WAR - Rebuilding the Defeated Powers (Lesson)
Rebuilding the Defeated Powers
At the end of World War I, leaders of the victor nations spent a great deal of time debating as to whom should be blamed for the war. But when the end of World War II came, no such debate was necessary—Germany and Japan were the leaders of the Axis Powers and bore the responsibility, but there were other Axis nations involved too.
Italy
In 1946, the Allied Powers completed their peace treaties with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland. These nations were required to pay reparations and most of them lost territory in the process—especially Italy, who lost its colonies in Africa, its sphere of influence in China, and its expanded territories in Europe (with Albania becoming an independent nation.) Not only did Italy lose its territorial acquisitions from the war, but also its government. The 1945 executions of Benito Mussolini and many of his advisors categorically ended fascism in Italy. The next year, Italians created the Republic of Italy—a constitutional republic with multiple political parties led by a prime minister—and abolished the monarchy. Led by a moderately conservative political party (who maintained a majority for the next 45 years) and with funding from the Marshall Plan, Italy recovered from World War II. In 1949, Italy served as a founding nation in NATO and joined the UN in 1955. Two years later, Italy became a founding member of the European Economic Community.
Germany
When Adolf Hitler committed suicide in 1945, the Third Reich effectively ended. Days later, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe ended. The Allied nations were prepared for such an eventuality (having already created a plan during the Yalta Conference.) At the Potsdam Conference, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States implemented a new order for Germany. Aims for the new order included disarmament, democratization and denazification—but the divide between the Soviet Union and the other Allied Powers led to the division of Germany into two separate nations. Western Allied nations pulled out of Germany in 1949—therefore, creating the Federal Republic of Germany (popularly known as West Germany.) Under the Marshall Plan, West Germany made a rapid recovery from the economic and physical destruction of the war. In 1955, West Germany became a fully independent nation and joined NATO. East Germany's history paralleled that of West Germany—in 1949, the Soviet-occupied portion of Germany became the German Democratic Republic—only in the dates that it got its official name and joined the Warsaw Pact (NATO's rival.) Other than that, the East German and West German paths were very different. In 1953, Soviet tanks rolled into East Germany to put down a rebellion and the nation's economic recovery in no way matched that of West Germany's.
However, both parts of Germany participated in the denazification of their people. Denazification involved a variety of steps (that varied by occupation zone) taken to remove Nazism from the German political and cultural environment. The easiest of these steps was the removal of the Nazi symbol—the swastika—from public sites. The photo on the right shows a swastika at the Nazi party rally grounds being demolished with explosives, as part of the denazification initiative. The more difficult step involved determining whom to charge for war crimes. To expedite the process, only those Nazis in high level positions (or those known for committing crimes) were charged. Most Germans were left out of this process. Still, the Allied powers occupying Germany took measures to ensure that the Germans not on trial understood their moral responsibility for the Nazi atrocities of World War II and the Holocaust. Newspaper articles and film documentaries aired throughout Germany to expose Germans to the horrors of the concentration and extermination camps. In some cases, they were required to tour camps or exhume bodies. The point of this being, as explained by a documentarian, to " ...shake and humiliate the Germans and to prove to them beyond any possible challenge that these German crimes against humanity were committed and that the German people—and not just the Nazis and SS—bore responsibility."
"A German girl is overcome as she walks past the exhumed bodies of some of the 800 slave workers murdered by SS guards near Namering, Germany, and
laid here so that townspeople may view the work of their Nazi leaders., 05/17/1945"
By Cpl. Edward Belfer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Between 1945 and 1946, surviving Nazi leaders appeared in the Nuremberg Trials. During the trials, evidence from the Nazi government archives and concentration/extermination camps came forward. With documentation of the Holocaust, the Nuremberg Trials' prosecution charged former Nazi leaders with crimes against humanity and violations of established laws of war.
With the end of the Third Reich, the different zones of Germany needed to create a new government. The zones that formed West Germany created a parliamentary democracy with its capital in Bonn and with a capitalist economy. The zone that became East Germany established a communist government run by the Socialist Unity Party with a nationalized economy and its capital in East Berlin.
Japan
When World War II ended, the United States served as the only Allied nation to occupy Japan. Following months of Allied bombings (including two atomic bombs,) many of Japan's cities looked like these pictures of Kobe and Osaka...
The effects of the firebombs and the two atomic bombs brought the war to a swifter end but definitely left the nation of Japan in shambles. Growing up in America, you've seen the aftermath of cities that have been wiped out by natural disasters and have watched as communities try to rebuild. Imagine an entire nation with that kind of devastation and perhaps you can imagine the task that lay before Japan.
And as for the government of Japan? The Allies blamed it for Japan's role in the war and were determined to restructure the government in such a way that political power would no longer be in the hands of the military. An Allied presence, under the leadership of an American general, stayed in Japan until 1952 to help in the rebuilding process and to ensure that the new government would be structured in a way that would prevent a return to Japan's history of expansion in Asia. By expanding the role of citizens in Japan, no longer would it be possible for just a few to make the decisions that would impact the entire nation. Working together, the United States and Japan (but mostly American lawyers) created a new constitution for the defeated nation in 1947. In many ways, the new Japanese constitution resembled the old American one:
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Japanese Constitution |
United States Constitution |
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The Japanese constitution has extra chapters that reflect the different circumstances in which it was written along with the different culture that it was written for. Comparing these two constitutions helps us better understand how governments are formed and what role tradition and culture play within the creation of governments. First, Japan had a tradition of a monarchy; therefore, there is a section explaining the new role of the monarch in the new Japan. The United States didn't have a monarch and, after its experience as a British colony, didn't want one; therefore, the United States constitution does not contain a section on a monarch. Second, the Japanese constitution was written following its loss in a major war, while the United States constitution was written following its victory in a major war. As you can see, the Japanese constitution includes a chapter wherein Japan is forbidden to engage in another war or build up its military to a level that would allow it to attack another country- these provisions were included in the "Renunciation of War" chapter. The presence and location (as one of the first parts of the constitution) of the "Renunciation of War" chapter tells us how important it was to the Allies to ensure that Japan would not be able to return to its expansionist history. Third, even before anything is said in the constitution about how the new government will be set up, the Japanese constitution includes a chapter that discusses the rights and duties of its people. This stems from Japanese culture that places a great deal of importance, not on the individual as in America, but on the individual's role in society. Giri, which is a concept that means "an obligation to one's superiors," and Ie which is a concept that requires loyalty in Japan to one's expanded family, are two concepts deeply rooted within Japanese culture. They reflect the Japanese practice of putting society's health and development over that of the individual and explain the presence of a chapter in their constitution that highlights the civic responsibilities of Japanese citizens. This hierarchy is not the same in American culture where often the rights of the individual are considered more important than the rights of the whole. Lastly, as the Japanese created a parliamentary democracy, it does not include a chapter on the Executive Branch as the American constitution does. Isn't it interesting to see how culture and timing can play out in the creation of a government?
The new constitution created a constitutional monarchy. It allowed for the continued existence of a monarch, known as an emperor in Japan, but limited his role to a symbolic position. This stemmed from the role the emperor played before and during World War II. At that time, Japan's civilian government played second fiddle to its military (as you will remember from our earlier discussion on the rise of militarism in Japan.) The only political entity that Japan's military had to answer to was the emperor himself. Therefore, his job title and personal role in Japan's attacks on nearly all of its Asian neighbors before and during the war came under suspicion. The emperor of Japan before, during and after World War II was Emperor Hirohito. He argued that he had been merely a figurehead bullied by the Japanese military dictator, Hideki Tojo—an argument mostly supported by Tojo during his war crimes trial. Therefore, the new constitution stripped his title of political power; but, in deference to tradition, allowed him to continue his role as a symbolic representative of Japan in social arenas. [Side note: This means that Japan has the oldest surviving imperial family in the world—older, even, than Great Britain's.]
Based on the new constitution, Japan's government looked like this...
As Japan converted to its new government, Allied army forces (under U.S. General Douglas MacArthur) remained in Japan to supervise its reconstruction and adherence to the new laws. Besides establishing a new government, these changes included:
- The right to vote and to own property for women,
- The break-up of the large industrial complexes owned by a few wealthy families that had supported the Japanese military expansion before the war,
- The redistribution of land to farmers who lived and worked on it,
- The reorganization of Japan's educational system,
- And the announcement from the emperor that he was not Divine.
Allied forces maintained their presence in Japan until 1952 CE.
Despite the massive destruction of World War II, Japan quickly rebuilt its economy and became an important ally to the United States. It became an active member of the United Nations in 1956.
China
The last bit to discuss on the effects of World War II is what happened in China. If you will remember—just before Japan invaded China in 1937, China was in the midst of a civil war between the nationalists and the communists. For the most part, the nationalists were winning but the communists had secured a strong following within rural China. Then the Japanese invaded causing the civil war to come to an end as the Chinese united against the foreign invasion. With Japan defeated, the communists and nationalists resumed their civil war. This time, however, the nationalists (still led by Chiang Kai-shek) were weakened from their long fight with the Japanese before and during World War II. In the meantime, the Communist Party of China had grown in strength (due to their concentrated efforts to recruit followers from rural China.) For four years, the nationalists and communists fought for control of China. In the end, the Communist Party of China's armies defeated the Guomindang Party's nationalist armies in 1949 CE. The leader of the Guomindang, Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan and established the Republic of China there. The leader of the Communist Party of China, Mao Tse-tung, declared mainland China as the People's Republic of China and himself as Chairman. Both leaders argued that they represented the one true China and the rest of the world had to choose sides.
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