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What were the main goals of the Allies' post-war policies toward the defeated Axis countries?​

User Mauri
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Answer:

The main goals of the Allies were separated into two parts, the Western Allies' goals, as well as the Communist bloc goals.

Firstly, the overreaching goal was to suppress any reason for uprising by setting a more fair and balanced term for reparation by the Allies towards the Axis Powers, as well as, (for the most part, the Western Allies) allowing and aiding in the rebuilding of the defeated nations. World War II, after all for the western front, started particularly in the unfair reparations forced on the Germans to repay for war damages, in which it drove the already weakened German economy into destruction, and, with the Great Depression, set the stage for the uprising of the Nazi government.

Secondly, the western Allies wished to create a bloc that could rival against the USSR bloc, and situated many of their military powers together. This created the foundation is what is later known as the European Union, and, with the backing of the US, the United Nations (to a certain degree). Each country within the European Union vowed to come to each others aid if they were attacked by a foreign aggression, and the policy turned into a more structural defense regional policy. This took into account Western Germany as well as Japan as allies against communism, and so the western allies were particularly lenient in their post-war policies regarding reparation.

Thirdly, the US bore most of the costs of rebuilding from both Germany and the European countries through the Marshall Plan, and used the SCAP plan for Japan, not only to rebuild their nation, but also to set up Japan as a base of operation against the imminent fight with the USSR. All of this was to ready the US's potential allies against the growing influence of the Communist regimes.

Fourthly, the policy of containment and expansionism was implemented by both the USSR and the US in a effort to justify their system over the other, with the usage of Communism mainly spreading throughout Asia, South America, as well as the Middle East, and the US using the policy of containment successfully in most of the South Americas (except for Cuba, Argentina,), the Middle East (by creating Israel, who was and still is a staunch US ally, and also through the usage of some Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

Essentially, the main goals of the Allies were to help rebuild any war-torn or give aid to third world countries in an effort to create a larger sphere of influence and garner more support and allies in an effort to create a larger alliance that can help them in case of war. The main factors towards these post-war policies is to 1) fund, 2) rebuild, 3) (re-)industrialize, 4) re-arm & militarize, 5) allow to work together in the suppression of the other bloc. In comparison to WWI, the reparations were much more lenient and smaller, and each side helped rebuild in a much more active fashion.

User Patrick Parker
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