Chapter 24: World War ll

Sections 1-3 are on paper.

Section 4: The United States & the European War

• In 1939, the US dissolved its trade treaties with Japan & the following year cut off supplies of war materials by embargoing oil, steel, rubber, & other vital goods

  • in response, considering the oil embargo a de facto declaration of war, Japan's resource-starved military launched invasions across the Pacific to sustain its war effort

• On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

  • believing that American intervention was inevitable, Japanese military planners hoped to destroy enough battleships & aircraft carriers to cripple American naval power for years

note: the attack on Hawaii threw the US into a global conflict

• Britain & the US's superior tactics & technology won them the Battle of the Atlantic

  • British code breakers cracked Germany's radio codes, & the surge of intelligence, coupled with massive naval convoys escorted by destroyers armed with sonar & depth charges, gave the advantage to the Allies

• In January President Roosevelt & Prime Minister Churchill met, & Roosevelt announced to the press that the Allies would accept nothing less than unconditional surrender

• The Army Air Force (AAF) began bombing Germany around the clock, hitting ball-bearing factories, rail yards, oil fields, & manufacturing centers during the day, & cities at night

  • they flew in formation, unescorted, believing that they were flying too high & fast to be attacked, however, advanced German technology allowed fighters to easily shoot them down

• Following the Soviets’ victory at Stalingrad, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin all met - Stalin demanded that Britain and the US invade France to relieve pressure

• Operation Overlord; the long-awaited invasion of France by British and Canadian forces

  • D-Day was the largest amphibious assault in history

  • allied bombing expeditions meanwhile continued to level German cities and industrial capacity

• The Battle of the Bulge failed to drive the Allies back to the English Channel, but they delay cost them the winter

  • the Soviet Union continued its relentless push westward

• German counterattacks in the east failed to dislodge the Soviet advance, destroying any last chance Germany might have to regain the initiative

• The Big Three met again, reaffirming the demand for Hitler's unconditional surrender, planning for postwar Europe

• The Soviet Union reached Germany in January, taking the capital in May, days after Hitler had died from suicide

• The Allied leaders met again, deciding that Germany would be divided into pieces according to current Allied occupation, with Berlin likewise divided, pending future elections

  • Stalin also agreed to join the fight against Japan in approximately 3 months