Europe & Japan in ruins Chapter 16: Section 5

Devastation in Europe Europe lay in ruins Close to 40 million dead (2/3 of those civilians) Many cities reduced to rubble London, Warsaw & Berlin were destroyed Rome, Paris and Brussels survived After the bombings many civilians stayed but they had no water, no electricity and very little food

50 million Displaced Persons (DPs) Included survivors of concentration camps, prisoners of war and refugees who found themselves in the wrong countries when postwar treaties changed national borders. They wandered across Europe hoping to find their families or find a safe place to live Simon Wiesenthal, survivor of Auschwitz stated that “desire to find one’s people was stronger than hunger, thirst, fatigue.”

Misery After the War Agriculture had been completely disrupted Few remained to work the fields during the war Transportation sys was destroyed & meager harvests often did not reach the cities Thousands died as famine and disease spread thru-out bombed out cities The 1st postwar winter brought much hardship & suffering

Postwar Governments Once Germany surrendered, many prewar govs quickly returned Belgium, Holland, Denmark & Norway In countries such as Germany, France & Italy new governments were req’d Communist party membership skyrocketed in France and Italy Anxious to speed up a political takeover the Communists staged a series of violent strikes. This produced a backlash of voting against Communist party. Communist influence declined as French & Italian economies began to recover

The Nuremberg Trials While nations were struggling to recover pol & econ they also dealt with war crimes. During 1945-46 an International Military Tribunal representing 23 nations put Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg. They were accused of “waging a war of aggression” and “crimes against humanity” Some were executed by hanging and their bodies burned in the ovens at Dachau

Postwar Japan Two million Japanese dead Major cities including Tokyo, Hiroshima & Nagasaki were destroyed Allies stripped Japan of its colonial empire

Occupied Japan Gen. Douglas MacArthur who accepted Japanese surrender took charge of the US occupation He was determined to be fair and not to plant the seeds of a future war. Began process of demilitarization, disbanding the Japanese armed forces. Left Japan with only a small police force Also began bringing war criminals to trial. Out of 25 defendants, 7 condemned to die

Democratization MacArthur turned to the process of creating a gov elected by the people. In Feb 1946 he and his advisers drew up a new constitution. It changed the empire into a constitutional monarchy like Britain The new constitution was most important achievement of the occupation

The New Constitution No longer recognized the emperor as divine whose will used to be law Power of the emperor was dramatically reduced Became a figurehead of Japan like the monarch of Gt Britain New constitution guaranteed that real power lied with the 2-House parliament known as the “Diet” Gov would not be led by prime minister who would be chosed by majority of the Diet All citizens over 20 would have right to vote Article 9 – stated that Japan could no longer wage war

Land Ownership MacArthur was not told to revive the economy but was instructed to broaden land ownership & increase the participation of workers and farmers in the new democracy. MacArthur put forward new plan that req’d absentee landowners with huge land estates to sell their land to the gov. The gov would then sell land to tenant farmers at reasonable prices Workers were also given right to create independent labor unions

Formal Treaty Ending the war was signed by Japan and 47 other countries in Sept 1951. US agreed to maintain military presence in Japan since Japan had no military force Bitter enemies were now allies Allies such as the US and USSR were now becoming bitter adversaries