Aim: Describe Conditions in Europe in 1945

Devastation in Europe By end of WWII, close to 40 million Europeans had died A few of the great cities of Europe (Paris, Rome & Brussels) remained largely undamaged Battle of Britain left huge areas of London little more than blackened ruins Warsaw (Capital of Poland) was almost completely destroyed Displaced persons included the survivors of concentration camps, prisoners of war, & refugees wandered across Europe searching find a safe place War ravaged Europe agriculture which led to famine & disease for thousands 2

Postwar Governments & Politics Despairing Europeans often blamed their leaders for the war & its aftermath In countries like Germany, Italy, & France, a return to the old leadership was not desirable The Nuremberg Trials: While nations were struggling to recover politically & economically, they also tried to deal with the issue of war crimes 1945-1946: International Military Tribunal representing 23 nations put Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg, Germany 22 Nazi leaders were charged with waging a war of aggression Also accused of committing “crimes against humanity”- murder of 11 million 3

Postwar Japan General MacArthur who had accepted the Japanese surrender took charge of the U.S. occupation of Japan MacArthur was determined to be fair To ensure that peace would prevail, he began the process of demilitarization or disbanding the Japanese armed forces MacArthur turned his attention to democratization, the process of creating a government elected by the people May 1945: American advisors drew up new constitution that brought deep changes Guaranteed that real power rested with people People elected a two-house parliament (Diet) Constitutional protected basic freedoms Article 9: Stated that Japan could no longer make war 4