Download WWII part 1

World War II – events prior to US Entry
1 week after invasion of Czechoslovakia Hitler demanded return of Danzig on the Baltic Coast in Polish Corridor.
Polish Corridor separated East Prussia from Germany.
Chamberlain says Britain would aid Poland if attacked; France follows suit
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact--Aug. 23rd, 1939
Big surprise that the fascists and the communists would sign a treaty
Hitler wanted to prevent a 2-front war if he invaded Poland.
Stalin was afraid of Hitler and wanted assurances.
Soviet Army was weak due to purges in the 1930s. – definitely not prepared to fight any war
Pact Stated
• Non-aggression agreement between the 2 countries – this one everybody knew about
• Division of Poland between Hitler & Stalin – not disclosed to everyone
• USSR would sell Germany raw materials for Nazi war machine.
With no concern for soviet involvement, Hitler had a clear shot at invading Poland
Sept 1, 1939 - Invasion of Poland starts WWII
Sept. 1, 1939, Germany troops invade Poland
Two days later, Britain & France declared war on Germany; WWII begins
Sept. 5, 1939: FDR officially proclaimed U.S. neutrality.
The two sides:
Axis
Allies
Germany (1939)
Great Britain (1939)
Italy (1939)
France (1939)
Japan (1940)
U.S.S.R. (1941)
Hungary (1940)
U.S. (1941)
Romania (1940)
China
Bulgaria (1941)
43 other countries
Axis offensives in Europe and elsewhere
Germany invades Poland--Sept. 1, 1939
Blitzkrieg--"lightning war"--new type of warfare
• Combined air force, tanks, artillery, and mechanized infantry.
• Pierced holes in enemy line & quickly cut it off; chopped enemy into smaller groups; Luftwaffe (German air
force) destroyed civilian roads and bombs cities.
Poland unable to successfully defend itself; surrenders Sept. 27, 1939
• Britain & France could not aid Poland in time.
Soviet Union expansion in the East
• USSR invaded Poland from the east about a month after Germany.
• 1940 -Stalin annexed Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania because he believed Hitler would one day attack USSR
• Fortified defenses in Baltics
• Nov 1939 - Invaded Finland wins in March 1940
German expansion in Western Europe
• April 1940: conquered Denmark & Norway
• May 1940: Netherlands, Belgium, & Luxembourg fall
• French & British troops unsuccessful
• Fall of France (June, 1940)
• German troops occupied 2/3 of France & took control of its gov't.
Battle of Britain
Hitler's demands to Britain:
• Return of German colonies
• Agree to Germany's domination of continental Europe.
• Britain categorically refuses
• Aug 13, 1940 - Hitler orders German bombers to attack Royal Air Force
Reason: Soften Britain for German invasion (Operation Sealion)
Sept 7, 1940 Germans bomb London
• Change of bombing tactics
• Turn civilians into targets
• Turns out to be a mistake because it angers Great Britain and their desire to win is further increased
•
RAF recovered from exhaustion; waves of German planes lost
Results
RAF defeated the Luftwaffe
Plans are cancelled for German invasion of Britain
British morale increases: Winston Churchill inspirational leader
Tripartite Pact (September, 1940)
Japan added to Rome-Berlin axis for mutual defense and military support.
U.S. policy toward Japan increasingly grew more confrontational.
Germany & Italy expand into Balkans & N. Africa: Greece, Yugoslavia, Egypt.
Germany invades Soviet Union in June, 1941
• Breaks the non-aggression pact to get more "living space" for new German Empire in Eastern Europe
• Germany’s advance halted on outskirts of Moscow in late 1941- thanks to a brutal winter
• Siege of Leningrad lasted two years
• U.S. eventually sent $11 billion of Lend-Lease aid to the Soviets
• Defense of Russia seen as a defense of the United States
• Another mistake for Hitler
• Opened up a second front in the war – which will eventually prove to be his biggest downfall
Escalating tensions with Japan
• Escalating tensions between Japan & US
• US refused to recognize Manchukuo when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931.
• U.S. concerned Japan signed Pact with Germany in 1936 against communism.
• Condemned Japanese attack on China in 1937
• Roosevelt's famous "Quarantine speech" in 1937 largely aimed at Japan.
• Japan outlined the proposed Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
• Japanese empire of undefined boundaries in east Asia and Western Pacific.
• Declared the Open Door policy ended and forced out American and other business interests from occupied China.
• July - Embargo of 1940 passed by Congress
• U.S. placed embargo on export of aviation gasoline, lubricants, scrap iron and steel to Japan and granted an
additional loan to China.
• In December, extended embargo to include iron ore and pig iron, some chemicals, machine tools, and other
products.
• Sept 1940, Japan signed Tripartite Pact: Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
• All agreed to support each other if attacked by the U.S.
• Early 1941, FDR moved U.S. Pacific Fleet from West Coast (San Diego) to Pearl Harbor to demonstrate military
readiness
• Embargo of 1941
• July, Japan gained military control of southern Indochina.
• U.S. freezes Japanese assets in the U.S.
• closes the Panama Canal to Japan
• activates the Philippine militia
•
places embargo on export of oil and other vital products to Japan.
Japanese-U.S. negotiations
• Japan offered to leave southern Indochina if the US started trading with them again – but the refused to leave China
• US wanted
• Japan out of Indochina and China
• A promise no attack would take place in the western pacific
• Japan to withdraw from the Tripartite Pact
• No agreement was reached
• The US maintained a negotiations position
• Needed to buy some time
Fortify our positions in the Philippines
Get our two-ocean navy built and operational
Final negotiations
• October, 1941 Hideki Tojo, outspoken expansionist, became Prime Minister
• Japanese decided if no agreement by November 25, Japan would attack U.S.
Japanese decision to attack
• Made during unsuccessful negotiations with U.S. on December 1.
• Felt war with US inevitable
Tried to seize initiative rather than wait and later be in weaker position.
Felt surprise attack would cripple US
• Japanese war plan:
Take Dutch East Indies, Malaya, and Philippines to gain oil, metals and other raw materials.
• Attack on Pearl Harbor would destroy U.S. Pacific fleet and keep it from interfering with its plans.
• U.S. experts crack the top-secret code of the Japanese
Expect Japan to attack in early December
• But on the islands of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya.
U.S. thought Japan would avoid direct attack on U.S. to avoid provocation.
Evidence that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor unsubstantiated and misleading.
E. Pearl Harbor--Dec. 7th, 1941
• The attack came in two waves – both in the morning
• 7:55 AM
• 8:50 AM
• Damage:
• Japanese sank or badly damaged all 8 battleships inside the Harbor including the Oklahoma and the Arizona.
• Damaged 10 other ships; destroyed 188 planes
• Over 2,500 Americans killed; 1,100 wounded
• 3 aircraft carriers escaped destruction--out at sea
• Japanese losses much smaller
• Dec 8, 1941 - Roosevelt asks Congress for Declaration of War against Japan "a date that will live in infamy."
• Congress quickly complies with only 1 dissenting vote.
• Germany & Italy declare war against U.S. (three days later) as allies with Japan
• Considered another mistake by Hitler – it wasn’t required that they declare war on us
• When Germany does declare and we in turn declare war back at them – we meet with Great Britain
• Churchill and Roosevelt decide to go after Germany 1st and then after Japan
• In preparation the U.S. increase of troops--2 to 12 million between 1941-1945