Transcript Ch. 26 WWII
Standard 8 • The 1930s were marked by campaigns of aggression • Japan invaded Manchuria & China • Italy invaded Ethiopia (East Africa) • Germany repeatedly violated the Treaty of Versailles • Rebuilt Army, Navy, & Air force • Annexed Austria • Planned to occupy the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia • The League of Nations was too weak to fight the aggression; western nations practiced appeasement • 1938 Munich Conference Hitler promised to stop invading if given the Sudetenland. • He invaded & took all of Czechoslovakia • Hitler signed nonaggression pact with Russia in August 1939 • After Hitler invaded Poland, war was declared in September 1939 "Peace in our time" • Axis Powers • Germany, Italy, Japan • Allies • Great Britain, France, USSR • (United States is neutral in the beginning) • The Blitzkrieg • Hitler’s attack strategy was called the Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”) • Involved aerial bombing, fast-moving tanks & infantry. • Once the war began, Hitler conquered all of Poland & France by summer of 1940 • In Africa, General Erwin Rommel conquered much of North Africa in 1941-1942 Battle of Britain • Great Britain was all that stood between Hitler & full control of Europe • The German Luftwaffe began to bomb military targets & cities like London • The British stood strong • The Royal Air Force fought hard to stop the bombings & Hitler was forced to call off the invasion in May 1941 • Eastern Front – Germany vs USSR • Hitler invaded the USSR, breaking the non-aggression pact, in June 1941. • Quick German victories mounted until the winter set in. • Bloody loss at the Battle of Stalingrad, is Hitler’s 1st defeat. Begins long costly war in the east. • Japan hoped to eliminate the US Navy from the Pacific, in order to continue their expansion • December 7, 1941- Japanese forces launched attack on the Pacific fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. • Many battleships were destroyed, but US Aircraft carriers survived to carry on the war • The next day, FDR asked Congress to declare war. "A day which will live in infamy" • American war power helps turn the tide of the war • Dwight Eisenhower trapped Rommel’s army in Africa & forces their surrender in May 1943 • In the Pacific, the Japanese suffer huge losses at the Battle of the Coral Sea & the Battle of Midway • Japanese Kamikaze pilots target aircraft carriers to crash into • D-Day • June 6, 1944 - Combined Allied army (Britain, US, Canada, Australia) invaded occupied France at the beaches of Normandy. • Harsh fighting with high casualties • Allied victory opened western front of war & liberated Paris on August 25 • In March 1945, Russia and the Allies were closing in to Germany. At this point, Axis powers began to fold • Mussolini was caught & executed • Hitler committed suicide on May 6 • The Germans surrendered on May 7th (V-E or Victory in Europe Day) • The Pacific War • Japan continued to fight after the European War ended • General Douglas MacArthur began “island-hopping” campaign, taking back the Pacific island by island Atomic Weapons • Facing the cost of an invasion of Japan, the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan • First was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 at Hiroshima. More than 70,000 were killed • After a second bomb fell in Nagasaki on August 9th, and the Japanese surrendered • Allies uncovered atrocities of the Holocaust on their march through Europe. • Germans and Austrian involved in the Holocaust were tried in late 1940s at Nuremberg. Several top officials received death sentences. • The United Nations was formed to mediate conflicts in the future. • Alliances broke apart & the foundation is set for the Cold War