Transcript WWII - HCC Learning Web

World War II
Europe in 1939
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Great Britain PM Neville
Chamberlain - “peace in
our time”
Germany in Austria &
Czech.
Franco wins Spanish
Civil War
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Mussolini in Albania
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USSR - Stalin, cautious
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FDR – Neutrality Act
Nonaggression Pact
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Hitler & Stalin signed a
Nonaggression Pact in
Aug., 1939
Secretly divided Poland
Germany attacked from
west, Sept. 1, 1939.
Starting date for WWII.
Stalin from the east
Blitzkrieg
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Lightning strike/war
Quick movement of
troops, tanks, and
artillery
Supported by air
forces (Luftwaffe)
Designed to prevent
trench warfare
France & England
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England lived up to its
ultimatum. Declared
war and sent a small,
ill-equipped army to
France
France declared war
and strengthened the
“impregnable”
Maginot Line
“Phony War”
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For 6 months, all was
quiet
In April, 1940
Germany took
Denmark and Norway
May- Belgium,
Holland, and
Luxembourg
France Falls
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German forces drove
through Belgium,
passing by the Maginot
Line
British army pushed back
to Dunkirk, fled
June, 1940. Paris falls
Italy attacked from the
South
France surrenders
Vichy France
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France was split into
an Occupied and
Free Zone
Administered from
Vichy
Vichy did control both
halves, but the
Wehrmacht remained
active in the north
Battle of Britain
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With France out of the war,
Hitler turned the German
military towards England
First large scale air battles
Constant bombing in
London
Luftwaffe v British Royal
Air Force
Hitler had to abandon
invasion plans
Back in the USA
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While the US did not send
troops, FDR did not stay
neutral
Saw the Nazis as a threat.
Lent warships to England
FDR elected to
unprecedented 3rd term
Not really much Nazisympathy in the US
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1940 – First peace time draft
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Militarized economy
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End of the Great Depression
Lend-Lease Program
“Great arsenal of democracy”
Sold, lent, or leased war
materials to those fighting
Germany and Italy. Mostly
England
Very controversial
Atlantic Charter – “Freedom
of the Seas, War, and SelfDetermination.” Blueprint
for the UN
Was Hitler Stupid or Something?
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June 1941, Hitler violates
the Soviet
Nonaggression Pact and
invades Russia
Operation Barbarossa.
Largest military operation
ever.
Why?
FDR offers Lend-Lease
to USSR
The Advance Halts
Japan in 1941
Japan invaded China in the 1930s (see Second
Sino-Japanese War)
Brutal regime in place. “Rape of Nanking.” Sinking
of the USS Panay
Japanese military honor/superiority
US focused on the Atlantic. Did not want to interfere.
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Annexing
Western colonies
US placed an embargo (Pearl Harbor) on Japan.
Greatly reduced Japanese supply of oil, steel,
and machinery
Tripartite Pact – created the Axis Powers (Germany,
Italy, Japan)
Japan takes Indochina (Vietnam)
A Date that will Live in Infamy
The US knew that Japan was going to attack... just not
where
Assumed Malaya or Dutch East Indies
Instead a Japanese fleet with 6 aircraft carriers, 400
planes, 2 battleships, 2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, and
40 supply vessels moved east under radio silence
to Hawaii
US unprepared despite having broke the Japanese
code (MAGIC)
December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor
The US lost the battleships Arizona and Oklahoma as
well as 16 other vessels and 300 planes
2,400 dead
Could have been worse
December 8, 1941 US declares war on Japan. Germany
& Italy declare war on the US (Tripartite Pact)
Sides are Set
Allied Powers
Axis Powers
United Kingdom
Germany
USSR
Italy
USA
Japan
1941-1942, Fighting in the Pacific
The War in the Pacific went
poorly for the US at the
start
Losing over 1 million tons of
shipping a month
Japan took Guam, Wake
Island, Philippines, Burma,
Hong Kong, Singapore,
Malaya, & Dutch East
Indies
Philippines, Bataan Death March
The day after Pearl Harbor (Dec. 8) Japan
bombed US holding in the Philippines,
scattering the US defenders
No supplies
Gen. Douglas MacArthur was ordered to
retreat. Forced to leave over 100,000
US and Filipino soldiers behind
Last stand at Corregidor
Bataan Death March. Moved 75,000 US &
Filipino POWs to a prison camp. 12,000
died on the trip. Japanese military code
of honor
Fueled US domestic anger
US Mobilization and Home Front
Mobilization and Volunteers
The US started mobilizing
as early as 1940. Knew
war was coming. Peace
time draft
The US was united (unlike
WWI)
6 million volunteers, 10
million drafted over the
course of the war
War Production Board
Donald Nelson (VP of Sears-Roebuck)
head of WPB
Gave incentives to factory owners and
companies to produce war machines
Henry Ford & Ford Motor Co. Producing a
B-24 bomber every hour
By 1945, military spending reached $300
billion
Taxation & Borrowing
War Bonds
17 million new jobs. Greatly increased pay
Migration from rural areas to the cities
Rationing
US workers were making
more, but had less on
which to spend their money
Rationing or scarcity of gas (3
gal./week), sugar, rubber,
meat, coffee, alcohol, cloth
(bikinis & mini-skirts)
Generally good spirit on
rationing
Working Women, Part 2
As in WWI, women filled the “male”
vacancies during the war
Much greater extent than WWI
Over 6 million women took defense jobs
Welder, electricians, factory lines, repairs
Not just young, single women. Married,
middle-aged
Paid less and expected to return to the
“domestic sphere” after the war but
many did not want to return
Social revolution for women
Rosie the Riveter
African Americans in the Workforce
Blacks fought discrimination in
the American workforce
through the “Double V”
campaign. Victory overseas
and at home
2nd Great Migration
Black women also gained work
in defense plants
Racial violence in both the North
and South. Mobile & Detroit
Blacks in the Armed Forces
500,000 African Americans
served in the Armed Forces
during WWII
Segregated units, usually
white officers
Tuskegee Airmen – First
black American pilots. 99th
AF Fighter Squadron. Flew
nearly 1,600 missions.
Distinguished Unit Citations
Zoot Suit Riots
Racial violence during WWII
was also aimed at Mexican
Americans
“Zooters” and “Zoot suit” riots
Response to immigration and
Hispanics in defense jobs
Still, Hispanics were a large part
of US Armed Forces and fully
integrated
Response to Racism During WWII
Minority Press and
organizations saw a
dramatic increase
NAACP membership
increased by nearly
1000% ~ 700,000
members
Major factor in the Post-war
Civil Rights Movement
Japanese Americans and Internment
Japanese aliens had to register with
municipalities after Pearl Harbor
Outrage from PH, the Bataan Death
March, and perceived threats sent
many Americans into a “Japanese
panic”
1942 Roosevelt set up militarized
areas in CA, AZ, WY, UT, and CO
All Japanese, including citizens, were
required to go to the internment
camps. 120,000 in all
Upheld by the Supreme Court
Where to Attack
Most Americans saw the
Japanese in the
Pacific as the main
threat
However, FDR saw
Germany as the real
menace
Knock Germany out first
Okay Germany, but Where?
Where would Stalin
want the US to
attack?
What about Churchill?
US forces still small.
Where should they
go?
Operation TORCH
November 1942, Gen. Dwight
D. Eisenhower and British
forces launched an
invasion in North Africa
Defeated 12 Nazi divisions,
including Rommel's army at
El Alamein
First loss of territory for the
Axis in the war
Stalingrad
Dec. 1942 - Feb. 1943
Russian army faced 200 Nazi
divisions
House to house fighting
Starvation, disease,
exposure. Over 2 million
soldiers and civilian
casualties
Germany retreated
Germany Retreats, Where to Attack?
With Germany on its
heels, Stalin wanted
the UK and US to
open a second front
Roosevelt and Churchill
did not think they
could do a full
invasion
Italian Campaign
Mussolini Gone
Sicily fell quickly (1943) and
antifascist Italians
overthrew Mussolini
Gen. Patton west flank and
British Gen. Montgomery
on the east flank
Though Italy was “knocked
out,” fighting continued
until 1945
Tehran Conference
The “Big Three”
Stalin
Churchill
FDR
Main Points
Soviet Partition of Yugoslavia
Opening second front in Europe
Division of Poland
Tentative agreement to United Nations
USSR would help US against Japan after
Germany was gone
Operation OVERLORD
Eisenhower began
preparing for a
massive invasion of
France
Placed over 3 million
troops and countless
armaments in England
False information to
Germany
June 6, 1944
D-Day
Allies assaulted
Normandy in a multipronged attack
Omaha Beach- Sheer
cliffs, US Army
Rangers, Earl Rudder
After 2 days of fighting,
Allies had a foothold
in Europe
Battle of the Bulge
By September 1944,
Allies had reached
Germany
The German army
staged one last
offensive
Battle of the Bulge
Germany Defeated
The Allies moved into
Germany
US and UK from the
west and USSR from
the east
April 30, 1945 Hitler
commits suicide
European Axis forces
surrender
Concentration and Extermination
Camps
In 1945 Allies began
liberating
concentration camps
in Poland and
Germany
6 million Jews dead and
4 million others
Pacific War
Differences in the
Pacific Theater
Primarily US fighting
Naval fighting instead of
tanks and artillery
mostly
No strategic jump-off
point
Invading Australia?
Japan moved a large
fleet towards Australia
in 1942 to either
blockade or perhaps
invade
Battle of the Coral SeaAmerican Navy
defeated a larger
Japanese fleet
Midway Island
A month later US Naval
Forces won another
key victory at Midway
Island
3 days of fighting. Sunk
4 Japanese aircraft
carriers
Japan could not recover
Island Hopping
Few large scale battles
Sporadic & brutal, mixed
with air and naval support
Guadalcanal – 1943
New Guinea – 1943
Marianas- Placed Tokyo
within range of US B29
Bombers
Kamikaze
Philippines – 1944
As the US got closer to
Japan, Japanese
tactics changed
Kamikaze and brutal
attacks – US suffered
35% casualty rate in
1945
Okinawa
Island less than 400 miles
from Japanese mainland
US – 180,000 troops and
the bulk of the Atlantic
fleet
Japan – 100,000 troops
3 months of brutal fighting
Yalta Accords
The “Big Three” met again in southern
Russia to discuss the postwar world
Ok'ed the UN
Stalin, who had taken the bulk of the
losses, wanted to partition Germany,
war reparations, and to remain in
control of the Eastern European
territories
Agreed to split Germany into 4 occupied
zones: US, UK, French, USSR. Berlin,
inside the Russian zone, was also
divided
“Free and unfettered elections” in Eastern
Europe
Anti-Soviet sentiments in the US
Meanwhile back Home
FDR elected to a 4th
term in 1944
Harry S. Truman as Vice
President
FDR's health was failing
FDR dies, Soviet Relations Worsen
April 12, 1945 FDR dies, Truman
becomes president
Had been left out of most foreign
diplomacy
Conflicting advice about USSRMolotov incident
Meanwhile Churchill lost election
and Attlee becomes PM
Hard-line philosophies, no
negotiation. In July, 1945. Other
events?
Firebombing of Tokyo
In 1945 the US ran
bombing raids across
the Japanese
mainlands
Tokyo nearly destroyed.
100,000 dead, 1
million homeless
Japan would not
surrender
Manhattan Project
Since 1942 American scientists
worked on the construction of an
atomic bomb
Sites all over the US, but the
testing at Alamogordo, NM
Einstein gave it feasibility.
Oppenheimer, Fermi, Bohr and
others
July 16, 1945, “The Gadget” test
Interim Committee under Stimson
advised using the bomb in
Japan
Enola Gay
Aug. 6, 1945 the Enola
Gay (B29 Bomber)
dropped “Little-Boy”
on Hiroshima
Aug 9, 1945 Bock's Car
drops “Fat-Man” on
Nagasaki
Aug 14, 1945 Japan
calls for peace
Why did the US drop the Bombs?
War Ends, “Armageddon at the Door”
World War II ended on
September 2, 1945
Japan surrendered on
the battleship Missouri
USSR 6.2M dead, 14M wounded
Germany 3.3M dead, 7.3M wounded
China 1.4M dead, 1.8M wounded
Japan 1.3M dead, 140k wounded
Poland, 664k dead, 530k wounded
Over 25 million soldiers
dead
UK 400k dead, 400k wounded
Entering the atomic age
France 200k dead, 400k wounded
US 300k dead, 700k wounded
Italy 150k dead, 70k wounded