Development of the Cold War:

• Even before World War II ended, the US and the Soviet Union, the two major allied powers, had started disagreeing on the postwar European world.

• The only thing keeping them together was the urgent need to defeat the Axis Powers. Once they were defeated, Americans and Soviets began to show their differences again.

• Eastern Europe was the first area of disagreement. The United States and Great Britain had championed self-determination and democratic freedom for the liberated nations of Eastern Europe. Stalin, however, fearful that the Eastern European nations would return to traditional anti-Soviet attitudes if they were permitted free elections, opposed the West’s plans.

• By 1947, the split in Europe between East and West had become normal. At the end of World War II, the United States wanted a quick end to its commitments in Europe.

• American fears of Soviet aims caused the United States to play an increasingly important role in European affairs.

Globalization of the Cold War:

• The cold war had soon spread from Europe to the rest of the world. The victory of the Chinese communists in the civil war made America’s fear of communism spread even greater. The Korean war turned the Cold war into a worldwide struggle.

• The removal of Korea from Japanese control had been one of the stated objectives of the Allies in World War II.

• On the eve of the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States agreed to divide the country into two separate occupation zones at the 38th parallel, in half.

• They originally planned to hold national elections after the restoration of peace to reunify Korea under an independent government. But as U.S.-Soviet relations deteriorated, two separate governments emerged in Korea, a Communist one in the north and an anti-Communist one in the south.

Europe and the World: Decolonization:

• Movements for independence had started in Africa and Asia in the years between the wars. After the war ended these movements grew more powerful.

• In North Africa, the French, who were simply not strong enough to maintain control of their far-flung colonial empire, granted full independence to Morocco and Tunisia in 1956. In South Africa, independence was a little more complicated, but after economic and political gain it happened.

  Asia:

  • In Asia, the United States initiated the process of decolonization in 1946 when it granted independence to the Philippines.

  • Britain soon followed suit with India. Ethnic and religious differences made the process a little difficult and violent in these areas.

  Caught in Between:

  • As new independent states emerged all over the world they were caught in between the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union. Many new states, like India, ended up trying to stay neutral during this.

Recovery and Renewal in Europe:

• Just a few years after the defeat of Germany and Italy in World War II, economic revival brought renewed growth to European society, although major differences remained between Western and Eastern Europe.

• Their democratic and communist governments conflicted with one another.

• Western Europe had a democratic government that involved different political groups.

• In Eastern Europe, the government is only communist in the satellite states, controlled by the Soviet Union.

The United States and Canada: A New Era:

• The US was one of the 2 world’s superpowers at the end of WWII. The United States worked hard to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world.

  American Policies and Society:

  • Between 1945 and 1970, the ideals of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal largely determined the patterns of American domestic politics.

  • The New Deal tradition was bolstered by the election of three Democratic presidents, Harry Truman in 1948, John Kennedy in 1960, and Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

  • The economic boom after World War II fueled confidence in the American way of life.

  • A shortage of consumer goods during the war had left Americans with both extra income and a pent-up desire to buy these goods after the war.

  Canada:

  • Canada and the US experienced many of the same developments post WWII. For twenty-five years after World War II, prosperous Canada set out on a new path of industrial development.

  • Canada had always had a strong export economy based on its abundant natural resources. Now it also developed electronic, aircraft, nuclear, and chemical engineering industries on a large scale.

  • Much of the Canadian growth, however, was financed by capital from the United States, which led to American ownership of Canadian businesses.

Postwar Society and Culture in the Western World:

• During the postwar society for WWII culture witnessed remarkably rapid change.

• Computers, television, jet planes, contraceptive devices, and new surgical techniques all dramatically and quickly altered the pace and nature of human life.

• The rapid changes in postwar society, fueled by scientific advances and rapid economic growth, led many to view it as a new society.

• One of the most noticeable social developments in postwar Europe was the creation of the welfare state.

• The welfare state represented another extension of the power of the state over the lives of its citizens, a process that had increased dramatically as a result of the two world wars.

• The goal of the welfare state was to make it possible for people to live better and more meaningful lives. There were a few gender issues in the welfare states.