Europe After World War II ~ ALL MILITARY

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Europe After World War II

Introduction

1. World war II, the name commonly given to the global conflict of 1939-1945, was the greatest and most destructive war in history.
Whereas military operations in World War I were conducted primarily on the European continent, World War II included great struggles not only in Europe but in Asia, Africa, and the far-flung islands of the Pacific as well. More than 55 millions people of various countries killed during the conflict. Its conduct strained the economic capabilities of the major nations and left many countries on the edge of collapse. The impact of war was significant on the continent Europe then elsewhere in the world.

PART 1

Physical Geography.

4. Europe is 6th largest continent having area10, 360,000 sq km, including adjacent islands. Europe can be divided into seven geographic regions: Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland); the British Isles (United Kingdom and Ireland); W Europe (the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Monaco); S Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, and Vatican City); Central Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany); SE Europe (Greece, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, , Romania, Bulgaria, and the European part of Turkey); E Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and the European portion of Russia.

Salient of Invasion of Europe

5. The year 1942 saw the turn of the tide for the Allies. Having been repulsed at Moscow, Hitler turned to the Caucasus, but the Germans were severely defeated and turned back at Stalin grad by the Russians in the closing months of the year. At the same time the British dealt the Germans and Italians a defeat at El Alamein that sent them reeling in retreat westward along the African Mediterranean coast. From bases in Africa the Allies invaded and captured Sicily in July-August 1943. In September, Italy was forced out of the war. British, American, and French forces began a methodical and relentless advance up the Italian Peninsula against the Germans, who had been rushed in to defend it. After Stalingrad the Russians, in a series of alternating offensives, gradually forced the Germans back with heavy losses, until by late April 1945 they were approaching Berlin. Following a massive buildup of troops, air and naval power, and equipment in the British Isles, American, British, and French troops landed on the Normandy coast of France in June 1944 and pressed the Germans back to the West Wall. There, in December, the Germans launched a final counterattack, which failed. Aided by troops landed in southern France from Italy, the Allies forced the Germans back across the Rhine River and deep into Germany. Assailed on all sides, and their major cities devastated by aerial bombardment, the Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945.

PART 2

DIV OF EUROPE

6. The Third Reich crumbled under the weight of the Allied advance. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. Germany surrendered to the Western Allies on May 7 and to the Russians in Berlin on May 9. The capitulation found the Allies lacking in agreement on a postwar German policy. During the period 1941-1944 the Big Three had seemed to be basically in accord, but by early 1945 fundamental differences had begun to appear. For Stalin the crippling of Germany seemed essential to the attainment of either security for the USSR and/or the spread of communism. For Roosevelt and Churchill the German problem was a dilemma that they could not fully solve: How could Germany's domination of Europe be broken without leaving the Continent under the sway of the USSR?. On some policies agreement in principle was easily achieved. Germany must be disarmed, and demilitarized, and she must surrender war criminals for punishment (all of which required military occupation by the victors); she must pay reparations and have her war industries eliminated or controlled; and she must be reduced in size and either decentralized or dismembered. But behind the agreement on general principles there were massive problems of interpretation. In order to decide the fate of Europe certain confs/meetings were held between the Big three, which are:-

a. Yalta Conf. The meeting was held from Feb. 4–11, 1945, at Yalta, Ukraine. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin attended the conf. Most of the important decisions made remained secret until the end of World War II for military or political reasons till 1947.The Yalta conferees confirmed the policy adopted at the Casablanca Conference of demanding Germany’s unconditional surrender. Plans were made for dividing Germany into four zones of occupation (American, British, French, and Soviet) under a unified control commission in Berlin, for war crimes trials, and for a study of the reparations question. The subsequent outbreak of the cold war and Soviet successes in Eastern Europe led to much criticism in the United States of the Yalta Conference and of Roosevelt, who was accused of delivering Eastern Europe to Communist domination.

b. Potsdam Conf. The meeting was held from July 17–Aug 2 in 1945 in East Germany. The principal Allies in World War II (the United States, the USSR, and Great Britain) to clarify and implement agreements previously reached at the Yalta Conference. The chief representatives were President Truman, Premier Stalin and Prime Minister Churchill. The so-called Potsdam Agreement transferred the chief authority in Germany to the American, Russian, British, and French military commanders in their respective zones of occupation and to a four-power Allied Control Council for matters regarding the whole of Germany. The Allies set up a new system of rule for Germany, aimed at outlawing National Socialism and abolishing Nazi ideology, at disarming Germany and preventing it’s again becoming a military power.

c. Treaties. Beside, the confs/meetings certain treaties were also signed with various countries of Europe after the end of war to bring peace and harmony to the region. These were:-

(1) Italian Peace Treaty. The preamble to the Italian treaty contained a war guilt clause somewhat like that which had been included in post-World War I peace treaties. It asserted that Italy had undertaken "a war of aggression and thereby provoked a state of war with all the Allied and Associated Powers and with other United Nations, and that it bore a "share of responsibility for the war.The treaty's territorial clauses provided for minor rectifications of the Franco-Italian frontier, with France to receive the Little St. Bernard Pass, the Mont Cenis plateau, and small portions of the Monte Tabor and Chaperon regions,.

(2) Bulgarian Peace Treaty The Bulgarian treaty had a preamble similar to that of the Italian treaty. Its territorial clause provided simply that Bulgaria's frontiers should be those of Jan. 1, 1941.. The Bulgarian Army was not to consist of more than 55,000 men, the antiaircraft artillery force of more than 1,800, the navy of more than 3,500, or the air force of more than 5,200.

(3) Romanian Peace Treaty Romania's frontiers were to be those of Jan. 1, 1941, thus confirming the cession that had been made to the USSR on June 28, 1940,. The only exception was the Romanian-Hungarian frontier, which was to be restored to the status of Jan. 1, 1938. Northern Transylvania was thus to be returned to Romania.

(5) Hungarian Peace Treaty It restored the frontiers with Czechoslovakia, Austria and Yugoslavia, to the status of Jan. 1, 1938,. It fixed limits of 65,000 men on the Hungarian Army and 5,000 men and 90 aircraft on the Hungarian Air Force

(6) Finnish Peace Treaty Although the United States was not a party to the Finnish treaty, never having declared war on Finland, the document did not differ materially from the others. Finland's frontiers were to be those of Jan. 1, 1941, thus confirming the accessions of territory made by the Soviet Union as a result of the Winter War of 1939-1940.

7. The picture/sit emerges out after these meetings were:-

a. Russian troops remained stationed in the Balkans, with the exception of Greece and Yugoslavia where Germans were driven out without any Russian military support.

b. Russians also occupied Poland, Czechoslovakia and annexed Estonia, Latvia and Eastern section of Austria.

c. In Germany American troops had advanced to the Elbe but were withdrawn to give Russians an occupation Zone that extended beyond the Elbe into central Germany.

d. The western parts of Austria were divided into three zones namely American, British and French and the same was done with non- Russian occupied area of Germany.

e. The American zone in Germany was the largest of the three and it had about 17 million inhabitants. The British zone was smaller but had 5 million more people because it included the densely populated Ruhr area. The French zone was the smallest in size with the population of 5 million.

f. Europe got divided into eastern and western blocs the former under the influence of communism and the later under American influence.

PART 3

RESTRUCTURING OF EUROPE

8. Post War Economical Environment. Europe in the middle of 1945 was physically devastated. Both agricultural and the industrial production were seriously impaired. Quite apart from the immediate problem of producing or otherwise acquiring the minimum essential for domestic consumption –a task in which UNRRA (United Nation Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) was estb to assist , was the urgent problem of earning foreign exchange with which to pay for necessary imports. The European countries which faced these problems of post war economic reconstruction also had to deal with a variety of other problems. Some of the problems are, wartime govt in exile had returned and were in process of re-estb democratic institutions. In France, a provisional govt was obliged to work out a new constitution. England had on its agenda the holding of the first parliamentary election since before the war. As Europe had been divided into two ideological blocs (Eastern Europe, dominated by the USSR, and Western Europe, dominated by the United States) and became engaged in the cold war. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed as a military deterrent to the spread of Communism and sought to maintain a military balance with its eastern equivalent, the Warsaw Treaty Organization.

9. Marshall Plan In June 1947, the Marshall Plan was put into effect in order to stop the Russians from influencing any of the weakened western powers. During the time the United States sent massive economic aid to Europe democracies to help rebuild. Billions of dollars were spent to help countries recover quickly and to reduce the influence of Communism. This plan helped to restore West Germany and rebuild it as a new ally in America's fight against Russia. Russia refused the aid of the Marshall Plan and, as a result, East Germany was not completely rebuilt. This lack of reconstruction showed through even after the reunification. The German economy after reunification took a big hit, because it had to pay for all the reconstruction that the Communists never did. On 5 June 1947 America announced Marshall Plan for Europe which began to function in April 1948. Its main points are as under:-

a. The weakened allies in Europe prompted the Americans to use their large financial resources to help rebuild the economies of Western European nations. Money was offered to various Eastern bloc nations, but Stalin made sure that it was not taken. He feared that they would try and break away from his grip.

b. The European Recovery Plan, or the Marshall Plan named after its creator US Secretary of State George Marshall, proposed to grant large sums of money to rebuild industries and increase trade between nations. Over twelve billion US dollars were handed out so nations could buy food, machines and equipment from America, to rebuild their countries. Even Germany was granted a large sum of money to rebuild. The United States realized that West Germany would be important in the upcoming Cold War.

e. The rebuilding of Europe both politically and economically was as a matter of fact the dire need of superpowers. So these nations could not be revived according to their wishes and desires rather they had to follow the dictation of Soviet Union in the east and US in the west.

10. End of Cold War and Emergence of EU

a.Reforms and Revolution in Eastern Europe

(1) Gorbachev ‘s Reforms. The economic and social crisis of the 1970’s in the Eastern Europe actually challenged the auth of communism. A combination of the soviet invasion of Afghanistan ,the 1981 declaration of Marshal law in Poland and the decision to introduce intermediate nuclear missiles into Europe led to increased the tension. The appointment of Gorbachev as general secretary in 1985 came as breath of fresh air through Europe as he estb his hold within the party ,then introduced his reforms Perestroika, Glasnost and new thinking with the west.

(2) Eastern Revolutions. The combination of crisis in the communist satellite states during the 1970 and 1980 , and rising tide of internal dissent was lead the end of communism in the Eastern Europe. The fall of Berlin wall, toppling down of governments in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Romania and Bulgaria are the examples.

(3) Formulation of EU. The fall of wall led to the renaming of the ‘old continent’ as the ‘new Europe’. This last restructuring of episode deals with following:-

(a) The old Europe was characterized by the static bipolar division shaped by superpower conflict based on nuclear deterrence, with Germany divided at the heart of Europe.

(b) The new Europe is none of these things- European Union is deepening its integration, while moving very slowly towards broadening its membership.

(c) NATO has redefined itself in the new Europe unlike its opponent, the WTO and has expanded to incl new democracies of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

(d) Central Europe has been reborn in the minds of European, with a reunited Germany.

(e) Eastern Europe now has new states such as Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Estonia, some of which have not been independent since 1939.

11. Conclusion War's end found the United States and the USSR the two greatest powers in the world. By the time of the signing of the Axis satellite treaties early in 1947, the two countries were drawing apart. Friction over the treaties with Austria, Germany, and Japan and Soviet aggressive designs in Eastern Europe brought increasing tension, and by the end of 1948 their relationship could be considered one of cold war. In 1950 armed conflict arose in Korea between Soviet-backed Communist forces and United Nations forces led by the United States. The cold war between the East and West continued thereafter, with the Communists striving for world domination through subversion and infiltration, and the West seeking to frustrate their designs.

PART 4

11. Analysis

a. After World War II, Europe became divided into two ideological blocs (Eastern Europe, dominated by the USSR, and Western Europe, dominated by the United States)

b. The division of Europe gives birth to cold war.

c. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed as a military deterrent to the spread of Communism and sought to maintain a military balance with its eastern equivalent, the Warsaw Treaty Organization

d. Invasion of Europe had provided the greater chances of spread of communism, therefore increased the varies of USA.

e. Issues of composition of governments of countries under Russian occupation and the question of German reparations remained unsolved which ultimately led to the differences between America and Russia to the limits of initiating cold war era

f. Second World War brought out two greatest super powers, USSR and USA.

g. United Nation is also the by product of Second World War, as its req was felt after the war in order to bring peace and harmony to the world.

f. The partition and division of Germany drove a block in between both United States to Russia relations and West German to East German relations.

g. During the Cold War, Germany became the centre for all the tensions between Democracy and Communism. The location of Germany as the gateway between East and West Europe made it the ideal place for these political struggles to occur.

12. Conclusion War's end found the United States and the USSR the two greatest powers in the world. By the time of the signing of the Axis satellite treaties early in 1947, the two countries were drawing apart. Friction over the treaties with Austria, Germany, and Japan and Soviet aggressive designs in Eastern Europe brought increasing tension, and by the end of 1948 their relationship could be considered one of cold war. In 1950 armed conflict arose in Korea between Soviet-backed Communist forces and United Nations forces led by the United States. The cold war between the East and West continued thereafter, with the Communists striving for world domination through subversion and infiltration, and the West seeking to frustrate their designs.

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Tuesday, June 4, 2013