Bellringer

• SOL Challenge

• BJOTD: What is white and fluffy and lives on Mars?

The End of the War and Reconstruction

Destruction of WWII• 40 million Europeans died• 2/3 were civilians • Billions of dollars in property damage • London, Warsaw, Berlin, all destroyed• Civilians had no homes, food, jobs,

cities…..• Famine set in

–Berlin 1945- 4,000 citizens died a day

Reconstruction in Germany • In February 1945 the US, Britain and the

Soviet Union met in Yalta• They agreed to divide Germany and

Berlin into zones of occupation, controlled by Allied forces

• The US and Britain wanted to rebuild the German economy to help stabilize Europe

• Stalin wanted to keep Germany weak and divided

Reconstruction in Germany• Western Berlin and Western

Germany will become democratic thanks to Western Europe and the US’s help

• The West will also become an economic power in postwar Europe

• The East, controlled by Stalin will lag behind and will be communist

Nuremberg Trials• Allies put Nazis on trial • In Nuremberg Germany, 22 Nazi

leaders were put on trial in the first Nuremberg trials

• Charged with “crimes against humanity”• 12 were sentenced to death • 11 were hung and their bodies were

burned at Dachau, a concentration camp

To Preserve Peace…The United Nations

• 50 countries• Goal- protect the members against

aggression• Based in New York • Each nation could cast their vote on

issues• Security council

–5 permanent members – Britain, China, France, US and the Soviet Union

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Established and adopted by the United Nations

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued in 1948 to protect the dignity and rights of all people

• Provided a code of conduct for the treatment of people under the protection of their government

Reconstruction in Japan

• 2 million died• Atomic bomb destroyed

Hiroshima and Nagasaki• The capital, Tokyo, had been

destroyed• The Allies took away Japan's

colonial possessions

Reconstruction in Japan

• On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito, made a radio address urging his people to stop fighting and begin reconstruction in Japan

• Douglas Macarthur took charge of the US occupation

Demilitarization • MacArthur was determined to fairly control

Japan, but he needed to make sure his men were safe

• He began the process of demilitarization• Disbanding the Japanese army

–Eliminated aggressive abilities • He also brought war criminals to trial

–Hideki Tojo was hung • Crated a “safe” Japan• Promised Japan the US would keep them safe

MacArthur brings democracy

• The US helped the Japanese create a new constitution, that went into effect on May 3, 1947

• Japan now had a Parliamentary Democracy, like Britain

Macarthur revives Economy

• Increased land ownership• Created labor unions• US did not give the Japanese

much money, only 2 billion• Japan begins to emerge as a

dominant economy in Asia