Big Questions

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Photographer Robert Capas Story
At 631 a.m., when Capa left his landing craft
with a rifle company of the 16th Regiment, 1st
Infantry Division, he knew he was risking his
life. But he was thinking "very much of getting
the best pictures of the day." His first
impression was that "my beautiful France looked
sordid and uninviting."
The German invasion obstacles had turned the
pleasant shoreline into "the ugliest beach in the
whole world."
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To reach the sand, he and the riflemen had to
traverse some 100 yards of tidal flats under
heavy German machine gun fire. As the bullets
"tore holes in the water" around him Capa kept
shooting pictures. He headed for the protection
of a burned-out tank and reached it "between
floating bodies."
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As they reached the sand a heavy mortar
bombardment began. Capa felt "a new kind of fear
shaking my body from toe to hair, and twisting my
face." He attempted to reload his camera, but
could not, his hands were trembling so. "I did
not think and I didn't decide it," but he stood
up and ran toward an incoming landing craft.
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"I knew that I was running away. I tried to turn
but couldn't face the beach." As he climbed on
board, he felt an explosion. "The skipper was
crying. His assistant had been blown up all over
him, and he was a mess." Capa turned and took one
more photograph of the beach. He had made 106
pictures in all.
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His three rolls of film were rushed to London for
processing. There a darkroom technician, eager
for glimpses of the landing, dried the film too
fast. The excessive heat melted the emulsion
and ruined all but the 10 frames shown here.
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Total human cost of WWII

• Military killed or missing
• 23,948,0000
• Civilians killed or missing
• 38,473,110
• Total killed or missing 62,421,110

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Post War World

• In February 1945 the Big Three met at Yalta
• Franklin Roosevelt USA
• Winston Churchill UK
• Joseph Stalin USSR

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Purpose of Yalta Conference

• Discuss post war world
• Form the future Security Council of The United
  Nations
• Divide up Germany
• Decide what to do with areas surrounding Germany
• Poland was given to the Russians for their pledge
  to join the war against Japan

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Yalta

• Soviets also wanted a communist state in outer
  Mongolia (Inland China)
• Soviets never joined war with Japan
• By 1950 a civil war left all of China in
  communist hands
• Supporters of democracy in China fled to Taiwan

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Cold War

• USSR and the US face off over the Soviets desire
  to spread communism around the world
• Containment - US Foreign policy must be to
  contain the USSR to limited areas of the globe
• Nationalists verse Loyalists Civil wars that
  had been set aside to fight WWII flared up again
  around the world
• The newly formed United Nations tried to find a
  solution to avoid another world war
• Korea, Vietnam would eventually be divided to
  appease the US and Soviets

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• Truman Doctrine - Support free peoples everywhere
  in their struggle against communism including
  arms and support if necessary
• Marshall Plan - rebuilt Europe after the war in
  an attempt to limit the appeal of communism to
  the struggling people
• 13 billion was spent on rebuilding Europe

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A World Divided
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Big Questions

• What were the human and material costs of World
  War II?
• How did World War II change the global balance of
  power?
• What were the origins of the Cold War?

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Assignment

• Working alone outline chapter 31 section 5 and
  answer the Big Questions
• All notes and outlines are due tomorrow