Transcript World War 2 – Things I Know

Before WWII
•During the Great Depression, Hitler promised to
create jobs and rebuild Germany. Hitler won the
election, but he did not receive a majority.
•In
January 1933, Hitler was established as
Chancellor. He immediately dissolved Parliament
and called a new election. Hitler purposely
started a fire in the German parliament building
and blamed the Communists. He declared a
State of Emergency to fight the “Communist
terrorists”, but in reality, he gained greater
control of the government.
•He
enacted the Enabling Act that gave Hitler
power to make new laws. One of his actions was
to ban other political parties.
Before WWII
•Using his secret police (Gestapo and SS), Hitler killed his
political foes.
•On
2 August 1934, the German President died. Hitler
combine the roles of President and Chancellor. Hitler was
the Fuhrer.
•Hitler
required the army to take an oath of loyalty to
him…not the country.
•Hitler
•In
made German a police state.
1934, he was invited to invade Austria.
•In
1936, Germany, Japan and Italy signed a military pact.
Later, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria joined. This is the
Axis Powers.
•Hitler
began a program of suppression of Jews. On 9
November 1938, Jews throughout Germany were attacked
and their businesses ransacked. This is called the “Night
of Broken Glass.” This is the start of Hitler’s Final Solution
Before WWII
•Hitler invaded the Sudentenland of
Czechoslovakia in 1938 under the guise many
people in the region wanted to be part of
Germany. Britain and France agreed to the
takeover in an act of appeasement.
•In
1938, Hitler is made Time magazine’s “Man
of the Year.”
•In
August 1939, Germany signs a NonAggression Pact with the Soviet Union. The two
nations agreed not to fight each other and
divide Poland.
•In
September 1939, Hitler demanded land
given to Poland under the WWI Treaty of
Versailles be returned to Germany. Poland
refused and Germany invaded Poland.
WWII begins
•In September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland.
•On
3 September 1939, Great Britain
declared war on Germany
•To
demonstrate its independence on foreign
policy decision making, Canada delayed its
decision for one week. Canada declared war
on Germany on 10 September 1939.
•As
in WWI, the war was strongly supported
in English-Canada, but opposed in FrenchCanada.
Conscription Crisis
•Prime Minister Mackenzie King promised not
to use conscription to force people to join
the army.
•In 1940, King introduced conscription for
home service only (i.e., non-fighting roles).
•In 1942, Canada needed more soldiers.
King asked voters to let him use
conscription. French-Canada felt betrayed.
King said, “Conscription is necessary, but
not necessarily conscription.”
•French-Canada voted overwhelmingly
against conscription, while English-Canada
supported it. Although enacted,
conscription was not used.
Major Canadian Battles
•In April 1940, Hitler invaded France. May 1940, the
British and French troops were trapped at Dunkirk.
Over 300,000 soldiers were evacuated, but military
equipment was abandoned. France surrendered.
•In
the Battle of Britain from July to October 1940,
German planes bombed England. Supported by
Canada, the Royal Air Force fought dog-fights with the
German planes. Eventually, the German attacks
stopped.
•In
December 1941, a small group of Canadians fought
to defend Hong Kong from the much larger attacking
Japanese army. The hand-to-hand fighting lasted 17
days. On 25 December 1941, the Canadians
surrendered. Nearly 300 Canadians had been killed in
the fighting. The survivors were sent to Japanese
prison camps, and used as slave labour, 267 Canadians
died.
Major Canadian Battles
•The Dieppe Raid occurred on 19 August 1942.
Over 5 000 participated. It was suicide. The
Canadians attacked a highly fortified beach. In
about four hours, 900 Canadians were dead, over
1 000 wounded and 1 900 captured.
•The
Battle of the Atlantic was between German
submarines and the Canadian navy. Canada was
delivering supplies to England, and the navy
protected the supply ships
•On
10 July 1943, Canadian forces attacked Sicily,
and on 3 September 1943, Italy was invaded.
Fighting was house-to-house, and the most
famous battle was Ortona. In June 1944, Rome
was captured and Italy surrendered.
Major Canadian Battles
•D-Day (Normandy Invasion) was 6 June 1944.
300 000 Canadians were part of a nearly 3
million strong attacking force. Canada
attacked Juno Beach. Although heavily
defended, Canadians won the beach and
advanced in-land.
•The
Liberation of Europe took nearly one year.
Each month, 1 000 Canadians were killed.
Canadians liberated Holland, and immediately,
they began feeding the starving Dutch people
•On
7 May 1945, Germany surrendered. This
is called Victory in Europe Day (VE Day).
Holocaust and Genocide
•The Holocaust was the systematic killing of
European Jews and other undesirables by Hitler
and the Nazi. From 1933 to 1945, over 6
million Jews plus many homosexuals, gypsies,
Poles, Russians and mentally unfit persons were
killed. In total, 11 million people were
exterminated. In Europe, 63% of the Jewish
population was killed. In Poland, 91% of the
Jewish population was killed. Today, very few
Jews live in Poland.
•Holocaust
is Hebrew for sacrifice by burning
with fire. Genocide is the systematic
extermination of a nationality or a group.
•Hitler
called the Holocaust “The Final Solution”
Holocaust and Genocide
•The Holocaust had four stages: (1) Stripping
of rights and dehumanization, (2) Separation,
(3) Concentration and (4) Extermination.
•In
1935, Stage 1 and Stage were
implemented when Hitler enacted the
Nuremberg Laws. These laws forced Jews to
carry ID cards, forced Jews to wear identifying
arm bands, removed Jews from government
jobs and allowed synagogues to be closed.
•Stage
3 Concentration occurred when Hitler
forced Jews to live in ghettos. The ghettos
were overcrowded and dirty. Disease was
rampant and food was in short supply. The
most crowded ghetto was in Warsaw, Poland.
It held 500 000 people in less than 5 km2
area.
Holocaust and Genocide
•Stage 4 Extermination was the last stage.
•Slave
labour was “annihilation by work.”
•Many
Jews were moved into concentration camps. In
the camps, possessions were confiscated, heads
shaved, families separated, conditions filthy,
quarters cramped and food limited. Inhuman
medical experiments were performed on many
people, especially twins.
•Mobile
•Some
killing units (Einsatzaruppen) shot Jews
concentration camps became Death Factories
of Mass Extermination. Prisoners were gassed with
Zyklon B gas and burned. At the infamous Auschwitz
death camp, 8 000 people were killed per day.
Internment of Japanese-Canadians
•In 1935, nearly 23 000 of Japanese descent lived in
Canada. Nearly 75% were born in Canada
•In 1942, Japan bombed Pearl Harbour.
•After the attack, the Canadian Government ordered
all males of Japanese descent to move to internment
camps in central British Columbia.
•Soon afterwards, Japanese-Canadians were denied
their basic citizenship rights, issued special
clothing, stripped of belongings including homes,
relocated to camps and forced into slave labour.
•In the camps, families were separated.
•Living conditions were appalling. People lived in
tents (…including the winter), grew their own food
and shared beds.
•After the war, Japanese-Canadians were forced to
leave Canada or move to Eastern Canada.
•In 1988 …43 years after WWII, Canadian Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney formally apologized for the
racist treatment.
Atomic Bomb
•The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
on 6 August 1945. Hiroshima was largely a civilianindustrial site. Nearly 80 000 people were killed by
the initial blast. Another 140 000 people died within
one year of radiation poisoning.
•The
second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki
on 9 August 1945. Nagasaki was military-industrialcivilian target. In the blast, 40 000+ people were
killed. Another 70 000 people died within one year.
•Japan
surrendered unconditionally on 15 August
1945. WWII was over.
Atomic Bomb
•Dropping the atomic bomb has always been
questioned. The reasons for its use included:
• USA did not advise Japan of the destructive
capacity of the atomic bomb before dropping
it.
• Japan was militarily in retreat
• Japan was blockaded by the American navy.
Japan could not supply its army.
• Russia was about to declare war on Japan
• USA wanted revenge for the bombing of Pearl
Harbour
• USA wanted to end the war quickly
• USA projected (…falsely…) that 500 000
more American lives would be lost if an
invasion was needed
• USA demanded Japan unconditionally, but
USA did not mention its atomic bomb in its
demands. Japan refused the demand because
it feared loss of its god-like Emperor.
After WWII
•Employment – During the war, there was no
unemployment. The post-war period was a
time of economic expansion
•United Nations United Nations (UN) – Formed
in 1945, the UN was established to ensure
world peace. Canada removed its isolationism
policy and became an active UN member as a
Middle Power
•Universal Declaration of Human Rights –
Declared in 1948, the Universal Declaration
establishes the basic rights of every person.
Rights include freedom from persecution,
right to shelter and life and freedom of
thought. The Declaration is not legally
binding.
After WWII
•Role of Women – Elsie MacGill was appointed to manage
the building of the Hawker Hurricane. The words “first
woman” is synonymous with MacGill
•Social
Programs and returning soldiers – Many
government-led social programs were introduced
including Family Allowance and Employment Insurance.
Veterans were provided support including free university
tuition, health care and housing.
•Income
Tax -- The temporary tax was used to fund the
war efforts. It was not removed and still exists today
•Refugees
– After the Holocaust, Canada became a more
active defender of human rights and adopted a more
“open door” policy towards refugees. NOTE: The policy
was still very discriminatory
•Spies
– A Soviet spy ring was discovered in Canada, USA
and Great Britain when a Soviet embassy worked defected.
This is called the Goushenko Affair.