Download 1 HIST 388 – The Second World War FILM: Triumph of the Will

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HIST 388 – The Second World War
FILM: Triumph of the Will
January 10, 2011
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WWII film – Triumph of the Will
o Technically excellent
o Propaganda film
o Made a little over a year after Hitler became chancellor
o Designed to build more support in 1934-35
o Dissatisfaction amongst laborers in terms of employment opportunities – oppression,
censorship
o Election campaign that would swing the public to his side
o The Documents of the Reich Party 1934 (Nazis wanted it to be seen as an historical film and
not a propaganda film which is what it was)
o First politician to use airplane in political campaign (Messiah-like imagery)
o Will never hear or see “Nazi”
o Hitler descends on Nuremberg
o Swastika flags flying
o September 4-10, Party Day (Week)
 Nuremberg was place of Party Weeks until 1939
o Hitler youth camp city outside the city of Nuremburg
 Washing, smiling and shaving
 Like a summer camp
 Compulsory service in Germany with purpose to indoctrinate (totalitarian state)
 Community spirit being portrayed – everyone healthy and well-fed
o Peasants presenting fruits of their labor to Hitler wearing traditional garb
 Shows women fawning over Hitler’s presence
o Important that storm troopers remain loyal so there is much focus on them in this film
FILM: A New Germany
January 12, 2012
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1933, Socialist Party comes to power
o Most think the Nazis are a little too obsessive at times but perhaps the time for thinking was
over
o As Hitler’s voting power was dwindling, he was brought to power
Party strength had been built up by revolutionary movements
o Legal Chancellor marched into the role of legal dictator
o New Germany was meant to last 1000 years
o Started rounding up enemies
Concentration camps
o Bullied more than they murdered
o SA boycotted Jewish-owned shops
o Anti-semitism began from the beginning
o German cultural revolution – purged of Bolshevism
o Marriage under Nazi rituals
Nazi supporters were middle-classmen
o Hitler protected these people
o Nazi was only party that promised to get Germany out of the hole
o Solidarity and all for one
o Promised work and bread for the masses – a basic need
Hitler still feared the army as they hated the SA
o Heads of the SA were arrested and killed
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Collections for charity by SS
All classes encouraged to relish the same meal
o But the industrialists stayed rich
o Supported Nazis into power
o Economy was reviving when Nazis were coming to power but they reaped the credit
o Built the autobahn (triumph of national will)
1936, 1 million came to see the Fuhrer
o He was always late; built up tension
o Women were deliberately placed in the front row
o Interrupted after every phrase by applause
o Like a mass religious ceremony
Germany had to rearm
o Hitler familiarized the citizenry with weapons in playful means
o SS tripled its strength in two years
o 1935, conscription (peacetime army of 500,000 men)
o New tanks came out into the open
o World did nothing
o New German navy was underway
o Britain signed naval agreement with Germany
March 7, 1936, troops rode over the Rhine
o Cologne went wild with relief and delight
o Hitler had taken a chance and won
Two years later, Austria lay ripe for the taking
o To prevent a plebiscite on independence Hitler marched in
o Austria became a province
o Germany’s neighbours again did nothing
Stripped Czechoslovakia of the Sudeten land and left her broken and abandoned
German troops reached Prague; no resistance
o Last democracy in central Europe was wiped out
o West no longer trusted Hitler
o Only force would stop him
Very few wanted wars of conquest as Hitler did
o Most thought they were taking back what had been taken from them and restoring the order
of Europe
Changes came drip by drip
o Not until what he was doing hit one personally that one would take a stand
November 1938, Jew shot a German diplomat in Paris (Kristalnacht)
o Synagogues were burned and Jewish shops looted all over Germany
o Thousands of Jews were thrown in concentration camps
April 1939, celebration of Hitler’s 50th birthday
o Army has increased seven-fold in four years
Hitler was demanding the return of the Dansk
o Hitler’s plan to wipe Poland off the map
o Wasn’t ready for war with Russia though
o Nazi-Soviet Pact meant Poland’s fate was sealed
All over Europe, soldiers were putting their uniforms on
Lecture
o Sept. 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany and the Dominions followed
 Canada on Sept. 10
o Not yet a world war
 Russia had signed Nazi-Soviet Pact
 Poland was re-founded in 1919
 On June 28, 1919, Treaty of Versailles was signed and Minority Protection Treaty
was signed for the restitution of Poland
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 Hitler and Stalin decided to divide it again with Nazi-Soviet Pact
When the conflict between the US and Japan began on December 7, 1941, it was correct to
say that it was now a world war
 For control of world resources (for Japan, it was mostly for oil)
More central and deeper conflict involved
 Ideology – what is first in terms of motivations? Ideology or power?
 There are realities such as territory, populations, industries
 The arrangement concerning these things was at the root of the second
European conflict
 Peace settlements were at the root
 Led to revisionist policies
 Germany was partially destroyed
 Russia was partially destroyed
 Austria-Hungary was completely destroyed
 Ottoman Empire was completely destroyed and only Turkey was left
1919, the group of powers that had ruled no longer existed
1919, nationalism, need for security (especially France), annexations, buffer territories,
revenge
French imperial expansion was a factor which conflicted with the British balance policy
First World War was settled
 June 28, 1919 – Treaty of Versailles
 Treaty of St. German
 Treaty of Triano – June 4, 1920
 Treaty of Nice sur Scene
 Treaty of Washington – December 13, 1921
Command papers (Treaty of Versailles)
 Germany lost entire navy, ¼ of fishing fleet, 5000 locomotives, 5000 motor trucks
and a great deal of agricultural equipment
 Army limited to 100,000 men
 Rhineland remained occupied
 Reparation demands on Germany were astronomical and not designed to be met
 Allies could confiscate any German property anywhere and credit it against
reparation demands
 26% export tax on all German goods to be credited towards reparation
 Hungary lost 2/3 of its territory
 Japan concluded a pact with UK, US and France signed December 13, 1921
 High contracting parties agreed to respect their rights in relation to their
insular dominions in the Pacific Ocean
 Free trade policies had been attempted but failed to solve the problems in
Japan
 Italian and Japanese aims were revisionist but were limited to attempt at regional
dominance
Germany had similar aims in 1920s but on January 30, 1933 everything changed
 Hitler appointed Chancellor
 Spoke of grievances and revision of Versailles
 Used revision demands to advance to the point to protect the time he needed for
rearmament and he would reach a point at which the other powers were realize
what he was up to
End of 1938, government of Neville Chamberlain was quite clear that there would be war
 Timing was fairly easy to gauge
 Timing was determined by Hitler’s assessment of the critical point at which he had
reached armament before the other side could catch up
January 17, 2011
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As Hitler was becoming more prominent, there were tales of his background
o Non-descript
o Bourgeois
o Failed arts student
o Draft dodger in Austria-Hungary
o Father was a customs official of modest means
o Spent his youth in Linz under increasingly despotic father
o Difficult student who dropped out
o 1907, his mother died to whom he was greatly attached
o End of the war, he was left blinded from gas attack (recovered his eyesight)
o When he heard of Germany’s armistice, he went blind again (relapsed)
o When he recovered, he was still in the army and worked as a counter agitator
o Remained in army until 31 March 1920
o Anti-Slavic and perhaps anti-Semitic due to the war
o Still believed himself to be an artist
o Read voraciously
o Nihilistic cynic – human existence as a struggle for food (survival of the fittest)
o He was not original in his intellectual beliefs – picked them all up
o All religions had missed fundamental truth – the most central factor in human existence was
biological (races were unequal)
o Eugenics
 Sir Francis Galton used this term
 Founded institute for eugenics – Society of Racial Cleanliness
 Sterilization laws (Swiss canton of Waadt 1928, Denmark 1929, Germany 1933,
Norway 1934, Iceland 1938, US 1924-65)
 Euthanasia discussed
 *Difference was Hitler was going to do it
o 1919, Hitler joined DAP
 Membership numbering system began with 501 (to give appearance of more
members)
 Fall 1919, letter in which he answered a question about Jews
 Singled out Jews under special legislation
 Jews must be removed
 *First reported utterance of Hitler on this topic
 13 August 1920, first public speech against Jews (at Hofbrauhaus)
o Nordics were the master race
 For Jews, work was punishment
o “If we win, and of course we shall win…”
o Mein Kampf
 One German state for all Germans
 Overturn Versailles
 Acquire land in colonies to feed German people
 Only members of the nation can be members of the state
o Nuremburg racial laws deprived Jews of citizenship
 Why only take their citizenship? Why not take the rest?
 They cannot go anywhere because no one will accept stateless people
o Hitler staged a coup in Munich (Mussolini had done the same in 1922)
 First acquire power in Munich and then march on Berlin
 Coup failed
 Hitler was arrested and tried for high treason and received 5 years
 This is where he wrote Mein Kampf
 Released on good behaviour in December 1924
 Germany had started to recover and prosper
o Onset of Great Depression, parties on right and left had people flocking to them
 Over 50% followed anti-democratic parties
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About a third of the electorate supported the Nazis
 Hitler was appointed Chancellor by the President
 President had nervous breakdown in fall 1931 and his term ended in 1932
 Hitler ran for President and got enough votes to win
January 19, 2012
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Before Germany wanted to rule the world, Britain ruled it
After WWI, the German spirit was not broken
Neutral countries: Spain, China, Switzerland, Holland, Australia…
Germany lost many cities by many of Germany’s enemies in the war
o West Prussia (lost to Poland)
o Rhineland was demilitarized until 1936 when Hitler marched in
o Austro-Hungarian Empire (was no longer)
o Croatia, Czech lost most of its territory
Germany was still a fairly large territory, however
1920-early 1930s, election results
o 1932, unemployment reached its peak in Germany
o Summer 1932, elections were unstable because social democrats had some taxation
difficulties
o March 1933, Hitler said there would be no elections but the center party wasn’t in
agreement
o Hitler wanted a majority government so he held another election
o This is what Mussolini had done
Consolidation of power by Hitler (political & military)
o All policy subordinated to the coming war
o Expulsion/extermination of Jews and Slavs
 Germanization
o Cabinet contained only 3 members of the National Socialist Party
 Hitler as Chancellor, Frick as ___, and Goring as Minister without portfolio
 War Minister, Blomberg, was friendly to Nazis (supporter of Hitler)
 So was Seldte – Steel Helmet (Stahlhelm)
 Stronger representation than appeared at first glance
o Hitler addressed senior military commanders at the residence of Gen. Hammerstein
 Spoke about rearmament and the coming war
 Not going to rearm in order not to use the military forces
 Expand German “living space”
 Army only used for military enterprises – not for keeping order inside Germany or
put down uprisings
 Apprehension of general strike (Hitler’s fear) and communist uprising
 SA would be used for political activities – destroy Marxism
o Feb. 4, Hindenburg signed decree giving police authority to restrict campaigning,
publications, rallies (at the request of Hitler)
 Public media, other than newspapers, were government enterprises (no private
radio)
o Goring issued “Shooting Decree” (Schiesserlass) addressed by the Prussia general
 Made legal in 1933
o Feb. 22, Goring deputized 50,000 auxiliary police (40,000 were SA and SS members) because
Prussian police was not reliable (social dems)
o Burning of Reichstag (government building)
 Possibly communist who did this + Dutchman
 Easy for Nazis to point to communists
o Next day they got another decree from President (Reichstag Fire Decree, Feb. 28, 1933)
 Suspended all civil rights in Constitution
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Personal liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of property,
freedom of press, protection against search and seizure in the home
 *Less than a week before the election on March 5
o Decree to follow special courts
 Didn’t have to hear special evidence
 Didn’t have to hear appeals
o Enabling Act in March
 444 Deputies voted for and 93 voted against
o Social Dems were suppressed, Communists never suppressed
 Communists fizzled out and disappeared into concentration camps and those who
escaped into the underground
 No candidates in future elections (as they were – show elections)
o “Coordination” was also practiced
 Throw a switch and all the lights go on, they’re in coordination (series)
 States were “coordinated”
 Universities
 Professors against the government were removed and replaced by
uneducated people with the proper political stripes
 Trade unions were also coordinated
 Churches were attempted to be coordinated
 Media also
 Jewish measures began at the very beginning
 Resulted in anti-German demonstrations globally (especially NYC)
 Hitler’s response was to boycott Jewish department stores (especially) –
closed for the day
 April 1933, only persons of Aryan descent could be a civil servant, other than people
who were in the first WW or who had fathers who fell in WWI
 SA in need of coordination because its leader had ambitions
 Commanded force of 4 million by 1934
 Believed that the new army should be a people’s army not a militia
 Training and qualifications were secondary, for him
 German army
 Needed to serve for a long time so they were a highly-trained and efficient
force
 Contrasted by the SA who were not trained, out of practice, used a political
paramilitary force, militarily useless
Danger of war against Germany (1933)
o Strike against Hitler in France, US and England
o Poland and France wanted a pre-emptive strike; France backed out
War Minister, Commander of the army, Foreign Minister, Navy – Hitler told them he would invade
Czech and Austria
o Everyone knew Czech had alliance with France
o Blomberg (War Minister), Frick (Commander) raised objections – army isn’t ready to take on
France (especially if it’s backed by Britain)
 What about Soviets? Supporter of Czech
o Feb. 4, 1938 – none of these people had their jobs (except Goring – successor to Hitler in case
something happened to him)
o Brauchistsch
 Accepted payment to his wife
 Paid alimony
 He accepted money from Hitler to make this divorce official
 Couldn’t resign because the whole deal may fall apart
Rearmament taken up seriously in 1934
o Wanted modernization (expansion of the army)
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In comparison to other countries, Germany needed a bigger army
Lots of little countries were allied with France
Couldn’t be done all at once because it was cause problems with foreign countries (ie. France
& Britain)
May 1935, Blomberg ordered study of attack on Czech but was refused
October 1935, Italy attacked Ethiopia
 League of Nations put sanctions on Itlay that were soon lifted
March 1936, Hitler occupied Rhineland
Emboldened Hitler (League was weak)
 Started testing his weapons in Spanish Civil War (supported Franco along with
Italy)
January 24, 2012
Blomberg, Fritsch, Neurath, Chiang Kai Shek, Gerald Nye, Bennett Clark, Ernest Lundeen, Stresa
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Second 4-Year Plan drafted by Hitler
o More specific
o Discussed Germany’s world historic vision to destroy Bolshevism
o War was inevitable
o Only Germany could do this
Soviets and Western powers had other interests
o Soviet wanted to safeguard the revolution and expand the ideology and governing system
o Always efforts to spread the revolution around the world
o Promoting war amongst the Western powers (wouldn’t be able to create problems for
Soviets if they were fighting one another)
o Britain felt Germany was greater threat than Japan
o The war that Britain started in 1939, was the last war that England fought for the balance of
power
No stockpiling by Hitler (no artillery shells, vehicles lasting longer than 3 months)
o It would take too long
o Be too obvious
o Give potential adversaries too much time to respond
o Would require resources that Germany didn’t have
o Next campaign, after the first short one, would be fueled by what the first had brought in –
and so on and so forth
 Minerals and grain
o Short, isolated campaigns were predicted
The memorandum (4-Year Plan), given to Goring & Minister of Finance, was seen as harmless
o Certain passages were not published
o …necessary to make investigation into debts owed to German business abroad…. No doubt
that there are funds withheld abroad. Therefore consider it necessary to pass following two
laws: death penalty for economic sabotage; whole Jewish community responsible for a single
Jew’s misdoing
o Conclusion: German armed forces must be ready in 4 years and so should the German
economy
Main features of 1930s, international relations and conflict
o Japanese aggression in far east in 1931
o Italy’s colonial war against Ethiopia in 1935
o Spanish Civil War 1936-39
 Italians send troops and Germans tested their air forces
 53 other countries joined
 Soviets
o League proved toothless; Britain practiced appeasement
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Hitler planned to annex Czechoslovakia (most importantly, area belonging to Sudeten
Germans)
o France sent in reservists and Hitler settled for the Sudetens
 Therefore, Britain could have confronted Hitler
WWII did not begin until Dec. 7, 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
o Dec. 11, 1947, German declaration of war on US
o If criterion is not global scope but military preparation, then 1931 is a better date with the
Japanese takeover of Manchuria
 Japanese wanted markets, settlement space
o America, Britain and France didn’t feel their colonial holdings were not threated
o Stalin recognized threat of 2-front war and concluded treaties to prevent attacks from the
west
 Russian-Polish Non-Aggression, 1932
 Russian-French Treaty, November 1932
o League of Nations attempted to mediate with Japan
 Feb. 1933, when Japan was accused of launching a war of aggression, Japanese left
the league
 Hitler’s foreign policy, in October 1933, culminated in the same move
 Made propaganda triumph out of it – Germany asserting herself
 No longer committed to League procedures
 His foreign policy was a story of successes already
 First great foreign policy success: July 20, 1933, treaty with the Vatican
(concordat) – assuring rights to the Church
o Vatican was first foreign power to recognize the new government
 German-Polish Non-Aggression Treaty, January 1934
o Austrian Nazis murdered, in 1934, the Austrian ____
o March 1935, the Czar was German again
o March 9, German unveiled his new air force
o Announced universal draft
French, British and ___ met at Stresa
Hitler encourage Mussolini but secretly provided weaponry to both sides
o Dec. 1935, Italians used 340 tonnes of poison gas
o 9000 Italian casualties, 275, 000 Ethiopian deaths
League lifted sanctions against Italy
Spanish Civil War, 17 July
o Began with Franco’s insurrection
Germany and Italy signed protocols for an alignment with Britain
o Unusual for Italy to do – Italy had never confronted Britain before as it was quite strong in
the Mediterranean
o With Geramn encouragement and Mussolini’s brashness, they made this agreement to
confront Britain
o Nov. 1, 1936, Mussolini called it the Axis Berlin Rome (therefore, Axis Powers found its
name)
o 25 Nov., Germany and Japan signed Anti-ComIntern Pact against Russia
 Italy joined a year later 6 Nov. 1937
 Global triangle taking shape
o Japan and Germany had talks in March 1941
 When Japanese foreign minister held talks in Berlin in 1941, he did not mention the
Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact that the Japanese had concluded in April 19141
 Neither side told the other that they were going to attack Russia
July 7, 1937, Japan attacked China
o Economic domination
o To impose Japan’s new order on China
o Dec. 13, 1937, Japanese soldiers committed Rape of Nanking
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 200,000 Chinese massacred
 Preview of the new order Japan was imposing on people
 World was appalled but no one did anything
o Chinese combined forces against Japanese
October 5 , 1937, FDR gave speech in Chicago
o Quarantine Speech
o Directed against aggression in general but especially Japanese
o Quarantine of patients in order to protect community against the spread of the disease
o Seen as a warning to the world, and especially powers perpetrating or contemplating
aggression at the time
o Hitler understoof
November 5, Hitler convened leaders of army and told them his plans
o If France and Italy got involved in war, he would immediately go after Czech and then
Austria
o Would do it in the next year, one way or another
o Necessary to expand German living space in the east
o This all meant war on a major scale
o Almost all the military leaders lost their jobs after refusing Hitler’s plans
Hitler did not want to negotiate nor did he want to make concessions
o 10 March 1938, ordered invasion of Austria
o Followed up immediate explusion of the Jews
o 30 March, occupation of Chekya which led to crisis
o 30 September, crisis was diffused by turning over Sudeten to Hitler – he was pissed because
he had to settle for less
o 26 September, Chamberlain didn’t understand why they didn’t just get written assurance
that Hitler wouldn’t try to invade Austria
 National self-determination was a strong argument
 Chamberlain knew what he was dealing with
Roosevelt would have gone further if it hadn’t been for the mood amongst Americans for isolationism
o Congressional elections in 1938 weakened FDR’s control of Congress
o January 1939, considered it too late because fascists were winning in Spain
o 3 April, 1939, US saw that general change in neutrality laws could not be achieved
o R. Dallek – American foreign policy
o Secret sales of planes to France became public
o Staunch isolationists (Nye, Clark, Lundeen)
 If Hitler invaded, it would put US in danger
 Safety of Rhine frontier is necessary to US safety
 FDR was outraged by breach of confidence when some Senators went to media
o American public changed and became more supportive of revision of neutrality laws
 66% were in favour of allowing Br and Fr to buy arms in US and use Atlantic sea
lanes to do this
German Chief of the General Staff, Beck, noted that their possibilities had not been exhausted
o Hitler suspected Beck was prepared to go beyond memoranda
5 November 1937, Hitler revealed his plans to his chiefs of military services
o Foreign minister advised caution, war minister said not prepared, Fritsch (Commander in
Chief) warned against it, Commander in Chief of Navy said nothing and Air Force (Goring)
warned against it
o Goring told Lumberg to go ahead with his lady of night
o Lumberg was forced to resign
o While they were at it, they were going to get rid of Fritsch too (charge of homosexuality)
 Later exonerated but not reinstated
When Hitler ordered the Chief of General Staff to come to Chancellory and show him pans for attack
on Austria
o Beck said he had no plans
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o Hitler said he’d send the SS and SA instead
o Beck had plans to Hitler by 6pm
o Attack went smoothly
British chiefs of staff said Germany could only be defeated in a world war
o Germans and Brits were of the same opinion
Plan for coup d’état by Beck
o But it fell flat because Brauwich misses the memo
o Beck resigned in protest against war against Czech
Munich, 30 Sept. 1938, resolved crisis as Fr abandoned Czech
Prague, 15 March 1939, is invaded
o *Point when opinions changed everywhere about Hitler
o Chamberlain made speech to Cabinet that if Germany made steps for world domination, Br
would “attack” Germany to “pull down the bully”
31 March, British PM Chamberlain announced Br would support Poland in the event of threat to
Polish independence
13 April, Chamberlain announced same commitments in regard to Greece and Romania
25 August, Br and Poland signed Mutual Assistance Agreement in which Br promised to give Poland
all the assistance in its power
o Agreement published did not mention the European power – a secret annex to the treaty did
o Must know that it was Germany that was intimated; left out Russia
o No commitment to defend Poland against Russia
January 26, 2012
Fall Weiss, Stahlpakt, Waffenss, Fallgelb, Kovalev, Timoshenko, Modlin, Molotov, Manstein, Halder, Mechelen,
Weserubung, Narvik, Gamelin, Kempf, Staedke, Stauffenberg, Rundstedt, Kleist, Reinhardt, Neuweid, Eifel,
Kampfgruppe, Montherme, Esebeck, Liurt, Ravenstein, Oise, St. Quentin, Cambrai
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Treaties are almost always meant to be permanent (until further notice)
o Just 3 weeks later, he ordered liquidation of Rumchechia
o “Prague” – occupation of Chechia by German forces
o Reaction from GB came swiftly
4-year plan was vindicated
o Seized Austria, Czechia and had their gold, military equipment, weapons, foodstuffs – all
without shots being fired
o Within a year, acquisition of two states
o Isolated these maneuvers and avoided foreign intervention
Didn’t have illusions about Britain’s position in his next move – on Poland
o Expected to defeat and occupy Poland before Britain could act effectively
Felt pressure of unstable health
o Felt that he was getting close to “age” – 50 in 1939 (April 20)
o At the time, 50 was not young (close to cancer, heart attacks)
Western armaments were catching up and war economy + consumer economy (two were
incompatible)
o Germany was approaching bankruptcy
o Another factor pushing towards war
March 21, 1939, offered Poland to recognize the corridor, support Polish territorial claims in Ukraine
o Poland had fought a war against Russia in 1920 and acquired a certain amount of territory in
the process
o Russians were looking to recover this territory
o Wanted Danzig to be part of Germany
o Demanded exterritorial road between East Prussia and German territory
o Also demanded that Poland be a springboard for the war in the east (against Soviet Union)
 Cover Germany’s rear
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Poland declined this offer (had British backing)
Wrong to think of Poland as a weak state – small but gave good account of herself against
Russia in 1920 and Germany in 1939
May 22, Pact of Steel with Italy
o For unlimited military assistance
o May 23, told senior generals that Poland was to be annihilated
Meanwhile, negotiations between Britain and Russia + Germany and Russia (since March 1939)
o German talks were described as trade negotiations (just a smokescreen)
Britain worked for anti-German defensive alliance
o Failed by August 1939
o Partly because of suspicions of Russian protégé vis-à-vis Polish army
August 1939, German-Russian non-aggression treaty
o Germans could offer better price (territory) than Britain
 Latvia, Lithuania, parts of Romania
 Certain security for Stalin
August 23-24, 1939, Tokyo protested in Berlin
o Advantages to Germany meant this didn’t matter to Hitler (having Japan temporarily upset)
Treaty between Britain and Poland was made public
o First through warning on August 24 through Lord Halifax
o Published in full on August 26 in The Times
o Contained no commitment to Polish territorial integrity but to Polish independence
Attack began September 1 without declaration of war
o Warsaw defended as a fortress meaning it could be bombarded
o British described it as a war crime and said this meant they could do the same with German
cities (waited until April 1940 though)
o Waited this long because Germans would retaliate against France (and Fr couldn’t protect
their airspace until 1940)
Britain and her colonies declared war on Germany
o September 10, Canada declared war
o Canada’s position in case of conflict had never been left in doubt
o 1937, Mackenzie King told Goring where Canada stood
o Advantage to Canada postponing announcement: US could still ship arms into Canada legally
as long as Canada was still neutral
o This huge swell of involvement in the war surprised Hitler
Germany had 4.6 million men mobilized, 1.27 million Brits
o Germany had much larger air force than Br and Fr
September 17, Russians invaded Poland
o Polish crossed into Romania
o Majority were captured in Russian territory and killed
o Germans found mass graves accidentally
o Poles did very poorly overall
October 6, Hitler spoke in Reichstach and offered peace to Britain and France
o Poland was gone and couldn’t do anything about it
o If they didn’t make peace, they were war mongerers
October 31, Russia’s Molotov agreed
o “Britain and France want war; Germany is the only one who wants peace”
o “Roles are changing”
Chamberlain answered Hitler’s “peace offering” on October 12 and dismissed it
November 30, Russia attacked Finland
January 10, 1940, German plane was forced to land in enemy territory
o Had documents that revealed the plans to attack the West in considerable detail
o Postponed until the spring
Meantime, plans were laid for Weserubung
o January 27, ordered plans to be drafted
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o Invasion began April 9, 1940
February 5, 1940, Allied War Council in Paris decided to send troops to Norway to support Finland
and stop Swedish ore supplies to Germany
o German strength was overestimated and people remembered WWI and didn’t want any
Battle of the Somme or trench warfare so they hesitated to see where an advantage might
open
February 17, plan was approved by Hitler
o April 9, Weserubung was put into action to include ___ and Denmark in German empire
o Germany made ready to advance into Belgium and France
o Encircle Paris and the come through Alsace-Lorraine
May 10, German armies advanced into Netherlands, Belgium and France
o May 12, crossed Luxembourg and Belgium frontiers
o May 13, combat command lead by Colonel Esebeck crossed the river using pneumatic boats
o German tactical air support was too widely dispersed and didn’t touch the enemy bunkers
o Instead, German dive bombers destroyed part of the German ground support
o May 15, war bridge in better condition
o May 16, Hitler decided that German intentions were not recognized by enemy and that the
rapid muse crossings were ignored so he ordered all forces for the decisive breakthrough
o Corps ordered the division to reach Liart
o When they reached Oise, Fr tanks tried to break through southward and the right flank was
endangered for a moment
o May 16 British expeditionary force palnned to board ships
 Germans won in 6 days (compared to weeks of trench warfare in WWI)
o May 17, cross Oise and Fr tanks were being difficult for German anti-tank guns
o May 18, Fr deployed tanks but fought without spirit
 Somme was crossed
o May 19, Canal de Nord was crossed
o May 20, Doual was reached, as well as Montreuil
January 31, 2012
Compiegne, Seelowe, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Ultra, Ruhr, Adlertag
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22 June 1940, French campaign over with signing of armistice
Churchill found himself PM
o Marlborough victory
o Disreputable aristocracy of which he was part
Neville Chamberlain had played himself out
o Appeasement had been a failure and disastrous
o He was not well and died soon after his resignation
o Churchill took over – no one else wanted it (England in trouble)
Mood in France
o No one wanted more war or senseless sacrifice
o Fear that France would not hold out long
11 May, Churchill authorized bombing of German hinterland
12-13 May, Hanover and other cities were attacked
13 May, Churchill delivered speech (Blood, toil, tears, and sweat)
15 May, Netherlands capitulated
15-16 May, German forces crossed through Belgium (across the Muse)
22 June, armistice
11 Nov. 1918, in same railway car in which German armistice delegation signed treaty taken back to
Compiegne
15 June 1940, Churchill’s letter to FDR
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Understand difficulties with American public opinion, but soon things will have progressed
past the point of no return
o Only declaration of US, if necessary, will enter the war might save France
o Fate of British fleet relies on America
o United States of Europe under Nazi command (if you don’t get involved)
o If we have to keep the bulk of our destroyers on the East coast, how will we cope with
threats put on supplies coming through the West?
o Please send 35 destroyers to bridge the gap until new production comes in at the end of the
year
Needed to rely on imports coming through – If Britain didn’t have the strongest navy, its very
livelihood was threatened
o Destroyers came through
o Britain and US made deals allowing naval and air forces to use British bases in the Caribbean
and Bahamas in exchange for supplies (50 older destroyers)
30 July, Commander-in-Chief of German army was weighing prospects of the future
o Hitler gave speech on 19 July which was much too long and detailed as German successes
(intended as peace offer – according to Germans)
Hitler was confronted with options – none of which were attractive
o Either further fight Britain through the means of a supply war laying siege to British isles by
sea and by air and then eventually invade southern England
o Two front war which Germany might have to fight if Britain succeeded in making alliance
with Russia
Hitler ordered both: invasion of Britain and attack on Soviet Union at the end of July
o If result of air war against Britain was unsatisfactory, it would be stopped and attack on
Russia would be launched
o 31 July, every month there were only a few days which had favorable conditions because a
landing required an approach by night so that landing could take place at dawn
 To transport troops at night, necessary for a half moon (not cloudy)
 These conditions would obtain between 22-26 August and again from 22-26
September (also a period of usually bad weather)
 15 September as earliest possible date; best time of year would be May/June,
however
Chief of General Staff (organizer of operations) General Halder
o Hitler expressed skepticism of the technical feasibility of the landing (maybe he wasn’t that
serious about landing in England)
o He felt he had to go through with at least the motions/attempt
o His real project was Russia and Jews (who were in Eastern Europe, not England)
Meantime, attempts to bolster German position on the continent by seizure of Gibraltar
o Drawn into North Africa through Egypt
o Formed power bloc with Tokyo and Madrid (but Spain and Japan refused)
o This failed
German supply war by sea and air was dangerous
o Until July, Germans were sinking more tonnage than Britain and US were building together
Battle of the Atlantic
o Won through the convoy system, shipbuilding. Decoding of enemy messages and aerial
supremacy ***MIDTERM***
o British were able to decode as early as May 1940
 Navy signals from May 1941 (ULTRA)
 Enigma machine used by Germans
 Cambridge mathematicians were able to decode the machine
 Germans found out and ended up changing their coding practice
Wolf Packs
o 20-30 submarines sidling up to convoy and taking it out
General strategic air war (terra-bombing)
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14
Begun 15 May with British aerial attacks against German cities in the Ruhr
British intention was to use bombing whenever necessary or advantageous
Nighttime bombing means area bombing
 At night, there is no way to be precise (hence, area bombing)
 Always case of collateral damage (civilian deaths)
 This was accepted by those directing bombing of German cities
o Bombing of Rodderdam took place on 14 May
 If this hadn’t taken place, the directive to bomb the Ruhr would have been delayed
 Intentional policy and not retaliation
 18 April 1941, Committee __________ minutes
o Nighttime bombing was practiced to give aerial crews more safety through cover of darkness
o Reprisal attacks were useless against this system
 No impact on the policy unless it hurt the British so much that they preferred to
change the policy
 If you couldn’t hurt British enough, they wouldn’t change their policy
 Doctrine of the Just War
Battle of Britain as a military campaign not a campaign against the civil population
o Battle between two air forces
o Royal Air Force primarily bomber air force
 Concern a “knock-out blow” that Germans or British may exact
o Bomber force was decisive force but British had few bombers, poorly trained crews, less
technology that commercial air craft, bombers had no defenses against fighter planes (193940)
o Sir Hugh Dowding and fighter command fought for the British
o German air force had superior numbers, bases closer to the targets, could reach any part of
British Isles with fighter escorts
o RAF had limited resources, only 4 new squadrons (between 15-24 fighter planes each) were
added
 Added squadrons were two Canadian, 1 Polish and 1 Czech
 700 fighter planes in July 1940
 *see WebCT notes on numbers of planes
o German intelligence believed that blockade and deprivation of supplies would be best
method against England (not destruction)
o Also believed that best effect was reduction of production on the British side (especially
airplane engine production)
o Germans estimated that British fighter production in year of 1940 came to 2790; total of all
military planes estimated at 9900
 Actual British production: 15, 049 military planes (50% more than Germans
estimated); 4, 283 fighter planes (3x more than Germans predicted)
 British had more resources than Germans expected; reason for the win on the part
of the British
o Fighter command didn’t have its full complement of artillery but fighter command had
coastal radar stations (***MIDTERM***)
 Warnings could be given in time to meet the attackers and escape being destroyed
on the ground
o 1 August 1940, Hitler ordered (Directive No. 17) a sea war against Britain (Operation Sea
Lion)
 Known as Adlertag (Eagle Day)
o 15 August, over 200 runs made between airfields (Newcastle and Weymouth – long stretch
to cover)
o 16 August, 1700 planes attacked 8 airfields
o 22-25 August, attacks continued against airfields in Southern England
o 24-25 August, bombs scattered in London (first within city limits)
o 25 August, bombers attacked Berlin
o 28 August, second British attack on Berlin (targeting residential area)
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State of the air war was that Britain had lost 359 planes, Germans lost 467 planes
4 September, Hitler allowed nighttime raids against UK
 Attacks were thinned out and less on specific targets
 Meant collateral damage was certain
 Hitler gave bloodthirsty speech – “British cities will be wiped out”)
6 September, British attack on Berlin
7 September, attack on London Docks
Wanted to defeat British air force to allow for attack
15 September, 56 German planes were lost, 26 British were lost
 Chosen for commemoration for the winning of the Battle of Britain (wasn’t over but
seen as turning point)
 German aerial superiority was not in sight, nor was navy superior
8-15 September, favorable landing conditions
 Hitler was told that the attacks could no longer be sustained
Fighter command lost in August 359 planes and in September lost 364
British lost 23,000 from July-Sept 1940
German air forces only in October lost 527 planes (German losses were consistently higher
than Brits in Battle of Britain)
Battle of Britain changed back to Atlantic theatre
February 7, 2012
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Hitler’s ambitions: living space in the east, increase the population tremendously, war against the
Jews
o Living space in the east and exterminating the Jews was highest on his list as far as Prof can
tell
After defeat of France and before battle of Britain (=designed to be in preparation of invasion of
British isles): domination of British Isles would mobilize Germany; acute danger of bringing US into
war at that point, though he probably expected the US to get involved eventually
o Occupying British isles was not attractive to Hitler, but domination of all of Europe was; and
if he lived long along, domination of the world (ex. directive to prepare advance through Iraq
in India)
Conference with General Halda (Chief of the general staff of the army):
o 8 or 9 sections: personnel, armaments, operations, intelligence, logistics, publications, maps
= all necessary for any defensive/offensive operation;
o Held much authority, but couldn’t command troops—only Commander in Chief and his
subordinates were able to do that
o Halda noted in conference: “assuming that the invasion against England does not occur, that
is to say we would not be able to eliminate England’s hopes for a change of her position, but
basically the war in itself has been won. Reasons France can no longer provide protection for
British supply, shipping, Italy ties up British forces in Mediterranean, submarine and air may
help war but would take up to 2 years. England’s hope is Russia and America. If hope for
Russia is eliminated then America also drops out because Japan is vastly strengthened in
East Asia and would tie up America in Pacific. In East Asia, there are adverse winds for
Britain. The Japanese have their program like Russia, which shall be finished by the war
[Hitler counting on Japan as ally against Russia. Something has happened in London! The
British were already quite down and now they have recovered. Russia unpleasantly
surprised [Stalin’s policy to try to have Germany and other Western powers to fight each
other. Stalin hoped Germany would be seriously bogged down in France, at which point
Stalin would pounce.] Stalin did not expect an attack in the near future, though he did
anticipate an attack by Hitler later. By rapid development [rapid defeat of France] in
Western Europe. Russia only has to tell England that it doesn’t want Germany to be large and
powerful. Then England will hope…that in 6-8 months matters will have changed profoundly
[description of how England is hoping that Russia will save it]. But if Russia is smashed then
England’s last hope has been destroyed. The ruler of Europe and of the Balkans will be
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Germany [=justification for planned attack on Soviet Union. Has to justify it. Takes pains to
justify. Is tortuous argumentation, because proposing to establish a second front, which he
always said he would never say, to eliminate danger of 2-front war. If eliminates Russia, only
1 front] = Hitler’s argumentation on 31st of July 1940, less than a year before 13 April 1941
when Japan made a nonaggression agreement with Russia.
 Don’t read this as genuine sentiment. This is his justification.
o Hitler followed up argumentation by saying “decision in the course of this conflict, Russia
must be eliminated.” Spring 1941. “The more quickly we smash Russia the better. Operations
only make sense if we smash in 1 go. A certain acquisition of territory is not enough.
Standing still in winter is dangerous, so it must be done before the winter.”
In March and April 1941, Japan and Germany held talks about “cooperation”—without mentioning
ending peace pact with Russia
Hitler ordered that Japan must not be given the merest hint about “Operation Barbarossa”— attack
on Soviet Union [in talks of cooperation, each keeping secrets from each other]
2 more miscalculations on part of Hitler:
o 1: expected to defeat UK by eliminating Russia
o 2: expected US to require 4 years to be ready for intervention in Europe (gambled on US
being committed on Pacific. Did not know Japan would attack US, though could see Japan
was expanding, threatening Australia. Hitler worried negotiations with US, which were in
progress, might be a problem if were successful, because would allow US to concentrate on
Atlantic.)
21st of March – April = attack on Soviet Union to take place
o But on Oct. 1941, Mussolini attacked Greece; Italy was defeated in Egypt in Dec. 1940, then
Mussolini asks Hitler for help in North Africa and in Albania. In December, Operation Marita
in Romania to secure Romania oil fields to occupy Thessalonica region and seize Crete,
British isle in med. German forces are scattered. Rommel sent to Africa on feb.8 to help
Italians. 17 Feb. attack on Iraq upon India. 25 March 1941, Yugoslavia joins Italy, Germany,
and Japan and 2 days later government overthrown and pact cancelled and power declares
itself neutral. Hitler interpreted this as pro-British, and if Brits in Yugoslavia, vulnerable
southern front b/c . 27 March Hitler orders occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece, took April
6-23, but was late in spring. Crete, occupied by Britain, gave British access to
Mediterranean… 25 April, Hitler orders Operation “Belcur”— airborne attack against Crete,
which began on May 20th. 24 May General Bernard Freyburg, New Zealander, given
permission to evacuate British soldiers from Crete and move to Egypt. Success of German
forces against Crete was costly—air force, Malta?
Interlude in May: flight of Depute of Fuhrer, Rudolph Hess, to Scotland
o Hess was not smart—Hitler’s depute in party matters but could not stand in as commander
in chief to decide foreign policies or run government just in case. That role was reserved for
Goring in writing and in law.
o Hess was immediately disavowed by German government, and it’s difficult to imagine a
more clumsy envoy for the mission that he has chosen for himself: persuade Britain to make
common cause with Germany against Soviet Union
o Churchill wanted to tell the world what had happened, but was dissuaded by the foreign
office servants. The British kept mum about Hess, and at one point, they let a leak out that he
had been moved to the tower in London. The British allowed rumors to circulate that
negotiations might be reached and allowed Soviets to know that they might be making
separate peace arrangements with Germany. Soviets were suspicious. British were making
ready to bomb Russian oil fields at the time, but were pushed into an alliance with Russia
after Germany’s attack
o Britain, throughout the war, pushed out Hess and Roosevelt. Not saying anything about Hess
to exert power on US, suggesting Britain was so desperate might make arrangements with
Russia—which, obviously, Roosevelt would not have and would have to be more
forthcoming in struggle against Germany.
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o
Hess was later convicted of planning a war of aggression. Russians wanted him executed.
The British, on Nuremberg tribunal (between Britain, France, US and Russia), wanted him
sentenced for 20 years, so compromise was life sentence.
February 9, 2012
Babi Yar, Breitman, Spaatz, McCloy, Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz, Majdanek
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Film to be shown this afternoon: Cross of Iron by Willi Heinrich
End of Jan to end of March 1941, staff talks between England and US
o Pres. Roosevelt and American gov’t continuously declined British requests for support in
entering the war (until late 1941)
o Support for Britain was in place
o Sales of airplanes to France and training of French pilots by Americans
o Arms shipments to Britain
o Staff talks were continuation of support, not sudden
o Principles for coalition warfare were laid down
o Included a concentration on Atlantic and European region
o If Japan entered war, US and UK would stay on defensive on Pacific until victory over
Germany (Washington Pact)
o Germany First was not entirely adhered to but Soviet Union’s involvement meant the US
could do more in the Pacific than intended
US made transition from neutrality to non-belligerence – beginning of Roosevelt’s Short of War
policy***
o American arms embargo was lifted in favour of France and Britain (cash and carry) in 1939
o Roosevelt approved building of two ocean fleet
o Preparation of universal draft
o Summer 1940, British pilots trained in America
11 March 1941, as staff talks were going on, Lend Lease Program was instituted for Britain
o Soviet Union included 5 November 1941
7 July, American forces took Iceland
o Shipping routes in North Atlantic and moving closer to conflict with Axis Powers
o It was Danish at this time and Denmark was occupied by German forces
o American navy protected British convoys and helped them hunt for German subs
13 July, Hitler recognized this and US will not succeed in provoking us before finishing with Eastern
theatre
o German offensive in Russia was faltering
o Hitler’s strategy began to wobble
o At the same time, mass murder program was being intensified
o Debates amongst historians about timing of the murder of all Jews
o Decisions were made gradually, programs expanded gradually
o Some have argued that when campaign in Russia falters, Hitler panicked and didn’t think
he’d get through killing all the Jews before losing the war so he stepped up the intensity of
the program
British and American gov’t believed Russia was collapsing until end of 1941
o Summer 1941, certainly believed this
o Hitler’s plan was succeeding
o 9-12 August, Churchill went to Roosevelt in Placentia Bay on two of their warships
(American cruiser Augusta and British battleship Prince of Wales)
o Before he embarked, Churchill signaled Roosevelt the evening of the 4 Aug
o 9 August, met on Augusta
o American ships were keeping zone time 1.5 hours earlier than Newfoundland summertime
(Prince of Wales was 1.5 hours too early)
o Churchill cross by barge to Augusta, FDR gave tour of ship and lunch
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10 August, both Churchill and FDR attended mass
During the meetings, Churchill and FDR had 6 meals together
Clear throughout the talks that the US had no intention of making and commitment or
holding out hope of a commitment
o Atlantic Charter (14 August, 1941) had 8 points
 1. Two countries sought no aggrandizement or territorial changes (echo of Wilson’s
14 Points)
 2. ___
 3. Right of all people’s to choose form of gov’t they preferred
 4. Equal terms in international trade
 5. Collaboration between all nations in economic field
 6. Final destruction of Nazi tyranny
 7. Peace that should enable all men to traverse the high seas without hindrance
 8. No future peace can be made if armaments continue to be employed by nations
that may threaten aggression outside of their frontiers (never meant to apply to the
Soviet Union)
o Roosevelt also told Churchill that he would wage war but not declare it and that he would
become more and more provocative and if Germans didn’t like it, they could attack American
forces
 Churchill told Roosevelt that if Russia were compelled to sue for peace, and by
spring 1942 hope died in Britain that America would not enter the war, Churchill
could not be responsible for the consequences
 Churchill told his war cabinet that the President took this well and that he would
look for an incident that would allow him open hostilities
o Churchill and Britain built their plans on Churchill having built a personal relationship with
the President
o Non-belligerent was writing war aims together with a belligerent in this war
 Non-belligerent was only nominally non-belligerent at this point
o Regular American convoy protection for British and Canadian convoys
o 11 September, Roosevelt order American navy to short first in encounters with German navy
units
18 August, German army high command pressed for advance on Moscow but 21 August Hitler halted
advance of the centre (the one aiming at Moscow
o Most forces were diverted North and South for advances on Leningrad and oil south of the
Caucasus
o Two political objectives: Leningrad be taken and leveled
o Once the Caucasus had been dealt with, there was to be a pincer movement behind Moscow
(fantasy of Hitler)
o As early as 11 August, army high command noted the terrible condition of roads in Russia,
large scale breakdown of vehicles, dust in moving parts (repair crews couldn’t get through)
o Germans were too precise – built their machinery too well (not sturdy but in terms of
precision which can backfire)
o Russian tanks (T-34) were a surprise because they proved invulnerable to German
weaponry except for 100mm cannon
o Hitler ordered a change of focus on armaments production in anticipation of a successful
campaign
 Now 60% short of losses in Russian campaign
 No major replacements available throughout 1942
 Production was reorganized and not till end of 1942 that new tanks came off
assembly line
o No coherent front
o 160 German divisions in Russia
 No winter clothing, equipment
 Preparations had been made for wintering in Russia but only for 56 divisions
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But all that equipment was stockpiled in Poland and had not been sent to front until
Dec. 1941 because everything was thrown into battle for the final push (attempt to
win the campaign after all)
 Leningrad was besieged
7 October proclaimed last powerful blow (Operation Surge)
 Army group centre led by General Bock
 3 armies, 3 panzer groups = 1.9 million men
 50% of tanks had been lost and 22% of other motor vehicles
 10th Panzer division had only 100 tanks left on 2 October 1941 (full strength would
have been 200 tanks)
 Incredibly, major envelopment operations succeeded and brought in 600,000 POWs
 Diseases broke out (cholera), no food, no buildings to hold these
 Most of inmates were dead
End of October, mud season in full swing and halted movement
 Halted until 15 November when it started to freeze and roads got better
 Advance on Moscow was resumed but not with the same élan and force as before –
troops were tired
 19 November, Hitler was so discouraged that he said the two belligerent groups
would be unable to defeat one another
 Hoped for negotiation with Britain at expense of France
 29 November, Munitions Minister, Fritz Todt, declared war was lost in terms of
armaments and industrial capacities and ordered termination of war
 Died in suspicious air crash
 Succeeded by Speer
 Todt was superb organizer but so was Speer
Bock’s armies reached Moscow on 2 December
 Russians still had huge reserves and 14 million soldiers
 Bock had no operational reserves, troops exhausted
 10th Panzer division had 27 tanks left
 Full strength of German division was normally 3 regiments, 1 or 2 battalions; now
how 2 regiments (significantly reduced)
 2 December, temperatures dropped to -25 degrees
 5 December, dropped to -38 degrees
 1,200 froze to death in one day
 German intelligence was still saying Russian armies had no depth and reserves had
been used up
 General Brauwich insisted on resigning and on 9 December Hitler took over as
Commander-in-Chief of army
 16 December, Hitler issued first holding order
 Every foot of captured ground must be held
 Absolute will to kill Jews before it was over
David Irving
 Nazi sympathist
 Denies Holocaust happened
 Insists on being shown that Hitler issued an order for the mass murder of Jews
 Brought a suit against American historian Deborah Lipstadt when she called him a
Nazi sympathist
 Lost the case and sentenced to punitive payments (all of his property was
confiscated and his papers)
 Kept going by people who gave donations to him
 Provoked Austria enough that they put him in jail in Vienna for a year (illegal to
deny Holocaust in Austria and Germany)
 Prosecution brought up accumulation of insinuations made by Hitler to indicate he
was going to go after Jews
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Hitler issued public threats against Jews as early August 1920
o 30 January 1939, issued threat against Jewry in Europe
o Difficult to suggest that this was merely talk
o 30 January 1941, 31 January 1942, 30 September 1942, 24 February 1943 (anniversary of
foundation of Nationalist German Workers Party) – numerous accounts of his threats
o Mass killing was meant to be disguised and he began with killing the feeble, infirmed, old –
ordered this euthanasia by word of mouth
o 1935, Hitler told president of German Physicians Associations that euthanasia should be
used but he said that it will be carried into practice in the event of war
o When Hitler found in October 1939 that nothing had been done about euthanasia, he went
into rage and dictated order on 10 October to carry out euthanasia and signed and dated it 1
September 1939
 Never signed such an order again
o Mass killing of Jews happened in Poland in 1939
o Special task forces (murder forces) were organized well in advance
o 20 March 1943, propaganda minister Goebles wrote in his diary that Hitler was pleased that
most Jews were evacuated from Berlin
 War allowed us the solution of a whole series of problems which one could never
have solved in normal times
 Jews will be the losers of this war one way or another
o Machinery was set in motion in the campaign with the Einstazgruppen operations
 Babi Yar were some of the largest operations
 Often pretexts were used: Jews shot as looters, partisans, saboteurs; some were shot
for failure to wear a Star of David on their clothing
 Poland: 6 extermination camps (Dec. 1941-Nov. 1944: in operation)
 27 January, 1945, Auschwitz occupied by Soviets
 Other 5 camps: Chilmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz, Majdanek (worst
one)
Rowen Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews
o Relies only on SS records
o 5.1 million Jews
*will continue on Thursday
February 16, 2012
Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, La Pallice, Luzon, Kwangtung, Koda-Ha, Yamamoto, Konoye, Tojo, Grew, Chiang
Kaishek, Miwa, Kure, Sato, Yokosuke, Kwajalein, Bode, Chuichi Naguno, Stark, Kimmel, Short, Kaminsky, Kidd,
Pye, Bennion, Raeder
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US did not build large navy after 1918
o Orange Plan relied on army for defense of Manila and Philippines for 3-4 months
o It would take that long for a battle fleet to cross the Pacific to wage a siege
Japanese spiderweb of bases in Pacific made this impractical without American fleets securing the
Marshalls and Carolines at least
1921-22, Washington naval conference
o Five Power Naval Limitation Treaty ***
o Between UK, France, Italy, Japan, US
o Signatories pledged adherence to a limitation upon tonnage of capital naval ships
o Moratorium on new naval construction generally
o Agreed there would be no new naval construction
o Americans agreed not to strengthen their bases in Guam and Philippines
o This was absurd
o Americans promised to defend China and Philippines but denied themselves means to do it
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As China was weakening, Japan’s economic development at home failed
o Protectionism had been attempted and failed
Japan internally was harassed by movement called Kodo-Ha
o Similar to Nazi movement
o Terrorism to intimidate government and established structure
o Aimed to expand an empire (“liberate Asia from foreign imperialists”)
1941, Kwangtung amry invaded Manchuria
o League demanded withdrawal of army
o Japan withdrew from League
1936, cancelled adherence to Naval Treaty
o Meant US was also free
o But US was in isolation mode
o American Assistant Secretary of the Navy
4 March 1933, FDR becomes President
North Carolina class, South Dakota class, Iowa class battleships were being designed in 1933
o First ships in those classes, North Carolina and Washington, were launched in 1940
o Capital ships with 16-inch main batteries (substantial piece of artillery)
o Didn’t have necessary bases
June 1940, defeat of France
o Huge upset to world balance of power
o Samuel Eliot Morison wrote about American naval operations during WWII
 “Biggest upset between 1971 and 1949”
 Why? – Germany radius of operation for submarines was vastly expanded (doubled)
because it was now commanded from Brest, Lorient, St-Nazaire, & La Pallice rather
than German ports
 Range is important with submarines
 Threat to Britain and her supply lanes were threatened
 June 1940, letter from Churchill to FDR (desperate British situation)
Japan, imperial government proclaimed counter-imperialist operations: Greater East Asia CoProsperity Sphere
o Building in Pacific and in Asia
o 1940, Japan joined German-Italian pact: Tripartite Pact
 Go to war with US if one of them became involved in combat with the country
o American navy potentially faced a two-ocean war
 Had considerably less than a one-ocean fleet
 FDR had to consider Gallop polls, minority votes, Allies, American Firsters, strength
of American armed forces, Britain’s chances of survival, Governors, Senators, world
leaders during his campaign for President
 Result: Short of War Policy ***
 Consisted of helping Britain to fight in Europe with Lend-Lease, gain time
for American rearmament, restrain Japan diplomatically
14 June 1940, Naval Expansion Bill
o 17 June, $14 billion for 2-ocean navy
o US would be vulnerable to Germany for 2 years
o Perceived danger in Washington therefore FDR’s policy to assist Britain was put in place
o American gov’t began assisting Russia in its war with Germany as well
o FDR mobilized scientist, Frank Knox (Republican)
1940, Selective Training and Service Act
o First time conscription was used in US
FDR initiated high-level strategy in Atlantic
o August 1940, conferred with Mackenzie
o US-Canada Mutual Defense Pact
 Reciprocity of use of naval yards
 Argentia and Bermuda base were granted to US as free gifts
22
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February 1941, American Atlantic Fleet was reactivated
o Admiral Ernest J. King was commander
11 March 1941, Lend-Lease was passed by Congress
o 15 March, FDR said: This decision is end of appeasement in America
“Beat Hitler First Strategy”
o Agreement between belligerent and non-belligerent
German military potential was perceived to be greater than that of Japan
o Germany threatened the Americas
o Britain was already fighting Germany and needed assistance
o Germany was fighting China and could not be assisted
American navy was to held escort convoys
o Between Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland
o As far as MOMP (Mid-Ocean (Atlantic) Meeting Point)
 This was the roughest part of the ocean
o Canadian Merchant Marine – tough battle against nature
 Had to keep secret what they were doing
 Bore brunt of the war
Admiral Durnitz (German commander of submarines)
o Wolf packs shadowed convoy by day and attacked by night
o 3-4 April, sank 10 of 22 convoy ships
Admiral Harold R. Stark (American Chief of Naval Operations) transferred from Atlantic to Pacific an
arsenal of ships
o Not yet war operations because US is not in war yet
9 April, Minister of Denmark in Washington invited US to be protector of Greenland
April 1941, any Axis belligerent ships entering within northern hemisphere would be treated as
attackers
o This now meant Greenland
German battleship, Bismarck
o Was to have companions for major operation in Atlantic but was sent out alone
o Attacked Royal Navy cruiser, Sheffield
o Able to disable all Bismarck’s guns/artillery
o 27 May 1941, crew blew up Bismarck
 2,100 German sailors did as well as entire fleet staff
20 June 1941, German sub U-203 tried to catch American battleship Texas between Newfoundland
and Greenland
o Captain assumed American battleship had been lend-leased to UK
o Attacks upon American ships were forbidden even within German-declared zone of
operations (Hitler’s orders)
 22 June 1941
 He knew he was in danger of starting war with US if he allowed this
1941, FDR ordered occupation of Iceland
o Expected defeat of Soviet Union
o Hitler knew he had to avoid these provocations
9 July 1941, FDR designed “Victory Program”
o He wasn’t officially in war
o To mobilize industrial capacity of US
o Provide for 215 division army with 9 million men
o Strategic air force and 2-ocean navy
o Purpose: liberate German and Japanese dominated eastern hemisphere
4 September 1941, British aircraft told American destroyer of German submarine position
o British aircraft attacked the sub with depth charges
o US 652 suspected the Greer and tried to torpedo it (Greer evaded the torpedoes)
o Close incident
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11 September, FDR ordered US naval vessel to shoot in sight at any ship interfering with American
shipping
o “Interference” is open to interpretation
FDR believe an incident would change American public opinion for US to enter war
October, American destroyer was torpedoed
o Was in a convoy
o Reached port but lost 11 men
o Germans thought it was British
2 July 1941, Japanese decided to continue southward expansion
o Postponed northern problem by not joining in against the Soviet Union which would have
helped the Germans
o No very profitable for Japanese
o Believed they were protected by Hitler’s attack on the Soviet Union to go forward with
southward expansion
American Pacific Fleet commanded by Admiral Richardson until February 1941
o Objected to fleet being stationed at Pearl Harbor
o Richardson wanted fleet based in California
o So he was relieved
o Replaced by Admiral Kimmel
Admiral Kimmel
o Concentrated on training
o Faced many of the same logistics difficulties
Japanese Combined Fleet in contrast:
o Well-balanced
o Thoroughly trained
 Trained in rough northern waters
o Spoiling for fight
o Numerically superior to American Pacific Fleet
o Admiral Yamamoto was commander of fleet
Pearl Harbor
o Bad decision
o American navy at Pearl Harbor was weak so why destroy the navy?
o Weakness and slowness would still allow Japanese foothold in Philippines
o Fleet in the east, for the Japanese, was threatening and unnerving
5-point war plan
o Destroy American Pacific Fleet and destroy flyers in Malay and Luzon
o Occupy Philippines
o Occupy Java and rest of Dutch island
o Develop Mayan and Indonesian resources in oil and rubber
o Subjugate China
February 28, 2012
Tojo, Sato, Yamazaki, Miwa, Hara, Inouye, Takagi, Akagi, Kaga, Kure, Yokosuka, Kwajalein, Soryu, Horyu,
Kunaiki Koijo, Nimitz, Halsey, Spruance, Imphal, Subhas Chandra Bose, Cinpac, Cinc Southwest Pacific, Shoho,
Suipan, Momp, Kerneval, Lorient, Finisterre, Sutherland, Brereton, MacArthur, Enterprise, Lexington,
Saratoga, George C. Marshall, Wilkinson, Kaminsky, Condor, Ward, Arizona (Read Admiral Kidd), California
(Captain Pye)
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*There will be a map question on the final – draw from memory a map outlining the North American
continent, Greenland, Iceland, British Isles, European continent with a few reference points (NY,
Washington, London, Berlin, Paris…)
o Alternative question: Roughly the same details in the Pacific (plus North America)
o Will send the question well in advance of the final via e-mail
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FDR was accused of goading Japan into going into war (by Republicans)
o Imposed embargoes on iron and steel gradually starting in 1940
o After Japan announced intention to occupy southern Indochina, warnings were intensified at
the end of 1941
July 1941, Britain and Netherlands joined the freeze and embargoes and Japanese supplies of oil
dwindled
o 2 July, after weeks of deliberation, Japanese Crown Council decided to continue southward
expansion but must give up plans of expansion in order to get oil from America or fight US in
order to conquer the territories with oil
o Japan went with the latter option
2 October 1941, Hall persuaded Roosevelt to reject idea of meeting with Japanese
18 October 1941, Tojo became PM after Konoye resigned
18-19 November, Japanese submarine squadrons assembled
o 28 subs left Kure and Yokosuka heading for Hawaii
o 20 November, Japanese gov’t issued ultimatum to US demanding free hand and oil – two
demands that would be acceptable to the US only after the US had been defeated
o Japanese gov’t knew this as they had already launched their attack on Hawaii
o 26 November, Japanese striking force left Tankan Bay in Kuriles for Pearl Harbor
 Mission: destroy Pacific fleet and military aircraft on Oahu
 Orders: march without radio contact for 11 days; sink at sight any American, British
or Dutch ships to ensure secrecy
o Orders: if they were detected before 5 December, abandon mission and return home
6-7 December, 5 sub transporters launched their subs to penetrate Pearl Harbor; others stopped
near Oahu to torpedo any escaping American ships
o 6:00am on 7 December, Nagumo reached launching point
American commanders on the outpost of Hawaii were warned that war was possible
o One of many warnings in 1941
o Told that attack was likely on 29 November
o Nothing happened and although Admiral Stark had additional information that an attack was
going to happen, he didn’t want to cry wolf again
o Warned that Japanese would try to move against Philippines
2-5 December, training flights taking place around Hawaii but none on the 6 of December (because it
was a Saturday)
o Enterprise was delivering planes to Wake
o Lexington was delivering bombers to Midway
o Saratoga was on west coast for maintenance
6 December, gov’t in Tokyo instructed Japanese ambassador in Washington to take actions
o 14 part telegram
o Final installment told ambassador to tell US that Japan was breaking relations with US
o First 13 parts were successively decrypted and shown to Roosevelt evening of 6 December
o Roosevelt knew that this meant war
o Army Chief of Staff, Gen. George C Marshall and Admiral Stark were not informed by officers
of arrival of telegram
7 December, 9:15am, Part 14 reached Admiral Stark
o But the time this was to be delivered was not in the 14th installment
o 10:30am, time of delivery message came through
o Naval intelligence officers guessed reason for time given: 1:00pm Washington time; 7:30am
Hawaiian time when it was just light and night at Manila and Guam so that these could be
excluded as targets
 Clear that the target was Hawaii
 Naval intelligence chief, Captain Wilkinson, ______
o General Marshall must send warning; ordered warning issued to Kimmel at once
 Army radio wasn’t working and the officer in charge of sending messages by radio
couldn’t send it and sent it through Western Union instead
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 Several hours after attack was over, messenger delivered message to General Stark
7 December, minesweeper (Condor) and destroyer (Ward) were on patrol south of Oahu
o 3:55am, Condor sighted a periscope two miles offshore
o Neither captains reported the incident to naval headquarters
o 6:33am, patrolling Catalina flying boat sighted a periscope
 6:45am, Ward shot at a midget sub
 6:51am, Ward reported this to HQ
 7:12am, Kaminsky received message and tried to pass word to fleet HQ but only had
one telephone operator and had difficulty raising anyone at that hour of the
morning
o 7:00am, another patrol boat sank another sub and reported this in code (contrary to
instructions) so there was a delay in deciphering
 Once decoded, three naval commanders thought this was a mistake
 Still talking about this when bombs began to drop
o Army lost an even better chance to warn
 6 army radars on Oahu coast
 7 December, one of radar stations had not shut down but the two privates in
training were eager to train further
 They spotted a reconnaissance plane
 Reported this to duty officer who also happened to be in training
 Told them to forget it
o 7:55am, attack began in earnest on Oahu air fields and ships in Pearl Harbor
 By 7:58am, two battleships were sinking and hundreds of seamen were dead
 This battle took only minutes, less than an hour
o First phase: 7:55-8:55am, 90% of damage was done
 Arizona was sunk (along with Rear Admiral Kidd)
 California (along with Captain Pye)
 Numerous cruisers and destroyers were damaged
 Did not include aircraft carriers that would take on the Japanese at Midway
o Over 2000 military personnel were killed, 75 citizens
o United all Americans in grim determination to win
 America had the greater resources
 Japan would not hold up in the long-term
8 December, US declared war on US
o 4 December, Hitler already knew and decided on war against US
o 11 December, Germany, Italy and Japan signed joint war pact
16 December 1941, Moscow, Stalin revealed to British foreign secretary his war aims
o Restoration of Soviet western frontier (including Poland)
o Annexation of Pitsamo
o Annexation of German territory by Soviet Union and Poland
1 January 1942, 26 governments signed Washington Pact (including Soviet Union) ***FINAL
o Agreed that the principle “Europe First” was guiding principle of alliance
o Situation in Europe had to be cleared up first, in spite of Pearl Harbor
o Destroy German militarism
o Fight for total victory
o Unconditional surrender of Japan before armistice was concluded
 Unconditional surrender formula (officially announced by FDR in January 1943 at
Casablanca) was there from 1939
o Total disarmament of Germany would not come without unconditional surrender
o Confirmed democratic aims of the Atlantic Charter
March 1, 2012
26
Takagi, Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu, Kunaiki Koiso, Nimitz, Hasley, Spruance, Imphal, Subhas Chandra Bose, Henyang,
CincPac, Momp, Shoho, CinC Southwest Pacific, Saipan, Kernevel, Lorient, Finisterre, Sutherland, Brereton,
MacArthur, Karel Doorman, Fletcher, King, Ingersoll, Donitz
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Ability of US to meet challenge of December 1941 was never in doubt
o US sank more Japanese merchant vessels than Japan was able to build
o 1939-40, US built 40 million tones of merchant vessels
o US was determined to take over all command and but in charge able commanders, Admiral
Nimitz in the Pacific
 CinCPac – Commander in Chief Pacific
o Admiral MacArthur became CinC Southwest Pacific
8 hours after MacArthur got information of attack on Pearl Harbor, his airplanes were still on the
ground
8 Dec. Japan occupied Thailand
o 15 February, Singapore taken by Japan (Br’s worst military defeat in its history)
o 26 March 1942, Churchill told his committee of the defeats around the Pacific
o 9 April 1942, Philippines capitulated
Tokyo decided on naval advance into Indian Ocean to take British Eastern Squadron
o April 1942, Japanese attack on Saylon was a failure
o Postponed Indian Ocean plan, attacked Australia instead beginning with New Guinea
Coral Sea was a ray of hope
o Russia defended Leningrad
o When Japanese attacked New Guinea, US sent battle troop to the Coral Sea
 3-8 May, sea-air battle of the Coral Sea
 7 May, Japanese mistook American oiler for a carrier and attacked it, lost two planes
and lost chance to attack two carriers Lexington & Yorktown
 Vice Admiral Takagi ordered search for American carriers
 Did not find them but lost 9 planes, 2 fighters
 After dark, 6 Japanese planes mistook Yorktown for their own carrier
 8 May, two groups finally located each other
 Planes bombed each other
 Americans lost Lexington but the Yorktown survived to fight at Midway
 One of two Japanese carriers took two months to repair, not in time for
Midway
 Shoho was sunk; Shokaku took awhile to fix
Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942
o 5 May, Japanese Imperial Headquarters order Yamamoto to occupy Midway
o Yamamoto followed order and intended to draw the American fleet out to the Aleutians
o What Yamamoto didn’t know was that Nimitz knew what Yamamoto was planning
o Only two islands of the chain from Hawaii to Midway were dry land (the rest were more or
less under water) – they were both less than 2 miles long
o Yamamoto had 16 subs, 4 carriers, 5,000 men in 12 transporters to occupy Midway, 2
battleships, 6 heavy cruiser
o US had 76 warships (1/3 didn’t get into the battle), carrier striking force was commanded by
Admiral Fletcher
o Admiral William Halsey’s task force (No. 16) which had carried out a raid on Tokyo in April
was commanded by Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance
o Admiral Spruance had two carriers: Enterprise and Hornet; plus the carrier Midway
 Also had knowledge of where the enemy planned to attack
o Yamamoto engaged in diversionary tactics trying to draw Americans north to the Aleutians
 Dividing his forces several ways
 One towards Aleutian harbor
 Another group of carrier planes would then bomb American ships
 Nimitz kept his force concentrated
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Nagumo’s strike force was spotted on 3 June
4 June, Japanese began bombing Midway at 6am
Losses were heavy on both sides
Reports said that Midway needed to be bombed again so Nagumo planned it
Search plane found 10 enemy ships to the north were none were supposed to be
Nagumo ordered planes to attack the ships
Meanwhile, Spruance decided to attack Japanese carriers at once (he thought planes were
refueling to go back to Midway)
o Spruance’s planes attacked at 10:24am
 Most planes missed or were lose
 For 100 seconds, Japanese thought they had won the war
 Then came the American divebombers at 10:26
 Sank Japanese carriers Akagi, Soryu, Hiryu
o Yamamoto still had more firepower than Americans but he had lost his major carriers
 Japanese navy had never known defeat in its history
 2:55am, 5 June, Yamamoto ordered retreat
o Spruance wisely didn’t pursue Japanese
 Would have run into entire Japanese battle fleet
o Japan cancelled conquest of Port Moresby and Samoa
 On defensive for rest of the war
o American counterattack was coming
 7-8 August, American marine corps landed on Solomon Islands
 Battle was long and war of attrition
 February 1943, Japanese finally pulled out
War crimes in the Pacific
o Mostly Japanese
o Enemy was demonized as white bastards and therefore psychologically distanced
o POW treatment, mass rape seemed to be easy things to do
o Means of pacification in Singapore…
o Doctors, nurses were driven into sea by machine guns
o Murdered 250,000 in a Chinese province
o Total deaths in northern China was 2.3 million
o 2 Japanese officers competed to see who could kill 150 Chinese faster with their samurai
sword
o December 1941, in Hong Kong the Japanese raped 10,000 nuns and other women then killed
them in public with 50 British officers
o American and Allied forces did not take Japanese prisoners
Allied strategy
o Since Feb 1943
o Two directions
 Southwest in direction of Philippines
 And ____
o Method of advancing in Pacific required island-hopping
 Capture of islands was limited to those that were suitable for air bases
 Didn’t seek to kick Japanese off every single island
o Sea lanes made no longer safe for Japanese
Japanese response
o Japanese launched an offensive in northeast India
 19 March 1944 – 22 June
 British gave up Imphal
 In monsoon rains of that summer, Japanese offensive collapsed
 This was Japan’s Stalingrad
o Doubts raise din Washington about CKS’s ability to lead and control China
 8 July 1944, Saipan was occupied
o Japanese PM Tojo resigned 18 July 1944
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 Succeeded by Kunaiki Koiso
Events in Atlantic
o Issue was supply lines in Europe
o Second issue was re-conquest of European continent which required control of Atlantic and
North Sea sea lanes
o Lend Lease helped and entry of US too
 American resources were stretched until ship yards were built and draft was put in
place
o American command consisted of Admiral King in Atlantic and Admiral Ingersoll Commander
in Chief Atlantic in December 1944
o American and Canadian activities concentrated on escorting convoys
 Canadian navy had job of bringing slower moving ships to Momp (Mid-Ocean
Meeting Point) where Royal Navy took over
 Americans were in charge of faster moving ships to Momp
o Meanwhile, German naval forces were doing damage to British and any Americans that
showed up
 Air cover was limited to a region at each end of the convoy route and from Iceland
o Germans had mostly subs, not much of carrier or battle fleet
o End of 1942, 4-engined liberators were operating from Greenland but left dark pocket
around Azores
 Premier of Portugal in May 1943 decided that it looked certain that Allies would win
the war so made Azores available to Americans
o Admiral Dontiz of German sub corps could wait for ships before the convoys
 Now escorted convoys foiled this method
 Answer was the Wolf Packs
 Up to 20 subs would wait, observe a convoy aided by decoded messages off
the convoys
 Then they would pounce at night when the ships passed their way
 Royal Navy used HFDF (high frequency direction finders) to plot sub positions
 British code school monitored communications between subs and sub HQ
o July 1942-May 1943, American rerouted 103 of 105 North Atlantic convoys
 Only 16 convoys ran into Wolf Packs
 But still Donitz was doing very well
 During August 1942-March 1943*** during U-Boat Blitz, German subs sank 2,000
Royal Navy and neutral ships
o Necessary to decipher German radio traffic which was ciphered by Enigma
 Enigma was invented in 1918 and had 712 million combination of keys
 German army adopted it with a few refinements
 Polish mathematicians in 1934 had help from a Pole working in the Enigma factory
in Germany
 1937, able to construct a replica which found the Enigma keys by rapid
testing of tens of thousands of possible combinations
 Enigma wheels were captured on German sub which sped up the process of
deciphering
 End of May 1941, end of July 1941, British captured codes which allowed them to
read German orders within 18 minutes of receipt
 They deciphered German signals until January 1942 with maximum of 1-3 days
delay
 Then Germans entered new machine
 Blackout January-Dec. 1942
 Through captured documents in mid-December 1942, Fletcher was able to
read German code again
 mid-March 1943, 4 great convoy battles in which 20% of convoyed ships were sunk
 Then the cryptanalysts again broke the key
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This is the end of the Battle of the Atlantic
Conference
March 6, 2012
German & American tanks in North African campaign
 German
o Panzer 1 tanks
 Prewar light tank
 No for combat but for training – but saw combat
 Thin armour
o Panzer 2
 Had cannon but thin armour and vulnerable
o Panzer 3 & 4
 Most important tanks numerically
 Panzer 3 was going to be used to fight other tanks and 4 was going to be used for
infantry support but gave the 3 a smaller cannon
 For a while, Panzer 3 was outperforming Panzer 4
 US
o M3 Stewart
 Could n to compete with Panzer 3 and 4
 Didn’t have far range so was often stranded without fuel
o Lee
 Well-armoured
 Had high profile so large target
 Fires were easily started due to poor ammunition storage
o M4 Sherman
 Backbone of Allies in NA
 75mm cannon
 Could handle Panzer 3 and 4
o Tiger 1 for Germans
 Dominated open plains
 Virtually impenetrable until close ranges
 Not very mobile
 And didn’t send enough to NA to make a difference
o Germans usually had tactical advantage
 Slight tech advantage
 All this was erased by Allied numerical advantage
 German supply lines were vulnerable coming from Italy
 Rommel was often left strapped for supplies with tank manoeuvres
British and German air forces
 German pre-war strategy
o Luftwaffe
o 1933-37, Hitler focused on continental land warfare
o Air force and ground support
o BF-109 and BF-110
 Britain
o “Bomber will always get through”
o RAF became composed as bomber command, fighter command, and coastal command
American and German air forces
 Both believed in strategic bombing but only one had enough manpower to build enough
 Luftwaffe
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o Started air force from scratch in 1935
o Had good pilots
o Air craft designs were always “interim” designs
o Maneuverability suffered
o Sitting ducks for the Americans by 1944
o 1935, general strategy was conceived as continental war
o Germany didn’t have resources for 4-engine bombe
Americans
o Designed B-17
o 1942, General Arnold started amassing these in England and started bombing missions in
August
o Decided in Casablanca in 1943 that Americans would combine bombing with RAF (air
superiority = knocking out Luftwaffe factories)
o 1944, Americans decided to bomb fuel supplies
 Tech war was won
o American production was huge
 As war went on, overpowered their opponents by bombs dropped
 B-51 fighter was superior
 Able to land troops in Europe
 Tactical air bombing as well as diversification of air force
Battle of the Atlantic: The Role of Radar
 Maintaining the Atlantic trade routes open
 4 phases
o Last phase: radar becomes crucial
 Wolfpack tactics
o Subs disposed in a chain on the surface in packs could identify approaching merchant ships
o Constant contact with each other and HQ
 ASDIC’s shortcoming
 Radar important for rerouting to avoid U-boats
 HF/DF Huff Duff helped find U-boats
 Aircraft armed with this radar made the difference
 Allies able to engage U-boats eventually thanks to this ability to locate
U-boat war on Allied shipping
 1939, Britain imported 55 million tonnes of goods
o Important for survival of British attacks on continent
 British convoys avoided U-boats
o Escort boats could retaliate
o Escort carriers allowed for air support when convoys came under attack
 Huff Duff found U-boats
o Locate U-boats by triangulating their position
 Decryption of German codes used on U-boats
o Enigma machine’s development led to blackout period until 1942
Soviet and American Relations 1941-45
 Before 1941
o US and USSR had strained relations
o US was wwary of commnist gov’t since 1917
o 1939, USSR occupation of Poland
o Signing of Soviet-Japanese Pact in 1939
 Increasing aggression of Germans and defeat of France
o FDR was afiraid of German domination of Europe
o Negotiations began in July 1940
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o 1941 marks beginning of cooperation
o Lend Lease in 1941
Alliance was shakey
o USSR refued to aid Polish army because of anti-Soviet sentiment
o Opening of second front in west
Integral to Allied victory
o Succeeded in waring down German resistance in east
o 1945, Truman Stalin and Churchill met
 Dificulity in agreeing over postwar strategy
 US and USSR found themselves at odds
o American and British attitude
 Expected sole influence over their spheres and some influence of Russian spheres
Fate of Germany caused most problems
o Caused Cold War
o Alliance was to defeat Hitler, out of necessity
Unconditional Surrender on Axis Powers
 Casablanca Conference, word “unconditional surrender” was first used
 Jan. 24, 1943, at press conference to close conference
o Roosevelt announced this
 What is unconditional surrender?
o Party has no negotiation
o Nothing is promised to them
o Germany , Japan and Italy to be comepletely defeated
 Treaty of Versailles left Germany fairly strong after WWI
o 1930s, Hitler disregarded Treaty
o Wanted to avoid this
o Forcing unconditional surrender, Germany would have no bargaining tools
 Western powers discussed unconditional surrender
o One of problems: may have had separate peace between Soviets and Germany without
unconditional surrender
o Main argument: unconditional surrender prolonged war – could have started negotiation
with German opposition sooner
o German opposition wanted strong Germany still intact
 1943, unconditional surrender was implemented and Allies never backed down from it
Radar in the air war over British Isles in Battle of Britain
 Robert Watson Watt invented radar before the war
 By 1940, Germans had it too
 Two air forces were fairly equal (British and German)
 British were successful with their radar but Germans were not so much
o British could spot all planes coming and Germans didn’t have as many outposts
o Germany invented radar attached to bombs so pilots could see below them
 British developed G and Oboe
o British liked to bomb at night
o Played more importance after D-Day in strategic bombing raids
 British won air superiority
 End of war, radar was advanced enough that British anti-aircraft guns were equipped with radar
March 8, 2012
*Need to name and describe phases of the Battle of the Atlantic as well as phases of strategic air war
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Since airplanes existed, aerial bombing was possible and it put the whole of the enemy territory,
depending on range, within reach within hours
o Even in WWI when large parts were occupied by enemies, large parts were not and were
never reached
As a result of this, civil populations were also within reach within hours
o Military commanders had dilemma – avoid civil population in military operations or
consider them collateral damage
o Answer: theorists planners said enemy’s territory was a combat zone and added to this the
doctrine of the “just war”
o Military commanders must use what is effective
o All military staffs feared and planned for a knock-out blow
Strategic air war that was thus contemplated was also an alternative to naval blockade (especially to
the British)
o Was the naval blockade effective? No – Germany had not yet capitulated
o Neil Ferguson believes without entrance of US, Germany would have won
Also an alternative to mass slaughter in Flanders
Beginning of strategic air war: 1 September 1939, both sides Germany and Britain + France
(supported already by US) took positions ostensibly in conformity with international law (even
though there was no international law)
o Hague rules of air warfare were written in 1923 but never ratified
o PM Chamberlain, 21 June 1938 (during Czech Crisis), said in H of C that there was no
international code of law with respect to aerial warfare which is the subject of general
agreement
 Nonetheless there were three rules that could be applied to aerial war
 Illegal to bomb civilians and deliberately attack them
 Targets must be legitimate military objectives and capable of identification
 Reasonable care must be taken not to bomb a civil population
o 22 August 1939, British air ministry issued instructions quoting these principles
o 1 September 1939, FDR appealed to all sides in conflict for humane air warfare
 Allies responded that air attacks would be confined to military objectives (but that’s
all they said)
o 2 September 1939, Anglo-French declaration, military objectives in the “narrowest sense of
the word” (more confining)
o Hitler echoed this confinement
Until 12 September 1939, German air force adhered to this commitment
o Evidence reached Britain of indiscriminate bombing of Warsaw (open town = not defended
by fortresses)
o Warsaw was a defended fortress so legitimate target but bombing of Warsaw was not
confined to military objectives
 Important for the British
o British Cabinet discussed policy on 14 October
o 16 October, chief of air staff informed Air Marshall Barratt (France): No longer bound by
restrictions of 22 August nor by acceptance to Roosevelt’s appeal; action is governed by
expediency
 Conserve resources
 Halting enemy action
 Take into account neutral opinion (avoid retaliation)
o Now that the Germans had breached a rule (humanitarian rule; respect), British said they
could break it too
14 May 1940, bombing of Rotterdam by Germany
o It was legitimate but the attack order was countermanded while the German bombers were
in flight because of armistice negotiations that were in progress
o Countermand was ignored but some but not by others
o Also dangerous to land with a load of bombs (could have dropped them into the sea)
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Generally viewed as an atrocity based not on intent but the result
Commander of Air Fleet 2, Gen. Kesselring, claimed he had no knowledge of armistice
negotiations in progress
 Prof finds this hard to believe knowing Kesselring’s behaviour in March 1944 and
his trial in 1947
15 May 1940, Cabinet authorized attack of Rhur (German industrial district)
o Meant any city that one can find that seems worth bombing is free for the taking
o This begins Phase 2
o RAF bomber command began strategic air offensive on this day
o Not indiscriminate at first but 100 bombers made a nighttime raid and civilian casualties
were expected
 No bomber force able to hit targets perfectly even in daylight
o A lot of collateral damage
o Major bombing offensive could not be risked due to German air superiority (in order not to
lose entire attack force)
o Could be risked even less after German occupation of ___, Belgium and France
o British fighter forces had to be preserved for defense of British Isles
o French requested more air protection against German air attacks but not acceded to bc
British had to preserve their forces for the imminent Battle of Britain
16 May, British Expeditionary Force began evacuating France
o 6 days in they had given up on France
Before the Battle of Britain (included in Phase 2 or intermediate phase), Germans didn’t have
resources to create precondition to knockout British defenses to bomb effectively
Hitler hoped to persuade Britain to get out of war before B of B; during B of B he hoped to take her
out of the war
o German air force acted generally out of restraint towards Britain until 1944 due to fear of
British retaliation
o British position did not accommodate them
It was later reiterated in the minutes of the War Cabinet Defense Meeting regarding RAF bombing
attacks on Berlin:
o Not a reprisal but part of the regular policy adopted by the RAF under instructions of the
gov’t of bombing all objectives in the two guilty countries (Germany and Italy) which are
most likely to weaken their military and industrial policy
o Will be continued to end of war on increasing scale regardless of attacks on British Isles
Answer to not wasting bombs, missing targets was carpet bombing/area bombing
o Start at a certain line and drop all the bombs you have while flying over a certain area until
the container is empty
o These considerations that went into aerial bombing are complicated
 In British view, moral of the enemy civilians was considered a priority target
 Guilt of civilian population rather than the gov’t
 This was a fiction used to justify attacks on non-competents
German gov’t and air staff were also willing to attack morale of civil population
o Only when they were prepared to do so, they did not have the means
o September 1939-June 1940, Hitler was afraid of attacks on the Ruhr which he feared would
cripple industry
o Only V1 and V2 rockets launched since June 1944 changed this for a few weeks but they had
poor accuracy and limited effectiveness
o German launching sites were within easy striking distance of British bombers and their
striking sites were betrayed to Allies due to spies
Primacy of bombing offensive against Germany was authorized on 15 May 1940
o Directive now authorized bomber command to use his fleet without concern for civil
population and in particular industrial workers
Phase 3 – 28-29 March 1942, bombing of Lubeck
o Area bombing began the offensive
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14 April 1942, Hitler commanded German air force to expand its operations to retaliatory attacks on
cities except London
o 24-25 April (nighttime), 25 German bombers attacked Exeter
o 24-27 April, 468 British bombers dropped bombs on residential quarters of Rostock
 60% of old city was burned down and 204 killed
 Rostock industrial park not attacked at all
Except for a few months in 1942, indiscriminate bombing did not begin until 1944 (when Germany
had the resources)
Both British and American forces used nighttime carpet bombing to destroy much of German war
industry and transport system
Allied offensive, 17 August 1943, had serious setback
o American B17 bombed Schweinfurt and Regensburg (ball bearing industry was the target)
o In this raid, 16% of B17s were lost (usually cut losses at 5%)
o 14 October, major raid on Schweinfurt, 26% were lost
John Kenneth Galbraith (economist)
o Charged with preparing US strategic bombing survey
o Came to conclusion that it had been ineffective in ending the war
o As a result, when he was a candidate for position at Harvard, he was blackballed by thengov’t
Allied bombing offensive killed 456,000
February 1945, numbers killed in Dresden not known because too many bodies were burned beyond
the point of recognition
Both sides employed as much as they could bombing of industry and military as well as on civilians
o Did so without much impact on each other’s war-making abilities
o Resulted in decentralization of German ball bearing industry
March 13, 2012
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Early 1930’s GB imperial defence sub-committee said that the ultimate ? would be GER
Seemed obvious that JAP would not suddenly stop their endeavours
Nevertheless the imperial subcommittee described GER as the enemy – as it was closer to them
In CAN too the prospect of war in EU was received and not only because the GB govt sent people
to CAN to train air pilots
o Would take less time to build a plane than train a pilot, but relying on machinery can be
difficult
CAN govt began planning internment operations as early as 1936
o 20 August 1936 – order in council called PC2097 formed the CAN defence committee,
the architect of handling enemy aliens was Ian McKenzie
o the CAN defence committee was divided into sub committees 2 years later – one on the
treatment of enemy aliens on the outbreak of hostilities
 tells something of the mindset of CAN govt
CAN was getting ready for the war PM King was a closet anglophile – he had to be careful in
order to keep QC and others
GB – each commonwealth was capable of managing their own affairs, and if their peace was
threatened there was little doubt that all parts would resent it, destroying any part of the empire
would cause all to review the situation in their own and in their whole
o Again highlights the extent to which Hitler was gambling
23 August 1939 when war was obviously very near – CAN: state of apprehended war
1 Sept 1939 – war measures act went into effect and civil rights were suspended
o GER sympathizers were rounded up by the RCMP
o All GER arrived in CAN after 1922 were forced to register with the authorities
o 850 GER-CAN were interned out of 600,000
10 September 1939 CAN declares war on GER
o the documents were sent to GB, but lost
o the declaration didn’t become official until November 1939
CAN forces – 4,550 army regulars, 60,000 militia reservists, 4,500 RCAF, 1,800 men and 13 ships
formed the Royal CAN Navy – never a very large force in peace time (in 1930’s Navy was
threatened with extinction)
16 September 1939 first convoys departed from Halifax, escorted by CAN destroyers
for a time convoy was boring, GER didn’t bother sinking decrepit CAN ships
RCAF had also been severely cut in the 1930’s – strange contrast between GB and CAN
o At same time that possibility of war is realised the arm forces are reduced
o Although RCAF was cut, many airfields were available
Air training plan that was being used killed 1,000 men in training
1/3 of Royal air force of bomber command were CAN, NZ, Australian and Africans
RCAF number one fighter squadron flew the Hurricane in the Battle of Britain
As squadrons became operational they were absorbed with GB
The employment of the army was a issue which the govt and public were aware of because
circumstances resulted in the CAN overseas force being employed for a very long period
Defeat of FR and GB in FR disrupted plans for CAN employment in the war
13 November General Henry Dunkin established CAN in London
CAN landed in FR, and 4 days later FR signed armistice on June 22, went into effect 25 June
1st and 2nd division were committed to the defence of GB against GER invasion
Talk of deployment in the Mediterranean theatre, PM King and CAN govt were hostile to that idea
Morale of CAN forces was suffering for lack of opportunity to fight
19 September 1941 GB govt asked Ottawa to send CAN to Hong Kong to reinforce against the JAP
– they approved 2 October 1941, King did not object this time
25 December GB governor surrendered (?)
Versailles – JAP govt demanded recognition that all humans were equal, but President Wilson
said no, he was worried about the vote in the south of USA and the JAP felt deeply humiliated and
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insulted, and now that they were fighting western troops they were going to take their revenge
for Versailles
o Partial explanation for JAP atrocities
o Also that all the JAP soldiers knew the rules of war, but every officer, commissioned or
non-commissioned could beat his subordinates with sticks and whips and they were not
prosecuted
 Soldiers who were accustomed to mistreatment will perhaps not be very tender
when with enemy POW’s
JAP in Hong Kong massacred POW’s, hospital nurses, wounded soldiers in their beds
o POW’s forced to work in mines for 12 hours a day with 800 calories a day
1,425 of 1,975 who had sailed returned home (550 were dead by that time, only 290 killed in
action)
CAN formed the main force on the 19th August 1942 of the Dieppe raid
o Whether it was an attempt to invade the continent, but it was certainly a gesture to
Stalin who was pressuring the West for the establishment of a second front in EU – RUS
was doing all the fighting in 41 and 42 against GER, and although they had been able to
hold on they still had a hard fight on their hands and the turing point of Stalingrad didn’t
come until January 1943
o Dieppe raid – 6000, 5000 were CAN – CAN lost 907 dead, nearly 2000 captured
o GB also captured GER and they shackled them
o GER retaliated in October 1942 and shackled GB and CAN prisoners
o GER were holding all the Canadian prisoners and only a few GB prisoners, but GB
announced reprisals before they consulted CAN govt which would be concerned about
the repercussions
o The reprisals were carried out against the CAN, the Canadians themselves complied with
the reprisals and shackled GER POW’s until the 12 of December, now GER offered
another reprisal and increased CAN shackled for almost a year
October 1942 CAN govt made clear to Churchill that the CAN army was available for service
January 1943 external affairs argued that post-war CAN influence would suffer if the army
remained inactive in GB
10 July 1943 took part in Sicily
o terrain was one where a tank brigade could be least effective
o not a very good decision, nevertheless CAN was very good in the campaign in IT
May 1944 the first CAN corp broke through the Hitler line near Casino
o Followed a days later, 6 June 1944 – invasion of Normandy
CAN in Normandy
o Operation overlord
o 3rd CAN infantry division and 2nd CAN brigade plus 1st parachute landed between USA
and GB forces in Caourselles-St Aubin-Bernieres-sur-mer
o St. Juno beach
o Took Cayenne on 9 July
o Field Marshal Montgomery commanding all Allied ground forces
 Overall commander was Eisenhower
 Predicted that his armour in the partial operation gudgud (?operation name?)
launched on 18 July would reach Falaise
 20 July advance got bogged down in a storm of rain
 only Cayenne was finally cleared – the industrial suburb was cleared of GER
 493 tanks were lost in Operation gudgud
o battle of Normandy as a whole was in a stalemate
o 25 July new operation: Operation Spring which included the plan for CAN infantry to
break through the GER defences
o General Simond’s plan was to launch a night attack
 Very complicated operation
 Plan was changed for the black watch
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Montgomery ordered operation Spring for 25 July
7th armoured division were to join the attack, which didn’t quite happen
the whole plan was near suicidal
 the terrain and the GER positions and fire power were severely negative factors
the GER 272nd infantry division was on the ridge
the CAN plan of General Simond’s was not a bad plan for a night attack and for
coordinated timing, but the ‘fog of war’ things often get out of synchronization
 nights in June and July are not that long (roughly 5 hours – not much to work
with)
as the operation progressed Simond’s lost communication
the Black Watch advanced and even there the commanding officer were killed by a burst
of machine-guns, at this point already command passed to Major Phil Griffin – he had no
clear info on the situation to his left and his right but he had orders to advance
the GER defenders had exercised good fire control, that is to say they were not
distracted by patrols, but waited for the main attack
the Black Watch advanced into lethal fire and was effectively destroyed 122 men were
killed including Griffin, 83 taken prisoner
the attempt to open the road to Falaise and to remain pressure during the US advance
ended in a disaster in terms of losses
 but can also look at it – while US was advancing, no GER division from the
Cayenne front was transferred in time to break the US breakthrough
 so the CAN operation although a disaster in terms of losses and a very sad even
for the Black Watch, was nevertheless substantial aid in the overall operations
in the invasion of Normandy
March 15, 2012
Recall:
German Army in Russia
Armies doing less well than expected in Russia 1941
Bogged down before Moscow – frost and snow, -35 degrees temperatures
1200/day died of frostbite (on the German side)
Winter equipment necessary wasn’t there – partly because Hitler believed that it wouldn’t be
necessary
1942 – not a much better year
1942/43 – German forces in North Africa were not flourishing
Battle of the Atlantic was lost by Spring/Summer 1943
o Can be argued as negative results
o Can also argue the North African campaign delayed the conflict in Europe
o Russians did so well in 1941/42 that the Americans were able to concentrate on the Pacific
 Early signs of the cold war
December 1941 – turning point
o None of the aims of Barbarossa had been achieved
o A Winter catastrophe had overtaken German armies
o Winter equipment not available – munitions and other supplies were given priority in the
last desperate attempt to take Moscow (Nov 1941)
Winter equipment didn’t arrive until the winter was almost over in 1942
Goebbels in 1941 – proclaimed a great collection of Woollens and skis for the soldiers in the East
o No longer called divisions – suffering soldiers
The population was asked to hand in (at election points) their best wools and skis
o Too late to be of any use
Germans – had underestimated
By 1942, Russian armaments production had already exceeded German armaments production
o Conclusion: Hitler had lost his main war.
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o The USSR was his main war.
16 armoured divisions + 140 tanks – full compliment for the division
Over 1/3rd of the German army was lost
Replacements that were made available were 1/3 rd what was needed (on average)
o Over a million were needed, 300,000 were available and sent to the front
Division – 15,000 men
Hitler told General Halder – “Neither of the two opposing belligerent groups could defeat the other.”
o Groups- German/Italian/Hungarian/Romanian side vs the British side
o He expected a negotiated peace with Britain – was an illusion
o Allows Weinberg to say and maintain that Hitler always believed he was winning (or could
still win)  always wavering
o Film: The Downfall – sense of the fluctuation between illusion and realism
o Victory – not within reach at this point
13 Feb 1942 – after this disaster, Admiral Raeder (commander in chief of Navy) proposed to Hitler to
attack the British Suez position and to capture the oil fields
o Take Murmansk and advance through the Caucasus to the oil fields
o Join forces with Japan in India and conquer the British Middle East position on the way
o Hitler believed the land route through the Caucasus, and Iraq and Iran was more realistic
than other options
o The idea of defeating Britain through destroying the main position of her Empire (India) was
taken up
April 5 1942 – issued Directive 41 for a summer defensive in Russia – Operation Lau
o “To destroy definitively the remaining Soviet forces.”
But the target was really the oil fields of the south Caucasus
o Fact was the German armies were too weak to continue attacking Russia
o German armies were down from 3 mil to 1.6 mil
o Stalin commanded 5.5 mil
Advantage in this operation for the oil: Stalin expected the resumption of the offense against Moscow
– didn’t order a major attack against the Germans
Operation Lau/Lou was designed to get oil
MAP on overhead
Stalingrad – advance into Stalingrad and at the same time an advance south towards Moscow
Main attack was south – yellow line/orange line shows the farthest advance of the German front in
the OP
They reached Stalingrad but not their objectives in the south Caucasus
When that was clear (6th army in Stalingrad isolated and encircled) the danger was that these forces
would be cut off too – they had to retreat 2,000 km past the graves of their fallen combats
The operation against Stalingrad (don’t get confused) was a SUBSIDIARY operation to protect the
left flank of the advance towards the south
Capture of Stalingrad would have to happen first
German resources were insufficient for either operation, and much less sufficient for BOTH
o We don’t know if Hitler knew it or accepted it; either way, he disregarded it
June 1 1942 – briefing of army commanders – “If I don’t get the oil, I must liquidate this war.”
General George C Marshall – 10 April, 1942 “All authorities agree that the lost of oil would result in
the collapse of our entire defenses in the Middle east and India.”
o Can be found in Dwight D Eisenhower’s papers
12 April 1942 – Eisenhower sent a memorandum to Stimson (secretary of war) “The importance of
India and the Middle East (the area between the Red Sea and India) to Allied victory can’t be
overemphasized. Loss of the region would permit our two worst enemies (Germany and Japan) to
join hands. Russia would be completely isolated and her position weakened; China would be isolated
and lost; one of the most valuable oil fields in the world would be denied to us and become available
to the enemy. Russia staying an active participant is vital. Any opportunity for a defensive would be
practically eliminated.”
Directive 41 – offensive begun on 8 June 1942 – maintain siege upon Leningrad until its surrender
and to hold the front before Moscow
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Operation was launched first by an advance east by Stalingrad – then the advance south to the
Caucasus was to be launched (had to wait until Stalingrad had been taken)
Department for intelligence on foreign armies
3rd grand offensive in 1943 was impossible (or would be impossible) after the operations of 1942
o In other words, the initiative had been entirely passed to the Red Army
o Hitler – wanted to force the issue
 Ordered an offensive against British positions at Alexandria and another area,
designing a two-pronged offensive; wants India to join Japan
 Because of Germany and Japan’s mutual distrust meant they were working
independently towards opposite goals
Stalingrad was to be taken – the Caucasus to be taken, other places to be taken at the same time
o Meant scattering forces on the grand scale
o Invited the Red Army to attack the German fronts – to cut off the spearheads from their thin
supply lands
o Stalingrad – never fully conquered
o Caucasus – NEVER fully crossed – reached the river, that was it
Spring 1942 – party led by Gandhi and Nehru – demanded independence before supporting any
operation against the Hitler coalition
o “no - you will have independence after the war”
Germany and Japan – did not have a common policy – Indian nationalist leader was in Germany
Both Germany and Japan failed to exploit the situation in India
Japan – 4-6 June 1942 – LOST THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY and Feb 8 1943 LOST Battle of
Guadalcanal
o Absorbed so many American forces – Germany had been set aside for the time being
o Stalin – though he had been promised this was the line of the Western allies, outed it
o Signal from Stalin to Western powers that he was always in a position to conclude a
separate peace with Germany – had people, a structure, that could be put in place in
Germany (once Germany made an armistice with Russia, would have to accept a communist
government) OR once Germany was occupied with Soviet forces
o POINT WAS – he could threaten the western powers with a separate peace
Meant the Western powers were extremely wary of any peace-feelers that they received
Hitler dismissed Halder and appointed Kurt Szietler
o He lasted until June 20 1944 when he was a) not well
From Dec 1942 onward, Hitler conducted delaying operations (senseless, incomprehensible)
o Can be explained by Hitler’s manic will to kill the Jews
o Had to continue fighting in the East to protect killing centres (6 extermination camps in
Poland, Ukraine, and German-annexed Poland)
o Had to continue fighting as long as possible – fighting just to survive
o With complete contempt for humanity in general
Fall 1942 – German armies that had reached the river Tarik were retreating through 2,000 km to
their starting point of Karkoff
Nov1942 – massive Soviet offensive begins
Within four days, by 23 Nov 1942, the 6th army at Stalingrad was encircled
Now, the Stalingrad front had to be held – had to protect the retreat of the armies
Nov 1943 – 105 000 of the 250 000 were still alive of the 6th army
Only 5,000 returned to Germany of the entire 6th army (most capitulated, mortality in
captivity in a Soviet POW camp)
CAN BE ARGUED the war was a cloak over the mass murder of the Jews
o Had such high priority in summer in 1942
o Ex. needs of extermination program (transport capacity) were given priority over
ammunition and supply transports**
Back to June 11 1942
Molotov was in Washington for talks
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Resulted in a statement: agreement between the USSR and the US upon the establishment of a 2 nd
front in Europe
British/Canadian landing at Dieppe – August 1942
o Operation broken off on the same day – unmitigated disaster – Stalin considered it halfhearted
Surface evidence of Dieppe raid – “not meant in earnest”
Documentary evidence of Dieppe not intending to be in earnest
They decided instead for a landing in North Africa
o Churchill was always drawn to the Mediterranean and Suez and India (“soft
underbelly of Europe”)
Dardanelles OP of WWI
Draw in Turkey – invade Europe in the Mediterranean and its soft underbelly
Only heightened Stalin’s distrust
The Western strategy meant that Russian victory would be so costly that Russia would be exhausted
at the war’s end and America would be able to dictate the peace
Congress of Berlin – 1878 – Military/diplomatic doctrine
Doctrine – no Western power must be allowed to stay out of a major conflict to save itself and its own
resources because it would then be able to dictate the peace to the exhausted Russia
Soviet Union – much stronger than had been assumed in 1941  assumption underpinned
Roosevelt’s victory plan, providing for a mass army of 250 divisions – believed they had to defeat
Japan and Germany
June 1943 – only 89 divisions were planned. If Russia emerged strong, and a real competitor, it
would be necessary for the US to secure their bases in the Pacific and the Atlantic. Fateful decision for
Europe’s future.
Another factor: Japan was tough to crack. Believed that Russia would have to be brought into the
war against Japan in order to defeat Japan.
Meant the Western powers could not confront Russia about what happened in Europe.
o Had to share the domination of Europe with Russia
o Happened at YALTA - Feb 1945
The Campaign in North Africa
o Went in favour of the ALLIES
o Commanded by Montgomery – 23rd Oct 1942 – began his offensive against German and
Italian forces in Libya
o German Africa Corps
July 25 – Mussolini overthrown
Sep 3 – Allies landed in Sicily
Sep 8 – Italy capitulated, German forces occupied Italy – led to atrocities by German and Italian
forces against each other and against the Italian civil population
6 June 1944– D-DAY – invasion of Normandy – next class
March 20, 2012
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Interrogation summaries survived
o Wanted them to be published with a scholarly commentary
o Unscrupulous publisher published them with no comments
 They were on one hand lies
 On the other, they were tortured and revealed all kinds of information that was not
necessarily pertinent as long as they protected the most dangerous information
o Hoffmann wrote history of German resistance instead
Conspiracy that led up to 20 July 1944
o Attempted assassination of Hitler
o Possible to describe events without knowing characters of the people involved
o Stauffenberg interested Hoffmann
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Everyone connected with him said that the Gestapo had confiscated all his papers
Veteran’s Organization and asked for addresses of members who may have known
Stauffenberg
 Found widow of one of his regiment-mates who had letters from Stauffenberg
What was to be resisted?
o Hitler’s dictatorship
 When he was appointed Chancellor, never had higher electoral support than 37%
 Nazis campaigned on platform of destroying the republic and democracy
 Republic was relatively new and it had a lot of half-hearted supporters and
indifferent non-supporters – so it perished under Hitler’s assault
 Emergency decrees suppressed freedom of speech, press, radio, habeas corpus was
abolished, judicial review was abolished
 Prussian police expanded by 50,000 storm troopers
 Early Feb 1933, Minister President of Prussia, Goring, issued shooting decree
 Police instructed to use their weapons in confrontations with enemies of
the state
 Those who didn’t use their weapons when they should, they were punished
 This decree was published in the paper on 21 February 1933
 Concentration camps were opened – preventative custody was introduced
 Enabling Act passed 23 March 1933 which gave Hitler dictatorial powers
 Followed by Insidious Decree – if we don’t like someone, we’ll sentence them and
there will be no appeal
 1 April, anti-Jewish measures beginning with a boycott
 Employment was financed from deficit borrowing
 Hitler made himself popular in any way he could
 Renounced salary
 Drew royalties from Mein Kampf (every couple that married had to pay for
a copy of it)
 Drew royalties for the use of his likeness on postage stamps
 Also managed to land foreign policy successes
o Accordance with Vatican over Catholic rights in Germany
 Goring began collecting art, mostly from emigrated Jews
 General Beck realized that Goring opposed rapid rearmament
 Hitler wanted 300,000 troops in 3 months
 Didn’t have the capacity for this many troops
 Beck also opposed plans to occupy Austria, Czechoslovakia (did not prepare plans as
requested)
 Beck issued warnings by publishing letter in a special issue in 1937
 “the obligation and right of war is mainly to prevent policy from demanding
things that are contrary to nature of war so policy will not from ignorance
prevent from using it”
 Means: Politicians must not demand from military something that will not
be possible to do (ie. attack another country in Europe without another
state intervening)
 Threat of war hung over Europe (Sudeten Crisis)
 Beck ordered generals to disobey Hitler if he ordered an attack on
Czechoslovakia
 Brauchitsch didn’t listen to Beck (he was in the back pocket of Hitler)
 Hitler was frustrated because he wanted to occupy Czechoslovakia
 Neville Chamberlain thought appeasement might work
 Beck resigned after this
o Popular resistance
 It became muted and weaker when the war began
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27 September, American CBS correspondent taped tanks rolling down the streets in
demonstration against war
 By what means could you remove Nazi government?
 Military
 Popular rebellion could not be organized in Germany
o Oppression was bad for Jews and Communists but not bad enough
for everybody else
 February 1943, Goebbels thought he could cleanse Berlin of all remaining Jews as
present for Hitler’s birthday
 Rounded up and put in Jewish community centre, Rosenstrasse
 Non-Jewish wives came to protest
 SS withdrew and Goebbels gave up
 Underground movement never really got going
Left to the colonels to do something
 Ie. kill Hitler
 Everyone else had sworn an oath to Hitler so if Hitler was removed, the oath would
be removed
 Explosives were decided upon (gun was not predictable enough)
 Stauffenberg was chosen as would-be assassin
 Explosive chosen was “hexogen” – highly effective and fast detonation speed
 While setting fuses, he was interrupted
 Stauffenberg got nervous and left a fuse unset
 The half amount that he took did not kill Hitler and so the coup collapsed by evening
 Aftermath, persecution of resistance movement
 Story told by Eddie Izzard, Tom Cruise in Valkyrie (best film on German resistance
so far)
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o
March 22, 2012
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-no legal means of resistance under dictatorship (constitutional duty to abstain from political
involvement)
-radical change in 1990s: constitutional duty to resist government if government breaches
constitution
-resistance not based on written law, but unalterable and unalienable rights of humans and on
conscience of resistors (Stauffenberg: in face of crimes committed against Jews, etc. we must as
generals of the staff we must not act as technicians but we must follow a moral duty and bring down
dictator Hitler, August 1942 to a fellow officer)
-other motivations to resist: preservation of Germany as a nation (material objective)
-in last months before 20 July 1944 moral motivation had precedent before all else because material
aims were not out of reach: war was lost, Germany would be militarily occupied (nothing could be
saved by overthrowing dictatorship)
-rechisite had no political power at this point
-Stauffenberg’s promotion would have come in August 1944 if he had been ambitious for that, so
motivation cannot be questioned
-Stauffenberg and 3 associates shot on 20 July 1944. Beck, a chief conspirator, shot himself. 700 were
arrested in connection with 20 July plot, another 5000 were arrested on basis of card files, 200 were
hanged as a result of sham trials in so-called People’s Court.
-Hitler ordered 200 hanged with a thin cord. Ordered hangings to be filled.
-resistance to Nazi rule in Europe and all countries occupied by German forces
-this was different
-Occupied France. Little resistance until 22 June 1941. Assassination attacks (sometimes with
explosives but usually with guns) against German army personnel. This date: attack against
Barbarossa, so soviets were now against Germans. These were tactics to radicalize the population
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-In Russia, almost general resistance, 3 July 1941 speech: Stalin told entire population (including
women and children) to attack Germans wherever they could and however they could regardless of
danger to themselves.
 -In Poland, resistance was continuous.
 -In Czechoslovakia, there was low-intensity resistance. Occupation was relatively mild and peaceful.
Except for 22 May 1942 assassination of Eirich (sp?), which led to a bloody reprisal in Ledice where
170 men executed by SS
 -Yugoslavia, Norway, Denmark = low-intensity resistance until Stalingrad when it became clear that
Germany was losing (if one had respectability or political ambitions, it was in their best interest at
this point to resist)
OPERATION OVERLORD
 -from spring 1942, Britain and US had disagreed about Grand Strategy, and Stalin had been pressing
for 2nd front to be established on European continent. Churchill feared a Russian collapse like that of
1917 and that weight of German army would fall upon western front and lead to casualties.
Churchill’s idea: weaken Germany before a major land offensive –land in France. Part of strategy was
“Strategic Air offensive” and other was attempt to disperse German military power by attacks in
Mediterranean. Germans had committed themselves to North Africa, and the more they were there
the more they would be unavailable in Europe. American military leaders did not want to wait, but
they finally agreed on operation Torch: landing of troops in Algeria. Main American efforts went to
Pacific and fight against
 -at conferences of Tehran, Moscow, etc. allies reiterated details for “overlord” but postponed to may
1943. Stalin said he was pleased and offered to launch simultaneous attack against Germany on
eastern front.
 -overlord began with operation Neptune, 6 June 1944.
 -at same time at which plans were made and Stalin promised his offensive, Hitler issued defense in
West given priority. Rationale was that in the east they still have plenty of space for more retreats
before Germany was vitally threatened. (recognized war was lost, but constantly f
 -Hitler said war would be decided in west after repulsion of allied landing. Then troops could be
returned. Reconsidered his original plan: German forces everywhere were in orderly retreat and
preparing for western attack
 -Allied goals: (1) enemy ignorance of proposed sight and deception schemes put in place to suggest
area around Calais; (2) enemy must be prevented from bringing replacements, which meant
interdicting traffic and communications behind anticipated front; (3) required allied naval and air
superiority in channel; (4) that local defenses be largely destroyed by air bombardment before
landing (=this was only partially fulfilled)
 -1 April 1944 Allies began preparing for Normandy invasion, Operation Neptune (Attack and landing
phase of operation overlord)
 -before landing allies attacked roads, ports, and other military targets could find in France and
Belgium (seemed to have had good intelligence)
 -during landing, able on basis of intelligence, to target crucial places such as bridges and passages
between swamp areas etc. through airborne paratroopers. Some paratroopers were against bombing
of cities, but had to accept it.
 -although not all defenses were destroyed along coast, campaign against defenses was effective
enough in the sense that communications were disrupted, German military command could see no
pattern suggesting landing sight, and Germans kept their heads bowed
 -fictitious American army group was “stationed” in east England getting ready for European invasion,
which kept airwaves buzzing with radio signals = effective through June and July 1944 in keeping
Germany thinking that main assault would come from somewhere else than it actually came
 -Ultra decoding told Allied power that deception was working
 -near coast from Utah to Juno, Germans had on 3 june (3 days before invasion) 4 divisions. Allied
intelligence located 3 on coast between 50-80 kilometers. Allied intelligence made 1 error: the 350
second infantry was not 20 km inland but on an exercise in coast, which surprised Americans.
 At 1:30am 6 June 1944, first airborne troops landed in France. 3 airborne divisions and 5 seaborne
divisions landed in Normandy on first day
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-German regional commander, General Marx, commanding 84 th core, learned at 1am that airborne
(transport gliders and paratroopers) were landing at sections of 2 of his divisions to secure swamp
crossings at Chef-du-Bon and La fiere. Marx ordered a full alert. At 2am field marshal ordered a
reconnaissance of SS. At 3am, coast offenses were particularly heavily bombed. Combat readiness
was later called. At 5:30 am ships began to fire on Germans on coast and by6am landing crafts
reached all beaches: Omaha, Juno, Utah, Sword Gold
March 27, 2012
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Series of conferences that laid the groundwork for the implementation of war aims in Europe
o Placentia Bay - August 1941
o Washington - Dec-Jan 41-42
o Casablanca - January 1943
o First Quebec Conference – August 1943
o Tehran - Nov/Dec 1943
o Second Quebec Conference - Sept 1944 (Morgenthau Plan)
o Malta – Sept 1944
o Yalta - February 1945 (gradually divided Europe into spheres of influence, Polish Question)
o Potsdam – July/August 1945
October 1939, after defeat of Poland, Hitler offered peace because the Polish Question had been
solved
o Molotov agreed with this assessment in speech at the end of October
o This was well before Eden’s visit to Moscow – things changed a great deal by the time Eden
made his visit
o Chamberlain spoke in House of Commons in October and said it was impossible for Britain to
accept occupation of Czechya and Poland
At same time, Chamberlain continued to pursue an internal revolt in Germany
o 9 November 1939, Venlo incident (British agents came from Netherlands to meet with
alleged German dissident generals who were disguised and captured the two agents and
held in concentration camps until end of the war)
o 8 November 1939, a lone would-be assassin had placed and detonated a bomb behind the
restroom at which Hitler spoke in Munich
 Bomb went off but only 20 minutes after Hitler left
 Changed the course of history
o British Cabinet tried to contact German underground to bring about resistance
 They now had a much worse chance than in 1938
 Contact mediated by Pope Pius 12 until February 1940, at which time attempts were
abandoned
 German generals were unwilling o go ahead with Hitler’s overthrow
At same time, Chamberlain adopted position of Allied war aims
French aims: Germany must not be put in a position to put Europe in peril again
o Must have effective material guarantees to prevent return of German imperialism
Chamberlain did not favour dismemberment of Germany and proposed posts east of the Rhine
o Britain and France decided that unless Germany was willing to accept their terms, must
secure defeat of Germany ***
o Removal of Hitler will not be sufficient to remove German militarist and expansionist ideas
but it is uncertain to what extent Germany must be dismembered
o Britain decided to watch and arrange for further consultation as soon as possible – watch
internal political developments (hope for coup that would remove Hitler)
o Material guarantees:
 Germany shall never again be allowed to build up armed force and menace the
peace of Europe and the world
o These fundamental war aims remained unchanged throughout war and required Germany’s
unconditional surrender
45
These aims were set down in December 1939
Government of German resistance would have to return to law – even such a gov’t was not
exempt from unconditional surrender
Versailles had not worked but now it was clear that it had not been hard enough
o One could also argue it was too hard and produced unwelcome result
o Should have been expected if only by looking at what happened in 1871 in France
 44 years until WWI were filled with revenge
 This is a different account than what one reads in the history books
Halifax also suggested, as part of war aims and peace preparations, the expulsion of 300 million
German speakers in Sudeten region in February 1940
o Context: a few million Greeks were transferred out of Turkey (“population transfer”);
Armenians and other incidents; talk of settling Jews in Palestine, (too small for large-scale
settlement) or Syria, or British colonies in Africa and Caribbean
28 March 1940, Chamberlain spoke in war meeting for the aim of “complete victory”
o French war aims were published on that date demanding lasting security against Germany
o 13 May, policy statement: victory at all costs
Territorial war aims were uncertain until end of war
o No telling who would be in the war and where lines would be drawn
o 22 June 1941, no telling if there would be a Soviet Union and Polish borders would depend
on it
o Therefore, aims put in more general terms
Placentia Bay
o Roosevelt and Churchill
o Atlantic Charter
o Announced disarmament of nations that may threaten security of Europe
o More strident that those aims made at Versailles in 1919
Russian war aims based on pre-war and wartime agreement made in Russia’s favour
o 23 August 1939, agreement with Hitler leading to annexation of Baltic states – that, Stalin
considered unchangeable
o Based on commitments made in Washington Pact
 26 nations adhered to the Pact
 No separate peace or armistice and complete victory at the end of the war
o Casablanca merely repeated/confirmed something that had been settled at Washington
17 November 1942, declaration for punishment of German war criminals
First Quebec Conference
o Roosevelt, Churchill & combined COS
o Divided Germany to be occupied by British and American forces
o Eastern part of Germany would be left to Russia
o Wasn’t only geography that made Britain a reasonable candidate of northwest Germany but
also industry and the economy
Moscow Conference 1943
o Hull, Eden, Molotov and China to prepare Tehran conference
o European Advisory Commission in London
o East Prussia from Germany
o Did not agree with Americans that all war criminals be captured and executed summarily
o Four Nations Declaration
 Declaration on Italy which condemned fascism and war criminals
 Declaration on Austria
 Liberated from German domination
 Austria had actually been enthusiastic about its incorporation into German
Reich
 Gave them better deal at the end of the war, however
 Declaration on atrocities
 Criminals returned to their homelands
o
o
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German criminals would be tried by joint-Allied tribunal (led to Nuremburg
trials)
Before Tehran conference, there was Cairo Conference
o Military staff heads met
o Discussed European strategy
o Reaffirmed priority of Overlord (over Aegean strategy which Churchill favoured)
o American COS were not allowed to discuss the question of Far Eastern offensive of US (code:
Buccaneer)
Tehran Conference
o Summit conference with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
o Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam (big three)
o Tehran, three men agreed that German must surrender unconditionally, politically
centralized, cede East Prussia, allow its populations to be expelled, Germany would lose its
union with Austria, Czechoslovakia, Sudeten
o But Germany would have sufficient level of living and punishment of war criminals
o Division of Germany
 Roosevelt wanted 5 autonomous states
 Churchill wanted Prussia and Danube (2-way, N-S division)
 Stalin preferred Germany to remain united
 Presumption that Russia would be the preponderant power on the
continent at the end of the war
o Position taken by US to hold a line in Europe and not allow Russia to expand further beyond
“the Iron Curtain” was not foreseen by Stalin
o Same time, Stalin was afraid Germany would recover even faster after 1945 than she had
after WWI and become a menace to the Soviets again *** (wanted Russian influence in
Germany and penetrate to the Rhine)
o Poland’s eastern frontier was to be based on Curzon Line (one exception: Lwow)
 Western frontier: Oder-Neisse Line (meant German loss of East Prussia)
August 1944, Roosevelt created Cabinet committee to deal with Germany
o Secretary of Treasury, Henry Morgenthau was guiding spirit and worked out plan the others
agreed to
o HD White, John Peely and A. Luxford
o Morgenthau was very anti-German and Roosevelt’s neighbour on the Hudson as a child
o September 1944, presented Morgenthau Plan
 Complete demilitarization of Germany
 Forced labour of German men
 Germany was to become agrarian culture – but no agricultural surplus, just
subsistence level
 Europe doesn’t need German economy
 Germany industry dismantled, German mines shut down, all sophisticated industry
to be shut down
 Germany under Allied control for 20 years
 All large estates to be divided into small holdings
 War criminals executed without trial
Second Quebec Conference
o Morgenthau Plan was adopted (only slightly modified)
o Roosevelt kept Secretary of State away from that conference
o Germans would not be allowed shipyards to help British exports
o Churchill’s reaction was “…we ought not to prevent German people from living decently….
Cannot indict a whole nation.”
o Churchill did not refuse Morgenthau Plan
 Needed 6.5 million in credits and had to have it from Morgenthau
o Eden refused to sign
o Plan was published and reaction was unfavourable in America
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o
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o
o
o
Malta
o
Yalta
o
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o
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Roosevelt withdrew his signature during 1944 election campaign but too late
 Played into Goebbels hands and gave Germans tremendous propaganda instrument
Plan was not carried out
12 April 1945, Roosevelt died
Truman fired Morgenthau
Preparation for Yalta
Held a few days later
Summit conference brought together Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin for the last time
Stalin promised to join war with Japan within 2-3 months of end of hostilities in Europe
Americans were very anxious to get Russians into war with Russia
 Atomic bomb was not ready and not clear if it would have the effect of ending the
war
 Russian entry would be very beneficial
o Occupy zones in Germany, not autonomous areas
o Soviets never fulfilled their part of bargain
o Americans issued joint-COS directive 1067, Germany was not liberated but defeated
 Collective population was directly guilty
o Economic reorganization was not settled nor politial organization
 Industrial reorganization either
Potsdam
o Truman, Churchill then Attley (who beat Churchill in election during this), Stalin
o Decided on undivided Germany (not more autonomous states)
o Disarmament, deNazification
o No peace treaty until Germany state existed
o Territory east of Oder-Neisse Line (Polish)
o Locate self-gov’t, political parties, freedom of speech & press
o Decentralization of cartels
o Peaceful industries
o Control of exports, imports and research
o Disagreement by Soviets that what strengthens Germany was a hostile act
o British position was a wish to make Germany self-sufficient and not dependent on dole-outs
 Wanted to place Rhur under British control
o American position vague until September 1946, JF Byrnes gave speech at Stuttgart Opera
House
 Outlined return of Germany into family of nations
 At a time when Cold War was heating up through Europe
Next class: Pacific War
March 29, 2012
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Japanese co-prosperity sphere was coupled with anti-colonial propaganda
o Japanese excluded all whites, even their own German allies from their region
o Anti-colonial ideology developed its own dynamic and stimulated strong impulses with a
powerful long-term effect
Roosevelt opposed restoration of colonial rule in SE Asia until his death
o Britain prepared to give India its independence
o Strategy remained operative until July 1945
Pacific war a gradual approach because most of the territory consisted of islands
June 1943, Allies began major offensive
o McArthur landed in Solomon Islands
o Nov. 1943 attacked Bougainville and Rabal
o Second offensive by Admiral Nimitz
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February 1944, Japanese tried to counter by attacking India and establishing a land bridge between
China and Imphal, India
o Disaster for the Japanese
o Greatest defeat in history of Imperial Japanese Army
Last Japanese offensive, April 1944
o Ich-chi-go
o Occupied more of central and south China
o Seized all American air bases in China
o China tied up a million Japanese soliders, major part of Jap fighting force
o June 1944, Allies reach Marion Islands
 Guam, Saipan &___ had been occupied
June 1944, Japanese lost in Philippine Sea
By this time, co-prosperity sphere is almost entirely controlled by Allies
By end of July 1944, AUS and AM forces liberated New Guinea
o October 1944, US landed on Leyte in Philippines
 Leyte Bay – greatest naval battle of all time ***
 JAP lost 1/3 of their battleships, all 4 carriers, ½ of heavy cruisers, and 9 destroyers
 AM lost 1 carrier, 2 escort carriers, 2 destroyers, and 1 submarine
 Discrepancy between tactics
 US didn’t use carriers
 JAP were not as good at using air forces – better when they began using
kamikaze fighters
o Re-conquest of Philippines lasted until June 1945 (about 8-9 mos)
March 1945, new turning point in war against Japan
o AM air bombardment of Tokyo
o Clear that situation of JAP was hopeless
o JAP lacked resources (industry, oil, raw materials) that it needed
o Demonstrated the hopelessness of JAP situation
1 April 1945, AM army and amphibian corps landed on Okinawa (major operation)
o 180,000 AM soldiers conducted long fight against 110,000 JAP soldiers
o Ended 21 June 1945
o *Very close to timing of atomic bombs – one can appreciate the drama of the two months
before the A-bomb
o JAP used kamikaze fighters
o AM land forces lost a great deal
o Only 7,400 JAP survived
o 150,000 people died on Okinawa altogether
o AM command was worried about expected losses in invasion of mainland
o War minister, Chief of Gen. Staff, Chief of Admiral staff of JAP formed military clique
1 April 1945, JAP were looking for escape route (from unconditional surrender)
o Asked Soviets for mediation of peace (without unconditional surrender)
o But Soviets ignored
4 April, Soviets cancelled Neutrality Treaty with JAP
o It had been signed on 13 April ____
o JAP hadn’t told the GER about this
PM Koizo resigned and succeeded by Suzuki with Foreign Minister Togo
6 May 1945, GER gov’t led by Doenitz (Hitler had killed himself 30 April)
17 July, during Potsdam conference, Truman learned that US had an A-bomb
o One that could be delivered, not just a test
o Churchill wrote that he and Truman did not discuss whether to drop the bomb but rather
that the nightmare of the invasion had been lifted from – would drop it as soon as possible
o 21 July, JAP informed Soviets that JAP was ready to capitulate if monarchy was preserved
o 5 days later, Big Three issued ultimatum from Potsdam
 JAP must capitulate unconditionally
49
Accompanied by political and territorial terms considered acceptable by JAP
moderates but hard-liners didn’t see it that way
 Rejection of ultimatum, ignoring enemy’s crushing superiority (national suicide)
 JAP knew nothing of the A-bomb; expected Allied compromise in order to avoid
casualties
Between ___ and ____, dropped bombs in Japan in just 6 weeks
o Most Japanese cities lay in rubble
o 2 August, heaviest air raid of war against JAP cities
o Industry was destroyed
o Although this indicated progress,
o President Truman saw no choice; American nation wanted quick end
6 August 1945, A-bomb destroyed Hiroshima leaving 212,000 dead
o 8 August, Soviets declared war on JAP, fulfilling its promise to the letter (3 months after the
end of hostilities in Europe)
o 9, August, 3 Soviet groups attacked JAP in Manchuria; Nagasaki destroyed by A-bomb on
same day
o Truman threatened to drop more and more A-bombs on JAP by he had no more
o 10 August, JAP declared themselves ready to take Potsdam ultimatum; military clique
sabotaged negotiations
 Emperor took ultimatum
Surrender took place on the 2 September 1945
o Grand Alliance and JAP signed it on AM battleship Missouri
o Gen. McArthur had already issued an order which named occupation areas (these were now
occupied)
o JAP mainland was turned into AM bastion (against Soviets, as things turned out)
o Indigenous regimes in former East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere asserted themselves in
September 1945
 Ho Chi Minh declared independence of Democratic Republic of Vietnam
 British forces, weak in numbers, moved into Saigon
 Insoluble problems: restoring colonial rule (not possible in long-term)
 Future of China remained in the balance
 Headed by Chang Kai Shek
14 August, Stalin formed “alliance” with CKS
o He was uncomfortable with Mai Zedong’s communism
o Conflict was there form the beginning – ideologies were different: CH believed agrarian
proletariat would be vanguard for revolution whereas Soviets believed industrial sector
would result in revolution
o Soviets had A-bomb by 1949 and for a time had been sharing information with CH but then
stopped
 Led to real conflict by mid-1950s
 1959, reached a high point – international youth meeting (International Youth
Congress) in Vienna
 Soviets tried to dominate it
 Rallies and marches for peace
 Americans asked questions of Chinese regarding Tibet
 Could see how Chinese and Soviets were fighting; AM were stoking the fight
by raising questions
o What Stalin wanted to do was prevent an AM domination of CH
 If AM succeeded in bringing CKS over to their side, that would have been difficult to
keep AM out of China
 CKS played double game
 By end of 1949, communist forces of Mao won the civil war and formed the Chinese
People’s Republic (has been in existence ever since)
 Great Leap Forward in China – industries were set up in small villages all over
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End of September 1945, AM marines landed in North China and occupied Beijing/Peking
o 140,000 AM forces were stationed in China
o Now Soviets and AM urged the two CH leaders to compromise
o October 1945, truce whereupon American troops left CH (that was the end of the truce)
Conference
April 3, 2012
Henry Morgenthau Jr.
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Born in 1891 – 1967
1913, first met FDR
1933, named Governor of the Federal Farm Board
1934, Secretary Treasurer
Involvement with Jews
o April 1943, mass extermination of Jews confirmed by Allies
o US sent supplies to Spain for hidden Jews
Morgenthau Plan
o Main goal: prevent Germany from starting another war
o 3 points:
 Germany should be separated into two independent states
 German’s main industrial centres should be internationalized or annexed by
neighbouring countries
 All heavy industries should be dismantled
o Germany should pay compensation for repairs to the Allies
o Second Quebec Conference: modified version of the plan – Germany to become an
agricultural nation, without industries
o Criticized by BR because of Versailles Treaty of 1919
Arrival of Truman, forced to resign July 1945
Became strong supporter of Israel (as a Jew himself)
*Morgenthau Plan was released to press and Goebbels used it as propaganda tactic against US
o Some have argued that this hardened GER resistance and perhaps elongated the war
Finland and WWII
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Finland was Russian until 1917
Oct. 12, 1939 – Soviets
Winter War
Fins were outnumbered but better fighters
March 12, 1940, Moscow Peace Treaty conceding to Russia’s initial demands
Operation Barbarossa, Russia started belligerency in Finland again
FIN military potential were dependent on GER aid
1944, Mannerheim broke relations with GER and ceasefire was agreed upon
Moscow Armistice
o Fins gave up more territory
o War reparations to Soviets
Fins adopted scorcher tactic
*Fins were technically at war with BR and BR launched a failed air raid against FIN forces in north
*Fins occupied territory that was not theirs before the war; set up concentration camps for RUS
civilians
*After the war, part of the peace terms had to set up war crimes tribunal for FIN war criminals
The Big Three in Tehran
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Tehran – 28 Nov. -1 Dec. 1943
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Attended by Churchill, Stalin, FDR
First of its kind in terms of participation by all three leaders
Britain pledged support to Soviets; so did US
Combined Chiefs of Staff committee created
o Soon gave rise to mutual suspicion
Whether to open up second front in West to alleviate pressure on Soviets and what to do with
Germany once the war was done
Evident that direct negotiations were needed
Stalin was paranoid of air travel; Roosevelt found travel difficult
Main objective
o Gain reassurance from Stalin of war policy
o Stalin wanted Eastern Europe (Yugoslavia, Polish border); Operation Overlord (spring 1944,
FDR would open second front on France)
US and BR needed Soviets to take GER down
Stalin dominated conference
FDR attempted to cope but could only appease Stalin
Operation Overlord would commence its main stages of planning here
Independence and support of Turkey were discussed
Finland was topic of conversation
*Nazis tried to assassinate three leaders – but got broken up before they could get close enough
Yamamoto
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Japanese Admiral
Fought in Russo-Japanese War
Studied at Harvard
Openly opposed many Japanese military endeavours at the time
Opposition to war with US
Received animosity from pro-war factions in JAP
Promoted to Commander in Chief of imperial fleet to keep him away from planning
Tojo as PM meant JAP was going to war
Didn’t want to just whittle away US forces but wanted crippling strike followed by decisive battle
Imperial General Staff gave him green light and he went ahead with attack on Pearl Harbor
After this, Yamamoto didn’t want more territory but wanted decisive battle against US at Midway
He would send two waves at Midway: neutralize air force then second wave of land troops
US able to decrypt JAP messages
June 4-7
US sunk JAP carriers and JAP withdrew
JAP lost its naval supremacy during Battle of Midway
After Midway, Yamamoto lost face
April 18, 1943, decided to go to South Pacific
o US radio found out where he would be going
o Targeted his plane and he was shot down
Legacy
o Pearl Harbor
o Defeat at Midway
o Tremendous foresight (accurate predictions)
o Openly opposed popular JAP war efforts
Warsaw Uprising
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Poland partitioned by GER and RUS
o Desired defeat of GER
o Also fearful of RUS coming back in
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Polish relationship with RUS
o Red Army entry in 1939
o Disagreement over territorial claims
Aims during planning
o Show the POL will to fight the GER
o Aid Soviet army’s advance
o Exclude Soviets from assuming power in POL after GER defeat
o Rise up against Soviets during last phase
July 21, 1944, Soviets moving towards Poland
August 1, 1944, POL resistance rose up against GER in Warsaw
o Lasted until early Oct. 1944
Failure to coordinate uprising with SOV army
o Met with staunch defense by GER
o Element of surprise was lost
o RUS didn’t enter city until 1945
Oct. 2, capitulation agreement signed
GER reprisal
o Destruction of Warsaw
o Civilian massacres
o Food scarcity, lack of water and outside support contributed to casualties
Operations Yugo and Ichigo
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Ichigo
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
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Yugo
o
o
o
o
Planned to take air bases
Secure 3 railroad lines that would go from China to SE Asia
1944
China defended but were not prepared and poorly armed
Divided in two parts
 Togo
 __
Ended December 31, 1944
Contributed to CKS’s downfall
JAP never able to take over China
In Burma and India
Allied forces were mostly BR from India
Represented JAP’s precarious hold
In Burma, troops led by Bose on side of BR
Rape of Nanjing
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Murder by Imperial JAP Army
Military situation
o JAP army invaded Shanghai in 1937
o CKS knew Nanjing’s capture was inevitable and pulled CH troops out
o As JAP drew closer, civilians tried to leave
o Many Western trades people left city
o Nanjing Safety Zone was established to protect Westerners but this fell through
JAP army met with little resistance and by nightfall it was taken by JAP troops
o 6-week period of rape, arson, murder, etc.
January 1938, JAP ordered all civilians to return to city
o Late February, two leaders of massacre were called back to JAP
o Members of JAP Imperial Family were not tried because they’d been given immunity
53
Josef Mengele (Angel of Death)
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Bio
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Camps
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Born in 1911
1937, PhD in physical anthropology
Joined Nazi Party in 1937 and SS the following year
1940, volunteered in Medical Corps
1943, sustained injuries and returned to GER
Went to Auschwitz to collect data
Primary duties: determine who was fit for labour and who would be sent to gas chambers
Inhumane experiments on twins, gypsies and Jews
 Tried to prove physiological inferiority
 Operations, amputations
o Recruited doctors to help him in his experiments by promising to lengthen their lives
o As camps were evacuated, he fled
Eventually caught by Americans
o Soon released because US didn’t recognize him
o Fled to Bavaria and changed his identity until 1949
o Fled to Argentina where he lived for 34 years
o Died in Brazil of a heart attack and was never found or tried
Operation Mercury
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Code name for Battle of Crete in May 1941
Unique: first entirely airborne assault in the history of air warfare
Defenders of island were under BR command
o Local Greek forces, BR and Commonwealth troops
Battle was won by GER
Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere
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JAP referred to what their empire would be if EUR were kicked out of East Asia
Cover story for JAP imperialism until the end of the war
o JAP realized they needed local independence movements
*German resistance
-read his short (150 page) book on this
-Valkyrie
-Stauffenberg book
-attempted military coup by Beck
-*Prof’s beliefs will differ from others
Final:
-map question (look at EUR and Pacific) (major cities and where major battles happen)
*QUESTIONS WILL BE SIMILAR TO MIDTERM
April 5, 2012
54
The first days in Normandy were tense
 GER forces were outmanoeuvred
 The continuing misjudgement of the invasion as a diversionary operation
 Mobile defence would have saved lives
 But the strategy of holding every square foot was costly
 More GER soldiers were killed in the last 9 months of the war than the previous 4
years
o Also an explanation as to why it took the Allies longer than expected to
defeat GER
 On 30-31 July US forces broke through GER front at Avalanche
o GB and US army groups now waged mobile warfare
o GER forces had no airpower and not enough fuel, were forced to retreat
 15 August US army landed in southern FR
o they seized the FR Mediterranean coast
 On 25 August Paris fell
o When GER commander in Paris disobeyed Hitler and refused to have Paris
destroyed
 4 September GB and CAN took Antwerp, but not very definitively and the Generals
forgot to arrange for the occupation of the mouth of the Scheldte against the GER
 The GER army skill and resilience required repeated attacks and the holding of small
parcels of land
o The GER armies had to be blasted out of FR acre by acre
 CAN and GB battalions fought well under strength
o Early August, CAN 1900 men short by the end of the month they were 4318
short
 17 August Montgomery confirmed to Bradley that he wanted a narrow front – 40
divisions thrust into northwest GER
o Bradley was opposed to this
 Logistics and supply issues became a real problem – the only port the allies could
really use was Cherbourg?
o General Eisenhower has been seen by some as slow and methodical, but
when you look at the supply and logistics situation, there was really no
alternative
o He was scheduled to command the 3 army groups and he didn’t accept
Montgomery’s plan either
o Only a port with the capacity to fix the supply problem could advance the
development further, the port was Antwerp
 A new major offensive needed to be planned
o First supply lines needed to be secured
o Supply lines were a real problem, but also the solution to a further campaign
 15 September 2nd CAN division advanced, it made it into the city and in control of
the vital docks
o GER forces remained in the suburbs
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o It wasn’t secured until after the winter of 45
o It took that time before it could be used
o Explanation for the apparent retardation of the campaign *
Hitler ordered a repetition of May 1940 to start in the middle of December 1944
o A bit unusual to begin a campaign in the middle of winter
o Aim was to separate US and GB forces – that was the Ardennes offensive
o It was a tactical surprise on the Allies
o This was an intelligence success on the part of the GER
o 22 December offensive had advanced 60km
o then the weather cleared and gave the allies aerial supremacy
o by 24 December the entire offensive had stalled
GER defence for the rest of the war was hard, but relatively ineffective
o Seen by the failure of the Ardennes offensive
The occupation of GER from West and East was gradual still
o 12 January – first Ukrainian front began the major final Soviet offensive
o In Feb, the Western allies attacked in the Netherlands
o It took almost 5 months for the allies to advance to the Rheine (50km or so)
Hitler’s murderous hold on generals and the perverted judiciary must be measured
in millions of death and destruction
12 April Roosevelt died, Hitler was jubilant
12 April Hitler delivered a radio address to the soldiers of the GER east front – “now
the tide will turn” – Berlin remains GER, Vienna will be GER again and
o 2 weeks or so before he committed suicide
25 April Soviet soldiers shook hands with US soldier at Tolga
30 April Hitler committed suicide in his bunker
7 April General Yogel signed the unconditional military capitulation at Eisenhower’s
hq (headquarters) in Reims in FR
o The Soviets were not satisfied with that – 9 April Soviets signed the same
instrument at Soviet hq at Berlin
The govt that had been appointed was not headed by Goering (although he was the
designated successor by law), Goering had lost Hitler’s trust because he had jumped
the gun and removed himself from Berlin to safety in south GER and notified Hitler
than since he was in Berlin without the ability to leave, he Goering would not be
able to take over the govt – Hitler resented that and demoted Goering from
everything and ordered him shot (which wasn’t carried out)
o Appointed C-in-C of the navy as head of the govt
o That govt resided in Flensbrough? (north GER)
o Until the 23 of May – he was temporizing, trying to drag things out in the
capitulation policy – to delay total demobilization and disarmament to allow
as many soldiers and refugees to escape
o As a result 1.8 million soldiers escaped Soviet captivity
o Churchill kept GER POW’s in GB custody in north GER together organised as
units and formations so they could be used in case of conflict with RUS
56
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 Many parallels between WWI and WWII – this is one of them
5 June the 4 powers declared that they now governed GER
In the course of the war 5.3 million GER soldiers were killed, 2.355 million were
killed in the last 9 months of the war (44.3% of all GER soldiers) – he highest number
of GER losses were in August 1944 and January 1945
Losses of other powers were high also – 110 million soldiers had been mobilised
during the conflict, 60 million human beings are dead (includes those killed in Asia,
at least 26-27 million were soldiers of all powers involved)
o SU total deaths: 25 million
o China: 15 million
o GER: 7 million (includes the 5.3 million soldiers)
o POL: 6 million
o FR: 250,000 soldiers + 300-400,000 civilians (FR was only in the war
periodically)
o GB: 264,000 dead, about 60,000 civilians
o USA: 292,000 soldiers + 9,300 civilians
o CAN: 37,000 soldiers
o Australia: 23,000 soldiers
o NZ: 10,000 soldiers
o Of the total, about 33 million civilians, 5+ million were Jews
o GER lost about 500,000 civilians – up to 4 million GER civilians were
murdered in the expulsions
What followed was not only a settling of accounts, but something the western allies
called “re-education” of the Germans
There were war crimes trials
o The Nuremburg Trial of the Major War Criminals 14 November 1945- 1
October 1946
o It ended with 10 executions by hanging on 16 October
o During the trial the defendants were fairly convicted of having participated in
conspiracy to wage a war of aggression, and other crimes as well (crimes
against civilians were not too difficult to prove – they always happen in wars)
o General Yodel was convicted of being responsible for the destruction of
certain Soviet villages
o Keitel was convicted for a large part of responsibility for everything that
happened in the war – killing POW’s
o Goering expected the same thing – he smuggled into his prison cell cyanide
capsule which he used the evening before the executions
During the trials the Soviets accused the Germans of having killed Polish Army
officers (15,000) because the GER near Smolensk had discovered the mass graves –
the evidence included newspaper clippings, letters and so on, on those officers – the
dates of all of which end in March 1940 – the evidence also included ammunition
which was identified as of GER origin (didn’t prove GER had used this, but only that it
had been exported to RUS in the 1920’s) – the evidence also included that trees
57
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landed on the mass graves (when you replant a tree the rings look different and you
can see how many years ago the tree had been planted there – became clear they
weren’t planted in 1943, but in 1940 - in 1940 GER were not in Soviet territory)
o Since 1992 RUS president Yeltsin discovered a protocol in which Stalin among
others voted for the executions of the Polish Army officers
o Some have argued that the Stalin regime was worse than Hitler – only in
terms of numbers, every individual suffering and death in unique
13 December 1937 – January 1938 Nanking Massacre
o involved thousands as innocent civilians buried alive, shot in large groups and
thrown in the river, 20,000 women were raped then murdered or mutilated –
300,000 killed in the process
o all of this was known in Tokyo and allowed to continue for 6 weeks
o this came up in the war trials of JAP defendants
o 12 November 1948 – 7 were sentenced to death, a month later were hanged,
they were mostly Generals – General Tojo was considered the arch criminal
of the Pacific War
War trials followed in both GER and JAP, but reconstruction, reintegration and, the
Korean war helped in all of this, followed surprisingly soon (1945-1950)
o The Korean war changed a lot
The Cold War had begun – why? disagreements on strategy, or from the conference
on Yalta, or on POL internal polices (the failure of the Soviets to allow free elections),
the occupation of Berlin was a bone of contention, the SU wanted the western allies
to leave Berlin as it was surrounded by Soviet territory
Prof’s date of the beginning of the conflict of which turned into the Cold War was a
continuation to 1917 (the Bolshevik Revolution)
o Date in WWII – the flight of Hess to GB
In October 1944 Moscow Conference
o Churchill and Stalin fixed spheres of influence in east EU
 90% of Greece to GB
 Bulgaria – SU to have 80%
 Romania 90% to SU
 Hungary 80% to SU
 Yugoslavia 50%-50% GB-SU
Massacres of Katyn of the Polish Army Officers
The Yalta Conference when occupation zones were set, Stalin promised free
elections in POL
Tensions continued, GB helped to let 1.8 million GER soldiers escape Soviet capture
and labour
Still Stalin’s aims were difficult to read and if someone is not entirely predictable,
then there is the possibility that he had no fixed aims, but reacted to situations
(sometimes rationally, sometimes irrationally) – on a general level the aims were
quite simple: security
58
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o That meant that GER, that had invaded RUS twice, must be Soviet controlled
– Soviets cannot fell secure unless they control a potential adversary
o Stalin was afraid GER would recover even faster than after WWI, and GER
would be in alliance with the western powers, particularly the USA –
therefore he needed to preserve the Soviet-Anglo (Soviet-US) alliance
As early as 4 June 1945 Stalin told GER communist leaders that the perspective was
2 Germany’s but that the Soviet-US alliance must be preserved, but that the
strategic aim was GER unity, and that explains the offer of GER sovereignty that
came from RUS in 1952 (under conditions of Soviet domination)
Cold War
April 10, 2012
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WWII finished at the end of 1940s but territorial acquisitions were not resolved until 1991 with the
reunification of Germany
o 1945-1990, postwar period (this is Germanicentric point of view because it doesn’t apply to
Asia)
Policy of Soviets showed a phenomenon that had been present since the formation of Soviet Union:
o Simultaneous use of ideological policies (Marxist-Leninist) aiming at the expansion of
communism over the entire world
 Marxist Leninists
 We will fulfill your desires in this lifetime
 Soviets said that by 1985, they will have taken over US
 Didn’t put themselves in situation of electable politicians
Economic policies, normal national interest policies (Statpolitik – state policy)
o Namely power interests (Russian imperialism)
o Genuine need for security
 Security against German recovery and German-American alliance
 Tried to preserve Anglo-Soviet-American alliance to keep Germany under control
o 4 June 1945 (before Potsdam), Stalin told German communists that the perspective was two
Germanies but that the Soviet-Anglo Saxon alliance must be preserved
 Aim: Secure unity of Germany in order to keep the Soviet Union in the international
game
o Expectations of many included an early American departure from Europe
 Policy of US
 1920, evacuated Germany so they will do it again (because American public
will want to withdraw from international affairs)
o Overlooked Pearl Harbor and new sense of American vulnerability
in globalization of warfare
American power interests confronted Soviet interests
o Whatever the flaws of American society, American aims always included freedom for
populations (until fairly recently) – *American interests had much more room for liberty
than Soviet interests allowed
o US succeeded Britain in opposing Russian expansion
o Global strategy established naval and air bases all over the world (begun in 1942/3)
Western powers supported German recovery from 1946 on
o Effort to secure the free world, confront dictatorial suppression, begin containment policy
even before Kennan’s long telegram
o George F. Kennan published in periodical Foreign Affairs (1947) – “The Sources of Soviet
Conduct”
o Kennan’s advice was given to Secretary James F. Byrnes in Stuttgart Opera House on 6
September 1946 (*full text of speech in myCourses)
59
Repealed Joint Chiefs of Staff directive 1067 which said that Germany will not be
occupied for purposes of liberation but for purpose of realizing certain Allied
objectives
 Byrnes referred to reconstruction of Germany (clear departure from everything the
JCS Directive had implemented)
 Invited Germany to take honourable place among UN
 US is prepared to carry out agreements reached at Potsdam
 Warning directed at Soviets: if GER is not administered as economic unit, “there
should be changes in level of industry agreed upon by Allied Control Commission” –
meaning: economic integration into West (what Soviets did not want)
 German nation must be allowed to work for standard of economic industry so that
they do not become poorhouse of Europe
 US will not agree to taking of GER greater reparations than outlined in Potsdam
agreement
 US wanted economic unification of GER
 If unification cannot be secured, US will do what it can to make maximum
unification possible (through their zones of occupation)
 Germany will not live under dictatorship, foreign or domestic
Stalin reneged on Yalta agreements to allow free elections in Poland
o Not primarily interested in world revolution (useful for propaganda and movements of
national liberation)
o Primary interest: security and power
o Fear of German recovery was great
o Stalin thought GER would recover more rapidly than after WWI and would be dangerous in
alliance with the West
 Also reason why Stalin ordered communists in 1933 to fight the social democrats
 Because social dems wanted alliance with France
o Also wanted access and partial control of Rhur industry
o Abandoned Greece and the attempt to take over through civil war through 1946-49 because
of potential of conflict with US and Britain in Mediterranean (could not fight on many fronts)
o Poland had to be secured against possible attempt of British to honor their commitment of
25 August 1939 (fight for integrity of Polish state)
o Russian historian said that Britain would have been apoplectic if Greece had become
communist because of Mediterranean sea lanes
o Focal point was GER which was increasingly becoming divided
Bizonal Charter (date)
o Combined two US and British occupation zones into one economic region
o This worried Stalin
10 March-24 April 1947, meeting of council of foreign ministers in Moscow
o Molotov still demanded an Unitarian German state, control of Rhur, $10 billion in
reparations, reparations of indefinite amount to Russia from all GER current production
 Wanted Oder-Neisse line recognized
 Wanted bi____ dissolved
 Wanted __ to be returned to GER
o Am. Secretary of State, George Marshall, and Br Secretary, Bevin, supported GER economic
unity
 Wanted federal structure (not Unitarian)
 Commission to revise Oder-Neisse line
o French wanted the Czar and Rhine-Rhur region separated from rest of GER
While this was going on, President Truman published “The Truman Doctrine”
o US would protect Greece and Turkey against communism
o Stalin abandoned Greece and eventually had to give up on Turkey too
o Visible beginning of containment policy long advocated by Kennan
5 June 1947, complementary plan was published by Secretary Marshall at Harvard
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60
o Proclaimed a European aid and reconstruction program
o Became known as “Marshall Plan”
 6 June, conference planned of GER minister presidents (head of gov’t in states) (Bavaria, Hanover,
Saxony, Brandenburg…)
o Met in Munich to discuss and coordinate provincial self-government issues
o Meeting collapsed before it began because minister presidents couldn’t agree on an agenda
o East presidents insisted upon the creation of GER unitary state with central government and
no federal structure; democratic with guaranteed position for communists
 Stalin wanted to prevent a GER-American alliance and proposed to neutralize GER
 Proposed AM withdrawal from Europe
o Western powers wanted step-by-step progress not overnight unitary, centralized state; took
no notice of Stalin’s drift toward neutralization
 Stalin had no credibility because of crimes against his own people, Stalinism, mass
rapes and robbery in occupied countries, suppression of democracy in Poland and
East Germany – made Stalin’s declarations hollow
o East German ministers left before the conference could begin
o *Signaled continued conflict between East and West which was escalating
 End of Nov-beginning of Dec 1947, conference of the Council of Western Foreign Ministers held in
London
o Ended with no results because no agreement on reparations, industries, Marshall Plan,
Order-Neisse line, peace treaty and GER constitution and some form of German unity
Events in East Europe
 December 1947, Moscow-run communists forced out Czar of Bulgaria, forced out king of Romania
o Now Americans stopped sending dismantled industries to Russia (as agreed upon at
Potsdam)
 25 February 1948, Communists staged a coup and seized power
 Until beginning of March, 6-power conference in London (US, BR, FR, BEL, NETH, LUX)
o Recommended GER participation in Marshall plan and international control of Rhur
o This control was wishful thinking
 17 March 1948, two weeks after London Conference, 5 powers met n Brussels
o Formed West Union (BR, FR and Benelux countries)
o First postwar alliance against Soviets
 20 March, Soviet military governor walked out of 4-power control council in Berlin (in protest
against decisions at London, but also aginst Western policies and spectre of GER-West integration)
o Stalin stalled all cooperative efforts to revitalize GER economy
o Poland and Czech would have been happy to adopt Marshall Plan but Stalin didn’t allow it
o *Led to first Berlin Crisis on 1948 – one of most visible turning points in E-W relations
 Led to development of 2 GER states
 March 1948, Bank of German Lands (national GER bank) formed
 Western powers decided on currency reform
o Went ahead without Russians
o Revaluation of GER currency
o Introduction of new currency: Deutschmark (18 June 1948)
 Scarcer than Reichsmark (in order to keep inflation down)
 Ratio was 1:10 (new currency was worth 1/10 of old currency)
 1 April, before currency reform, Soviets introduced new rules for interzonal road, rail and air traffic
on pretext that infrastructure needed repairs but really was the beginning of blockade of Germany
o Berlin was within Soviet territory, how could West form a capital
o Western powers did not abandon Berlin; began Berlin airlift
 Ignored limitations on air traffic
 West powers made clear they would stay in Berlin
 After West’s currency reform, East Germans introduced their currency “reform”
o No one wanted their currency
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West German currency was worth something because, overnight, shop windows were full of things to
buy that were not there before
o *Not available before currency reform
18-25 June 1948, Soviets blocked all air, road and rail traffic between zones
____ ,East Germany established itself as German Democratic Republic
8 May, West became Federal Republic of Germany
o *Insistence of American and BR on federal structure
E-W relations were partially identical until 1990 but the relations between E-W and between GER
and the West and East Germany and the East were sped up by event in Asia
o Outbreak of Korean War in 1950
o Americans asked GER for assistance in fighting alongside the West
o Great resistance to military service
o “Without me” – have a military but without me (amongst German youth)
Korean War
o John Lewis Gaddis, We Now Know
o Kim Il-sung, North Korean dictator and Syngman Rhee, South Korean leader wanted to unite
Korea by force
 Each needed support of his sponsor
 Each conducted raids across 38th parallel
o American Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, signaled to North Korea that they could take
South (12 January 1950)
 Publically excluded South Korea and Taiwan from US defensive perimeter
 Stalin gave Kim the green light
 Rhee was not given the go-ahead from Americans
o Relative lack of American interest who withdrew troops from South Korea in 1949
o 19 January 1950, Kim told Russian ambassador that he wanted to visit Stalin to get
permission for offensive action
 Stalin asked Mao in Mscow what he thought
 Mao cautioned that American intervention was not likely but possible
 Stalin said Kim would get no Soviet help if they got kicked in the teeth and would
have to ask Mao for help instead
 Stalin agreed to the attack only if Mao approved
 At same time, Stalin encouraged Mao to take over Taiwan
 Stalin authorized Soviet military build-up in North Korea
 CIA of US believed that an attack had been called off
 *one of most stellar misjudgments of CIA of all time
o 25 June, North Koreans crossed into South Korea
 UN Security Council immediately voted to send troops
 Only full-fledged attack could convince Truman to reverse decision to disassociate
from Pacific sphere, which is exactly what happened
Approximately two years later, 10 March 1952, Stalin issued note to Western powers suggested to
reunite GER with guarantee for democratic parties (including communists)
o Western powers answered with a yes but needed free elections first
o Now Stalin told E-G communists to organize their own state
Stalin died March 1953
o 17 June 1953, East German uprising occurred put down by Soviet tanks
o 1955, Polish uprising (same fate)
o 1956, Hungarian uprising during Suez War (same fate)
o 1958, Kruschev’s threat to occupy Berlin
o 1961, building of Berlin War
o Late 1960s, beginning of detente, student revolts, social democrat government in GER
o 1978, John Paul II elected
o 1979, NATO Double Decision to negotiate removal of 720 Russian rockets
o Dec. 1979, Soviets invaded Afghanistan (withdrew 1989)
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o
o
o
o
August 1980, Solidarnash was formed (Polish trade union and opposition force)
October 1986, Reagan/Gorbachev talks
 Russian couldn’t keep pace
1989, Soviet bloc crumbled; Eats German revolution successful
1990, GER reunited (minus a few territories)
Conference
April 12, 2012
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Canadian Forces in European Campaign
o Maple Leaf Route
 East part of Orne River still occupied by GER
o II Canadian Corps
o Operation Atlantic
 3rd Canadian Infantry Division
 2nd Division
 Proceeded South to take Cormelles and Vaucelles
o Operation Spring
 2nd Canadian Corps
 Take remaining of Verrieres and May-sur-Ornes
o Operation Totalize
 Allied advanced southward
 Mechanized infantry attack (first in the world)
o Operation Tractable
 GER soldiers are trapped
 Encirclement of GER Western front
o Conclusion
 2nd Canadian Infantry had greatest casualties
 Played large role in Battle of Normandy
Why did GER keep fighting to May 1945?
o Lost ¼ million men
o Unconditional surrender was not a favorable option
o Tried to attack London
o Americans moved faster than GER
 Constant breakdown of GER trucks
 Allied air attacks
o GER: Hitler gained even more support at home during course of war
o Self-preservation took precedence
o GER feared that Stalin would take a few million of GER people and put them to work (at the
prospect of unconditional surrender)
o FDR suggested to Churchill that this should not destroy GER
 Churchill saw this as a weakness – didn’t want to reassure the enemy
 Lesser of two evils was to break down the resistance of the GER
o Why GER were scared of Russian offensive?
 When GER regained lost ground in Russian area
o As fighting continued, Hitler made preps for his suicide
o May 2, 1945, GER forces in Italy surrendered
o May 7, 1945, general surrender by GER
Hitler & Stalin – who committed worse crimes?
o Were at one time allies
o Stalin
 Not extraordinary in Russian history
 Kind of ruler the RUS people could expect from recent history
 Stalin cooperated with Churchill when GER attacked
 Raised status of RUS
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Hitler
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Shocked the GER people – no rulers like him before
Fundamentally different from previous rulers
Dictatorship was unique
 Supreme decision-maker who didn’t administer much
 Absolute authority to control all groups at once without intervening too
much
o Conclusion
 Stalin was “better”
 Not because of policy
 Despite loss of people’s freedom, RUS became superpower after WWII
 GER’s end was tragic
 Under Stalin,, RUS were victims; under Hitler, GER people didn’t feel guilty
 Better one who was more familiar to people: Stalin
JAP Prosperity Sphere
o Concept created during Shoa era
o Represented idea to create self-sufficient Asian nations led by JAN (to free Asians from
Western powers)
o Following Pearl Harbor, JAP got precious metals that CH & __ lacked
 PM noted that there were only a few resources in which E. Asia were not selfsufficient
o Organization not based on free-trade but more of a communal business where member
countries would contribute raw materials, labor, etc to benefit the bloc as a whole
o “Asia for Asians”
o 1943, in gov’t documents, that superior position of JAP
 Based on supremacist ideas
 JAP are superior to other Asian races
 “Sphere” masked JAP’s intention to take over Asia
 Also states that Asians had been weakened by colonialism and JAP had the
responsibility of making them men again
o Plan
 National land planning – only policy that was concrete
 Nation-wide transportation systems
 More long-term approach (100 year period)
o Failure of sphere
 Collapsed when JAP surrendered to Allies
 Failure of other countries to buy in
What did the US do to rescue European Jews over WWI?
o Harbored refugees
o Congressmen tried to pass laws to allow more Jews to come to America
 None made it through Congress
o Around same time, MS St. Louis, tried to seek refuge in Cuba, then US, then Canada
 Eventually settled back in Europe
o After US entered war in 1941, Holocaust entered public knowledge
 Win the war – way to solve this problem
 Granting asylum was not their priority
o Ruth Gruber, Special Assistant to Sec. of Interior
 Assigned mission to bring 1 million Jews from Italy to US
 Eventually managed to reach them but only able to bring them to US under
Executive Order (President’s personal guests) – just under 1000 people
o Settled in Fort Ontario, New York
o Were not allowed outside contact
o Lived in a fort and became assimilated
o Gov’t did not agree on status of these refugees
o Ruth lobbied successfully to allow them to stay
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Refugees were low on priority list and remained in camp until January 1946
 Allowed to apply for citizenship
 Feb. 1946, no one left in the camp
o Reason for lack of gov’t involvement
 Lack of agreement in Congress
 Bureaucratic orders
Battle for Caen
o Spring 1944
o Fought between Allied forces from June-August 1944
o Canadian role in battle
 3rd Infantray Division
 Commanded by Mj Gen Keller
 Over 20,000 men divided into 3 brigades
 Goal: capture the city of Caen
o Operation Trenwood
 Morning of July 8
 Bomber command was to begin attack on night of July 7
 No effect on GER forces to defend themselves
 British divisions folded the front from left and right
 Mid-afternoon on July 9, had captured Caen
 Lost 1000 Canadians and 1000 British
o Conclusion
 Allies took city but the area was much less strategically important by this time
 Canadians were imperative for Allied victory
Soviet versus German tanks
o British first introduced tanks during WWI
o German tanks
 Panzer I, II, III, IV
 Not militarily superior but through blitzkrieg they had strategic superiority
 14, 500 (Panzers)
 1934, Panther tank
 One of best designed tanks of WWII
 Tiger I and Tiger II heavy tanks
 Prone to mechanical failures
o Soviet tanks
 ____
 T34 superior to Panzer III & IV in fire power
 Germans needed to update their tanks to combat T34
 BT tanks superior mobility and fire power
 Led directly to T34
o Tank warfare
 By end of war, Soviets were able to produce more tanks than GER which helped RUS
take GER on the Eastern front
What happened to art stolen by Nazis and Soviets?
o 1933-45, art looting
o Germany
 1933, German art removal began
 Attack on art was not personal vendetta of Hitler’s
 Degenerate art was considered subversive and hazardous
 And evidence of racial inferiority
 Rejected all things cosmopolitan
 Large-scale seizures
 Pieces were sold in Switzerland and funds helped rearm GER
 Many officials took some for their private use
o
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Soviets
 Took vengeful approach to artwork
 As Red army reached Poland, removal of valuable objects were removed before
occupation even commenced
 Soviets raided hidden repositories of art and museums
 1995, Pushkin and Hermitage Museums released hundreds of concealed paintings
for half a century
 Over 1 million pieces of art were not returned to their native countries
o Allies
 Crimes against culture as well
 Preservation of libraries and art collections
 Museums across Europe planned for protection of works
 June 1943, FDR approved American Commission of Protection of Artwork
 Determining rightful owner was complicated process
 Numerous cases are ongoing
o Conclusion
 Methods of dispossession proved difficult to untangle
American bombing on GER armament industry
o Successful bombing
 Use of B17 bomber planes – allowed precision bombing
 Chose to fly during day which allowed for precision bombing
o Successful campaigns
 GER ball bearing industry
 Highly concentrated
 Supply of ball bearings was indispensible for GER
 12, 000 tonnes of bombs dropped on these targets
 Oil industry
 Output fell by Sept 1944
 175,000 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes (91% reduction)
 GER saw this as catastrophic
 Brought back into production almost immediately but were attacked again
 Loss of oil was felt
o 2 hour flights were cut to ½ hour
o Conclusion
 US force shut down GER wartime industry
Potsdam Conference
o July-August 1945
o Discuss post-war issues
o Truman, Stalin, Churchill/Attlee
o Status of GER
 Demilitarize GER: reduce all wartime industries (metal, chemical, machinery), ship
yards and aircraft industries were dismantled
 Shift to free market
 Economy more agriculturally emphasized
 Territories annexed by GER would be reversed
 GER territories taken away (pushed to Oder-Neisse line_
o
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March 1939, Berlin fire brigade burned many works that had little value
Relatively publically owned artwork was transferred back to GER at the end
Other art was purchased by collectors for extremely low prices
Estimated that over 75,000 works were stolen
On Russian front
 Hitler wanted to eliminate Slavs
 Attempted to erase cultural memory
 Warsaw as systematically destroyed
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JAP
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 Lost 25% of their territory
GER would pay reparations to Soviets
Democratize and get ride of Nazism
For war to be over, JAP had to surrender
July 26, Potsdam Proclamation
 Destruction of JAP homeland unless they surrendered
Discussion of use of A-bomb
August 6, first bomb dropped on Hiroshima
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o Poland
 Allies decided to end recognition of Polish gov’t in exile
 Soviets would be able to get power over Poland and other Eastern European nations
Dropping of A bomb
o Causes
 Summer 1945, GER surrendered
 Attention was focused on JAP
 Battle of Okinawa was last battle of Pacific War
 Traumatized Allies
 Invasion of JAP territory seen as too costly
 Potsdam Proclamation ignored by JAP
 Started with strategic bombing
 This was not working
 Only way to make them surrender without endangering soldiers was A-bomb
o Hiroshima & Nagasaki
 Complete devastation
 Sept. 2 1945, surrender
o Soviet dimension
 Existence of bomb was significant in Allied-Soviet relations
 Led to arms race and balance of power when both sides had a bomb
 After JAP bombing, both parties agreed bombs shouldn’t be used which prevented
violent conflict during Cold War
 Soviets invaded JAP on August 8, 1945 (between two bombs) which gave them
claims on JAP
 Caused tension between US and Soviets – can be argued this tension still exists