50s world

You are listening to “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & The Comets. Although it was recorded in 1954, it didn’t become a hit in the U.S. until 1955. “Rock Around the Clock" was the first record ever to sell over one million copies in both Britain and Germany and, in 1957, Haley became the first major American rock singer to tour Europe.

Aftermath of World War II Approx. 72 million dead worldwide Approx. 42 million civilians Approx. 25 million military (8.5 million in WWI) Approx. 38 million in Europe More than 22 million in the USSR Three quarters of all German forces were engaged on the Eastern front fighting Russian troops. - Approx. 418,000 Americans

During World War II, 85% of the buildings in Warsaw, Poland were destroyed.

Children Playing in Warsaw, Poland

Dresden, Germany after World War II Dresden, Germany prior to World War II

In this Soviet photograph from 2 May 1945, Red Army soldiers are raising the Soviet flag on the roof of the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany

Teufelsberg “Devil’s Mountain” in Berlin, Germany… This 262 foot tall mountain was created by the removal of rubble from the city after World War II.

Trials for War Crimes 1945 – 49: Nuremberg Trials in Nuremberg, Germany 177 Germans and Austrians on trial 142 found guilty; many Nazi leaders received death sentences. From now on, leaders will be held responsible for actions during war!

Issues Raised by the Nuremberg Trials The United Nations didn’t define genocide until 1948, so… were the trials legal? Did bringing captured Nazi leaders to justice really wipe the slate clean? a. Remember: It’s not just the organizers and murderers who were guilty of Holocaust crimes. b. Research continues today to find the businesses and individuals who profited through stealing victims’ property and cashing in their insurance policies.

War Crimes Trial in Japan General Hideki Tojo Japan will be occupied by the United States from 1945 – 1952 The U.S. writes the new Japanese constitution, including Article 9 (Japan can only have a military force for self-defense).

Oct. 1945: A New and Improved League of Nations: The United Nations The Soviet Union (Now Russia), France, China, Great Britain, and the U.S. have permanent seats on the security Council

The United States and the Soviet Union will emerge as the two superpowers of the second half of the 20 th century.

The Bi-Polarization of Europe: The Beginning of the Cold War

Origins of the Cold War Stalin distrustful of the West. He has two goals In Eastern Europe: 1) Spread communism 2) Create a buffer zone of friendly govts. as a defense against Germany, which invaded Russia in WWI and WWII. Stalin: “Whoever occupies a territory also imposes his own social system.”

Origins of the Cold War By 1948, the Soviet Red Army and local communists in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria had destroyed political rivals and even assassinated democratic leaders.

1946: While visiting Westminster College in Fulton, MO, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives his famous “Iron Curtain” speech. “ A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by Allied victory… From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Origins of the Cold War

Origins of the Cold War Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947 Civil war in Greece and Turkey Money to countries threatened by communist expansion Policy of Containment: limiting communism to areas already under Soviet control. Marshall Plan, June 1947 $13 billion for the economic recovery of war-torn Europe Soviet view, “capitalist imperialism” Russia dismantled and moved to the Soviet Union 380 German factories before transferring control to the Western powers

Origins of the Cold War The Marshall Plan

A young girl at a spring fair in Vienna, Austria, in 1951, holds a bouquet of balloons advertising the Marshall Plan. Reading "Peace, Freedom, Welfare" in German, the balloons were one of many ways America and its allies strived to counter negative Soviet propaganda against the reconstruction and economic development plan.

Marketing the United States to Europe

Origins of the Cold War The Division of Germany The Allies’ abandoned plan of De-Nazification

Origins of the Cold War The Division of Germany Germany was divided into four occupation zones: American, British, French, and Soviet. The city of Berlin was also divided into four zones: the Americans, British and French have West Berlin, the Soviets have East Berlin.

Origins of the Cold War The Berlin Airlift 1948: Stalin tries to force the Allies out of West Berlin by sealing off every railroad and highway. The Allies respond to the blockade with a round- the-clock airlift for more than one year, dropping food and other supplies to the people of West Berlin. Stalin eventually ends the blockade.

Origins of the Cold War Germany Divided May 1949: The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") is created from the zones occupied by France, the United States and United Kingdom. October 1949: The German Democratic Republic (“East Germany”) is created in the zone occupied by the Soviet Union. East Berlin becomes the capital of East Germany. West Berlin is part of West Germany?!?!?

Origins of the Cold War Military Alliances 1949: The U.S., Canada, nine Western European countries form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. 1955: The Soviet Union and seven satellite nations (dependent states) form rival Warsaw Pact.

Origins of the Cold War The Arms Race 1949: Soviet Union successfully tests atomic bomb. The U.S. no longer has a technological advantage. Leads to four decades of developing new, more deadly nuclear and conventional weapons. Theory of Deterrence: the deployment of strong weapons is essential to threaten the enemy in order to prevent the use of the very same weapons. This is a military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. Mutual assured destruction ( MAD )

U.S. and USSR/Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles 1945-2006

An estimate of the size of the damage caused by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A modern hydrogen bomb would be tens of times more powerful and cause similar levels of damage at 2-5 times the distance.

The De-Colonization of European Powers

Changes Around the World 1947: India wins independence from Great Britain due to pressure created by Mohandas Gandhi… Pakistan created as Muslim homeland. 1948: The nation of Israel is created within Palestine in part because of post-World War II sympathy for Jews. 1949: Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong defeat Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek.

The Korean War 1950: North Koreans invade the south Chinese intervene when UN troops (including U.S.) approach the border 1953: Uneasy truce Changes Around the World

Changes Around the World After WWII, France tries to regain control of French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) Communist Ho Chi Minh leads Vietnamese independence fight against French. 1954: Vietnam divided into communist North and democratic South.

The Soviet Union in the 1950s 1953: Death of Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev emerges as leader of Soviet Union. 1956: Imre Nagy gains power in Hungary; pulls Hungary out of Warsaw Pact, Khrushchev sends tanks to crush rebellion… Nagy executed. 1957: Soviets launch Sputnik , first artificial satellite into orbit, starting space race between USSR and U.S.

1958 – 59: Fidel Castro and communist rebels win revolution in Cuba… Soviets now have ally just 90 miles away from U.S. Communism in Cuba

Western Europe The Development of the Welfare State After World War II, conservative right-wing parties lost popularity because they had supported fascism. Communists and socialists enjoyed growing support because they had opposed the Nazis… this would fade. The main goal of communists and socialists was to extend the welfare state. A system in which the government keeps most features of a capitalist economy but take greater responsibility for the social and economic needs of its people. 1942 Report in Great Britain: The biggest obstacles to reconstruction are “Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.”

Western Europe The Development of the Welfare State The middle class and the poor enjoyed the benefit of national health care, unemployment insurance, and old-age pensions. The govt. took a larger role in the economy, nationalizing (no competition) industries such as railroads, airlines, banks, steel and energy British Rail Bank of England British Telecom

Western Europe The Development of the Welfare State The Ultimate Example: Sweden The state provides for: 1) tax-funded childcare 2) free dental care up to 20 years of age 3) retirement pensions 4) free education (all levels up to, and including college) 5) parents are entitled to a total of 480 days partly paid leave between birth and the child's eighth birthday, with 60 days reserved specifically for each parent

Finns enjoy more paid statutory vacation every year than anyone else in the rich world, getting an average of 44 days off in which to relax (including annual leave and public holidays). Most European countries allow more than the EU legal minimum of four weeks. American workers have perhaps the most to feel aggrieved about: ours is the only rich-world country that does not give any statutory paid holiday. (In practice, most workers get around 14 days off.) All work and little play does provide some consolation, however—America and Japan are the world's biggest economies.

Western Europe Economic Development 1957: France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy the Netherlands, and Luxembourg form the European Community (EC) to expand free trade.

1950s Art Movements Art Brut : Outsider Art Art produced by non-professionals, such as children, prisoners, or the mentally ill. Abstract Impressionism Energetic, spontaneous, “action painting” No. 5 by Jackson Pollock (1948) Portrait of Jean Paulhan by Jean Dubuffet (1947)

1950s Art Movements Pop Art Characterized by themes and techniques drawn from popular mass culture, such as advertising and comic books. Pop art, like pop music, aimed to employ images of popular as opposed to elitist culture in art, emphasizing the kitschy elements of any given culture. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) is one of the earliest works to be considered pop art

Existentialism Jean-Paul Sartre There is no universal meaning to life. Each person makes his / her own meaning through the choices they make. Sartre quote: Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. 1905 - 1980

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