After the War Many things changed once WWII was over. Much of Europe and Eastern Asia had been destroyed by the fighting and bombings that had taken place over many years. Also, many country’s borders needed to be set and governments re-established where Germany or Japan had taken over.

Europe After The War Germany was divided up into Eastern and Western Germany; USSR (Eastern), Allies (Western) USSR also took control of: Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia Europe was in much need of financial aid due to all the roads, bridges, buildings and more that had been destroyed in the fighting. The US offered Aid in the form of the Marshall Plan to help Europe recover.

Japan and Eastern Asia Japan Korea US and the Allies occupied Japan and maintained control as Japan recovered from the war. Japan would become an independent nation again in 1952 (7 years after the end of the war) The Allies and the USSR divided up the country into North and South Korea. The plan was for Russia to control the North and the Allies the South until a free election could be held for the entire country; this never happened-Russia refused To this day North Korea is still communist

War Crimes After the war, many leaders from Japan and Germany were brought to trial. They had violated the ruled of war according to the Geneva Convention and had also committed crimes against humanity. These crimes included the Holocaust, slave labor, and the terrible treatment and torture of prisoners of war. Many of these leaders were executed for their crimes.

Geneva Convention The Geneva Conventions extensively defined the basic rights of wartime prisoners (civilians and military personnel); established protections for the wounded; and established protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone. The treaties of 1949 were ratified, in whole or with reservations, by 196 countries.

United Nations The Allies formed the United Nations in order to try and prevent World War III from happening. The United Nations was formed on October 24, 1945. There were 51 original member nations including 5 permanent Security Council members: China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States

The Marshall Plan and Recovery After WWII much of Europe was destroyed. Armies from both sides had bombed roads, bridges, supplies, and communication facilities. Europe needed to rebuild This was not easy. Many governments were in debt or out of money because they had used all their resources in fighting the war. On top of this, their economies were devastated making it difficult to collect taxes in order to rebuild. Many people did not have enough food to eat let alone money to pay taxes.

Marshall Plan In order to help Europe recover from the war, the US came up with the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan offered help and finances to European countries in order to recover from WWII. Although the US had already been helping Europe to recover, the Marshall Plan made it official in 1948. Over the next four years the US gave $13 billion in assistance to Western European countries. (approximately $120 billion in current dollar value) The US also offered assistance to Russia and its allies, however, they turned it down.

Marshall Plan By the time the Marshall Plan funding ended, all of the countries that participated had larger economies and were stronger than before the war. The plan was successful in helping Western Europe recover economically from the war. George Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his contribution to the Marshall Plan Japan was NOT a part of the Marshall Plan but DID receive US economic aid through other programs.

Fear of Communism The US, as well as much of Europe, had allied with the Russians in order to defeat Hitler and the Germans. However, now they were worried about he Russians and the spread of communism. If Western Europe did not rebuild and grow strong quickly, it may soon fall to communism. Fortunately, the land of the US had been free of war and devastation. The US economy was doing well, making the US the richest country in the world. They wanted to help Europe and their allies recover from the War.

Europe became divided into the Eastern Bloc of nations and the West *Europe became divided into the Eastern Bloc of nations and the West. The Eastern Bloc was led and controlled by the Soviet Union; these countries were run by communist governments and had their own alliance called the Warsaw Pact. *The Western countries, including the United States, formed an alliance against communism called NATO *NATO and the Warsaw Pact, would take part in an arms race war called the Cold War; the Cold War never escalated into full war due to the fear of what would happen to the world if many countries started dropping bombs. The Cold War would last for the next 45 years.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former U. S Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan Destruction of the Berlin Wall

The End