Download Unit Outline - World War II

Unit Outline - World War II
Background
WWI (1914-1918) War ends with Armistice on November 11, 1918
Treaty of Versailles (1919) – Germany must admit guilt for WWI and pay 33 billion in
reparations
Weimar Republic in Germany – 1919-1933 – weak and fragmented – many political parties – no
centralized control – “triple digit inflation” in Germany – money worthless – high
unemployment
Great Depression (1930s) – US and world economy in ruins for several years
Rise of Dictators and Aggression in Europe and the Pacific, 1932-1940:
NOTE: Much of this section is a review of the previous unit – “Between the Wars”
Fascism in Italy
Benito Mussolini takes power, 1922
Fascist Aggression: Italy invades Ethiopia (1935)
Rome-Berlin (German-Italian) Axis formed (1936)
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Francisco Franco – sets up fascist dictatorship in Spain – war is proving ground for German
weapons and tactics
Fascism in Germany
Nazism, National Socialism, National-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiters Partei (NSDAP)
Adolf Hitler assumes power – asked to become Chancellor by President, 1933
Nazi Germany starts first concentration camp at Dachau, 1933 – political criminals, Jews, gypsies, etc
Nazi Aggression
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1936 - Hitler retakes the Rhineland – no resistance from France and/or England
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1938 - the Anschluss: Germany annexes Austria – no resistance
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1938 - Munich Pact, British & French meet with Hitler in Munich - grant Sudetenland (in
Czechoslovakia) to Hitler - Neville Chamberlain, appeasement, “Peace in our time”
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1939 - Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact – makes Hitler feel safe from attack from the
east
World War II – Course of War in Europe
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Sept 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland – Blitzkrieg – defeats Polish Army in weeks
Warsaw bombed by Germans even though not a military target – starts practice of
bombing cities.
Soviet troops enter Poland from east – USSR and Germany divide Poland between them
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1940: Germany invades and conquers Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and France
- Germans again use Schliefen Plan – sweep through Belgium – trap BEF against the
English Channel – “Miracle of Dunkirk”
- Paris falls to German Army – Hitler makes French sign surrender in same railroad car in
which Germans had signed Armistice in 1918
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Winston Churchill become British Prime Minister – stirs the people to resist – “Britain
will fight on alone” Churchill: “Battle of France has ended. The Battle of Britain has begun.”
- England stands alone – Germany wages air offensive against England – bombs air bases
and then cities – “The Blitz” – Americans feel sympathy for England – raise
money - collect first aid supplies – reports from England by Edward R. Murrow
get more American support for joining the war.
Convoys of American ships sail with supplies to England – many sunk by U-boats
June, 1941 – Germany attacks Russia in violation of non-aggression pact signed between
Hitler and Stalin in 1939
- US sends help to Russians over the next 3+ years– “Murmansk” convoys – many more
ships sunk bringing tanks, planes and ammunition to Russia
Russia suffers terrible casualties – millions of soldiers killed along with millions of
civilians
Russians practice “scorched earth” policy – burn their crops ahead of advancing German
army so that Germans cannot “live off the land” – must have long supply lines
that Russian guerilla fighters can attack
By December, 1941 – Germany/Italy control most of Europe, Russia as far as Moscow,
and much of North Africa almost to Suez Canal
Gradual US involvement in War:
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After WWI many Americans supported the “Isolationists” who believed US should stay
out of foreign wars – lost 116,00 men in WWI – don’t make that mistake again
Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1937
– no sale of arms to belligerents (either side)
- no loans or credit to belligerents
- no travel by US citizens on belligerents’ ships
- purchase of non-military goods by belligerents must be paid in cash and transported in
belligerents’ ships – “cash and carry”
Neutrality Act of 1939 (“cash and carry”) – modified old acts – now said that US could
trade with belligerents – even sell war material – but it had to be paid for in cash – no
credit
1941 - Lend-Lease Act – ships for bases – England needed destroyers to protect ships
against German U-boats – US traded 50 WWI vintage destroyers for long term leases on
naval and air bases in North and South America – Congress then went further – allowed
US to lend war materials to Britain
- Lend-Lease effectively ended US neutrality – committed economic aid to allies in
opposition to Germany
- FDR declares US to be “Arsenal of Democracy” pledges to supply allies
The Atlantic Charter (August 1941) – FDR and Winston Churchill meet – set war aims
right of all nations to self-determination, US and GB would not seek territory from war,
disarmament of aggressor nations, permanent system of security in the future (basis for
the UN)
Famous Leaders of WW II– Political and Military
Europe:
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Nov, 1942 – Allies land in North Africa – drive Germans and Italians from Morocco,
Libya and Tunisia – establish base for invasion of Southern Europe
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1942-43 Battle of Stalingrad (Russia) – hundreds of thousands of German troops killed
captured as Hitler refuses to let army retreat – Stalin refuses to give up the city that bears
his name – Costliest battle of the war – turns tide of war on the Eastern Front – Russian
counter-offensive begins
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By 1943 the Allies have sufficient long range heavy bombers to begin systematic
saturation bombing of German war industry as well as population centers – British bomb
at night while Americans bomb during the day – “Daylight Precision bombing”
American have secret weapon – a “computerized “ bombsight that allows for more
accurate aiming.
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Allies “firebomb” German cities like Hamburg and Dresden – hundreds of thousands of
civilians die in bombings
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1943 - Allies invade Sicily – Italy surrenders and withdraws from Axis – German troops
move into Italy to replace Italians - Mussolini overthrown & arrested – later escapes with
help of German commandos – then captured and hung upside down in town square –
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1943 – Allies invade Italy at Salerno – begin slow march up Italian “boot” – difficult
fighting – narrow country with many mountains and rivers – easy for Germans to defend
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June 4, 1944 – Rome falls to Allies – first Axis capital to fall
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June 6, 1944 – D-Day – invasion France by Americans, British, Canadians and French
forces – largest invasion in history – 3 million men, 11,000 planes, 5,000 ships
After hard fighting Allies break out – liberate Paris in August – reach German border by
autumn.
Supreme command of Allied Forces (SHAEF-Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Force) given to American – Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Ike”) (later elected
President of US in 1952) noted generals: George Patton, Omar Bradley: US, Bernard
Montgomery (UK), Charles DeGaulle (France)
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Dec 1944 – Germans launch last great offensive of war – “Battle of the Bulge” results in
destruction of what remains of German army in West
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April 1945 – Russian and Americas armies meet at Elbe River – Russian enter Germany
from East, Americans from West.
- April 30 – Hitler and leadership commit suicide in Berlin
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May, 1945 – Germany surrenders to Allied commanders – VE Day
Weaponry, Technology & New Tactics :
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Blitzkrieg – German tactic – combination of Air attacks to gain air supremacy, fast
attacks by columns of tanks, infantry follows
Attacks on civilians – Germans and Japanese begin to target refuges to block roads and
disrupt communication – strafe civilians
- saturation bombing of cities, non-military targets – killing thousands of civilians
- bombing of population centers started by Axis – soon adopted as strategy by Allies –
day and night raids on German cities – “1000 plane raids” fire bombing of Dresden,
Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg – Berlin pounded into rubble day and night. – Tokyo
burned by firebomb attack that killed more people than atomic bomb.
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High altitude bombers – dropped heavy bomb loads from 20,000 feet plus
Paratroopers – soldiers dropped behind lines – disrupt communications
Guerilla movements – underground organizations that would sabotage German
installations, blow up trains, disrupt communications, etc. – “Le Resistance”
Aircraft Carriers – new naval strategy – away from battleships – sea battles fought by
navies that never see each other
Jet fighters – German develop first combat jet plan
Missiles – Germans invent V-1 and V-2 rockets that bombard London and other British
cities in 1944 and 1945 – forerunner of guided missiles of the 1960s
Atomic Bomb - Manhattan Project: Top secret project to build new kind of weapon –
an “atomic” bomb – huge cities built to develop it at Oak Ridge TN and Los Alamos,
NM. Project was kept secret all through the war even tough thousands worked on it.
- July 16, 1945: first atomic explosion – bombs tested at Alamogordo, NM
- decision made to drop bomb on Japan – only two bombs produced – both were used.
The Holocaust
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Nazis practiced anti-Semitism – Before the war new laws (Nuremberg Codes) were
passed that said German Jews were not allowed to own businesses or work in professions
– property confiscated - deported to labor camps – concentration camps.
In conquered and occupied countries Nazis rounded up Jews and other minorities and
deported them to concentration camps – later became “death” camps
“Final Solution” – 1942 – Nazis decide that the final solution to the “Jewish question”
would be the extermination of Jews in Europe – and eventually the world.
Concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau and others exterminate millions of
Jews in massive gas chambers and then burn bodies in huge ovens.
Millions starve to death in camps or die of disease or are worked to death
Experimentation in camps as well – Nazi “doctors” perform medical experiments on Jews
and others.
Six million Jews die in Holocaust.
Question still exists as to whether the Allies knew what was happening and did little of
nothing to stop it.
Germans also killed millions of Russians and Poles, regardless of religion, as well as
Gypsies, Catholics and homosexuals
End of War – Beginning of Cold War:
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Europe is devastated - estimated deaths from WWII are over 50 million, including 20
million in Russia alone
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Soviet Union occupies Eastern Europe and sets up “satellite states”
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Marshall Plan (US Aid) sends billions of dollars to help Europe rebuild – economic
miracle
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Nuremberg War Crimes Trials: victorious allies hold trials of former Nazis – charge
them with “crimes against humanity” – some are executed – others imprisoned – much
information about the holocaust came from these trials