devastation of WWII Europe was in ruins 40 million Europeans had died – 2/3 were civilians 20 million Soviets died Ground war had destroyed much of the

countryside Agriculture was disrupted

Most men fought in the war & the women worked in war production, so there were very few to tend to the fields

Transportation systems were destroyed Most available food did not reach the cities

o Thousands died of famine & disease spread through the bombed-out cities

o August 1945, 4,000 citizens of Berlin died every day! The first winter people went without shoes & coats

Devastation of WWII Displaced persons were struggling to get home

(50 million) Millions found themselves in the wrong country when

the postwar treaties changed national borders Jammed the roads trying to get home, find their

families, or find a safe place Hundreds of cities reduced to rubble London was left in ruins by the German Blitz. Warsaw, Poland, was almost wiped Berlin was 95% demolished

One U.S. officer stationed in Berlin reported, “Wherever we looked, we saw desolation. It was like a city of the dead.”

A City in Great BritainAfter the war, many civilians stayed where they were & tried to get on with their lives. Some lived in partially destroyed homes or apartments. Others huddled in caves & cellars beneath the rubble. They had no water, no electricity, and very little food. With factories destroyed or damaged, most people had no earnings to buy the food that was available.

Civilian and Military Deaths in WWIIFrom: http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A2854730

Countries Total Deaths % of Pre-war Population Military Deaths Civilian Deaths

USSR 20,600,000 10.40% 13,600,000 7,000,000China 10,000,000 2.00% - -Germany 6,850,000 9.50% 3,250,000 3,600,000Poland 6,123,000 17.20% 123,000 6,000,000Japan 2,000,000 2.70% - -Yugoslavia 1,706,000 10.90% - -France 810,000 1.90% 340,000 470,000Greece 520,000 7.20% - -USA 500,000 0.40% 500,000 -Austria 480,000 7.20% - -Romania 460,000 3.40% - -Hungary 420,000 3.00% - -Italy 410,000 0.90% 330,000 80,000Czechoslovakia 400,000 2.70% - -Great Britain 388,000 0.80% 326,000 62,000The Netherlands 210,000 2.40% 198,000 12,000Belgium 88,000 1.10% 76,000 12,000Finland 84,000 2.20% - -Australia 39,000 0.30% - -Canada 34,000 0.30% - -Albania 28,000 2.50% - -India 24,000 0.01% - -Norway 10,262 0.30% - -New Zealand 10,000 0.60% - -Luxembourg 5,000 1.70% - -TOTAL 52,199,262 - - -

Costs of WWII: Allies & AxisNote: *Of the 173,260 French civilians that were killed, 65,000 were murdered Jews.*Of the 2,893,000 German civilians who were killed, about 170,000 were

murdered Jews & 56,000 were foreign civilians in Germany.

Direct Cost of War

MilitaryCausalities

Civilian Causalities

United States $288 Billion 292,131 0

Great Britain $117 Billion 271,311 60,595

France $111.3 Billion 205,707 173,260*

USSR $93 Billion 13,600,000 7,720,000

Germany $212.3 Billion 3,300,000 2,893,000*

Japan $41.3 Billion 1,140,429 953,000

Wartime Conferences Attendees: THE BIG 3 U.S. Great Britain Soviet Union

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met at Yalta in February 1945 to discuss their joint occupation of

Germany and plans for postwar Europe.

United Nations April 1945: First Meeting Jan. 1946: First session London Representatives of 51 nations

June 1946: Agreed on a charter Created the General Assembly Made up of all member nations Expected to function as a “town meeting of the world”

11 member Security Council held the real power Permanent seats: U.S., Great Britain, France, China &

Soviet Union Power to veto any council action

Other six seats rotated

http://www.history.com/videos/united-nations-founded#united-nations-founded

Postwar Governments and Politics Europeans often blamed their leaders for the

war and its aftermath. After the war the Communist Party promised

change, and millions were ready to listen. They made huge gains in the first postwar

election, and many alarmed French and Italians reacted by forming anticommunist parties

Nuremberg War Trials Nov. 20, 1945: first trial

against the principal war criminals of the “Third Reich“ International Military Court in Nuremberg 23 nations represented

22 Nazi leaders were charged with waging a war of aggression, accused of committing “crimes against humanity“ & “crimes against peace”

Not all major Nazis could be brought before the Allies: Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler committed suicide

Lasts over a year

Nuremberg War Trials Oct. 1, 1946: 12 of the 22 accused are

condemned to death Göring escapes the hangman by committing

suicide 12 defendants were sentenced to death by

hanging, and their bodies were cremated in the same ovens of their victims at the concentration camp Dachau.

Seven receive sentences of many years or life Only three cases were acquitted In later trials of lesser leaders, nearly 200 more Nazis

were found guilty of war crimes For the first time in history a nation’s leaders had

been held legally responsible for their actions during wartime

The Effects of Defeat in Japan The defeat suffered by Japan in World War II left

the country in ruins, two million people were dead and their major cities had been destroyed.

US forces occupy Japan under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur.

MacArthur began a process of demilitarization to disband the Japanese armed forces and he also began the process of bringing war criminals to trial.

MacArthur begins the process of democratization by drawing up a new constitution, changing the empire into a Constitutional Monarchy like that of Britain.

U.S. Occupation Brings Deep Changes The power of Japan’s emperor Hirohito as a

supreme leader was greatly reduced, and he became largely a figurehead like the ruler in Britain.

The new constitution created a two-house parliament called the Diet, and gave all citizens over 20, including women, the right to vote.

A bill of rights protected basic freedoms and Article 9 stated that the Japanese could no longer make war except when attacked.

World War II changed the political landscape, enemies became allies and allies became enemies.