World War II1939-1945

HITLER’S LIGHTNING WARSection 1

Causes of WWII:Hitler’s plan to “NAB” the rest of Europe

• N: non-aggression pact- secret pact where Stalin and Hitler agreed to divide Poland and that the USSR could take over Finland and Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (former Russian territories)

Causes of WWII:Hitler’s plan to “NAB” the rest of Europe

• A: appeasement-Hitler continued to demand more and more land because the Allies continued to appease him. This strengthened his power and prestige, convinced Mussolini to seek an alliance with Germany.• Gave into Hitler’s demands

for the Sudetenland

Causes of WWIIHitler’s plan to “NAB” the rest of Europe

• B: Blitzkrieg- “lightening war”, involves using fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces to take enemy by surprise.

• Effective in Poland.• September 1, 1939. Hitler invades

Poland after the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact is signed.

• This is the spark that begins WWII• France and Great Britain finally

realized that Hitler could not be stopped without going to war. In reaction to the invasion, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany.

Teams and Coaches

• Axis Powers• Germany-Adolf

Hitler• Italy-Benito

Mussolini• Japan-Emperor

Hirohito

• Allied Powers• Britain-Winston

Churchill• France-Charles de

Gaulle• Soviet Union-

Joseph Stalin• United States-FDR

Theater vs. Theater

• European• Mostly land

battles, thousands of tanks

• Harsh winters• Many prisoners of

war taken

• Pacific• Sea and air battles

with close range fire fights

• Jungles/tropical climate

• Japanese culture did not respect surrender

• Japanese culture valued the benefit of the nation over individual life

Battle of Dunkirk• Hitler distracts France in the

Netherlands and sends a larger force through the Ardennes squeezing around the Maginot Line• Series of fortifications

• Allies retreated to the beaches of Dunkirk (French Port). They were trapped with their backs to the English Channel.

• Royal Navy ships along with civilian crafts sailed back and forth across the English Channel, rescuing 338,000 soldiers. Considered to be one of the most heroic acts of the war.

Battle of France

• North – German occupation by Nazi military

• South – Vichy France. French military commander, Henri Petain establishes a puppet government controlled by the Nazi’s. • Vichy France collaborates with

Nazi’s to fight Allies in N. Africa and deport Jews to concentration camps

• Free French Government – General Charles De Gaulle flees France and establishes the French resistance and assists the Allies in defeating Germany

Battle of Britain• German Luftwaffe(Air Force)

began bombing British cities. Despite heavy losses Britain remained strong. The Royal Airforce (RAF) were outnumbered but fought back

• Aided by new technology:• Radar• Enigma (broke German code )

• Stunned by British resistance Hitler called off attacks to focus on Mediterranean

• *Taught the Allies that Hitler’s attacks could be blocked*

Battle of Tobruk• Allied forces advanced from inside Egypt to central Libya, captured

115,000 Italian prisoners, and destroyed thousands of tanks, artillery pieces, and aircraft, while suffering very few casualties.

• This caused Hitler to sent his best tank force, the Afrika Corps led by Erwin Rommel. (nickname Desert Fox)

• Rommel pushed the Allies back across the desert and Seized Tobruk, which was a shattering loss for the Allies.

Operation Barbarossa• Hitler’s plan to invade the Soviet

Union- Blitzkrieg • Soviets were unprepared for this

attack, they had the biggest army in the world, but they were poorly trained and poorly equipped• Russians retreat 500 miles,

employing the scorched-earth strategy

• Hitler’s mistakes:• Splits his army when 20 miles outside of

Moscow. Sends part of Army to Leningrad and Part to Stalingrad

• Plans to defeat Russians in 6 weeks – not prepared to fight in the winter

Siege of Leningrad• Germans cut Leningrad off

from rest of USSR• Determined to starve

them out, 1 million people died but city refused to surrender

• Similar to Napoleon’s experience-gained nothing, lost many lives (nearly 1 mill) unprepared for harsh winters

JAPAN’S PACIFIC CAMPAIGN

Section 2

Japan Expands

Japan and the U.S.• Japan develops plan for attacks

on European colonies, U.S. bases

• October 1940 Americans crack Japanese codes about their desire to take over Southeastern Asia

• In July 1941 Roosevelt cuts off oil shipments to Japan when they overrun French Indochina

• Admiral Isoroku Yamamato plans attack on U.S. fleet in Hawaii

Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor

Day of Infamy• Japan attacks Pearl Harbor—

U.S. naval base in Hawaii—on Dec. 7, 1941• Sunk or damaged 19 ships

(8 battleships), 2,300 killed, 1,100 wounded

• U.S. declares war on Japan the next day

• Japan also attacks Hong Kong, Guam, Wake Island, and Thailand

Philippine Islands

• Japanese attack Philippine Islands defended by U.S., Filipino troops• War wages on the Bataan Peninsula; Philippine islands

fall to Japanese in 1942• Bataan Death March- 50 miles; 70,000 prisoners

started only 54,000 survived

Japanese Victories

• Japan captures British holdings, including Hong Kong, Singapore

• Also conquers Dutch East Indies, rich in minerals• Capture of Burma threatens India, Britain’s main

possession in Asia• Japanese forces treat conquered peoples,

prisoners of war brutally

The Allies Strike Back

• James H. Doolittle’s Raid• 16 B-25 U.S. bombers attack Tokyo, other Japanese cities in April

1942

• Raid does little damage, but shows that Japan is vulnerable to attack

Battle of the Coral Sea

• Americans intercept Japanese advance to New Guinea, May 1942

• New kind of naval warfare—ships launch planes to fight each other• Aircraft carriers

• Allies suffered more loses but stopped Japanese southward advance

Battle of Midway

• 1,500 miles W of Hawaii- Site of American Airfield

• US intercepts plans: Chester Nimitz- hide US planes• Waits for the Japanese

to start the attack on the island

• Yamamoto orders withdrawal- turned the tide!!!• Destroyed 332 Japanese

planes, 4 aircraft carriers

• US now on the offensive

Battle of Guadalcanal

• Douglas MacArthur- Commander of Allied Land Forces• “Island Hopping” to get close to Japan by only attacking

strategic islands along the way• Battle of Guadalcanal- Aug. 7th 1942

• Japan building an air base• Struggle for land lasts 6 months• Island of Death- 24,000 of the 36,000 Japanese Soldiers dead

THE HOLOCAUST Section 3

The Holocaust

Kristallnacht- “night of broken glass” After a Jewish student shot a German diplomat, Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues across Germany, marked a major advance in the persecution of Jews

Ghettos- segregated Jewish areas sealed off from the rest of the city

While forced to live in Ghettos many Jews formed resistance movements and worked to maintain their traditions and way of life

Final Solution- Hitler grew impatient waiting for the Jews to die in the ghettos so he took more direct action called the “Final Solution” Jews were moved to extermination camps

Genocide- the systematic killing of an entire people

Auschwitz

The largest extermination camp, people were sorted –the strong were kept, those

labeled weak were sent to take “showers” actually large gas chambers then the bodies were cremated- 1 million died

Jews Killed under Nazi Rule*

Original Jewish Population Jews Killed Percent Surviving

Poland 3,300,000 2,800,000 15%

Soviet Union (area occupied by Germans) 2,100,000 1,500,000 29%

Hungary 404,000 200,000 49%

Romania 850,000 425,000 50%

Germany/Austria 270,000 210,000 22%

* estimates Source:Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt

What percent of Jews were killed in each of these countries?

Approximately how many Jews were killed in total?

THE ALLIED VICTORYSection 4

El Alamein

• Rommel takes Tobruk, June 1942; pushes toward Egypt• Surprise attack in Egypt where British

troops defeat Rommel and push Axis troops back, led by British General Bernard Montgomery

• Operation Torch• Led by Dwight Eisenhower,

100,000American troops land in Morocco (November 1942) and cut off Rommel’s retreat, caught between Montgomery and Eisenhower Afrika Korps were crushed in May 1943

• Pushes Germans out of North Africa. Gives Allies control of the Mediterranean Sea and gives Allies a place to launch an attack on the European continent (Italy)*

Battle of Stalingrad

• The besieged Germans surrendered to the Soviets

• Lost 1 million and city was 99% destroyed, but the Germans were now on the defensive

• German offensive to capture Soviet oil fields, led by Friedrich Paulus

• Luftwaffe sent nightly bombing raids, but Stalin ordered that “his city” be defended to the death. Germans gained control of 90% of the city, but winter set in. Soviets launch a counter attack and trap Germans in city.

Invasion of Italy

• Italian resistance fighters ambushed German trucks near Milan. They found Mussolini disguised as a German soldier, shot him the next day and hung his body in Milan for all to see.

• Allied troops landed on Sicily (1943) and gained control within a month. After the loss of Sicily, King Victor Emmanuel III had Mussolini arrested. Allies liberated Rome on June 4, 1944 but fighting continued until Germany fell in May 1945.

The Home Front

Mobilizing for War• Factories converted their peacetime

operations to wartime production, most citizens had jobs in war industries

• 17 to 18 million U.S. workers—many of them women—make weapons

• Rationing-factories were so focused on war that consumer goods became scarce, goods were distributed in limited amounts to help with the war effort

• Propaganda aims to inspire civilians to aid war effort

• Create your own!!!

The Home Front

War Limits Civil Liberties• Propaganda campaigns

inspired patriotism, but also prejudice against Japanese Americans.

• Japanese Americans were forced to live in relocation camps

• Many signed up for military service, called Nisei (native-born American citizens whose parents were Japanese) served bravely even though their families remained in the camps.

D-Day Invasion• Allies plan invasion of France; use

deception to confuse Germans• Eisenhower, Montgomery, De Gaulle

vs. Rommel• D-Day—June 6, 1944; day of

“Operation Overlord” invasion of France

• Largest amphibious invasion in history• Allies invade 5 beaches in Normandy

France – Omaha*(US), Utah (US), Sword, Juno and Gold (Canadian, British, French). *most casualties

• Germans were waiting with machine guns and rocket launchers• Over 2,700 American casualties alone

that day• Liberate Paris by September and opens

the Western Front. Hitler has to split his armies and fight Allies from 3 directions

Battle of the Bulge• U.S., British forces advance on

Germany from west, Soviets from east

• Battle of the Bulge—German counterattack in December 1944• Hitler had planned to attack the west

and split the American and British troops

• Germans gain early success as they break through a 75 mile front in the Ardennes but forced to retreat

• Last German offensive of the war

Battle of the Bulge

Germany’s Unconditional Surrender

• By 1945, Allied armies approach Germany from two sides

• Soviets surround Berlin in April 1945

• Hitler commits suicide• On May 9, 1945, the Third

Reich officially surrenders to Eisenhower, marking V-E Day• Victory in Europe

• President Roosevelt dies in April; Harry Truman becomes president

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Japanese in Retreat• Allies move to retake the Philippines in

late 1944• Douglas MacArthur’s return!!!

• Japanese devise a plan to attack the American fleet to cut off the ground troops

• A mistake that eliminates Japanese navy from fighting• 10,000 Japanese to 1,000 American

• Allies able to liberate the Philippines

• Japanese left with their last hope!• Kamikazes—Japanese pilots who fly

suicide missions• Value national honor more than individual

life!!

Iwo Jima and Okinawa• In March 1945, American

forces attack the island Iwo Jima• Located 760 miles from Tokyo

and had three airfields• Japan suffers huge casualties-

21,000 vs. 7,000• Demonstrates Japanese

unwillingness to surrender• U.S. lands on Okinawa in

April• 350 miles from Japan which

could be used as an airbase for the attack on Japan

• Take the Island in June 1945• Japan suffers huge casualties-

100,000 vs. 12,000

Why build a bomb?

• Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 2, 1939. • Einstein and several other scientists explained that Nazi

Germany was working on a way to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb.

• The Manhattan Project- secret project that cost over 2 billion dollars • Goal: begin research that would produce a viable

atomic bomb• Dropping the Bomb

• The atomic bomb has only been used twice in warfare. • Advisors warn Truman that invasion of Japan will cost

many lives• He has alternative; powerful new weapon called atomic

bomb

Hiroshima

• The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945 (8:16). It was a uranium bomb nicknamed “Little Boy”, even though it weighed over four and half tons.

• The bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay. It killed 70,000- 80,000 people instantly.

Nagasaki

• The second bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945 on Nagasaki.

• It was nicknamed “Fat Man”.

• It missed its target by over a mile and a half, but still leveled nearly half the city. • 70,000 killed immediately

• First Hand Account

After The Bomb

• The dropping of the bomb itself was not the only thing that killed people.

• The “black rain” that falls after an atomic detonation is full of radioactive particles.

• Many survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki succumbed to radiation poisoning.

Japanese Surrender

• Japanese Surrender to Douglas MacArthur aboard the Missouri battleship• September 2nd, 1945• End of the War!

EUROPE AND JAPANIN RUINS

Section 5

Devastation in Europe- Postwar

• 40 Million dead, 2/3 citizens• Many cities across Europe badly damaged by

war• Paris, Rome, Brussels, London• Warsaw, Poland was completely destroyed• Berlin 95% destroyed

• Some people stayed in the ruins while many people were displaced by war and peace agreements

• Lack of food, destruction of roads, factories lead to hardship

• Many people suffer from hunger, disease after war, harsh winter

Postwar Governments and Politics

• Many conquered countries went back to old governments• New leaders needed in

Germany, Italy, and France• Communist parties make

gains in Italy, France by promising change• However, aggressive strikes and

a recovering economy lead to Communist interest fading

Nuremberg Trials

• Nuremberg Trials—trials of 22 Nazi leaders for war crimes• International Military Tribunal of

23 nations• Charged with waging a war of

aggression and crimes against humanity

• Some Nazi leaders are executed for their actions while other were sentenced for life• Some of the bodies were burned

in Dachau- a concentration camp

Postwar Japan • In war, Japan loses two million people; severe

damage to many citiesU.S. Occupation• MacArthur takes charge of U.S. occupation of

Japan• Starts process of demilitarization—

disbanding Japan’s armed forces• Only a small police force; bringing war criminals to

trial• Also launches democratization—creating

democracy in Japan• Japanese people adopt new constitution in 1947 and

set up a constitutional monarchy • MacArthur puts economic reforms in place

• Large estate holders had to sell land to the government

• Right to labor unions

Occupation Brings Deep Changes

• Emperor kept on, but he loses power and becomes figurehead

• Diet- two-house Parliament• Prime Minister by majority• Bill of rights guarantees freedoms; women

also have right to vote• Article 9- Constitution says Japan cannot

attack another country unless attacked• In 1951, Treaty of San Francisco- peace

treaty with Japan and 57 other countries signed• U.S. occupation ends

• U.S. and Japan become allies• U.S. and Soviet Union Emerge as the

world’s two major powers

McArthur & Hirohito