Introduction to Results of World War II
As the war drew to a close, the nations of the world were eager to find a means of attaining permanent peace. In 1945, the United Nations was established and its charter was signed by 51 countries. However, threats to the friendly settlement of postwar problems appeared even before the charter was signed. The Soviet Union, for example, had antagonized the United States and Great Britain by annexing the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and by making extreme reparations demands upon Germany, Hungary, and Poland.
After the war, the Soviets disagreed with the other Allies about the application of the agreements they had reached concerning the status of conquered and occupied territories. Although they had promised to allow self-determination for the people of the territories they had occupied, the Soviets brought most of the Balkan nations under Communist rule. They also supported rebels in Greece, Turkey, and Iran, aided the Communist uprising in China, and closed off eastern Europe—including the Soviet occupation zone of Germany—to the outside world. These actions led to a prolonged period of tension called the "cold war" between the Western powers and the Soviet Union. Soviet-dominated Europe, said Winston Churchill, was separated from the rest of the world by an "iron curtain."
Occupation
In the Far EastGeneral Mac Arthur's troops occupied Japan immediately after the surrender, and he became supreme commander in that area, although Emperor Hirohito remained on his throne. An Allied commission advised General MacArthur, but neither the Soviet Union nor Great Britain opposed his decisions. Korea, which had been a Japanese territory, was occupied in the north by the Soviet Union, and in the south by the United States.
In EuropeGermany was partitioned among the Allies for a period of indefinite occupation. The Soviet occupation zone included most of eastern Germany except for the western part of Berlin. The United States, Great Britain, and France occupied the rest of Germany and the western part of Berlin. Austria was also divided into zones for occupation by the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain, and France.
Territorial Changes
In 1940 the Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Armistices with Finland in 1940 and 1944 gave the Soviet Union the port of Petsamo and the province of Karelia. The Soviets also received land from Romania under an armistice in 1944, and from Poland and Japan under agreements made in 1945. Poland received lands in eastern Germany.
Peace treaties later confirmed most of these changes. In addition, Italy gave up land to France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. Ethiopia regained its independence. Italian colonies in Africa (Eritrea, Libya, and Italian Somaliland) were placed under a trusteeship by the United Nations. Hungary lost territory to Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. Transylvania was restored to Romania, and Romania ceded land to Bulgaria. Japan lost its territories outside the home islands, including Korea and parts of China.
Peace Treaties
After nearly a year and a half of conferences among the leading Allied powers, peace treaties were signed in Paris in 1947 with Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland. In addition to making territorial concessions, the former Axis nations had to pay reparations and limit the size and strength of their armed forces. Most of the reparations were to be made to the Soviet Union, but Ethiopia, Greece, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Albania were also to get a share.
In 1951 Japan signed a treaty of peace with 48 nations, not including the Soviet Union. Japan signed a peace treaty with India and Nationalist China in 1952 and with the Soviet Union in 1956. Austria regained independence under a treaty with the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in 1955.
The Soviets and the Western powers failed to agree on the terms of a peace treaty with Germany. In 1949 the combined occupation zones of the United States, Great Britain, and France became the Federal Republic of Germany. The republic gained independence in 1955. The Soviet Union proclaimed the independence of East Germany in 1954, but the country remained under Soviet domination until 1990, when Germany was reunited.
Reconstruction
Non-Communist CountriesAll western Europe suffered greatly from the effects of the war. Cities, communications, and resources were destroyed. Victorious nations, as well as those that lost the war, faced economic ruin. Thousands of refugees, known as displaced persons, were scattered across Europe. Some wanted to return to their homelands, but others feared returning to areas that were now under Soviet control. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was set up to help the victims of war. UNRRA ended its work in 1946, but western Europe was still in a weakened condition.
To give aid to Europe, the United States put into effect the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) in 1947. This program called for financial assistance from the United States and cooperation from the European nations. With help from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa, the British Isles were soon on the road to recovery. The Netherlands, one of the countries most severely damaged by the war, reached a prewar economic level in 1948. Other nations in western Europe had returned to a normal standard of living by 1950.
Under the "Truman Doctrine," military and economic aid was given to Greece and Turkey by the United States in 1947. This strengthened these countries and kept them from falling under Communist domination. Japan was faced with inflation and unemployment after the war. Assistance from the United States and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development helped Japan rebuild its industries and recover its export markets.
The wartime destruction of industry in Germany and Japan forced those countries to completely rebuild their factories, and thus they gained new and modern industrial facilities. This modernization aided them in competing economically with other countries, and hastened their overall recovery. By the mid-1950's, both West Germany and Japan had become important economic powers.
Communist NationsThe Soviet Union's losses during the war were enormous. Production of coal and steel was cut in half, and other industries were damaged or destroyed. However, the nation's economic recovery was hastened by several means. The Soviet Union stripped occupied territories of equipment and resources. Large reparations were received from former Axis nations. Prisoners of war, many of them detained for as long as 10 years after the war, were put to work restoring Soviet industries, farms, and communications.
Yugoslavia received aid from UNRRA and the European Recovery Program. The Soviet Union prevented other satellite countries from receiving assistance from the Western powers and attempted, by a blockade begun in 1948, to keep Berlin from getting food and supplies. However, United States and British planes flew supplies into Berlin, and the Soviets lifted the blockade in 1949.
The standard of living in East Germany and in other Communist-dominated countries continued to be lower than that of the nations of western Europe.