Download World War II (1939

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World War II (1939-1945)
Orzoff-Baranyk
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World History
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Hitler’s March of Conquest, 1939-1940
September 1, 1939: Poland was attacked by Germany using
their Blitzkrieg (Lightening Warfare) very effectively. Tanks &
airplanes supported the infantry
September 3: Britain and France declared war on Germany
September 17: Stalin (USSR) attacked Poland from the east.
This was not part of the main conflict. The USSR was trying
to establish a sphere in influence over Eastern Europe.
Nov. 30: The USSR attacked Finland, forcing it to give up
16,000 miles of territory.
Spring 1940: The Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania)
were annexed by the USSR. Romania was also forced to
cede land to USSR.
Poland fell in less than one month.
1.
Why do you think the invasion of Poland is considered to be
the start of WWII when the Nazis had taken aggressive
actions previous to this?
German Troops March into Warsaw, Poland
The Phony War (September 1939- May 1940)
Called the “Sitzkrieg” by many because everyone had declared war
but no one was taking action. Hitler didn’t invade France as expected.
France stationed their troops along the Maginot Line (fortifications on
the French/German border). Britain & France didn’t attack Germany.
People began to think the war would not happen.
2. Why do you think Hitler paused for 7-8 months?
1940-1941
The “European theater” & the “North African theater”
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In WWI there were “Fronts” to describe where the fighting was taking place. By
World War II, these active battle fields are called THEATERS because the war was more mobile and more
widespread. The great powers had learned to how to avoid trench warfare.
Hitler’s Scandinavian Campaign
April 9, 1940: Germany invaded Denmark & Norway. Germany wanted a
secure route for iron ore from neutral Sweden through Norway’s coast to
Germany. They also wanted bases from which to attack Great Britain.
Demark occupied by Germans immediately. The British failed to help Norway
Because of his appeasement of the Nazi’s early policies and his failure to help
Norway, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was forced to step down as
Prime Minister. On May 10, 1940: Winston Churchill became prime
Chamberlin
minister. In March of 1940 Paul Reynaud also replaced Edouard Daladier as
France’s premier (he too appeased Hitler).
Churchill
3.
How did Hitler impact worldwide politics?
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The War in the West
On May 10, 1940, Hitler began his attack on Western Europe.
Luxembourg fell first. The Netherlands & Belgium felt next.
Both succumbed to the Blitzkrieg (Netherlands in 5 days, Belgium end
of May).
Dunkirk: After the surrender of Belgium, a large allied army
was left stranded on the Belgian/French border near the
English Channel at Dunkirk. The German troops had them
surrounded, but paused. Between May 26 & June 4, the
British evacuated 338,226 troops. All available boats (from
fishing boats to pleasure cruisers) were used. 2/3 of the
troops were British. 2000 guns, 60,000 trucks, 76,000 tons
of ammunition, 600,000 tons of fuel were left behind.
The Fall of France: On June 5, 1940 The Battle of France Began. By June
10, Italy entered the War. (Earlier, Italy had felt unprepared to fight &
declared itself a non-belligerent.) Mussolini grew jealous of Hitler’s success
& wanted to join the war. On June 14 The Germans took Paris. The French
government fled south to avoid being taken prisoner by the Nazis. By June
16, the French cabinet in the south sought an armistice. Premier Reynaud
resigned rather than sign a treaty with Germany. Marshal Henri Philippe
Pétain became Premier (remember him from WWI/Verdun?!) On June 22, 1940 the GermanFrench Armistice was signed.
Vichy France. The terms of Armistice were that Germany would occupy N. & W.
France. Unoccupied France would be ruled by a
collaborationist gov’t headed by Pétain. The
capital was at Vichy in central France.
The Free French & French Resistance (The
Maquis). General Charles de Gaulle (below left)
escaped from France to London before the
surrender. He established the “Free French”
movement. This was a French government in
exile committed to continuing the war. They
Stayed in touch with French resistance through
radio broadcasts. The Maquis (French Resistance)
Blew up Railroad tracks & attacked German army
equipment on its way to the Atlantic coast. Fought the Germans in
France and took no prisoners. German soldiers preferred to surrender
to allied troops than face the Maquis. Coded messages sent over BBC
radio alerted them when D-Day was going to happen (as allies advanced,
the Maquis attacked Germans from within France). Those caught were
sent to concentration camps to face torture & death.
The French Watch the
Nazis March into Paris
Pétain
4.
Summarize the situation in France after it fell to the
Nazis in 9 days.
Maquis Fighters included men &
women
5. Explain the poster to the right with the caption “Holding the Line!” as
best you can. Who is that?
The Battle of Britain (July 1940-October 1940) “The Blitz”
Hitler planned Operation Sea Lion (the amphibious invasion of England) but
had to win control over air space over the English Channel and Sothern
England. This was the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces
(German Luftwaffe vs. British Royal Air Force). It was also the longest bombing
campaign until this time period: 57 Days of continuous bombing, 1 million
bombs dropped in 2 months, 40,000 civilians killed.
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and
in the streets…we shall never surrender!” – Churchill
Shipping convoys and centers were the primary target. Royal
Air force runways and infrastructure were also big targets.
Over time the Luftwaffe bombed aircraft factories, and then
began bombing areas of political importance & civilian centers
(London). The goal was to weaken morale & destroy industry.
Neither goal was achieved. 200,000 civilians slept in subway
tunnels for protection each night. Prime Minister Winston
Churchill continued to give speeches on the radio that kept morale up.
“…wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us… against a
monstrous tyranny.” - Churchill
The Royal Air Force (RAF) had the newly invented radar warning system. Developed
in the late 1930s, it could tell the number, speed, and direction of incoming planes.
The RAF flew round the clock shooting down German planes. They also had a German
code making machine named Enigma; it was smuggled into Great Britain in the 1930s
after the inavasion of Poland, where it was found on an abandoned U-boat. This let
British decode German secret messages. With these two devices, the Germans
suffered heavy losses. Germany failed to take control of the airspace over the English
Channel or to get them to sign an armistice.
Operation Sea Lion could not take place. This was Hitler’s first major defeat & a
turning point in the war. He turned his attention to the Middle East, Balkans,
and USSR.
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6.
Why did the German invasion of England
fail? Please explain how specific people and
inventions led to Hitler’s first major defeat.
Radar!
September 1940: Italy Invaded Egypt
Mussolini believed the war would end soon and wanted British & French colonies in
North Africa. He invaded British controlled Egypt from Libya (and Italian colony)
while the Battle of Britain was going on, hoping to get the Suez canal & oil fields in
Middle East. Italy looked successful until the British pushed back. In early 1941 the
British conquered Italy’s African Empire (Ethiopia, Eretria, Somaliland), and took
130,000 Italian prisoners. The British were winning; they nearly destroyed the Axis
troops in Libya. But then, Churchill was forced to halt due to supply problems in the
Balkans. This gave the Germans time to come save the Italians. German General
Rommel “The Desert Fox” & the Afrika Korps bailed them out. In two more years of
fighting, Rommel pushed the allied forces back to Egypt.
7.
Erwin Rommel, the
Desert Fox.
Why did Italy open the African Theater of war?
8. Between 1940 and 1942, what was the result of the North African War? How was
this result achieved?
The Expansion of the Axis Powers
September 27, 1940: Rome-Berlin-Tokyo
Axis/ The Tripartite Pact
November 20, 1940: Hungary joins the pact
November 23, 1940: Romania joins the
pact
November 24, 1940: Slovakia joins the pact
March 1, 1941: Bulgaria joins the pact
March 25, 1941: Yugoslavia
joins the pact (2 days
before its gov’t is
overthrown).
June 15, 1941: Croatia
joins the pact.
9. Why do you think all of those countries joined the Axis powers of
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WWII?
The Russian Campaign (June 22, 1941- December 1941)
Operation Barbarossa – Hitler’s Biggest Mistake. This part of the war saw
the largest, most brutal battles, the deadliest atrocities, and the most horrific
conditions for both sides.
In late summer 1940, Hitler was already planning Operation Barbarossa. He
Believed Britain would give up once Russia was defeated. The invasion began
by invading the Balkans to build bases from which to attack the Soviet Union.
In April 1941, Yugoslavia fell in 11 days. Greece surrendered in 17 Days.
Operation Barbarossa was the biggest military campaign of WWII
4 million Axis troops invaded the USSR in a 3 pronged attack:
Towards Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in the North; Towards
Moscow in the Center; Toward Ukraine in the South.
On June 22, 1941 Germany began Operation Barbarossa. The
Soviet Union was still unprepared. The Soviets used the same
scorched earth policy that defeated Napoleon (burn everything
so that the Germans get no resources from Russian lands).
By mid-July, the Germans had taken Smolensk (the gateway to
Moscow). By mid-September they had Kiev, the capital of
Ukraine.
September 8, 1941-January 18-27, 1944: The Nazi Siege/Blockade of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) .
St. Petersburg had been the capital of the Russian Revolution, it
was the main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, the Industrial center
of the Soviet Union, and housed many arms factory. As part of
the German invasion, ports and roads to Leningrad were blocked
by the Nazis. No supplies could get in or out for 872 days. The
Nazis were hoped to force the surrender of Leningrad without
fighting. Over 1 million starved to death. There were reports of
cannibalism after all the birds, rats, and pets were eaten by
survivors. Special police units formed to protect against cannibal
attacks. Over 1 million died trying to evacuate the city. The
human & economic losses were worse than after 2 atomic
bombs were dropped on Japan. The city still did not fall to Hitler
On January 18, 1944 a narrow land corridor was forced open by
Soviet troops. By January 27. 1944 there was a total lifting of the
siege.
10. At this point, how had WWII been different from WWI for Civilians? Be sure to review
information on France, Britain, and the Soviet Union.
On October 2, 1941, as the Siege of Leningrad was just beginning, Hitler began the drive towards
Moscow and faced a Soviet Counterattack. By the autumn of 1941, due to the deterioration of
Japanese-American relations the Japanese were wrapped up in American affairs. Russia no longer
feared a Japanese attack so Stalin moved troops from the Manchurian border to the defense of
Moscow. On December 6, 1941 the Soviet forces counterattacked. They drove Germans back 50-100
miles before the front stabilized in 1942. They held the Germans there until March 1943.
Hitler gained nothing by attacking the Soviet Union. Half a million German soldiers died.
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11. Why do you think the Russian campaign sometimes see as a turning point for the European
theater of war?
Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945) & American Aid
Starting in 1939, German U-boats were blockading Britain. Just as in WWI, imports of food &
weapons were needed to win the war. Allied ships were being sunk faster than they could be
replaced.
American Aid to Great Britain
After the Fall of France, the USA increased aid to Britain, but was still unsure about getting involved
in the war.
September 1940: Destroyers for Bases
o The USA traded 50 old American Destroyers (war ships) to Britain in exchange for a 99 year
lease on British bases in the western Hemisphere.
March 1941: Lend-Lease Act
o Congress approved an act
where the USA could lend or
lease any materials potential
allies might need. This
means they may not have to
pay for it up front since they
were only borrowing it! The
US wound up spending over
$48 billion dollars to help out
the allies before it even
joined the war. There were no provisions for postwar repayment – unlike WWI, so it
wouldn’t bankrupt countries trying to pay us back. Some think this was to keep the US out
of the fighting.
The Atlantic Charter, August 1941
President Roosevelt (USA) and Prime Minister Churchill (Britain) signed a
treaty of friendship that solidified their alliance, but USA did not enter
the war yet. The Atlantic Charter created plans for the Post-War World,
like Wilson’s 14 points. It called for a League of Nations type
organization (The United Nations!).
September 1941: US ships began to convoy (protect) British ships in the
North Atlantic. In September/October 3 American ships were
sunk/attacked by Germany. Roosevelt ordered the US navy to shoot
German Subs upon sight.
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12. Some people have argued that by 1941, the United States
really had joined the war. Congress had not yet declared
war, so what are all of the reasons historians might say this?
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The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
There were many events that led up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Both the US and Japan had known
war was a possibility between them since the 1920s. Real tension began in 1931 with the invasion of
Manchuria & expansion in to China in a full blown war in 1937. In 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina
to stop all war supplies from getting to China; this included supplies from the USA. The USA stopped
selling oil to Japan. Japan estimated it had 2 years worth of oil left & made plans to attack the Dutch
Indies for oil supplies. Japan thought of the Pacific as being her realm to expand into, calling it the
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Philippines (then a US possession) were also targeted by
China. Japan knew an invasion of the Philippines would bring the USA into the war. The U.S. fleet in
Hawaii was seen as “a dagger pointed at [Japan‟s] throat,” according to Isoroku Yamamoto, the Chief of the
Japanese Combined fleet. They decided not to invade and wait for a counter attack. Pearl Harbor was a
pre-emptive strike to hurt the US fleet so it would not be able to try to push Japan out of the islands
they planned to conquer.
The US knew they would be at war with the Japanese by the fall of 1941. The US navy was told that it
was preferable for Japan to make the first hostile action. It was believed the attack would
come in the Far East: The Philippines, Indochina, etc. They really were not expecting the
Japanese to attack Hawaii.
The attack was planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (pictured right). He was a graduate
of the US Naval Academy & Harvard University, and had become the Commander in Chief of
the Japanese Combined Fleet in 1939. His goals were to
destroy important American fleet units, buy time for Japan to
build up its navy further, & to severely harm American morale
(focus on battleships, pride of the navy). Interestingly, he did
not want the attack to take place until 30 minutes after Japan
declared war on the U.S., to stay within the conventions of
war. This did not happen because the Japanese delegation in
Washington took too long to translate the encrypted
instructions to end peace negotiations.
December 7, 1941 – “A day that will live in infamy.” Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii was unprepared for a Japanese invasion: antiaircraft weapons weren’t manned, most ammunition was
locked down, there were no torpedoes (for subs) in the
harbor, combat air patrol wasn’t flying, planes weren’t ready
for immediate take off, etc. Most Americans did not believe
Japan had the naval capacity to attack Pearl Harbor; they
thought it was too far away. By luck, all of the U.S. aircraft carriers were out at sea during the attack
(these would be crucial to winning the war). Pearl Harbor was attacked by: 6 aircraft carriers with 414
airplanes, 28 submarines, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 8 tankers.
USS Arizona
Damage to the US: 4 battleships sunk, 4 battleships damaged, 2 destroyers sunk, 1 destroyer damaged,
4 other ships sunk/damaged, 3 cruisers damaged, 188 aircraft destroyed, 155 aircraft damaged, 2345
military killed, 1247 military wounded, 57 civilians killed, 35 civilians wounded.
USS Arizona today
President Roosevelt declared War on Japan December 8, 1941.
13. Why did Japan attack the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor?
14. Did the invasion have the desired impact? Please explain your answer.
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Early Japanese Success in the “Pacific Theater”
December 1941: U.S. possessions, Wake & Guam islands fell quickly.
February 1942, Singapore surrendered to Japan. This was a major British
military base, and the largest surrender of personnel in British history.
80,000 Indian, Australian, & British troops become Prisoners of War
(P.O.W.s).
Dec. 8, 1941- May 8, 1942, Philippines Campaign began. The Japanese
were met by inexperienced US soldiers. While this campaign was a failure,
it delayed the Japanese invasion of other territories. The U.S. wound up
surrendering to the Japanese in March, 1942. In April, 1942 the Bataan
Death March of 76,000 prisoners (12,000 Americans) began. The Japanese
forced them to march 60 miles in the blazing heat to P.O.W. camps in
Philippines. 22,000 soldiers died from malnutrition & over exertion. Upon
arriving at the camps, there was another 3.5 years of harsh treatment.
Soldiers were starved, beaten, and despised for surrendering; it was seen as dishonorable to Japanese.
“I was questioned by a Japanese officer, who found out that I had been in a Philippine Scout Battalion. The [Japanese] hated the Scouts…
Anyway, they took me outside and I was forced to watch as they buried six of my Scouts alive. They made the men dig their own graves, and
then had them kneel down in a pit. The guards hit them over the head with shovels to stun them and piled earth on top.” – Lieutenant John
Spainhower
By January of 1942 the Japanese had control of Dutch East Indies
too (rich in resources).
U.S.A. – at the Home Front. Japanese Internment Camps.
Anti-Japanese Propaganda started to have a negative impact on
Japanese Americans. By 1942, 110,000 Japanese Americans, mostly
citizens, on the Pacific coast were rounded up and placed in
Internment camps by Executive order 9066. Sometimes Chinese &
Korean Americans were rounded up by mistake. Japanese
Americans were not placed in internment camps on the East coast.
Very few German Americans or Italian Americans were forced to live
as prisoners during WWII. The homes of Japanese Americans were
taken over by others. They lost everything while living in these
camps. Many Japanese Americans volunteered to fight for the U.S.
to prove their loyalty.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation apologizing for
the U.S. government, stating the actions were based on “race, prejudice,
war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.” Over $1.6 billion in
reparations were distributed to Japanese Americans who had been in
the camps or who were the heirs of those who had been in the
camps.
15. By 1942, why were Americans so angry and so afraid of
the Japanese?
16. Why do you think the US government target Japanese Americans on the West Coast,
but not the East Coast?
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17. How much power should the United States government have to limit the rights of
citizens during war time? Would it ever be appropriate for the U.S.A. to take
similar action in the future?
April 18, 1942: The Firebombing of Tokyo. This
was widely seen as payback for Pearl Harbor. It
was the first raid on the Japanese Homeland.
Sixteen B-25 bombers led by Lieutenant Colonel
James H. Doolittle bombed Tokyo and several
other Japanese cities. There was little material
damage, but it was a big boost to American
morale. Also, it pointed out to the Japanese
that they could be attacked. This shook their confidence for the first time
since the Meiji Restoration. Most of Doolittle’s planes
landed in China after the attacks. 250,000 Chinese
Tokyo Burning
were slaughtered by the Japanese for helping U.S.
Pilots escape.
Allies Turn the Tide of War in the Pacific
May 1942: The Battle of Coral Sea. An American fleet with
Australian support intercepted a Japanese strike force
headed for Port Moresby in New Guinea. This was a
critical air base that would put the Japanese within striking
distance of Australia. The Battle of Coral Sea introduced a
new kind of naval warfare. Airplanes took off of aircraft
carriers to attack. Neither ship fired a single shot; they
couldn’t see each other! There was more allied damage,
but the battle stopped Japanese advance south.
June 4-7, 1942 Battle of Midway Island. Midway is 1500 miles west of Hawaii and
was a key American airfield. Code breakers found out the Japanese were headed
there. On June 4 American forces hid beyond the horizon and
launched a surprise attack on a Japanese fleet. 332 Japanese planes
were sunk. 200+ experienced Japanese naval aviators were killed.
All four aircraft carriers & 1 support ship were sunk. This was a
HUGE turning point in the war.
18.
How did the Allies stop the Japanese advance in the
Pacific and turn the tide of war?
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Allied Counter Offense in the Pacific – Island Hopping
The Allied strategy was to take the Pacific, island by island, to
get closer and closer to Japan. It was led by U.S. Commander
Douglas A. Arthur. The Japanese were spread out on
hundreds of islands.
19. Look at the map to the right on-line so you can make
it bigger. After the Battle of the Coral Sea – what
islands would the US take over before getting to
Japan?
Tokyo burning
On an aircraft carrier
Images of “Island Hopping”
from Kwajalien Island (part
of the Marshall Islands)
First target of island hopping: Japanese airbase at Guadalcanal in
the Solomon islands. The Battle of Guadalcanal took place on
August 7, 1942. It involved thousands of U.S. Marines with
Australian support. The battle for the airfield on Guadalcanal was
brutal. The soldiers called Guadalcanal, Hell.
“Hell was red furry spiders as big as your fist,…enormous rats and bats everywhere and
rivers with waiting crocodiles. Hell was sour, foul smell of the squishy jungle,
humidity that rotted a body within hours…Hell was an enemy…so fanatic that it
used its own dead as booby traps.” - Ralph G. Martin
 February 1943, after 6 months of fighting, US took the
airfield. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers.
The Tide of War turns in the European Theater, but the
horrors of war were also exposed.
The Holocaust
As part of their nationalistic vision the Nazis wanted to
create a perfect, pure, German race. Remember Mein Kampf? Jews were blamed for many of
Germany’s problems after WWI and they did not fit into Hitler’s Aryan vision. Anti-Semitism had existed
in Germany for centuries before the Holocaust began. Jews were an easy scapegoat. Jews were less 1%
of the German population when Hitler came to power in 1933. They spoke German & saw Germany as
home. Jews were in the military and government. Of the 38 German Nobel prize winners by 1936, 14
were Jewish.
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Poland
USSR
Hungary
Romania
Germany/Austria
Estimates of Jews Killed Under Nazi Rule
Original Jewish population
Jews Killed
3,300,000
2,800,000
2,100,000
1,500,000
404,000
200,000
850,000
425,000
270,000
210,000
Percent surviving
15%
29%
49%
50%
22%
Timeline of Nazi Persecution
1933: Hitler was given dictatorial powers and boycotts of Jewish owned businesses &
shops began as “revenge” for rumors that German & non-German Jews were spreading
stories to international press to damage the reputation of Nazi Germany. Storm troops
(the SA) stood in front of Jewish-German businesses, painted a yellow star of David on the
doors and windows, & put up signs saying “Don’t buy from Jews” & “The Jews are our
misfortune.” Acts of violence against Jews was ignored. This only lasted 1 day, but from
April to November: Laws were passed restricting Jews from holding government jobs
The sign says “Jews Forbidden”
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(including teaching positions), books written by Jews were burned, and the German
government turned against Jehovah’s Witnesses & the mentally & physically disabled as
well. Jehovah’s Witnesses could not pledge their allegiance to Nazis; They can pledge to
God alone. They were sent to concentration camps to die. The mentally & physically
disabled were forcefully sterilized or sent to concentration camps to be killed
1935: Biracial children of French African soldiers (“The Rhineland Bastards”) in the
Rhineland were sterilized. Jews were removed from the military and banned from many
public places. Marriages between Jews & Aryans were outlawed. The Nuremberg Race
Laws began: Jews lost German citizenship & were made “subjects” of Germany. Sexual
relations between Jews/Aryans were made illegal. Forced abortions for anyone mentally
or physically handicapped & pregnant began (this included people suffering from depression, people in
wheelchairs, etc.).
1936: Concentration camps began to open in large numbers. Nazi’s turn on
Gypsies, Roma, and homosexuals all of whom were put into camps. When the
Olympic games were held in Berlin, anti-Semitic signs were removed.
1937: Buchenwald, the largest concentration camp on German soil opened.
1938: Many concentration camps opened in newly annexed Austria. Jews were
ordered to register how much wealth they owned with German authorities.
1500 Jews who had any police record (even speeding tickets) were sent to
concentration camps. The Allies met to discuss what was happening to
German Jews, but decide not to help. Jews had to start carrying Jewish identity
cards, Jewish doctors were told they could only see Jewish patients – then lost
their licenses to practice medicine at all. All Jews were forced to take the middle name Sara or Israel. Passports of
Jews marked with a J. 17,000 Polish Jews were kicked out of Germany. Restrictions on movement of Jews began
with the confiscation of Jewish drivers’ licenses. On Nov 7 Herschel Grynspan assassinated a Nazi Embassy worker
in Paris in response to his parents deportation from Germany to Poland. On
Nov 9 the Nazis retaliated against the entire Jewish Community with
Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass). The government organized
attacks against Jews. Shops, synagogues, & homes were destroyed & looted
for wealth. 26,000 Jews were arrested and sent to camps. On Nov 12:
Jews were ordered to pay the Gov’t 1 billion marks, stop being involved in
the Germany economy, and fix up their store fronts at their own expense.
On Nov 15: Jewish children were expelled from German schools.
1939: Jews were encouraged to emigrate out of Germany. Jewish dentists
lost their licenses. Hitler declared that if the Allies get involved in the war
the Jews will have to be exterminated. In May the SS St. Louis, a ship with
930 Jewish refugees, was turned away from Cuba, the United States, and
other countries. It was forced to return to Europe. The Invasion of Poland
took place. Deformed & retarded children were ordered killed, mental
patients in Poland were killed so German soldiers could sleep in their beds.
Ghettos were formed. Hitler gave the authorization for creation of
Einsatzgruppen (death squads). Jews were removed from Czechoslovakia &
Austria, and sent to Poland. All Jews in Poland were required to wear a yellow
Jewish star.
1940: Auschwitz-Birkeneau (the largest concentration camp where over 1 million
were killed) opened. Anti-Jewish laws were passed in Romania & Vichy France.
The Warsaw Ghetto was sealed like a prison.
“Work Makes Free”, Auschwitz
1941: In January the massacre of Romanian Jews began. In February 72,000 Jews moved to
the Warsaw Ghetto. 400 Jews were sent from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to
concentration camps. In May 3600 Parisian Jews were arrested. In June & July Germany
invaded the USSR. The Einsatzgruppen followed the German army & committed mass
slaughter throughout Eastern Europe. By spring of 1943 they had killed more than 1 million
Jews and tens of thousands of others. Mass shootings of Jews began in Ponary Forest near
Vilna, Lithuania. By 1944 70,000-100,000 were killed there. Jews in the Balkan Peninsula
were forced to wear the Star of David. Plans for the “Final Solution” (the mass
extermination of Jews) were created. In September all Jews in the German Empire were
forced to wear the yellow Jewish star. In October-November Jews across Ukraine and
Russian lands were slaughtered (over 150,000). In December The ship “Struma” left Romania for Palestine with
769 Jews, but was denied permission by British authorities. It was later sunk in the Black Sea by a Soviet
submarine who targeted it as an enemy ship.
1942: Germans began to enact the “Final Solution,” The mass extermination of all Jews in
concentration camps. In January the death squads reported having killed 229,052 Jews in the
Baltic States. The first medical experiments performed on Jews in concentration camps
began. In February & March there was further slaughter of Jews in occupied Soviet & Polish
lands (over 600,000). In July The New York Times reported via the London Daily Telegraph
that over 1 million Jews had been killed by Nazis. All German concentration camps were
emptied, and all Jews were sent to Auschwitz In October the allies pledged to punish
Germany for genocide.
1943: Due to uprisings in the Warsaw Ghetto all Jews were sent to concentration camps.
Josef Mengele became camp doctor at Auschwitz. He was interested in genetics and used the
prisoners to create a human zoo to perform hideous experiments. The order for the expulsion
of Danish Jews was given; due to the rescue operations by the Danish underground, some
7,000 Jews were evacuated to Sweden. Only 475 were captured by the Germans. Erntefest
A mass grave uncovered at
(Harvest Festival) operation was launched to kill all remaining Jews in central and southern
Bergen-Belsen camp (above)
The “ovens” (below)
Poland. About 40,000 Jews were shot to death on this one day.
1944: Greek & Hungarian Jews were moved to Auschwitz to be exterminated. Death
marches began to save money on bullets. The Allies began liberating concentration camps!
The Nazis ordered the destruction of crematoriums at Auschwitz to hide their program of
mass extermination.
1945: The Liberation of most concentration camps by allied troops took place. By
November the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials began This was the first attempt to hold war
criminals accountable, and set the foundation for humanitarian law. In May 2011 John
Demjanjuk, a prison guard at Sobibor death camp in Poland was found guilty of 28,060 counts
of accessory to murder. He is 91 years old. Those who do not condemn genocide, condone it.
20. Jews were not the only ones targeted in the Holocaust. What
other groups were targeted?
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21. Between 1938 and 1942, the allies knew that a genocide was taking
place in Europe. Time after time, over those four long years they
chose to do nothing. Why do you think that was?
22. Why do you think that German soldiers didn’t refuse to participate in this obviously morally
repugnant extermination?
The Allied Victory in N. Africa & Europe
North Africa
Churchill decided to focus on North Africa, angering Stalin who
wanted the allies to open a front in France & take some pressure off
the Soviet soldiers.
The Battle of El Alemein, Oct-Nov. 1942. British general Bernard
Montgomery (“Monty”) was sent to N. Africa. By the time he got
there the Germans had advanced to the Egyptian village of El
Alamein (West of Alexandria). The British could not get around
them; they had to hit them with a massive frontal attack. They
took the Axis by surprise with a night invasion. Rommel’s army fell
in 13 days and he retreated west.
Operation Torch, November 1942. Allied force of 100,000 troops
(mostly American) landed in Morocco & Algeria, led by American
general Dwight D. Eisenhower. Rommel was caught between
Montgomery’s & Eisenhower’s armies. The Nazi Afrika Korps was
finally crushed in May 1943.
Monty
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USSR
The German advance had stalled at Leningrad & Moscow in late
1941. The Bitter winter made things worse for them. In the
summer of 1942, Hitler sent more troops to seize the oil fields in
the Caucus Mountains & to seize Stalingrad (an industrial center
on Volga Rilver).
The Battle for Stalingrad (today Volgograd, north of St.
Stalingrad
Petersburg) Aug. 1942-Feb. 1943. Nightly bombing raids by the Luftwaffe
destroyed the city. Urban combat in the city was brutal. The city named after
Stalin so it could NOT fall: Ordered by Stalin! In early November the Germans
held 90% of the city. The Russian winter came and Nov. 19 Soviet
troops launched a counterattack. They trapped German soldiers inside
the city & cut off supplies. Hitler would not let his army retreat.
On Feb. 2, 1943, 90,000 frostbitten, half-starved German troops
surrendered. The army was originally 300,000 strong. Over 1 million
Russian soldiers died & the city was 99% destroyed, but the Soviets
were now pushing Germany west.
23. How did the allies push the Axis powers out of the Africa & the
Soviet Union?
Eisenhower
Invasion of Italy
Italy was seen as “Europe’s Soft Underbelly.” Instead of a direct invasion into
France, the allies decided to take Italy first, as an easier entrance. They were led by
American General George S. Patton. On July 10, 1943 the Allied forces landed on
Sicily (Code name: “Operation Husky). It took 1 month to capture the island from
the Axis powers. Mussolini was toppled from power. On July 25, 1943 King Victor
Emmanuel III had Mussolini arrested. On Sept. 2, 1943 Italy surrendered.
Patton
The Germans were not ready to give up Italy & moved in from the
North taking control of Northern Italy. They put Mussolini back in
power. On June 4, 1944 the Germans retreated back to Germany
& the Allies entered Rome. Fighting continued until 1945 when
Germany fell.
On April 27, 1945 Italian resistance fighters ambushed German
trucks near northern Italian city of Milan. They Found Mussolini
disguised as a German soldier inside and shot him & his mistress.
Their bodies were hung up for all to see.
24. Why did Italy prove more challenging than originally thought, to capture?
How did the allies finally take over Italy?
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Cairo Conference (Code Name: Sextant) Nov. 22-26, 1943
This was a meeting of Chiang Kai-Shek (China), Franklin D. Roosevelt, &
Winston Churchill. Stalin would not attend because of Chiang (before
WWII he was fighting communist Mao Zedong for power in China). They
discussed the allied position against Japan & plans for post-war Asia. 1.
The Allies pledged to stay in the war until Japan surrendered
unconditionally. 2. Japan would be stripped of Pacific Islands seized since
1914. 3. land stolen from China would be returned to China. 4. Korea
would become independent.
Tehran Conference (Code Name: Eureka) Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1943
This was the first meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, &
Winston Churchill. It was held at the Soviet embassy in Tehran, Iran. The
discussed the final strategy against Nazi Germany. The allies opening a
second front in Europe. Operation Overlord (D-Day) which would be
launched May 1944. And, that the USSR would join the Pacific War against
Japan once Hitler fell.
The Invasion of France: Operation Overlord “D-Day” June 6, 1944
The Plan was to attack German-held France from across the English Channel
by striking at Normandy in NW France. Thousands of planes, ships, tanks, &
landing craft were involved, as well as over 3 million troops. This was the
largest land & sea attack in history. It was led by American General Dwight D.
Eisenhower. The Germans knew it was coming, but they did not know when
or where. The preparations began in May. The Allies set up huge dummy
army made of rubber with its own headquarters & equipment at Calais to fool
the Germans into thinking they would invade there. The Invasion really began at dawn
Rubber Tank
on June 6. British, American, French, and
Canadian troops fought onto a 60-mile
stretch of beach in Normandy. The Germans
had machine guns, rocket launchers, and
cannons. They were sheltered behind
concrete walls 3-feet thick. There were heavy allied casualties on day 1. 2,700
Americans died on the first day. The Allies took the whole beach in 1 month. 1
million more troops landed. 1 month later, Allied troops marched into Paris. By
September France, Belgium, and Luxembourg were liberated.
Battle of the Bulge
The Allies moved toward Germany from the West. The Soviets moved towards
Germany from the East. World War II, became a two front war for Germany. Hitler
decided to attack in the west. He hoped to split American and British forces, &
break up allied supply lines.
“This battle is to decide wether we shall live or die… All resistance must be broken in a wave of terror.” – Adolf Hitler
On Dec. 16, 1944 German tanks broke through weak American defenses along a 75mile front in the Ardennes Forest in France. They pushed into the Allied lines
creating a “Bulge”in American lines. However, the Allies pushed the Germans back
& forced them to retreat.
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The Yalta Conference (Code Name: Argonaut) February 4-11, 1945
Yalta was a meeting of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin
in Ukraine to discuss postwar Europe. They reached many agreements: 1. They
would insist on unconditional German surrender. 2. Germany & Berlin would be
split into 4 zones of occupation after the Nazi’s defeat. Germany would be
demilitarized & denazified. There would be German reparations, in part, through
forced labor to repair a damaged Germany. 3. Poland was to be made more
democratic (the Soviets had put a communist gov’t into place there). Free
elections for Poland would take place after the war (Stalin never saw this through).
4. Citizens of the USSR and Yugoslavia were to be given back to their countries
whether they wanted to go back or not. 5. The USSR would participate in the
United Nations. 6. Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan 90 days after the defeat of Germany
Germany’s Unconditional Surrender
March 1945, the Allies crossed Rhine River into Germany. By the middle of April they had
advanced on Berlin. 3 million Allied soldiers approached from the Southwest. 6 million
Soviet troops advanced from the east.
April 12, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died suddenly of a cereboral hemmorage.
Vice President Harry S. Truman became president.
April 25, 1945: The Soviets surrounded Berlin & shelled it with artillery fire. Hitler was in an
underground bunker. On April 29 Hitler married his longtime mistress Eva Braun. On April
30 they both commited suicide. Their bodies were burned by the Soviets.
May 7, 1945: General Eisenhower accepted unconditional surrder of Third Reich from the German
Military.
May 9. 1945: Official surrender signed in Berlin. V-E Day! Victory in Europe was celebrated around the
world after 6 years of fighting.
Allied Victory in the Pacific
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By Autum 1944 the Allies were closing in on Japan .
In October they fought the Battle of Leyete Gulf.
This was the largest naval battle of WWII (maybe
ever. It was just off the lsand of Leyte in the
Philippines The goal was to isolate Japan from
countries it occupied in SE Asia & deprive it of oil and
labor resources. In 1942 General Douglas
MacArthur had been ordered to leave the island
when Japanese took control. He had promised his
men he would return. He was back. The Japanese
had a plan to stop the Allied advance. They
wanted to destroy the American fleet & stop the
Allies from resupplying ground troops. Japan
risked the entire Japanese fleet to do it & lost it all
after 4 days of fighting. Only the Japanese army &
kamikazes were left. Kamikaze were Japanese
suicide pilots. (The word Kamikaze = divine wind;
stopped the Mongols from invading in the 13th c.).
They Filled planes with bombs and crash dove
them into Allied ships. This was a sign of desperation. Japan had no other
choice. Japanese warriors still believed in ethics of Medieval Japan. It
was better to die than to surrender, and dieing for Japan was honorable.
In March 1945, After 1 month of harsh fighting & heavy losses, American
Marines took Iwo Jima, an island 760 miles from Tokyo.
On April 1, U.S. troops moved onto the island of Okinawa, 350 miles
from southern Japan. It was a fierce and brutal battle. On June 21, one
of the bloodiest land battles of the war eneded. The Japanese had lost
100,000 troops. Americans lost 12,000.
The Potsdam Conference July 17-Aug 2, 1945 in Potsdam, Germany
A Meeting of Joseph Stalin, Clement Attlee (Churchills’s party was
voted out of office in 1945), and Harry S. Truman. This was to solidify
some of the agrement made at Yalta. Only Stalin had been there at the
beginning of this war. Agreements that were made: 1. Germany:
demilitarized, denazified, democratized, decentralized, decartelized
(free market economy with competition). 2. The division of Germany
& Austria into 4 zones of occupation (earlier decided at Yalta). 3.
Prosecution of Nazi war criminals. 4. All German annexations were to
be reverted back into independent countries. 5. War reparations for
the USSR from their zone of occupied Germany & 10% of industrial
capacity from western zones. 6. Some German industry dismantled so
Germans would not become too wealthy. 7. Destruction of German
industrial war-potential. 8. All civilian shipyards & aircraft factories
destroyed. Metals, chemicals, machinery plants reduced in size. 9. Germany was to be converted to an
agricultural & light industiral economy (coal, beer, toys, textiles, etc. to replace heavy industry).10. The
Polish borders were set. 25. How was this any different than Versailles?
Japanese Surrender
After Okinawa, the next stop was Japan. President Truman’s
advisors said an invasion of the Japanese homeland could cost
half a million Allied lives. Truman had to decide wehther or not
to use the powerful new atomic bomb “A-Bomb”
1939: The Manhattan project began to developed the bomb.
German & Italian scientists who left the Axis powers and
moved to the US led the project because this was being worked
on in Germany before the war. It was primarily led by General
Leslie Groves & chief scientist J. Robert Oppenhiemer. In 1942
they achieved the first successful splitting of an atom at the
The bombs dropped on Japan, “Little Boy” and “Fat
University of Chicago, underground. In April 1945, when Truman
Man”
became president he first learned of the bomb. On July 16, 1945
the First successful test of a bomb was performed at Trinity
Testing site in Alomogodo, New Mexico. The Japanese were warned by Truman that
unless they surrendered they could expect a “rain of ruin from the air.” Japan did not reply.
The cost of this project was $2 billion. In 2008 that would be $24 billion.
August 6, 1945: The USA dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a city fo 350,000
people. 70,000-80,000 died in the attack. Japan still would not surrender.
August 9, 1945: USA dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, a city of 270,000. More than
70,000 were killed immediately. Radiation fallout from the explosions killed many more.
September 2, 1945: Japan surrendered to Douglas MacArthur on the U.S. battleship
Col. Paul Tibbets & the
Missouri in Tokyo Bay. V-J Day! Victory in Japan.
plane used to drop the Abombs, the Enola Gay
V-J Day
A-Bomb survivor
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Japanese Surrender
“It was all he could do to keep standing. Yet it didn‟t occur to me that he had been seriously injured…
As time passed, more and more people in a similar plight came up to the hospital…All were of the
same appearance, sounded the same. „I‟m hurt, hurt! I‟m burning! Water!‟ They all moaned the same
lament…They walked with strange, slow steps, groaning from deep inside themselves as if they had
travelled from the depths of hell. They looked whitish; their faces were like masks.” – Dr. Tatsuichiro
Akizuki describing victims of the atomic bombs arriving at his hospital.
26. Why did the United States choose not to invade Japan as they had done to Germany?
27. Why did the United States drop TWO atomic bombs on Japan?
28. Given the high rates of civilian deaths and the radiation poisoning that plagued Japan for
years after WWII, do you still think that President Truman made the correct decision? Why
or why not?
The Results of WWII
6 years of fighting. 60 million dead. 30% of deaths in the Soviet Union. 50 million people in refugee
status without homes.
Across Europe a wild tide of frantic survivors was flowing… Many of them didn’t really know where to go… And yet the
survivors continued their pilgrimage of despair… “Perhaps someone is still live…” Someone might tell where to find a wife, a
mother, children, a brother – or whether they were dead…The desire to find one’s people was stronger than hunger, thirst,
fatigue. – Simon Weisenthal describing the search made by Holocaust survivors.
Property damage into billions of dollars. Communists parties gain a huge following in Europe for a short
time after the War.
United States
Great Britain
France
USSR
Germany
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Japan
Costs of World War II: Allies & Axis
Direct War Costs in 1994 dollars
Military Killed/Missing
$288.0 billion
292,131 +115,187 who
died from non-battle
causes
$117.0 billion
272,311
$111.3 billion
205,707 (before surrender
to Nazis)
$93.0 billion
13,600,000
$212.3 billion
3,300,000
$41.3 billion
1,140,429
29. Why do you think that many Europeans favored communism after WWII?
Civilians Killed
-60,595
173,260 (includes 65,000
murdered Jews)
7,720,000
2,893,000 included
170,000 murdered Jews
and 56,000 foreign
civilians in Germany
953,000
The Nuremberg Trials
1945-1946 An International Military Tribunal representing 23 nations put Nazi war criminals on trial in
Nuremberg, Germany.
22 Nazi leaders were charged with waging a war of aggression & committing crimes against
humanity (the murder of 12 million people).
Hermann Göring, commander of the Luftwaffe: Found guilty, sentenced to die, but took his own life
before the sentence was carried out.
Rudolf Hess: Hitler’s former deputy. Found guilty, sentenced to life in prison.
Other high ranking Nazi leaders: 10 Nazi leaders were Hanged on October 15, 1946. Their bodies
were then burned in the crematoriums at Dachau, a concentration camp.
Hans Frank, the “Slayer of Poles” was the only one to express remorse. “A thousand years will pass and still
this guilt of Germany will not have been erased.”
In 2009, Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal talked about two kinds of justice. “There is the justice of handcuffs
and putting someone on trial. But there is also a psychological fear of a knock on the door," he said. "Every Nazi war criminal
should live every night of his life with the possibility that in his case there will yet be a knock on the door."
Japanese War Crimes Trials
May 3, 1946 – Nov. 12, 1948
5700 people were charged with war crimes & crimes against humanity. 984 were executed
including former premier Hideki Tojo (head of the Japanese parliament).
Japan became an occupied country after WWII. General Douglas MacArthur was in charge. He
wanted to be fair, and not be the cause of another war. Japan was demilitarized & left with only a
small police force. Japan was democratized, a new government was elected by the people.
February 1946, American political advisers drew up a new constitution & Japan became a
constitutional monarchy. The Emperor, however, had to declare that he was not divine and became
a figure head.
30. Do you think it was right for the Allies to try only Nazi and Japanese leaders for war crimes?
Why or why not? Why do you think there were so many more Japanese charged with war
crimes than Germans?
31. How did technology change the nature of war in the 20th century?
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32. Given the conditions that soldiers faced in WWI and WWII, why do you think they continued
to fight?
33.
Why do you think there has never been another war on the scale of WWII?