World War II Notes

World War II 1939-1945 I. Dictators Rise To Power A. Treaty of Versaillescreated depression in Europe and resentment in Germany. Countries were economically ruined and people feared Communism in the East. I. Dictators Rise To Power B. New Leaders Leaders promised a bright future for their people and blamed others. Benito Mussolini-Italy-Fascist Party I. Dictators Rise To Power B. New Leaders Adolf Hitler-Germany-Nazi Party Hitler believed in a "master race" of Germans and used secret police and the military to control and manipulate the people. I. Dictators Rise To Power B. New Leaders After gaining support, these leaders became aggressive. I. Dictators Rise To Power C. Territorial Invasions Japan invaded Manchuria Hitler militarized the Rhineland II. American Position A. Good Neighbor Policy-continued in the face a new developments. Many Americans promoted isolationism. -Congress passed the Neutrality Acts to keep the United States out of armed conflicts. II. American Position B. Roosevelt Challenges Isolationism -Japan continued actions in China and the U.S. supported China with arms and funds to rebuild. -Roosevelt wanted to "quarantine" the aggressors. III. Hitler Marches in Europe A. New Acquisitions -March 11, 1938-Hitler annexed Austria saying that he was helping Germans in the country. -March 1939-Hitler forced Czechoslovakia to agree to annexation. III. Hitler Marches in Europe B. Reactions Munich Pact-Allowed Hitler to invade the Sudetenland if he would stop there. Neville Chamberlain proclaimed that we had preserved “peace in our time.” III. Hitler Marches in Europe B. Reactions Appeasement-France and Britain had adopted the policy of giving in to Hitler's demands to avoid war. Hitler broke his promise and took over all of Czechoslovakia. IV. Timeline of Axis Aggression Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan wanted to be the center of the world IV. Timeline of Axis Aggression 1931-1932-Japan invaded and conquered Manchuria 1935-Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia 1935-1936-Germany violated Treaty of Versailles with conscription and remilitarizing the Rhineland IV. Timeline of Axis Aggression 1936-1939-Germany and Italy aided Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War 1937-Japan conquered Chinese coastal areas 1938-Hitler invaded and annexed Austria to protect German speaking people IV. Timeline of Axis Aggression 1938-Munich Pact-France and Britain allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland if he would demand no more territory. 6 months later, he broke his promise and took all of Czechoslovakia. 1939-Mussolini invaded and annexed Albania IV. Timeline of Axis Aggression 1939-Germany signed the Non-Aggression Pact with Russia saying that Russia would not interfere in Poland if Germany wouldn't interfere in the Baltic states. *Sept. 1, 1939-Germany invaded Poland, France & Britain declared war on Germany, starting WWII IV. Timeline of Axis Aggression Long Range Causes of WWII: 1. Dictatorships 2. Militarism 3. Nationalism 4. Imperialism 5. Failure of Appeasement V. Early Action of the War A. German Successes 1. Germany unleashed blitzkrieg warfare (lightning war). Quick and effective coordination of all parts of the military. 2. Germany rolled through Poland and easily took Denmark & Norway to secure naval bases. V. Early Action of the War A. German Successes 3. Germany invaded France through Belgium & the Netherlands. Nazi armies easily defeated the Allies and France surrendered. Germany set up a puppet government in the south at Vichy and occupied the north. V. Early Action of the War A. German Successes 4. Germany bombed Great Britain for 3 months to soften the island's defenses for invasion. The British air force claimed victory in this Battle of Britain when Hitler chose to postpone his invasion of Britain. V. Early Action of the War B. U.S. Actions 1. Lend-Lease Act-1941-President could lend or lease goods to anyone whose defense was vital to the United States. 2. U.S. imposed embargo on Japan and froze all Japanese assets in the U.S. V. Early Action of the War C. 2 Mistakes made by the Axis Powers 1. Germany invaded Russia-June 22, 1941Hitler violated the non-aggression pact and invaded hoping to control oil and mineral resources. Russia proved to be a strong enemy with millions of troops. Stalin foiled Hitler's invasion. Known as Operation Barbarossa. V. Early Action of the War C. 2 Mistakes made by the Axis Powers 2. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor-Dec. 7, 1941-Japanese General Tojo launched a surprise attack on the naval base hoping to preserve their empire in the Pacific. The Japanese underestimated the power of the United States. Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941-Japanese wanted to buy some time to strengthen their position. Our fleet in Hawaii was a threat to their dominance of the Pacific islands. Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Japanese reaction: "We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war." Pearl Harbor American Results: All together the Japanese sank or severely damaged 18 ships, including 8 battleships, 3 light cruisers, and 3 destroyers. On the airfields the Japanese destroyed 161 American planes and seriously damaged 102. U.S casualties: 2403 dead, 1178 wounded Pearl Harbor American Results: 16 Congressional Medals of Honor, 51 Navy Crosses, 53 Silver Crosses, 4 Navy and Marine Corps Medals, 1 Distinguished Flying Cross, 4 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1 Distinguished Service Medal, and 3 Bronze Stars were awarded to the American servicemen who distinguished themselves Pearl Harbor American Results: Franklin Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy.” VI. War on the Homefront A. Economy 1. Agencies were created to coordinate war production in factories. 2. Government regulated prices and rationed some supplies. 3. War cost $330 billion-income taxes increased and war bonds were sold. WWII Posters VI. War on the Homefront A. Economy 1. Agencies were created to coordinate war production in factories. 2. Government regulated prices and rationed some supplies. 3. War cost $330 billion-income taxes increased and war bonds were sold. VI. War on the Homefront B. Civil Liberties 1. No laws were passed to restrict freedom of speech or press. 2. Japanese Americans were feared and forced to "relocation" centers, aka interment camps. VII. War Comes to an End A. Victory in Europe 1. *Battle of El Alamein-1942-British defeated Germans in North Africa leading to full Allied invasion of Africa and Italy. 2. *Battle of Stalingrad-1942-Russians defeated the German army of 300,000. VII. War Comes to an End A. Victory in Europe 3. Operation Overlord-June 6, 1944 (DDay)-Cross-channel invasion by the Allies into northern France. Allied forces recaptured Paris and drove the Germans to Berlin. VII. War Comes to an End A. Victory in Europe Yalta Conference-Feb. 1945, Stalin, Churchill, and FDR met to discuss the end of the war. They agreed to divide, occupy, and denazify Germany. Critics said that too much was given to Russia. They were basically allowed to control Eastern Europe. VII. War Comes to an End The Death of Franklin Roosevelt President Roosevelt died April 12, 1945 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Harry Truman becomes president only 82 days after being elected VP. FDR was president for 12+ years. VII. War Comes to an End A. Victory in Europe 4. Surrender-Hitler committed suicide and Germany surrendered-May 8, 1945-(V-E Day) Potsdam Conference-July 17, 1945-Leaders agreed to direction of postwar Germany and all dedicated to the unconditional surrender of Japan. VII. War Comes to an5 Marines Endand 1 Navy Corpsman raise the flag atop Mount Suribachi B. Victory in the Pacific 1. Japanese successes were stopped at the Battle of the Coral Sea and at the Battle of *Midway. (1942) 2. Allies used "island-hopping" recapturing the Phillipines, Guam, Iwo Jima, etc. The Japanese lost 20,000 of their 22,000 soldiers defending Iwo Jima. The U.S. casualties were 26,000 dead or wounded. VII. War Comes to an End B. Victory in the Pacific 3. U.S. dropped 2 atomic bombs: 1 on Hiroshima and 1 on Nagasaki. The devastation forced the surrender of Japan. September 2, 1945 (V-J Day) VII. War Comes to an End Facts about the Atomic Bombs -The Manhattan Project was the government program headed by J. Robert Oppenheimer that developed the weapons. -The two bombs were known as “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” VII. War Comes to an End Facts about the Atomic Bombs -The plane that dropped the first bomb, “Little Boy” was named The Enola Gay. -The bombs killed over 200,000 people on or just after the days of explosion. VII. War Comes to an End Facts about the Atomic Bombs Nagasaki Memorial at the Hypocentre (the center of the explosion) VIII. Results of the War A. Changes in Warfare 1. Total war-civilians of countries participated in any way possible. 2. Global war-60 nations involved on 3 continents. 3. Technology-radar, guided missiles, jets, atom bombs, new medicines. 4. Airplanes-air combat became essential to warfare. VIII. Results of the War B. Economic Costs 1. War cost billions of dollars and ruined economies. C. Social Costs 1. 22 million dead & 34 million wounded 2. Millions of refugees left their home countries 3. Genocide-Hitler's racial policies including the extermination of over 6 million Jews in concentration camps throughout Europe. VIII. Results of the War The Holocaust Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party sent millions of European Jews to concentration camps all over the continent. Hitler believed that the Jews were “untermencsh”, (less than human), and blamed them for the failures of German society after WWI. VIII. Results of the War The Holocaust Prisoners at these camps were mistreated, underfed, and diseased. The prisoners were used as forced laborers for many German factories. Nazi scientists also used the prisoners for experiments and scientific/psychological studies. VIII. Results of the War The Holocaust The most notorious of these camps were: Dachau, Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen, Sobibor, Treblinka, Buchenwald, etc. The Jewish population of Europe was devastated. Over 90% of all Jews in Poland, Austria, Hungary, Germany, and the Baltic States were executed. VIII. Results of the War The Holocaust When Allied armies liberated these camps, they found some survivors and thousands of victims. VIII. Results of the War The Holocaust Jews were not the only prisoners or victims. Anyone who was subversive or “undesirable” was sent to the camps. These included: Poles, Gypsies, handicapped, homosexuals, Soviet citizens, religious opponents, and political prisoners. Each had their own symbol to wear in the camps, designating what type of prisoner they were. Yellow=Jewish Red= political prisoner Pink=Homosexual Green=criminal Black=asocial Brown=Gypsies Purple= Religious prisoner Blue=immigrant, forced labor VIII. Results of the War D. Political Costs 1. Colonialism in Africa & Asia declined as France and Britain lost power. 2. Soviet Union acquired satellite states in Eastern Europe. 3. United Nations was founded to keep world peace. 4. Germany was divided into Communist East and Democratic West. VIII. Results of the War D. Political Costs 5. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers. 6. The Atomic Age began. VIII. Results of the War The Nuremberg Trials Series of tribunals in which prominent members of the Nazi Party were prosecuted for their involvement in the war and crimes against humanity associated with the Holocaust.