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EUROPE AND JAPAN IN RUINS
Devastation in Europe
Close to 40 million Europeans had died Many displaced people were left homeless
Concentration camps, POW’s, refugees The Battle of Britain left very little to
salvage Warsaw’s population went from 1.3 million
to 153,000 Civilians tried to get on with their lives
Lived in partially destroyed homes and had no water electricity, or food
Misery Continues
Europe’s agriculture had been completely disrupted even years after the war
Thousands died from famine and disease As winter approached, people went
without shoes and coats
Postwar Governments and Politics Prewar governments in Belgium, Holland,
Denmark, and Norway returned Nazi government did not return to Germany for
it brought destruction Government under Mussolini in Italy did not
return for he led them to defeat Communist party starts to promise change
within these countries At first, communist parties were strong and
influential then they started a series of violent strikes which caused the parties to decline
Nuremburg Trials
Another issue aside from governments and devastation were how to deal with the war crimes
International Military Tribunal representing 23 nations put the criminals on trial
In the first round, 22 leaders were charged with waging a war of aggression Also charged with “crimes against humanity” –
murder of 11 million people Hermann Goring and Rudolf Hess were among
the criminals on trial
…continued
Hess was found guilty- sentenced to life in prison
Goring committed suicide after he received a death sentence
10 Nazi leaders were hanged The bodies of the executed were burned
at the concentration camp of Dachau and cremated in the ovens that they used for their victims
Japan after the war
Two million lives had been lost No longer a colonial empire MacArthur started demilitarization-
disbanding the Japanese armed forces Japan was left only with a small police force He also brought criminals to trial Democratization- process of creating a
government elected by the people- started by MacArthur This changed the Japanese empire into a
constitutional monarchy
New changes in Japan
The new constitution guaranteed that real political power rested with the people
All citizens over the age of 20 could vote Japan could no longer make war September a formal peace treaty was
signed The emperor had to declare he was not
divine His power was also dramatically reduced
The End
Russia and America emerge as the two superpowers
Their postwar goals were very different They ended the war as allies, but did
they remain allies?? Hmmmm….