History 309 – CONTEMPORARY EUROPE – October 19, 2005  

TEN REASONS WHY WORLD WAR II IS SO IMPORTANT  

 

I. DESTRUCTION OF FASCISM & JAPANESE MILITARISM

·        end to Hitler

·        destruction of Imperialist-Nationalist-Militarist-Anti-Democratic Fascism system

·        Nuremberg Trials, Japanese War Crimes Trials, 1945-1946 ("Crimes Against Humanity;" "Duty to Disobey")

·        After WWII – Fascism ceases to be a viable political option, though, of course, racists, militarists, etc. survive.

 

II. BI-POLAR WORLD - COLD WAR.  

·        USA, USSR as only surviving world powers

·        tensions:

(0)   power

(1)   ideology

(2)   USSR as last "totalitarian"

(3)   USSR as last "world empire"

            After WWII, the world is DIVIDED into to rival camps, and this division will last for

            FIFTY YEARS     

 

III. DIVISION OF EUROPE.  

·        Soviet imposition of pro-Soviet communist dictatorships in POLAND;  CZECHOSLOVAKIA;  HUNGARY;  BULGARIA; EAST GERMANY; YUGOSLAVIA

·        1947 TRUMAN DOCTRINE & CONTAINMENT

·        1949: NATO, WARSAW PACT

·        1948-9: BERLIN BLOCKADE

·        FORTIFIED BORDER THROUGH HEART OF GERMANY

·        For Eastern Europe – 50 Years of Dictatorship  

 

IV. DESTRUCTION OF GERMANY.  

·        1871 Creation of Germany had profoundly shifted power I Europe

·        WWII destroys Germany

·        Yalta Conference - "zones of occupation"

·        Far eastern Germany given to Poland (and a slice to the USSR)

·        East-Central Germany is occupied by Russians & becomes a Stalinist State

·        Western Germany is occupied by the US, UK, Fr.

 ·        1949: TWO GERMAN STATES:

(0)   German Federal Republic (West Germany)

(1)   German Democratic Republic (East Germany)

 

V. DESTRUCTION OF MUCH OF EUROPE.  

·        From Rhine westwards: Berlin, Warsaw; most of Germany; most of Poland; most of western Russia

·        "Displaced Persons", refugees, "population transfers" (mass explusion of 12+ million Germans from Eastern Europe)

·        EUROPE TEMPORARILY CEASES TO BE A WORLD POWER

 

VI. EXHAUSTION OF WESTERN POWERS.

·        France, Britain, Netherlands, Belgium financially, psychologically, politically exhausted

·        colonial rebellions:

(2)   Britain in INDIA

(3)   France in VIETNAM, ALGERIA

(4)   Netherlands in INDONESIA

·        collapse of European world empires

·        anti-Western mood IN THE WEST (as Western youth sympathize with colonial rebels)

 

VII. ECONOMIC BOOM IN WESTERN EUROPE.  

·        rebuilding; pent-up demand

·        BABY BOOM - emerging youth culture

·        MARSHALL PLAN (1947)

·        50s culture - conformity, materialism, stability, conservatism

·        by 60s, growing reaction against conformity, materialism,  conservatism, etc.

·        EASTERN EUROPE: SLOW GROWTH & STAGNATION  

 

VIII. UNITED NATIONS.  

·        Charter signed in San Francisco, 1945

·        World Parliament: Security Council ("senate"), General Assembly ("house")

·        Another attempt at COLLECTIVE SECURITY (international cooperation; consultation; restraint)  

 

IX. HOLOCAUST & MASS DEATH.  

·        Destruction of European Jews

·        Mass bombing of civilian cities (Dresden, 1945)

·        Nuclear weapons

·        EXISTENTIALISM:  fear; despair; pessimism; call to heroism            

 

X. RESISTANCE & RENEWED ALLEGIANCE TO DEMOCRACY.  

·        SOME Europeans behaved decently & opposed Nazism

·        NON-Government Resistance: spontaneous, grass-roots, ethically inspired

·        Inspires:

(1)US: Civil Rights Movement; 1960s' anti-war movement

(2)   USSR: rebellions in Eastern Europe:

(3)   1953: East German Riots

(4)   1956: Poland & Hungary

(5)   1968: Czechoslovakia

(6)   1989: Non-Violent overthrow of Communism in Eastern Europe

Queens University of Charlotte  1900 Selwyn Avenue  Charlotte, NC  28274
Modified by:  H.  Kamerling