The+West

The West: Being that the idea of the "East/West" is eurocentric, it only makes sense to include all of Europe as a part of "The West" I also acknowledge that The West could be considered any part of the New World, but I restricted this to nations with substantial military power from 1914 to the Present(Largely North America).

Notes: (Pgs 673-678)

The Roaring '20s: Notes: (Pgs 690-695) Global Great Depression: MI: Though the Great depression was centered in the west, it did have major global impacts. Responses to the economic downturn varied, but none actually succeeeded in ending the crisis. -Causes:
 * In the West, consumerism and changes in women's roles gained ground.The United states and Japan registered economic gfains and political tensions.New Authority movements also surfaced in Italy and other parts of Eastern Europe.
 * While the postwar challenges to Europe seemed immense to overcome(millions of deaths, property damage, economic dislocation, and inflation), there remained a relatively buoyant attitude. A new Democratic government in germany made positive strides including women's suffrage, despite the massive economic debts and reparations that were imposed after the war.
 * There were new movements relating to artistic creativity such as cubism, as pioneered by Pablo Picasso, and new mass consumption items like the radio paralleled the rise of female power and participation in popular culture.
 * Aspects of the dynamic new culture frightrened traditionalists and key economic sectors, such as coal production and agriculture did not do well to recover the flagging economies, and the British economy remained extremely stagnant at this point.Western Europe could not compete wiht the economic advantages that Japan and the US held at this time. However, the entire organization of the workplace changed, and corporations began opening research/development departments to find ways to further increase output.
 * Other industrial centers, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada were rewarded for their aid in WWI. They were granted co-equal status with britain, and developed extensive labor movements, strong economic planning, and a newly developed welfare system.
 * International relations at this time became even more complex, especially America's relationship with the rest of the world.The Us senate had rejected the treaty of Versailles, and generally pursued an international policy shifting towards isolationism.However, Japan continued to advance industrially in areas such as metallurgy, shipbuilding, and electrical appliances. however, Japan was still dependant on exports to the west to support it's rapid population growth.
 * Shift towards political extremism-This can be seen in Italy under Benito Mussolini's fascist rule. The main concept of fascism is a powerful authoritarian leader, backed by nationalistic values and a strong unified government.Postwar Italy helped reinforce these conditions: Italian nationalists were disappointed with the amount of territory italy had gained in WWI, labor unrest increased, and a conservative government semed relatively useless to remedy the situation.
 * Further trend of political fragmentation- Newly established european countries such as the Baltic states and Yugoslavia became increadibly competitive, using nationalism as a basis for attempts at territorial expansion, leading to bitter rivalries, and an increase in authoritarian governments accross the board..
 * While the New york stock market crash may have hit headlines in 1929, the global great depression had begun earlier. This was largely due to economic problems in the united states, combined with the weakness/dependancy of other countries upon America and other consumerist nations for cheap exports like those in Latin America.There was an increased trend towards overproduction in smaller countries, which became increasingly intertwined with American-style Boom-n-bust economics.
 * Massive psychological backlash in Europe from the postwar inflation (most readily seen in France and Germany), which lead to America giving out many international loans.These soon became a cycle of loans, near impossible to pay off without borrowing more money.
 * Knowledge of economics was often few and far between in western leadership groups in which nationalist tendencies predominated. International policy tended to revolve more around the establishment of tariffs to protect national industry and repayment of debt rather than the facilitation of a balanced and viable world economy.

The Debacle:
 * The formal advent of the depression occured in 1929 New York as the Stock Market collapse. Prices of stock plummeted, and banks whihc had depended heavily on stock gains/investments began to fail, dragging the investors down with them.As a result, America began to drag Europe down with it, calling in European loans, although the entire system of European credit wads based on American money.Many commercial powers existed not based on their production ability, but on the speculation of their worth, which greatly hindered the economy.
 * With economic support receding, industry soon began to fail. Production cutbacks (as much as 30% at the height of the depression) meant falling employment, and lowering wages. This contributed to the multifaceted nature of the depression, and the inability of the international governments to work through it together.
 * However, massive unemployment in blue and white collar jobs allowed for the advancement of children's and women's rights, as the traditional authority figures which they were forced to submit to out of economic necessity were now essentially hollow.In some cases, women found it easier to gain employment than their husband did, which further irritated traditionalists.
 * However ,for most of theworld outside of the west, the international depression did nothing but worsen an already bleak economic situation.Nations that were largely agricultural and relied on foreign markets to support themselves suffered especially much.Depression was also compounded by geographic problems, such as farming methods causing ecological damage (IE crop failure).

Responses to the Depression: MI: The western governments, that were already weakened responded to the onset of economic problems counterproductively, mainly by raising national tariffs to protect their countries industries, in an attempt to prevent mass inflation (having learned their lesson from the years shortly following WWI) and their reactions often screwed up economic circulation.
 * This governmental failure lead to an increase (as stated above) in political extremism, however, while these battles were going on, even in relatively stable countries such as Britain, the political polarizatoin made the establishment of a properly decisive and effective policy difficult.
 * In Key cases, the great depression lead to one of two major effects; either a parliamentary government which was increasingly useless, or an outright overturning of the parliamentary system. Frnace was a prime example of the first pattern, and the Popular Front was soon formed by socialists, communists, and liberals and won the election, but due to the political divisions among the more conservative french politicians, the Popular front was unable to take any decisive actions.
 * However, ther ewere more constructive responses. Scandinavian states, mostly directed by more moderate socialist parties, increased government spending, creating new levels of social insurance against illness and unemployment.However, this foreshadowed the later establishment of a welfare state.

New Deal: After a few years of floudering, the US created yet another set of creative responses. Early US policies(under Herbet Hoover) mirrored those in Europe, while the US also sought to accelerate the payment system for international war debts which added more international stress.
 * New Deal policies, as they unfolded during the 1930s offered more direct aid to Americans at risk, through increased unemployment benefits Many unemployed were put onto public construction and works projects.
 * An important innovation was the Social Security system, based on contributions from employees and employers, designed to provide protection to aged people without jobs.
 * The New deal also undertook some economic planning and stimulus fo rboth industry and agriculture, while installing new regulations on banking to prevent a similar economic collapse.
 * Ushered in a period of rapid government growth, but did not install a full welfare state, restoring American confidence in the government and preventing the extremist movements which had so divided European politics.

Rise of Naziism:
 * In Germany, the impact of the depression lead to the rise of a new fascist regime as it had in Italy.Germany had suffered many losses in the aftermath of WWI, and one of the major appeals Hitler had to the german public was his promises to make Germany great again.
 * Hitler transformed the Natoinal Socialist or Nazi Party into a major political force.Hitler used standard fascist arguments abot the failures of parliamentary government, need for unity, and a return to tradition.
 * Once in power, Hitler established a totalitarian state, which would excise massive control in all activities of his subjects., Hitler's secret police, the Gestapo, arrested hundreds of thousands of political opponents, and Hitler sought to use the Jews as a scapegoat for problems in germany, viewing their elimination as a step towards the betterment of the nation(based on old christian prejudices) which appealed to many germans.
 * Hitler's foreign and military policies were based on the preparation for war. He wanted not only ot recoup Germany's WWI losses, but also to create a land empire which would extend across much of Europe, especially towards the slavic ethnic groups towards the east.

Spanish Civil War:
 * Nazi triumph in Germany spurred fascism in other parts of Europe.Mussolini was relatively moderate, but after Hitler's rise, he became bold in is assertions of a nationalistic expansion.In 1935, Mussolini made good on his promises and began attacking Ethiopia.The League of nations condemnded this action, but no-one truly took action.
 * Fascism also spread to Spain, and the Spanish civil war broke out in 1936. Lead by general Francisco Franco,and backed by an exclusively fascist party and churhc leaders,the Spanish Civil war won some support from America and Russia, and communists/annarchists played a large role in the formation of the military movement.
 * Bitter fighting consumed Spain for 3 years hence.Germany and Italy proceeded to bomb several spanish ports.France, Britian, and the US were in favor of the republican government, but made no concrete actions against the fascists, who won the war in 1939. The Authoritarian control lasted for another 25 years after Francisco's rise to power, but it is important to note that the nwely established regime was not fully fascist.

__//**WWII**//__

Old & New Causes of the 2nd World War: MI: The path to WWII was largely paved by the major social and political upheaval of the nations which had fought in WWI.Greivances related to WWI were also conpounded by economic and social tension, as brought on by the international Depression.
 * The general militarization of Japan proceeded, despite the solid majorities that moderate political parties continued to win well into the 1930s.And it developed in the context of regional diplomatic crises.In China, general Chiang Kai-Shek began re-unifying china under a strong central government for the first time in decades, greatly worrying the Japanese.
 * In contrast to the changes in Japan, the regime changes in Germany were more abrupt and more radical.Parliamentary government in the Weimar era had been under seige from the time that it's civilian leaders had agreed ot the Armistice of 1918 and Treaty of Versailles.Just after the regime seemed to be gaining ground again, the Great Depression struck, and in the Social discontent and political turmoil that followed, **Adolf Hitler and the Nazi (National Socialist) Party came to power.**
 * The Nazi Party promised to put the german people back to work, restore political stablility, and set in motion a remilitarization program which would allow Germany to throw of the shackles of the "dikat(dictatorship)" imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, as well as turning back the "communist bid to capture power"(which would entail the total elimination of Soviet Russia and it's allies).
 * Hitler and Mussolini also intervened in the Spanish civil war in hopes of creating an allied regime in Spain.The mechanized forces of the Germans and Italians overmatched the Spanish forces(they were critical to Francisco Franco's sucess in overhtrowing the democratic regime in Spain), and soon Spain was reduced to target practice for the Axis Air Forces.However, despite the importance of aid from fellow fascist dictators, Spain refused to aid the Axis in it's war efforts.

Unchecked Agression and the Coming of the War in Europe and the Pacific: MI:By the late 1930s, leaders of the new totalitarian states acted on a lesson that international rivalries in the previous decades seemed to offer-> that blatant agression would succeed, and at a very little economic cost.
 * WW2 officially began on September 1 1939,with the German invasion of Poland, and the failure of the Western and Soviet militaries to respond to this further fueled the military expansionism of the Axis Powers.Hitler and Mussolini soon found that military powers like France, Britian, and even the US were willing to allow the takeover of smaller states like Spain, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
 * Leaders such as **Winston Churchill** beleived that war was inevitable given Hitler's insatiable ambition were kept from power.Rival leaders feared that the reinstatement of leaders like Churchill would prevent the establishment of a welfare state in order to prevent further economic downturn(they were right).
 * However, although the Nazi party is largely blamed for starting WWII, the Japanese actually attacked before them.In the second half of 1937, Manchukuo (which had been carved out of the Manchuria) launched a massive attack of China, though this was largely ill-advised.At first, the Japanese insurgents met with great success, occupying many coastal cities, like Shanghai and Canton.However, as chinese resistance increased, the Japanese troops turned to increasingly burtal, draconian tactics, for example at the **Nanjing Massacre** in December 1937.However, interestingly to note, the Nazis actually helped train the chinese troops in charge of resisting Japanese control.
 * However, this was a bad idea in hidsight, being that they did not advise with their later allies, Italy and Germany in their attack on China, and the Triple Pact, which united the 3 Axis Powers was not put into effect until 1940, well into the war in both Asia and Europe.Hitler also failed to consolidate his massive wins in 1946-8, and continued expansion without bothering to reinforce the conquered areas from invasion(when he really began provoking a response from the Allied Powers).
 * Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 was a part of a deal with Russia, and while West Poland was overrun with german soldiers, while the East was taken by the Russians.Hitler then concentrated his forces on the Slavic East, as a shortcut to his eventual goal of conquerring Russia.Britina and France then entered the war in response to the invasion of Poland,but the new phase of the war was radically different than from what the British/French expected(they planned to fight a defensive war).

Conduct of the Second World War: MI: THe forces that gave rise to WWII meant that there would be a balanced war effort spread across North Africa, Asia, and Europe.However, the largest and most costly front was Hitler's main goal, the attempt at conquering Soviet Russia.But Germans were forced to defend a hastily built alliance and empire against attack from North Africa, and Italy,and after December 1941, the War between Japan and China raged on multiple sclaes, with Britain and America as the primary supporters of the Chinese. > Axis.
 * THe reluctance to accept the terms of another war by both the European democratic states and the Soviet Union allowed the main military powers in the WWII effort (Germany and Japan) to make massive territorial advances, and unremitting victories. However, once the Nazi war machine was bogged down in the Russian Steppes(once Russia made it's stand at Stalingrad), it became increasingly clear that the Anglo-American-Russian alliance was far stronger than the
 * As the Japanese got increasingly bogged down in China and began debating the prospect of war with America and Britain, the Nazi war machine captured France and the Low Countries with stunning speed.From the outset, Germanic tactics revolved around **blitzkreig** or "Lightning War", involving the rapid penetration of enemy defenses involving a combination of tanks and mechanized ground troops, with aircraft support.This tactic effectively routed the Poles, British, and French in 1939-40s.
 * German willingness to slaughter any enemy civilians who would not co-operate greatly magnified the death toll of Hitler's armies.For exmaple, when the Dutch port of Rotterdam was leveled by Nazi bombers, and over 40,000 civilians were killed.
 * The rapid collapse of France was in large part due to divided and weak leadership within the republic.By the time the germans invaded, the French people were thoroughly demoralized, and the nation's defenses were outdated, meaning the use of the Bliztkrieg was extremely effective.By 1940, all of North and central france was in german hands, and being ruled by a puppet regime centered at Vichy.
 * Under the leadership of Winston Churchill, Britain weathered what was aptly named it's "darkest hour".A smaller british force was somehow able to withstand a larger Nazi force, including massive bombings of London and other important british cities.Their victory in the Battle of Britain was largely due to great leadership on Churchill's behalf,The bravery of the royal family, the high morale of the British people (which only seemed to increase as more bombings took place), and the use of Radar to track german movements.
 * By mid-1941, the Germans ended up controlling most of the Mediterranean. Having saved the italians from a floundering campaign in Albania, and moved on to capture Greece, as well as neutralization of the Scandinavian countries and capture of many mediterranean islands, and the soon to be legendary german commander Erwin Rommel swept across North Africa, attempting to cut the british of from it's colonies by seizing the Suez Canal.Once conquered, the many people under the Nazi power were forced to provide food, raw materials, soldiers, and slave labor to the war effort.
 * As with Napoleon's attempts to invade, Russian defense became stronger as winter approached, and german attacks stalled around the Battle of Leningrad.By the Battle of Stalingrad(Winter 1942-43), the entire German Army was slaughtered, by the defending russian and partisan forces, a major turning point in the war. Despite Hitler's orders to remain in place, the German army retreated to berlin, and by 1944 the Red Army had driven out the Germand from most of Eastern Europe.

Anglo-American Offense, and the end of the 12-year-Reich: MI:For nearly 2 years, Britain was so busy dealing with weathering Germany's attacks that it could do very little to provide aid ot it's soviet allies.
 * Even before the US' entrance into the war in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US was openly sympathetic to British plight(establishing good relationships with Churchill), and provided substantial aid to britain in terms of military supplies.
 * THe Americans first offensives entering the war were to counter the German U-boats in the Atlantic, and freeing up atlantic trade routes.Then, American tank divisions turned the tide on Rommel's advances in North Africa.
 * Having nearly cleared German forces from North Africa and the Middle East, the Anglo-American alliance turned to directly attacking the mediterranean and Italy proper.After Mussolini was executed, America invaded Germany proper striking at the heart of Hitler's "1000 year Reich".With significant forces tied down in Italy, America landed in normandy, with aspirations of freeing France.Hitler's last-ditch effort to repel the invading Allies from the west occured in the **Battle of the Bulge** in 1944-45.By early 1945, The Allies were pulling a pincer attack, with the Red Army swarming in from the East, and American/British forces coming in from the West

Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire: MI:Long before their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese had been engaged in major war with the Chinese, and even afterwards, up to 1/3 of Japanese forces remained bogged down in CHina, despite extension around SouthEast Asia.Australia and New Zealand provided key ports for British and American forces to curb the expansion of Japan's overseas empire.
 * Though impressive in the size and speed in which it was formed, the Japanese empire was largely vulnerable to the allied forces.The Japanese had alienated virtually all the European colonial powers by overtaking SouthEast Asia, rather than just China.IN the efforts to support their war machine, the Japanese set up a colonial regime in many places that it had conquered, which was a good deal more opressive than the corresponding European regimes, and provoking many resistance movements.The US in turn allied with these movements(many of whom had communist affiliations), and in turn the resistance helped them sabotage and harass the retreating Japanese army.
 * The main warfront in the Pacific Theatre of WW2 was largely the widely scattered islands which Japan had begun to occupy before, and especially after WWI, as well as those seized from the British and Americans after Pearl Harbor.The fact that the assault at Pearl Harbor was very much ill-timed by the Japanese, meant that they had missed their opportunity to bomb the majority of the American sea forces.Within 6 months, the US Navy had fought the japanese to a standoff in the Battle of the Coral Sea, and later that month off Midway, they won a decisive victory against Admiral Yamamoto, the chief architect of the Pearl Harbor attacks.This opened up passage to attempt attacking the Japanese mainland by 1944.
 * The fact that the Japanese were very ill-prepared to withstand air-strikes based on their construction of most buildings out of wood and paper.In Tokyo alone, these air-raids killed over 125,000 people, (mostly civilians) and 40% of the city.In late 1945 the Japanese leaders were wishing for peace, while the more radical parts of the army were promising to fight to the death. However, the end of the war came suddenly, on August 6th and 9th, America dropped two nuclear bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, reducing them both to ashes in a matter of seconds, and the Japanese accepted uncondiitonal surrender(with the exception of keeping their Emperor system intact).

War's End and the Superpower Standoff: MI:The Final stages of WWII lead to a tense worldwide half-century of tension between the US and the Soviet Union, and their large networks of allies (part of the reason which world war 1 had taken place).
 * WWII's end did not produce the sweeping peace settlements which WWI had, and the leaders of the Axis and the allies met on several occasions to attempt to promote a lasting peace.A key result of these discussions was the establishment of the UN(United Nations) as a greater representatino of the wishes of the World's peoples.
 * A good deal of conflict occured during the cold war, just not direct fighting between the two superpowers, and first began when the West realized the extent of Russian territory gains by the end of WWII.Tensions had clearly surfaced in the 1944 Tehran conference, when the allies agreed on Nazi occupied France, and allied distraction allowed the Soviets to expand as they pushed the Nazi armies back.
 * The next major meeting, the Yalta conference in Soviet Crimea in 1945, and the US was happy to cede Manchuria to Russians in exchange for the aid in elimination of the Japanese and germans, but Britain refrained, wanting to possibly ally with Germany in the postwar era (predicting conflict between the soviets and the west), and Soviets had to cede some land due to bitter British divisions(including Poland).
 * THe final Postwar conference occured in Potsdam in July 1945, and Russian forces occupied not only most of Europe but Germany as well, and germany and Austria. Japan's wartime gains were stripped away and political stablility in most of the world was challenged by difficulties between Soviet socialists and American nationalists, and newer nations(especially western european) which had been established after WWI quickly fell under soviet domination, and the Western European nations continued to live in America's Shadow.

After WWII: New international setting for the West: MI:Western Europe had to adjust majorly to it's loss of world dominance after WWII. Western European countries lost their colonies and became more of secondary players in the col war between the superpowers (US and USSR).
 * WW2 had left Europe in shambles, and the sheerr enormity of the physical destruction caused major problems with housing and transportation. Downed bridges and rial lines complicated food shipments, and many people in France and Germamy were left illl fed and unable to work at full efficiency.Nazi Germany's use of foreign labor as well as the many boundary changes resulting from the war generated hundreds of thousands of refugees trying to find new homes.
 * The two larger changes provoked by theend of WW2(Decolonization and the Cold war) quickly intruded on the west.Colonies outside of europe, roused by both European weakness and the knowledge if the global war experienced a new wave of nationalism.It soon became clear that colonies could only be maintained at a great cost, and Europe was in no condition to actually continue maintenance of these colonies, especially in such a hostile environment.Overall, the decolonization progress proceeded rather smoothly from the 1940s to the 1970s, with Kenya, Vietnam, and Algeria as major exceptions.
 * The Cold war then began to greatly effect Europe's diplomatic framwork as well as it's politics and society in general.By war's end, Soviet troops firmly occupied most eastern european countries, and installed communist-style governments to their liking.Thus, an Eastern Bloc emerged, including Poland Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary, giving Russia a base/sphere of influence incredibly close to the heart of Europe.
 * Offended by teh Soviet's hjeavy-handed manipulation of Eastern Europe, the US and Britain tried to counter their expansion.The new president, harry Truman was less eager for peace talks with the soviets than his predecessor FDR had been, emboldened by the US' development of the atomic bomb;Winston Churchilll had long feared communist agressionm coining the phrase Iron Curtain to describe the divisions between free and repressed societies in Eastern Europe.But Britain largely lacked the power to defend themselves from soviet pressures.
 * Unites States responded to soviet gains with much vigor, openly criticizing Russian policies, and denying Soviet attempts to ask for reconstruction loans.Then, in 1947, the US proclaimed it's Marshall Plan, a program of substantial loans to West European(non soviet controlled) nations to help them rebuild from the War's devastation.This was viewed by the soviets as a vehicle for US economic dominance, and it was obvious that the US intended to beat back domestic communist movements in key nations such as Italy and France.
 * Cold war Divisions spread from germany to Europe more generally with the formation of two major military alliances. The North Atlantic Treaty organization(NATO) was formed in 1949 under US leadership to group most of the western powers and Canada in a defensive alliance against possible soviet agression. In response,the SOviets created the Warsaw Pact among it's constituents in Eastern Europe.Numerous military units(both Soviet and American) were stationed on either side of the Iron Curtian.
 * The Cold war had a good deal of effects and implications on Europe, and the US held key leverage in negotiations with it's ewocnomic aid, which bit might either grant or withdraw, and in the nuclear Umbrella it developed. Nuclear weapons seemed the only real defense against the Soviets, should they venture a direct attack.In exchange, the Soviets funded many communist movements in key countries such as France and Italy.The US for the first time maintained a stable amount of army support regardless of the party in power.

Resurgence of Western Europe: MI: Western Europeans introduced striking innovation in politics, and economy, though there were new sources of tension. Strides towards European unity cut through traditional emnities and Rapid economic growth sustained a strong European role in the World Economy. Diplomatic Context and Economic Expansion:
 * In Politics, defeat in war greatly discreditred fascism and the rightist movement that had opposed parliamentary democracy. Several new political movements surfaced in Western Europe, most notably a Christian democratic current, which was the main bridge between democratic institutions and social reforms.Communist as well as socialist leaders easily accepted democratic procedures.
 * New regimes had to be constructe din many countries, including the postwar Italy and Germanyt, wherre the Fascist and Nazi styles of government proved ineffective.In Germany, political reconstruction was delayed by the divisions of the victorious Allied Forces(Being divided into West Germany and co-controlled by Britain, France, and America). In France, a new republican government was established after occupation by gemany ended.
 * The consolidation of a democracy also entailed a general movement towardas a welfare state.Resistance ideas and the general shift leftward off the political spectrum helped explani the new activism in economic policy and welfare issues.Wartime planning in countries such as Britain pointed towards the need for new programs to reward the middle class for their loyalty and support during the war, and the welfare state established a measure opf social insurance measures, including improvements to medical care, insurance and unemployment, which increased with family size.The impact of these movement was so dramatic that income of lower class families with many children increased up to 40%.
 * This new Wwelfare state was incredible in it's size and cost to maintain. It greatly elarged the government bureaucracies, and in addition chanelled tax monies to new purposes.A new breed of bureaucrat, called the technocrat was specialized in intesnive training in engineering or economics and became increasingly prevalent as the need for national planning increased.
 * The western pattern of compromise around thew welfare state and the mechanisms of parliamentary democracy were severely jolted by a series of student protests that ebgan dveeloping the late 1960s.Even before this, in the US, several civil rights movements had developed for the protest of unequal treatment of African Americans.At Major american universities, protests focused on vietnam, and the growing materialism of society, seeking more idealistic goals and greater systems of justice.Early reforms ended most student protests, and police activity generally reduced urban rioting and demonstrations.
 * The rise of the Green movement, and it's hostility to unchecked economic growth siganled the emregence of a new political tone, and reflected the attempt to go against established political habits.As economic growth began to stall in the 1970s and the western world faced it's most major recession since the immediate postwar years,, other signs of political change soon appeared.
 * Under the pressures of the Marshall Plan, France and Germany attempted to create a new Europe.The idea was to tie german economic activity to an international framework so that the nations growing strength would not again threaten European peace, and industries were established in the hopes of establishing nuclear power and link policies of heavy industry.There was even a measure to create a massive army for the entirety of Europe, though this eventually failed due to nationalist objections.
 * By 1957, it can be seen that the European Economic Union(as established by Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, West Germany, and France) began creating a signular economic entity across national and political boundaries.Tariffs were progressively reduced,free movement of labor was encouraged, and a Common Bureaucracy/Common Court were established to adjudicate disputes and facilitate the growth of a European community. Actions were also taken to develop industrially lagging areas in member nations, such as in South Italy.
 * However, it is important to note that while the EU was generally successsul, it still suffered from some internal sdisputes, for example between France and Germany over agricultural policy(France favored payments to farmers, which would greatly benefit itself), preventing it from growing exponentially.However, overall growth rate surpassed even that of the industrial revolution, and agricultural production and productivity greatly increased as peasant farmers gained increased political backing from the Technocrats.
 * However, as these regions began industrializing, they became targets for many immigrants, first from Southern Europe, then Africa, the Middle East, and even part of Asia, The rise of these immigrant minorities was a vital development in the culture of both Western Europe and the United states.There was also an increased ownership of standard consumerist goods after the marked increase in income.

Cold War Allies- US,Canada,Australia, and New Zealand: MI: Many changes in the non-european parts of the West paralelled those in Europe, including the Welfare State. The United States took a distinctive role, particularly because of it's new position as a military superpower.
 * However, changes in America were not formed on the same moral basis as those in Europe(the possibility of collapse). With the decline in EUropean (most specifically British) power, Australia, New Zealand and Canada began to forge increasingly strong ties with the US, as well as new contacts in other areas of the world.
 * Canada forged ahead in Welfare policies after WWII, establishing a gretaer stake in state-run health care than did the United States.HOwever, at the same time, canadian economic integration with the Unites States continued, with investments in Canadian resources and mutual exports.But by the 1980s, a new sense of nationalism spread throughout Canada, sparking resentment from the US.
 * From 1945 onward, Australia and New Zealand moved steadily away from their traditional alignment with Great Britain adn towards the horizons of the Pacific.The two commonwealths joined forces in a mutual defense alliance with the US(against communist agression), and both nations supported the US during the Vietnam War.However, especially in the later 1970s-80s, Australia and New Zealand began to distance themselves from US foreign policy, with new Zealand barring US nuclear vessels in 1985.This meant that Australian trade was largely directed at other pacific nations, including Japan.By 1983, Asians constituted 60% of Australian population, despite many white-only immigration laws.

The "US Century": MI: Amid a host of domestic issues, the big news in US history after 1945 was it's assumption of the Superpower Mantle, opposing the Soviet Union, and the sole defender of capitalist and democratic values.
 * The US hesitated breifly after 1945, removing it's troops after the end of WWII in the hopes that the peace would prevent any major conflicts from arising.However, the lack of British ability to police the western world, and the continuing Soviet victories in installing communist regimes in many parts of Europe, which caused a more decisive reaction from the US.
 * In 1947, President Harry Truman promised US support for all peoples"resisting subjugation by militarily armed outside pressures", mainly directed at the USSR's attempt to install a communist regime in Greece and Turkey.This was eventually fleshed out with the Marshall Plan, and for many years to come, the USpolicy would reflect this fear of the Soviet expansion, to the point that the supposedly bipartisan legislature began agreeing near-completely.
 * However, this could also be seen in America's social weakness .Fear of the soviets lead to many conspiracies about communist spies and invasion, leading to the unjust accusation of any political dissidents as communists, and dismissal of many people from their job un suspicion of conspiracy.The US Defense department was set up in 1947 to coordinate military policy, and the Central Intelligence Agency established to organize a worldwide espionage and information network.
 * Military spending increased substantially, as can be seen in the massive Airlift of supplies into West Germany to cancel out the effects of the Soviet Barricade.The United states also became involved in the maintenance of many democratic countries, resisting the fall of South korea to communism, and invading north Vietnam.
 * US policy eventually settled on the containment of Soviet expansion, rather than outright military resistance which provoked a military response (Ex.-communist China after the US invasion of South Korea).The US's combined alliance system of Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, and several southeast Asian nations effectively surrounded the Soviet Union.However,The US failed to contain the spread of communism to Vietnam and Cuba, despite military interference, and even went so far as to topple a newly established communist govrenment in Guatemala.

Culture and Society in the West: MI:The expansion of consumerist culture marked recent Wetern History, and dramatic shifts in gender equalities greatly defined the new Western socety.

> and did not cause direct change as jobs did, but helped to magnify the level of change brought about by new economic opportunities for women.
 * Political and Social change in Western Society was progressively altered by the contours of earlier industrial development. Economic growth which granted prosperity to most groups was a major easer of social tensions, and while the majority of workers remained propertyless, they still had economic weight because of consumerist policy.This newly found social mobility also allowed for further weakening of social boundaries and educational opportunities began increasing the size of the White-Collar middle class.
 * Peasants became increasingly commercial, searching for a better standard of living, becoming more accustomed to the ability to work in a bureaucracy, and most of the unskilled labor was left to immigrants.However, it is important to note that social distinctions still remained, and crime rates as well as the frequency of race riots increased.However, the middle class remained optimistic as it retained many more leisure opportunities, and there was overall an improvement in the quality of life.
 * Although family ideals persisted in many ways, the realities faced by families continued to change. Women were not needed in the home as much because increased emphasis on education meant that it became increasingly important for their children to have friends, and long-distance communication was eased by telephones, decreasing the importance of a very close-knit family.
 * WWII brought increased factory and clerical duties for women, as the earlier war had done.However in a materialist society which associated success with wealth and earnings, women's rising employment meant the ability to afford more consumer products like televisions.WHile there were marked improvement in women's qualifications for work, things were not nearly equal. WOmen's pay still lagged behind that of men's, and women were largely unable to wokrk outside the clerical jobs and factory jobs in which they had originally entered the workforce.
 * Predictably, changes in the nature of family helped redefine the meaning behind companionship and brought forth a new wave of feminism.However, the new feminism didn't win the support of all women, even in the middle class (which was decidedly the feminist movement's main audience)

New Western Culture: MI:Despite major innovations in politics and social equality, western culture largely proceeded among established lines.A host of many specific movements arose and much scientific innovation arose despite the turbulent nature of the times.
 * One key development was the shift in the United States' interests. Hitler's persecution had caused the emigration of many intelligent individuals to US shores, an event known as the "brain-drain".As American universities expanded, there was an increased funneling of money to scientific research and development of new technologies.
 * Europe simply couldn't keep on the cutting edge, though many major scientific discoveries did happen in Europe in the postwar years(for example, the discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick).Europeans also managed to participate in nuclear technological innovation and there were also important innovations in communication by the 1970s. (usually funded by EU programs)
 * Development in the arts maintained 20th century themes quite clearly, and more artists continued to work in more "modern" modes of unconventional self-expression, and a wide array of new techniques, but this art soon became more popular among the general public, and people began accepting a redefinition of what could be considered art.HOwever, Europe maintained itself as the center of performing arts and movies during this era.
 * Western society in general displayed a lot more vigor in terms of it's popular culture than in it's intellectual life.AS the European eocnomy flagged, and US troops began spreading mor products than before, certain citizens spoke of a US coca-cola-nization of Europe, but eventually Europe became the major effector again, particularly in the musical industry(the popularity of the Beatles).