World War II McFarland Slide 2 AGGRESSION LEADS TO WAR IN EUROPE
AND ASIA. Slide 3 Attempts at Peace (good intentions). The League
of Nations-had been established by the Treaty of Versailles to
promote world peace. More than 60 nations joined, but the League
was weak due to the refusal of the United States to join. More
importantly, the League lacked power to enforce decisions. Slide 4
International Conferences-in London & Washington, D.C.,
diplomats discussed disarmament & agreed to limit the size
& strength of navies. Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact, 1928-an
agreement eventually signed by all countries to renounce war, named
for American Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, & Premier
Aristide Briand of France. This promise would soon be broken. Slide
5 Germany violates the Versailles Treaty. Germany had originally
joined the League of Nations, but left when the Nazis took over.
Germany had bitterly resented the treaty due to the fact that
disarmed the country, taken away conquests, and ordered the payment
of huge sums for war damages. When Hitler gained power, he vowed to
change things. Slide 6 His first step in restoring Germanys power
was to rebuild its military force. In 1935, Hitler declared Germany
would build a peace-time army of 550,000 men, going against the
provision in the treaty that set a 100,000 limit. Britain &
France denounced German rearmament but did not take action in order
to preserve peace. A law or rule was violated and there were no
consequences. Slide 7 Fascist aggression goes unchecked. Italy
invaded Ethiopia in 1935. (Italy would leave as a member of the
League.) Ethiopia, this independent African kingdom, had resisted
earlier Italian invasions in 1896. Now, they would be defeated.
Slide 8 Haile Selassie (HY-lee suh-LASS-ee), Ethiopias emperor,
appealed for help from the League of Nations. The League condemned
Italy for this act of aggression. The League urged members not to
sell arms or raw materials to Italy, rather, adopt economic
sanctions, but only a few cooperated. Slide 9 Hitler sent troops
into the Rhineland in March, 1936, the region between the Rhine
River and the French border, violating the Versailles Treaty again.
Slide 10 Japan took Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations
condemned the move but took no action. Japan resigned from the
League in 1933. In July, 1937, Japanese & Nationalist Chinese
troops clashed and the Sino- Japanese War followed. Japanese troops
began an all-out invasion of China-1937. Slide 11 Hitler south to
bring together all German-speaking peoples. Troops entered Austria
in March, 1938 & declared it part of the Third Reich, violating
the treaty again. A union, or Anschluss, was prohibited between
Germany & Austria. Slide 12 1938, Hitler moves on
Czechoslovakia. Most Czechs & Slavs lived here, but there were
some Germans. Most Germans lived in the Sudetenland, the western
region along the German border. France & Britain opposed this
& British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain called for the
Munich Conference in September, 1938. The two agreed to the German
claim on the Sudetenland, continuing a policy of appeasement. Both
nations desired peace at almost any price. Slide 13 Americans
wanted to stay out of European wars. Germanys actions were often
unopposed for many, especially in Britain, felt the Versailles
Treaty was too harsh. March, 1939, German troops took Prague, the
Czech capital, and Czechoslovakia now ceased to exist as an
independent nation. Slide 14 March, 1939-Hitler demanded that the
city of Danzig, Poland return to German rule; Hitler wanted Poland.
He demanded that Germany be granted a railroad & a highway
through the Polish Corridor, which had been created after World War
I. This corridor was a strip of land that separated East Prussia
from the rest of Germany, giving Poland access to the sea. Slide 15
Poland refused. Britain & France declared that they would help
defend Polands independence. They were stunned when the Nazi-
Soviet Pact was signed in late August, 1939-a pact of friendship
& non-aggression. In return for half of Poland, the Soviet
Union agreed not to interfere with Hitlers invasion. Slide 16 On
Sept. 1, German troops marched into Poland. On September 3, 1939,
Britain & France declared war against Germany. Slide 17 At the
time of the invasion of Poland, Germany was better prepared than
Britain & France for war and would now begin to exert their
power in Europe, thus, a long war was in store for the world. Slide
18 EUROPE FALLS TO THE AXIS POWERS (ITALY & GERMANY) BETWEEN
1939 & 1942. Slide 19 Poland falls to Germany-In less than 1
week after the Sept. 1 st invasion, the German blitzkrieg
(BLITS-kreeg), or lightning war, occurred. Hitler developed this
type of warfare that used quick, massive attacks on land and in the
air. On Sept. 27, 1939, after heavy days of bombing, Warsaw
surrendered. Poland was divided between Germany & the Soviet
Union. Slide 20 The Soviet Union claimed land in the Baltics. They
established military bases in Latvia, Lithuania, & Estonia.
Finland was seized in the winter war of 1939. Phony war of Western
Europe- little action in late 1939-early 1940. Slide 21 Germany
strikes in the spring of 1940. Heavy bombing devastated cities
& terrorized the civilian population as Germany pushed into
northern France. Denmark-April, 1940 Norway-April, 1940
Belgium-April, 1940 Slide 22 The Netherlands-April, 1940
Luxembourg-April, 1940 France-June, 1940 Allied forces (British,
Belgian, & French) rescued at Dunkirk. The fall of Belgium
allowed the German army to move around the end of the Maginot Line.
Germans broke the French defenses near Sedan & moved to the
English Channel. Every available vessel set sail from England-even
fishing boats. By June 4, most of the soldiers were taken to
England leaving equipment behind. Germany advanced steadily across
northern France. Many civilians fled south. Slide 23 Italians
invaded from the South. German troops marched into Paris on June 14
th. The French government asked for an armistice, under which
Germany occupied northern France, including Paris, and the coast.
In the south, a government was established at Vichy (VEE-shee) that
was very cooperative with the Germans, headed by Marshal Henri
Philippe Petain, a hero of World War I. Slide 24 Battle of Britain,
1940-1941; Great Britain stood alone. Hitler planned to invade, but
hoped they would surrender. When it was clear Britain would not
surrender, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to heavily bomb British
factories, airfields, seaports, & cities. On August 8, 1940,
hundreds of bombers & fighter planes attacked, beginning months
of air raids, day & night, in preparation for an invasion.
Slide 25 British Royal Air Force defended Britain inflicting heavy
losses on German aircraft and the British were aided by radar, a
new device to detect enemy planes. By late fall, Hitler abandoned
his invasion plans. The Blitz continued until spring, however,
claiming thousands of British civilians. A German naval blockade
prevented the shipment of food & supplies, thus there were
shortages. Britain needed help, but U.S. neutrality prevented the
U.S. from lending money or goods to a country at war. Slide 26
Invasion of the Soviet Union. June 22, 1941-anniversary of
Napoleons invasion. Even though Hitler & Stalin had made a
nonaggression pact when they divided Poland, Hitler moved to
destroy communism & seize Soviet territory. Slide 27 Reasons
for the invasion: Hitler wanted land for German settlers. Hitler
wanted rich grain fields to feed the German nation. Hitler wanted
oil, coal, & iron ore to supply the German war machine. Soviet
armies suffered enormous losses in the first months. By October,
1941, German troops were only 50 miles from Moscow. The Russian
civilians were suffering hardships. Slide 28 The Soviet defense. As
the Soviet troops withdrew, crops were burned in the fields &
equipment was destroyed. These scorched earth tactics left no food
or supplies for the advancing Germans. Autumn rains & winter
snow slowed the Germans. Obviously, blitzkrieg tactics were not
effective on muddy, snowy roads. The Soviets were ready for winter,
while the Germans were not. Soldiers suffered 30 degree below zero
weather in summer uniforms. Tanks and Trucks could not start in the
cold. Slide 29 Even another offensive would not be successful. The
Soviet victory marked the turning point for Eastern Europe in the
war. Germany surrendered Stalingrad in 1943. Slide 30 Lend-Lease:
In March, 1941, the U.S. Congress passed the Lend- Lease Act which
allowed President Roosevelt to sell, lease, or lend military
equipment to nations whose defense was vital to American security.
This applied to Britain & China, and was extended to the
U.S.S.R. Slide 31 Fighting in North Africa. Mussolini sought
control over the Mediterranean, while Hitler expanded westward in
Europe. In the fall of 1940, Italian forces from Libya invaded
Egypt. to capture the Suez Canal. To open the way to the oil fields
of the Middle East. Slide 32 Forces were led by German Field
Marshall Erwin Rommel whose clever tactics earned him the nick name
the Desert Fox. The British forces were led by Field Marshal
Bernard Montgomery; they blocked Rommels advance toward Egypt. At
El Alamein (ell ah-lah- MAYN), Britain had their first major
victory of the war. Slide 33 The U.S. meanwhile had entered the war
after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. In
November, 1942, Allied troops were under the command of General
Dwight D. Eisenhower. They began in French Morocco and Algeria.
Rommels armies became trapped between the two Allied armies. By
May, 1943, the Allies held North Africa. Slide 34 Europe under
Hitler. A New Order was imposed. Despite the Allied victories in
Africa & Eastern Europe, most of Europe was firmly under Nazi
control. Over this Reich, Hitler planned to extend a New Order in
which all of Europe would serve the German master-race idea of
Aryan superiority. Slide 35 These racial policies called for
enslavement or extermination of all inferiors. The non-Aryans were
not only the Jews, but Slavs (mostly Poles & Russians). These
policies were administered by Heinrich Himmler, Hitlers police
chief. Slide 36 Persecution begins in Poland-When Poland fell in
1939, both the Soviets & the Nazis terrorized the Poles.
Soviets transported over 1 million from eastern Poland to labor
camps and concentration camps in the U.S.S.R., especially the upper
class. 4,000 officers were massacred. In Western Poland,
concentration camps were built and many Poles were relocated here.
Slide 37 Conquered lands are exploited by Germany. (France,
U.S.S.R, Czechoslovakia, & Rumania) Food, resources, labor, and
art were taken by the Germans. About 7 million were sent to forced
labor camps. European Jews faced the Holocaust- remember, wiping
out the Jews was one of Hitlers major goals. Slide 38
Genocide-considered the final solution to the Jewish problem; the
systematic murder of an entire people. Jews were rounded up, loaded
into sealed cattle cars, & shipped to death camps. Remember
Anne Frank. Those who were used in labor were of a prime age; the
very young and old were killed first. Many were herded into gas
chambers. Others were beaten and starved. Some were victims of
cruel medical experiments. 6 million Jews died; about 1.5 million
children. Slide 39 Most notorious death camp was Auschwitz
(OUSH-vitz) in Poland. Here alone, 3-4 million died. In charge here
was Rudolf Hoess, who was later tried for crimes against humanity
and executed. Slide 40 Resistance movements; some occurred in each
German-occupied country. Some aided the Allies. Some led strikes.
Others sabotaged plants making German war equipment. They symbol of
resistance became the V for the Victory sign. These people took
great risk. For every German soldier killed, many other civilian
hostages were executed. Governments in exile were established; for
example, the Free French, led by General Charles de Gaulle (de
GOHL). Slide 41 While war was raging in Europe, another arena
caught the attention of the world. This Pacific theater would bring
the United States directly into the war. Slide 42 WAR BREAKS OUT IN
THE PACIFIC. Slide 43 Japan expands in southeastern Asia.
Occupation of British, French, & Dutch colonial possessions in
Asia & the Pacific. These nations involvement in World War II
in Europe left these areas undefended. Japan already had control of
Korea, Manchuria, & parts of China for oil, rubber, tin, &
rice. This was very important to feed their people on the island.
The United States would have been capable in 1940 to stop Japanese
expansion. The Japanese feared this and thus worried. Slide 44
Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: December 7, 1941 Reasons for Japans
actions: The U.S. passed an embargo, which limited trade &
banned the export of war material. Japan resented the
Russo-Japanese War settlement; unhappy because they had to remove
their troops from Manchuria. This settlement, the Treaty of
Portsmouth, had been orchestrated by Theodore Roosevelt. They
disliked the U.S. immigration policy because it excluded Orientals.
Earlier in 1941, the U.S. Congress passed an act providing for the
refusal of visas to aliens whose presence in the U.S. would
endanger public safety. For those Japanese living in America, they
were herded into internment camps. Japan also wanted to cripple
American naval bases, as well as the United States power to
interfere in Asia. Slide 45 The attack came on Sunday, December 7,
1941, at 7:55 a.m. Before this, the U.S. & Japan had been
negotiating to improve relations. Nothing came from these talks,
though, and many expected war. Japan had talked of an attack.
However, Americans were taken by complete surprise. That morning,
the radar picked up the Japanese bombers headed toward the base in
the Hawaiian Islands, but thought they were American planes. No
alert was sounded, thus, destruction came. Slide 46 The fleet was
destroyed. American losses: 8 battleships & 10 other naval
vessels were sunk or badly damaged; about 200 aircraft were
destroyed; about 3,000 naval & military personnel were killed
or wounded. Over 1,000 were entombed in the USS Arizona when it
exploded and sank. Japan's losses: 29 planes, 45 pilots, 1
submarine, & 5 midget subs. This resulted the U.S. entering the
war. On December 8, the U.S. and Great Britain declared war on
Japan; 3 days later, Germany & Italy declared war on the United
States. Slide 47 Japan continues its conquests in Asia. Japan had
more victories after Pearl Harbor, and by early 1942, claimed these
possessions. The Philippines-an American possession. Burma-British
Singapore-British Dutch East Indies Japan also had plans to capture
New Guinea and Australia. Slide 48 U.S. regains strength. Battle of
the Coral Sea-In May, 1942, American & Japanese clashed here.
After this defeat, Japan made some plan changes. Battle of
Midway-June 4-7, 1942: Japan suffered its most serious defeat at
Midway Island, 1,135 miles northwest of Pearl Harbor. Japan lost
their 4 best aircraft carriers along with the planes on deck and
many pilots. Despite the loss of the carrier Yorktown, the U.S.
regained naval superiority. The tide was now turning; the Allies
would now be more aggressive. Slide 49 The Allies are Victorious.
The Allied Offensive Becomes Aggressive. The Invasion of Italy-By
occupying North Africa, the Allies were in a good position to
invade Italy. July, 1943-British & American troops landed on
the island of Sicily. July, 1943-Mussolini was overthrown. Fascism
collapsed after 20 years. Mussolini was now powerless, but somewhat
popular still. He later died on April 28, 1945, telling his family
goodbye, then going into hiding with his long-time mistress Clara
Petacci. A partisan communist leader found their hiding place in a
farmhouse up in the mountains of Italy. He wanted to put down any
fascist, especially Mussolini. Both were shot dead. Slide 50
September, 1943-Allies landed on the mainland and the new Italian
government surrendered. There was still stiff German resistance.
The Allies took Rome in June, 1944. Northern Italy was finally
taken in early 1945. Slide 51 The invasion of Nazi-occupied France.
After much preparation, Operation Overlord was ready for action.
Before Normandy, the first conference of the Big Three occurred in
Tehran, Iran (November, 1943) to coordinate military plans &
agreements about the future of Europe. (Roosevelt, Churchill, &
Stalin) Another meeting was at Yalta on the Black Sea to discuss
Asia. Allied forces were led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Slide
52 June 6, 1944; D-day: the day of the landing on the beaches of
Normandy. The Allies (approximately 120,000 forces of mostly
American, British, Canadian, & Free French) crossed the English
Channel. Thousands of ships & planes were coordinated for this.
This caught the Germans by surprise. On some beaches, soldiers
struggled through 4 feet waves in the face of fierce German
gunfire. Allied control of the air was crucial to the invasions
success by bringing in more soldiers & supplies. Less than a
month after D-day, a million soldiers were in France. Slide 53
August 25, 1944-Paris was liberated & the Allies were advancing
toward Germany. Southern France was later liberated in September
when the Allies invaded Dijou in Operation Dragoon. Slide 54 The
last German attack. By autumn, 1944, Germanys cause seemed
hopeless. Germany was under heavy Allied bombing. December,
1944-the Battle of the Bulge: German troops and tanks attacked in
the hilly forests near Germanys border with Belgium &
Luxembourg. Americans were outnumbered 5 to 1. Despite this, the
German offensive was halted by the Allies. The weather did not help
and Germany was short of gasoline. The Allies could now advance
from both the east and the west. Slide 55 April 21, 1945-Marshal
Zhukovs Soviet troops reached Berlin. April 30, 1945-With Soviet
troops so close, Hitler apparently committed suicide. At the last
moment, he married long-time mistress Eva Braun. The day before he
died, he wrote a farewell & his last testament. Eva took
poison; he shot her just to be sure, then probably shot himself,
but may have taken poison, however, his body was never found.
Germany surrendered-the end of the war in Europe announced on May
8, 1945: V-E Day. Slide 56 The U.S. takes the offensive in the
Pacific-After the Battle of Midway. The battle plan was
island-hopping, seizing only those islands that were in strategic
positions on the sea route to Japan. August, 1942-Japanese base at
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands was attacked by Americans.
August, 1942-Austrailian and other Allied troops fought in New
Guinea. Allied victory came to these islands-the Gilbert Islands.
The Marshall Islands. The Mariana Islands. Slide 57 Americans
reclaimed the Philippine Islands. Casualties ran high in the
Pacific due to the fact that the Japanese felt that surrender meant
dishonor. They would rather fight until they died, rather than be
taken prisoner. Kamikaze attacks were common because pilots in
planes with bombs would crash into American ships on purpose.
Americans took Iwo Jima in early 1945. Taking the island from the
Japanese cost the lives of 6,800 and wounded 18,000. It took a
month to take the island. It took 4 days after the initial landing
to plant the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, where photographer
Joe Rosenthal caught the moment. Slide 58 Americans then took
Okinawa, where casualties were even higher: 12,500 Americans
(35,500 were wounded), & 120,000 Japanese. The Potsdam
Conference took place in July, 1945, after Germanys surrender.
Stalin, Clement Atlee, the new prime minister, and Harry Truman,
who succeeded FDR, met to discuss Japan. At this conference, they
demanded Japans surrender. A few days later, President Truman
decided to drop the first atomic bomb. This was done to bring a
quick end to the war and avoid further casualties. (The war was
also fought in the scientific laboratories; Germany was also
experimenting with an atomic bomb in 1939.) Slide 59 August 6,
1945-Hiroshima was bombed, bringing horrible destruction: more than
80,000 were killed; 37,000 suffered severe injuries. Others later
died from the effects of the radiation released by the explosion.
The bomb weighed 9,000 pounds and was as powerful as 12,500 tons of
TNT. It exploded within 100 feet of the target and was dropped from
the plane, Enola Gay. It sent a fireball 18,000 feet across the
sky. The temperature at the center of the fireball was as hot as
the surface of the sun. People became nothing. Within the first
nine seconds of the drop, many disintegrated into ash. Half of the
doctors were killed. Devastation covered a 4 square mile area. The
light from the bomb created permanent shadows on wood & stone
of flowers & men. They disappeared but their shadows remained.
Those who survived had patterns on their skin; later, they lost
their hair. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who had worked on the
bomb, came to regret his work. Slide 60 August 8, 1945-the Soviet
Union declared war on Japan & invaded Manchuria. August 9,
1945-because Japan had not surrendered, a second atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki. Shortly after this, peace came. August 15,
1945-Emperor Hirohito announced the Japanese surrender: V-J Day.
September 2, 1945-officials of Japan and U.S. General Douglas
MacArthur signed the document of Japanese surrender aboard the USS
Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Slide 61 Results of World War II-57 nations
had become engaged in this struggle that created an armed forces
exceeding 90 million. There is an old saying: In peace, sons bury
their fathers; in war, fathers bury their sons. World War II
destroyed 3 times as many lives and 10 times as much wealth, and
was longer than World War I. Slide 62 The Allies take control in
both Germany & Japan. The U.S. occupied Japan; however, the
Japanese Imperial government was allowed to run the country. In
Germany, the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union
established zones of occupation. Slide 63 Destruction left by the
war. Around 50 million people died. (U.S.-407,000 deaths) Civilians
suffered; many became homeless. This war that had been orchestrated
by a few was paid for by many. 10 million died in the Nazi
concentration camps, including 6 million Jewish people. There were
vast areas of destruction. Cities, farms (livestock), factories,
bridges, railway systems, waterways, harbors, coal mines, etc. were
destroyed. The world had to rebuild. Military expenditures and
property damage totaled 1500 billion dollars. Slide 64 War
trials-The Nazi leaders and the Japanese commanders responsible for
the destruction were arrested and tried for crimes against
humanity. The most famous trial was in Nuremburg, Germany
(November, 1945) where the world learned of the horrors of the
Holocaust- the genocidal destruction of Jews by Nazi Germany. Slide
65 World War II had been the longest war yet, from September 1939
through August 1945. Even before the war ended, leaders of the
Allied nations began to make plans for the postwar world. One of
their goals was the creation of a peacekeeping organization. By
1945, the United Nations would be established. Slide 66 The United
States and The Soviet Union emerged as the worlds most powerful
nations. Rivalries between these two superpowers created an
atmosphere of tension that became known as the Cold War. The
U.S.S.R. established several Soviet- backed Communist governments
in Eastern Europe. In response, the U.S. developed policies
designed to control the spread of communism in the world. Each
formed defensive alliances and began to build up weapons. At the
same time, both desired ways to cut down the risk of actual
war.
