1.
Potsdam Declaration
–
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26,1945, United States President Harry S and this ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face prompt and utter destruction. On July 26, the United States, Britain, and China released the Potsdam Declaration announcing the terms for Japans surrender, with the warning, We will not deviate from them. That the Japanese military forces, after being disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful. On the other hand, the declaration offered that, The Japanese Government shall remove all obstacles to the revival, freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established. Japan shall be permitted to maintain such industries as will sustain her economy and permit the exaction of just reparations in kind, to this end, access to, as distinguished from control of, raw materials shall be permitted. Eventual Japanese participation in trade relations shall be permitted. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction and it did, however, insist that the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest must be eliminated for all time. Although the document warned of further destruction like the Operation Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo and other carpetbombing of Japanese cities, a major aspect relating to the Potsdam Declaration was that it was intended to be ambiguous. It is not clear from the document itself whether a Japanese government was to remain under Allied occupation or whether the occupation would be run by a military government. In the same manner, it was not clear whether after the end of the occupation Japan was to any territory other than the four main Japanese islands. This ambiguity was intentional on the part of the US government in order to allow a hand in running the affairs of Japan afterwards. The Declaration was released to the press in Potsdam on the evening of July 26, Washington time, OWIs West Coast transmitters, aimed at the Japanese home islands, were broadcasting the text in English, and two hours later began broadcasting it in Japanese. The Declaration was never transmitted to the Japanese government through diplomatic channels, the Japanese government did not disclose the declaration to the Japanese people. However, the ultimatum was heard by some who listened to the OWI broadcasts, Japan never officially responded to the Potsdam Declaration. However, the word can mean no comment, as it was apparently intended in this case to mean. President Truman and his advisors had mulled over the meaning of mokosatsu before making a decision, one meaning was a matter of politeness among the upper classes. An unacceptable offer is made, and the person, not wanting to offend the speaker
Potsdam Declaration
–
A picture of a
Potsdam Conference session including
Clement Attlee,
Ernest Bevin,
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov,
Joseph Stalin,
William D. Leahy,
Joseph E. Davies,
James F. Byrnes, and
Harry S. Truman.
2.
Wikisource
–
Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
Wikisource
–
The original Wikisource logo
Wikisource
–
Screenshot of wikisource.org home page
Wikisource
–
::: Original text
Wikisource
–
::: Action of the modernizing tool
3.
German language
–
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
German language
–
Old Frisian (Alt-Friesisch)
German language
–
The widespread popularity of the
Bible translated into German by
Martin Luther helped establish modern German
German language
–
Examples of German language in
Namibian everyday life
German language
–
German-language newspapers in the U.S. in 1922
4.
Allies of World War II
–
The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
Allies of World War II
–
Poland first to fight — British wartime poster supporting
Poland after the German invasion, 1939
Allies of World War II
–
Allied Powers (and their colonies)
Allies of World War II
–
British
Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft (left) flying past a German
Heinkel He-111 bomber aircraft (right) during the
Battle of Britain
Allies of World War II
–
British tanks during the
North African Campaign
5.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
United Kingdom
–
Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
–
Flag
United Kingdom
–
The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
–
The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
6.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
–
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
–
Flag
United States
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
7.
Soviet Union
–
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
Soviet Union
–
Vladimir Lenin addressing a crowd with Trotsky, 1920
Soviet Union
–
Flag
Soviet Union
–
Stalin and
Nikolai Yezhov, head of the
NKVD. After Yezhov was executed, he was
edited out of the image.
Soviet Union
8.
Allied-occupied Germany
–
The four powers divided Germany into four occupation zones for administrative purposes, into what is collectively known now as Allied-occupied Germany. This division was ratified at the Potsdam Conference, in Autumn 1944 the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had agreed on the zones by the London Protocol. The Final German Peace Treaty would result in the westward of Polands borders back to approximately as they were before 1722. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, United States forces had pushed beyond the boundaries for the future zones of occupation. The so-called line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities, mostly lying eastward of the July 1945-established inner German border was temporary. After two months in which they had areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone. All territories annexed by Germany before the war from Austria and Czechoslovakia were returned to these countries, the Memel Territory, annexed by Germany from Lithuania before the war, was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and transferred to the Lithuanian SSR. All territories annexed by Germany during the war from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Poland, the American zone consisted of Bavaria and Hesse in Southern Germany, and the northern portions of the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. The ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven were also placed under American control because of the American request to have certain toeholds in Northern Germany, the headquarters of the American military government was the former IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main. Beginning in May 1945, many of the American combat troops and airmen in, Army, the Army Air Forces, and the U. S. Navy upon their return home. The Canadian Army was tied down in surrounding the Netherlands until the Germans there surrendered on 5 May 1945 – just two days before the surrender of the Wehrmacht in Western Europe to U. S. Then in July 1945, the British Army withdrew from small slices of Germany that had previously agreed to be occupied by the Soviet Army. Within the British Zone of Occupation, the CCG/BE re-established the German state of Hamburg, also in 1947, the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen became an exclave of the American Zone of Occupation located within the British Zone. In 1946, the Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany had 4,000 soldiers in Hanover, despite its being one of the Allied Powers, the French Republic was at first not granted an occupation zone in Germany. This created a French zone of occupation in the westernmost part of Germany and it consisted of two barely contiguous areas of Germany along the French border that met at just a single point along the Rhine River. It included the Saargebiet, which was disentangled from it on 16 February 1946, by 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar area and allied occupied Germany. The French zone ceded further adjacent municipalities to the Saar, included in the French zone was the town of Büsingen am Hochrhein, a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory. The Swiss government agreed to limited numbers of French troops to pass through its territory in order to maintain law
Allied-occupied Germany
–
The Allied zones of occupation in post-war Germany, highlighting the Soviet zone (red), the
inner German border (black line), and the zone from which American troops withdrew in July 1945 (purple). The provincial boundaries correspond largely to those of the
pre-war states, before the creation of the present
Länder (federal states).
Allied-occupied Germany
–
The C-Pennant
Allied-occupied Germany
–
Road sign delimiting the British sector of occupation in Berlin, 1984
Allied-occupied Germany
–
Flag used by ships registered in the British zone.
9.
Former eastern territories of Germany
–
The former eastern territories of Germany are those provinces or regions east of the current eastern border of Germany which were lost by Germany after World War I and then World War II. All territories lost in both World Wars account for 33% of the former German Empire, while land ceded by Germany after World War II constituted roughly 25% of its pre-war Weimar territory. The post-war border between Germany and Poland along the Oder–Neisse line was recognized by East Germany in 1950 by the Treaty of Zgorzelec. In 1952, recognition of the Oder–Neisse line as a permanent boundary was one of Stalins conditions for the Soviet Union to agree to a reunification of Germany, the offer was rejected by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In 1970, West Germany recognised the line as a de facto boundary in the Treaty of Warsaw, with this repeal the post-1990 boundaries of Germany are closed to further expansion. In German there is only one term, Ostdeutschland, meaning East Germany or Eastern Germany. The rather ambiguous German term never gained prevailing use for the GDR as did the English term, since Ostdeutschland has been used to denote the post-war and the respective five states of the reunited Germany. At the time of the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, prussian territory east of the Oder-Neisse line included West Prussia and Posen, also Silesia, East Brandenburg, and Pomerania. Later, these territories would come to be called in Germany Ostgebiete des deutschen Reiches, the territories ceded to Poland in 1919 were those with an apparent Polish majority, such as the Province of Posen, the east-southern part of Upper Silesia and the Polish Corridor. The city of Danzig with the delta of the Vistula river at the Baltic Sea, was made the Free City of Danzig under the League of Nations, however, as distinct from other lost Czechoslovakian domains, it was not attached to Sudetengau but to Prussia. By late 1938, Lithuania had lost control over the situation in the Memel Territory, between the two world wars, many in Germany claimed that the territory ceded to Poland in 1919–1922 should be returned to Germany. This claim was one of the justifications for the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Third Reich annexed the former German lands, comprising the Polish Corridor, West Prussia, the Province of Posen, and parts of eastern Upper Silesia. The council of the Free City of Danzig voted to become a part of Germany again, although Poles and Jews were deprived of their voting rights, in addition to taking territories lost in 1919, Germany also took additional land that had never been German. These territories had an area of 94,000 km2 and a population of 10,000,000 people, the remainder of Polish territory was annexed by the Soviet Union or made into the German-controlled General Government occupation zone. The open question was whether the border should follow the Eastern or Lusatian Neisse rivers, and whether Stettin, originally, Germany was to retain Stettin while the Poles were to annex East Prussia with Königsberg. Eventually, however, Stalin decided that he wanted Königsberg as a warm water port for the Soviet Navy. The wartime Polish government in exile had little to say in these decisions, at the Yalta Conference, it was agreed to split Germany into four occupation zones after the war, with a quadripartite occupation of Berlin as well, prior unification of Germany. The status of Poland was discussed, but was complicated by the fact that Poland was at this time under the control of the Red Army and this effectively excluded the Polish government-in-exile that had evacuated in 1939
Former eastern territories of Germany
–
Oder-Neisse line at
Usedom
Former eastern territories of Germany
–
German territories lost in both World Wars are shown in black, present-day Germany is marked dark grey on this 1914 map.
Former eastern territories of Germany
–
Polish atlas showing ethnic groups in 1918.
Former eastern territories of Germany
–
Marking the
new Polish-German border in 1945.
10.
European Theatre of World War II
–
The Allied forces fought the Axis powers on two major fronts as well as in the adjoining Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre. Germany was humiliated in front of the world and had to pay very large war reparations, many Germans blamed their countrys post-war economic collapse and hyperinflation on the treatys conditions. After Hitler took Germany out of the League of Nations, Mussolini of Fascist Italy and Hitler formed the Rome-Berlin axis, later, Empire of Japan, under the government of Hideki Tojo, would also join as an Axis power. Japan and Germany had already signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1939, other smaller powers also later joined the Axis throughout the war. On September 17, the Soviet forces joined the invasion of Poland, the Polish government evacuated the country for Romania. Poland fell within five weeks, with its last large operational units surrendering on October 5 after the Battle of Kock, as the Polish September Campaign ended, Hitler offered to Britain and France peace on the basis of recognition of German European continental dominance. On October 12, the United Kingdom formally refused, despite the quick campaign in the east, along the Franco-German frontier the war settled into a quiet period. This relatively non-confrontational and mostly non-fighting period between the major powers lasted until May 10,1940, and was known as the Phoney War, several other countries, however, were drawn into the conflict at this time. By September 28,1939, the three Baltic Republics felt they had no choice but to permit Soviet bases and troops on their territory, the Baltic Republics were occupied by the Soviet army in June 1940, and finally annexed to the Soviet Union in August 1940. The Soviet Union wanted to annex Finland and offered an agreement, but Finland rejected it. In the Moscow Peace Treaty of March 12,1940, Finland ceded 10% of her territory, the Finns were embittered over having lost more land in the peace than on the battlefields, and over the perceived lack of world sympathy. Meanwhile, in western Scandinavia, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940, sweden was able to remain neutral. Most Allied forces were in Flanders, anticipating a re-run of the World War I Schlieffen Plan, as a result of this, and also the superior German communications and tactics, the Battle of France was shorter than virtually all pre-war Allied thought could have conceived. It lasted six weeks, including the Luftwaffe bombing of Paris June 3, on June 10 Italy declared war on both France and the United Kingdom, but did not gain any significant success in this campaign. French government fled Paris, and soon, France surrendered on June 22, many French soldiers, as well as those of other occupied countries, escaped to Britain. The General de Gaulle proclaimed himself the leader of Free France. Following the unexpected victory, Hitler promoted 12 generals to the rank of field marshal during the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony. Later, on April 24,1941, the USSR gave full recognition to the Vichy government situated in the non-occupied zone in France
European Theatre of World War II
–
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy.
European Theatre of World War II
–
Finnish soldiers during the
Winter War
European Theatre of World War II
–
The RAF
Supermarine Spitfire, used extensively during the Battle of Britain.
European Theatre of World War II
–
Partisan liberated territory in
Yugoslavia, May 1943.
11.
German reparations for World War II
–
After World War II, both West Germany and East Germany were obliged to pay war reparations to the Allied governments, according to the Potsdam Conference. Other Axis nations were obliged to pay war reparations according to the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, an early plan for a post-war Germany was the Morgenthau plan with terms that would have essentially transformed Germany to an agrarian society. The French Monnet Plan would have transferred the Ruhr Area to France and this position was completely changed by the London Agreement on German External Debts, also known as the London Debt Agreement of 1953. Furthermore, in 1942, the Greek Central Bank was forced by the occupying Nazi regime to loan 476 million Reichsmarks at 0% interest to Nazi Germany, after the war, in 1960, Greece accepted 115 million Marks from West Germany as compensation for Nazi crimes. Nevertheless, past Greek governments have insisted that this was only a down-payment, since that time, Germany has unilaterally insisted that all matters concerning World War II, including further reparations to Greece, are closed. On February 8,2015, the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras demanded that Germany pay the reparations to Greece. On April 6,2015, Greece evaluated the war reparations to be the equivalent of 279 billion euros, Germany replied that the reparations issue was resolved in 1990. West Germany paid reparations to Israel and the World Jewish Congress for confiscated Jewish property under Nuremberg laws, forced labour, however, no reparations were paid for killed Jews during the Holocaust. The German Government continues to pay reparations to Israel to this day, the Netherlands demanded reparations, but later desired to annex a large part of German territory. They eventually annexed 69 km2 in 1949, bought back by West Germany in 1960, as a consequence of aggression by Nazi Germany, much of Poland was subjected to enormous destruction of its industry, its infrastructure and loss of civilian life. Material recompensation incurred by Germany has been estimated as approximately €525 billion or $640 billion in 2004 exchange values, East Germany in turn had to accept the Oder-Neisse border, which gave around 1/4 of Germanys historic territory to Poland and Russia. West Germany hadnt paid reparations to non-Jewish recipients for the damage inflicted in Poland until the Gierek-Schmidt agreement signed in 1975 in Warsaw, then it gave Poland 1.3 billion DM. In 1992, the Foundation for Polish-German Reconciliation was founded by the Polish and German governments, there is an ongoing debate among Polish international law experts if Poland still has the right to demand war reparations, with some arguing that the 1954 declaration wasnt legal. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia received a value of US$36 million, West Germany also paid 8 million German marks as reparations for forced human experimentation on Yugoslav citizens. No reparations were paid by Germany to the Roma people, czechoslovakia Denmark UK or Commonwealth countries Norway Finland Austria Luxembourg Belgium According to the Yalta Conference, no reparations to Allied countries would be paid in money. Instead, much of this consisted of German industrial assets. Poland and the Soviet Union annexed the German territories east of the Oder-Neisse and these territories were incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union respectively and resettled with citizens of these countries. France controlled the Saar protectorate from 1947 to 1956, with the intention of using its coal deposits, the same mines had been under French control from the end of the First World War until 1935
German reparations for World War II
–
Excerpt Akte R 27320, page 114 (political archive of the German Federal Foreign Office)
German reparations for World War II
–
Division of Germany as of the Potsdam Conference, with the white colored territory being ceded, not occupied.
12.
War criminal
–
A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the law of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility. The concept of war crimes emerged at the turn of the century when the body of customary international law applicable to warfare between sovereign states was codified. Moreover, trials in national courts during this period further helped clarify the law, following the end of World War II, major developments in the law occurred. Numerous trials of Axis war criminals established the Nuremberg principles, such as notion that war crimes constituted crimes defined by international law, additionally, the Geneva Conventions in 1949 defined new war crimes and established that states could exercise universal jurisdiction over such crimes. The trial of Peter von Hagenbach by an ad hoc tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire in 1474 was the first international war crimes trial, and also of command responsibility. He was convicted and beheaded for crimes that he as a knight was deemed to have a duty to prevent, although he had argued that he was only following orders. In 1654 a Major Connaught was tried at Chester Assizes and hanged for his part in the massacre of villagers in the church at the village of Boughton, twelve villagers were smoked out, stripped naked and had their throats cut. He was hanged at the scene of the crime having been convicted of striking a blow to the head of John Fowler with an axe. The Geneva Conventions are four related treaties adopted and continuously expanded from 1864 to 1949 that represent a legal basis, accordingly, states retain different codes and values with regard to wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way which either uses the ambiguities of law or political maneuvering to sidestep the laws formalities and principles. Three conventions were revised and expanded with the one added in 1949, First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded. Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick, third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Protocol II relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. Protocol III relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem, a small number of German military personnel of the First World War were tried in 1921 by the German Supreme Court for alleged war crimes. The modern concept of war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg Trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8,1945. Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, on July 1,2002, the International Criminal Court, a treaty-based court located in The Hague, came into being for the prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. Several nations, most notably the United States, China, Russia, the United States still participates as an observer. Article 12 of the Rome Statute provides jurisdiction over the citizens of non-contracting states in the event that they are accused of committing crimes in the territory of one of the state parties
War criminal
–
Criminology and
penology
War criminal
–
A picture taken by the
Polish Underground of
Nazi Secret Police rounding up Polish intelligentsia at
Palmiry near
Warsaw in 1940 for mass execution (
German AB-Aktion in occupied Poland).
War criminal
–
Suchow, China, 1938. A ditch full of the bodies of Chinese civilians, killed by
Japanese soldiers.
War criminal
–
HRW wrote that the
Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen that began on 26 March 2015 had conducted airstrikes in apparent violation of the laws of war.
13.
Peace treaty
–
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. A treatys content usually depends on the nature of the conflict being concluded, in the case of large conflicts between numerous parties there may be one international treaty covering all issues or separate treaties signed between each party. There are many issues which may be included in a peace treaty. Some of these may be, Formal designation of borders, a peace treaty also is often not used to end a civil war, especially in cases of a failed secession, as it implies mutual recognition of statehood. In cases such as the American Civil War, it ends when the armies of the losing side surrender. By contrast, a secession or declaration of independence is often formalized by means of a peace treaty. Treaties are often ratified in territories deemed neutral in the previous conflict, since its founding after World War II the United Nations has sought to act as a forum for resolution in matters of international conflict. A number of treaties and obligations are involved in which member states seek to limit. This has meant that formal declarations of war are not undertaken. Probably the earliest recorded peace treaty, although rarely mentioned or remembered, was between the Hittite Empire and the Hayasa-Azzi confederation, circa 1350 BC. More famously, one of the earliest recorded peace treaties was concluded between the Hittite and Egyptian empires after the ca.1274 BC Battle of Kadesh, the battle took place in what is modern-day Syria, the entire Levant being at that time contested between the two empires. After an extremely costly four-day battle, in which neither side gained a substantial advantage, the lack of resolution led to further conflict between Egypt and the Hittites, with Ramesses II capturing the city of Kadesh and Amurru in his 8th year as king. However, the prospect of further protracted conflict between the two states eventually persuaded both their rulers, Hatusiliš III and Ramesses, to end their dispute and sign a peace treaty. The peace treaty was recorded in two versions, one in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the other in Akkadian using cuneiform script, fortunately, such dual-language recording is common to many subsequent treaties. This treaty differs from others, however, in that the two versions are worded differently. Although the majority of the text is identical, the Hittite version claims that the Egyptians came suing for peace, while the Egyptian version claims the reverse. The treaty was given to the Egyptians in the form of a plaque. The Treaty was concluded between Ramesses II and Hatusiliš III in Year 21 of Ramesses reign and its eighteen articles call for peace between Egypt and Hatti and then proceed to maintain that their respective gods also demand peace
Peace treaty
–
Tablet of one of the earliest recorded
treaties in history,
Treaty of Kadesh, at the
Istanbul Archaeology Museum.
14.
International law
–
International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations, International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to private citizens. National law may become law when treaties delegate national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts, much of international law is consent-based governance. This means that a member is not obliged to abide by this type of international law. This is an issue of state sovereignty, however, other aspects of international law are not consent-based but still are obligatory upon state and non-state actors such as customary international law and peremptory norms. The term international law can refer to three distinct legal disciplines, Public international law, which governs the relationship between states and international entities. It includes these legal fields, treaty law, law of sea, international law, the laws of war or international humanitarian law, international human rights law. Private international law, or conflict of laws, which addresses the questions of jurisdiction may hear a case. The two traditional branches of law are, jus gentium – law of nations jus inter gentes – agreements between nations. Several legal systems developed in Europe, including the systems of continental European states and English common law, based on decisions by judges. Some doubt the effectiveness of law, as they see the implementation of international law as a policy option among others to tackle global dilemmas. They say that international law must be evaluated with other, possibly more effective, International law is sourced from decision makers and researchers looking to verify the substantive legal rule governing a legal dispute or academic discourse. The sources of law applied by the community of nations to find the content of international law are listed under Article 38. Many scholars agree that the fact that the sources are arranged sequentially in the Article 38 of the ICJ Statute suggests a hierarchy of sources. The sources have influenced by a range of political and legal theories. During the 20th century, it was recognized by legal positivists that a state could limit its authority to act by consenting to an agreement according to the principle pacta sunt servanda. Public international law concerns the treaty relationships between the nations and persons which are considered the subjects of international law, evidence of consensus or state practice can sometimes be derived from intergovernmental resolutions or academic and expert legal opinions
International law
–
Created in 1945, the
United Nations is responsible for much of the current framework of international law.
International law
–
The
First Geneva Convention (1864) is one of the earliest formulations of international law.
International law
–
The
Italian thinker
Sir Alberico Gentili is acknowledged to be the founder of the science of international law.
15.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
–
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
–
Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
16.
Tehran Conference
–
The Tehran Conference was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was held in the Soviet Unions embassy in Tehran, Iran and it was the first of the World War II conferences of the Big Three Allied leaders. It closely followed the Cairo Conference which had taken place on 22–26 November 1943, although the three leaders arrived with differing objectives, the main outcome of the Tehran Conference was the Western Allies commitment to open a second front against Nazi Germany. The conference also addressed the Allies relations with Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan, a separate protocol signed at the conference pledged the Big Three to recognize Irans independence. As soon as the German-Soviet war broke out in June 1941, Churchill offered assistance to the Soviets, and an agreement to this effect was signed on 12 July 1941. Delegations had traveled between London and Moscow to arrange the implementation of this support and when the United States joined the war in December 1941, a Combined Chiefs of Staff committee was created to coordinate British and American operations as well as their support to the Soviet Union. There was the question of opening a second front to alleviate the German pressure on the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern Front, the question of mutual assistance. Also, neither the United States nor Britain were prepared to give Stalin a free hand in Eastern Europe and, lastly, communications regarding these matters between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin took place by telegrams and via emissaries—but it was evident that direct negotiations were urgently needed. Stalin was reluctant to leave Moscow and was unwilling to risk journeys by air, while Roosevelt was physically disabled, in order to arrange this urgently needed meeting, Roosevelt tried to persuade Stalin to travel to Cairo. Stalin turned down this offer and also offers to meet in Baghdad or Basra, the conference was to convene at 16,00 on 28 November 1943. Stalin arrived well before, followed by Roosevelt, brought in his wheelchair from his accommodation adjacent to the venue, Roosevelt, who had traveled 7,000 miles to attend and whose health was already deteriorating, was met by Stalin. This was the first time that they had met, Churchill, walking with his general staff from their accommodations nearby, arrived half an hour later. The U. S. and Great Britain wanted to secure the cooperation of the Soviet Union in defeating Germany, Stalin pressed for a revision of Poland’s eastern border with the Soviet Union to match the line set by British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon in 1920. In order to compensate Poland for the loss of territory. This decision was not formally ratified, however, until the Potsdam Conference of 1945, the leaders then turned to the conditions under which the Western Allies would open a new front by invading northern France, as Stalin had pressed them to do since 1941. It was agreed Overlord would occur by May 1944, Stalin agreed to support it by launching a concurrent major offensive on Germanys eastern front to divert German forces from northern France, Iran and Turkey were discussed in detail. In addition, the Soviet Union was required to support to Turkey if that country entered the war. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed that it would also be most desirable if Turkey entered on the Allies side before the year was out, despite accepting the above arrangements, Stalin dominated the conference
Tehran Conference
–
The "Big Three" at the Tehran Conference Left to right: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
Tehran Conference
–
Life
17.
Casablanca Conference
–
The Casablanca Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco from January 14 to 24,1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, also attending and representing the Free French forces were Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, they played minor roles and were not part of the military planning. Premier Joseph Stalin had declined to attend, citing the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad as requiring his presence in the Soviet Union, the conference agenda addressed the specifics of tactical procedure, allocation of resources and the broader issues of diplomatic policy. The debate and negotiations produced what was known as the Casablanca Declaration, the doctrine of unconditional surrender came to represent the unified voice of implacable Allied will—the determination that the Axis powers would be fought to their ultimate defeat. In a February 12,1943 radio address, Roosevelt explained what he meant by unconditional surrender, but we do mean to impose punishment and retribution upon their guilty, barbaric leaders. Behind the scenes, the United States and Great Britain were not, however, some source material contradicts the official, reported accord between Churchill and Roosevelt, indicating Churchill did not fully subscribe to the doctrine of unconditional surrender. New York Times correspondent Drew Middleton, who was in Casablanca at the conference, later revealed in his book, Retreat From Victory, I tried to hide my surprise. But I was his ardent lieutenant, according to former U. S. ambassador to Moscow Charles Bohlen, Responsibility for this unconditional surrender doctrine rests almost exclusively with President Roosevelt. That the war would be fought by the Allies until the total annihilation of enemy forces was not universally welcomed, the British felt that arriving at some accommodation with Germany would allow the German army to help fight off the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe. To Churchill and the other Allied leaders, the obstacle to realising this mutual strategy with Germany was the leadership of Adolf Hitler. One such man was Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of German intelligence and his persistent overtures for support from the United States were ignored by Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt, with advice from General George C, marshall, the U. S. Army Chief of Staff, lobbied for a cross-channel invasion of Europe. Throughout the conference Roosevelts attention was focused on the Pacific War front. The Italian strategy was agreed upon, a compromise between the two leaders, Roosevelt acceding to the Churchill approach for Europe, Churchill, in turn, pledged more troops and resources to the Pacific and Burma to reinforce positions held by Chiang Kai-shek against the Japanese. The United States would provide assistance to the British in the Pacific by supplying escorts, no Frenchmen were allowed to attend the military planning sessions. The conference called for the recognition of a joint leadership of the Free French forces by Charles de Gaulle. There was notable tension between the two men during the talks, Roosevelt effected a public cordiality between them, encouraging them to shake hands, demonstrating a mutual affability for the photographers eager for a photo-op. Purportedly, the handshake was done with reluctance and so quickly
Casablanca Conference
–
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and their advisors in Casablanca, 1943
Casablanca Conference
–
Life
18.
Yalta Conference
–
The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea, USSR. The goal of conference was to shape a post-war peace that represented not just a collective security order, the meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. Within a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, to a degree, it has remained controversial. Yalta was the second of three wartime conferences among the Big Three and it had been preceded by the Tehran Conference in 1943, and was followed by the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, which was attended by Stalin, Churchill and Harry S. Truman, Roosevelts successor. All three leaders were attempting to establish an agenda for governing post-war Germany and they wanted to keep peace between post-world war countries. On the Eastern Front, the front line at the end of December 1943 remained in the Soviet Union but, by August 1944, Soviet forces were inside Poland, by the time of the Conference, Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukovs forces were 65 km from Berlin. Stalins position at the conference was one which he felt was so strong that he could dictate terms. According to U. S. delegation member and future Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, t was not a question of what we would let the Russians do, moreover, Roosevelt hoped for a commitment from Stalin to participate in the United Nations. Stalin, insisting that his doctors opposed any long trips, rejected Roosevelts suggestion to meet at the Mediterranean and he offered instead to meet at the Black Sea resort of Yalta, in the Crimea. Stalins fear of flying also was a factor in this decision. Each leader had an agenda for the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt wanted Soviet support in the U. S, Poland was the first item on the Soviet agenda. Stalin stated that For the Soviet government, the question of Poland was one of honor, in addition, Stalin stated regarding history that because the Russians had greatly sinned against Poland, the Soviet government was trying to atone for those sins. Stalin concluded that Poland must be strong and that the Soviet Union is interested in the creation of a mighty, free, Roosevelt wanted the USSR to enter the Pacific War with the Allies. Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the Pacific War three months after the defeat of Germany, Stalin pledged to Truman to keep the nationality of the Korean Peninsula intact as Soviet Union entered the war against Japan. At the time, the Red Army had occupied Poland completely, the Declaration of Liberated Europe did little to dispel the sphere of influence agreements that had been incorporated into armistice agreements. They also agreed to give France a zone of occupation, carved out of the U. S. also, the Big Three agreed that all original governments would be restored to the invaded countries and that all civilians would be repatriated. The Declaration of Liberated Europe is a declaration that was created by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and it was a promise that allowed the people of Europe to create democratic institutions of their own choice. The declaration pledged, the earliest possible establishment through free elections governments responsive to the will of the people and this is similar to the statements of the Atlantic Charter, which says, the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
–
A Big Three meeting room
Yalta Conference
–
The military situation [
clarification needed] at the end of the conference
19.
Potsdam Conference
–
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 17 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, the three powers were represented by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and, later, Clement Attlee, and President Harry S. Truman. The goals of the conference included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaty issues. In the five months since the Yalta Conference, a number of changes had taken place which would affect the relationships between the leaders. Firstly, the Soviet Union was occupying Central and Eastern Europe, by July, the Red Army effectively controlled the Baltic states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, and fearing a Stalinist take-over, refugees were fleeing from these countries. Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland and he insisted that his control of Eastern Europe was a defensive measure against possible future attacks and claimed that it was a legitimate sphere of Soviet influence. Secondly, Britain had a new Prime Minister, a general election was held in the UK on 5 July, the results of which became known during the conference, with a Labour Party majority, Labour leader Clement Attlee became the new Prime Minister. During the war and in the name of Allied unity, Roosevelt had brushed off warnings of a potential domination by a Stalin dictatorship in part of Europe, while inexperienced in foreign affairs, Truman had closely followed the allied progress of the war. With the end of the war, the priority of allied unity was replaced with a new challenge, the two leading powers continued to sustain a cordial relationship to the public but suspicions and distrust lingered between them. As the suspicion grew between the two rising powers, Stalin proposed that America will use their advantage and success in order to entices other nations into expanding their U. S. policies. Truman became much more suspicious of communist moves than Roosevelt had been, Truman and his advisers saw Soviet actions in Eastern Europe as aggressive expansionism which was incompatible with the agreements Stalin had committed to at Yalta the previous February. However, the Potsdam Conference marks the first and only time Truman would ever meet Stalin in person, at the end of the conference, the three Heads of Government agreed on the following actions. All other issues were to be answered by the peace conference to be called as soon as possible. Allied Chiefs of Staff at the Potsdam Conference decided to temporarily partition Vietnam at the 16th parallel for the purposes of operational convenience. It was agreed that British forces would take the surrender of Japanese forces in Saigon for the half of Indochina. The Allies issued a statement of aims of their occupation of Germany, Germany and Austria were to be divided respectively into four occupation zones, and similarly each capital, Berlin and Vienna, was to be divided into four zones. It was agreed that the Nazi war criminals would be put to trial, all German annexations in Europe were to be reversed, including Sudetenland, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, and the westernmost parts of Poland. Germanys eastern border was to be shifted westwards to the Oder–Neisse line, the territories east of the new border comprised East Prussia, Silesia, West Prussia, and two thirds of Pomerania
Potsdam Conference
–
A picture of a conference session including
Clement Attlee,
Ernest Bevin,
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov,
Joseph Stalin,
William D. Leahy,
Joseph E. Davies,
James F. Byrnes, and
Harry S. Truman.
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
–
Clement Attlee, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, circa 28 July -- 1 August 1945
Potsdam Conference
–
Cecilienhof today: site of the Potsdam Conference.
20.
Cecilienhof
–
Cecilienhof Palace is a palace in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany built from 1914 to 1917. Cecilienhof was the last palace built by the House of Hohenzollern that ruled the Kingdom of Prussia, Cecilienhof has been part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. Cecilienhof is located in the part of the large Neuer Garten park. The park was laid out from 1787 at the behest of King Frederick William II of Prussia, after their marriage in 1905, Wilhelm and Cecilie had previously lived at the Marmorpalais for most of the year and at the Berlin Kronprinzenpalais in winter. In 1911, the Crown Prince had been appointed commander of the Prussian 1, the architect was Paul Schultze-Naumburg, who visited the couple in Danzig to work out the design for the palace. It was based on English Tudor style buildings, arranged around several courtyards featuring half-timbered walls, with the start of World War I in August 1914, construction stopped but was resumed in 1915. The palace was designed in such a way as to be inhabitable for most of the year and its low structure and multiple courts conceal the fact that it boasts a total of 176 rooms. The public rooms were located in the part on the ground floor, around a central great hall, while above on the first floor were the private bedroom. The living area of the hall also features a massive wooden stairway made of oak. This was a gift from the city of Danzig, the latter was used by Cecilie as a breakfast room. Like some of the rooms it was designed by Paul Ludwig Troost. The palace was finished in August 1917 and it was named Cecilienhof after the Duchess and the couple moved in immediately. Cecilie gave birth at Cecilienhof to her youngest child, Cecilie of Prussia who was born on 5 September 1917, after the Empress followed her husband into exile in the Netherlands, Cecilie remained in Potsdam and returned to Cecilienhof where she lived until 1920. As the property of the Hohenzollern family had been confiscated after the revolution, Cecilie then had to move her residence to an estate at Oels in Silesia, only her sons Wilhelm and Louis Ferdinand remained at Cecilienhof while they attended a public Realgymnasium in Potsdam. Crownprince Wilhelm had gone into exile in the Netherlands on 13 November 1918 and was interned on the island of Wieringen and he was allowed to return to Germany—as a private citizen—on 9 November 1923. A settlement between the state and the family made Cecilienhof property of the state but granted a right of residence to Wilhelm and this was limited in duration to three generations. Wilhelm subsequently broke the promise he had made to Gustav Stresemann and he supported the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, who visited Cecilienhof three times, in 1926, in 1933 and in 1935. However, when Wilhelm realized that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, after the assassination attempt on 20 July 1944, Hitler had Wilhelm placed under supervision by the Gestapo and had Cecilienhof watched
Cecilienhof
–
Cecilienhof Palace seen from the commemorative courtyard, with the Soviet red star in the foreground
Cecilienhof
–
View from Neuer Garten
Cecilienhof
–
Potsdam Conference: Churchill, Truman and Stalin in the Cecilienhof garden, 25 July 1945
21.
Potsdam
–
Potsdam is the capital and largest city of the German federal state of Brandenburg. It directly borders the German capital Berlin and is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region and it is situated on the River Havel,24 kilometres southwest of Berlins city centre. Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser, around the city there are a series of interconnected lakes and cultural landmarks, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. The Potsdam Conference in 1945 was held at the palace Cecilienhof, the Filmstudio Babelsberg is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Potsdam developed into a centre of science in Germany in the 19th century, today, there are three public colleges, the University of Potsdam, and more than 30 research institutes in the city. The area was formed from a series of large moraines left after the last glacial period, today, the city is three-quarters green space, with just a quarter as urban area. There are about 20 lakes and rivers in and around Potsdam, such as the Havel, the Griebnitzsee, Templiner See, Tiefer See, Jungfernsee, Teltowkanal, Heiliger See, the highest point is the 114-metre high Kleiner Ravensberg. Potsdam is divided into seven city districts and nine new Ortsteile. The appearances of the city districts are quite different, the districts in the north and in the centre consist mainly of historical buildings, the south of the city is dominated by larger areas of newer buildings. Potsdam has an Oceanic climate, with cool, snowy winters, the average winter high temperature is 3.5 °C, with a low of −1.7 °C. Snow is common in the winter, summers are mild, with a high of 23.6 °C and a low of 12.7 °C. The name Potsdam originally seems to have been Poztupimi, a common theory is that it derives from an old West Slavonic term meaning beneath the oaks, i. e. the corrupted pod dubmi/dubimi. The area around Potsdam shows occupancy since the Bronze Age and was part of Magna Germania as described by Tacitus. After the great migrations of the Germanic peoples, Slavs moved in and it was first mentioned in a document in 993 AD as Poztupimi, when Emperor Otto III gifted the territory to the Quedlinburg Abbey, then led by his aunt Matilda. By 1317, it was mentioned as a small town and it gained its town charter in 1345. In 1573, it was still a market town of 2,000 inhabitants. Potsdam lost nearly half of its due to the Thirty Years War. After the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Potsdam became a centre of European immigration and its religious freedom attracted people from France, Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia
Potsdam
–
View of the rebuilt
Potsdam City Palace and
St. Nicholas' Church at night
Potsdam
–
Sanssouci
Potsdam
–
Templiner See south of Potsdam
Potsdam
–
Development of Population since 1875 within the Current Boundaries (Blue Line: Population; Dotted Line: Comparison to Population Development of Brandenburg state; Grey Background: Time of Nazi rule; Red Background: Time of Communist rule)
22.
Joseph Stalin
–
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was effectively the dictator of the state. Stalin was one of the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917 in order to manage the Bolshevik Revolution, alongside Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky, Sokolnikov, and Bubnov. Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and he managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin by suppressing Lenins criticisms and expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He remained General Secretary until the post was abolished in 1952, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in Gulag labour camps. The initial upheaval in agriculture disrupted food production and contributed to the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932–33, major figures in the Communist Party and government, and many Red Army high commanders, were arrested and shot after being convicted of treason in show trials. Stalins invasion of Bukovina in 1940 violated the pact, as it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence agreed with the Axis, Germany ended the pact when Hitler launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite heavy human and territorial losses, Soviet forces managed to halt the Nazi incursion after the decisive Battles of Moscow, after defeating the Axis powers on the Eastern Front, the Red Army captured Berlin in May 1945, effectively ending the war in Europe for the Allies. The Soviet Union subsequently emerged as one of two recognized world superpowers, the other being the United States, Communist governments loyal to the Soviet Union were established in most countries freed from German occupation by the Red Army, which later constituted the Eastern Bloc. Stalin also had relations with Mao Zedong in China and Kim Il-sung in North Korea. On February 9,1946, Stalin delivered a public speech in which he explained the fundamental incompatibility of communism and capitalism. He stressed that the system needed war for raw materials. The Second World War was but the latest in a chain of conflicts which could be broken only when the economy made the transformation into communism. Stalin led the Soviet Union through its post-war reconstruction phase, which saw a significant rise in tension with the Western world that would later be known as the Cold War, Stalin remains a controversial figure today, with many regarding him as a tyrant. However, popular opinion within the Russian Federation is mixed, the exact number of deaths caused by Stalins regime is still a subject of debate, but it is widely agreed to be in the order of millions. Joseph Stalin was born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, the Russian-language version of his birth name is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. Ioseb was born on 18 December 1878 in the town of Gori, Georgia and his father was Besarion Jughashvili, a cobbler, while his mother was Ekaterine Keke Geladze, a housemaid. As a child, Ioseb was plagued with health issues
Joseph Stalin
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Stalin at the
Tehran Conference in 1943.
Joseph Stalin
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Prior to the revolution of 1917, Stalin played an active role in fighting the Russian government. Here he is shown on a 1911 information card from the files of the Russian police in Saint Petersburg.
Joseph Stalin
–
A group of participants in the 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party, 1919. In the middle are Stalin,
Vladimir Lenin, and
Mikhail Kalinin.
23.
Harry S. Truman
–
Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, assuming the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the waning months of World War II. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, but the conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He also used weapons to end World War II, desegregated the U. S. armed forces, supported a newly independent Israel. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, and spent most of his youth on his familys 600-acre farm near Independence, in the last months of World War I, he served in combat in France as an artillery officer with his National Guard unit. After the war, he owned a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri, and joined the Democratic Party. Truman was first elected to office as a county official in 1922. After serving as a United States Senator from Missouri and briefly as Vice President, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12,1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Germany surrendered on Trumans 61st birthday, just a few weeks after he assumed the presidency, but the war with Imperial Japan raged on and was expected to last at least another year. Although this decision and the issues that arose as a result of it remain the subject of debate to this day. Truman presided over a surge in economic prosperity as America sought readjustment after long years of depression. His presidency was a point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy. Truman helped found the United Nations in 1945, issued the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to contain Communism and his political coalition was based on the white South, labor unions, farmers, ethnic groups, and traditional Democrats across the North. Truman was able to rally groups of supporters during the 1948 presidential election. The Soviet Union became an enemy in the Cold War, Truman oversaw the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and the creation of NATO in 1949, but was unable to stop Communists from taking over China. When communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he sent U. S. troops, after initial successes in Korea, however, the UN forces were thrown back by Chinese intervention, and the conflict was stalemated throughout the final years of Trumans presidency. Scholars, starting in 1962, ranked Trumans presidency as near great, Harry S. Truman was born on May 8,1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. His parents chose the name Harry after his mothers brother, Harrison Harry Young, while the S did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The initial has been written and printed followed by a period
Harry S. Truman
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Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
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Truman in uniform ca. 1918
Harry S. Truman
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Drawer from the Senate desk used by Truman
Harry S. Truman
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Roosevelt /Truman poster from 1944
24.
Clement Attlee
–
Attlee was the first person to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, serving under Winston Churchill in the wartime coalition government. He went on to lead the Labour Party to an election victory in summer 1945. One of only a handful of Labour frontbenchers to retain his seat in the defeat of 1931. In 1935 he became the Leader of the Party, at first advocating pacificism and appeasement, he later reversed his position and by 1938 became a strong critic of Neville Chamberlains attempts to appease Adolf Hitler. He took Labour into the Churchill war ministry in 1940, initially serving as Lord Privy Seal, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in 1942. With victory in Europe in May 1945, the government was dissolved. Attlee led Labour to win a majority in the ensuing 1945 general election two months later. Within this context, his government undertook the nationalisation of public utilities and major industries, Attlee himself had little interest in economic matters but this settlement was broadly accepted by all parties for three decades. Foreign policy was the domain of Ernest Bevin, but Attlee took special interest in India. He supervised the process by which India was partitioned into India and he also arranged the independence of Burma, and Ceylon. His government ended the British Mandates of Palestine and Jordan, from 1947 he and Bevin pushed the United States to take a more vigorous role in the emerging Cold War against Soviet Communism. When the budgetary crisis forced Britain out of Greece in 1947 he called on Washington to counter the Communists with the Truman Doctrine and he avidly supported the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe with American money. In 1949, he promoted the NATO military alliance against the Soviet bloc and he sent British troops to fight in the Malayan Emergency in 1948 and sent the RAF to participate in the Berlin Airlift. He commissioned an independent nuclear deterrent for the UK and he used 13,000 troops and passed special legislation to promptly end the London dock strike in 1949. After leading Labour to a victory in the 1950 general election. Attlee was narrowly defeated by the Conservatives under Churchill in the 1951 general election and he continued as Labour leader but had lost his effectiveness by then. He retired after losing the 1955 general election and was elevated to the House of Lords, in public, Attlee was modest and unassuming, he was ineffective at public relations and lacked charisma. His strengths emerged behind the scenes, especially in committees where his depth of knowledge, quiet demeanour, objectivity and he saw himself as spokesman on behalf of his entire party and successfully kept its multiple factions in harness
Clement Attlee
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Attlee as Lord Privy Seal, visiting a munitions factory in 1941
Clement Attlee
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Major The Right Honourable The Earl Attlee
KG OM CH PC FRS
Clement Attlee
–
Attlee meeting King
George VI after Labour's 1945 election victory.
Clement Attlee
–
Trafford General Hospital, known as the birthplace of the NHS.
25.
United Kingdom general election, 1945
–
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, because of local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, owing in part to the time it took to transport the votes of those serving overseas and this resulted in Labour winning its first majority government, and a mandate to implement its postwar reforms. The 12. 0% national swing from the Conservative Party to the Labour Party remains the largest ever achieved in a British general election. Held less than two months after VE Day, it was the first general election since 1935, as general elections had been suspended during the Second World War. Attlee, Leader of the Labour Party, refused Churchills offer of continuing the Wartime Coalition until the Allied defeat of Japan, Parliament was dissolved on 15th June. It resulted in the defeat of the government led by Winston Churchill and the landslide victory of the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee. Henry Pelling, noting that polls showed a steady Labour lead after 1942, equally, though voters respected and liked Churchills wartime record, they were more distrustful of the Conservative Partys domestic and foreign policy record in the late 1930s. This was the first election in which Labour gained a majority of seats, the election was a disaster for the Liberal Party, as it lost all its urban seats, while their leader Archibald Sinclair lost his own rural Scottish seat. Baines says the defeat marked its transition from being a party of government to a party of the political fringe, the 8 seats won by National Labour in 1935 were not defended. With World War II coming to an end in Europe, the Labour Party decided to out of the wartime national coalition government. King George VI dissolved Parliament, which had been sitting for ten years without an election, what followed was perhaps one of the greatest swings of public confidence of the twentieth century. In May 1945, the month in which the War in Europe ended, Churchills approval ratings stood at 83%, Labour won overwhelming support while Churchill. Was both surprised and stunned by the defeat suffered by the Conservatives. The greatest factor in Labours dramatic win appeared to be the policy of social reform, the Beveridge Report, published in 1942, proposed the creation of a Welfare State. It called for a turn in British social policy, with provision for nationalised healthcare, expansion of state-funded education, National Insurance. The report was extremely popular, and copies of its findings were widely purchased, the Labour Party adopted the report eagerly. The Conservatives accepted many of the principles of the report, Labour offered a new comprehensive welfare policy, reflecting a consensus that social changes were needed. The Conservatives were not willing to make the concessions that Labour proposed
United Kingdom general election, 1945
–
All 640 seats in the
House of Commons 321 seats needed for a majority
United Kingdom general election, 1945
United Kingdom general election, 1945
United Kingdom general election, 1945
26.
Winston Churchill
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Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG OM CH TD PC DL FRS RA was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, in 1963, he was the first of only eight people to be made an honorary citizen of the United States. Churchill was born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough and his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American socialite. As a young officer, he saw action in British India, the Anglo–Sudan War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his campaigns, at the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, during the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He then briefly resumed active service on the Western Front as commander of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government under Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister and he led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured. After the Conservative Party suffered a defeat in the 1945 general election. He publicly warned of an Iron Curtain of Soviet influence in Europe, after winning the 1951 election, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His second term was preoccupied by foreign affairs, including the Malayan Emergency, Mau Mau Uprising, Korean War, domestically his government laid great emphasis on house-building. Churchill suffered a stroke in 1953 and retired as Prime Minister in 1955. Upon his death aged ninety in 1965, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral and his highly complex legacy continues to stimulate intense debate amongst writers and historians. Born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of the noble Spencer family, Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, like his father. His ancestor George Spencer had changed his surname to Spencer-Churchill in 1817 when he became Duke of Marlborough, to highlight his descent from John Churchill, Churchill was born on 30 November 1874, two months prematurely, in a bedroom in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire. From age two to six, he lived in Dublin, where his grandfather had been appointed Viceroy, Churchills brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill, was born during this time in Ireland
Winston Churchill
–
The Right Honourable Sir Winston Churchill
KG OM CH TD DL FRS RA
Winston Churchill
–
Jennie Jerome (1854–1921), the American-born mother of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
–
Churchill, aged seven, in 1881
Winston Churchill
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Blenheim Palace, the Churchill family home
27.
Provisional Government of the French Republic
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Its establishment marked the official restoration and re-establishment of a provisional French Republic assuring continuity with the defunct French Third Republic. As the wartime government of France in 1944-1945, its purposes were to handle the aftermath of the occupation of France. Its principal mission beside the war was to prepare the ground for a new order that resulted in the Fourth Republic. It was officially created by the CFLN on 3 June 1944, the day before Charles de Gaulle arrived in London from Algiers on Winston Churchills invitation, the CFLN itself had been created exactly one year earlier through the uniting of de Gaulles and Henri Girauds organisations. Among its foreign policy goals was to secure a French occupation zone in Germany and this was assured through a large military contribution on the western front. The unit under his command, barely above company size when it had captured the Italian fort, had grown into an armoured division. The spearhead of the Free French First Army that had landed in Provence was the I Corps and its leading unit, the French 1st Armoured Division, was the first Western Allied unit to reach the Rhône, the Rhine and the Danube. Along with the acceptance of the Marshall Plan, refused by countries who had fallen under the influence of the USSR, this marked the official beginning of the Cold War in these countries. It started decolonisation by recognising the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Front National was the political front of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans resistance movement. It also appointed commissioners to fulfill its aims, Vichy loyalists were put on trial by the GPRF in legal purges, and a number were executed for treason, among them Pierre Laval, Vichys prime minister in 1942-44. The Marshal Philippe Pétain, Chief of the French State and Verdun hero, was condemned to death. Thousands of collaborators were executed by local Resistance forces in so-called savage purges. The provisional government considered that the Vichy government had been unconstitutional, all statutes, laws, regulations and decisions by the Vichy government were thus made null and void. Collaborationist paramilitary and political organizations, such as the Milice and the Legionary Order Service, were also disbanded, the right to vote had been granted to women by the CFLN on 21 April 1944, and was confirmed by the GPRF with the 5 October 1944 decree. They went to the polls for the first time in the elections of 29 April 1945. It passed decisions about Social Security, and child benefits, laying the foundations of the state in France. In the dirigist spirit, it created large state-owned companies, for instance by nationalising Renault and founding electricity company EDF, another main objective of the GPRF under de Gaulle leadership was to give a voice to the people by organizing elections which took place on 21 October 1945. Becoming a constituent assembly, the elected parliament was charged with drafting a constitution for a new fourth republic
Provisional Government of the French Republic
–
Flag
28.
Territorial evolution of Germany
–
The territorial changes of Germany include all changes in the borders and territory of Germany from its formation in 1871 to the present. Modern Germany was formed in 1871 when Otto von Bismarck unified most of the German states, with the exception of Austria. After the First World War Germany lost about 10% of its territory to its neighbours and this republic included territories to the east of todays German borders. The period of Nazi rule from the 1930s through the end of the Second World War brought significant territorial losses for the country, Nazi Germany initially expanded the countrys territory dramatically and conquered most of Europe, though not all areas were added to Germany proper. The Nazis fortunes changed after the failure of the invasion of Soviet Union, the Nazi regime eventually collapsed, and the Allies occupied Germany. The former eastern territories of Germany were ceded to Poland and the Soviet Union, in the west, the Saar area formed a French-controlled protectorate with limited autonomy, but its own citizenship laws. With the onset of the Cold War, the part of Germany was unified as the Trizone. Western-occupied West Berlin declared its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 but was denied by the occupying powers, the Soviet zone, including the Soviet sector of Berlin, became the communist German Democratic Republic in October the same year. Effective 1 January 1957 the Saar Protectorate declared its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany, part of the motivation behind the territorial changes is based on historical events in Germany and Western Europe. Migrations that took place more than a millennium led to pockets of Germans living throughout Central. The existence of these enclaves was sometimes used by German nationalists, such as the Nazis, the territorial changes of Germany after World War II can be interpreted in the context of the evolution of global nationalism and European nationalism. The latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century saw the rise of nationalism in Europe, previously, a country consisted largely of whatever peoples lived on the land that was under the dominion of a particular ruler. As principalities and kingdoms grew through conquest and marriage, a ruler could wind up with different ethnicities under his dominion. The concept of nationalism was based on the idea of a people who shared a bond through race, religion, language. Furthermore, nationalism asserted that people had a right to its own state. Many interior conflicts were a result of more or less pressurising citizens of alternative ethnicities and/or other native languages to assimilate to the ethnicity dominant in the state, switzerland was the bright exception showing that patriotism only needs civic pride and legal equality, not a common native language. Much conflict would arise when one nation asserted territorial rights to land outside its borders on the basis of a bond with the people living on the land. Yet another source of conflict was the desire of some nations to expel people from territory within its borders because people did not share a bond with the majority of people of that nation
Territorial evolution of Germany
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World War I Allied propaganda poster showing German expansionist ambitions
Territorial evolution of Germany
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The Kingdom of Prussia (dark blue) within the German Empire (beige) 1871–1918
Territorial evolution of Germany
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Territorial expansion of Germany proper from 1933 to 1941 as explained to Wehrmacht soldiers, a Nazi era map in German.
29.
Treaty of Versailles
–
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers and it was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I signed separate treaties, although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919 and this article, Article 231, later became known as the War Guilt clause. The treaty forced Germany to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions, in 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks. On the other hand, prominent figures on the Allied side such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently, although it is often referred to as the Versailles Conference, only the actual signing of the treaty took place at the historic palace. Most of the negotiations were in Paris, with the Big Four meetings taking place generally at the Quai dOrsay, the First World War was fought across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Countries beyond the war zones were also affected by the disruption of trade, finance. In 1917, two revolutions occurred within the Russian Empire, which led to the collapse of the Imperial Government, the American war aim was to detach the war from nationalistic disputes and ambitions after the Bolshevik disclosure of secret treaties between the Allies. The existence of these treaties tended to discredit Allied claims that Germany was the power with aggressive ambitions. On 8 January 1918, United States President Woodrow Wilson issued a statement that became known as the Fourteen Points and this speech outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. After the Central Powers launched Operation Faustschlag on the Eastern Front and this treaty ended the war between Russia and the Central powers and annexed 1,300,000 square miles of territory and 62 million people. During the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers began to collapse, desertion rates within the German army began to increase, and civilian strikes drastically reduced war production. On the Western Front, the Allied forces launched the Hundred Days Offensive, sailors of the Imperial German Navy at Kiel mutinied, which prompted uprisings in Germany, which became known as the German Revolution. The German government tried to obtain a settlement based on the Fourteen Points. Following negotiations, the Allied powers and Germany signed an armistice, the terms of the armistice called for an immediate evacuation of German troops from occupied Belgium, France, and Luxembourg within fifteen days. In addition, it established that Allied forces would occupy the Rhineland, in late 1918, Allied troops entered Germany and began the occupation. Both the German Empire and Great Britain were dependent on imports of food and raw materials, primarily from the Americas, the Blockade of Germany was a naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers to stop the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs reaching the Central Powers
Treaty of Versailles
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Cover of the English version
Treaty of Versailles
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The borders of Eastern Europe, as drawn up in Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Treaty of Versailles
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The heads of the "
Big Four " nations at the Paris Peace Conference, 27 May 1919. From left to right:
David Lloyd George,
Vittorio Orlando , Georges Clemenceau, and
Woodrow Wilson.
Treaty of Versailles
–
German
Johannes Bell signs the Treaty of Versailles in the
Hall of Mirrors, with various Allied delegations sitting and standing in front of him.
