Download WWII Jacob Rajlich

Project Overview
Proto-Wiki
Publisher: ISS 7
Start: Dec 5, 2011
Due: Feb 17, 2012
Version 4
Proto-Wiki
World War II
Creator: Jacob Rajlich
Dec 13, 2011
World War II
Table of Contents
1. Table of Contents
2. The War on the European Front
2.1. The Beginning of the War on the European Front
2.2. Axis and Allied Powers on the European Front
2.3. Major Battles and Events of the War on the European Front
3. The War on the Pacific Front
3.1. The Beginning of the War on the Pacific Front
3.2. Axis and Allied Powers on the Pacific Front
3.3. Major Battles and Events of the War on the Pacific Front
4. The Conclusion of World War II
4.1. The End of the War on the European Front
4.2. The End of the War on the Pacific Front
5. The Aftermath of World War II
6. Works Cited
The War on the European Front
The Beginning of the War on the European Front
The war on the European Front started with one event, but there are a chain of heavily related events that occured before
the war's beginning.The event that sparked the war was when Hitler ordered the Nazi army to invade Poland. Poland had
an alliance with both England and France, so it was well protected in the sense of diplomacy. Hitler paid no attention to this
anyways, and still invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later, England and France declared war against
Germany (Brocklehurst and Brook 136). This was not the first act of aggression by Germany, however. Previously, Germany
had increased its military past the sizes set by the Versailles Treaty, and had also created an air force and navy, which was
also against the treaty. Germany had then invaded the Rhineland in March 1936, Austria in March 1938, the Sudetenland in
August through September of 1938, and the rest of Czechoslovakia by March 1939 (Brocklehurst and Brook 132). As shown
in these previous acts of aggression, the invasion of Poland was not something that was a complete surprise. Similar
events had occured before it, and the invasion of Poland might have been stopped if England and the other powers had
recognized the recurring pattern and had attempted to stop it.
Axis and Allied Powers on the European Front
AXIS POWERS:
Germany: Led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Nazi Germany had to deal with what they thought was unfair treatment
from the Versailles Treaty, which punished Germany after World War I. The large European powers of France and England
paid no attention to the disobedience that Germany had to the Versailles Treaty, until Germany announced the invasion of
a part of Czechoslovakia that had heavy German influences, known as the Sudetenland. After talking and meeting with
England and France, Hitler was allowed to reclaim the Sudetenland if he would make no more territorial advances in
Europe (Simkin). However, Hitler treated this agreement just like the Versailles Treaty, and started to plan to invade the
country of Poland. Poland had strong diplomatic ties with England and France, however. Hitler underestimated the power of
England and France and proceeded to invade Poland. The invasion was over relatively quickly, but then the real war began
when England and France declared war against Germany, thus starting World War II (Brocklehurst and Brook 136-137).
Hitler also blamed many misfortunes of Germany on people such as Jews, Slavs, the disabled, and homosexuals. Hitler
opened up concentration camps, where these people would either be killed instantly, or would be worked to death. Over 6
million people were killed through this (Madison 2).
Italy: Led by another fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, Italy was the other Axis power on the European Front. Mussolini
tightly regulated his nation, but boasted of how he was going to brink control back to Italy, and help it keep its sense of
pride (Brockhurst and Brook 126). Italy did not immediately join the war, however. After Hitler had a successful start to the
war, Mussolini immediately allied himself with Hitler. He wanted to make his country seem like it was on the "winning side".
(Brocklehurst and Brook 142-143)
ALLIED POWERS:
England: Originally led by Neville Chamberlain, England was a major industrial power before the war. Its slight isolation
from the mainland also made it a hard country to invade. After the invasion of Poland, Chamberlain resigned and was
replaced by Winston Churchill, who was very popular during his time as a prime minister for his actions during the war.
England provided many troops for the war effort, and nearly ran all of the battles on the Western front after France became
under Nazi rule. The only major attack on England during the war was the almost nightly bombings conducted by Germany.
These attacks would become known as the Blitz.(Brocklehurst and Brook 141)
France: Originally an Allied power that joined the war after the German invasion of Poland, France was taken over by the
Nazis early on. From that point on, France's only Allied fighters were those fighting in underground resistance movements.
Soviet Union: Led by Joseph Stalin, the relatively new country of the Soviet Union had emerged from a developing nation
into a "powerful industrial nation". The Soviet Union was an Allied power, but did not cooperate fully with the other Allied
powers, possibly as a result of being a Communist nation. However, the Soviet Union played a major role in the ending of
World War II. Similar to the fascist Axis powers, the media of the Soviet Union was heavily monitored and censored, and
the government had absolute control over everyone (Brocklehurst and Brook 127). The Soviet Union started as an Axis
power, but after being attacked by Nazi Germany, joined the Allied powers.
Major Events of the War on the European Front
This is a picture of the European Front during World War II from 1941-1942. Blue countries are controlled by the Axis, red
countries by the Allies, and white countries were neutral at this time.
The following is a list of major events that occured during World War II on the European front. This comes from Appendix B
of The War: A Concise History 1939-1945, pages 544-549.
Sept. 1, 1939: German Invasion of Poland
Sept 17, 1939: Soviets enter Eastern Poland
Sept. 27, 1939: Warsaw, the capital of Poland, accepts defeat and Poland becomes under Nazi rule.
Nov, 30, 1939: Soviets attack Finland
March 12, 1940: Soviets make peace with Finland
April 9, 1940: "Nazis invade Denmark and Norway"
May 10, 1940: Nazi Germany attacks the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Under intense pressure and stress as
Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain resigns and is replaced by Winston Churchill.
May 12, 1940: Germans begin invasion of France
June 10, 1940: Italy joins the Axis powers, and declares war against Britain and France. Italy starts to invade France as well.
June 14, 1940: The Nazis enter Paris, and a treaty is signed with the French on the 22nd.
Sept. 7, 1940: The Blitz begins in London.
Sept. 16, 1940: The US begins to draft soldiers during peacetime so as to be prepared if it is necessary for the US to join
the war.
April 6, 1941: The Nazis attack Greece and Yugoslavia.
June 22, 1941: The Nazis attack the Soviets. The Soviets join the Allies.
Dec. 10-11, 1941: "Germany and Italy declare war on the US." The US does the same to Germany and Italy.
July 25, 1943: Mussolini is no longer the Italian Premier, and has been replaced by Badoglio.
Sept. 3, 1943: The Allies invade southern Italy.
Sept. 8, 1943: Italy surrenders.
Oct. 13, 1943: Italy joins the Allies and declares war against Germany.
June 6, 1944: D-Day invasions of Normandy
July 20, 1944: Hitler survives an assassination attempt in which a bomb explodes underneath his table at a meeting.
Aug. 25, 1944: Paris is freed from Nazi rule by the Americans.
Sept. 8, 1944: The first V2, a supersonic pilotless missle that would hit without warning, explodes in London (Brocklehurst
and Brook 185).
Feb. 4-12, 1945: The Yalta Conference is held, in which Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discuss the ongoing war, and what
they will do at the end if they win. Russia pledges its support to help the US fight Japan.
April 12, 1945: President Roosevelt passes away, and Harry S Truman is his successor.
April 28, 1945: Mussolini is executed.
April 30, 1945: Hitler commits suicide in his bunker. Soviet flag is flown over Berlin.
May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders.
May 8, 1945: Victory Europe Day
The War on the Pacific Front
The Beginning of the War on the Pacific Front
The war on the Pacific Front started with one event, followed shortly after by many other acts of aggression. The war in the
Pacific started on December 7th, 1941, when Japan attacked the US naval base of Pearl Harbor. The attacks caught the US
completely off-guard, and allowed the Japanese to severely damage the US naval and aerial fleet located at the base.
During the attack, 18 US ships were damaged or sunk, 180 aircraft were lost, along with the lives of 2,400 Americans
(Brocklehurst and Brook 150-151). Shortly after the attacks, Japan then proceeded to invade many Pacific Islands
belonging to the US (Brocklehurst and Brook 152-153). War had begun in the Pacific, and the fighting would be long and
tedious.
The following link will take you to a website that has a speech recording of a speech made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is well known as his Day of Infamy speech.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrpearlharbor.htm
Axis and Allied Powers on the Pacific Front
AXIS POWERS:
Japan: The only Axis power on the Pacific Front, Japan was the instigator of the war with the surprise attack on Pearl
Harbor. After capturing many small US islands in the Pacific during the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, it was quite a tough
process to keep the US from gaining back their lost land after the US had repaired their fleet. After many slow battles,
Japan lost its ground in the Pacific, and surrendered after two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and when Russia
declared war on them. The Japanese were led by Emperor Hirohito and Hideki Tojo, the general of Japan.
ALLIED POWERS:
US: The US was attacked by the Japanese in the event that spread World War II to the Pacific. After being slightly crippled
through the attacks, the US was able to gain back what was lost, and win the war against Japan. In the final week of the
war against Japan, Russia joined forces with the US to end the war quickly. In the beginning, Franklin Delano Roosevelt led
the US, but after his death Harry Truman took his place.
Russia: Russia was very minimal to the success of the Pacific Front, partially because the war ended one week later. In the
war, Russia primarily attacked Japan at China, wich they had invaded previously to the invasions on US soil. Russia was led
by Joseph Stalin.
China: When China was invaded by Japan, China was not really part of the Allied powers, but bands of resistance fighters
fought against the Japanese to try and save their country, but it did not work. China was overran by Japan, but there was
still some resistance fighting occuring throughout Japan.
Major Events of the War on the Pacific Front
The following is a list of major events that occured during World War II on the European front. This comes from Appendix B
of The War: A Concise History 1939-1945, pages 544-549.
Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, damaging the Us's Pacific Fleet. Japan then declares war against Britain and the
US. US and Britain declare war against Japan the next day.
April 18, 1942: Tokyo bombed by the US for the first time.
Feb. 19, 1945: US Marines start attack on Iwo Jima
April 1, 1945: US troops attack the Japanese island of Okinawa.
April 12, 1945: President Roosevelt passes away and is replaced by Harry Truman.
Aug. 6, 1945: First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Aug. 8, 1945: Soviet Union joins the US in the war against Japan.
Aug. 9, 1945: Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
Aug. 14, 1945: Japan surrenders to the Allies.
Sept 2. 1945: The Japanese government officially sign the papers that state that they have surrendered.
The Conclusion of World War II
The End of the War on the European Front
After the D-Day landings and the Soviet's work to push the Nazis out of the Soviet Union, Nazi troops were being pushed
back into Germany. As Nazi troops retreated, they attempted to make it harder for Allied troops to follow them. The Nazis
were pushed further back after each battle, until they were pushed into Berlin. As the Soviet troops neared Hitler's bunker,
he commited suicide, throwing the Nazi Party into disarray. Soviet troops finally captured Berlin, and the war on the
European Front was over. (Brocklehurst and Brook 218-223)
The End of the War on the Pacific Front
On the Pacific Front, the end of the war was always near in the latter half, but was never certain. This was because of the
Japanese patriotic spirit, in which many soldiers would rather fight to the death than accept defeat. The end of the war
started when US troops attacked and reclaimed many of the Japanese islands in the Pacific, of which a majority had been
previously been taken away from the US. Then, as the US regained more land in the Pacific, they were able to try out their
new weapon, with devastating results. This was the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, a bomber known as the Enola Gay
dropped the bomb Little Boy over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 80,000 people immediately, and even more than
that died later from the radiation they would encounter from the atomic nature of the bomb. Japan still did not surrender.
On the 8th, Russia declared war against Japan, and on the 9th, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, which
killed more people than the initial bomb. After this event, Japan finally surrendered to the Allied Powers (Brocklehurst and
Brook 226-231).
The Aftermath of World War II
The aftermath of the war was different to all countries involved in the conflict. One similarity that many families all over
the world faced from this conflict was the death of a family member. Others were completely different from country to
country. In Allied countries, there were celebrations about the victory, but in Axis countries, people's whole lifes had been
destroyed, either through the loss of life, house, employment, or many others. Many soldiers who had fought abroad were
relocated to their original homes. However, there were some problems. For example, many Soviet soldiers defected to the
Nazis, and would be executed if they returned home. This caused the death of many Soviets who had been in one way or
another, "traitors". High ranking Nazis and Japanese officials were tried, and many were given life sentences, or were
executed. Germans were shown the horrors of the Nazi regime, such as the concentration camps, after the war so as to
show the Germans how horrible the Nazis had really been. Germany was punished heavily, but not as harshly as the
Versailles Treaty, so as to not anger the Germans into another war. Many nations involved in the thick of the fighting
received major economical problems, as they had to rebuild their war damaged nations. This is what brought the US,
Canada, Australia and many other countries isolated from the front of the war economical success after the war. While
other countries had to rebuild themselves, these countries could just continue like they had done before. World War II led
to the formation of the US into a superpower, as the Soviet Union and England had both fared harshly from the war.
Works Cited
Associated Press. Adolf Hitler. 1937. Associated Press. AP Images. Web. 12 Dec.
2011. <http://www.apimages,com>. This is a picture of Hitler giving a
speech. I plan to use this picture as a visual aid for my description of
the Axis and Allied powers in Europe.
Image ID: 371003048
Brocklehurst, Ruth, and Henry Brook. The World Wars. London: Usborne Children's
Books, [2007?]. Print. This book gives an interesting account of both World
Wars. Instead of highlighting on specific battles of the war, it focuses on
more general topics, such as groups of related battles, life on the home
front, the Blitz, and many other aspects of World War II. I plan to use
this for general information about the war.
Madison, James H. World War II: A History in Documents. Ed. Sarah Deutsch, et
al. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
This book gives a chronological account of World War II, and focuses on
some topics of the war, mainly through the voice of documents. This would
be good for a look at a first hand experience during the war, or to look at
the era.
Map showing the Axis and Allied powers in Europe during World War II. Map.
Historum. historum.com, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011.
<http://historum.com/speculative-history/
34122-what-if-germany-had-won-world-war-ii-what-would-europe-look-like-2.html>.
This map shows the land possessed in Europe by the Axis and Allied powers
during World War II. A good use would be to show land possession during
World War II on a main battlefront of Europe.
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. "Presidential Address to Congress of December 8,
1941." United States Congress. The US Capitol. 8 Dec. 1941. American
Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrpearlharbor.htm>. This
is a speech by President Roosevelt addressing Congress after the surprise
attacks on Pearl Harbor and other Pacific islands possessed by the US. This
is an excellent audio source, which led to the US's involvement in the war
against Japan.
Simkin, John. "Adolf Hitler." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec.
2011. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERhitler.htm>. This link
is to an interesting biography of Adolf Hitler. This source will be
primarily used for people who want to learn more about Hitler.
Snyder, Louis L. "Appendix B: Headline History of World War II." The War: A
Concise History 1939-1945. New York: Julian Messner, 1960. 544-549. Print.
Large book. Has a lot of detail on the war, but the amount may be too much.
On the positive, it has a very nice timeline that goes over the large parts
of the war, listing the major battles and events that occured during the
war, that would aid me in learning about events that occurred over the war
time.
USS West Virginia Ablaze at Pearl Harbor. 1941. AP Images. AP Images. Web. 7
Dec. 2011. <http://apimages.ap.org>. This is a picture of the USS
West Virginia ablaze after the Pearl Harbor attacks. I plan to use this
picture as a visual aid to my part about the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Image ID: 41120713381