Exam 2 - Lessons 12-21
Review Slides
Lesson 12
The Interwar Years:
Preparing for the Next War
Treaty of Versailles
Extremely harsh conditions
• Significant territorial concessions
• Huge reparations
• Severe limitations on military
• German admission of responsibility for war
Lessons of World War I
France: Defense!
Germany: Offense!
Britain: Navies work
U.S.: Stay out of war altogether
Lessons of World War I
France: Defense!
• Maginot Line: static defense
• Huge expenditure
• Repeated mistake of 1914:
• Assumed Belgian neutrality would be honored
• Had good armored forces
• Not enough funds to develop properly
• Neglected innovations in tactics
Lessons of World War I
Germany: Offense!
Size of army limited by Versailles Treaty
• Not enough to defend against attack
• Strategy: “Best defense is good offense”
Capitalized on tactics under development in WW I
• Stormtrooper tactics
+ Armor
= Blitzkreige
Lightning War!
Interwar Revolutions
1920’s – ’30’s
Perfected concepts introduced in WW I
• Mechanized warfare
• Aerial warfare
• Carrier aviation
• Amphibious warfare
• Radio-based command & control
Proliferation of new organizations
• Armored divisions,
• Carrier battle groups
• Strategic bombardment wings
Lesson 12
WW II – Paths to Global War
Events
September 8, 1926
Germany joins League of Nations
August 27, 1928
Germany signs Kellogg-Briand Pact
January 30, 1933
Hitler becomes chancellor
October 19, 1933
Germany withdraws from League
January 26, 1934
Germany signs 10 yr non-aggression
pact with Poland
August 2, 1934
President Hindenburg dies; Hitler
declares himself Führer
Events
March 16, 1935
Germany announces conscription,
formation of new army units, navy ships
and an air force
October 3, 1935
Italy invades Ethiopia; League of Nations
imposes economic sanctions
March 7, 1936
Germany occupies Rhineland,
successfully challenging France
Events
October 25, 1936
Germany & Italy form Berlin-Rome Axis
November 1936
Germany & Japan sign Anti-Comintern
Pact
January 17, 1937
Hitler renounces Versailles Treaty
July 7, 1937
Sino-Japanese War begins
November 5, 1937
Hitler discusses secret plan for
Lebensraum (“living space”)
March 12, 1938
Germany annexes Austria (Anschluss)
Events
September 30, 1938
Chamberlain: “Peace for our time”
"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has
returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time...
Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."
Peace For Our Time
http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/uk/peace.html
Events
October 1, 1938
Germany acquires Sedetenland
March 10, 1939
Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
Summary
Hitler’s Pre-War Expansion
March 7, 1936
Germany occupies Rhineland,
successfully challenging France
March 12, 1938
Germany annexes Austria (Anschluss)
Sept 29, 1938
Munich Conference
Sept 30, 1938
Chamberlain: “Peace for our time”
October 1, 1938
Germany acquires Sedetenland
March 10, 1939
Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
Events
August 23, 1939
Hitler negotiates non-aggression pact with
Soviet Union (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland
Holocaust Encyclopedia
Japan’s Next Step
After China
Two factions in Japanese government
• “Northern” Faction (Northern Strike Group)
• Led by Army
• Favored move north into USSR
• “Southern” Faction (Southern Strike Group)
• Led by Navy
• Favored move south into Dutch East Indies
Events
July-August 1939
Battle of Khalkin Gol (Nomonhan)
Soviet victory
Significance:
• Japan abandoned northern strategy
• Turned south
• Set up confrontation with US
• USSR able to divert resources
toward the west and Germany
• Established Gen. Georgi Zhukov
as armor commander
Reader’s Companion to Military History: Khalkin Gol
Japan’s Path to War
Increase in Militarism in Japanese society
US moves Pacific Fleet to Hawaii (May 1940)
Great East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere declared (Aug 1940)
Move into northern French Indochina (Sep 1940)
Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis formed (Tripartite Pact, Sep 1940)
US embargos iron & steel exports to Japan (Sep 1940)
Vichy government accedes to Japanese request for bases in
southern Indochina (July 1941)
US embargos shipments of oil to Japan (Jul 1941)
Events
December 7, 1941
US Pacific Fleet attacked at Pearl Harbor
Instruments of National Power
Diplomacy
Information
Military
Resolve
Economic Power
Resolve
What did the Japanese miss?
Lesson 13
WW II – 1940:
Fall of France & Battle of Britain
Events
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland
September 3, 1939
Britain, France declare war on Germany
“Phony war” begins
April 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark & Norway
May 10, 1940
Germany invades Belgium, Netherlands,
Luxembourg
Chamberlain resigns *
Churchill becomes PM *
Britain occupies Iceland *
* Not related to invasion
German Halt at Dunkirk
German army had little amphibious experience
• Looked at the Channel as a barrier
• Didn’t believe British could possibly get away
Panzer units arrived well ahead of the infantry
• Were exhausted, out of supply
• Called halt to rest, resupply, allow infantry to catch up
Luftwaffe hadn’t gotten much credit in battle
• Asked for and received permission to destroy BEF
British saw Channel as a highway - organized evacuation
Miracle of Dunkirk
300,000+ rescued
Equipment abandoned
Events
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland
September 3, 1939
Britain, France declare war on Germany
“Phony war” begins
April 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark & Norway
May 10, 1940
Germany invades Belgium, Netherlands,
Luxembourg
May 27-29, 1940
Evacuation of Dunkirk
June 4-22, 1940
Battle of France
June 22, 1940
France Surrenders
Operation Sealion
Germans began planning for invasion
in November 1939
Initial criteria for success:
* The Royal Navy had to be eliminated.
* The Royal Air Force (RAF) air strength had to be eliminated.
* British coastal defenses had to be destroyed.
* British submarine action against landing forces had to be prevented.
Battle of Britain
British Challenge:
How to overcome a numerical disadvantage
Climax
September 15, 1940
Massive daylight raid on London
• Largest to date
56 German aircraft lost versus 28 RAF fighters
RAF used every fighter in 11 Group (no reserves)
Germans switched to night raids on cities
Considered the turning point of the battle
Battle of Britain
Factors
British use of radar (command & control)
German underestimation of RAF strength
British “home field” advantage
German loss of focus
(Change of Objective)
Lesson 14
WW II -- Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
and the Second Battle of the Atlantic
Battle of the Atlantic
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Go on the offensive against the U-boats
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Employ convoy system immediately
• Increase escort capability
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Expand US shipbuilding industry
• Apply mass production techniques to shipbuilding
Allied Strategy
• Protect existing shipping
• Build to replace shipping losses, expand fleet
• Go on the offensive against the U-boats
• Improve intelligence on U-boat operations
• Close Mid-Atlantic Gap
• Develop Hunter-Killer teams
Hunter-Killer Team
Lesson 15
WW II – The Axis Advances
Germany Turns East
The Battle for Russia
Hitler’s Rationale
Hitler regarded the Soviet Union and Bolshevism as the
greatest threat to Germany
He felt that the weakness of the Red Army created
the best possible opportunity to eliminate this threat
• Rejected (or ignored) the possibility of two-front war
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
Initial Germany Plan
Battle of Stalingrad
August 1942 - February 1943
Fatal Distraction?
German Grand Strategy
German Grand Strategy
German-Soviet War
Until June 1944
• Soviet Union bore main thrust of German army
• Stalin pressed for Second Front
Soviet Losses
Significance
The Soviet war effort was so overwhelming that
impartial historians of the future are unlikely to rate
the British and American contribution to the European
theatre as much more than a sound supporting role.
Norman Davies
Europe at War, 1939-1945
Quoted by Benjamin Schwarz
“Stalin's Gift”
The Atlantic, May 2007
Summary
Operation Barbarossa
German Invasion of the Soviet Union
The classic example of the cost of
not learning the lessons of history
Lesson 16
WW II: The Pacific:
America Enters the War
Japanese Situation
1936: Army began to gain upper hand in government of Japan
Goal: Make Japan preeminent in Asia
Objectives:
• Conquer China
• Expand into SE Asia for bases & raw materials
• Strengthen military
• Build war industry
• Improve air & sea transportation
Ref: Morton: Japans Decision for War
Return to Japan’s Decision
Japanese Situation
Driving Concern: Make Japan self sufficient
(particularly in oil)
Problem: US, Britain, Netherlands control Japan’s
oil
Morton: Japans Decision for War
Japanese Options
Move North: Attack Soviet Union
Move South: Invade East Indies
Reach Accommodation with US
Morton: Japans Decision for War
Timeline
1910
Japan colonizes Korea
1921
League of Nations awards Japan control of former
German possessions in Micronesia
1931
Japan invades Manchuria
1932
Japan establishes a puppet state, Manchukuo, in
Manchuria
1936: Nov 25
Japan & Germany sign Anti-Comintern Pact
1937: Jul 7
Japan provokes incident with China, declares war
Nov 6
Italy joins Germany, Japan in Anti-Comintern Pact
Dec 12
Japanese planes sink gunboat USS Panay in
Yangtze River
Ken Polsson: Chronology of World War II
Timeline
1937: Dec 14
Ludlow Amendment introduced in Congress
• Proposed Constitutional amendment to require
popular referendum prior to entry into war
1938: May 17
US Naval Expansion Act
• Goal: Full-strength two-ocean navy in 10 years
May 28
Japanese cabinet increases military presence
Nov 18
Japan: New Order in East Asia replaces Open Door
1939: Jul 26
US: Will not renew 1911 trade pact with Japan
Aug
Japanese forces defeated by Soviets at Khalkin Gol
(Manchuria)
Sep
War in Europe begins
Ken Polsson: Chronology of World War II
Timeline
1940: Jul
New Japanese government discusses ways to exploit
weakness of European powers in Asia
Jul 25
Roosevelt announces restrictions on shipment of
petroleum & scrap iron to Japan
Aug
US analysts crack Japanese codes
Sep
Japan occupies northern French Indochina
Sep 26
US embargoes shipment of av gas, scrap iron, steel to
Japan
Sep 27
Japan, Germany, Italy sign Tripartite Pact
Nov 11
Royal Navy aircraft attack Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy
Ken Polsson: Chronology of World War II
Timeline
1941: Jul 24
Japan occupies all of French Indochina
Jul 26
US freezes all Japanese assets in US *
Oct 17
General Hideki Tojo becomes Japanese Premier
Nov 20
Sec State Hull, Japanese Ambassador Nomora
begin talks: nations exchange final positions
* Key turning point
Ken Polsson: Chronology of World War II
Timeline
1941: Nov 25
Japanese naval task force sails for Hawaii
Nov 27
US Pacific commanders warned to expect war at
any time with attack likely in Philippines of SE Asia
Dec 1
Japan rejects US counter but asks to continue talks
Dec 1
Japanese naval task force directed to proceed with
attack on Pearl Harbor, subject to recall
Dec 4
US intercepts coded Japanese message indicating
attack on US assets imminent
Dec 7
0755: Attack on US forces on Oahu begins
The US and the Coming of World War II
Japan’s Decision for War
Japan’s Objective: Preeminence in Asia
“Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”
Shortage of oil was the key to Japan's Grand Strategy
Major consideration in preparing for war , yet
Key reason for going to war
Japan’s Decision for War
Japanese Strategy
• Neutralize US Pacific fleet and threats from the Philippines
• Establish defensive perimeter
• Use new resources to build capability to defend indefinitely
Felt US would be unwilling to pay cost of overcoming these defenses
Felt US would compromise, allow Japan the dominant position in Asia
Japan’s Decision for War
Calculated Risk or Risky Calculation?
Japanese Miscalculations
Did not anticipate US reaction to Pearl Harbor attack
Assumed US would accept Japan’s limited war objectives
Assumed Japan could keep the war limited
One man’s limited war may be another man’s total war
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Breaks in our favor:
Two aircraft carriers at sea
Submarines, fuel stores not attacked
Repair facilities left intact
Lesson 17
WW II -- Combined Bombing Offensive
Total War
Total war: one in which the whole population
and all the resources of the combatants are
committed to complete victory
… and thus become legitimate military targets
… and rules of war are ignored.
Automatic
Hugh Bicheno
Oxford Companion to Military History
Targeting Philosophy
U.S.: Daylight, high-altitude precision bombing against
specific industrial targets
British:
Night area-bombing of cities
Together: Combined Bomber Offensive
Strategic Bombing
Challenge
Selecting the most productive target sets
Initially
• U-boat facilities
After June 1943
• Fighter aircraft
• Ball bearings
• Petroleum
Prior to D-Day
• Transportation
Critique of Bombing Campaign
Established a “Second Front”
Precision bombing: results disappointing
Impact on morale: ultimately telling
• German experience different from British during Blitz
"Bombing appreciably affected the German will to resist. Its main
psychological effects were defeatism, fear, hopelessness, fatalism, and
apathy. It did little to stiffen resistance through the arousing of aggressive
emotions of hate and anger. War weariness, willingness to surrender, loss
of hope in German victory, distrust of leaders, feelings of disunity, and
demoralizing fear were all more common among bombed than among
unbombed people."
US Strategic Bombing Survey, European War
Critique of Bombing Campaign
Established a “Second Front”
Precision bombing: results disappointing
Impact on morale: ultimately telling
Impact on war production
• German production increased through mid-1944
• Late decision to mobilization
• Fighter production displaced bombers
• 85% of US bombs were dropped after D-day
• Influenced final ground war after January 1945
Phillip S. Meilinger
Bogus charges Against Airpower
Air Force magazine, September 2002
Lesson 18
WW II -- Amphibious Warfare:
The Normandy Campaign
Dieppe Raid
19 August 1942
Attempt to prove capability to seize and hold a port
Secondary:
• Gather intelligence and capture material
• Study German responses
• Draw the Luftwaffe into open battle
Lessons from Dieppe
Need:
• Specialized landing craft
• Specialized vehicles
• Increased fire support
• Alternative to capturing a port
Mulberry Harbor
Nando Times
PLUTO
Pipeline Under the Ocean
Isle of Wight to Normandy
1.3 million gallons per day
Isle of Wight
Role of Airborne Forces
Protect the flanks of the of the seaborne invasion
 Capture and hold bridges, key road junctions
Weather
Robert Capa – National Archives
Weather was Eisenhower’s biggest concern on D-Day
Operation already had been postponed from June 5th
• Forces had been briefed, loaded, deployments begun
Lesson 19
WW II -- End of the War in Europe
Attacking Germany
The Plan
British Montgomery
US - Patton
Attacking Germany
The First Problem: Logistics
Only
Ports
September 1944
Logistics Challenges
Only operational ports: Cherbourg & Normandy beaches
Supply lines stretched over hundreds of miles
• Not enough trucks to fill pipeline and provide needed supplies
Units in combat required huge amounts of material
• One division in combat required 700-750 tons/day
• Average of 28 divisions north of the Seine after Paris liberated
Problem: How to deliver the goods with the trucks available?
Solution: Change the Process
Red Ball Express
Convoy System to expedite delivery of supplies
Attacking Germany
Problem: Who gets the supplies?
British Montgomery
US - Patton
Operation Market-Garden
17–25 September 1944
Combined (US-British) attempt to flank the Siegfried Line
• Operation Market: airborne assault to secure bridges
• Operation Garden: ground ops to relieve airborne within 4 days
Market-Garden
After Thoughts
Underlined the precarious nature of all airborne assaults
Major considerations:
Airlift available for initial insertion & resupply
Likelihood of timely relief by ground forces
Availability of fire support (organic or air)
Intelligence
WEATHER
Success = Good Planning & Luck!
Western Europe
December 1944
Average Daily Tonnage Offloaded:
Channel Ports: 18,450
Antwerp: 16,600
Battle of the Bulge
Objective
Situation,
of German
December
Counteroffensive
1944
16 December 1944 – 26 January 1945
Primary Objective: Capture port of Antwerp
Battle of the Bulge
16 December 1944 – 28 January 1945
Fall of Germany
Lesson 21
WW II: The Pacific War
Dark Days
Winter – Spring 1942
Guam, Wake Island overrun
Philippines attacked, near collapse
British lost Hong Kong, Singapore
Dutch lost East Indies
Doolittle Raid
America needed something to raise national morale
• Desired to strike at Japanese heartland
Dilemma:
• No bases close enough for land-based bombers
• Too risky for carrier-based air
Solution:
• Meld the two!
Doolittle Raid
Significance
American morale soared
Japanese recalled fighter forces to protect home islands
Most important: Japanese recognized need to extend defensive perimeter
• Decided to attack Midway
Battle of the Coral Sea
4-8 May 1942
Carrier Lexington lost
Carrier Yorktown damaged
(Japanese thought she had sunk)
Japanese lose carrier Shoho; two others damaged
Tactical victory for Japan
• Sank more tonnage
Strategic victory for US
• Stopped Japanese advance on Australia
Midway
Aleutian Diversion Force
(two carriers)
Japanese Plan
Midway Attack Force
(four carriers)
Battle of Midway
Consequences
Losses:
• Japan: 4 carriers, 1 cruiser
• US: 1 carrier (Yorktown), 1 destroyer
Significance:
• High water mark for Japan
• Never recovered carrier, aircrew losses
In the two years following Midway, Japanese shipyards managed to launch
only six additional fleet carriers.
The US in that same period added 17
… along with 10 light carriers and 86 escort carriers.
Lesson 21
WW II: Unconditional Surrender
Review
US Strategy
Isolate Japan
Roll back defensive perimeter
• Southwestern Pacific
• Central Pacific
Destroy industrial capability, will to fight
Invade home islands
US Strategy
Isolate Japan
Destroy industrial power, will
Invade
Roll back defensive perimeter
Maps.com
Strategy to Isolate Japan
Submarine Campaign
“We shall never forget that it was our submarines that held the
lines against the enemy while our fleets replaced losses and
repaired wounds”
- Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, 1947
Japanese Cruiser
Submarine Campaign
Impact
Japanese merchant shipping loses crippled industrial
support for their war effort
Shipping and naval losses restricted Japanese
abilities to support deployed forces
Submarines allowed US to attack Japanese power early
in war at relatively little cost
Chief of Naval Operations, Submarine Warfare Division
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/cno/n87/history/pac-campaign.html
Strategy to Roll Back Japanese Defenses
Island Hopping
Feb-Mar 45
Jun-Aug 44
Nov 43 – Feb 44
Rabaul
May 42 – Aug 45
= Bypassed Japanese Bases
History Animated
Two Routes to Japan
Strategy to Destroy Japanese Industrial Power, Will
Bombing of Japan
Saipan
Guam
Tinian
Iwo Jima
Strategic Importance
Deny its use to Japanese interceptors
Provide base for US escort fighters
Serve as emergency field for damaged B-29s
Strategy to Invade Japan
Operation Downfall
Phase II
Phase I
US Military Academy
Hiroshima
August 6, 1945
A-bomb attacks alleviated
need for invasion
The A-Bomb:
Development & Deployment
Little Boy
Dropped on Hiroshima
Gun-Triggered Fission Bomb
Fat Man
Dropped on Nagasaki
Implosion-Triggered Fission Bomb