Tehran Conference:

1943• The USA and Britain would open a

second front to split the German

defenses and take some of the

pressure off the USSR

• The USSR would declare war on

Japan once Germany was defeated

And when he gets to Heaven

To St. Peter he will tell:

'One more Marine reporting, Sir — I've served my time in Hell.'

Sgt. James A. DonahueFirst Marine Division

Casualties by Alliance

Casualties by Alliance

•What were some aspects

of the Treaty of Versailles

that should NOT be

repeated in drafting a

peace settlement for

WW2?

Yalta Conference:

1945• Plans were begun for how Germany

would be divided after the war

• The Nazi party would be banned and war criminals tried in front of an international court

• A United Nations Organization (UN) would be set up to replace the League of Nations. It would meet for the first time on 25th April 1945

• The USSR would declare war on Japan three months after the defeat of Germany

Potsdam Conference:

1945• Germany would be divided into

four zones, to be administered by the USA, the USSR, Britain and France, with the aim of re-uniting it under one government as soon as possible

• Berlin, Germany's capital, would be divided into four in the same way as Germany, despite it being deep in the USSR's zone

War Crimes Trials

• Nuremberg Trials

• Series of trials in 1945 conducted

by an International Military

Tribunal in which former Nazi

leaders were charged with

crimes against peace, crimes

against humanity, and war

crimes.

Nuremberg Trials

• Who of the Nazi’s should be punished?

• Who should decide their guilt or innocence?

• What types of punishment might they receive?

• Given the high civilian casualties of the war, should other people be punished other than the Nazis?

Indictment 1:

Common plan or conspiracy

a. Forming the Nazi Party as the

instrument of cohesion for bringing the

conspirators together

b. Shaping the aims and purposes of

the Nazi Party so that it resorted to war

to overthrow the Treaty of Versailles

c. Avoiding disarmament

d. e. g. Collaborating with Italy and

Japan

Indictment 2:

Crimes against the peace

a. Violating international

treaties agreements, and

assurances

Indictment 3:

War crimes

Violating the laws or customs of war:

a. Murdering

b. Deporting persons to become slave-

laborers

c. Ill-treating prisoners of war

d. Killing hostages

e. Plundering public or private property

f. Wantonly destroying cities, towns, or

villages or causing other devastation not

justified by military necessity

Indictment 4:

Crimes against humanity

a. Murdering, exterminating, enslaving,

deporting, and committing other inhumane

acts against any urban population before or

during the war

b. Persecuting persons on political, racial, or

religious grounds, disregarding whether or not

the persons had violated a domestic law of

the country in which supposed “crimes” were

committed.

Joachim von Ribbentrop

• My last wish is that Germany realize its entity and that an understanding be reached between the East and the West. I wish peace to the world.

• Hanged

Wilhelm Keitel

• I call on God Almighty to have mercy on the German people. More than 2 million German soldiers went to their death for the fatherland before me. I follow now my sons-all for Germany.

• Hanged

Ernst Kaltenbrunner

• I have loved my German people and my fatherland with a warm heart. I have done my duty by the laws of my people and am sorry my people were led this time by men who were not soldiers and that crimes were committed of which I had no knowledge.

• Hanged

Hans Frank

• I am thankful for the

kind of treatment

during my captivity

and I ask God to

accept me with

mercy.

• Hanged, allegedlly

wearing a smile

Alfred Rosenberg

• No.

• Hanged

Wilhelm Frick

• Long live eternal

Germany.

• Hanged

Fritz Sauckel

• I am dying innocent. The sentence is wrong. God protect Germany and make Germany great again. Long live Germany! God protect my family!

• Hanged

Alfred Jodl

• My greeting to you,

my Germany.

• Hanged

Arthur Seyss-Inquart

• I hope that this execution is that last act of tragedy of the Second World War and the lesson take from this world war will be that peace and understanding should exist between peoples. I believe in Germany.

• Hanged

Julius Streicher

• The Bolsheviks will

hang you one day.

• Hanged

Herman Goering

“I would have no

objection

to getting shot.” But

he thought hanging

was inappropriate for

a man of his position.

Committed suicide

Debrief Nuremberg Trials

• Should there be international standards or rules for the conduct of war?

• Should there be international standards for human rights?

• Who and how would they be enforced?

• What should the U.S. and other countries’response be to the abuse of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries?

• How has it changed international perception of us and what long term effects might there be?