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The United States, British and French forces controlled the Western part of Germany while the Soviet union controlled the Eastern part. German cities were left in ruins from a massive bombing campaign and scenes of desolation spread across Europe. Food shortages were reported and the soil used to grow crops was ravaged from the war, producing little over half of the crop produced before the war. Germany was also financially destroyed due to the Nazi’s spending to finance their war. Since there was a purge of Hitter’s allies and collaborators, more political positions opened up.
Western allies made it a mission to abolish Nazism out of the western parts of Germany. Proceedings such as “De-Magnification” removed former Nazis from government and business positions. Western Europe had to rebuild, grow and become strong quickly or it could have fallen to communism. In 1 947, since the united States destroyed much of the continent helping their allies win the war, they proposed the “Marshall Plan” to put money back into the European economy. This would also help fund a barrier to divide Western Germany from the Soviet union run East Germany.
The Western countries benefited from the Marshall Plan and experienced a boom in their national products. Western Germany especially, recovered quit fast compared to the other Western countries. The new government of Germany was in good standing with the world and received international support with their recovery efforts. With financial assistance from other countries mainly the United States, the German people were able to rebuild their industrial factories with up to date technology. Large reconstruction projects meant more jobs were created and provided investment opportunities.
The common market was formed and it allowed free trade, which is essential for any nation to improve their economy and standards of living. Western Germany was eventually set us as an independent, democratic nation with its own government. The Soviet Union never allowed Eastern Germany to form an independent or democratic government. The very destruction Of War offered opportunities to rebuild with the latest technology and to develop new technology. World War II completely shaped the technological world as we knew it and of course most of this technology was developed to be beneficial during wars.
For example, RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) helped Britain gain significant tactical advantages in detecting German planes and binaries just miles away. The American project MANIAC computer was designed to help calculate artillery-firing tables for the United States Army and Britain’s Colossus project was the first ever-programmable computers. The trend of challenging tradition and authority began in the 1 ass’s and continues into the present day. There were daily protests against the war in the Vietnam and issues concerning civil rights.
Individuals who challenged authority were considered “radicals. ” Challenging authority is not necessarily bad especially when done with a clear purpose. I believe Dry. Martin Luther King said it best, “The hope of a secure and livable world begins with disciplined non-conformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood. ” Important societal change has always begun when someone challenged the status quo. The Vietnam War was the fight to stop the nationalist forces from unifying Vietnam under a communist government and the United States attempting to prevent communism from ruling the country.
The Vietnamese have previously suffered while under French colonial rule for close to six decades. In 1 941 , Communist Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Mini name back to Vietnam after traveling the word and established headquarters with the goal of getting rid of the French and Japanese, who had just recently invaded portions of Vietnam. HO Chi Mini gained support for his cause in Northern Vietnam and decided to establish an independent Vietnam with a new government called the “Democratic Republic of Vietnam,” in 1945. The French not liking this idea fought back and refused to give up their colonies.
During World War II, Ho Chi Mini supplied the United States with intelligence about the Japanese and thought he could court the United States into purporting him against the French. Despite Ho Chi Minim’s help supplying intelligence; the United States decided to stick to their policy of containment developed in the Cold War, which meant preventing the spread of Communism. The United States decided to side with France in hoping to help prevent Vietnam from falling into communist hands by sending the French military aid.
Surprisingly in 1954, the French decided to pull out of Vietnam after suffering defeat in one of its major battles in Vietnam. In 1954 at the Geneva Conference, nations gathered to discuss a way that he French could withdraw from Vietnam and the agreement called the “Geneva Accords” was developed so that there would be a cease fire for a peaceful withdraw of French forces and a temporary division of Vietnam which would split the country into two sides: Communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam.
The idea that there would be a democratic election that would reunite the entire country under one government didn’t sit well with the United States because they feared the communists would win. The United States help South Vietnam carry out the election only in the South and excluded most of the country. The United States rivals were eliminated from the election and a new leader was elected. Unfortunately, the new leader Mongo Dint Diem turned out to be bad at his job and was murdered for alienating many South Vietnamese during his time in office.
Sympathizers of communists established “Viet Congo’ in 1960 and they use guerrilla warfare against the South Vietnamese. In 1964, when the United States sent advisers to South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese fired at two U. S. Ships and President Lyndon Johnson ordered U. S. Ground troops to Step in to strengthen the South Vietnamese defenses until it could take over. In 1969, Richard Nixon became the new U. S. President and immediately had plans to end the U. S. Involvement in Vietnam.
In 1 972, when the united States had withdrawn most of its troops from Vietnam, the North Vietnamese staged an assault called the “Easter Offensive” and invaded South Vietnam. The remaining U. S. Forces fought back, along with the South Vietnamese. Shortly after in 1973, peace talks in Paris happened and there a cease-fire agreement was created. In 1 975, South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam and became reunited as a communist country called the “Socialist Republic of Vietnam. ” References Why did Germany lose World War II, Despite its Victories Early in the War?