wwii

  • 1933-1945
    • Hitler was elected as chancellor in Germany in 1933
    • FDR was elected in 1932 and inaugurated in 1933.
    • This was the last day the inauguration was March 4th.
    • The 20th amendment changed the day to January 20th.
  • The photo depicts soldiers raising an american flag on Iwo Jima.
    • The air base was attacking US military ships on their way to Japan. The US had to take over. On one side of the island was a massive extinct volcano, and that’s where the famous photo was taken. The navy bombed the island for two days straight. The Marines were ordered to go onto the beach and the head guy wanted a flag on top of the volcano. It was ordered, “if you make it to the top, put the flag up.” They weren’t expected to get up to the top alive, never mind down. There was a photographer there that took a photo and it went 20th century viral. They had to keep fighting for their lives afterward. The government wanted them to come home and sell war bonds. They couldn’t identify the guy on the right. No one was able to tell who it was, besides one person in the US. The family contacted the government and the person ended up being right. That person was his mother. She could tell by his ass. The guy in the back (Ira Hayes) was a Navajo. They were important because the Japanese couldn’t decipher their language. However, in US society the Navajo weren’t respected. Ira Hayes comes home to sell war bonds, and was a hero and a celebrity during the ceremony. Afterwards, he’s discriminated against. He went back to his reservation and drank himself to death.
  • By 1933, many believe the fragile peace established by the Treaty of Versailles would not hold up for long. It was a joke and caused a lot of tension. New leaders, alliances, and intense militarism start to rise in Europe and Asia.
    • Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, etc.
  • Most Americans were more concerned with the Depression, “isolationist.”
  • How, why, and when did this all change?
  • Causes of WWII.
    • WWI peace treaty
    • German reparations- 33 billion dollars. This broke their economy.
    • Redrawn boundaries
    • Creation of weak nations.
    • Economic and Political Factors
    • Economic depression
    • Hitler seen as defense against communism
    • Desire among some nations for peace at any cost.
    • Economic depression feeds the rise of dictators.
      • Demagogue- someone who speaks to the desires and prejudices of a people instead of logical thought/rational thought.
      • In the start, they worked. Mussolini and Hitler helped rebuild their nations.
      • Hitler was the person of the year in Time in 1938.
    • Alliances formed
    • Axis
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Others
    • Allies
      • US
      • Great Britain
      • France
      • Russia
      • China
      • 45 others
    • Policy of appeasement
      • Giving into aggression just to keep the peace. Like giving a bully your lunch money so he doesn’t shake you. This was what the international community was doing to the individual Axis powers.
    • American Neutrality Acts, desire to stay out of a European conflict.
    • Hitler’s Leadership
    • Challenged Versailles Treaty
    • Rebuilt German military
    • Practiced territorial aggression.
    • Promoted extreme nationalism.
    • Encouraged anti-Semitic scapegoating.
  • London Conference (1933)
    • 66 nations develop together to develop worldwide solutions to the Great Depression. FDR left because he felt it doesn’t have the same values of the US.
  • Tydings McDuffie Act 1934
    • Independence to the Philippines by 1946
    • Kept the Naval bases in the Philippines
  • Good Neighbor Policy
    • FDR promised “a policy of the good neighbor” towards the nations in the Western Hemisphere. This results in a unified western hemisphere.
    • Pan-American Conferences
    • 1933: meeting in Uruguay
      • US pledged no more intervention in the internal affairs of Latin America - Repudiates (To take back, dissociate with) the Roosevelt Corollary (America would interfere so Europe wouldn’t have to.)
      • A step to unify the western hemisphere.
    • 1936: meeting in Argentina
    • US promised a hemisphere prepared for overseas aggression for the mutual safety of nations. Work to protect ourselves together.
    • 1940: meeting in Havana
      • Hemisphere security. US promise from 1936 was formalized. This kills the Monroe Doctrine.
    • Reciprocal Trade Agreements (1934) - Sec. of State Hull - reduced US tariffs (import taxes) up to 50% for nations that reciprocated similar policies and traded with US - “a two way street.” This was an attempt to help the depression and help improve economy abroad to prevent the rise of dictators.
      • By 1939: success with 21 countries.
      • Increased trade with Latin America
      • Landmark policy - large degree of change.
      • Reversed long tradition of high tariffs.
  • Totalitarianism: when a government has full control. Umbrella term.
    • Many of the Balkans were oppressive regimes after the fall of the Ottoman empire.
    • Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
    • Responsible for more deaths than Hitler.
    • Sold out his own son. Kidnapped by Nazis and failed to negotiate an exchange and instead had his own son killed in Nazi camps.
    • Hated the Nazis. The Nazis hated Stalin.
    • Benito Mussolini (Italy)
    • Set the example for Hitler, but became his puppet.
    • Military would bully people and make them vote a certain way.
    • Italy still had a king. The king listened to Mussolini so he was the dictator.
    • Hideki Tojo (Japan)
    • Prime minister in Japan. They still had an emperor.
    • Leader of the war party.
    • Militarism was the government.
    • Their religion was kicked to the side to industrialize and westernize Japan.
    • Adolf Hitler (Germany)
    • Known as the worst guy in history.
    • We’ll talk more about him later.
  • Socialism: people are expected to share the wealth themselves.
  • Communism: The government steps in and controls the means of production.
  • Nazism: fascism but combined with antisemitism.
  • New idealism: Government controls distribution.
  • Capitalism: using money to make more money.
  • Fascism: nationalistic totalitarian. People are expected to give up civil liberties for the benefit of the state.
    • Totalitarianism: Germany’s Third Reich (Empire.)
    • NSDAP: National Socialist German Workers Party
    • Propaganda stated that it would last for thousands of years.
  • American Isolationism
    • Nye Committee: 1934. Investigated Merchants of Death thesis.
    • The belief that the US entered WWI to benefit the business and the banks.
    • The committee found no evidence to prove it, but they said it was true.
    • They said the war was an avoidable mistake and we could have stayed out.
    • Neutrality Act of 1935: Prohibited all arms shipments and forbade US citizens to travel on ships of belligerent nations. We couldn’t sell weapons. (Lusitania inspired the ship rule, Germans ship from WWI that killed Americans.)
    • Neutrality Act of 1936: Forbade extension of loans and credit to belligerents. Trying to avoid getting stuck in a weird payment triangle like we did with Germany.
    • Neutrality Act of 1937: Forbade shipment of arms to both sides of the Spanish Civil War.
    • The Spanish Civil War was the “dress rehearsal” for WWII.
    • There were two factions in Spain. Democratic and Fascist.
    • The Fascist faction should have been helped by Italy and Germany. They did.
    • The Democratic faction should have been helped by the US, the British (poor), the French (poor) and the Soviet Union.
      • Because of their hatred towards the Nazis, the U.S.S.R helped the Democracy.
      • Fascism won - US and other democracies did nothing.
  • Pablo Picasso - Guernica - 1937
    • The Nazis bombed Guernica to help the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War. It was undefended and a quiet farming town. The city burned for three days. Many innocent civilians died. Civilian targets were targeted more in WWII.
    • “Good Artists borrow, great artists steal.”
    • He painted his painting Guernica in response to the bombing.
    • He said that if the government was fascist, he didn’t want the painting to be there.
  • Appeasement: Giving concessions to an aggressor to preserve peace.
  • U.S. and League of Nations did nothing when:
    • Mussolini invaded Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in 1935
    • Hitler occupied the Rhineland in 1936
    • Hitler admitted himself that he could have been stopped at this point.
    • The league did nothing because they didn’t want to repeat WWI.
    • The Rhineland was in Germany. He put his military in his own country.
    • It was the last time he could have been stopped.
    • Anschluss: March 1938
    • The union of Germany and Austria.
    • Violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
    • Ethnically, they’re all the same. Goes back to Rome.
    • The Austrians welcomed the unification.
    • Hitler called it a parade, not an invasion.
    • The Jewish population in Austria was given a two week warning to leave and then they started being rounded up.
    • Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931: Left League
    • Manchuria is in China.
      • Same place the Russo-Japanese war was fought over.
    • Act of aggression by Japan to take over foreign territory.
    • They wanted more money and power.
    • Japan invades China in 1937 (USS Panay)
    • USS Panay was an American gunboat sunk by the Japanese.
    • The US accepts their apology to keep the peace.
    • Hitler wants Sudetenland
    • Germany promised no further acts of aggression.
      • This lasted for six months.
    • Sudetenland is in Czechoslovakia
    • Munch Conference in September of 1938
      • Czechoslovakia wasn’t invited.
    • Great Britain and France give Germany Sudetenland
    • March of 1939 - Operation Green
    • German invasion of Czechoslovakia
  • The Polish Corridor
    • Germany wants it because it’s near the sea.
    • It belonged to Poland. It used to be German but then after WWI it was given to Poland.
  • Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact / Nazi-Soviet Pact / Non-Aggression Pact
    • August 23, 1939.
    • They agree not to fight each other, and instead split up and take over Poland.
    • Hitler would get the Polish Corridor and Stalin would get other land.
    • This was secret.
    • They were trying to reclaim land lost after WWI.
    • Globally, it led to a sigh of relief. It felt like there would be no war.
  • Invasion of Poland - September 1st, 1939
    • This is the start of WWII.
    • There was very little resistance.
    • They employed tactics such as Blitzkrieg
    • “Lightning War”
    • Poland surrendered in three weeks.
    • The focus on Poland wasn’t on military because they had other issues.
    • Soviets came in from the left and Nazis came in from the right.
  • Interesting movie Monday notes
    • n/a. saw a decapitated body though.
  • September 3rd, 1939 - Britain and France declare war against Germany.
    • They do nothing to help Poland.
    • “Phony War” September 3rd, 1939 - May 10th, 1940
  • Blitzkrieg
    • Translates to “lightning war”
    • Resulted in a banger song by the Ramones like twenty years later.
    • Technique the German Military used.
    • Used new, advanced, technology like planes and bombs.
  • Wherever the Nazis went, the roundup began right away.
  • Occupation of the Neutral States (Winter/Spring of 1939-1940)
    • The Soviet Union occupies Finland.
    • This begins the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet pact.
    • It wasn’t agreed upon in the pact.
    • It was Soviet territory prior to WWI.
    • Germany occupy Denmark and Norway.
    • The two countries are separated by Sweden.
      • Sweden didn’t want to get involved because they couldn’t defend themselves against the Nazis. They agreed to give them iron to stay independent.
      • Sweden was a puppet state of the Nazis.
      • They were capitulated with the Nazis.
    • Nazis had a military presence there.
    • Germany occupies the Netherlands and Belgium
    • Little to no resistance in these places.
  • The “Fall of France” - June 1940
    • Operation Yellow
    • France fell very quickly. They defended their border.
    • “Maginot Line” defensive barrier between France and Germany.
    • They were in Paris by June 15th.
    • The Northern part of France was occupied by the Nazis.
    • To the South, there was no German military, but a puppet government controlled by the German - “Vichy France.”
    • Still, no one was safe in the southern area.
    • Hitler wanted to dismantle the cultural center of Europe being Paris, and instead have that cultural center be in Berlin.
  • By June of 1940, it’s only the British fighting the Germans alone.
    • France was out, the US wasn’t in yet.
  • Germany 1940
    • Switzerland stays out of the war because they’re the banking center of Europe and they have the Alps. A lot of the artwork the Nazis stole went to Switzerland.
    • They were still capitulating with Germany despite being neutral.
  • Battle of Britain - July-October 1940
    • Tanks and troops couldn’t be used in G.B. because of landscape.
    • The battle was an air campaign.
    • The British continued to be bombed throughout the whole war, but it eases in October.
    • This is because the weather was awful. They needed to see the targets and couldn’t because of clouds and rain.
    • Tower Bridge - Gothic architecture. Cool looking bridge. Sexy, if you will.
    • Tower of Britain - Collection of cool British history shit.
  • Hitler changes his focus over the winter of 1940.
    • Instead of Britain, it was the Soviet Union.
  • Havana Conference (1940)
    • The war has already started at this point, but the US wasn’t involved.
    • The US worked to unify the whole hemisphere for collective security.
  • “Cash and Carry” - pay in cash, use own ships. Passed November 5th, 1939.
    • Roosevelt had a difficult time gaining support for getting ships and troops into the war.
    • Britain and France can go to the US and buy and use our materials. This was an attempt to bypass the Neutrality act of 1937. The policy ended when we entered the war.
    • Isolationists were in the “America First” committee.
  • Destroyers for Bases - September 1940
    • Roosevelt sent 50 destroyers to England so we could build bases on British territory.
    • Edward Morrow was a radio star that broadcast from Europe.
    • Burkewadsworth Act - Britain was threatened so this act was allowed to be passed because people saw Germany as a threat. First peacetime draft in US History.
    • It was an executive order by FDR with Winston Churchill, not a bill.
    • FDR was criticized because it made him sound like a dictator.
  • Election of 1940
  • The Four Freedoms - January 6th, 1941
    • A long speech made by Roosevelt that gave hope to war-worried people because it told them they were fighting for their freedom. It included phrases from the bill of rights. He gave the speech to convince Americans to join the war.
    • The speech was given to congress. It was the state of the union address.
    • Freedom of speech
    • Freedom of an individual or a community to talk without fear of censorship.
    • Freedom of worship
    • For every person to worship in their own way everywhere in the world. Everyone had their freedom of religion or religious liberty.
    • freedom from want
    • Economic understanding that will secure every nation a happy peacetime life.
    • Freedom from fear.
    • No nation will have military aggression to their neighbors.
    • Roosevelt went through seven drafts of his speech before he presented it.
    • Normal Rockwell painted a depiction of the Four Freedoms for the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. It caused 13 million dollars in war bonds. They illustrates the four freedoms in personal, family scenarios instead of global conflict.
    • At first, he found it very difficult to put the concepts into visual art.
  • Lend-Lease - March 1941
    • plan to lend lease and sell weapons to countries.
    • proposed as a way to eliminate the dollar sign.
    • important in supplying the allies with military aid.
    • house resolution bill 1776
    • number was chosen on purpose.
    • America First Committee
    • group of Americans against joining the war.
    • September 1940 - December 7th, 1941
    • ABC - 1
    • America, Britain, Canada
    • Secret discussion in Washington DC
    • Discussed if the US entered the war.
    • Established military concepts, resources, and deployment strategies.
    • They wanted to take Germany first.
    • the public is staring to support the idea of the war.
    • we gave 11 billion dollars worth to the soviets
  • The Atlantic Charter
    • The antithesis to the axis powers.
    • Three meetings, two private, one public.
    • Unofficial agreement between the US and Britain.
    • discussed different ideas
    • freedom of the seas
    • territorial aggrandizement (no imperialism)
    • common goal of freedom / self-determination
    • general association of nations
    • set postwar goals and shaped international groups.
    • led to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that was signed by 32 countries after the war. It was a trade agreement signed by democratic nations.

Post Spring Break

  • Sicily is taken over in August of 1943.
  • That same month Mussolini fell from power. The Nazis try and break him out of jail to get him installed back in power. Italy was out of the war in September of 1943. The Italians surrender to the US, Britain, and Russia. But they then declare war on the German troops.
  • In 1945 the Italian people captured Mussolini and other fascist political leaders. They killed him, mutilated his body, and hung it from a gas station in Milan. Eventually the body got back to his wife and it’s in his birthplace now.
  • Tehran Conference (November 1943)
    • First time “The Big Three” met together.
    • Tehran is in Iran. Stalin, FDR, and Churchill were there.
    • Their goal was to plan the D-Day invasion (June 6th, 1944.)
    • They also agreed to the United Nations.
  • D-Day Invasion
    • Operation Overlord- Plan to invade Normandy, France.
    • Hitler thought they were going to invade Calais in Belgium instead. There was a decoy operation with actors and fake soldiers to make war noises.
    • Note that Hitler was already cocked up on drugs at this point and didn’t wake up until 10 or 11 am. They were prescribed he wasn’t like doing coke or anything. He wasn’t cool like that.
    • They couldn’t have invaded that way anyways because of the rocks and currant.
    • An issue with landing in Normandy was the heavy defense by the Germans.
    • 150,000 troops were involved.
    • Eisenhower was in charge of the allied forces there.
    • The job of the air force was to get rid of the guns shooting at the sea and soldiers approaching. They weren’t able to completely do that.
    • The invasion was delayed. All they did for a year was prepare for June 5th, but there was a massive storm that day. So it was moved to the next day. Some people gave the green light too early and began to be shot at.
    • Higgins boats had a flat bottom and were made out of wood (encased in metal to protect from bullets.) The channel was rough because of the storm. They were puking in the boats.
    • A lot of them couldn’t swim.
    • Hedgehogs made the invasion have to take place at low tide. They were like sticks in the water that would prevent boats from moving in.
    • The Germans were shooting at the soldiers from the top of the cliffs.
    • Some made it, 3,000 didn’t.
    • On Omaha Beach alone there were 2,000 casualties.
    • US Airborne was 2,499 casualties.
    • Reasonable guess was 9,000 casualties. But there wasn’t an official count.
    • Germany’s Conquests and allies before the D-Day Invasion
    • The Germans were on the last leg in June of 44.
  • Battle of the Bulge
    • December of 1944. Along the French, Belgian, German border.
    • It occurred during a massive snowstorm.
    • Volksstorm - Hitler was enlisting everyone 16-60. They were untrained and had little resources or supplies.
    • Some people believe Patton helped them win but others believe they could have achieved it anyways.
  • April 12, 1945 - FDR Died.
    • Truman was sworn in afterwards.
    • People were very concerned because he had to finish the war.
  • Elbe Day
    • End of April 1945. United States and Russians met among the Elbe River.
    • It was a celebration because the Germans were defeated.
  • April 30th, 1945
    • Hitler commits suicide. Took a cyanide pill with his newlywed in Berlin. They also shot themselves with the Hitler. There was another notable Nazi family there.
    • There was controversy over who found him and where he went.
    • He most likely had Parkinson’s Disease anyways.
  • German Surrender - May 7th, 1945.
    • Germans waited so the citizens could move from East to the West and surrender to the British and Americans instead of the Russians.

NOTES FROM 4/19 GO HERE

  • Okinawa - April 1st, 1945 - June 22nd, 1945
    • Important because of their resources. They had sugarcane.
    • 50,000 casualties for the US. 10,000 Japanese casualties.
    • Staging ground on the landing of mainland Japan.
  • Manhattan Project
    • Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer (and more) built the atomic bombs.
    • Many US scientists that worked on the bombs escaped from Fascism.
    • 100,000 people worked on the project all over the US.
    • It cost two billion dollars in 1940’s money.
  • Trinity Test
    • July of 1945.
    • In New Mexico.
    • Reports of glass breaking 100 miles away.
    • Reports of a blind woman seeing the light.
    • The military felt excited to put an end to the war.
    • Many scientists felt sorrowful because they felt guilty about what they made.
  • Potsdam Conference - July 1945
    • When Truman was vice president, he didn’t know about it.
    • He wasn’t told about it until well into his presidency.
    • Churchill lost an election at home in the middle of the meeting.
  • Potsdam Declaration
    • “Surrender unconditionally or face prompt and utter destruction.”
    • Russia wasn’t at war with Japan at this point.
    • Japan ignored this warning.
  • First atomic bomb
    • There were five cities picked out. It came down to the weather. Tokyo might have been picked although it would have been unnecessarily brutal because the population there.
    • Hiroshima
    • 70,000 people died.
    • Enola Gay was the name of the plane.
    • People were out and exposed in the city.
    • August 6th, 1945.
    • Nagasaki
    • August 9th, 1945.
    • 35,000 deaths.
    • Mountains around the harbor contained the blast.
    • The aftermath
    • It completely obliterated both cities.
    • The terms were “unconditional surrender” without negotiating or discussion. Japan refused to agree. So we had to bomb them twice until the Emperor decides to surrender. Official surrender was on September 2nd.
    • The US knew that the Emperor meant everything to the Japanese people. So when we took over Japan after the war, we let him stay in power.
    • Both cities are bright and colorful and modern today. A lot of their recovery was funded by the US to build a democratic ally in the region. This leads to them making cars, radios, televisions, and other pieces of technology.
    • Japan signs a treaty on September 2nd. It was a whole six years and one day of war.
    • Pearl Harbor - USS Arizona and USS Missouri. They still leak oil.
    • VJ Day was the official end of the war in the US and London.
    • Impact on American life
    • Baby boom.
    • Size of the federal government gets bigger.
    • New technology: jet planes, radar, sonar, computer technology, atomic energy.
      • Synthetics - man-made. Oil, shampoo, fuel, plastic, styrofoam.
    • Economic prosperity.
    • Competition between the US and the USSR
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