Transcript WWII SS15 - WueCampus2

World War II
While America „slept“
• 1931: Japan invades Manchuria
• 1933: Germany withdraws from the League of Nations
• 1935: Hitler denounces the disarmament clauses in the
Treaty of Versailles
• 1936: Spanish Civil War begins
• 1937: Japan attacks China
• 1938: The Anschluss
• 1939: Germany invades Poland
• 1940 – 1941: Germany conquers Denmark, Norway,
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France
Era of Extreme Propaganda
Virtually overnight, the entire US industry had to be
retooled, factories went from Fords to tanks
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“Europe First” Policy
1942: Manhattan Project initiated
June 6, 1944: D-DAY
German advance stopped
April 12th: FDR dies, Truman takes
over
• April 30th 1945: Hitler suicide
• May 8th unconditional surrender of
the Third Reich
 War in Germany “over”
“Island Hopping”
June 4 – 7, 1942:Midway
June 4 – 7, 1942: Battle of Midway
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one of the most important naval battles of World War II
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Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to
capitulate in the Pacific War, ensuring Japanese dominance in the Pacific
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U.S. inflicted irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet
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John Keegan: "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval
warfare."
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It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in
1863
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After Midway Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable
to keep pace in replacing their losses, while the U.S. steadily increased its
output in both areas and was able to establish naval parity in the Pacific
Guadalcanal: Aug 7,1942 – Feb 9,1943
Guadalcanal: Aug 7,1942 – Feb 9,1943
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first major offensive by Allied forces against the
Empire of Japan
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Objective: deny the use of the southern Solomon
Islands by the Japanese (it would threaten the
supply and communication routes between the US,
Australia, and New Zealand.
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also intended to use Guadalcanal as base to
support campaign
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The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the first
prolonged campaigns in the Pacific
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Strained the logistical capabilities
Spring 1945: Okinawa and Iwo Jima
Battle of Okinawa, 1 April – 22 June 1945
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largest amphibious assault in the
Pacific War of World War II
Plan: use Okinawa as a base for air
operations on the planned invasion of
Japanese mainland (coded Operation
Downfall)
The battle has been referred to as
tetsu no ame or tetsu no bōfū in
Japanese
highest number of casualties in the
Pacific Theater during World War II.
Mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers,
who were either killed or committed
suicide
Allies suffered 14,009 deaths
42,000-150,000 local civilians were
killed or committed suicide
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- After German capitulation, Japan refuses to
surrender
- Truman: „They will be met with complete and utter
destruction“
- August 6th, 1945: „Little Boy“ dropped on Hiroshima
(~ 85.000 casualties)
- August 9th: „Fat Man“ dropped on Nagasaki (~
70.000 casualties)
- A nuke near you
The Outcome of WW II
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Germany divided
Marshall Plan
Truman Doctrine
Problems with Russia
Cold War
Other Developments:
• 1949: NATO organized: mutual defense treaty. (An attack on
one country would be considered an attack on each and every
one, and they would all be allied until the threat was
defeated)
– Clause triggered: 2001  War on Terror
– Soviet answer: Warsaw Pact
• 1950 – 1953: Korean War
– Domino Theory
– Ends in a truce (38th Parallel)
The Eisenhower Era 1953 - 1961
o popular as the commander in chief of the Allied forces
in Europe.
o People voted for the man in 1953, not for a political
platform. “I Like Ike”
o greatest concern = communism and its goal of world
domination.
o developed the new policy of “Massive Retaliation”
o Concept of massive retaliation was only meant to be
implemented in the event of an actual attack
o Very scary time
Kennedy‘s Presidency
• Cuban Missile Crisis: marked a change in United States – Soviet
relations  both parties realized that they would have to deescalate
the arms race, or risk a nuclear winter  signed the Limited Test
Ban Treaty
• attempts to stimulate the economy, developed programs to aid
education, fight poverty worldwide, health insurance for elders,
prepared a legislative agenda that would have moved aggressively
on such issues as civil rights, created the Peace Corps,, secured
funding for the Space Program
• Program for social and educational reform: New Frontier
• He went against the “prime directive”, exploring strange new worlds
and saw it fit to fix or change them, when they needed it. JFK
repeatedly violated “social norms” (especially in areas such as Civil
Rights) when HE thought it was the right thing to do.
November 22 1963