What’s Happening? 1946- bikini invented1950- first “Peanuts”

comic published1952- seatbelts

introduced1953- DNA

discovered1955- McDonalds

founded1957- Dr. Seuss

publishes “Cat in the Hat”

Life after WWII

Aftermath of WWIIApprox 75 million

people died during WWII- many were civilians; will never know exactly how many were killed

Only learned the extent of the Holocaust after the war

US was now a superpower

Nuremberg Trials War crimes trials took

place in Nuremberg, Germany

177 Germans and Austrians were tried; 142 were found guilty; top Nazi officials sentenced to death

Similar trials also held in Japan and Italy

Trials showed that political and military leaders could be held accountable for actions during wartime

United Nations April 1945 diplomats from

50 countries met in San Francisco and adopted a charter creating a new organization- the United Nations

Purpose was to try to prevent wars from occurring and stopping those that do as well as working together to stop hunger, disease, and illiteracy

All members belong to the General Assembly which discusses world problems and recommend action

Marshall Plan1947 US Secretary of

State George Marshall was deeply upset about the dire need of the people in Europe

Countries desperately needed financial aid to rebuild their devastated economies and infrastructure

America pledged $12 billion over 4 years and worked to revive Europe

Occupation of JapanUS army occupied Japan

after the war endedCommanded by

Douglas MacArthurDemilitarized the

country and drafted a constitution that called for a representative government

Stayed in Japan until 1952 when they became an independent country again

End of European Colonial PowersAfter WWII people in

colonies demanded freedom

b/w 1950 and 1980 more than 50 new nations emerged in Africa alone

At first, Europeans tried to hold on to their power but WWII had exhausted their military and financial resources

India Gains Independence Indian nationalists had

begun demanding independence after WWI

Indian nationalists were led by Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi believed in nonviolent resistance and encouraged Indians to join him in boycotts, strikes, and other protests

Finally in 1948 GB granted India independence

Partition of Indian Subcontinent

Had been tension between Muslims and Hindus in India for hundreds of years

After much discussion b/w the two groups, they agreed to partition or split up the Indian subcontinent into two countries

India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)

1971- East Pakistan became the independent country of Bangladesh

Creation of Israel At the end of WWII the

land we now know as Israel was Palestine and was a British colony

Jews that had survived the Holocaust longed for a homeland to go to

In 1947 Britain announced they were withdrawing from Palestine and turning the land over to the UN

UN announced a plan to divide the land into 2 countries- one Jewish; one Palestinan

Arabs were furious

China becomes Communist During WWII Nationalists

and Communists in China agreed to halt their civil war to form a united front against Japan

After WWII alliance quickly broke down and civil war continued

By 1949, Mao Zedong and the Communists had driven the Nationalists from power

Created the People’s Republic of China- has a communist government that is still in power today