Download WWII Military History

WWII: Military History
Japan, Germany, the Soviet Union, England & the U.S.A.
The Rise of Japan
• Late 19th Cent.: Japan modernizes
• 1895: Wins Sino-Japanese War
– Conquers Korea
• 1905: Wins Russo-Japanese War
• WWI: Japan joins Allies
• 1931: Generals seize Manchuria w/out govt.
permission
• 1939: Japanese occupy ¼ of China
– 9/39 Nazis and Soviets invade Poland
• Dec. 1941: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
The Militarization of Japan
• “Keep Up or Fall Behind”
– Late 19th Cent. Japan realized it had to modernize or be
dominated by Western powers
– Japan lacked natural resources
• Post WWI
– 1920s-30s saw Japan become increasingly militaristic
– Moderate govt. became ruled by military
– Emperor as “divine” figurehead
Key Figures
• Emperor Hirohito
– Emperor of Japan during WWII
• Hideki Tojo
– Prime Minister who pushed for war vs. the west
• Isoroku Yamamoto
– Admiral who planned attack on Pearl Harbor
• Hajime Sugiyama
– Army Chief of Staff
The Japanese Military in WWII
• Start of War: 1,700,000 men strong
– Well motivated and supplied
– Endured extreme hardship during war
• Allied blockades effective
– Conscript army
• Militarized society prepared people for war
• Encouraged blind loyalty “BUSHIDO”
• Hand-to-hand considered the highest form
of combat
Chinese Civil War (1927-1949)
– Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek
– Communists, led by Mao Zedong
– Stopped fighting and focused on Japanese in 1937
– Communists win after WWII, Nationalists fled to
Taiwan
2nd Sino-Japanese War
• Japanese army fights Chinese Nationalists and
communists
– US supports Nationalist army w/advisors and war
material
• Chinese theater occupied large
amounts of Japanese resources
• Considered key theater of war for
Japan
• Japanese atrocities were rampant
– Still sore point today
Japanese Advances in WWII
• Causes of Japanese Successes from 1941-42
– Allied unpreparedness
– Technology
• Japanese Zero
– Well-trained military
• Navy
Japanese Brutality
• Japan justified conquests with claims of
“liberating” Asia from Western exploitation
• Reality: Japanese govt. indoctrinated its
citizens with belief that Japanese were racially
superior to other Asians
– Koreans, Chinese regarded as “sub human”
– Execution of prisoners/civilians, human
experiments, rape, common throughout territory
occupied by Japanese
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
(Japanese Propaganda Poster)
“With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace."
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
(REALITY)
Germany