ABSTRACT
After World War II, the French faced anti-colonial movements in their former empire. During the war, the French had lost and been occupied by the Germans, until they were liberated by the Allies in 1944. During that time, they lost control over their colonial possessions around the world. In French Indochina, the Japanese assumed control and ruled by brutal methods during the war. In both World Wars I and II, Algerians were called to the colors to fight for the French. While the French fought in Algeria, Lebanon became a central focus in the Cold War. A nationalist revolution with Cold War undertones erupted in the Caribbean, 90 miles off the coast of the US The Cuban Crisis was the closest the two superpowers ever came to global nuclear war. Vietnam returned to center stage after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
