Transcript World War II

World War II
Topic B
Learning Guide 4
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Q1. Why did France and Britain come to Poland’s
aid in September 1939?
•Sept. 3 1939 Britain / France declare war on Germany
•Did not want to be fooled by Hitler's negotiation tactics
•No longer trusted Hitler
•Support was a warning against further expansion ideas
•New technique - “Blitzkrieg”
•Surprise & Speed (conquered in one month)
•Two modern weapons
•Tanks & Warplane – Luftwaffe
•Poland wiped off the map. – parceled out between the
German Reich & the USSR
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Q.2 Why was the initial phase of the Second World
War called the Phoney War?
•No actual fighting occurred Oct. 1939 – April 1940
•Period from the fall of Poland until the invasion of Norway
•Posturing by both sides
•Hitler refines his attack plans
•West improve their defenses and wait
•Britain position along Belgium Border
•France along the Maginot Line
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Q3. Describe the term blitzkrieg.
•An intensive German bombing and use of force at a high
rate of speed to conquer a region
•A lightning war relying on rapid movement of
mechanized forces
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Territorial Challenges by Hitler
Finland OH
 Belgium OH
 France
 Britain OH
 USSR OH

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Q4. Describe the fall of France in 1940 and draw
the map.
•Hitler attacked Norway and neutral Denmark
•80% of Germany’s iron ore went through Norway
•Churchill had wanted to seize the port of Norway but
Chamberlain hesitated
•Once Hitler seized Norway, he had ports which would
provide excellent bases for attacks on British shipping
•Chamberlain resigned in May 1940 and was replace by
Churchill
•Hitler then invaded Holland, Belgium and France.
•Germans conquer Belgium & Holland in 1 week
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•Germans break through France Lines at Ardennes
•Two attacks separate British and French troops (encircle both)
•British & French fall back to Dunkirk
•Hitler wastes time deciding their fate
•Armada of boats from Brittan come to Dunkirk to evacuate 330
000 troops
•Germany enters Paris 14th of June.
•France falls in little over a month
•22nd France signs armistice
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Q5. Explain the partition of France in 1940 and
draw the map into your notes.
French allowed to govern the interior (new government set
up at Vinchy)
All civil liberties abolished
Ruled by decree
French cooperate in hopes of gaining POW’s
Vinchy government took its orders from Germany
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Q6.How did the passage of the lend-Lease Act aid
the allies and end the American’s policy of
isolationism?
•It allowed for direct aid by the USA to Great Britain
•They could obtain (through lending or leasing) any material
thought necessary by the government. to any nation whose
defense was vital to the USA economy
•Start of an economic war against Germany
•Secured naval and air bases for the USA (destroyers for
bases deal)
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Q8. What factors contributed to the inability of the
Germans to defeat the Soviets in their initial
invasion?
•Endless supply of soldiers (4.7 million)
•Long supply lines
•Poor weather & lack of appropriated clothing & winter supplies
•Spread to thin
•Not enough human resources.
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Q7. Why and how did Japan draw the USA into
WWII?
•Japan looking to expand their resources & living space to
complete industrialization
•1939 trade restrictions placed on Japan by USA following
•Japan’s invasion of China Manchuria invasion
•American petroleum, steel, iron, copper & industrial
machinery, aviation fuel, scrape metal were restricted,
eventually all trade terminates
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•USA stationed pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor as a deterrent
to Japans occupation in Northern Indochina (threat to
British naval base in Singapore & oil supplies in Dutch
East Indies)
•Removal of the Pacific Fleet removes American power to
resist Japanese territorial expansion in Eastern Asia
•Japan’s choice negotiate or go to war
•Dec.7 1941 Pearl Harbor attacked
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Q9. Why was control of the North Atlantic Ocean
critical to Great Britain and its allies?
•Germany had hoped to take advantage of this weak link
•Any stoppage of goods could mean a German victory
•Need for supplies needed to support the war.
•British imports fell from 50 million to 22 million tonnes
•USSR desperate for economic & military support
•Movement of military supplies to Europe & USSR
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Q.10 Explain the Allied strategy in the Pacific theatre of
war. What part did the Soviets Play?
•“Europe First” then Japan
•Soviet invasion of Manchuria would not allow the Japanese's to return their army
to defend the homeland
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Q11. Retrieval Chart Major battles of WWII
O.H
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Q12. Outline the agreements made in each of the
following war time conferences.
O.H.
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Q14. Explain the twofold significants of the
American possession of the Atomic Bomb by July
1945.
•No loss of American troops
•Quicker end to the war
•No need for Soviet support
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Q.15. How and when did the Pacific War end?
•Dropping of bombs made a Japanese invasion unnecessary
•Japanese surrendered September 2, 1945 - Missouri
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Q16 Holocaust
Video World at War Genocide: 1941 – 45 60.00 minutes.
Nuremburg Trials 1945 - 1949
Established the international precedent of holding individuals responsible for war crimes.
Type of Crime
Examples of this Crime
Crimes Against Peace
Planning
or preparing for war
Waging a war of aggression
Violating international treaties
War Crimes
Violations
Crimes Against Humanity
Murder
of rules for war
Murder, slave labour, mistreatment
of civilians or prisoners of war
Unnecessary destruction of civilian
targets
or extermination,
enslavement, inhumane acts against
civilians because of political, racial,
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or religious reasons.
Q17. Assignment: Was Hiroshima needed to end
the war?
1. What does J. Samuel Walker say about the claim that “Hiroshima was done to
save hundreds of thousands of American lives”?
•
He believes that the bomb was not necessary, since the Americans knew from
intercepted transmissions that the Japanese would surrender as long as they
could retain their emperor. He thinks that the bomb was used so that Japan would
surrender before the Soviets joined the fight, and as a result cut them out of
territorial clams,
2. For what 3 reasons do the authors claim that the bomb was not necessary?
i.
Intercepted messages stated that Japan wished to end the war and would as
long as they could retain their emperor.
ii. The entry of the Soviets into the war would tip the balances against Japan.
iii. The American’s had no intentions of eliminating the Emperor.
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3.What did Professor Bernstein discover from declassified American documents?
He discovered that military estimates of the worst case prediction was only 46 000 lives
not the 500 000 claimed, even if an invasions had take place.
4. What was discovered from a “top secret War Department intelligence study”?
It states that the Japanese were in such dire straits in the summer of 1945 that
even a preliminary November landing on Kyshu island was only a “remote”
possibility and that a full assault of the Japanese main home islands in the spring of
1946”would not have been necessary. Japan would have surrendered without the
dropping of the Atomic bombs.
5. Why might Truman have “lost interest in a major Red Army attack?”
If the war was ended without Russia being involved in so much of the kill, and
then would not be in a position to make claims in China. He lost interest
because Soviet help was not needed in order to make the Japanese surrender.
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6. Why do some scholars believe that Hiroshima “had as much to do with the
origins of the cold war as with the end of the Second World War?
The Bomb was not dropped to force the Japanese to surrender, but to warn the
Soviets. The decision to bomb Japan was centrally connected to Truman’s
confrontational approach to the Soviet Union. As a result of the bombing, the
Soviets stepped up their nuclear efforts to catch up with the American which did
the same to stay ahead.
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