What weakened the global power of America after WWII?

1. What weakened the global power of America after WWII? Objectives: Explain why the US was so powerful in 1945 Explain why the Global Power of the US was weakened after 1950

3. Hiroshima: 1945: US Victory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4LQaWJRDg • USA seems to dominate East Asia by 1945 • Ultimate loser is Japan who had homeland devastated by bombing. • Forced into humiliating occupation by Allied forces • America the undisputed winner of WW2 • Allied with Soviet Russia • But by 1950 US was engaged in another war with a client state of the Soviet Union – why?

4. 6th August 1945: US bomber drops atomic bomb and kills 100,000 people instantly • 9th August: another plane bombs Nagasaki 35,000 killed • USA the sole master of this weapon • Japanese government surrenders: General MacArthur becomes new ruler. Bit like a Roman pronconsul

5. Task: What was the relative power of key countries in 1945? • Use the country information you have been given. • Take a country each – introduce yourself and key facts • Decide order of power – rank them in a line • Draw a bar graph to demonstrate relative power of each country by 1945

6. 10 really powerful

7. USSR: • Leader: Josef Stalin (Communist Dictator) • Allies with USA in WW2 • Joined the conflict against Japan in closing days of the war and occupied Manchuria and North Korea but was exhausted following war with Germany • Total GNP in 1945 only ¼ of USA’s • Dependant on loans from the USA to recover from war effort • Vast army but strength was not comparable to the US bomber force or Navy • No atomic bombs – yet!

8. China: • Leader: Chiang Kai-Shek (Nationalist Ruler – Right Wing) • Devastated by eight year long struggle with Japan • Heavily dependant on US support • Corrupt regime under Chiang Kai-shek • It’s army had US instructors – almost like a satellite of the US • Communists in North-West under Mao Zedong were independent from rest of China – at threat from Communist takeover. • But the West and Russia thought Chiang would hold on to power

9. France: • Trying to recover from the trauma and defeat of occupation during WW2 • Uphill struggle to re-impose it’s colonial rule on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (Indo-China) after domination by Japan in these areas during WW2 – there is growing resistance against France’s control of these regions

10. Britain: • Leader: Atlee (Labour) • Bankrupt from war • Desperate for loans from the US • Would have to give up parts of it’s empire – had previously possessed vast amounts of Indian Empire and much of trade in Southern China • Abandoned India in 1947 • Scrapped the bulk of it’s navy • Decline of Britain creates a power vacuum in which USA can step

11. USA: • Untouched by bombs and fighting • War boosted the economy lifted America out of Great Depression • Output of goods grew by more than 50% • 2/3 of the world’s gold reserves • Turned out more than ½ the world’s manufactured goods • 69 army divisions in Europe and 26 in the Pacific • Living Standards high • 1200 major warships • UN based in New York – testimony to level of US dominance

12. Why US power was weakened by 1950: • Defeat of US backed regime in China by the Communists; led by Mao Zedong. Declaration of the People’s Republic of China • Formation of a Chinese alliance with the USSR in 1950 • France struggled to re-gain it’s empire and could not resist Communist/Nationalist forces in Indo-China under Ho Chi Minh • Communist inspired demonstrations in Japan which challenged American control • Super power Rivalry: USA V USSR • Defence spending was cut in 1948; 2 billion lower than the USSR • The USSR’s army now totalled 2.6 million while the USA totalled 640,000 • The USSR built up a strategic bomber force and produced 7000 planes a year; the USA produced 1200 • In 1949 Russia successfully tested a nuclear bomb at kamchatka

13. NSC 68 • Top Secret report on Military strength of US • Carried out under orders of Secretary of State Dean Acheson • Shocking conclusion that defence spending would need to increase to $50 billion annually from $35 million • Truman cautious

15. Ho Chi Minh

17. Guess the Question? • Japan • Dependant • Chiang Kai Shek • Instructors • Empire • Cambodia • Loans • India • Economy • New York

18. Homework questions: Chapter 1 of red textbook. • Consolidate pages 1-8 • Read 9-11. • Make notes on Ideologies in the Cold War context: why did some people in West sympathise with Communism? • What did the USA Government think about Communist USSR? • Chapter 1 of USA in Asia – Overview. Makes notes under each of the key questions