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Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Contenido educativo
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Okay class, today we are going to finish with the final class about the Second World War.
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We explained yesterday what happened in the theater of war in Europe and today we are
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going to pay attention about what happened on the Pacific theater of war, the Pacific
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Ocean. What happened on the Pacific Ocean? The United States on the Pacific Ocean plan,
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they were planning from the beginning to invade the Japan territory. So from the beginning
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of the, in this theater of war, this theater of war on the Pacific Ocean, the United States
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was planning to invade the Japanese territory. But finally, for two different reasons, they
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changed their plans. What happened? Why did President Truman change his plans? For two
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different reasons. It was for the actions of the Kamikazes. The Kamikazes were the Japanese
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fighters, the Japanese pilots who hit themselves against the American warships. They were the
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Japanese fighters, the Japanese pilots who hit themselves against the American warships.
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And for the reason, President Truman understood that the Japanese would fight up to the end.
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They, President Truman understood also that the Japanese were not planning to surrender.
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And also it was really, really important. It was really, really important for President
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Truman to change his plan. What happened in the Battle of Okinawa? The Battle of Okinawa
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was key for President Truman to change his plans. We are going to study in depth later
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on what happened in the Battle of Okinawa. But both reasons, both reasons, the actions
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of the Kamikazes and the Battle of Okinawa were key to President Truman to understand
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that the Japanese would commit to fight themselves up to the end. And that's why President Truman
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changed his plans. And he was forced, he was forced to drop the atomic bombs due to
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the Kamikazes and due to the Battle of Okinawa. President Truman was forced to use the atomic
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bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the month of August in 1945, which caused
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the figure, which caused that 200,000 people died due to the bombings, due to the atomic
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bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So now we are going to study in depth the Battle
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of Okinawa because it was a turning point on the Pacific Ocean. It was key for President
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Truman to change his plans because remember President Roosevelt died. He died for natural
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reasons. He was very sick. And his vice president, President Truman came into power as a president.
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And it was key for him what happened in the Battle of Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa lasted
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from the 1st of April to the 22nd of June in 1945. And I agree with many historians
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because for many historians, many historians said that this battle was the major class
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in the Second World War because the battle lasted, pay attention, 83 days. They were
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fighting the Americans against the Japanese during 83 days continuously. And there were
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several causes of this battle that I'm going to explain in a minute. So the Americans,
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after conquering the islands on the Pacific Ocean, as we have studied before, they conquered
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first the fortress of Bravao, the Solomon Islands, then the Marianas Islands and the
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Philippines. And from there, they took the island of Saipan in the Marianas Islands.
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And from there, the Americans wanted to conquer the island of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. They conquered
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first Iwo Jima. I don't know if you've seen the movie Letters from Iwo Jima. Clint Eastwood
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was the director of this movie. And the Americans were planning to conquer both islands, Iwo
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Jima and Okinawa, for several reasons. First of all, because the Allies, above all the
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Americans, were planning to bomb strategic targets here in the Japanese archipelago from
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Iwo Jima and Okinawa. So again, the Americans, the United States, above all on the Pacific
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Ocean, above all landed in Iwo Jima and Okinawa, because they were planning from here, from
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Iwo Jima and Okinawa, to bomb strategic targets in the Japanese archipelago. And also, also
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they wanted to conquer Iwo Jima and Okinawa, because they were preparing the ground. They
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wanted to prepare the ground for an amphibious invasion. So they wanted to conquer Iwo Jima
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and Okinawa for two different reasons. Because they wanted both islands, they wanted to take
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over both islands to bomb strategic points in the Japanese archipelago. And also because they
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were preparing the one amphibious invasion, like in the Normandy landings. They wanted to force
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the Japanese government to surrender. But the Japanese, above all in Okinawa, because the
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Americans conquered Iwo Jima first, they didn't have in Iwo Jima as much problems as in Okinawa.
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But in Okinawa it was a different story. The Japanese were committed to defend the island
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up to the end. They would prefer to die rather than giving the island to the Americans.
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And for this reason, it was key, the Japanese propaganda. The Japanese propaganda said to the
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Japanese population in Okinawa that if they fell in American hands, they would be raped.
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They would be killed for the Americans. And for this reason, the Japanese population who were
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living in Okinawa, they were committed to defend the island up to the end.
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So for this reason, due to the Japanese propaganda,
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in Okinawa the Japanese built two networks of fortresses.
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And it was true that the Americans landed on the Okinawa beaches without problems.
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But when they walked into the island, in the inner part of the island, they found two different lines
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of fortresses. The Japanese dug up different fortresses in caves, in two different lines of
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fortresses in the island of Okinawa. And it was extremely, extremely difficult for the Americans
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to advance. Actually, pay attention to the figures. More than 100,000 Japanese soldiers
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and civilians died in Okinawa. So it was a bloody, bloody massacre. And also,
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more than 10,000 Americans died in Okinawa. But in total, there were more than 70,000 casualties.
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So that's why President Truman changed. As a consequence of that, President Truman changed
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his plans. Because he knew from his generals who were operating in Okinawa, actually the main
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general who was fighting in Okinawa died in this invasion. And when Truman knew from his general,
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from the rest of his generals, that the Japanese were committed to defend the island and the
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archipelago up to the end, he thought that if he invaded the Japanese archipelago, even more
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people would die. And for this reason, he changed his plans. And there was another cause that
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explained why President Truman changed his plans. But we have Alejandro's question. Alejandro.
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Alejandro Cremaschi Why do you say that there were 76,000 casualties if there were...
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Alejandro Cremaschi They were wounded. But seriously wounded, Alejandro.
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Alejandro Cremaschi So, exactly. So, all of these causes explain
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President Truman's changing his plans. But also, when President Truman asked for another alternative,
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there was a meeting. This is only to know more, okay. But at that time, there was a meeting,
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a special meeting between President Truman and his generals. And when President Truman knew that
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around 200,000 people died in Okinawa, President Truman asked for another alternative to his
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generals. And his generals, their generals, the American generals said to President Truman that
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the only alternative, maybe the only alternative would be the atomic bomb. Because the atomic bomb
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was tested successfully on the 16th of July in New Mexico. And the generals said to President
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Truman that the only possibility, the only alternative to the invasion would be to the
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invasion of the Japanese archipelago, would be dropping the atomic bomb over
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two different cities in the Japanese archipelago. So, the director of this atomic program
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was Robert Oppenheimer. The project was called the Manhattan Project. And they were building,
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the Americans, American scientists were building the atomic bomb in New Mexico.
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They tested the atomic bomb in New Mexico successfully. But when Robert Oppenheimer
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knew that President Truman was thinking about using the atomic bomb over the Japanese archipelago,
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he begged President Truman not to use the atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer would have preferred
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to warn the Japanese government in advance that the Americans were planning to use
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the atomic bomb if the Japanese government didn't surrender.
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But President Truman obeyed orders from, for this reason, President Truman was convinced by
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Robert Oppenheimer. And in the post-dam conference from July to August, I mean at the end of the war,
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President Truman, here in the image together with Churchill and Stalin, President Truman
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warned the Japanese government that if they don't surrender, he would use the atomic bomb
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over one particular city in the Japanese archipelago.
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But the Japanese government was composed of, the vast majority of them were members of the army
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at this point. They were very fanatics. They sympathized with fascism and Nazism. That's
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why they made an alliance with Hitler. At this point in the war, the military army,
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sorry for the expression, but they were calling the shots in the Japanese government. They were
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the ones who gave the orders, not only in battle, but also for the rest of the political decisions,
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economic decisions in Japan. And it was true that President Truman warned them,
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but the Japanese government didn't pay attention to these warnings. And for this reason,
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the Japanese government forced President Truman to drop the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and
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Nagasaki. President Truman dropped the bombs on the 6th of August over Hiroshima. And when the
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Japanese government didn't surrender, he dropped another bomb over Nagasaki. It was true that it
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was terrible. It was a human disaster for humanity, for mankind,
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because more than 200,000 people died due to the droppings, due to the bombings.
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But it was true also that President Truman, together with his generals, estimated the figure
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of the American soldiers and the Japanese civilians that they would die if the American
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troops had invaded the Japanese archipelago. And his generals and President Truman estimated that
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if the Americans had invaded the Japanese archipelago, pay attention, more than 1 million
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people would have died due to the invasion. So it was true that it was too much. 200,000 people
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died due to the atomic bombings. But if the Americans would have invaded the Japanese
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archipelago, it was estimated that 1 million people would die. I'm not justifying the
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atomic bombings because I'm completely against that. But it was true also that the Japanese
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government was really, really responsible because they were committed to defend the
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Japanese archipelago up to the end. They would prefer to die. And that's why, in my view,
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in my humble opinion, the Japanese government had to surrender before.
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And they were also responsible. Actually, at the end of the war, there were some trials,
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like in Nuremberg, to put on trial the Japanese government because they were responsible for these
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massacres. Also, in Okinawa, they were responsible for the atomic bombings because sometimes
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we forgot that the Americans gave warnings to the Japanese government.
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So, for this reason, on the 6th or on the 9th of August, there were two atomic bombings over
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And this is the moment when the Japanese, after the atomic bombings,
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obviously, was the moment when the Japanese surrendered. And on the 2nd of September,
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the war was over. It's a real pity because I have here some documentaries to see the
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images of the atomic bombings. But if you write, for example, in YouTube,
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atomic bombings, there's here one really good documentary. It was like a movie from BBC.
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And also, you might find the real images of the atomic bombings. Maybe now is not the best moment
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to see images like this, but I strongly recommend it to understand the end of the war.
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So, we're going to finish with the consequences of this war. We are about to finish. What was
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the first consequence of this war? Well, basically, many, many people died in this war.
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The level of destruction in the infrastructure was paramount. I'm going to give you some
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figures, important figures, because in this war, it was estimated that from 50 million to
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60 million, I would say that more than 60 million people died in this war.
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It was incredible, more than the population of Spain. 60 million people died in this war.
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It was a complete failure for mankind, for humanity. 60 million people died.
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And also, 40 million people were displaced. Here, we are going to see the figures. 60 million people
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died. The vast majority of them in the Soviet Union, which suffered a lot. Also, in Poland,
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less in Germany, but in the Soviet Union, almost 20 million people died
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from the war. In Poland, due to the Holocaust, 6 million. Alejandro, go on. Ask away.
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In China, there were even more casualties than in Poland, but it doesn't mention that.
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Yes, exactly. You're right, but it's only about the war in Europe. I'm going to talk later on
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about the figures in China due to the Japanese invasion. It was terrible. Exactly, you're right.
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Sorry about that. It was true also that 40 million people were displaced. They lost
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their homes due to the border modifications, due to the border changes.
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At the end of the war, I'm going to show you this map to clarify this point. In May 1945,
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40 million people were homeless. 60 million people died, but 40 million people were homeless
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at the end of the war. Why? Because some German people who were living,
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German speakers who were living in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic,
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Yugoslavia, they lost their homes. For this reason, they were homeless.
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30 million people, 30 million Germans were expelled from their countries, as I said before.
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It was terrible. The level of destruction in infrastructure was completely terrible for Europe.
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That's why Europe lost its position as a prominent continent in the world.
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Europe gave its place to the United States and to the Soviet Union as superpowers because the
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United States and the Soviet Union were the ones who won this war. After the war, there was a moral
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trauma completely because we need to remember some disasters in this war. The first one,
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I will say, I will point out because the disasters in this war, they weren't only
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for the Nazis. Also, the Soviet Union, when they invaded Poland, they killed 20,000 police officers
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and soldiers. They buried them in this mass grave in Poland. Stalin said that the one who was
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responsible was Hitler when Stalin was the main instigator of this massacre in Katyn.
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There's a really good Polish movie which is called Katyn. You want to see the origins and
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the causes of this disaster. Also, we really need to remember the Holocaust against the
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Jewish community. Only in Auschwitz, 1 million people, 1 million Jews died. But in total,
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more or less around 6 million members of the Jewish community died. As Alejandro said before,
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exactly also in the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government, when they invaded many countries on
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the Pacific Ocean, they committed genocide. Only with the invasion of Nanjing, around
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300,000 Chinese died only in the invasion of Nanjing. So imagine
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in the rest of the countries when the Japanese invaded countries in Asia.
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For the recent class, we are about to finish. What were also the political repercussions of
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this war? Well, we are going to finish with this block, with this part of the unit, because we
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started with the totalitarian regimes, with fascism in Italy, and now fascism in Italy and
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Nazism in Germany disappeared. The totalitarian regimes disappeared, with the only exception of
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the Soviet Union. But when Stalin died in 1953, there were also some changes in the Soviet Union
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when Khrushchev came into power. It was the end of the gulags. It was the end, for example,
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of the concentration camps in the Soviet Union. And it was true that the Soviet Union, after
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Stalin, was far away from being a democracy. But there were also some changes when Stalin died in
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1953 in the Soviet Union. So the totalitarian regimes disappeared. Democracies were established
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in the vast majority of the countries again. But it began a new order. It began a new order.
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It began the Cold War, a new war, the Cold War.
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Basically, class, because the Soviet Union, as we explained before,
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in the end of the war, in the end of the Second World War, they invaded. The Russians invaded
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the vast majority of the countries in Eastern Europe. And the United States
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were really afraid of that because the United States saw that the Soviet invasion of the
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also in the West, Western Europe, was possible. And for this reason, the United States
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gave the order to start the Plan Marshall in order to help the Baltic countries and countries
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on Western Europe because they were really afraid of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union
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and the communists, for example, were really important in Italy. The political party,
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the communists, were really important in Italy and in France at the end of the war,
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at the end of the Second World War. The United States was really afraid of this
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idea because the United States wanted to avoid that the Soviet Union
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helped also the countries in Western Europe. The United States wanted to avoid the influence of
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the Soviet Union on Western Europe. And for this reason, they began the Plan Marshall.
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They gave money, funds, and they built, again, the infrastructure on Western Europe
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to avoid, so as to avoid, in order to avoid the influence from the Soviet Union.
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And I'm going to finish with an example because for General Franco, we are going to explain what
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happened in Spain. General Franco ended in isolation at the end of the Spanish Civil War
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and also at the end of the Second World War in 1945. We are going to travel to 1945.
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General Franco was in complete isolation, but the Americans needed him to establish
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air bases here in Spain in order to bring weaponry and also planes
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in order to fight against the Soviet Union. And this decision, when in 1953, General Franco
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signed a treaty with the United States, this treaty helped Franco to survive,
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not only him, but also its regime. It was incredible because General Franco was in
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complete isolation in 1945. And in 1955, after signing the treaty between Franco and the United
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States, Spain entered the United Nations. He became an ally of the United States in order
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to fight against the Soviet Union. This is an example of the Cold War, which started
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in 1945 onwards up to 1989 due to the Berlin Wall, when the Berlin Wall fell.
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So, we started with the theater of war on the Pacific Ocean and we explained the origins of
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the Cold War, which gave the chance to Franco to survive, not only him, but also its regime.
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So, we have finished here and we have finished also the topic about the Second World War.
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- Autor/es:
- Luis Horrillo Sánchez
- Subido por:
- Luis H.
- Licencia:
- Todos los derechos reservados
- Visualizaciones:
- 7
- Fecha:
- 5 de mayo de 2023 - 9:47
- Visibilidad:
- Público
- Centro:
- IES CERVANTES
- Duración:
- 31′ 11″
- Relación de aspecto:
- 17:9 Es más ancho pero igual de alto que 16:9 (1.77:1). Se utiliza en algunas resoluciones, como por ejemplo: 2K, 4K y 8K.
- Resolución:
- 1860x978 píxeles
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- 1023.18 MBytes