EUROPE AND JAPAN IN RUINS 16.5

Devastation in Europe 40 million Europeans killed during WWII Countryside completely destroyed by warfare 50 million ppl uprooted from their homes Billions of dollars of damage in total

A Harvest of Destruction Many major cities destroyed (London, Warsaw, Berlin) Battle of Britain turned London into rubble Warsaw went from a population of 1.3 million in 1939 to 153,000 in % of Berlin demolished

Misery Continues After the War Countryside destroyed ∴ agriculture completely disrupted = little food Thousands died of famine after the war

Postwar Governments + Politics Communist Party promised change from the horrors of fascism + an improvement in the economy ∴ many Europeans joined But then they staged violent revolts in places like France + Italy & the economy picked up ∴ membership declined by the 1950s

War Criminals Go on Trial Nations also had to deal w/ the issue of war crimes Allies required that the Axis Powers stand trial for their war crimes Japanese and Nazis specifically The International Military Tribunal of 23 nations held these trials…

Japanese War Crimes Trials General Hideki Tojo hung w/ 6 other Japanese leaders Bio-Chemical Experiments on humans

The Nuremberg Trials 22 Nazi leaders were put on trial Accused of committing “crimes against humanity” Many Nazi leaders committed suicide long before the trials. 12 were sentenced to death others went to prison Those killed were often hung + their bodies cremated in the Dachau concentration camp ovens.

Postwar Japan Much of Japan destroyed: Especially, Tokyo, Hiroshima, + Nagasaki Lost all of its colonial claims

Occupied Japan General Douglas MacArthur led the U.S. occupation of Japan after WWII MacArthur wanted to be sure not to plant the seeds of future war (remembering WWI + Germany) ∴ he used… Demilitarization: disbanding Japans military Democratization: process of creating a gov’t elected by the ppl 1946 a new constitution was drawn up to model the constitutional monarchy of G.B.

Occupation Brings Deep Changes The Emperor had to declare he was not divine, this shocked many of the Japanese ppl The Emperor became a largely a figurehead like the King/Queen of England New constitution: 2 house parliament called the Diet All ppl over 20 could vote Bill of Rights protected basic freedoms Article 9  stated that the Japanese could no longer make war, could only fight if attacked

Occupation Brings Deep Changes September 1951: 48 nations signed a peace treaty w/ Japan Officially ended all of WWII Japan agreed to continued U.S. military occupation b/c they disbanded their armed forces