Americas road to ww2

during ww1 Japan was an ally to

America, declared war on Germany

Japan remained on good terms with America until

1920s

Washington conference on naval disarmament

1921-1922. England, Japan, and the United States agree to limit battleship tonnage on a 5:3:5 ratio. (France and Italy at 1.75) (us3, uk5, j3). Later on some Japanese would call it an insult (they only had i ocean, less boats) Also limited British bases beyond Singapore and America ones beyond Hawaii. Nothing said about aircraft carriers, submarines, naval aviation.

Japan’s democracy stays strong until

1920s when the great depression hits. Civilian gov doesn’t have answer to help ppl, but military does. Target China. Dislike civilian gov anyway believes Samurai should be on top not business men. great ex of facism

Fascism

political philosophy/regime, exalts nation and stands for centralized autocratic (all powerful) government headed by a dictator, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of dissent. Very nationalistic and militaristic. All facists come to power amidst periods of economic tumult and unemployment.

fascism started where

Italy with Mussolini.

Mussolini

former socialist. wanted to restore roman empire. Fascists from faces-roman authority symbol. force seen as answer to econ struggles. Mussolini marches on rome. Appleals as a veteran to veterans. Ends communists threat. busts unions, ends social chaos. make trains run on time. His facism is neither racist nor anti-semitic. Killed a few dozen.

Weimer republic was

the democratic gov the Allies put on Germany after ww1. lasted from 1919-1933. Chronically unstable. Basically everybody hates treaty of versailles, real democracys not really a thing there. too many political parties, extremeists in both sides try to undermine the middle.

Dolchstoss legend

stab in the back. Was a giant lie. during ww1 German-home front told victory was just around the corner. Came as quite a shock when they lost, worsened as most never saw allied troops. So German generals start myth/lie that they didn’t loose but were betrayed and stabbed in the back by civilian politicians. (some Jewish)

Adolf Hitler

Gets foot in door due to Dolchstoss Legend. Becomes known following the Beer Hall Putsch (nov.1923) him n buddies marched on Munich, basically like marching in Nash to overthrow gov. Sentenced 5 years, served less than a year. Gets notoriety from court speeches. Became a hero, said he only did it to save his country. OCcasionaly hide intentions when rising to power. could be flexible in tactics. but he never wavered from his overall plan. Not really a madman. Just evil.

Mein Kampf

Hitlers book he wrote while in Prison. Explains his entire “weltanschauung”-”race and space” Racial hierarchy with Germans at the top. Going from Scandinavians all the way down to Slavs and jews at very bottom. (makes no sense because Hitler is stupid) Plan-become dictator, arm up, go to war. Defeat his eastern neighbors, repay the French for ww1, n then conquer the soviet Union. not many ppl read it, repetitive n boring. Those who did didnt really take it seriously. Except WInstin Churchhill and FDR.

Lebensraum

Hitlers ultimate goal from Mein Kompf translates to “living space” for Germans Want to enslave Slavic ppl and eliminate the jews.

Hitler Wins through

hes a better speaker than his rivals. appeals to Germans over patriotism, and that they deserve better. vows revenge. lose ground until great depression, german econ stabalizes 1924-1929        by 1933 however unemployment at 35%. basically everything sucks and ppl are either convinced or scared into accepting him as the “best option”

Japanese fascism

doesn’t use a blueprint. Army knows true wishes of the emperor apparently. decided they need to take conquer other places ppl are rule conscious. if the Diet(their gov) makes a fuss they’re targeted and killed. 

Manchukuo

happened 1931, was the first shots of ww1. Japanese army invades Manchuria on it’s own. Blow up railroad, use incident to attack. (stage fake attacks for justification) Conquered Manchuria quickly, puppet state establishment. colonize n exploit it mercilessly. japan’s gov powerless. Other nations can do little due to great depression and distance. Kick Japan out of League Of Nations.

wider war with China

(1937-45) scattered incidents from 1931-2937. full scale war after Marco Polo incident. never much strategic sense to the China War. 

The Rape of Nanking

Dec. 1937. Japanese troops sack China’s capital. Kill over 300,000 ppl in grizzly fashion. Beheading contests, bayonet prac, burying alive, immolation, mass rape. Even Nazi station chief John Rabe reports honestly, who was a friend of Japan. 

Isolationism

U.S. wants to keep to themself, feel as if involvement in ww1 was pointless. 110,000 dead and for what? Congress passed several neutrality acts (led to it being impossible to help Ethiopia, Britain when standing alone against Nazis. Roosevelt works to circumvent, land-lease.

Panay incident

American ship to protect our folks in Nanking. Japanese aircraft bombs it on dec 12-1937. 3 dead, 50 hurt. Japan apologize n claim it was a mistake. Unlikely. US accept apologies due to isolationism.

Appeasement

present in Europe (Britain and France). so horrified by war they’d do anything to prevent entering another one. Hitler notices and plays it for all it’s worth. Neville Chamberlain (UK prime minister) most famous appeaser (tho not the only one)interested in econ stability than rearrangement. hates Russia, thinks Hitler more attuned to reason than Stalin. Counterpart/foil is Churchill, who recognized Hitlers threat and spoke out against him constantly. would take over Chamberlain a France falls. one of our best allies ever.

appeasement finale

Munich. Munich conference seals fate of Czechoslovakia. (Hitler has surrounded czech) Chamberlain, Daladier concede to Hitler. Czechs forced out of the sudetenland, defenseless to Hitler. Hitler promised peace, they believed it. Hitler took over without a shot fired. If uk and frnce had supported Czechs, Hitler wouldnt have won.

Hitler takes over

Poland. this makes British, French, and Dutch possessions vulnerable.

where does Japan occupy in sep 1940

North Vietnam

Roosevelt cuts off oil to where

Japan, after their takeover of the rest of Indochina in July 1941 (britain and exile gov also join us) hoping it would make them chill out

japan got its oil from

exports

japan starts planning for war in

September. 1941, cutting off their oil made them wanna hit before they ran out

Japan believes U.S. is

weak and will just give up

Isoruku Yamomoto

Liked America. Pessimistic about his plans. Studied at Harvard and the Naval War College. didn’t wanna attack America. Personally apologized to Ambassador Joseph Grew after the Panay episode. was patriotic, so he did his duty begrudgingly. Plan showed imagination, dedication, and first class training

Pearl Harbor (the plan)

Fleet would cross amidst a storm, undetected and Launch aircraft from the north, unexpected (Constructed a model harbor to prac) Developed torpedoes for shallow waters. analyzed Royal Navy’s Taranto mission. Attacked Italian fleet in port, December 1940. Sank three battleships with obsolete biplanes

Pearl Harbor (the mistakes)

We expected an attack from Japan didn’t know where. Thought Pearl Harbor was safe due to its shallow waters. We were also racist and didn’t consider Japan much of a threat. Assumed they’d go after other allies/Philippines

pearl Harbor Conspiracy

we did not know attack was coming to pearl harbor. we had been listening in to Japanese codes but there was too much noise and couldn’t figure out exactly where attacks were happening. Not to mention like 10 to 11 other places were also being attacked at the time.

Pearl Harbor human error

we had sighted Japanese submarines but ignored them, thinking it was out own people. Pearl Harbor had also gotten into a routine and was used to taken Sundays off. Worried about sabotage more than anything underestimated Japan.

Pearl Harbor the attack

total surprise. Japan loses little. America lost a lot. 2400 killed, nearly half on USS Arizona. 18 ships damaged, including all 8 battleships. 188 aircraft destroyed, 160 damaged, though it got rid of older planes, doing US a favor low-key.

Chuicha Nagumo

Didn’t send a second wave as planned during Pearl Harbor. Didn’t hit the petroleum dump (our supplies). did not hit repair facilities/docks. Left the core of the fleet intact with it’s base.

Consequences of Pearl Harbor

Killed isolationism. Americans ready for revenge. Humbled the US, made Japan arrogant/cocky. Solved Navy’s dilemma of deciding between ships and aircrafts, destroying all ships leaving us to use aircrafts. (good decision).

Hitlers response to Pearl Harbor

declared war on the U.S.

Winston Churchill

Took Hitler seriously, and was outspoken about his hatred for him, and how big a threat he was. Hardworking, a writer. took over Chamberlain as France fell. One of U.S.'s best allies. 

FDR Franklin Roosevelt

took Hitler seriously and was outspoken about his hatred for him and how big a threat he was. Speaks out against Japan taking over China. Roosevelt circumvents the Land-Lease Act and finds ways around laws preventing the U.S. from helping other countries despite Neutrality Acts.