Potsdam Conference: July 16th, 1945 - Aug. 2nd, 1945
In July of 1945 representatives from the countries who fought in the Allied Forces met in Postdam to discuss what would happen before and after the end of the war. The main speakers were Winston Churchill, later replaced in an election by Clement Atlee, for England, Harry Truman for the United States and Joseph Stalin for the Soviet Union. This was the last major conference for World War II and some of the main issue that were discussed were the control of Germany after the war, Reparations, the Oder/Neise line, and Russia’s possible help with the efforts in the Far East.
Also at this time America was building what they called a “weapon of awesome power”, also known as the atomic bomb, which they did not discuss in detail, but they did make apparent to the other countries. However it did not impress Stalin for he had great military power in Europe and felt confident that he could use his forces to get what he wanted.
During the conference the United States, Great Britain and China all came to discuss their battles with Japan and came up with a joint proclamation. They outlined Japan’s current position and set up a plan for their surrender to the Allied powers now that the war was coming to a close. They made it clear in their message that Japan had to surrender or they would be facing serious and imminent destruction.
When the conference finally ended on August 2nd the and the Allied powers had completed all of their post war agreements and set up their future actions to deal with Japan they all said goodbye and left to go back to their home country and begin working on their new system. This event marked the end of the war and the beginning of the new world for all of Europe and America, without who knows what would have happened, if the war would have ended so soon, if the Soviets and the Allies would have begun fighting or if the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have ever happened.
V-E Day: May 8th, 1945
In the time leading up to the end of the war it became more and more apparent that the Allied powers were going to win the war, the Germans were stuck in the middle of a two front battle and they were clearly loosing. On April 25th, when the Soviet and Allied forces met on the Elbe river it became apparent that the German army was all but destroyed completely and five days later Hitler committed suicide with his wife. After his death Admiral Karl Doenitz took control and sent the Allied Powers a message saying that Germany was ready to negotiate the end of the war. On the 7th of May the General signed the official surrender of the German powers and the next day the war was over. After six years of fighting on two fronts and battling at the cost of millions of innocent lives the Germans were finally done and the world could begin to rebuild as they did before.
Victory in Europe day was celebrated all over the world, from the UK, to the US to the USSR. It is a day remembered with laughter and joy by all who had fought for the winning side and is remembered with photos of smiling soldiers, kissing couples and dancing by soldiers and civilians alike.
On May 8th of 1945 the world rejoiced that the Allied Powers had finally won World War II, it was finally the end of the Nazis and Hitler’s reign was over and the Victory in Europe could finally be celebrated.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki: August 6th, 1945 and August 9th, 1945
After the Allied Powers met at the Potsdam Conference they sent the message to Japan telling them to surrender or face the consequences, however they chose to ignore the threats. This lead to the bombing of Hiroshima by an American B-29 Bomber named the Enola Gay on August 6th, 1945. The plane left with a group of six other planes at 2:00 AM containing a bomb they named “Little Boy”, which was expected to destroy everything within a three mile radius. At 7:00 AM the planes were detected by the Japanese and an alert was sent out to Hiroshima and the surrounding area, but they sent out a weather signal and it came up empty, so the people believed the danger was gone, however they were wrong. Later when they sent the warning message again people did not listen, assuming it was also false, and at 8:15 the bomb was dropped killing over 80,000 people instantly and wounding at least 70,000 more.
When the United States did not get an immediate surrender from Japan they decided to send another mission to prove their point, the second bomb was dropped three days later on Nagasaki. The crew had more difficulties with second mission, bad weather and faulty machinery, but they still successfully managed to drop the bomb “Fat Man” on top the city Nagasaki killing over 70,000 people instantly and wounding over 40,000.
Six days later the Japanese surrendered the war to the Allied powers and Japan was permanently devastated by the tragic events that are forever a part of their history. The war was finally over for both the Germans and the Japanese, and the world was ready to celebrate, but the question everyone must ask themselves is: was it worth the cost?
Nuremberg Trials: November 20th, 1945- April 13th, 1946
Once World War II was over the Allied Powers worked to come up with a way to bring justice to the Germans for all they had done to the world under the Nazi’s reign. What they decided to do was form an international court to put people on trial for war crimes. During August of 1945 the British, Americans, Soviets and French all agreed to the London Charter which officially created the Nuremberg court and set the first ever law for dealing with worldwide conflict between people. The trials first convened on the 18th of October that same year in Berlin, then adjourned to Nuremburg, Germany where the rest of the trials were held, beginning on November 20th and lasting until October of the next year. The courts officially charged the accused under one of the four categories: crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes and conspiracy to commit these crimes. However, because these crimes where not specifically lade out under international law when they were committed, some said that it was unfair to persecute people based on laws that they were not originally told to follow. The tribunal was also criticized for only putting those who fought for the enemy on trial and not their own, showing that it was a double standard. Even with all of its flaws, it was a large accomplishment for the time and for the first time in history military and political leaders were being held accountable for their actions on an international scale.