World War II

I. Wartime Conferences Prepare for Peace

a. U.S. took part in 15 major international conferences

b. Cairo-

• November 1934- FDR, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt. Agreed on two issues: 1. Korea, then under Japanese domination, would be independent, and 2. Formosa, now Taiwan, would be returned by Japan to China.

c. Teheran-

• In late Nov., FDR & Churchill proceeded to Teheran, Iran. Promised Stalin that a second front would soon be opened. Stalin in turn promised to attack Japan after Germany was defeated.

d. Yalta-

• Yalta Conference- FDR’s 2nd meeting with Stalin on the Black Sea

• Big Three- reached tentative decisions about what to do with Germany after the war.

i. The Three leaders also agreed that German and Japanese leaders would be tried as criminals for the atrocities they had committed.

ii. The three set up the United Nations.

iii. Stalin, in exchange for Japan’s Kuril and Sakhalin islands, again promised to enter the war with Japan 2 or 3 months after Germany surrendered. U.S. felt they could not win without their help.

iv. Poland- Soviet Union wanted Poland to be a communist country while the U.S. and Britain favored the Polish government-in-exile

e. San Francisco-

• April 1945- reps. of 50 nations met at San Francisco to establish an international peace-keeping body

• The Soviet Union was only given 3 seats on the board instead of 15

f. Potsdam-

• July 1945- Pres. Truman went to Potsdam, Germany, for the final wartime conference.

• Germany took out 6.5 million Germans from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland

II. The United Nations Replace the League.

a. The United Nations- signed in June 1945, had a large deliberate body and a smaller executive body. Consists of:

• General Assembly- all member nations

• Security Council- Real power; U.S., Great Britain, France, the Soviet Socialist Republics, and China had permanent seats, w/ 6 other nations elected on a rotating basis. Voting was by majority, but the majority had to include all 5 permanent members.

• Big Five- each had veto power over any council action.

• The Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council (for former colonies), the International Court of Justice, and the secretariat for Administration completed the UN’s main structure.

b. The US was the first country to accept the UN charter. After building its headquarters in New York City, the org. began its work on a great wave of goodwill and optimism.

III. World Leaders Deal with the Enemy

a. As