AP test #19 1 Flashcards
What were some of the key contributions of the Allies in WWII?
Great Britain: broke Nazi code with computer, radar, air strikes in Germany, Churchill’s leadership
USSR: highest human cost, leadership of Stalin
USA: broke Japanese code, dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, top producer of war equipment, leadership of Roosevelt/Truman
China: highest human cost in Asia, paused civil war to fight Japanese
What happened at the Nuremberg trials? The Tokyo trials?
Nuremberg trials: only on Nazi admitted to guilt, most received harsh sentences and 11 were executed
Tokyo trials: the Japanese Emperor allowed to live, but many were found guilty and some were sentenced to death
WWII was the deadliest war in history. What were some important statistics of deaths/casualties?
Deaths: 70-85 million died (50-55 million civilian deaths). 405,399 Americans (1.1 million casualties)
USSR and China deaths: USSR had the highest death toll:23 million. China suffered the 2nd most: 19 million
Holocaust deaths: 12 mil. 6 mil were Jewish
7 mil innocent Asians were killed by Japanese
2 million women were raped by USSR troops. 200,000 comfort women were raped/abused in Japanese sexual slavery
Atomic bomb details: 129,000-226,000 innocent Japanese people died from 2 atom bombs dropped but the USA
120,000 Japanese and Japanese-American went to internment camps
7,000 suicides in Berlin, Germany in 1945
50 million people were uprooted from their homes
What was the Cold war about?
A struggle between the democratic/capitalist/liberalism world vs the communist world
3 purposes for the United Nations
Forum for different countries to communicate
Foreign aid
Collective security
Which countries are in the United Nations security council? Why?
USA, UK, China, France, USSR (powers that won WWII). Each can veto a collective military action
What was the post WWII status of the USA, Great Britain/France, USSR, China, fascism, and colonists?
USA: won war and the new top world power, booming economy. Americans were mostly reluctant to be a world power
Great Britain/France: won war but no longer top world powers, many colonists wanted independence
USSR: won war but suffered greatly. Rivaled US in many ways and feared by democratic countries
China=won war against Japan, but their civil war resumed until 1949 and was in desperate condition
Fascism: defeated and discarded. The remaining ‘Fascist’ countries did not have imperial ambitions
Colonists: many wanted independence, age of decolonization began
What was the Marshall plan? Was it worth it?
The US decided to give lots of money and support to non-communist countries that were desperate to rebuild after WWII. This greatly increased USA’s popularity and was a big success. This is one of the few times winning countries helped the losing countries rebuild
Why was the Berlin wall built?
To keep Communist East Beeliners inside their part of the city so that they could not escape communism by going to the western side. The wall was embarrassing to the Soviets and to Communism
