World War 2 Notes I. Paths to War a. The German Path to War i. Hitler believed the Aryan race, based in Germany should expand ii. He was going to take land from Russia, use the people there as workers for their projects 1. The First Steps a. Hitler wants to alter the treaty from WWI b. He starts breaking the rules, creating an Air Force and expanding army c. England, France, Italy were distracted by other things (depression) and didn’t punish Germany when they broke the rules d. He sent troops to the Rhineland, a place he wasn’t supposed to have weapons or France could punish e. Appeasement – where you let someone get away with something without punishment (big problem) f. England thought it was ok for Germany to move into Rhineland because it was their land 2. New Alliances a. Mussolini (Italy) invades Ethiopia and this angers England and France b. So he finds a friend in Hitler c. They both support Franco in Spain (civil war) d. Rome Berlin AXIS (Axis Powers), later Japan joins (all anti-communist) e. ITALY, GERMANY, AND JAPAN (these are the bad guys) 3. Union with Austria a. 1937 – Germany is a big dog again, powerful b. Hitler doesn’t think England or France can stop him c. Union between Germany and Austria (he’s from here), many in Austria like him d. Hitler pressured the Austrian Government to give power to the Nazis in their country, they did e. They invite the Germans in to keep order f. 1938 – Hitler annexed Austria 4. Demands and Appeasement a. He wants a part of Czechoslovakia named Sudetenland, because they speak German here b. Says he’s willing to start a world war for it c. Nobody helps them, they appease Hitler at the meeting (British and French) d. He takes it over e. Leader of England comes home and says Hitler promised he wouldn’t take any more land if we agreed to this, he believes Hitler and thinks this will create peace 5. Great Britain and France React a. Hitler now really believes the western democracies (England, france, us) won’t do anything to him b. 1939 he takes over part of Czechoslovakia c. Then Hitler demands a port in Poland (danzig) and England and france realize he is not going to stop d. e. They believe they need the support of the Soviet Union to help contain Hitler f. They begin talking with leader of the S.U. – Joseph Stalin 6. Hitler and the Soviets a. Hitler feared an alliance between the S.U. and England and France (western powers) because it meant he would be fighting a 2 front war (bad from wwi) b. So he makes an agreement with Stalin and the S.U. c. Sign the non-aggression pact d. Hitler promises S.U. part of Poland and other areas, but Hitler is making empty promises e. Nazis go ahead and invade Poland and 2 days later western powers declare war II. The Japanese Path to War 1. intro a. 1931 Japan is taking over parts of China (Manchuria) b. c. d. e. They fake a Chinese attack to have an excuse to go to war with China Japan gets in trouble with the League of Nations and pulls out The militant people in the army had now gotten political power in Japan The US doesn’t agree with what Japan does in Manchuria but we don’t do anything about it 2. War with China a. Chiang Kai-shek leader of China and his bigger problem is Communists in his own country b. So he doesn’t really want to fool with Japan, so he signs an agreement and gives them control of northern areas c. But Japan pushes further south and eventually the Chinese have to fight them d. Japan is winning and Chiang Kai-shek has to flee 3. The New Asian Order a. Japan sees themselves as the most advanced (industrialized) asian country and therefore they should control asia and show others how to prosper b. ‘ASIA FOR ASIANS’ c. Japan also starts contact with Nazi germany, they are going to plan to both fight Russia and divide its resources d. But the non-aggression pact changes things, and now Japan has to look elsewhere for resources e. This makes them go into southeast asia (islands and mainland) for stuff f. They go after areas already controlled by Europeans g. Go after French Indochina (Vietnam) h. The US is mad about this and threatens economic sanctions (no trade) i. This is big problem because Japan needs American metal and oil j. So they decide to launch surprise attack on Southeast asia and go for it III. Europe at War a. Hitler used his military strategy called blitzkrieg (lightning war) - This involved sending everything at once at an enemy b. he used this technique on Poland, took them 4 weeks to conquer them c. Germany and Soviet Union divide Poland (secret part of non-aggression pact) d. Hitler’s early victories i. Hitler waited a while and then goes after Denmark and Norway ii. Then one month later, Netherlands, Belgium, and France 1. ‘phony war’ was Hitler lining up on western front but not doing anything 2. it was strange because they had all declared war in central Europe but weren’t fighting iii. France set up the Maginot Line to defend themselves from Germany iv. But Hitler went around it, went through the Ardennes instead v. vi. vii. viii. This surprised the French and British and traps them at a place called Durkirk (338,000) France is taken over, and Germany sets up a puppet government there The French government in exile is in ENGLAND Now Germany has basically all of western and central Europe ix. Now the only country left in Europe that isn’t under Nazi influence is England, and they ask us for help x. FDR says US follows strict isolationism, we don’t fight unless we are attacked xi. WW1 was seen as a mistake by most Americans, thinking we got in it because of economics xii. Neutrality Acts kept our noses out of the fight but eventually we start selling them supplies 1. allies, England & France (Lend-Lease Act) e. Battle of Britain i. An air battle ii. Germans plan to bomb the military targets in England, then invade on land iii. But England has new invention that helps a lot, radar iv. England starts bombing some also, and they attack Berlin 1. in retaliation, Hitler orders new strategy of bombing everything in England, not just factories related to war supplies/army 2. this allows England to rebuild their air force v. Hitler has to postpone the invasion of England indefinitely vi. goal of battle is for Luftwaffe goes from shipping ports to RAF areas to aircraft factories to infrastructure and political places to finally using terror bombing tactics vii. enigma is possibly a contributor f. attack on the soviet union i. why would Hitler attack the soviet union? 1. he had an alliance with them that was holding up 2. if they did, they would have a 2-front war again a. he thought that Britain was just hanging in because they expected soviet support and if they were knocked out then it would help Britain fall faster b. he also thought soviets were weak ii. he planned to attack in the spring of 1941 but the British slowed them down by attacking from an air base in Greece, Hitler goes and solves problem but key is that it slowed him down iii. invasion was delayed until June 22nd iv. the germans weren’t ready for winter, didn’t bring uniforms v. so this stops the german attack, soviets fight back harder g. japan at war i. the Japanese attack the US on Dec 7 1941, pearl harbor Hawaii ii. we had our navy based in Hawaii because we were worried about Japanese aggression in pacific iii. japan had been upset by our refusal to recognize their dominance of the Philippines we owned iv. we also didn’t agree with their taking over of places in the pacific, like Manchuria v. japan also invaded british in Malaya, dutch East Indies vi. bataan – area in Philippines 1. Japanese capture 75,000 US and Filipino troops 2. they make them march for a week in tropical heat, no food or water 3. if you fall behind, you die – beheadings, beatings, throat slicing, disembowelment, bayonet stabbing, driving over people that fall, killing those assisting fallen 4. all survivors are now dead, at last meeting the Japanese ambassador said sorry vii. by spring of 1942 almost all of Southeast Asia and much of western Pacific were taken by japan viii. japan’s idea was to knock US naval fleet out and make us sign peace treaty ix. but a large part of our naval fleet was out doing exercises that morning and so our fleet wasn’t completely destroyed like anticipated x. they thought we were soft xi. our people unite, we declare war almost instantly, and go after them xii. Hitler then declares war on us, assuming we would be weaker now in Europe h. the allies advance i. big idea – now the GREAT ALLIANCE is formed 1. US, BRITAIN, AND SOVIET UNION decide to put political differences aside and unite against the axis ii. we agree to go after them until unconditional surrender iii. the European theater 1. Germany is doing well in spring of 1942 a. Erwin Rommel ‘desert fox’ is doing well with Afrika troops b. They are pushing into Soviet areas still 2. tide turns by fall of 1942 3. british start doing better in Africa - Montgomery (el alamein is where germans are stopped) 4. the US and British go after French area in Africa that is under German/Italian control a. patton and others defeat them there 5. war against soviets a. Hitler wanted to go after an industrial city Stalingrad (and maybe because of name of city) b. His generals want him to go for oil fields instead but he doesn’t listen c. Soviets launch a counterattack eventually in Stalingrad i. They surround germans and cut supplies in winter ii. Germans surrender iii. Entire 6th nazi army was lost, considered the best 6. eventually the germans realize they would not win against soviets iv. The asian theater 1. battles here are on planes, ships, and sometimes land 2. the Japanese start strong, but the US eventually stops their progress in the pacific 3. the turning point is the battle of midway a. US destroyed Japanese aircraft carriers and now the US dominates the pacific 4. general Douglass MacArthur is a US commander here against Japanese 5. our strategy is called island-hopping a. we bomb an island, take control of it, build an airstrip, then take off from there and bomb next island b. we do not try and take over each island, just ‘hop’ from one to another f. Last Years of the War i. By 1943 the tide has turned against the Axis (germany, italy, japan) ii. We start by victories in Africa, then we push up from the bottom of Italy iii. Called the ‘soft underbelly’ of Europe iv. The European theater 1. Italy falls first 2. Mussolini is arrested but then liberated by german raid 3. he is eventually captured again and executed, and body is hung at a gas station so people could see he was dead 4. Invasion of Europe a. The allies (US, Britain) decide to invade through France to get to Hitler b. This is the biggest naval invasion in history c. Land on the beaches of Normandy d. Germany had defenses set along the coasts, casualties were high e. We trick them on where exactly we are going to invade f. Once we established ourselves on the beach, we then start pushing towards germany g. We liberate paris h. Then we push into germany, and link up with the soviets pushing from the other side i. Soviets fight hard on their side and win major tank battle, battle of kursk j. Hitler hides in an underground bunker in berlin k. He still blamed jews for war in his final writings l. He committed suicide two days after Mussolini was shot m. Then german commanders surrendered 5. the asian theater a. US had changed the tide of the war and now go on the offense towards japan b. New US president Harry Truman had a decision now i. We had a new weapon that we developed, atomic bombs ii. This was the biggest weapon to date, would mean massive casualties iii. 2 arguments on dropping the A-bomb 1. AGAINST – not needed, japan was on its last leg anyway, would kill civilians 2. FOR – would save lives compared to a land invasion of japan, ‘they hit us first’ iv. he decides to use them iv. first we drop one on Hiroshima v. 3 days later we drop one on Nagasaki 1. thousands die immediately 2. thousands die from radiation later vi. Japanese emperor Hirohito steps in and makes Japanese military surrender c. war is finally over i. 17 million dead in battle, 20 million civilians IV. New Order and Holocaust - Read the quote from Rudolf Hoss on page 606 a. New Order in Europe - the Nazis had much of continental Europe in their control - they would either make a place a part of Germany or team up with locals that would support them and run a place 1. Resettlement in the East - the places to the east, between them and Russia, were exploited the most - they thought the Slavs were racially inferior - they forced people out here to resettle germans there - they were just worried about using these people as slave labor or getting rid of them 2. Slave Labor in Germany - labor shortages in germany lead to bringing foreigners in to do the work (20% of workforce) b. The Holocaust - deliberate extermination of jews in camps - there are two sides only, Aryans and those trying to destroy Aryans (jews, parasites) - called the ‘final solution’ - it is a genocide (intentional, systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group) 1. The Einsatzgruppen - the SS was given the task of carrying out the final solution - they round up groups like the polish jews and put them in crowded neighborhoods called Ghettos - they also traveled and killed jews as the army advanced in the east, make them dig big Mass graves and then shot them - read paragraph on 608 2. The Death Camps - the killing was too slow for the Nazis - so now they design special death camps - load up jews from around Europe, send them on trains like cattle to the camps - largest was Auschwitz (in Poland) - stripped, head shaved, valuables taken (gold from teeth) - either sent to labor camp or to die - also some were selected for medical experiments (mainly to help army but also related to racial superiority - they kept doing this killing even when their army was losing, it was priority for train use 3. the Death Toll - between 5 and 6 million jews killed - 90% of jews in germany, Poland, and nearby countries were killed - 2/3rds of Europeans jews killed - 9-10 million other people were killed by Nazis - gypsies, clergy, intellectuals, leaders, judges, lawyers are arrested and killed (handicap too) - 4 million also die as slave laborers in germany -3-4 million soviet prisoners of war killed - some jews fight back, some people help hide them - some didn’t believe reports of number of people killed because of exaggerated numbers used in world war 1 - only after the war do we really learn what took place 4. children of the war - often first selected to be gassed because they couldn’t be used for labor, along with mothers - jewish children learn to start looking old to avoid death - 1.2 million jewish children are killed - many millions left orphaned - towards the end, Hitler even send 14 and 15 year old soldiers to the front lines 5. new order in asia 1. Japanese policies - they conquered much of Southeast asia saying ‘asia for asians’ - but really they just want to be the imperialist here - Japanese military had the control over areas taken over - they also use the people as labor or recruit people for their army - they also take resources like food (rice from Vietnam causes starvation) 2. Japanese behavior - many agree to cooperate because they believe japan just wants asia liberated from Outsiders - but they start to offend people with their cockiness - 1937 they are terrible in china, rape of Nanking (hundreds of thousands killed, 20-80 thousand raped - Koreans sent to japan as forced labor - but the situation is this, either put up with japan or get old European control back 6. Aftermath - germans got put on trial for what they did - Nuremburg Trials – Nazis getting put on trial for their war crimes - murdering jews - carry with them cyanide pills and often committed suicide - japan’s surrender - the country is under the control of our army leader in the pacific – douglas macarthur - US – - migrations of African Americans – move out of south and to North and West - Japanese Americans – removed from west coast, suspected spies - war crimes – - bombing of Britain (civilians) - bombing of Dresden (germany) - bataan march - Hiroshima and Nagasaki (maybe) - firebombing of Japanese cities - holocaust in general - NAZIs go on trial at Nuremburg Trials - COLD WAR – right after World War II, US and SU, who were friends in the war, now are enemies because we are capitalist and they are communist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QtfxRTZdKk liberation of concentration camps
