Lesson+15+-+Ending+WWII

__**Objectives**__: Students will
 * explain the emerging role of the United Nations and why rebuilding Europe and Japan was so difficult

Using their textbooks on p. 806, students will answer these questions: "What was the United Nations? What was the United Nations meant to accomplish?" Students will share their responses with a partner, then share with the class.
 * __Do Now:__ Think/Write/Pair/Share**

__**Lesson**__: Students will read the sections titled "The Potsdam Conference" and "Rebuilding Europe and Japan" individually, then answer the questions that follow on their own.

** The Potsdam Conference ** The next month, leaders of the Allied nations met to carry on the work begun at Yalta.They met at the German city of Potsdam. There was growing American concern that communism and Soviet influence might spread in the postwar world. Truman had hoped that if he met with Stalin, he could get the Soviet leader to live up to his promises from Yalta. In this regard, the **Potsdam Conference** was not a success.

** Rebuilding Europe and Japan ** The United States also faced the difficult task of helping to rebuild Europe and Japan. In Japan, General Douglas MacArthur directed the effort to create a new, democratic government and rebuild the nation’s economy. MacArthur skillfully walked a fine line between showing respect for Japanese traditions and insisting on democratic values. He helped the Japanese create a new constitution that reflected many American ideals, such as equality for women. As with the Nazis in Europe, Japanese war crimes did not go unpunished. Seven key figures in wartime Japan, including leader Hideki Tojo, were tried and executed for their crimes. The United States also faced a difficult task in rebuilding war-torn Europe. As you will read in the next chapter, this process resulted in increasing tensions with America’s wartime ally, the Soviet Union. In the coming years, this relationship would only grow worse.

Questions: 1) How was the Potsdam Conference not a success? 2) Why do you think that rebuilding a war-torn country is so difficult?

__**Summary/Assessment:**__ On their own, students will make predictions on what they think will happen next in the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union.