summary
Even though the Allied Powers were relieved that they had won the war, the destruction that the war had left behind all over the war was devastating. All throughout Europe, ruins of what once was left crumbling, a reminder of the horrible carnage the continent had suffered in the past 6 years. 40 million people in Europe had died in World War II, and displaced souls were trying to get home to families they prayed were still living. Agriculture was disrupted and cities were reduced to rubble. After the war, the people looked to world leaders for answers. What decisions had contributed to one of the worst Global catastrophes in the history of the world? Who was to blame? Immediately, civilians turned to the Nazi-higher ups. This lead to the Nuremberg trials, where 22 Nazi officials were put on trial for crimes against humanity. In 1946, the trial occurred, sentencing 12 Nazi leaders to death by hanging, Hitler, Himmler, and Goebbels escaped the sentence by committing suicide.
In Japan, 2 million people had been lost, and the devastation was tangible. The atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had left confusion and horrific results. Japan was demilitarized by MacArthur, to prevent further imperialism. Like the Nuremberg Trials, 25 officials of the Japanese military were put on trial, 7 were hung. A peace treaty in 1951 signed by the United States and 48 other countries brought hope and calm to the world. Although the war was over, the changes brought by new borders and strife would change the world forever.
In Japan, 2 million people had been lost, and the devastation was tangible. The atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had left confusion and horrific results. Japan was demilitarized by MacArthur, to prevent further imperialism. Like the Nuremberg Trials, 25 officials of the Japanese military were put on trial, 7 were hung. A peace treaty in 1951 signed by the United States and 48 other countries brought hope and calm to the world. Although the war was over, the changes brought by new borders and strife would change the world forever.
TEN BEST ARTICLES
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuremberg_article_01.shtml This article goes into detail about the Nuremberg Trials, including the many war criminals put on trial and their very different reactions to the trial. Goering is arrogant, Speer was charming, and Hess forgot everything! The article also explains the significance of holding the trials in Nuremberg, which was to be a Nazi party city if Hitler had gotten his way.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/refugees_01.shtml This article describes the refugees displaced by the war, and the effects of the end of the war had on different races and creeds. Germans were starved and 4,000 people died everyday in 1945, Jews desperately looks for their families, and if they had none were considered wanderers and would either be nomadic or join the army.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/truman_01.shtml In this article, Harry Truman is described in depth, and you learn about his religious upbringing, and how his semi-unpreparedness going into post-war politics affected the Cold War. Also, he was the poster boy for anti-Nazism, which helped him get elected, however, he was often criticized by the world for letting the Cold War occur. Winston Churchill praised him for preventing communism from spreading.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/legacy_01.shtml This article talks about relationships between Great Britain, Winston Churchill Soviet Russia, and the United States. "Churchill was extraordinarily perceptive in spotting the impending division of Europe into two hostile blocs, and exceedingly perspicacious in foreseeing the eventual unification of much of the non-Communist half of the continent under Franco-German leadership. But the blind spot caused by his nostalgic affection for Britain’s imperial past prevented him from recognizing that the era when the Union Jack fluttered above the land inhabited by a quarter of the world’s people was coming to an end."
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/league_nations_01.shtml This articles discusses the creation of the League of Nations after World War I, and how it was important after World War II to enforce human rights and make sure World Wars are prohibited. Also, it connected the importance of the League of Nations and the United Nations is today dealing with issues overseas.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff8_election.shtml This article talks about Winston Churchill's loss in the 1945 election, although he saved the World from a Nazi regime in the past couple of years. He also had a speech about abhorring to a Labor Party in parliament, and how that goes against everything Great Britain stood for in the war. 'I must tell you that a socialist policy is abhorrent to British ideas on freedom... A socialist state could not afford to suffer opposition - no socialist system can be established without a political police. [The Labor government] would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo.'
- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/books/review/justice-and-the-enemy-nuremberg-9-11-and-the-trial-of-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-by-william-shawcross-book-review.html?_r=0 This article goes into detail about the Nuremberg Trials, and how they can connect to specific trials going on today involving threats to security and terrorism in Guantanamo Bay. "Shawcross often expresses frustration with the extraordinary legal and judicial scrutiny of American counter terrorism policies during the last decade. But as the evolution of military commissions illustrates, this scrutiny, and the legitimating alterations by the other branches of government that it brought, led us to a place where President Obama, seized of the responsibilities of the presidency, has been able to embrace these policies and confer on them a legitimacy that his predecessor never could have."
- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/nyregion/13sonnenfeldt.html This article is actually an obituary for the prosecuter at the Nuremberg chief interpreter for American prosecutors at the Nuremberg war crimes trials and interrogated some of the most notorious Nazi leaders of World War II.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/opinion/10shawcross.html?pagewanted=all This is a review of Shawcross's book, about the mistakes at the Nuremberg Trials and connecting it to modern day.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/world/asia/hiroo-onoda-imperial-japanese-army-officer-dies-at-91.html This is an incredibly awesome article about a Japanese soldier stationed on an island who stayed an extra 29 YEARS after the war ended, believing he had to keep on fighting for Japan! Super interesting read!
AUDIO AND VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ZKgReycR4 This video shows footage from post-war Germany. You can see the devastation clearly even though the footage is from a little after.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybjmPimEqaY This is great video showing footage of Germany's surrender to the Allied Powers. It shows the meeting between Germans and the winners of the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWR2I5Q9d9U This video shows key moments of the Nuremberg Trial. if you'd like to see how the proceedings took place, watch this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybjmPimEqaY This is great video showing footage of Germany's surrender to the Allied Powers. It shows the meeting between Germans and the winners of the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWR2I5Q9d9U This video shows key moments of the Nuremberg Trial. if you'd like to see how the proceedings took place, watch this!
PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS
These three sources are all transcripts from the Nuremberg trials, of testimonies by witnesses of the War Criminal's crimes. Really interesting to be transported to the scene.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-07-46.asp#zelewski
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-04-46.asp#schellenberg
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-03-46.asp#wisliceny
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-07-46.asp#zelewski
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-04-46.asp#schellenberg
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-03-46.asp#wisliceny
MAPS
This is a map depicting Jews in Europe from 1937-1941 in Europe.
This is a map of Japan, showing army bases, suicide air strips and landing grounds.
Here is a map of Jewish distribution throughout Europe in 1933.
This is a map of refugee camps in 1945-1946 for Jews in Europe after World War II.
This is a map of distribution of Jews in Europe comparing from 1933 to 1950.