* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Open File
Consequences of the attack on Pearl Harbor wikipedia , lookup
Historiography of the Battle of France wikipedia , lookup
Aftermath of World War II wikipedia , lookup
Allied Control Council wikipedia , lookup
World War II and American animation wikipedia , lookup
Swedish iron-ore mining during World War II wikipedia , lookup
World War II by country wikipedia , lookup
Allied war crimes during World War II wikipedia , lookup
Nazi views on Catholicism wikipedia , lookup
Allied plans for German industry after World War II wikipedia , lookup
Anglo-German Naval Agreement wikipedia , lookup
British propaganda during World War II wikipedia , lookup
German–Soviet Axis talks wikipedia , lookup
Consequences of Nazism wikipedia , lookup
Western betrayal wikipedia , lookup
Nazi Germany wikipedia , lookup
Technology during World War II wikipedia , lookup
Allies of World War II wikipedia , lookup
Foreign relations of the Axis powers wikipedia , lookup
New Order (Nazism) wikipedia , lookup
Economy of Nazi Germany wikipedia , lookup
Appeasement wikipedia , lookup
Diplomatic history of World War II wikipedia , lookup
End of World War II in Europe wikipedia , lookup
World War II Appeasement • • • • • • 1932—Germany announces it will no longer obey the military restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles 7 March 1936—German troops reoccupy the Rhineland 12 March 1938—the Anschluss, Germany annexes Austria September 1938—Hitler demands territory from Czechoslovakia. The Munich Pact signed by Germany, France, Britain, and Italy gives him the Sudetenland. March 1939—Slovakia splits from Czechoslovakia, German troops occupy the Czech region the next day. Through each of these Britain, France, and the League of Nations choose a policy of appeasement—giving Hitler what he wants rather than risk another World War Neville Chamberlain British Prime Minister (1937-1940) Molotov-Von Ribbentrop Pact • In April 1939, the Soviet Union had offered a new triple alliance to Britain and France. • To avoid a war on two fronts, Hitler sent his Foreign Minister to Stalin with a peace deal. • Formally, the Molotov-Von Ribbentrop Pact was a nonaggression pact between Germany and the USSR. • Secretly they had agreed to divide Poland and Eastern Europe. Blitzkrieg—Lightning War • 1 Sept 1939—German troops attack Poland. • Germany employs a fast moving strategy with tanks supported by aircraft advancing deep into Poland. Later, trucks bring in foot soldiers. • Britain and France demand Hitler withdraw and declare war when he doesn’t. • The last Polish troops surrender on 6 Oct 1939 Sitzkrieg—the Phony War • Britain and France were not ready for war. As they built up their armies Europe settled into a lull known as the Phony War. • France concentrated on strengthening the Maginot Line. • Britain sent troops to protect Belgium. • Both countries were preparing to fight WWI again. 1940 • April—Germany invades Norway and Denmark • Britain attempts a counterattack in Norway. • May—Germany invades France and the Low Countries. • Chamberlain resigns and Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain. Dunkirk • Germany invades France through the Ardennes Forrest, bypassing the defenses of the Maginot Line. • The German blitzkrieg surrounds hundreds of thousands of Allied troops trapping them at Dunkirk. • Britain organizes a massive evacuation. Using every available craft that could cross the Channel 340,000 troops are rescued. • France surrenders on 25 June 1940. The Blitz—the Battle of Britain • With France out only Britain remains to oppose German. • While Hitler builds an invasion fleet, the Luftwaffe begins an aerial campaign to force Britain to the peace table. • London is heavily bombed. Children are evacuated to the countryside. Londoners take refuge in the Underground. Operation Barbarossa • With Britain seemingly near defeat, Hitler makes plans to turn on his real enemy, Stalin. • Hitler launches his invasion of Russia on 22 June 1941. • Stalin has executed or exiled his best generals. Germany. Soviets troops are forced to rely on scorched earth tactics. • Hitler like Napoleon is finally halted by General Winter. The United States • The US became isolationist after WWI. • Throughout the 30’s Congress passes laws enforcing US neutrality in European and Asian wars. • In 1941, the Lend-Lease Act ended this neutrality, allowing the US to provide arms to the Allies. • By September 1941, the US is in an undeclared naval war with Germany and Italy. Pearl Harbor • In 1941, Japan was prepared to seize the Dutch East Indies. • Worried that the US would interfere, Japan plans a knock-out first strike on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor. • Admiral Yamamoto promises he will “run wild for 6 months” but warns Japan will awaken a sleeping giant. • On 7 December 1941, Japanese planes and submarines make a surprise attack and destroy most of the US Pacific Fleet. “…a date that will live in infamy.” • On 8 Dec 1941, President Roosevelt asks Congress to declare war on Japan. • Hitler, in a show of support for his allies, declares war on the US. • Churchill is reported to have said “So, we have won after all.” • America pursues a Europe First policy, while it rebuilds the Pacific fleet. 1942-1943 • Yamamoto’s sleeping giant awakens and pours its resources into defeating Mussolini and Hitler. • Campaigns in North Africa and Italy give the Axis its first strategic defeats. • In Russia, General Zhukov is recalled from Siberia and begins to push the Germans back. Strategic Bombing • Germany and the Allies use strategic bombing in an effort to drive enemies out of the war. • Strategic bombing targets war industries and population centers to destroy the enemy’s ability and will to fight. • Technological innovations like radar and the Norton bombsight make the Allies more successful at it. • Germany retaliates with “vengeance weapons” the V1 and V2 rockets. D-Day • As Nazi victory began to seem less certain, Hitler began constructing defenses against an Allied invasion of Europe. • On “D-Day” 6 June 1944, American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. • The night before thousands of British and American troops had landed behind German lines by parachute and glider. The Race for Berlin • British and American forces secured their landings in France and defeated a German counter-attack through the Ardennes. • In January 1945, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin meet in Yalta to discuss how to end the war. • In March, Allied troops cross the Rhine into German. • They engage in a “race” against the Red Army to be the first to capture Berlin. V-E Day • On 30 April 1945, Hitler and Goebbels kill themselves and their families. Admiral Dönitz becomes president of Germany. • Dönitz tries to continue the war long enough to allow German troops to surrender to the Western Allies instead of the Soviets. • Germany officially surrenders 8 May 1945. The Pacific • After 6 months of easy victories, Japan receives its first real defeat at the Battle of Midway. • This is the turning point as Japan begins to be pushed back by the US Navy. • Japan had planned to defend each island to the death, hoping the US would be unwilling to loose all the lives it would take to capture each. • The US simply bypasses many islands, cutting them off from supply and capturing only those needed to continue the advance. Final Victory • The Battles of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa make it clear that invading Japan will be horribly costly. • One estimate puts Allied dead at 100,000 and over half a million wounded. Japanese dead would be in the millions. • Faced with such a horrible prospect. Roosevelt’s successor Harry Truman chooses to use the first atomic bombs to force Japan to surrender. Atrocities • Hitler gained much of his early support by playing on latent antiSemitic feelings in Germany. • Blaming the German Jews for everything from the Treaty of Versailles to international communism, Hitler deprives Jews of citizenship and rights. • Hitler may have hoped these policies would force Jews to leave Germany, many did, but unless they had special talents, most had trouble getting immigrant visas to other countries. • As Hitler’s power grew, Jews were targeted with vandalism and violence, forced to live in traditionally Jewish neighborhoods, and eventually required to display a yellow star on their clothing at all times. The Holocaust • Hitler was unable to expel the Jews in Germany and the expansion of Germany’s borders had added millions more. • Hitler wanted a “final solution to the Jewish problem”. • In the 1930’s, Germany had begun using concentration camps to imprison political prisoners, the mentally handicapped and other “undesirables”. • The “Final Solution” sent Jews to these camps to work as slave labor until they died. • In Ukraine and Russia, special units were created to kill Jews and Communist party members. • Later, extermination camps were created that killed thousands daily. Left: Concentration camp workers were fed just enough to keep them going. Top right: Wedding rings collected from Auschwitz prisoners. Bottom right: Hair shaved from female prisoners. Showers • Newly arrived prisoners at Auschwitz were sent to the showers. • The were told to pile their clothes neatly so they could retrieve them later. • Dozens were sent into the shower rooms at once. • When the doors closed behind them, the showers came on. • Instead of water, they sprayed poison gas. Being a child was no protection. Twins were often selected for “medical” experiments. Soon Jews, Gypsies, and Homosexuals were dying faster than they could be buried. Crematoria were built to dispose of the bodies more rapidly. Prisoners were forced to handle the bodies. Japanese Atrocities • Japanese soldiers took a very dim view of surrender and treated prisoners quite poorly. • Many were used for target practice or slave labor. • In China, Unit 731 tested biological weapons on prisoners. • Korea girls were bought or forced to work as comfort women in brothels set up by the Japanese Army. Soviet Atrocities • The Soviet Union deported or conscripted tens of thousands of Latvians, Lithuanians, and Estonians following their take-over. • Hundreds of thousands of German POWs disappeared into prison camps in Siberia, many never returned. • During the invasion of Germany, Soviet troops frequently shot surrendering Germans and were accused of mass rapemurders. Western Atrocities • While British, French, and American troops committed far fewer war crimes, they are not blameless. • Axis prisoners were sometimes tortured for information or summarily executed, usually in retaliation for their own atrocities. Several incidents occurred at liberated concentration camps. • Some say the strategic bombing of German and Japanese cities was comparable to the Holocaust. Internment Camps • Following the Pearl Harbor attack, many American feared Japanese Americans might act as spies or saboteurs for Japan. • Many issei, nisei, and sansei were imprisoned in interment camps. • While their goods were not seized they could not work and many had their property foreclosed on. • Others had their property stolen by “helpful” neighbors who offered to put land or houses into their own names to prevent confiscation. • Despite this treatment, many young Japanese-American men volunteered for the army to prove their loyalty.