Transcript PPT

World War II
Europe, Africa and Asia (the Pacific)
World War II: Western Front
The War in the West: Normandy and “D-Day”
- long-awaited invasion of France: ‘Operation Overlord’
- ‘misinformation campaign’ using turned German spies
convinced Hitler attack would take place at Calais
- June 1944: British and US forces landed at Normandy,
further south
- backed up by forces dropped inland by parachutes
World War II: Western Front
The War in the West: Normandy and “D-Day”
- Hitler still convinced another attack was planned for
Calais, so withheld reserve forces
- mistake: although Allies had high casualties first day,
still outnumbered Germans
- secured coast: movement inland more difficult, took
July, August
World War II: Western Front
World War II: Western Front
The War in the West: Normandy and “D-Day”
- American forces had taken Rome just before D-Day:
Italy now southern gateway to France
- August 15: 100,000 Allied soldiers invaded France from
south
- armies approached Paris from north and south: Hitler
evacuated soldiers, withdrew from southern France
World War II: Western Front
“Operation
Dragoon” –
Liberation of Paris
World War II: Western Front
Closing in on Germany: west and east
- by September, Germany close to defeat
- Allies moved into Belgium, Netherlands
- ability to launch bombing campaigns fromFrance and
Italy increased intensity and distance of attacks into
Germany
World War II: Western Front
Closing in on Germany: west and east
- meanwhile, Soviets moving in from East: retaken much
of Poland, eastern countries
- air attacks on industry, oil reserves; loss of oil resources
in Romania (to Russia) left Germany in desperate
situation
World War II: Western Front
Closing in on Germany: west and east
- German military high command aware of seriousness of
situation: several plots against Hitler, attempts to
assassinate him followed
- with purging (executing 4,000 ‘suspects’), conscription
‘every able-bodied man’ -- survived the winter and
prolonged war
- finally May 1945: as Hitler committed suicide in bunker,
Soviets ‘liberated’ Berlin
Soviet Union Liberates Berlin, May 1945
Soviet Union Liberates Berlin, May 1945
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor
- meanwhile yet a third ‘theatre’ opened up in Pacific
- December 7, 1941 Japanese warplanes attacked the
U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii [see lecture, video on
Japan & Facism]
- after successful attack: Japan undertook massive
expansion throughout Southeast Asia–Pacific region.
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor
- early 1942: conquests extended as far west as Burma
- British colonial forces (Indian, African) responsible for
containing this conflict: failed
- Japan took port of Rangoon: primary supply point,
crucial base for British RAF
- by May, Allies driven back across Indian border
Japanese
Conquest of
Burma
Apr-May 1942
British
Evacuation
to India
World War II: the Pacific
Allied (American and Chinese) Troops in Northern Burma, 1944
[Note Difficulty of terrain]
World War II: the Pacific
War in the Pacific: the U.S. Entrance and Battle of Midway
- several months before US forces could back up
declaration of war with military action
- late spring 1942: US engaged Japan series naval battles
- climax famous Battle of Midway (June 3–6): decisive
battle in ‘War in Pacific’
- Japan lost four aircraft carriers – over
5,000 sailors
300 planes and
Battle of
Midway
Japanese Cruiser
Sinking (above)
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal
- Japan then shifted attention south: Solomon Island of
Guadalcanal crucial for Allied shipping in region
- already had foothold in north: July 1942 took
Guadalcanal
- Allies launched amphibious landing in August: heavy
losses in ships, 1000 men
- but met little resistance on Island: at first
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal
- Japan soon sent wave after wave of soldiers in from the
south: ‘suicide squads’
- fought to the death, each one
- battle to recover Guadalcanal lasted until February
when Japanese could no longer sustain losses:
abandoned island
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal
- Allies followed up through 1944-45, forcing Japanese
from other Pacific Islands it had occupied (e.g.
Philippines)
- major famous battles fought at Iwo Jima, and Okinawa
– latter huge civilian casualties
- by late spring 1945: most of Japan’s conquests
‘liberated’
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Destruction of Japan
- Allied forces closing in on Japanese home islands
- Allies began heavy bombing campaigns against major
cities, including Tokyo
- continued through summer 1945
- plan was to land ground troops for final conquest: two
considerations changed that plan
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Destruction of Japan
First: Japanese showing increasing commitment to ‘fight
to the death’
- even civilians had committed suicide in Okinawa rather
than surrender
- what would it take to ‘win’?
- how many Japanese lives would be lost?
- how many Allied lives...?
How long would the Japanese extend the War in spite of
hopelessness of winning?
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Destruction of Japan
Second: the extended bombing campaigns suggested an
alternative to ‘boots-on-the-ground’ warfare
- “The Manhattan Project”: begun 1939 in
America; supported by Canada and Britain
- grew to employ more than 130,000, cost
nearly 2 billion USD (about $26 billion in 2014
dollars)
Built the Atomic Bomb
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Destruction of Japan 1945
- August 6: the ‘Enola Gay’ (name of plane) dropped the
first atomic bomb on Hiroshima
- August 8: the Soviet Union declared war on Japan
- August 9 (just after midnight): Soviet troops invaded
Manchukuo
- later that day, the second atomic bomb was dropped
on Nagasaki
World War II: the Pacific
The War in the Pacific: Destruction of Japan 1945
September 2: Japan surrendered
World War II was finally over – half a world
away from where it had begun in Europe!
World War II: the Pacific
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II:
The Holocaust:
- largely hidden during the course of the war
– extent of atrocities emerged in later
Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
- hugely visible: devastation appalling
- yet full extent of atrocities took years, even
another generation to be realized
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: the Holocaust
- as War in Pacific began, War in Europe accelerated
‘genocide’
- by late 1941, Jews (and other minorities) from Germany,
Western Europe transported to concentration camps
hidden in German-occupied in Poland, Czechoslovakia,
Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, and Western Russia
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: the Holocaust
- they were first used as slave labour
- many were then systematically murdered
- the infamous gas chambers not yet in use: murders of
groups undertaken by individual soldiers
- by end 1941, numbers of dead already in 100s of
thousands
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: the Holocaust
- 1942: the “final solution” took shape
- needed to ‘speed up process’ of ridding German
territories of Jews, mixed-bloods, homosexuals and others
- murders become increasingly systematic
- experiments with different methods (1941) showed gas
chamber to be most efficient
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: the Holocaust
- “the Death Camps”: prisoners died by the thousands
from disease, overwork and starvation in labor camps
- there were only seven camps (six in Poland, one in
Belarus) built purely for the purpose of killing
- prisoners taken to them were usually dead
hours of arrival
within
;;
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Hiroshima
- bomb exploded 1,900 feet above the city.
- tail gunner described what he saw:
"The mushroom cloud itself was a spectacular sight, a
bubbling mass of purple-gray smoke and you could see it
had a red core in it and everything was burning inside. . .
. It looked like lava or molasses covering a whole city. . . ."
- cloud estimated to have reached height of 40,000 feet
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Hiroshima
- the co-pilot stated:
"Where we had seen a clear city two minutes before, we could
no longer see the city. We could see smoke and fires creeping
up the sides of the mountains.“
- two-thirds of Hiroshima destroyed
- within three miles of explosion 60,000 (of 90,000):
- buildings demolished.
- clay roof tiles, metal, stone-- melted together.
- shadows imprinted on buildings, hard surfaces
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Hiroshima
- the bomb killed civilian women and children in addition
to soldiers: the target was a city not a military installation
- a survivor described what he saw in the aftermath:
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Hiroshima
“The appearance of people was . . . well, they all had
skin blackened by burns. . . . They had no hair because
their hair was burned, and at a glance you couldn't tell
whether you were looking at them from in front or in
back. . . . They held their arms bent [forward] like this .
. . and their skin - not only on their hands, but on their
faces and bodies too - hung down. . . . If there had
been only one or two such people . . . perhaps I would
not have had such a strong impression. But wherever I
walked I met these people. . . . Many of them died
along the road - I can still picture them in my mind -like walking ghosts.”
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Hiroshima
-Hiroshima's population estimated 350,000: approximately
70,000 died immediately from the explosion
- another 70,000 died from radiation within five years
- birth defects affected next generation
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Nagasaki
- three days later: second bomb dropped on Nagasaki
- approximately 40 percent of city destroyed
- although this bomb much stronger than preceding one,
terrain Nagasaki prevented it from doing as much
damage
- decimation still great: approximately 70,000 people (of
population 270,000) died by the end of the year
World War II: the Horrors
Horrors of World War II: Nagasaki
“I saw the atom bomb. I was four then. I remember
the cicadas chirping. The atom bomb was the last thing
that happened in the war and no more bad things have
happened since then, but I don't have my Mummy any
more. So even if it isn't bad any more, I'm not happy. ”
--- Kayano Nagai, survivor