Download World War II

World War II
The Greatest Generation
Prelude to Global War
“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 fight in the hills; we shall never
surrender.”--Winston Churchill
Overview
By the 1930s, Italy had fallen to
fascism, Germany to Nazism, and
Imperial Japan was looking to
expand. The ambitions of three
leaders will bring the world to war.
Fascism and Nazism

Italy and Fascism
• Benito Mussolini felt Italy was
shortchanged in the Treaty of Versailles.
• 1919 He and other war vets organized
the Revolutionary Fascist Party
• Called himself Il Duce =the leader
• Used Fascist thugs called “Blackshirts”
to terrorize opponents.
• 1922 Threatened to march on Rome
and the Kind made him prime
minister.
• As PM he:





Suspended elections
Outlawed other political parties
Established a dictatorship
Declared, “The Country is nothing
without Conquest”
Oct. 1935--Invaded Ethiopia

Germany and Nazism
• Adolf Hitler




Discontented Austrian Painter
1919 Joined the National Socialist
German Worker’s Party or the Nazi Party
1923 Beer Hall Putsch--Tried to
overthrow the Weimar Government
Wrote Mein Kampf =“My Struggle” during
9 mo. Prison term.
•
•
•
•
Blamed the Jews for Germany’s loss in WWI
Proposed strengthening the military
Called for expanding territory
Called for purifying the “Aryan” race (blonde,
blue eyed) by removing the Jews from
Germany
• Conditions





Germany was in Economic and Social ruin
High unemployment
Massive inflation
Shortages
Lawlessness
• Nazi Promise




Order
Stabilization of the country
economic recovery
Restoring the Empire--The Third Reich
• Nazi Rise




Jan 1933 Nazis became the largest party
in the Reichstag
Hitler was appointed Chancellor
After the Reichstag fire, Hitler was given
emergency powers.
After President Von Hindenberg’s death,
Hitler consolidated his control over the
country and the military.
Europe Goes to War

German Aggression
• March 9, 1936 German troops reentered
the Rhineland.
• 1936 Germany and Italy signed an
alliance and became the Axis Powers
(later joined by Japan)
• March 1938 Anschluss--Hitler approved
the “voluntary” annexation of Austria.
• Sept. 1938 Munich Conference


Hitler had demanded the Sudetenland
region of Czechoslovakia (GR pop) be given
to Germany
Appeasement
• Neville Chamberlain (UK) and Edouard Daladier
(France) agreed to give the land to Hitler in
exchange for his promise to not seek more
territory.
• “Britain and France had to choose between war
and dishonor . . . They chose dishonor. They will
have war.”--Churchill
• March 1939 Hitler annexed the rest of
Czechoslovakia.
• Soon after Hitler signed a treaty of nonaggression with Russia

War!!
• September 1, 1939 Germany invaded
Poland



Used blitzkrieg tactic
UK and FR declared war 2 days later.
Mid September--Russians seized East
Poland as per their agreement.
• April 9, 1940 GR attacked Denmark
and Norway
• May 10, 1940 GR attacked the
Maginot Line and overwhelmed
Belgium, the Netherlands and FR.
• Evacuation at Dunkirk



As France fell, UK forces retreated to this
coastal city
900 UK vessels (tug boats, yachts, and
other private craft) evacuated 340K across
the English channel to Britain.
Despite constant Luftwaffe attacks, the UK
pulled off one of the greatest rescues in
history.
• The Battle of Britain






After the fall of FR Hitler turned on Britain
1,000 Luftwaffe Planes bombed Britain daily
Royal Air Force (RAF) outnumbered, flew 67 missions per day
Dec. 1940 “The Blitz”--The bombing of
London started 1500 fires in the city.
June 1941 the bombing ended. Hitler’s
effort to crush the UK had failed.
30K Londoners died 120K injured.

The Empire of Japan
• 1931 Japan seized the Manchuria
region of China
• By 1940 Japan controlled most of
Eastern China
• Sept 1940 Signed the Tripartite pact
w/ GR and Italy.
• April 1941 Signed a neutrality pact
with Russia.

The American Response
• Most Americans favored neutrality
and isolationism.
• Early Neutrality Acts


US would w/hold weapons and loans
from all nations at war.
Required that all non military goods be
paid for w/ cash and transported by the
purchaser-- “cash and carry”
• Neutrality Act of 1939--permitted UK
and FR to buy weapons on a cash and
carry basis
• Increased Involvement

1940 FDR proposed providing war supplies
to the UK w/o payment:
• “If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t sell
him a hose. You lend it to him and take it back
after the fire is out.”

March 1941--congress passed the LendLease Act which authorized the President to
aid any nation whose defense was vital to
US interests
Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941
“A date which shall live in infamy.”




Mid 1941--Japan took French IndoChina
FDR responded by freezing Japanese
assets in the US and cutting off trade
with Japan
For weeks the US and Japan
negotiated to avoid war.
Japan’s leaders decided that they
could not conquer Asia with the US
Pacific fleet in Hawaii.





Dec 7, 1941--Japanese attacked
the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor.
<2 hrs. 2,400 Americans died and
1,200 wounded; 300 planes
damaged or destroyed; 18
warships sunk
Japan lost 29 planes
Dec 8, 1941 FDR asked Congress
to declare war.
Dec. 11 Germany and Italy
declared war on the US.
The Road to Victory in Europe
American Mobilization



Thousands volunteered after Pearl
Harbor
The draft began immediately
The Force
• 16.1 Million Served






Majority--white, male Americans
300K Mex-Amer
300 Navajos as Code Talkers
17K Japanese-Amer
1 Million African Americans
275K Women (volunteers)
Atlantic War


US ships had to travel in convoys
Germans used “Wolf Packs” (sub
groups of 30) to systematically
attack convoys
North Africa



Germans under the command of
FM Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox)
had been very successful.
1942 Turning Point--UK Gen.
Bernard Montgomery won a
decisive victory at El Alamein
Egypt
May 1943 American Gen. Dwight
D. Eisenhower and Gen.
Montgomery trapped Rommel’s
forces in Tunisia.

Rommel escaped to Europe and
Africa was under Allied control.
Italy



July 1943 American General George
s. Patton attacked Sicily. It fell in 38
days.
Mussolini was overthrown and the
New Italian gov’t surrendered.
German forces stiffly defended Italy.

Turning Point--Anzio
• Jan 1944 American troops landed
behind GR lines at Anzio (just S. of
Rome)
• Fighting to advance was slow, but the
Allies won in May 1944.
• 72K American casualties



The Allies quickly took Rome
April 1945 German forces in Italy
surrendered.
190K American casualties in the
Italian Campaign
Germany and the Soviet Union



June 1941--3.6 million German and
Axis troops attacked the USSR
The 3 millions Russians were
overwhelmed and their air force
quickly destroyed
The soviets burned everything as the
retreated.

Turning Point--Stalingrad
• The Red Army chose to take a stand
• Fighting was house to house
• The Russian winter wet in and in mid
November the Red Army
counterattacked and surrounded the
Germans.
• Jan 31, 1943--A final assault resulted
in the German force surrendering
• 90K Germans had survived

Fighting would continue
Allied Invasion of Western
Europe

Air War
• Allied bombers began to soften GR for
the attack
• Methods such as carpet bombing were
used daily.
• US bombed by day; the RAF by night
(3K planes per day).

Preparation
• Allies amassed troops, weapons and
warships in UK
• Germans under Rommel strengthened
the Atlantic Wall

D-Day June 6, 1944
• Largest landing by sea in history
• 4,600 invasion craft and warships
• 23K UK and US Airborne dropped
behind lines the night before.
• Warships pounded the coast
• 2K planes (1K at a time) bombed the
GR lines
• 150 K Allied troops landed on 60 mi.
of coast
• Hitler failed to order an immediate
counterattack.
• GR resistance was fierce and
• By late July the Allies had 2 million
troops in FR
• August 1944--Americans liberated Paris

Battle of the Bulge
• Dec. 1944 GR launched a fierce counter
attack.
• Allied forces were thrown back and the
line almost broke
• W/ reinforcement, the Americans held
and stopped the GR advance.
• Casualties--80K US 100K GR
End of the War in Europe

The American Advance
• March 1945



Allies continued to bomb GR
American forces crossed the Rhine River
The Soviet Advance
• Heavy losses


13.6 million soviet and 3 million GR had
died in fighting
Soviet civilian and military deaths totaled 27
million
• Soviets wanted to capture Berlin and
the US allowed it.
• April 25, 1945--Soviet and US forces
met at the Elbe River

German Surrender
• May 1, 1945--GR announced Hitler
had committed suicide
• VE DAY--May 8, 1945, Germany
surrendered.

Yalta Conference
• The Big 3 met--FDR, Churchill, and
Stalin
• Agreed to split Germany into
occupation zones.
• Berlin (in the Soviet zone) would also
be divided.
• Stalin promised to allow elections in
The War in the Pacific
Overview
When Japan attacked Pearl harbor,
they simultaneously attacked several
other American bases in the Pacific.
The American Pacific outlook was
grim.
The Japanese Advance

Philippines
• US and Filipino forces fought valiantly
and managed to hold the Bataan
Peninsula for 4 mos.
• Gen. Douglas MacArthur was ordered to
leave the islands and his troops behind.
“I shall return.”
• May 6, 1942--the last of the US and
filipino forces surrendered.
• Bataan Death March



76K US and Filipinos became POWs
They were forcibly marched 60 miles to a
railway and shipped to work camps
10K died during the 12 day march.

The Sea War
• The Japanese had been steadily
advancing in the Pacific and hoped to
take Australia.
• Battle of the Coral Sea




May 1942
1st Naval combat carried out entirely by
aircraft.
The ships never saw each other.
Militarily--a draw Strategically--stopped the
Japanese advance on Australia.
Turning the Tide

Battle of Midway
• Midway Island was vital to the
protection of Hawaii
• Japanese under Admiral Isoruku
Yamamoto hoped to lure the US into
battle and destroy the remainder of
the Pacific fleet.
• Admiral Chester Nimitz caught the
Japanese at a vulnerable time
(loading bombs) and attacked
• Fought entirely from the air.

Battle of Guadalcanal
• Located in the Solomon Islands
• Intense jungle warfare
• Captured by Feb 1943
• Casualties


US 6K of 60K
Japan 24K of 36K

Island-Hopping Strategy
• US began to attack islands strategically
• Some were bypassed
• Goal was to get close enough to attack
the main Island of Japan
• Casualties were staggering

Philippines
• Oct. 1944--160K US troops invaded
the island of Leyte.
• MacArthur “People of the Philippines,
I have returned.”
• Simultaneously--3 day naval Battle of
Leyte Gulf




Greatest naval battle in history
Japan threw all their ships into it.
Japan used Kamikaze attacks
Japan was badly beaten and their navy
destroyed
• June 1945--The Philippines were
completely liberated.
Iwo Jima Nov. 1944




For 74 days US planes and warships
poured 7K tons of bombs and 20K
shells into the island
Feb 1945--Marines stormed the
beaches and fought 3 days to gain
700 yds.
110K US vs. 25K Japanese
25K US casualties; 216 Japanese
surrendered.
Battle of Okinawa
April - June 1945





100K Japanese defended the Island
US--1300 warships; 180K combat
troops
Japanese used Kamikaze attacks and
Bonzai charges to inflict maximum
casualties.
7,200 Japanese surrendered
50K US casualties
The Manhattan Project




1939--Jewish physicist Albert
Einstein wrote FDR suggesting the
possibility of a new weapon---the
Atomic Bomb
Einstein knew the Germans were
already working on it.
FDR authorized the work.
July 16, 1945, US detonated the first
atomic bomb in the New Mexico
desert.
Dropping the Bomb




April 1945--FDR died
Harry S. Truman had to make the
decision.
Estimated 1 million US deaths to
conquer main island Japan.
August 6, 1945--1st bomb
dropped on Hiroshima.
• 135K casualties
• 90% of the infrastructure destroyed

August 9--2nd bomb dropped on
Nagasaki
• 64K casualties
V-J Day


On August 14, 1945, the Japanese
surrendered.
WWII was over, but the US and the
world would never be the same.