Transcript World War II

World War II
World War: Total war, with a total
commitment from all the major
superpowers in the world to win
the war. Commitment
economically, militarily and
politically.
Allies
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Represent the
“Free” world.
Major players
consisted of Great
Britain, France,
U.S., and the Soviet
Union.
Soviet Union
switched sides.
Axis Powers
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Axis powers
represented the
totalitarian states.
Consisted of:
Germany, Italy, and
Japan.
“Rome, Berlin,
Tokyo Axis”
Main Causes of WWII
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Aftermath of WWI:
Treaty of Versailles --> “Treaty of
Vengeance”.
Weak League of nations. United States
did not sign on.
Global Depression 1929
Rise of Hitler and policies of
Appeasement; violation of Munich Pact.
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Hitler/Germany signs
secret non-aggression
pact with Stalin/Soviet
Union which would
give U.S.S.R. land in
Poland for not
defending Poland.
Hitler Invaded Poland
September 1st 1939.
France and GB
declared war on
Germany next day.
“Phony war” 9 months
no fighting took place.
WWII:
Official Start
Germany’s Early Success
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May 1940 overtook
France in 2 weeks.
Battle of Britain
Hitler turned on
Soviet Union and
declared war on
U.S, same time
U.S. Entry
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U.S. isolationists ---> 1938 94% of
Americans thought the we should stay
out.
Bad memories- Nye Committee, a
Congressional committee had
concluded that bankers motives had
been the real motive why U.S. involved
in WWI.
Neutrality led to rise of dictators (Hitler,
Stalin, Hirohito)
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1939 U.S. had begun to
send arms to GB 50$
million
FDR ran on neutrality,
thought that world was in
such bad shape he
needed to stay.
U.S. ships needed
escorts to get arms to GB
Lend Lease Act 1941
gave the power to the
FDR Signing the LendPresident to sell arms to Lease Act 1941
any country that needed
it
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Japan had
expanding
population, no place
to go.
1931 Japan invaded
Manchuria, China
withdrew from
League of Nations
1936/7 Signed
treaties with
Germany and Italy
“Rome- BerlinTokyo Axis”
Japanese
Involvement
Japanese
Resentment of
U.S.
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No Respect from
Western nations
High tariffs
Embargo’s restricted
trade
Anti Immigration laws
Debate as to whether or
not U.S. “baited”
Japanese into attack of
Pearl Harbor December
7, 1941. Code was
broken 1 month earlier
and knew it was coming.
STATS
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The Japanese devastated the U.S. fleet:
– 18 ships were sunk including 6 battleships
– 188 planes were destroyed
– 128 planes were damaged
– 2338 Americans were killed
– 1177 servicemen were wounded
– Only 29 Japanese planes were shot down
– All this occurred in just over two hours
Even though the Japanese destroyed much of the U.S. fleet,
they fell short in many ways:
– They only sent two of the three waves planned.
– They failed to hit the U.S. oil reserves and submarine ports
– One half of the U.S. fleet was out to sea including all of the
aircraft carriers
Island Hopping
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Moving from Island to Island in the
Pacific trying to take back territory from
Japanese expansion
Philippines
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Philippines lost in
March 1942 after 3
months of fighting.
MacArthur vowed, “I
shall return”.
75,000 POW’s taken
Bataan Death March
killed and tortured
many U.S. POW’s.
Regained in October
of 1944
Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942)
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Japan attempted to
takeover Australia.
1st battle at sea
when neither ship
ever saw each
other. Aircraft
carrier battle.
Halted Japanese
invasion of mainland
Australia.
Midway (June 1942)
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U.S. broke
Japanese codes
and learned of
attack, enabled
them to be their
waiting
Turning point of the
War in the Pacific.
Japan lost 4 aircraft
carriers, and many
top pilots.
Guadalcanal
(August 1942)
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Japan was building and
air field on island.
One of the bloodiest
battles. 6 months long.
U.S. victorious by cutting
off Japanese supply
lines and “starving them
out”.
Island Hopping - cutting
off supplies by taking
Leyte Gulf (August
1944)
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Largest naval battle
ever, in terms of
material.
Japan had sent all
remaining ships to
the Gulf. They lost
350,000 soldiers.
Japan not much of
real threat after that.
Part of MacArthur’s
return to the
Philippines.
Iwo Jima (February
1945)
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U.S. had been
bombing Island for 7
months prior to
landing. 21,000
Japanese were held
up in caves.
15,000 marines died
trying to take it
Rosenthall’s Mt.
Surbachi
photograph most
famous of WWII.
Okinawa (April -June 1945)
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350 miles off coast
of Japan Vital to the
U.S. for launching
attack on Japanese
mainland.
Kamikaze attacks
on U.S. ships sunk
30 ships and
damaged 350
others.
50,000 U.S.
Manhattan Project (1939-1945)
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$2 Billion top secret
project. Involved some
120,000 people.
Physicist Oppenheimer
headed project in Los
Alamos, New Mexico.
Created the A-bomb
which lead to bombings
of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
US takes actions to repair the world
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Nuremberg Trials(1945-1949)
Division of Germany
Marshall Plan
Separation of Western and Eastern
Europe
End of War Chronology
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April 30, 1945 -Adolph Hitler commits suicide in his bunker below the Berlin
sewer system.
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May 6, 1945 -Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering surrenders to the Allies.
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May 23, 1945 -British tanks enter Flensburg, Germany. The British take
several of the Nazis that will be tried in the Major War Figures Trial, including
Donitz, Jodl, Keitel, Rosenberg, and Speer. Heinrich Himmler, the most
powerful and terrifying of the Nazi leaders after Hitler, commits suicide.
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November 20, 1945 -The trial of the major war criminals by the International
Military Tribunal begins at 10 a.m. in Nuremberg, Germany.
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November 21, 1945 -The defendants enter their pleas of "Not Guilty."
Goering tries to make a statement, but is prevented by the Court from doing
so. Justice Robert Jackson delivers his opening statement for the
prosecution.
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November 29, 1945 -The prosecution introduces a film shot by Allied
photographers in liberated areas. The graphic footage of Nazi horrors causes
weeping in the courtroom. Some defendants appeared shocked by what they
see; others seem bored.
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October 1, 1946 -The verdicts against the major war criminals are handed
down by the International Military Tribunal. Eleven of the twenty-one
defendants are sentenced to death.
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October 15, 1946 -Goering commits suicide by swallowing a smuggled
cyanide pill.
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October 16, 1946 -Ten of the war criminals are hanged in Nuremberg
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Secretary of State
John Marshall
introduced the idea
that the United
States should spend
billions of $’s to aid
Europe in their
recovery from WWII.
The catch was these
countries must
purchase and
continues to trade
with the U.S..
Remain Free
John Marshall
Marshall Plan
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Potsdam conferences
July of 1945, Truman,
Stalin, and Churchill
met to decide the fate of
Europe. Truman knew
of development of Abomb and dominated
the meetings, warning
Stalin of the U.S. power.
Mistrust grew from this
meeting Truman
developed the idea and
policy of containment.
Truman’s tough line
stance set the stage for
the Cold War for the
next 45- 50 years.
Harry
Truman
Instigator
WWII Statistics
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Most devastating war in History of
mankind.
Lasted 6 years 1939-1945
Involved 5 of the 7 continents. 61
countries involved
1.7 billion people involved.
$1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) spent
WWII Statistics cont.
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56 million people killed:
USSR
21,300,000
China
11,324,000
Germany
7,060,000
Poland
6,850,000
Japan
2,000,000
U.S.
500,000