Download Lsn 22 Beginning of World War II

Beginning of World War II
Lsn 22
ID & SIG:
• appeasement, Bataan Death March,
blitzkrieg, Finland, Hitler’s rise to power,
Japanese imperialism, Manchuria, Poland,
Russian-Germany Non-aggression Pact,
Pearl Harbor
Agenda
• Europe
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–
–
–
Hitler’s Rise to Power
Poland
Finland
Denmark and Norway
• Pacific
–
–
–
–
Imperialism
Manchuria
Pearl Harbor
Philippines
Rise of Hitler
• Treaty of Versailles
was very punitive to
Germany
• Unemployment and
other issues created
conditions conducive
for Hitler to rise to
power
Dec 21, 1931
Rebirth of Germany
• Hitler reinstituted
conscription (after France
doubled the length of its
conscripts’ service) and in
March 1936 was strong
enough to reoccupy the
Rhineland
• In June 1934, Hitler purged
many of his paramilitary and
the SS rose up to replace
them
Germany’s Increasingly Militaristic
Approach
• In Nov 1937, Italy joined
Germany in an alliance against
the Soviet Union
• In Mar 1938, Hitler forced
Anschluss (union) with Austria
• On Sept 29-30, the British and
French foreign ministers
attempted to appease Hitler by
acquiescing to his demand for
the Sudentenland under the
understanding Hitler would make
no more territorial demands
– In March 1939 Hitler seized the
western part of Czechoslovakia
Neville Chamberlain
Continued Aggression
• Britain and France now knew
appeasement would not stop
Hitler and they pledged to
defend Belgium, Holland,
Switzerland, and Poland
against German aggression
• On Aug 22, 1939, Russia and
Germany signed a nonaggression pact
– In the event of a GermanPolish war, Russia could
annex eastern Poland,
Latvia, Estonia, and
Lithuania
• On Sept 1, Hitler invaded
Poland
Poland
• The German offensive included heavy air
attacks against Polish air bases and military
targets in Warsaw
– Collateral damage and civilian casualties were high
• Britain and France honored their promise to the
Poles and declared war on Germany
– Hitler had thought Britain and France would not go to
war
– He had said, he had seen his “enemies at Munich and
they were worms”
Poland
• Germany bounded
Poland on three sides
so it was easy for the
Germans to quickly
envelop Poland
• Furthermore, Poland
was one big flat plain
with its only defensible
terrain feature, the Bug
River, lying too far east
to be of any use
• The Poles choose to
use a forward defense
which allowed the
Germans to divide the
Polish Army and defeat
it piecemeal
Poland
• Using blitzkrieg tactics,
the Germans broke Polish
resistance within a week
– The Poles lost 70,000 killed,
133,000 wounded, and
700,000 taken prisoner
– The Germans lost only
11,000 killed, 30,000
wounded, and 3,400
missing
• To make matters worse,
the Soviet Union moved
into eastern Poland on
September 17 to “protect”
the local population
Poland
• From the very beginning, the
Germans began implementing
Hitler’s ideological atrocities
against the Poles
– The Polish ruling and
intellectual elite was
liquidated
– Polish cultural symbols were
destroyed
– The Catholic Church was
suppressed
– Jews were sent to
concentration camps such
as Auschwitz
Poland
• The Allies were unprepared to launch an
offensive into Germany at this point in the war
• Instead of trying to relieve Poland, the British
and French concentrated on mobilizing and
preparing to halt the Germans when they turned
toward the west
• The failure to exert any real pressure on the
Germans allowed Germany to continue building
its industrial might and prepare for its 1940
offensive
Russia and Finland
• In the meantime, the Soviets demanded
that the Baltic States allow Red Army
garrisons on their territory
• Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia acceded
• Then Russia made similar demands of
Finland
• The Finns agreed to cede some territory
but refused any terms that compromised
their independence
Russia and Finland
• On November 30, Russia
attacked Finland, but
instead of the expected
swift victory the Russians
met stiff resistance
• Only after massive
artillery bombardments
and human wave attacks
did the Russians finally
compel the Finns to
surrender on March 12,
1940
Finnish infantry passing
a destroyed Russian tank
Russia and Finland
• The Russian Army was plagued by
shortages in leadership and initiative that
resulted from the purges of 1937-1939
• The poor performance made Hitler think
the Russians would not be much of a
challenge if Germany invaded
Denmark and Norway
• Germany quickly moved
into Denmark, but had a
more difficult time
capturing Norway
• In April, British
destroyers inflicted
severe losses on the
German Navy at Narvik,
including sinking half of
Germany’s destroyers
• These losses would
make it impossible for
the German Navy to
adequately support any
upcoming invasion of
the British Isles
Agenda
• Europe
–
–
–
–
Hitler’s Rise to Power
Poland
Finland
Denmark and Norway
• Pacific
–
–
–
–
Imperialism
Manchuria
Pearl Harbor
Philippines
Imperial Japan
(Review from Lsn 18)
• Japan had been becoming increasingly
imperialistic and increasing powerful
– In 1894 it won the Sino-Japanese War over
control of Korea
– Its victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904)
gained Japan recognition as a major imperial
power
– In 1936 Japan withdrew from the Five-Power
Naval Limitation Treaty and began pursuing
naval parity with the US and Britain
Imperial Japan
• This aggression against China came to a
head in the 1930s when for the most part
civilians lost control of the government and
the military in Japan
• In 1937 Japan engaged in a full-scale yet
undeclared war in northern China
• After the capital city of Nanking fell on
December 13, the Japanese Army embarked
on six weeks of unspeakable atrocities that
came to be known collectively as the “Rape of
Nanking”
A Chinese baby cries amid the rubble of the Japanese
bombing of Shanghai
Invasion of Manchuria
• The Rape of Nanking
remains a contentious
topic but many sources
estimate 300,000 Chinese
were killed and some
20,000 women raped
• One American who was in
Nanking at the time wrote,
“There probably is no
crime that has not been
committed in this city
today”
Chinese man being beheaded
Imperial Japan
• Japan continued to see
the US and others as a
threat to its influence in
Asia
• In May 1940, the main
part of the US fleet was
transferred to Pearl
Harbor from the west
coast
• The Japanese began
developing plans to
destroy the US Navy in
Hawaii
Pearl Harbor
Japanese Navy
• The Japanese Navy became one of the best
peacetime navies in history
• It had detailed plans and training exercises for a
war against the US in the Pacific
• On the other hand, the US had recognized as
early as January 1941 that in the event of a war
against Germany, Italy, and Japan, the main
effort would be in the Atlantic and against
Germany and Italy, rather than in the Pacific
against Japan
Pearl Harbor
• On Dec 7, 1941, the
Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor
– “a date which will live
in infamy”
• Americans were
taken completely by
surprise
• The first attack wave
targeted airfields and
battleships
• The second wave
targeted other ships
and shipyard facilities
Tactical Damage
• Eight battleships were
damaged, with five sunk
• Three light cruisers, three
destroyers, three smaller
vessels, and 188 aircraft
were destroyed
• 2,335 servicemen and 68
civilians were killed
• 1,178 were wounded
– 1,104 men aboard the
Battleship USS Arizona were
killed after a 1,760-pound air
bomb penetrated into the
forward magazine causing
catastrophic explosions.
Broader Results
• In spite of the tactical
success, the attack on
Pearl Harbor was an
operational and
strategic failure for the
Japanese
– The attack failed to
destroy the American
aircraft carriers, fleet
repair facilities, or fuel
reserves
– The “sneak attack”
galvanized American
support for entry into the
war
Fall of the Philippines
• Shortly after Pearl
Harbor the Japanese
made initial landings
on Luzon, then made
their main landings
on December 22
• On December 24,
MacArthur ordered
his forces to
withdraw to the
Bataan Peninsula
• By April Bataan
surrendered
• By early May
Corregidor
surrendered
Douglas MacArthur in his
headquarters tunnel at Corregidor
in March 1942
Bataan Death March
• President Roosevelt
ordered MacArthur to
relinquish command
to Lieutenant
General Jonathan
Wainwright and
MacArthur escaped
to Australia
• 25,000 Americans
and Filipinos died on
the Bataan Death
March to captivity
Centrifugal Advance
• The Japanese attacked Malaya, the Philippines, the
Dutch East Indies, Wake, Guam….
• Instead of halting, establishing a defense, and
pressuring the US to sue for peace (the prewar plan), the
Japanese decided to extend their control over the
Pacific, planning operations in New Guinea near Port
Moresby and against Midway (1,300 miles northwest of
Honolulu)
• US achieved a moral victory with Doolittle’s Raid on the
Japanese home islands on April 18, 1942
– Caused minimal damage but humiliated the Japanese
high command and led them to advance the date for
their attack on Midway
Next
• World War II
– Blitzkrieg in France
– The Eastern Front