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World War II
1940-1945
Causes
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World War I didn’t settle
differences
Harsh terms of Treaty of
Versailles
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Especially on Germany
Economic instability
following First World War
Italy and Germany look to
Fascist dictators
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Solve Problems
Return to Glory
Aggressions of Axis Powers
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Italy, Germany, Japan formed Axis
Powers by 1940
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Italy conquered Ethiopia (1936)
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Albania (1939)
Hitler repeatedly violated Treaty of
Versailles (1934-1938)
Germany annexed Austria (1938)
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Tripartite Pact
Conquered Czechoslovakia and Poland
(1939)
Hitler also broke Munich and NaziSoviet Non-Aggression Pacts
Japan invaded Manchuria (1932)
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China (1937)
French Indochina (1940)
Bombed U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor
(1941)
Wake Island (1941)
Allied Nations
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Great Britain
France (until 1940)
United States (1941)
Soviet Union (1943)
China (1943)
Italy joins in 1943
Many smaller nations
Weaponry
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Improvements made to:
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Aircraft used more
effectively:
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Tanks
Machine guns/rifles
Artillery
Submarines
Battleships & Destroyers
German Luftwaffe
British Royal Air Force
U.S. Army Air Corps
Imperial Japanese Naval Air
Force
Air Craft Carriers
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By 1942, dominated naval
warfare
Blitzkrieg
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German word for “Lightning
War”
Fast moving tanks (Panzers)
and ground forces
Mixed with air cover
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Luftwaffe
Effectively used against:
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Czechoslovakia
Poland
Holland
Denmark
Norway
Belgium
France
Soviet Union
War Time Leaders
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Great Britain: Prime Minister Winston Churchill
United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Free-French Forces: General Charles De Gaulle
and General Henri Giraud
Soviet Union: Premier Joseph Stalin
Nationalist China: General Chiang Kai-chek
Germany: Adolf Hitler
Italy: Benito Mussolini
Japan: Emperor Hirohito &
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo
1940
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April 9: Germany invades Denmark and Norway
May 10: Germany invades Holland, Belgium,
Luxembourg
September:
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U.S. begins military draft
Begins building air and naval fleet
Begins aiding Allies
Japan joins Axis (Tripartite Pact):
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Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis formed
November: President Franklin Roosevelt elected
to third term
Germany Conquers France
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Invades on June 5, 1940
German Blitzkrieg goes around French
Maginot Line
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Invades through Belgium
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Splits Allied lines in two
Manstein Plan
Half of Allied forces fled to Dunkirk
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Along French-German border
Churchill has them rescued
Rest of Allied forces surrender within days
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Including Paris
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June 14
French government flees to Bordeaux
Germans install French Vichy government
in the south
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Lasts until Allied liberation in August of
1944
Battle of Britain
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Lasts from August through September 1940
Fought in skies over Britain
Original plan:
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Luftwaffe gets bored
Begins bombing London and major cities
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Luftwaffe bombs RAF spitfires on the ground
Then bomb RAF radar towers
Then bomb major British cities
Force British to surrender without invasion
Causes much damage & loss of life
Winston Churchill wills his people to “never
surrender”
British RAF holds off Luftwaffe
Forces Hitler to abandon plans of invasion
Moral victory for British
Bombing would continue intermittently through out
war
Battle of Atlantic
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Lasts from 1940-1945
British and U.S. Navy
(Atlantic Fleet) square off
against German fleet
Used battleships,
destroyers, submarines
Aircraft Carriers make an
appearance later in war
Allied forces eventually
prevail
1941
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March 11: Lend-Lease Act
passed
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U.S. would lend and lease used
ships and planes to British
Proposed by Roosevelt
Passed by Congress
Helped U.S. economy
August 14: Atlantic Charter
proposed
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Endorsed by Churchill and
Roosevelt
At Atlantic Conference
Met off coast of Newfoundland
Vision of post-war world
Led to creation of United
Nations in 1945
8 Points of Atlantic Charter
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No territorial gains were to be sought by the United
States or the United Kingdom.
Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the
wishes of the peoples concerned.
All peoples had a right to self-determination.
Trade barriers were to be lowered.
There was to be global economic cooperation and
advancement of social welfare.
Freedom from want and fear.
Freedom of the seas.
Disarmament of aggressor nations, postwar
common disarmament.
Germany invades Soviet Union
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Blitzkrieg begins early on
the morning of June 22,
1941
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Violated the non-aggression
pact
September: German forces
had reached the gates of
Leningrad in the north
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Called Operation Barbarossa
Smolensk in the center and
Dnepropetrovsk in the south
German units reached the
outskirts of Moscow in early
December
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Yet after months of
campaigning, the German army
was exhausted
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Germans expected a rapid Soviet
collapse
Planners failed to equip their
troops for winter warfare
Speedy German advance had
caused the forces to outrun their
supply lines
Like Napoleon, Hitler’s forces
got trapped in a Russian Winter
In December, the Soviet Union
launched a major counterattack
against the center of the front
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Driving the Germans back from
Moscow in chaos
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
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December 7, 1941
Plan was to knock out U.S. Pacific
Fleet
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First wave attacked at 7:53AM
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Would allow Japan to expand into
Central and South Pacific
Second wave at 9AM
Japanese sunk USS Arizona,
Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and
other battleships
Bombed planes at nearby Hickam
Field and other air fields
Third wave wasn’t launched because
Japanese felt element of surprise
was gone
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Failed to hit oil tanks
Failed to hit U.S. aircraft carriers:
Lexington, Hornet, Enterprise
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Were at sea
U.S. and Great Britain declares war
on Japan on December 8
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Germany declare war on U.S. on
December 9
Japanese also captured Guam on
December 7th
1942 Pacific
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January 7-April 9: Battle of Bataan
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February 27: Battle of Java Sea
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American-Filipino forces hold on for months
against Japanese invasion
FDR demands that Allied Commander Douglas
MacArthur evacuate to Australia
Allied troops finally surrender in April
Prisoners are taken on Bataan Death March
through the jungle
Many die along way to Camp O’Donnell
Japanese try to invade Dutch East Indies
Allied forces intercept Japanese convoy
Allies forced to retreat
1st encounter with Japanese since Pearl Harbor
May 6: Corregidor falls to Japanese
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Island fortress in Manila Bay
American signal station there
Japanese occupy Philippines
Allies Turn The Tide in the Pacific
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April 18: Doolittle Raid
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U.S. bombers attack military and industrial targets around Tokyo
Showed Japanese were vulnerable to air attack
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May 7-8: Battle of Coral Sea--indecisive
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1st battle completely fought by aircraft carriers
Japanese sink more ships than Allies
But Allies force Japanese to abandon plan to invade Australia
June 3-6: Battle of Midway
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Retaliation for Pearl Harbor
U.S. learns of Japanese plan to invade Midway Island
Sink 4 Japanese carriers
Turning point of war for U.S. Navy
June 6-7: Allies begin campaign to retake Aleutians from Japanese
August 21: Battle of Guadalcanal Begins
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Allied strategy of “island hopping” begins
Japanese had taken island to build airbase there for Australian invasion
Japanese hold on for six months against Allied invasion
One of bloodiest battles of Pacific theatre
Allies take island on February 9, 1943
Begins Allies Solomon Island Campaign
1942 Europe
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August 21-February 2, 1943: Battle of Stalingrad
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October 23-November 5: Battle of El-Alamein
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Hitler’s forces try and take the strategic city on the Volga River
Then would march south into the oil fields of the Middle East
Germans have success in early months
Soviets get reinforcements
By February, Soviets force German army to retreat
1st large-scale defeat for Germans in Europe
Rommel’s Afrika Korps tries to take Egypt and Suez Canal from
British
British under General Bernard Montgomery hold off Germans
and secure Egypt
November 8: Operation Torch--U.S. forces land in North
Africa
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North African Campaign begins
U.S. troops to aid British in liberating Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
1943 Europe
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January 12-24: Casablanca Conference
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February 20-22: Battle of Kasserine Pass
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Allies liberate from Axis control
September 3: Allies land at Reggio di Calabria
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End of the North African Campaign
July 9-August 17: Allied invasion of Sicily
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Rommel’s Afrika Korps defeats Allied forces
May 13: Allied victory in Tunisia
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Churchill and Roosevelt meet
Discuss Sicilian and Italian Campaigns
Italian campaign begins
Southern Italy surrenders to Allies; Northern Italy remains in Axis control
September 9: 1st wave lands at Paestum
September 10: Allies land at Salerno
September 12-14: 2nd wave lands at Paestum
October 1: Allies land at Naples
October 13: Italy declares war on Germany
November 28-December 1: Allied leaders meet at Tehran Conference
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Joseph Stalin meets with Churchill and Roosevelt for the first time
Stalin demanded a Second Front be opened
Discuss Allied invasion of western Europe
1943 Pacific
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November 1: Battle of Empress
August Bay
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November 1-December 24: Battle
of Bougainville
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U.S. Navy victorious
Secures landings at Bougainville
Allied forces liberate the island
Ends the Solomon Islands Campaign
November 21-24: Battles of
Tarawa and Makin atolls
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Tarawa one of the bloodiest conflicts
U.S. Marines invasion helps liberate
island
Allies liberate Gilbert Islands
1944 Europe
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January 22: Allied invasion of
Anzio Beach
February 14-March 31: Battle
of Anzio
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May 11-18: Battle of Monte
Cassino
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Allies pinned down on beach
for weeks
Finally force Axis retreat
Germans take refuge in ancient
monastery
Allies bomb and cause major
destruction
June 4: Allies liberate Rome
D-Day: June 6th
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Allied invasion of Normandy, France
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Paratroopers “jumped” in behind
German lines the night before
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Troops came ashore before 7AM
Landings at Omaha, Utah, Sword,
Gold, and Juno beaches
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Helped secured beach landings
Bombardment from armada before
landings
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Called “Operation Overlord”
Heaviest opposition and casualties at
Omaha Beach
Allies finally come ashore and take
coastal region and towns
Takes them several months to
“breakout” from coast
Many regard D-Day as most
important event of 20th Century
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August 15: Allied invasion of
Southern France
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Operation Anvil/Dragoon
Allies liberate France and march
toward German border
August 25: Allies liberate Paris
Operation Market Garden
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Allied invasion of Holland
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Allied plan to invade Germany
through Holland
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Allied paratroopers make “jump”
into occupied territory
Initially a success
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September 17-25
Allies capture Waal Bridge at
Nijmegen
Eventually failed
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Allied plan to advance across
Rhine at Arnhem had to be
abandoned
Battle of the Bulge
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December 16-January 31, 1945
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Also known as Battle of the
Ardennes
Germans launch massive offense
against Allied lines in Belgium
Near town of Bastogne
Cause a “bulge” in Allied lines
Allies get reinforcements
Within weeks, drive Germans
back
Force German retreat
Last German offensive of war
1944 Pacific
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February 1-8: Allies take Kwajalein
February 18-23: Allies take Truk and Eniwetok
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April 22: Allies take Hollandia, New Guinea
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Also known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot”
U.S. Naval forces victorious over Japanese
July 21-August 10: Allies retake Guam
July 24-August 1: Allies retake Tinian
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Allies liberate New Guinea on September 17
June 15-July 9: Allies retake Saipan
June 19-20: Battle of Philippine Sea
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Ends Marshall Islands Campaign
End of Mariana Islands campaign
October 23-26: Battle of Leyte Gulf
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Last major naval encounter in Pacific
Victory allows Allies to land in Philippines
Campaign would last until May 8, 1945
1945 Europe
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February 4-11: Allies leaders meet at Yalta
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February-March: Allies liberate Belgium, Luxembourg, and
the Netherlands
March 7: Allies secure the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen
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Harry S. Truman becomes president
April 29: Italian Campaign ends in Allied victory
April 30: Hitler commits suicide
May 2: Berlin surrenders
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Last standing span over the Rhine
Allies cross the Rhine River
April 12: President Roosevelt dies
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Last time Roosevelt would meet with Churchill and Stalin
Discuss plan for end of the European war
Getting the Soviets involved in Pacific war
May 4: Germany surrenders
May 8: V-E Day
July 17-August 2: Allied leaders meet at Potsdam Conference
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Truman and British Prime Minister Atlee meet Joseph Stalin for
1st time
Discuss ending Post-war Europe and war in Pacific
1945 Pacific
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February 19-March 16: Allies take Iwo Jima
March: Allies begin massive firebombing of
Japanese cities
March 3: Allies liberate Manila
April 1-June 21: Allies take Okinawa
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May 8: Philippines Campaign ends
August 1: Soviet Union declares war on Japan
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Invades Manchuria and Korea
August 6: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
August 9: U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki
August 15: Japan surrenders
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Last major conflict of Pacific theatre
V-J Day
September 2: Treaty ending war in the Pacific
signed on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay