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1941: A Year of Destruction
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a tragic event that
killed millions of innocent Americans and ultimately
forced the U.S into war. Japan decided to attack
when the U.S stopped trade with them, but does that
justify Japan’s actions?
Like many other invasions, Hitler had planned they all
went smoothly, except for the invasion of Russia.
Everyone knows to avoid invading Russia in the winter
because it always ends disastrously. Hitler, being his
confident self-decided to ignore past history and invade
under tough circumstances and ended up losing the
battle.
Hitler’s final solution was created in order for
Germany to gain more land in legal manners but in
reality Hitler was really created a secret plan to
eliminate the Jewish race surrounding German
land and even beyond this territory as well. This
solution enabled the worst phase of the Holocaust
and cost the lives of millions of Jews.
Hitler needed a faster and more efficient tactic to
get rid of a vast amount of people at once, that’s
when he decided to use gas chambers that would
chemically kill large groups of Jews. The gas
chambers were first introduced to concentration
camps in Auschwitz.
Timeline of Important Events in 1941 during WWII
May 10th &
11th
Germany bombs London and Britain in the Battle of Britain. Britain had
stood alone against Germany as the last opposing force in Hitler’s plans in
taking all of Europe.
June 22nd
Germany attacks the Soviet Union as Operation Barbarossa begins. Hitler
wants to take the Soviet Union. He thought that he would be able to win
easily and expand his empire. However, this plan would be unsuccessful.
July 31st
Göring instructs Heydrich to prepare for the Final Solution. The Final
Solution is only a euphemistic term to hide the true brutality of Hitler’s plans
to get exterminates the inferior and leaves the German master race.
August 20th
Nazi siege of Leningrad starts. The siege resulted in the deaths of one
million people who had refused to surrender. People had died of cold and
starvation after they had been encircled by the German forces.
December
7th
The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor causing destruction and great casualties
of unsuspecting soldiers. After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the
United States sought out to take action by declaring war on Japan and
therefore entering WWII.
December
8th
United States and Britain declare war on Japan. Following suit, Britain had
declared war on Japan like the United States, only a day after the attack on
Pearl Harbor. This alliance of the two Allied powers would change the
course of the war.
December
11th
Hitler declares war on the United States as its fellow Axis power, Japan had
been declared war on by the Allies.
Sources:
http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/1941-ww2-events-timeline.asp
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm#1941
Map
The Blue represents the Allied Powers
The Black represents the Axis Powers
The Red is the U.S.S.R. (Russia)
Quotes and Statistics
United states: With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounded determination
of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.” — President Franklin
D. Roosevelt
Germany: "We did not intend to fight enemy warships...but we took up the fight. The
crew have behaved magnificently. we shall win or die."
Admiral Lütjens - Commander of the Bismarck's Naval Squadron - 25th May 1941
Great Britain: "I should like to pay the highest tribute for the most gallant fight put up
against impossible odds"
Admiral Tovey - (After the sinking of the Bismarck) - 27th May 1941
Russia: "This war is not an ordinary war. It is the war of the entire Russian people. Not
only to eliminate the danger hanging over our heads, but to aid all people groaning
under the yoke of Fascism"
Josef Stalin - 22nd June 1941
Russia: "We secured peace for our country for one and a half years, as well as an
opportunity of preparing our forces for defense if fascist Germany risked attacking our
country in defiance of the pact. This was a definite gain to our country and a loss for
fascist Germany."
Josef Stalin - 3rd July 1941 - (Speaking of the 1939 non-aggression pact between the
USSR and Germany)
Japan: "A gigantic fleet... has massed in Pearl Harbor. This fleet will be utterly crushed
with one blow at the very beginning of hostilities...Heaven will bear witness to the
righteousness of our struggle."
Rear-Admiral Ito - Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet - November 1941
Russia: "Oh merciful lord… crown our effort with victory… and give us faith in the
inevitable power of light over darkness, of justice over evil and brutal force… Of the
cross of Christ over the Fascist swastika… so be it, amen."
Sergei - Archbishop of Moscow - 27th November 1941
United States: "Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken
only in hell!”
Admiral Halsey - December 1941
Locations of German Divisions in 1941
USSR: 34
France, Belgium, and Holland: 38
Norway and Finland: 13
Balkans: 7
Italy: 0
Denmark: 1
North Africa: 2
Percentage Of German Forces On The Eastern Front Each Year
Unit
1941
Divisions
67%
Troops
84%
Aircraft
64%
U-Boat Losses Sunk by 1941
Aircraft Carrier
0
Ships
5
Bombs
0
Mines
3
Submarines
1
Other
0
Total
9
Mid-Year Manpower On The Eastern Front
Year
Soviet
German
1941
5 million
3.3 million
Percentage Of All Allied Bombs Dropped-1941: 2%
Sources: http://www.worldwar-2.net/famous-quotes/famous-quotes-index.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ct/ww2europe/stats.html
Key Terms
Lend-Lease
Bill
As of March 11, 1941, this bill allowed the United States to provide
military aid to foreign nations during the World War II. It brought the
United States one step closer to entry into the war. It gave the president
the power to carry on an undeclared war all over the world, where
America could do anything and everything except putting men into battle.
Mutual
Assistance
These were arrangements or plans made between nations, at the
government level, to assist each other.
Operation
Barbarossa
June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies invaded Russia with
about 4.5 million troops. Though the USSR and Germany had signed a
non-aggression pact it only served to provide more time for the two sides
to prepare for a probable war. The blitzkrieg led by Germany was certainly
a surprise to the Russians and led to great casualties. By December,
German troops were close to Moscow, however the Russian Winter
came. The failure in Hitler’s plans to conquer Russia before the winter
would lead to a turning point in the war.
Final Solution
This was a euphemistic term to the plans of annihilating all the Jewish
people and purging Germany of the unwanted.
Atlantic
Charter
Issued on August 14, it was a joint declaration between the British Prime
Minister, Winston Churchill, and United States president, Franklin
Roosevelt.It was simply an agreement of common aims and principles
between the two nations. At this point the U.S. was not yet in the war, but
a secret agreement was already made between the two allies.
Siege of
Leningrad
The siege had lasted 900 days from September 8, 1941 to January 27,
1944.It was also known as the Leningrad Blockade. This military
operation was led by the German Army and had been extremely
destructive, costing the lives of one million civilians and Red Army
defenders. Finnish forces had later joined in and assisted the German
army.The German forces had fully encircled the CIty on September 8th
and had put the three million people of the city through hardships. The
taking of Leningrad was originally in the plans of Operation Barbarossa.
Operation
Typhoon
This operation began on October 2nd and was Hitler’s journey to conquer
and take Moscow. Though there was setback in that Hitler did not
consider the number of tanks that the Russians had, he had still set his
sights on conquering Moscow, something not yet done. Though German
generals had warned Hitler of the upcoming winter, Hitler was still set on
taking Moscow and Operation Typhoon had launched. This would be a
failure on Hitler’s part, costing him a loss in his attempts.
Pearl Harbor
It was a surprise attack led by the Imperial Japanese Navy upon the
United States navy base. The attack was Japan’s preventive measure to
keep the United States from having any military intervention in what the
Japanese were planning to do. This attack had led to destruction and the
loss of many Americans. The Pearl Harbor attack had brought the United
States into the World War. The following day, the United States had
declared war on Japan.
Night and
Fog Decree
This decree was issued by Hitler on December 7th where he had ordered
his secret police to secretly make anyone that is a threat to him, not to be
executed immediately, but to murder them in private or to make them to
simply disappear into the “night and fog”.
Allies
The Allies were a group of nations that had went against the Axis Powers
and most prominently included Britain and France (and later the United
States).
Axis
The Axis Powers were a group of nations that had set their eyes on
conquering Europe, those their plans were opposed by the Allies. The
group had prominently consisted of Germany, Japan, and Italy.
Nazis
These were the supporters and soldiers that had followed under Hitler’s
rule. Hitler had absolute command over them.
Roosevelt
The 32nd president of the United States, he was the president during the
time of the Second World War. He was the one that had asked Congress
to go into war following the attack of Pearl Harbor.
Churchill
The British Prime minister who had inspired his people to defy the
thoughts that Britain would ever be conquered. He gave the people a
reason to fight as Britain is the last standing hope in Europe to fight
against Germany. Churchill had wanted the people of Britain to fight in the
finest hour and forever be remembered for it.
Auschwitz
One of the largest concentration camps, it was a place where many
people were transported and sent to the gas chambers. Life in the
concentration camps had been harsh. Upon arrival there would be
decisions as to how a person would be exterminated. There were also
horrifying experiments being held behind closed doors.
Remember, Remember the 7th of December
On the 7th of December, 1941, Japan attacked the United States killing thousands of Americans
The United States
suffered a devastating
attack on the 7th of
December, 1941. The
Japanese mercilessly
bombed Pearl Harbor,
which is located on the
Oahu island of Hawaii.
There is still some
mystery behind the
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Why did Japan decide to
drag the U.S. into World
War II?
In 1931, the U.S.
wanted Japan to relieve
China of their troops, but
the Japanese already
had a plan: to rule all of
Asia. In response, the
U.S. banned trade with
Japan . After Japan
seized Northern French
Indochina in September
1940, the U.S. stopped
trade with Japan to forbid
anything that could give
Japan an advantage to
imperialize. The following
year, Japan tried to gain
territory and prepare for
war . The U.S.
[1]
[2]
desperately wanted to
stop Japan from growing,
but was hesitant about
going to war. Even so,
Japan was afraid that the
U.S. may foil their plans
of becoming a great
leading power, and as a
result, Japan attacked the
U.S.
On December 7, 1941,
the U.S. was cruelly
attacked by Japan, led by
their prime minister,
Hideki Tojo. Pearl Harbor
was covered in smoke
and flames under a
timespan of two hours .
The attack came in two
waves, both deadly as
the other. The attack
made a lasting impact on
America. Many
Americans, as well as
ships and planes, were
affected: 18 ships were
damaged, more than 350
planes were destroyed, at
least 3,500 Americans
were wounded , and at
least 2,400 Americans
were killed in total .
[2]
[2]
[3]
Japan was deemed
successful in this terrorist
attack against the United
States.
The surprise bombing
might have deemed
Japan as successors, but
Americans, holding great
pride in their country, did
not give up just yet. The
bombing made it a race
for Americans to recover
everything they can to
fight against Japan to
redeem themselves.
Although President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
said that this day was
“the day that will live in
infamy”, nationalism
stirred among the
Americans and they were
prepared to be victorious
against Japan . They
joined the war on
December 8, the very
next day.
Not only did the
bombing affect the lives
of those around Pearl
Harbor, the lives of
thousands of Japanese,
[3]
citizens or not, were
affected as well.
President Roosevelt
made the decision to
relocate 100,000
Japanese, as well as
Germans and Italians on
the West Coast to camps.
These camps were
isolated communities that
severed family structure.
After some years, the
War Relocation Authority
began to let some
families leave after they
proved their allegiance to
the United States .
Sources: [1] http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2011/12/03/archives/postperspective/knew-p earl-harbor.html
[2] http://www.pearlharbor.org/history-of-pearl-harbor.asp
[3] http://www.history.com/interactives/inside-wwii-interactive
[4] http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/japanese-internment-camp.htm
[4]
Hitler Invades the Soviet Union
The map shows Hitler’s various movements when trying to invade the Soviet Union
Just before Hitler broke
the non-aggression pact
with Joseph Stalin, he
conquered most of the
West. He believed that in
order to occupy the East,
the West must be
defeated first. Hitler
decided to make secret
peace plans with the East
because he wanted to
avoid fighting on several
fronts at once. Hitler’s
idea was to hold off Stalin
from invading while he
handled the East and
Stalin fell for it. Stalin
originally wanted to make
the
non-aggression pact with
Hitler because he was
scared of Germany’s
power and how weak the
Soviet Union was at the
time, the pact would also
allow the Soviet Union to
recover through trade
and more land, but
[1]
unfortunately this did not
last very long. Through
the course of war, Stalin
began to think that there
might be a strong
possibility that Hitler
could be invading soon
but thought that “No one,
not even someone as
rash as Hitler, would
invade the Soviet Union
in the winter”. Yet Hitler
planned to invade on May
5th, 1941, with the
intentions of taking
control of the Soviet
Union before winter but
because Hitler still had
troops in Yugoslavia in
April, he had to postpone
the invasion to June
22nd.
German troops split up
and covered all of Russia
in no time, it was the
biggest invasion in
history. Germany tried to
use a blitzkrieg attack to
[3]
conquer Russia by
attacking quickly and with
force. They planned on
attacking Moscow,
Leningrad, and Donbas.
At first, things were
looking good for
Germany and they had
destroyed large amounts
of Russian land but as
the winter months came
closer, Hitler’s army
became weak and they
had underestimated the
harsh winter weather and
the fast mobilization of
the Soviets. Germany
thought that it wouldn’t be
too hard to defeat the
Soviets because they had
easily defeated other
countries similar to the
Soviet Union in no time,
but Hitler was clearly too
confident. Germany
counted on the defeat of
the Soviet Union to
strengthen Japan and the
US, therefore solving the
main problems in Eastern
Asia, but unfortunately it
strengthened the United
Kingdom instead.
After losing to the
Soviets Hitler only
[2]
became more humiliated
and angry, people also
started to question
Germany’s power and
Hitler’s intelligence for
trying to invade Russia
during the winter. Hitler
obviously hadn’t paid
much attention to past
invasions in Russia
during the winter months,
they all end in terrible
failure.
[1]http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/nonaggression.htm
[2]http://victory1945.rt.com/war-facts/key-battles/operation-barbarossa/
[3] http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSbarbarossa.htm
Summary
In the year of 1941, World War II took a turn in favor of the Allied forces. There was indeed
a struggle for control, a serious tug-of-war between the Axis Powers and the Allied forces- it
was difficult to determine who was victorious in this year. In the beginning of 1941, the
United States, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, began to involve themselves in the
war by allowing trade to the Allies through the Lend-Lease Bill. As the month of April slowly
approached, the Axis Powers began to gain territory as they became more vicious, trying to
take complete control over all of Europe. In June, Hitler marched his soldiers towards the
Soviet Union, breaking the non-aggression pact with Stalin. Although Hitler destroyed much
of Russia, the following months deemed Hitler’s tactics a huge mistake on his part. Hitler’s
troops could not stand the harsh Russian winter, and with supplies low for the Nazis, Hitler
faced a terrible loss. With the year half over, the Germans became more aggressive by
participating in mass murders against millions of Jews. Nazis began to put Jews in
concentration camps, where they were mercilessly killed. One of the biggest concentration
camps was in Auschwitz, where gas chambers and gas masks were first introduced to put
their victims in slow, agonizing pain. The month of December marked a major turning point
of World War II. When Japan terrorized and attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. became
directly involved in World War II. The United States joined forces with Britain to declare war
on Japan, and as a result, Germany declared war on the United States. By now, Germany
was being attacked by Britain, the United States as well as the Soviet Union.