The Course of World War II

Preview of Events

Guide to Reading

Section PreviewThe devastation of the war was broughtto an end by Allied perseverance, effective military operations, and Axis miscalculations.

• Germany used a “lightning war” to gaincontrol of much of western and centralEurope, but Britain was undefeated andGerman troops were stopped in Russia.(p. 542)

• The Japanese attack on Pearl Harboroutraged Americans and led to theentry of the United States into the war.(p. 544)

• The Allied forces stopped the advanceof the Germans and the Japanese. (p. 546)

• Allied victories forced Germany andJapan to surrender unconditionally. (p. 548)

Content Vocabularyblitzkrieg, partisan

Academic Vocabulary isolationism, neutrality, indefinite

People to Identify Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur,Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman

Places to Locate Stalingrad, Midway Island, Normandy,Hiroshima

Reading Objectives1. Explain why the United States did not

enter the war until 1941.2. Identify the major events that helped

end the war in Europe and Asia.

Reading StrategyCause and Effect Create a chart like theone below listing key events during WorldWar II and their effect on the outcome ofthe war.

California Standards in This SectionReading this section will help you master these California History–Social Science standards.

10.8.3: Identify and locate the Allied and Axis powers ona map and discuss the major turning points ofthe war, the principal theaters of conflict, keystrategic decisions, and the resulting war confer-ences and political resolutions, with emphasis onthe importance of geographic factors.

10.8.4: Describe the political, diplomatic, and militaryleaders during the war (e.g., Winston Churchill,

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito,Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin,Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower).

10.8.6: Discuss the human costs of war, with particularattention to the civilian and military losses inRussia, Germany, Britain, the United States,China, and Japan.

541CHAPTER 11 World War II

Event Effect

1940Germans bombBritish cities

1943Germans defeatedat Stalingrad

1942Japanese defeated at theBattle of Midway Island

1944Allied forces invadeFrance on D-Day

✦1939 ✦1940 ✦1941 ✦1942 ✦1943 ✦1944 ✦1945

0536-0573 C11SE-867855 3/3/05 9:30 AM Page 541

Europe at War

Germany used a “lightning war” to gain con-trol of much of western and central Europe, but Britain wasundefeated and German troops were stopped in Russia.

Reading Connection Have you ever been in the middleof two people fighting, but you refused to take a side? Readhow the United States remained neutral even though theBritish asked for its help.

Hitler stunned Europe with the speed and effi-ciency of the German attack on Poland. His innova-tive blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” used armoredcolumns, called panzer divisions, supported by air-planes. Each panzer division was a strike force ofabout 300 tanks with support forces. Hitler had com-mitted Germans to a life-or-death struggle.

The forces of the blitzkrieg broke quickly throughPolish lines and encircled the bewildered Polishtroops. Regular infantry units then moved in to holdthe newly conquered territory. Within four weeks,Poland had surrendered. On September 28, 1939,Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland.

Hitler’s Early Victories After a winter of waiting(called the “phony war”), Hitler resumed the attack onApril 9, 1940, with another blitzkrieg against Denmark

and Norway. One month later, on May 10, Germanylaunched an attack on the Netherlands, Belgium, andFrance. The main assault was through Luxembourgand the Ardennes (ahr•DEHN) Forest. Germanpanzer divisions broke through weak French defen-sive positions there and raced across northern France.

French and British forces were taken by surprisewhen the Germans went around, instead of across,the Maginot Line—a series of concrete and steel for-tifications armed with heavy artillery along France’sborder with Germany. The Germans’ action split theAllied armies, trapping French troops and the entireBritish army on the beaches of Dunkirk. Only by theheroic efforts of the Royal Navy and civilians in pri-vate boats did the British manage to evacuate 338,000Allied troops. Most of them were British.

The French signed an armistice on June 22. Germanarmies now occupied about three-fifths of France. Anauthoritarian regime under German control was setup over the remainder of the country to the south ofthe parts of France the Nazis occupied. It was knownas Vichy France and was led by an aged French heroof World War I, Marshal Henri Pétain. Germany wasnow in control of western and central Europe, butBritain had still not been defeated. After Dunkirk, theBritish appealed to the United States for help.

542 CHAPTER 11 World War II

No one described the sacrifices this struggle woulddemand better than Hitler himself. On September 1,1939, after the attack on Poland began, Hitleraddressed the German Reichstag with these words:

“I do not want to be anything other than thefirst soldier of the German Reich. I have once moreput on the uniform which was once most holy andprecious to me. I shall only take it off after victoryor I shall not live to see the end. . . . As a NationalSocialist and as a German soldier, I am going intothis struggle strong in heart. My whole life hasbeen nothing but a struggle for my people, fortheir revival, for Germany. . . . Just as I myself amready to risk my life any time for my people andfor Germany, so I demand the same of everyoneelse. But anyone who thinks that he can opposethis national commandment, whether directly orindirectly, will die! Traitors can expect death.”

Hitler addresses the Reichstag on September 1, 1939.

National Archives (#306-NT-1222E)

0536-0573 C11SE-867855 3/3/05 9:31 AM Page 542

President Franklin D.Roosevelt denounced theaggressors, but the UnitedStates followed a strict pol-icy of isolationism. Aseries of neutrality acts,passed in the 1930s, pre-vented the United Statesfrom taking sides orbecoming involved in anyEuropean wars. ManyAmericans felt that theUnited States had beendrawn into World War Idue to economic involve-ment in Europe, and theywanted to prevent a recur-rence. Roosevelt was con-vinced that the neutralityacts actually encouragedAxis aggression andwanted the acts repealed.They were graduallyrelaxed as the United Statessupplied food, ships,planes, and weapons toBritain.

The Battle of Britain Hitler realized that anamphibious (land-sea)invasion of Great Britaincould succeed only if Ger-many gained control of theair over the island nation. At the beginning of August1940, the Luftwaffe (LOOFT•vah•fuh)—the Germanair force—launched a major offensive. Germanplanes bombed British air and naval bases, harbors,communication centers, and war industries.

The British fought back with determination. Theywere supported by an effective radar system thatgave them early warning of attacks. Nevertheless, bythe end of August, the British air force had sufferedcritical losses. In September, in retaliation for aBritish attack on Berlin, Hitler had the Luftwaffebegin massive bombing of British cities. Hitler hopedto break British morale. Instead, because military tar-gets were not being hit, the British were able torebuild their air strength quickly. Soon, the British airforce was inflicting major losses on Luftwaffebombers. At the end of September, Hitler postponedthe invasion of Britain indefinitely.

543CHAPTER 11 World War II

London buildings collapse as a result of nightly German bombing.

Attack on the Soviet Union Although he had nodesire for a two-front war, Hitler was convinced thatBritain stayed in the war only because it expectedSoviet support. If the Soviet Union was smashed,Britain’s last hope would be eliminated. Hitler wasalso convinced that the Soviet Union had a pitifularmy and could be defeated quickly.

Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union was sched-uled for the spring of 1941, but the attack wasdelayed because of problems in the Balkans. Hitlerhad already gained the political cooperation of Hun-gary, Bulgaria, and Romania, but the failure of Mus-solini’s invasion of Greece in 1940 had exposedHitler’s southern flank to British air bases in Greece.To secure his Balkan flank, Hitler seized both Greeceand Yugoslavia in April.

Reassured, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union onJune 22, 1941, believing it could be decisivelydefeated before the brutal winter weather set in. The

Bettmann Archive

0536-0573 C11SE-867855 3/3/05 9:32 AM Page 543

544 CHAPTER 11 World War II

N

S

EW

400 kilometers0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

400 miles0

20°W 10°W 0° 10°E

50°N

40°N

20°E 30°E 40°E 50°E 60°E

AtlanticOcean

NorthSea Baltic

Sea

BlackSea

Mediterranean Sea

English Channel Volga R.

Rhine

Caspian Sea

Sicily(July 1943)

El Alamein(Oct.–

Nov. 1942)Tobruk

(April 1941)

Tunis(May 1943)

Anzio(Jan.–Mar. 1944)

Monte Cassino(Jan.–May 1944)

Stalingrad(Aug. 1942–

Feb. 1943)

Kursk(July 1943)

Minsk(July 1944)

Warsaw(Aug. 1944–Jan. 1945)

Leningrad(Sept. 1941–Jan. 1944)

Berlin(Apr.–May 1945)

North AfricaLandings

(Nov. 1942)

Battle of Britain (July–Oct. 1940)

Normandy (June 1944)

Paris (Aug. 1944)Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944–Jan. 1945)

UNITEDKINGDOMIRELAND

FRANCE

SPAIN

PORTU

GAL

NETH.

BELG.

SWITZ.

ITALY

ALBANIAIt.

GREECE

GERMANY

AUSTRIA HUNGARY

YUGOSLAVIA

BULGARIA

ROMANIA

POLAND

LITHUANIA

LATVIA

ESTONIA

FINLAND

SWEDEN

NORWAY

DENMARK

SLOVAKIA

S O V I E TU N I O N

SP. MOROCCO

MOROCCO

ALGERIA

TUNISIA

LIBYA

EGYPT

SAUDIARABIA

PALESTINE

LEBANON

SYRIA

IRAQ

TRANS-JORDAN

IRANTURKEY

Corsica

Sardinia

Malta

Ger.

CreteCyprus

LondonPlymouthBristol

CoventryBirmingham

Liverpool ManchesterHull

Rotterdam

HamburgBremen

HanoverD¨usseldorfCologne Dresden

FrankfurtMannheimStuttgart

Munich

Kiev

PloiestiBelgrade

Valletta

Dunkirk

Vichy

Rome

CairoAlexandria

Moscow

Budapest

World War II in Europe and North Africa, 1939–1945

Axis PowersAxis-controlled area, November 1942Farthest Axis advance, December 1941Vichy France and territoriesAllied PowersAllied-controlled area, November 1942

Neutral nationsMajor battle with dateMajor city severely damaged by bombingAir battleMaginot Line

massive attack stretched out along a front some 1,800miles (about 2,900 km). German troops advancedrapidly, capturing two million Russian soldiers. ByNovember, one German army group had sweptthrough Ukraine. A second army was besieging thecity of Leningrad, while a third threatened Moscow,the Soviet capital.

An early winter and fierce Soviet resistance, how-ever, halted the German advance. Because of theplanned spring date for the invasion, the Germanshad no winter uniforms. For the first time in the war,German armies had been stopped. A counterattack inDecember 1941 by a Soviet army came as an ominousending to the year for the Germans.

Evaluating In the spring of 1941,what caused Hitler to delay his invasion of the Soviet Union?

Reading Check

Japan at War

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor outragedAmericans and led to the entry of the United States intothe war.

Reading Connection Do you think the terrorist attacksof 2001 unified or divided Americans? Read to find out how theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected American opinionabout World War II.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attackedthe U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in the HawaiianIslands. The same day, other Japanese units launchedadditional assaults on the Philippines and beganadvancing toward the British colony of Malaya.

0536-0573 C11SE-867855 3/3/05 9:32 AM Page 544

545CHAPTER 11 World War II

N

S

EW

400 kilometers0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

400 miles0

0°10°W20°W

50°N

40°N

20°E 30°E 40°E 50°E 60°E

Mediterranean Sea

Black Sea

AtlanticOcean

IRELAND UNITEDKINGDOM

FRANCE

VICHYFRANCE

SPAIN

POR

TUG

AL

ITALY

BELG.NETH.

DENMARK

GERMANY

SWITZ.

YUGOSLAVIA

ALBAN.

GREECE

BULGARIA

ROMANIA

SLOVAKIAHUNGARY

POLAND

SOVIETUNION

Ger. LITH.LATVIAESTONIA

FINLANDNORWAY

SWEDEN

TURKEY

ALGERIAFr.

TUNISIAFr.

LIBYAIt.

EGYPT

TRANS-JORDAN

U.K.SAUDIARABIA

PALESTINE U.K.LEBANON

SYRIAFr.

IRAQMOROCCO

Fr.

SP. MOR.

N

S

EW

400 kilometers0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

400 miles0

0°10°W20°W

50°N

40°N

10°E 20°E

30°E 40°E 50°E 60°E

Mediterranean Sea

Black Sea

AtlanticOcean

IRELAND UNITEDKINGDOM

FRANCE

VICHYFRANCE

SPAIN

POR

TUG

AL

ITALY

BELG.NETH.

DENMARK

GERMANY

SWITZ.

YUGOSLAVIA

ALBAN.

GREECE

BULGARIA

ROMANIA

SLOVAKIAHUNGARY

POLAND

SOVIETUNION

Ger. LITH.LATVIAESTONIA

FINLANDNORWAY

SWEDEN

TURKEY

ALGERIAFr. TUNISIA

Fr.

LIBYAIt.

EGYPT

TRANS-JORDAN

U.K.SAUDIARABIA

PALESTINEU.K.

LEBANON

SYRIAFr.

IRAQMOROCCO

Fr.

SP. MOR.

Heavy fighting took place in Europe and North Africa.

1. Interpreting Maps Name at least six major land bat-tles of the war in Europe. Which side, the Allies or theAxis Powers, was more aggressive at the beginning ofthe war? Summarize the changes in direction of thisside’s offensives during the first three years of the war.

2. Applying Geography Skills Using information fromall of the maps on pages 544 and 545, create an imagi-nary model of the war’s outcome had Hitler chosen notto invade the Soviet Union. Your model could take theform of a map, a chart, or a database and include suchitems as battles, offensives, and casualties.

Axis Offensives, 1939–1941 Allied Offensives, 1942–1945Axis offensives, 1939Axis offensives, 1940Axis offensives, 1941

Allied offensives, 1942–1943Allied offensives, 1944–1945

Soon after, Japanese forces invaded the Dutch EastIndies and occupied a number of islands in thePacific Ocean. In some cases, as on the Bataan Penin-sula and the island of Corregidor in the Philippines,resistance was fierce. By the spring of 1942, however,almost all of Southeast Asia and much of the westernPacific had fallen into Japanese hands.

A triumphant Japan now declared the creation of acommunity of nations. The name given to this new“community” was the Greater East Asia Co-ProsperitySphere. The entire region would now be under Japa-nese direction.

Japan also announced its intention to liberate thecolonial areas of Southeast Asia from Western colo-nial rule. For the moment, however, Japan neededthe resources of the region for its war machine, and it

treated the countries under its rule as conqueredlands.

Japanese leaders had hoped that their lightningstrike at American bases would destroy the Americanfleet in the Pacific. The Roosevelt administration,they thought, would now accept Japanese domina-tion of the Pacific. Why did the Japanese predict sucha reaction from the United States government? Theanswer is that in the eyes of many Japanese leaders,the American people were soft. Their prosperous andeasy life had made them unable to fight.

The Japanese miscalculated. The attack on PearlHarbor unified American opinion. Up to this time,many Americans wanted to remain neutral. Nowthey were ready to become involved in the war. TheUnited States now joined with European nations andNationalist China in a combined effort to defeatJapan.

This decision quickly brought a declaration of waragainst the United States from the Nazis. The Ger-man navy had been fighting an undeclared sea warwith American ships helping the British. Now thatHitler’s ally Japan had attacked the United States, thelong-expected war with America had come. Fourdays after the Pearl Harbor attack, Germany and theUnited States were at war. Another European conflicthad turned into a global war.

Determining Why did the Japaneseattack Pearl Harbor?

Reading Check

0536-0573 C11SE-867855 3/3/05 9:34 AM Page 545