Transcript world war ii - worldhistorydchs

WORLD WAR II
German Expansion
• When Hitler took power in 1933
he promised the German people
lebensraum – living space
• Hitler began to rebuild the
German military in secret, but
eventually he was openly violating
the restrictions set by the Treaty
of Versailles
German Expansion
• In March 1936 Hitler sent troops into the
Rhineland, another violation of the Treaty of
Versailles
• The French and British complained but
neither took any direct action
• Hitler knew his opponents were desperate to
avoid war, so he began to plot more
aggressive moves
German Expansion
• Hitler’s next target was Austria , a German speaking
country that bordered Germany and was Hitler’s
birthplace
• In 1938 Hitler began to demand that the leaders of
Austria agree to an anschluss or annexation – the
joining together of 2 nations
• Many people in Austria favored the anschluss, and
those who didn’t knew they had no chance of
standing up to Hitler, so in March German forces
marched into Austria unopposed.
German Expansion
• Hitler’s experience in Austria convinced him that no
one would dare to stop him from taking territory
• Hitler next eyed Czechoslovakia and the
Sudetenland.
• The Czech leaders did not want to join Hitler and they
prepared for war, believing that if attacked their allies
(mostly France) would help them
German Expansion
• In September 1938 Britain, France, and
Germany met to discuss Czechoslovakia
• Britain and France agreed not to stop Hitler if
he decided to takeover Czechoslovakia.
• This was yet another example of British Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy of
appeasement – giving in to demands in order
to maintain peace
German Expansion
• When Chamberlain returned to
England he was greeted as a
hero saying “I believe it is
peace for our time”.
• One critic of Chamberlain’s
appeasement policy was
Winston Churchill, a member
of Parliament.
Alliances and Civil War
• Axis Powers – Germany,
Italy, and Japan
Alliances and Civil War
• In 1936 a Civil War began in Spain
– One side: the Nationalists, a
Fascist group led by Francisco
Franco and supported by
Germany and Italy
– Other side: the Republicans
supported by the Soviet Union
• The Nationalists won, creating
another dictatorship in Europe
Alliances and Civil War
• The Soviet Union opposed the Axis
Powers, but Stalin was also worried about
the threat of the German military
• In August 1939 Germany and the Soviet
Union, led by Joseph Stalin, signed a
nonaggression pact – an agreement not
to attack each other
• This news disturbed the French and
English who had hoped the Soviets would
join them if Hitler attacked
The War (Officially) Begins
• On September 1, 1939 Germany launched an
attack on Poland, marking the official start of
WWII
• German forces used a new military tactic
called blitzkrieg – lightning war
• Planes would go in first to damage defenses
and cause panic, then fast moving tanks and
soldiers would sweep through the countryside
The War (Officially Begins)
• On September 3, Britain
declared war on Germany,
coming to the aid of Poland
• However, it was too late to
help Poland and in a few
weeks Poland was under
the control of Germany
The War (Officially) Begins
• Germany then swept through Denmark, Norway, the
Netherlands, and Belgium before their May 10, 1940 attack on
France.
• The Germans quickly overtook the French, marching into Paris,
and on June 22 France surrendered to Germany
• Germany controlled France by setting up a part of France called
the Vichy to be controlled by French people who cooperated
with Hitler. Other French leaders escaped to England.
The War (Officially) Begins
• Great Britain now stood alone against the
Germans in Europe.
• The new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill,
promised, “We shall fight on the beaches, we
shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall
fight in the fields and the streets, we shall
fight in the hills. We shall never surrender”.
The War (Officially) Begins
• Battle of Britain – between August and October 1940,
Germany sent thousands of aircraft to attack the
British Royal Air Force
• For the first time Hitler was unsuccessful because of
the British use of a technology: radar
• Hitler continued to bomb British cities, including
London, until finally calling off attacks in 1941.
The Soviet Union
• In June 1941, Hitler broke the nonaggression
pact when he sent 3 million troops into the
Soviet Union.
• The Germans were successful at first, but
were unable to quickly take the Soviet cities
of Moscow and Leningrad
• The German troops were also unprepared for
the harsh Soviet winter
Japan
• Throughout 1941 the Japanese were
holding peace talks with the United
States, while secretly planning for war
• On December 7, 1941 General Hideki
Tojo ordered the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, a US naval base in Hawaii.
• FDR Addresses Congress
Japan
• The attack lasted less than two hours but killed 2,400
Americans, 200 aircraft destroyed, and all eight
battleships in the harbor were sunk or damaged
• Until Pearl Harbor the United States had been trying
to stay out of WWII through isolationism.
• On December 8 the US Congress declared war on
Japan. Three days later Germany and Italy declared
war on the U.S., causing the U.S. to officially join with
the Allies
• Days that Shook the World: Pearl Harbor
Early American Involvement
• Even before Pearl Harbor Americans
had been assisting the Allies by
shipping supplies
• Germany used U-boats (again) to try to
control the Atlantic Ocean. In October
1941 the Germans sank an American
ship (again) the USS Reuben James
Early American Involvement
• After Pearl Harbor America began to mobilize its
troops, planes, ships, and other supplies.
• Millions of men volunteered to fight and women filled
other roles in the military – pilots, clerks, etc.
• Many American factories were converted to produce
weapons and supplies
• Americans also reduced their consumption of food,
fuel, and other items, and collected scrap metal and
rubber to reuse for military purposes.
Patriotism
• While wartime patriotism had some positive effects, it
also had negatives
– 1) Some government officials began to worry
about Italian, German, and Japanese Americans
and began to impose restrictions
– 2) More than 100,000 Japanese Americans on the
west coast were forced into internment camps,
even though most of them were American citizens.
War in the Atlantic
• The Germans were successful at destroying
hundreds of American ships, but by 1943 the Allies
had made two adjustments to stop this
– 1) Allied factories produced more ships which
allowed for better protection when sailing
– 2) The Allies broke a German code system used
to transmit information. This allowed the Allies to
know German plans and know locations of
German U-boats.
War in North Africa and Italy
• The British and Italian forces began a battle
for control of North Africa
• Great Britain wanted N. Africa so they could
protect trade routes through the Suez Canal
which supplied oil to the British war effort.
• The Germans were forced to send troops to
help the Italians and they were led by
General Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox.
War in North Africa and Italy
• Battle of El Alamein – British forces
defeated the Afrika Korps – the
German and Italian soldiers in Africa
• The first official American action in
WWII took place in November 1942
when American General Dwight
Eisenhower led troops into North
Africa.
• By May 1943 the Axis powers
surrendered in North Africa.
War in North Africa and Italy
• In July 1943 the Allies moved toward Italy and
took the island of Sicily
• At the end of the month the Italian
government forced Mussolini from power and
the Allies planned to invade Italy.
• But Hitler sent German troops to stop the
invasion which led to several months of
bloody fighting.
Soviet Union
• Even though Hitler’s invasion of the
Soviet Union was unsuccessful, he was
able to create a military blockade
around the city of Leningrad.
• Siege of Leningrad – in the winter 19411942 as many as 1 million civilians died
of starvation and disease.
Soviet Union
• Battle of Stalingrad – one of the most
brutal battles of the war. The result was
the loss of over 1 million Soviet soldiers
and a crushing defeat for Hitler.
• This battle, along with victories for the
Allies in North Africa and Italy, marked a
turning point in the war.
War in the Pacific
• The attack at Pearl Harbor was an enormous
success for Japan and forced the Americans to
rebuild before striking back.
• After taking Hong Kong, Singapore, and other Pacific
islands, the Japanese set their sights on Americanheld Philippines.
• Bataan Death March – Japanese forced 70,000
prisoners to march to a prison camp. 10,000
Filipinos and 600 Americans were killed.
War in the Pacific
• Battle of Coral Sea – marked the first time
that the Japanese navy had been stopped
• Battle of Midway – Americans, led by Chester
Nimitz, used code breakers to determine
when the Japanese were going to attack.
This helped the Allies to victory, giving Japan
their first loss in the Pacific theatre.
War in the Pacific
• The Allies began a strategy called island hopping – capturing
weaker targets to use as bases while skipping over Japanese
strongholds
• Battle of Guadalcanal – a series of battles that ended with the
Japanese leaving the island in February 1943
• Battle of Leyte – October 1944, the largest naval batlle ever.
Also the first use of the Japanese kamikaze attack – Japanese
pilots would deliberately crash into Allied ships.
• While kamikazes did destroy Allied ships, it did not change the
outcome of the battles and the Allies had essentially destroyed
the Japanese navy.
War Ends in Europe
• In 1944 the Soviets were able to end
the Siege of Leningrad
• After a series of victories for the
Soviets, by January 1945 Soviet forces
were within 40 miles of Berlin, Germany
War Ends in Europe
• While the Soviets were advancing in Eastern Germany, the
Allies were preparing for a massive invasion of Western Europe.
• In order to be effective Allied leaders knew the invasion would
have to come by sea and go directly against the strongest
German defenses.
• To prepare, Generals George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower
staged a plan to mislead Hitler about where the invasion would
occur and began to develop new equipment for transporting
tanks and soldiers across open water.
War Ends in Europe
• D-Day – on June 6, 1944 over 150,000 Allied
troops landed at Normandy.
• Casualties were high but D-Day was a huge
victory for the Allies.
• By July nearly 1 million soldiers had come
ashore to further the Allied march to Germany
and quickly retook France
War Ends in Europe
• In December 1944 Hitler ordered one last
counterattack in Belgium
• At first the Germans made solid advances, producing
a bulge in the Allied battle lines
• Battle of the Bulge – by January 1945 the Allies had
crushed the German offensive.
• Within two months Allied forces crossed into
Germany, while Soviet forces were advancing
through Germany from the east.
War Ends in Europe
• The Soviets were the first to reach Berlin in
April 1945.
• On May 2 they found the body of Adolf Hitler
near his Berlin bunker
• Germany officially surrendered on May 7.
• The next day was declared V-E Day – Victory
in Europe
War Ends in the Pacific
• Although the Allies achieved victory in
Europe, the war in Asia and the Pacific
continued
• By mid 1944 American bombers began
making raids on Japanese cities, including
Tokyo. However, these raids were risky
because American pilots had to travel a great
distance from the nearest American base to
Japan
War Ends in the Pacific
• In February 1945 Allied troops landed on the
Japanese island of Iwo Jima.
• During the month long battle 7000 American
soldiers died trying to capture the tiny island.
• The Japanese started with 20,000 men but
ended with only 1000, demonstrating that the
Japanese were willing to fight to the death
instead of surrendering.
War Ends in the Pacific
• Battle of Okinawa – lasted for 3 months, killed 12,000
Americans, but the Japanese lost the island and
nearly all of the 100,000 defenders.
• The next step was to take Japan itself, but after Iwo
Jima and Okinawa, Allied leaders dreaded the idea
because they believed that over 1 million Allied
soldiers may be lost.
• The Atomic Bomb
Postwar
• Results of WWII
– Much of Europe and Asia lay in ruins
– Tens of millions of people died, many of them
civilians
– Economies were near collapse
– Food, shelter, and medicine were scarce
– Millions of people were displaced from their
homes
Postwar
• Even during the war, Allied leaders were
already making plans for after the war
• In July 1941 President Roosevelt met with
Prime Minister Churchill and issued the
Atlantic Charter – stated that both countries
sought a peaceful end to the war and that
both countries would avoid taking land after
the war
Postwar
• Yalta Conference – a meeting between Stalin, Roosevelt,
and Churchill near the end of the war
– Stalin wanted to be able to keep parts of Poland
– Roosevelt convinced Stalin to fight against Japan once
the war in Europe was over
– Began the process of creating the United Nations
• Potsdam Conference – July 1945, another meeting of the
“Big Three”. There were several disagreements at this
meeting that foreshadowed the future relationship
between the U.S. and the Soviet Union