World War II

Causes of WWII-Hitler and the Nazis gained power in Germany in 1933 during

a state of economic depression.-Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on the terms of the

Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of WWI.-Hitler ignored the Treaty of Versailles and began rebuilding

the German armed forces.-March 1938, the Nazis annex Austria.

-In June the allied countries appease Germany by allowing them to annex Czechoslovakia

Why did no other country help them?-But when German armies invaded Poland, England and

France declared war on Germany.-WWII started in September 1939 when Germany invaded

Poland.What led to this event?

-Appeasement – the policy of avoiding war by granting an aggressive country whatever it wants

-The two sides would be:1) The Allies – Britain, France, the U.S.S.R., the U.S., Canada, and other commonwealth countries.2)The Axis – Germany, Italy, Japan.

The Phony War

German armies invade Poland in September of 1939 When German armies invaded Poland, England and France

declared war on Germany The Nazi armies crushed Poland in less than 1 month Hitler used German tanks and Stuka dive bombers to

invade like lightning, a strategy he called Blitzkrieg or “lightning war”

Although England and France declared war on Germany neither country immediately went to the aid of Poland. This period of the war became known as the “Phony War” or “Sitzkrieg”

World Map with the participants in World War II.The Allies depicted in green (those in light green entered after the Attack on Pearl Harbor), the Axis Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.

Canada Entering the War -Statute of Westminster(1931) – gave Canada complete control over

its dealings with foreign nations. -One week after Britain declared war, King called Parliament and a declaration of

war was passed. -King told the Canadians that Canada would not practice conscription and would

send few soldiers, but would help the war effort in the form of food and manufactured goods.

-King did not want to divide Canada as in WWI. -Only after the defeat of France (1940) did Canada make a full-scale war effort -By then, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and other smaller countries

had fallen to the Nazis.-Britain stood alone and was in danger of defeat.

-1941, Japan declared war on Britain and the USA-Canadian forces in Hong Kong were attacked and the survivors

taken prisoner. -As a result, Canada declared war on Japan. (see Pg. 157, grey box)

Total War By 1940 by using “blitzkrieg” tactics Germany had defeated Belgium,

the Netherlands, Norway and now controlled most of continental Europe When France fell to the Nazi’s in 1940 Britain stood alone against

Germany and was in serious danger of defeat. Canada began a full-scale war effort with the fall of France in 1940,

becoming Britain's’ most powerful ally until 1941 In 1941 Japan declared war on the USA by attacking Pearl Harbour and

thus (somewhat predictably) brought the US into the war against the Axis powers

Japan also attacks Canadian forces in Hong Kong in 1941 and takes the surviving soldiers as prisoners of war

Pearl Harbor

Battle of Dunkirk

BBC - History - World War Two Movies

BBC - History - Animated Map: The Fall of France (Dunkirk)

Battle of Britain (1940-1941) -Only Britain remained unconquered

- Hitler ordered his air force to attack military targets, and then civilian targets in Britain

-The Royal Air Force, along with many Canadian pilots, fought back against all odds until the German air raids ceased.

-The “Battle of Britain” lasted 8 months and cost the lives of 40 553 men, woman and children.

-Hitler, after failing to gain air superiority over Britain during the summer months, decided to turn his army East against the U.S.S.R.

-It was the first German defeat of the war.

BBC - History - World War Two Movies

The Supermarine Spitfire was the most notorious of the RAF’s WWII arsenal. (But the Hurricane was way more important and did a lot more than the spitfire!!)

Footage from German Fighter planes during Battle of Britain.

Battle of the Atlantic

-During WWII, supplies for England and the Allied forces in Europe were carried by ship across the North Atlantic Ocean.

-Thousands of Canadian merchant sailors served on ships carrying food, fuel, weapons, ammunition, and other supplies to English ports.

-These sailors faced the constant threat of attack from German submarines.

-Thousands more Canadians served on Naval vessels and in aircrafts that were assigned to protect the merchant ships from enemy attack.

-In 1940, the German navy launched a campaign of submarine warfare using U-Boat Wolf-packs to cut off Britain’s oversea lifelines.

Battle of the Atlantic

From 1940 on these sailors faced the constant threat of attack from German submarines (known as U-Boats) that traveled in groups (known as wolf-packs) through out the North Atlantic Ocean (particularly that area that air-planes could not defend (Known as the Black Pit.)

Lend-Lease Act

The USA passed the Lend-Lease Act, allowing President Roosevelt the power to spend $7 billion to lend or lease military aid to Britain and its allies

By 1942 Canadian and American shipyards were able to build merchant ships at faster rate that U-boats were sinking Allied Vessels. Until that point the U-boats were sinking allied vessels faster than the Allies could produce them

Merchant Sailors

After the war Canadian merchant sailors were treated as civilian participants and were not given the same benefits as veterans of the army, navy or air force.

Examples, they were not eligible for: Pension able benefits Free university education Housing or land-grant benefits No small business financial aid Veteran’s health care benefits

December 1941, 2000 Canadian Soldiers are sent to hold Hong Kong

• they are unable to hold Hong Kong in the face of overwhelming odds

Hong Kong

U.S. Enters the War U.S. boycotts Japan Japanese attack naval base

at Pearl Harbor, HI, Dec. 7, 1941.

U.S. declares war on Japan, Germany & Italy declare war on U.S.

U.S. and other allies decided to defeat Germany first, then defeat Japan

Dieppe, France -By 1942, the Allies were making plans to retake Europe -To accomplish this, the Allies launched a series of raids across the English Channel -One of these raids was against the French town of Dieppe which was in enemy hands -Canadian troops were given the job of capturing the town The Plan: During the cover of night, Canadian troops were to

surprise the enemy from the beach while bombers destroyed the German guns from the air.

Problems: -Delays caused the ships to land on the beach during daylight

-Delays caused the bombers to be late on the attack. -Soldiers were picked off as they scrambled for cover. -Commanders in the boats could not see what was happening and continued to send reinforcements onto the beach. -Of 4963 Canadians who landed, 2853 were killed or captured -More Canadian soldiers died in those few hours at Dieppe than in any other day of the war.

Several minutes of Combat from World War Two

Battle Of Ortona1943 part of the Italian Campaign

BBC - History - Animated Map: The Italian Campaign

(see Pg. 156)

July 11,1943: General Bernard Montgomery standing on a "duck" speaking to Canadian troops, Pachino peninsula, Sicily.

A Canadian tank commander surveys the terrain below him.

D-Day -In June 1944- D-Day – the long awaited allied

invasion on Europe across the English channel began. -It was code named Operation Overlord, and involved

almost 1 million soldiers. -British, American, and Canadian troops stormed

ashore along the entire coast of the French province of Normandy.

Juno Beach was the Canadian objective -Canadian troops struck at first light, pouring out of their landing craft and advancing across the sand up into the town of Caen. -The allies were back on French soil -D-day marked the beginning of the end for Germany. -Canadians continued to fight for months in order to take back all of the French ports along the English

Channel. -They then helped to liberate Belgium and the Netherlands from German control. BBC - History - Animated Map: The D-Day Landings

D-Day, The Beginning of the End of World War Two

The End of the War In March of 1945, the Allied armies advanced into

Germany On May 8, 1945, the German forces surrendered

and the war in Europe was officially over. The Allies agreed that the US, the Soviet Union,

Britain and France should occupy Germany They would oversee a program of political and

economic reform that would restore peace to Europe.

Canada at the end of the Warin Europe

Canadian soldiers were give the difficult task of liberating Holland whose people had suffered severely under German control.

6300 Canadians were killed and wounded in the operation, but by mid-April, most German units had surrendered and the Canadians turned their attention to helping the Dutch

Canada was also crucial in the success of the Italian Campaign in Europe

The End of the War in Japan While peace came to Europe on May 8th 1945 war with Japan

continued In the US, American, British, and Canadian scientists had

spent years developing a powerful new weapon: the atomic bomb

President Truman of the US decided to bomb two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Close to 500 000 died The Japanese realized they could not continue a war in which

the enemy was willing to use atomic weapons on civilian populations

On August 15th 1945, they surrendered

The Home Front How did the war affect

Canada’s economy?

How did wartime shortages affect Canadians?

What role did the government play in the wartime economy?

Civilians and the War Effort -Wartime shortages led to Canada’s first

organized recycling programs.– Community groups collected aluminum, steel,

and copper items to be turned into aircrafts, tanks, and guns.

-Families planted victory gardens to grow food for their tables.

-Canadians lent the government money through Victory Bonds.

Wartime Restrictions -The war helped Canada’s economy

– Q) How?– A) It ended the Great Depression

– Unemployment vanished

-people joined the armed forces and worked in weapon and munitions factories.

Problems -Canadians remembered the WWI

shortages and therefore rushed to the stores to stock up on items they feared might soon vanish from the shelves

-The result of this panic was inflation -Faced with shortages and rising prices,

the Canadian government began to take control of the country’s economy.

Q) How? A.1) 1940 – laws regulated wages and

limited price increases on goods and services. Eg. Rent, iron and steel, lumber, sugar, and milk.

A.2) 1941 – laws froze most prices and wages, and rationing was introduced.

Conscription Crisis

-Prime Minister King had promised that there would be no conscription, But as the fighting grew heavier, there were demands to send more soldiers overseas.

-In 1942, King held a referendum.Referendum - submitting an issue to the direct vote of the

people. -80% of Québec said no, 80% of the rest of Canada voted yes. -King then decided not to send conscripts unless he was forced to. -By 1944, Losses were so high, King reluctantly sent the conscripts

overseas to fight -The issue of conscription divided the country as it did in WWI,

however, the situation was not as severe as it had been in 1917.

Japanese Canadians When Canada and Japan went to war (Dec/1941); British Columbians

feared a Japanese invasion.-They felt that Japanese Canadians (enemy aliens) might assist in such an invasion.

Results: 1) 38 Japanese Canadians were arrested 2) 1200 fishing boats were seized by the government 3) All Canadians of Japanese origin were required to

register with the government 4) All Japanese Canadians were refused when they tried to join the Canadian army 5) All persons of Japanese ancestry were moved to camps

in the interior of B.C. 6) The government confiscated their property and sold it 7) After the war, approx. 4000 Japanese Canadians were

deported to Japan.

Wartime Propaganda -Radio announcements,

magazine and newspaper adds, and wall posters urged Canadians to spend wisely, participate in salvage drives, grow victory gardens, or buy Victory Bonds.

-The National Film Board (NFB) created documentaries and short informational films showing the importance of Canadian civilians as part of the war effort.

An example of Nazi propaganda. The picture reads “'One People, One Nation, One Leader”.

Women in the War -Before WWII started, few women in Canada worked outside

the home.

-In 1940, 876 000 women over 18 years of age were employed outside the home.

-By 1943, 1 000 000 women were in the paid workforce and another 800,000 doing farm work.

-Women built ships, airplanes, and weapons, knitted socks and sweaters.

-The government provided incentives for women such as tax exemptions and childcare facilities.– These incentives would end after the war.

-Women were accepted into the armed services for the first time. Eg. Radio operators, nurses, and ambulance drivers.

-At the end of the war, many women gave up their jobs to returning soldiers.

The Holocaust – The mass murder of Jews in concentration camps

-Before Hitler seized power in Germany, he wrote a book called “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle), in which he outlined his beliefs and plans

-He believed that lies, warfare, and terror tactics were acceptable means to obtain his goals.

-He believed that the Aryan people were the “master race” superior to all other people, especially Jewish people.

-Hitler blamed the Jews and used them as a “scapegoat” (became known as the “Big Lie”) for Germany’s WWI loss and for the economic depression that followed.

-Mein Kampf contained a plan to eliminate all Jewish people, to take over the Soviet Union, and to invade France. –Hitler's followers, the Nazis, adopted these beliefs.

-When Hitler took power he put these plans into action.

The Holocaust – The mass murder of Jews in concentration camps cont.

-Hitler, -Organized a propaganda campaign against the Jews. -took away the citizenship rights of the Jews -took away their right to vote -expelled them from most jobs -encouraged violence against them

Q.) What did Canada do to help? A.) Nothing, Canada refused to accept Jewish refugees.

-As Germany conquered more of Europe, more Jews fell under German control.

-1941 – “Final Solution”-a systematic plan to kill all the Jews in Europe. (genocide)

-Jews were shipped to concentration camps where they were killed immediately or used as slave labour.

Emaciation at the hands of the Germans.

World Peace: Canada and the United Nations, the creation of

the U.NAs WWII drew to a close, delegates

from countries around the world gathered in San Francisco to create an organization

that would ensure that such a global conflict would never happen again

The U.N. was a compromise between the US, Britain, France, China and the

Soviet Union, and other smaller countries.

The Purpose of the UN

1. To keep peace among nations 2. To increase co-operation between nations 3. To defend Human rights 4. to improve the living conditions of people

everywhere in the world The U.N. sponsors a wide variety of agencies that

carry out legal, economic and humanitarian work around the world

Organizations sponsored by the UN The World Health Organization (W.H.O) battles global

health problems United Nations International Children's Emergency

Fund (UNICEF) Originally, responsible for assisting child welfare in countries devastated by the Second World War

Expanded its scope to developing countries after 1951 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) works to improve education standards and promote cultural activities

Canada has always seen the UN as the best means of contributing to world peace to solving problems of global health, poverty, pollution and discrimination

Fat man and Little Boy