End of World War II

End of World War II ryan henrici michelle squiteri peter searle

Table of Contents Conferences and End of the War V-E Day and Beginnings of the Cold War Nuremberg Trials and Creation of the UN Discussion Questions

Casablanca Conference of 1943 • US (Pres. FDR), and GB (PM. Winston Churchill) • Soviets (Stalin) did not attend • Held in Morocco • Unconditional Surrender • Finalized Allied offensive attack strategy

Casablanca Attack Strategy Allied staging area supplies bombing Sicily invasion

Cairo Conference of 1943 • US (Pres. FDR), GB, China • China officially joins Allies • Return Japanese occupied territories post WWII • FDR wants to raise public confidence in China • Public dislike and distrust China • Establish China as one of the “Four Policemen” (US, GB, SU, CN) • China to oversee peace in Asia • China does not want to aid Burma offensive • Burma is an English colony • Boosted Chinese morale

Tehran Conference of 1943 • US (Pres. FDR) , GB, and Soviet Union • Finalized Operation Overlord • Opened eastern front to relieve Red Army • Stalin agrees to declare war on Japan • Post-War plans • Poland • Soviet Territory and Ports • Plans for United Nations • “Declaration of the Three Powers Regarding Iran” • Promised aid to Iran post war in thanks for their wartime aid

Yalta Conference of 1945 • US (Pres. FDR), GB, SU • Soviets in the Pacific • Rewards for Pacific Aid • Sphere of Influence in Manchuria • Port Arthur • Kurile Islands • Germany takes responsibility for war • France as a Security Council Member • Post-War governments should be friendly

Potsdam Conference of 1945 • US (Pres. Truman), GB, SU • Negotiate Allied terms of surrender • Disagreement over reparations • SU wants heavy • Truman wants to prevent a WWI outcome • Divide Germany into 4 demil. Allie-Occupied zones • All Nuremberg Laws repealed • Germany is remade Democratic • All authoritarian influences eliminated

Potsdam Conference of 1945 • Redefinition of Poland • Large Germ territory goes to Poland • Wanted to prevent a mass German exodus • Potsdam Declaration • US SU cooperation declines • Cold War Relations

End of War Timeline 1943-1945 Battle of Tunis, May 7 Axis forces in N. Africa surrender, May 13 Battle of Kursk, July 4- Aug 1 Allies land at Sicily, July 10 Italians Secretly Surrender Sept 3 Allies Land at Salerno July 19 Allies land at Anzio Jan 22 Allies invade Normandy June 6 (D-Day) Soviets push Germans into Poland, mid-July Paris liberated Aug 25 Polish resistance revolts against Germans in Warsaw Aug-Oct Battle of the Bulge, Dec 16- Feb7 (Last Sig. Germ offensive) Yalta Conference Feb 4-11 Soviets launch attack on Berlin April 16 Hitler commits suicide Apr 30 Germany surrenders-, WWII in Europe ends May 7

The Basics • “Victory In Europe Day” • May 8, 1945 • World War II Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany • Marked the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich

Allies Take Control • By January of 1945, the Soviet Army had reached the Oder river outside Berlin and Allies pushed into Italy • April 1945, Mussolini tried to flee to Switzerland but was captured and executed • American and British troops had now crossed the Rhine River into Germany and In April, a U.S army reached the Elbe River, 50 miles West of Berlin. • Allied forces now prepared for an all out offensive to take Hitler’s capital, Berlin

The Surrender • Hitler had finally become aware he was going to be defeated, shaken by tremors and drugs, he gave his last useless orders • On 30 April Hitler and a few of his closest associates committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin • His plan for the “Thousand Year Reich only lasted a dozen years • On May 7, Germany surrendered in a little French school house which served as Eisenhower’s headquarters

The Surrender • The act of military surrender was signed on May 7th in Reims, France and May 8th in Berlin, Germany. • The surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. • The administration headed up by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government.

Post Victory & Celebration • More than a million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. • In London, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace before cheering crowds. • In the United States, President Harry Truman, who turned 61 that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died less than a month earlier, on April 12.

Post Victory & Celebration • Flags remained at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period, which ended on May 12. Massive celebrations also took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and especially in New York City's Times Square • Many hardships remained, however, including continued rationing of food and clothing, which lasted even longer in peacetime than it had during the war.

US and Soviet Differences &Beginning of the Cold War

US and SU Differences • US relations with the Soviet Union after the war were beginning to break down • They had only been united in their opposition to Nazi Germany during the war • The United States was a capitalist Democracy, its citizens believed in free elections, economic and religious freedoms, private property, and respect for individual differences • On the other hand, the Soviet Union was a Dictatorship • Under Joseph Stalin, the communist Party made all key economic, political, and military decisions

Disagreement • Following the Yalta Conference, it was unclear as to how Germany and the Nations of Eastern Europe would be governed after the war • Stalin wanted to keep Germany weak and divided and Europe to remain under the control of the Soviet Union • The United States sought a stronger and united Germany and independent nations in Eastern Europe

Disagreement • Stalin agreed to establish broadly representative governments and free elections in Eastern Europe and divide Germany only temporarily into zones of occupation • Despite this agreement, nearly all the lands occupied by the Soviet Red Army in 1945 remained under Soviet control after the war • Poland, Czech, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria as well as Eastern Germany became Satellite States of the Soviet Union

Truman & Stalin Clash • Stalin refused to make a commitment to allow free elections in Eastern Europe • This angered Truman and led him to believe that the Soviet Union was planning world conquest • Alliance was quickly falling apart • With Stalin and the enormous Red Army in power, The US began to view the Soviet Union as a real threat and a rivalry began to brew

Cold War Begins • The next 46 years were Known as the Cold War • Great Britain was on the US side and Churchill proposed that an “Iron Curtain” had descended across the Continent • East of it, The SU was gaining power and control by installing communist Gov. and crushing political and religious dissent, and that the Su was going to attempt to spread communism

Truman Doctrine • March 12, 1947 President Truman asked Congress for money to support free people (Greece and Turkey) who were resisting attempted conquest by armed minorites or outside pressure • Congress responded by giving $400 million in aid for Greece and Turkey • This promise from Truman to aid nations struggling against Communist movements was known as the Truman Doctrine

Containing Soviet Expansion • George F. Kennan, an American diplomat published an article called “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” in which he introduced the idea of containment • The goal of containment was to keep communism contained within its existing borders • The Americans believed that Stalin would not risk starting an all out war with the US just to spread his communism

Marshall Plan • In Western Europe after WWII, people did not have food, fuel, and medical supplies, as well as the cold winters • Secretary of State, George Marshall unveiled a recovery plan for Europe • Early 1948, Congress approved the Marshall Plan, in which over the next 4 years the US gave $13 billion in grants and loans to Western Europe • By helping and offering to help these countries, it helped the US increase in foreign trade and most importantly helped join powers to work against the expansion of communism

The NurembergTrials

The Nuremberg Trials "The wrongs we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." ~Robert Jackson Chief United States Prosecutor The Nuremberg Trials & Supreme Court Justice

What is The Nuremberg Trials? The Nuremberg Trials is when Twenty-four major political and military leaders of Nazi Germany, indicated for aggressive war, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, were brought to trial before the International Military Tribunal. The trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany and lasted from 1945-1949.

Chief Prosecutors of The Nuremberg Trials Robert Jackson- A Supreme Court Justice in the United States of America Lord Hartley Shawcross- A British barrister and politician General R. A. Rudenko- A Soviet Union lawyer

Chief Prosecutors of The Nuremberg Trials François de Menthon- A French Politician and Professor of Law Auguste Champetier de Ribes- A French Politician and Jurist

The Twenty-four Men The Trials began on October 18th 1945 and ended in October of 1946 here is the outcome • Of the 24 indicted Nazi leaders, 22 were tried at The Nuremburg Trials • Only 22 were tried due to Robert Ley’s suicide and Gustav Krupp stood down due to illness • 3 of the 22 defendants were acquitted • 19 were found guilty • 3 were sentenced to life in prison • 4 were sentence to 10-20 years of prison • 12 were sentenced to death

Creation of the United Nations

Discussion Questions • Which Conference was most influential in the Allied victory? • How could the Post-WWII reconstruction been handled to prevent the Cold War Crisis? • What were some of the major reasons why the Allies were able to turn the tables and ultimately cause V-E Day? • What were some major differences between the US and soviet union during the time period following WWII?

End of World War II