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World War II: Some General Information The Good War America helped defeat fascism A Japanese victory in the Pacific would have been bad Rosie the Riveter Ken Burns, John Wayne Ending the Holocaust But World War II was more than that 50 million people killed More civilians than soldiers The most brutal war in history The wholesale bombing of cities Policies of extermination Inhumane treatment of POWs Racism run amuck Rape, and plunder uncontrolled murder was commonplace World War II--The Good War, A Race War or Lots of Different Wars? United States The Reluctant Belligerent Isolationism Germany not America’s enemy Pearl Harbor changed everything The War against Japan was a war of vengeance A War Without Mercy--historian John Dower The war challenged America It radically changed America World War II was a series of separate wars Germany vs. Europe & North Africa Germany vs. The Soviet Union Soviet Union vs. Finland The US vs. Germany The US vs. Japan Japan vs. China Japan vs. Britain in SE Asia Australia vs Japan The war against the Jews and other undesirables World War II began with a pledge not bomb civilians In the last year area fire bombing of Dresden and Tokyo And the war ended with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Total war meant total destruction Total Losses in Thousands Milita ry Ukraine 2,500 Germany 4,500 Russia * 1,781 Poland Japan 123 2,000 Yugoslavia 300 France Italy Romania Greece Hungary Great Britain Czech Austria USA Holland Finland Belgium Canada 250 400 300 100 136 290 46 270 300 12 84 13 42 Civili Tot al an 8,0 5,500 00 6,5 2,000 00 5,7 4,000 81 5,0 4,877 00 2,3 350 50 1,7 1,400 00 350 600 100 500 200 500 350 450 294 430 60 350 294 340 104 374 - 300 198 210 16 100 75 88 - 42 % of population 19.1 9.1 (?) 2.9 19.6 3.4 10.6 1.5 1.1 3.7 6.2 4.6 0.7 3.0 5.6 0.2 2.4 2.7 1.1 0.4 The real war will never get in the history books “Never give the enemy a chance; the days when we could practice the rules of sportsmanship are over. . . .Every soldier must be a potential gangster. . . .Remember you are out to kill.” (British Handbook of Irregular War) “I distrust people who speak of the atomic bombing . . . as an atrocity. . . .At that time (1945) virtually everyone was delighted that we dropped the bombs . . .because the “Japs” deserved it for the terrible things they had done to our boys at Pearl Harbor, Baton, Guadalcanal, and all the way across the Pacific.” Paul Fussell, Wartime, p. 285. For total war you must dehumanize the enemy Americans detested the Japanese: They were jackals, monkey-men, japs, nips, or japes Admiral William Halsey “We are drowning and burning them all over the Pacific, and it is just as much pleasure to burn them as to drown them.” An American soldier in the Pacific told John Hersey: “I wish we were fighting the Germans. They are human beings. But the Japs are like animals . . . American believed that the Japanese could: see in the dark kill for the pleasure of killing were totally at home in trees--hence monkeys always wore glasses Americans asked to describe the Japanese Treacherous 73% Warlike 46% Sly 62% Germans Treacherous 43% Russians Treacherous 10% A 1944 public opinion poll 13% of Americans wanted the Japanese exterminated as a nation A 1945 public opinion poll 22% expressed regret that more atomic bombs were not dropped on the Japanese A Watershed event in American History Journalist Marquis Childs recalled: “Nothing will ever be the same again.” He was right--nothing was ever the same again The people were more prosperous after the war The government was more powerful The United States was a world leader The modern military with world-wide reach emerged The war spelled the end of segregation and sex Discrimination Technology and corporations were king The GI Bill sent millions to college for the first time What Should Students Know About WWII? Large numbers can not name the Allies Confused about when the war was fought Most can’t name the President Fewer still can name key Generals Almost no one can remember key battles Pearl Harbor a mystery Many believe US & Germany fought against the Soviet Union Most do know about the Holocaust They do identify Hitler correctly What do students know? When was WWII fought? one of 36 1939-1945 What caused US to join WWII? 16 of 36 said Pearl Harbor Who was President of the US during WWII 1 said FDR--others ranged from George Washington to George Bush When you think of WWII what do you think of? violence 22; Iraq 2; generals riding horses • Let’s assume that most students today-some 6 decades after the war ended-have problems understanding the scope of WWII • It is mixed up with World War I, Korea, Vietnam and even Iraq • So how do you get students to grasp the essentials of the war? What do Americans know about WWII? Where did US troops land for the D-Day Invasion in June, 1944? What country did US fight against in D-Day invasion? So they should know FDR was President 1939-1945 US, Great Britain, China Allies Germany, Japan and Italy Enemy Battles In Europe Moscow, Stalingrad & Leningrad D-Day Invasion Battle of the Bulge Berlin In Asia Pearl Harbor--Dec. 7, 1941 Doolittle raid on Tokyo Iwo Jima Atomic bombs--Hiroshima and Nagasaki What were the causes of the war? German conquest Western Imperialism Racism Japanese expansionism Italian dreams of empire Weakness of the European democracies--Britain and France Isolation of the US from the world stage The size and scope of World War II It was fought on a world stage From Moscow to Paris From Sicily to Berlin Greece, Crete, Yugoslavia In North Africa, Egypt, Libya, Algeria The Pacific Islands Indo-China, China, Burma, Vietnam The Philippine Islands