Warm-up

What should happen to Germany and Japan after

World War II?

Results of World War II:The end of one war leads to

the beginning of another

How the war changed the world…

Yalta & Potsdam Conferences

Attended by the “big three” - USA, UK, & USSR– Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin

(Yalta, Feb. 1945)

– Truman, Churchill and Stalin (Potsdam, July-August 1945)

Made decisions on how to deal with Germany and Japan at the end of and after WWII

YALTA

Nuremberg War Crimes Trials

Nazi officials tried for war crimes

Created accountability for crimes against humanity

Trials were also held in Japan and Italy

Marshall Plan Rebuilds Europe

Plan to help rebuild Germany & the rest of Europe

The U.S. hoped that $15 billion in aid would prevent the spread of communism: CONTAINMENT

Emergence of Two Superpowers

Conflicting beliefs of USA and USSR: capitalism versus communism

Cold War begins

Division of Europe Soviet spheres (east)

versus democratic countries (west)

“Iron Curtain” divides the continent, symbolized by Berlin Wall (1960s)

NATO (west) and Warsaw Pact (east) are competing military alliances

Berlin Wall

Nuclear Age Begins

1st nuclear weapons used on Japan during WWII

USSR develops bomb in 1946

Arms race continues throughout Cold War

Britain, France, China also develop bomb

The two bombs dropped on Japan resulted in 110,000 instant deaths and 130,000 injuries.

Creation of the United Nations

First meeting in San Francisco in 1945

51 original members 192 current members Goal=solve conflicts

peacefully & improve the world

Creation of the State of Israel

Palestine was a British mandate prior to WWII

Desire for a homeland for Jews from around the world after WWII

Sympathy due to the Holocaust

Two states created in 1948: Jewish state & Arab state

Led to continuing conflict

Arab state

Jewish state