World War II - Assetsassets.cambridge.org/97805216/08435/frontmatter/9780521608435... · World War II A New History This is ... 1939–1945 248 10 The European periphery, 1940–1944

World War IIA New History

This is a magisterial new global history of World War II.

Beginning in 1937 with the outbreak of the Sino–Japanese War,

Evan Mawdsley shows how the origins of World War II lay in a

conflict between the old international order and the new, and

then traces the globalisation of the conflict as it swept through

Asia, Europe and the Middle East. His primary focus is on the

war’s military and strategic history, though he also examines the

political, economic, ideological and cultural factors which

influenced the course of events. The war’s consequences are

examined too, in terms not only of the defeat of the Axis but also

of the break-up of colonial empires and the beginning of the

Cold War. Accessibly written and well-illustrated with maps and

photographs, this compelling new account also includes short

studies of the key figures, events and battles that shaped the war.

Evan Mawdsley is Professor of International History in the

Department of History, University of Glasgow. His previous

publications include The Russian Civil War (1983/2008), The

Soviet Elite from Lenin to Gorbachev: The Central Committee and

its Members, 1917–1991 (with Stephen White, 2000), The Stalin

Years: The Soviet Union, 1929–1953 (2003) and Thunder in the

East: The Nazi–Soviet War, 1941–1945 (2005).

www.cambridge.org© in this web service Cambridge University Press

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World






War IIA New History

EVAN MAWDSLEY






cambridge university press

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Delhi

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521608435

c© Evan Mawdsley 2009

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,

no reproduction of any part may take place without

the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2009

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Mawdsley, Evan, 1945–

World War II : a new history / Evan Mawdsley

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-521-84592-2 (hbk.) – ISBN 978-0-521-60843-5 (pbk.)

1. World War, 1939–1945. I. Title.

D743.M366 2009

940.53 – dc22 2009015410

ISBN 978-0-521-84592-2 hardback

ISBN 978-0-521-60843-5 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to

in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such

websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.






Contents

Acknowledgements page xiii

Introduction 1

1 The world in 1937 10

2 Japan and China, 1937–1940 52

3 Hitler’s border wars, 1938–1939 74

4 Germany re-fights World War I, 1939–1940 104

5 Wars of ideology, 1941–1942 134

6 The Red Army versus the Wehrmacht, 1941–1944 164

7 Japan’s lunge for empire, 1941–1942 188

8 Defending the perimeter: Japan, 1942–1944 214

9 The ‘world ocean’ and Allied victory, 1939–1945 248

10 The European periphery, 1940–1944 284

11 Wearing down Germany, 1942–1944 320

12 Victory in Europe, 1944–1945 364

13 End and beginning in Asia, 1945 406

14 Conclusion 438

Further reading 452

Notes 470

Index 476






Illustrations

1 Joseph Stalin. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

and Museum. page 34

2 Benito Mussolini. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

courtesy of NARA, College Park. 36

3 Adolf Hitler. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1990-048-29A. 40

4 Jiang Jieshi. Getty Images. 58

5 Prince Konoe. Bernard Hoffman / Time & Life Pictures / Getty

Images. 62

6 Heinkel 111 bomber. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C0214-0007-013. 81

7 Winston Churchill. c© Bildarchiv Preußicher

Kulturbestiz (bpk). 116

8 General Erich von Manstein. Bundesarchiv/Koch, Bild

101I-209-0086-12. 121

9 Supermarine Spitfire. c© Bildarchiv Preußischer


10 Marshal Georgii Zhukov. With the permission of The Trustees of the

Imperial War Museum, London. RUS 1191. 149

11 The rasputitsa. Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1977-143-15. 155

12 Auschwitz. May 1944. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy

of Yad Vashem. Bernhardt Walter / Ernst Hofmann. 162

13 T-34 tank. Bundesarchiv/Hodea, 1943, Bild 101I-240-2130-04. 168

14 The German retreat across the Ukraine. Bundesarchiv/Scheerer, Bild

101I-708-0299-06. 183

15 President Franklin D. Roosevelt. US Naval Historical Center, US

National Archives. 200

16 General Tojo Hideki. From the National Diet Library website,

with permission. 204

17 The Casablanca Conference. c© Bildarchiv Preußischer







LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii

18 ‘Essex’ class aircraft carriers. US Naval Historical Center,

US National Archives. 222

19 Type IX U-boat. With permission of Captain Gerald Mason,

U-boat Archive. 257

20 Liberty ship. US Naval Historical Center. 275

21 Landing Ship Tank. Source: US Naval Historical Center, US

Coast Guard Collection in the US National Archives. 300

22 General George C. Marshall. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential

Library and Museum. 302

23 Fordism. The Air Force Historical Research Agency. 334

24 North American P-51 Mustang. National Museum

of the USAF. 344

25 Soviet Partisans. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of

Museum of the Great Patriotic War / Faye Schulman (Faigel

Lazebnik). 354

26 General Dwight D. Eisenhower. November 16, 1944. US

Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of NARA, College Park. 368

27 MULBERRY Harbour. US Naval Historical Center. 370

28 Sherman tank. US Naval Historical Center. 378

29 Kamikaze. US Naval Historical Center. 414

30 President Harry S. Truman c© Bildarchiv Preußischer

Kulturbesitz (bpk) / Bayerische Staatsbibliothek / Archiv

Heinrich Hoffmann. 417

31 The Emperor inspects fire damage. Time & Life Pictures / Getty

Images / Carl Mydans. 423

Chapter frontispiece illustrations

Introduction The heavy cruiser Augusta. US Naval Historical Center,

courtesy of Capt. P. Henry, Jr, USN (ret.). xiv

Chapter 1 The ‘Tower of Empire’ at the 1938 British Empire

Exhibition. c© Newsquest (H & T) Glasgow Herald & Times. 10

Chapter 2 A devastated street in Chongqing. Popperfoto / Getty

Images / Haynes Archive. 52






viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Chapter 3 German artillery moves into Poland. Bundesarchiv/Falk,

Bild 101I-012-0012-05. 74

Chapter 4 German artillerymen parade in Paris.

Bundesarchiv / Heinz Fremke, Bild 101I-126-0350-26A. 104

Chapter 5 German troops search a captured Red Army soldier.

Source: Bundesarchiv / Bruno Plenik, Bild 101I-136-0877-08. 134

Chapter 6 A Soviet soldier waves the red flag in Stalingrad.

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-W0506-316. 164

Chapter 7 The fall of Singapore. With the permission of The

Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London. HU 2781. 188

Chapter 8 The aircraft carrier Zuikaku manoeuvres under American

air attack. US Naval Historical Center, US National Archives. 214

Chapter 9 An American convoy. US Naval Historical Center,

US National Archives. 248

Chapter 10 Italian soldiers in Libya. Bundesarchiv/Moosmuller,

Bild 101I-783-0104-09. 284

Chapter 11 B-24 Liberators over Ploesti. National Museum of the

US Air Force. 320

Chapter 12 ‘Stalin’ tanks at the Reichstag. Getty Images / Victor

Temin. 364

Chapter 13 The atomic cloud over Hiroshima. UN Photo / Mitsuo

Matsushige. 406

Chapter 14 First Session of the United Nations Security Council.

UN Photo/Marcel Bolomey. 438






Maps

1 The old world order, 1937 page 16

2 Japanese advances by diplomacy and conquest, 1937–1941 63

3 German advances by diplomacy and conquest, 1936–1940 77

4 Germany defeats France, 1940 108

5 The German invasion of Russia, 1941–1942 148

6 The Soviet–German front, 1943–1944 172

7 Japan’s war of conquest, 1941–1942 194

8 Japan’s defensive war, 1942–1945 224

9 Oceanic supply routes 254

10 The Mediterranean and North Africa, 1941–1944 288

11 The strategic air campaign in Europe 338

12 The campaign in the West, 1944 367

13 The defeat of Germany, 1944–1945 382

14 The defeat of Japan, 1944–1945 409






Boxes

1 The major powers: relative strength page 14

2 The Treaty of Washington 29

3 The ‘united front’ 32

4 General Ludendorff and total war 46

5 The Tokyo War Crimes Trial 55

6 Manchuria 56

7 The Nanjing massacre 64

8 The Japanese ‘new order’ 68

9 Reflections of Admiral Raeder, 3 September 1939 82

10 The American Neutrality Acts 88

11 The Nuremberg Judgment, 30 September 1946 90

12 Prime Minister Chamberlain announces war 97

13 The panzer division 98

14 The Stuka attack on Sedan 123

15 Dunkirk 125

16 Their finest hour 127

17 Air combat 132

18 Rudolph Hess flies to Britain 138

19 The purge of the Red Army 141

20 The Suvorov controversy 144

21 The Einsatzgruppen 160

22 Not one step backwards! 170

23 Alexander Werth at Stalingrad 176

24 The Waffen-SS 181

25 The Katyn massacre 184

26 The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere 192

27 The Burma Road 197

28 Pearl Harbor: conspiracy theories 208

29 Tokyo goes to war 210

30 Germany first? 220






LIST OF BOXES xi

31 The Indian Army 235

32 Tarawa 242

33 The loss of SS Avoceta 259

34 The Battle of the Atlantic 261

35 ULTRA and Bletchley Park 263

36 Technology and the Allied victory at sea 264

37 Japanese merchant shipping 272

38 The Battle of Cape Matapan 290

39 Crete 292

40 Allied conferences 307

41 Salerno 310

42 Production statistics 324

43 Armament in breadth 328

44 Lend-Lease 336

45 The strategic air battle over Europe 340

46 The bombing of Hamburg 342

47 The Resistance 348

48 The Warsaw Uprising 359

49 The 20 July 1944 bomb plot 362

50 General de Gaulle’s walk down the Champs Elysees 374

51 Deep battle 384

52 The Volkssturm 390

53 Yalta 392

54 The kokutai 418

55 The Potsdam Declaration 425

56 Hiroshima 427

57 The Historikerstreit 443






Acknowledgements

I would like to thank friends and colleagues who, despite being busy with

their own research and teaching, took the time to read drafts of this book:

Simon Ball, William Buckingham, Alex Marshall, Rana Mitter, Phillips

O’Brien, Geoffrey Roberts, Ben Shepherd, and Alan Smith. Their expert

advice usually came with the polite proviso that I was free to ignore it, but

in almost all cases there was no further doubt in my mind. The anonymous

reader for Cambridge University Press also provided encouragement and

sensible counsel. Michael Watson, my editor, took special care to look at the

book as it progressed and made many helpful suggestions on how to make

the concept both digestible and attractive. Any errors, misjudgements, and

infelicities remain my own responsibility.

Finally, this book is dedicated to my family – Gillian, Michael, and Robyn.

Having put up with a decade of the Eastern Front, they endured yet another

World War II book. Despite all this their interest in History has survived.






The heavy cruiser Augusta, flagship of the US Asiatic Fleet, anchored inthe Huangpu River in August 1937. Shanghai burns in the background atthe start of fighting there between the Chinese and the Japanese. After1941 Augusta fought an action-filled war in European waters, escortingconvoys to Russia and supporting with her heavy guns the Allied landingsin North Africa and France. Augusta transported President Harry Trumanto and from Europe for the Potsdam Conference in July and August 1945.While sailing home in Augusta, eight years after the Shanghai fighting, thePresident released the news about the atomic attack on Hiroshima.






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World War II - Assetsassets.cambridge.org/97805216/08435/frontmatter/9780521608435... · World War II A New History This is ... 1939–1945 248 10 The European periphery, 1940–1944