WWII Aftermath

• Death Toll
o total of 60 million dead from WWII
 close to 40 million Europeans dead (war in Europe far more bloodier than in Asia)
• two-thirds civilians
• 60,595 London civilians died by German bombings over 5 years
• only 153,000 out of 1,289,000 people remained in Warsaw, Poland over 6 years
 2 million Japanese dead
o thousands die from famine and disease in bombed-out cities
 4,000 Berlin citizens die every day in August, 1945

• Environment and Property

o few of great European cities (Paris, Rome, Brussels) remain undamaged
o hundreds of cities suffer terrible destruction from constant bombing + shelling
 London receives blackened ruins from Blitz
 Warsaw, Poland almost wiped from face of the earth
 95% of Berlin demolished by 25,000 tons of Allied bombs
• “Wherever we looked we saw desolation. It was like a city of the dead.”
 Tokyo and other major Japanese cities largely destroyed by bombing raids
 Hiroshima and Nagasaki left as blackened wastelands from atomic bombs
o much of countryside destroyed from ground war
o factories destroyed/damaged
o postwar treaties change national borders
o agriculture disrupted
o transportation system destroyed
 any meager harvests often do not reach cities
o Allies strip Japan of its colonial empire including areas which belonged to Japan for centuries

• Civilian Impact
o Europe’s destruction:
 50 million uprooted from own homes
• many stay where they are + try to get on with their lives
o some live in partially destroyed homes/apartments
o others huddle in caves + cellars beneath rubble
o no water or electricity
o very little food (hunger was constant companion)
o jobless with no earnings + could not buy food that was available
• large majority of city dwellers from various nations struggle to return home
o millions find themselves in the wrong country (postwar treaties)
o jam roads trying to get home, hoping to find their families/ a safe place
o join army of displaced persons wandering Europe
o included:
 concentration camp survivors
 POWs
 Soviet army refugees
 few remained to plant in fields because
• able-bodied men served in military
• women worked in war production
 money-less people
• barter any valuable items left for a few potatoes
• go without shoes and coats during first post-war winter
o Japan under new government:
 absentee landlords with huge estates forced to sell land to tenant farmers @ reasonable
prices
 workers able to create independent labor unions
 all citizens over 20, including women, can vote
• Finance and Economics
o property damage ran into billions of US dollars
o economies in France + Italy begin to recover
o MacArthur not told to revive Japanese economy
o US sends 2 billion dollars in emergency relief, although still bitter over Pearl Harbor
o Japan’s economy recovers more quickly after being relieved with the burden of paying for US military
protection occupation

• Justice
o International Military Tribunal vs. Nazi war criminals
o 23 nations against 22 Nazi leaders in first of the Nuremberg Trials
 accused of
• waging a war of aggression
• violating laws of war
• committing “crimes against humanity” (murder of 11 million)
o suiciders: Chancellor Hitler + SS chief Himmler + Minister of Propaganda Goebbels
o 12 out of 22 defendants sentenced to death (hanged) + cremated at Dachau concentration camp
o Frank, “Slayer of Poles”, as only convict to express remorse
o Premier Hideki Tojo + 6 others out of 25 defendants sentenced to death (hanged)

• Politics
o European leaders in disgrace + blamed for war and aftermath by despairing citizens
 Nazi government brought Germany to ruins
 Mussolini led Italy to defeat
 Vichy gov’t (puppet gov’t in southern France) collaborated with Nazis
o some prewar gov’ts (Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway) return quickly
o Communist Party as majority of resistance fighters in France + Italy
 promises change
 membership skyrockets at first in France and Italy
 make huge gains in first postwar elections
 stage violent strikes in order to speed up political takeover
 alarmed French + Italians vote for anti-Communist parties
 Communist membership + influence declines in the end
o Japanese society at first insists “the supreme power of the emperor not to be compromised”
o Emperor Hirohito
 urges Japanese people to lay down arms + work together to rebuild nation
 declares not absolute ruler/ god but as figurehead of Japan according to new constitution
o MacArthur is now supreme commander of Allied powers
 accepts Japanese surrender 2 weeks later
 determined to be fair + avoid future wars
 demilitarization
• disbands Japanese armed forces
• quickly leaves Japan with only a small police force
 democratization
• creates a government elected by the people
• draws up new constitution with his American political advisers
• changes empire into parliamentary democracy (Great Britain)
 broadens land ownership
 increases participation of workers + farmers in new democracy
o Japanese elects Diet (2-house parliament)
 prime minister chosen by diet
o constitutional bill of rights protects basic freedoms
 Article 9: Japan cannot make war; only can fight if attacked
o US + 48 other nations sign formal peace treaty with Japan (war ends)
o Japan with no armed forces agrees in continuing US military protection
o US + Japan as allies