WWII Comes to an End

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WWII Comes to an End
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Axis Powers Fail

• Mussolini was assassinated on April 28, 1945
• Hitler committed suicide as the Allies moved into
  Berlin in May, 1945
• Germany was fighting a two front war just like
  in WWI, short on supplies, men, etc.
• Hitler underestimated the ability of Russia to
  mobilize and fight

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V-E Day

• V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day
• May 8, 1945

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Japan

• President Truman believed a land invasion of
  Japan would be costly both in terms of money and
  lives lost. Therefore,
• Hiroshima (Little Boy)
• Following the use of the second atomic bomb on
  Nagasaki (Fat Man), Japan surrendered
• V-J Day, Victory in Japan, August 15, 1945
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vA0eHCytkcHg
• http//app.discoveryeducation.com/search?Nttattac
  konhiroshima
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vNF4LQaWJRDg

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Nuremberg Trials

• Nazi officials were put on trial for
• Crimes Against Peace- planning/waging war
• War Crimes- murder/deportation of slave labor,
  poor treatment of POWs, destruction of towns,
  etc.
• Crimes Against Humanity- murder, enslavement or
  extermination of a group of people due to race,
  religion or political beliefs

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Nuremberg Trials

• Only 177 Nazi Officials were tried
• 35 acquitted
• 20 were given a life sentence
• 98 were given varying terms in prison
• Only 24 were executed
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vQ2JmvSD22MM

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So, what happened to leading Nazi officials

• Hitler committed suicide
• Josef Goebbels committed suicide
• Joseph Mengele drowned in 1977
• Henrich Muller, head of the Gestapo, missing

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Effects of WWII

• The United Nations, UN, replaces the League of
  Nations, as a peace keeping entity. Permanent
  members include Great Britain, France, United
  States Russia and China.
• Today, the UN serves to keep peace, fight
  disease, and provide education in lesser
  developed areas of the world

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Yalta Conference 1945

• The Big Three
• Winston Churchill, FDR and Joseph Stalin met and
  agreed to divide Germany into four occupation
  zones to be controlled by the British, French,
  U.S. and Soviets

• Also agreed that Soviets would control certain
  areas such as Korea and hold free elections in
  Eastern Europe

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Effects of WWII

• Germany was divided into East and West Germany
• The Cold War
• The iron curtain descends on Europe
• Creation of Israel in 1948