Unit 11

Pre-WWII

  • At the Munich conference, France and Britain pledged to declare war against Germany if they attacked Poland

  • 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact and agreed to split Poland in half between Russia and Germany

  • Germany invaded Poland and France and Britain declared war

  • “Blitzkrieg” - an intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory (German Strategy)

In WWII

  • Initially, Russia does not get involved but does send resources to support German forces​

  • Italy also did not get involved until Germany successfully captured most of France - then they join the Central Powers​

  • Tripartite Pact in Berlin: Treaty is signed between Germany, Italy in Japan in 1940​

  • Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, and Hideki Tojo/Hirohito in Japan​

Start of WWII

  • Blitzkrieg​

  • The invasion happened quickly and by 1941 the Central powers controlled nearly all of Europe​

  • In 1940, Paris fell to Germany and France was forced to sign an armistice​

  • Battle of Britain: From July 1940 - May 1941 Germany relentlessly bombed Britain hoping to force surrender (unsuccessful)​

  • Britain refused to surrender and Germany decided to focus on Eastern Europe​

In Russia

  • Stalin and Hitler were allies out of convenience but did not actually get along​

  • Hitler HATED communism​

  • June 1941: Germany invades Soviet Union and breaks non-aggression pact (Operation Barbarossa)​

  • Despite early success, winter approaches and Germany is overwhelmed by lack of food, cold, and constant fighting​

  • German army is defeated and USSR joins the allies​

Attack on Pearl Harbor

  • The United States originally tried to stay out of the war (but still sent supplies to Allies)​

  • On December 7th, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor (A U.S. Naval base) in Hawaii​

    • Japan was angry that the United States was helping the Allies and was worried that the United States would prevent them from conquering the Pacific​

Post Pearl Harbor

  • US declares war on Japan and joins the Allies​

    • US lost a lot of its Naval fleet during the attack. Within six months, the United States rebuilt its fleet entirely and more​

    • Of 8 battleships sunk, 6 were raised and refurbished ​

  • From 1942-43, the USA quickly built the strongest Navy in the world​

Battle of Midway

  • After bombing Pearl Harbor, Japan quickly took over most of the Pacific​

  • Midway Atoll held by US - Japan attacks in 1942 hoping to wipe out rest of US fleet​

  • US interpreted a message that the attack was coming and prepared (AF to be attacked)​

  • Result: US sinks ALL Japanese aircraft carriers and gains control over Pacific​

Battles in the Pacific

  • “Island Hopping” -  bypass powerful Japanese controlled islands and focus instead on poorly defended islands close to the Japanese mainland.​

  • Japan uses “Kamikaze” (suicide bombing missions)​

  • By 1945, US takes Iwo Jima and Okinawa​

    • Battle of Iwo Jima lasts 5 weeks (22,000 Japanese die; 7,000 Americans die​

  • Atomic bomb dropped August 6th, 1945 (we’ll come back to this)​

Allies In Europe

  • Soviets stopped the Germans on the Russian Front - Battle of Stalingrad pushed the Axis powers all the way out of Russia​

  • By 1942, the Allies had taken North Africa from the Axis powers​

  • Allies invaded Italy in 1943​

D-Day (June 6th 1944)

  • Force of British, American, Canadian and French troops landed on the coast of Normandy in France (Over 160,000 soldiers) ​

  • 9,000 killed in first 24 hours and attack lasted a month​

  • From this, the Allies pushed into France and had taken control by the end of 1944​

Battle Of The Bugle

  • As Allies pushed into Axis territory from France and Russia, the Axis powers put together one final offensive​

  • Goal: split the Allied lines in half​

  • Result: Bloodiest battle of WWII - 80,000 American casualties, over 100,000 German casualties​

  • Allies win and Germans began full retreat​

The Fall of Berlin

  • Mussolini was captured and executed in Italy in 1945​

  • In Berlin, Hitler knew that the end was near.​

    • Two Soviet groups attacked Berlin, Germany​

      • Soviets lost 81,8116 while Germans lost 92,000​

      • As the battle was happening, Hitler committed suicide in an underground bunker​

  • Berlin surrendered on May 8th, 1945​

    • Named VE Day (Victory over Europe Day)

The Atomic Bomb

  • ​After winning the war in Europe, the Allies focused all of their attention on defeating Japan​

    • Potsdam Declaration: Japan either surrenders or faces “prompt and utter destruction”​

  • Japan refuses and President Truman decided that there was only way to defeat Japan​

    • A brand new weapon called the atomic bomb​The Na

  • The atomic bombs were dropped on Japan​

    • Hiroshima: August 6th, 1945 (Little Boy)​

    • Nagasaki: August 9th 1945 (Fat Man)​

  • The bombs killed over 200,000 Japanese with initial blasts and lasting radiation effects​

  • U.S. claims that it saved over a million American lives because they did not have to invade​

  • Japan  was forced to surrender on September 2nd, 1945 (V-J Day)​

Rise of Hitler

  • In 1919, Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party - he eventually took over and renamed it National Socialist Party (Nazi)​

Ideologies defined in Hitler’s Book: Mein Kampf​

  • Germans were the purest descendents of Ancient Aryans​

    • Germans with physical/mental disabilities, a criminal history, homosexuals, or anyone with mental illness “polluted” the German bloodline​

The Nazi Party

  • The SS (“Black Shirts”)​

    • The SS were Hitler’s private bodyguards and were led by Heinrich Himmler​

    • They arrested and killed anyone who challenged Hitler​

    • The SS took over law enforcement in Germany ​

  • The Gestapo​

    • The Gestapo were the secret police of Nazi Germany ​

    • They investigated treason, espionage, and sabotage cases against the Nazi Party (i.e. Valkyrie)​

    • The Gestapo also set up and administered the concentration camps​

Nazi Ideology

  • History of the Swastika ​

  • The Swastika is a religious symbol used by the Egyptians, Chinese, Roman armies, and many others​

  • The Swastika used to mean good luck​

  • The Nazi Party used the Swastika because they felt it had connections to original caste systems that avoided racial mixing​

  • The Swastika is banned in most countries, except for religious or scholarly reasons

  • The Nazis targeted many groups during the Holocaust​

    • Over 100,000 men arrested for homosexuality​

    • 300,000 people sterilized for some type of disability​

    • 200,000 Germans with disabilities executed​

    • After the invasion of Poland, Nazis executed up to 3,000,000 Polish Catholics​

  • The Jewish population of Europe was targeted more than any other group​

  • Jews were blamed for the German loss of WWI and the Great Depression​

  • Nuremberg Laws (1935): Jews could not be German citizens, could not marry German citizens, could not vote, or compete in the 1936 Olympics (Held in Germany)​

  • Following this, Hitler would add laws to restrict Jewish businesses and Nazis eventually attacked Jewish owned property​

  • Kristallnacht 1938 (Night of Broken Glass): Windows of Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues were smashed​

  • By the next year, Nazi leaders were forcing the Jewish population into Ghettos in Germany and Poland​

The Holocaust

  • Ghettos quickly became overcrowded and Nazis built concentration camps (such as Auschwitz, Warsaw, and Dachau) where Jews were sent to work as slave laborers​

  • “The Final Solution” - The systematic execution of the Jewish population​

  • Nazis used to murder Jews by firing squad but this was deemed too slow​

  • 1942 - Massive complexes built to kill and incinerate up to 12,000 people per day​

  • By the end of WWII, over 6 Million Jews were dead​

Tehran Conference

  • This was the first conference between the allies about World War II ​

  • Between the “Big Three”​

    • Winston Churchill - Great Britain​

    • Joseph Stalin - Soviet Union​

    • Franklin Roosevelt - United States​

  • They made the joint decision to open a new front against Nazi Germany in Normandy, France (D-Day)​

The Yalta Conference

  • Once the allies realized that Germany was going to lose the war, they began to come up with plans for the future

  • Russia Vs. Japan - Once Germany had officially lost, the Soviet Union would declare war against Japan

  • Holocaust Criminals - War criminals who were responsible for the concentration camps would be hunted down

  • Division Of Germany - Germany would be divided into four zones, controlled by America, France, USSR, and Britain

  • Joining the UN - All countries involved will join the United Nations organization (UN)

Disagreements at the Yalta Conference

  • The main disagreement was Poland​

  • Stalin wanted to take some Polish territory and make it a part of the Soviet Union (Churchill and Roosevelt did not want this to happen)​

  • Stalin had a strong army controlling Poland, so Roosevelt and Churchill decided that the USSR could have the land they wanted if they promised to keep communism contained​

Potsdam Conference

  • After Germany was officially defeated, Potsdam was the conference to officially decide what was going to happen​

  • A lot had changed after the Yalta conference​

    • Stalin decided to hold onto a lot of Eastern Europe to prevent future attacks​

    • The U.S. had a new president (Truman) after FDR died​

    • Allies had been testing an atomic bomb​

    • Stalin wanted Germany to pay reparations for the damage done to the USSR and for the 20 million soldiers that had died​

    • Truman did not -  he didn’t want a repeat of the Treaty of Versailles​

    • Everyone disagreed over how the Soviet Union should handle Europe​

    • Stalin was completely dominating Eastern Europe by 1946​

  • The Iron curtain - Part controlled by the Soviet Union

Marshall Plan

  • In the ruin of WWII, many countries turned to Communism for economic recovery​

  • Truman Doctrine: President Truman wants to slow the spread of Communism​

  • Marshall Plan: US will give $12.5 Billion to European countries to help rebuild and encourage trade​

    • European countries recover quickly and turn away from communism​

    • Russia refuses the assistance money - does not want to allow American influence​

MacArthur’s Plan for Japan​

  • General Douglas MacArthur wanted the U.S. to occupy Japan immediately after WWII ended​

  • Wanted to:​

    • Demilitarize Japan​

    • Encourage democracy​

    • Encourage economic growth​

    • Prevent future aggression​

  • War time leaders put on trial and later put to death​

  • Wrote a new constitution for Japan - two house legislature voted in by people and a bill of rights​

The United Nations

  • The League of Nations disbanded in 1946 after failure to prevent war and is replaced by the United Nations​

  • UN has 2 groups:​

    • General Assembly: Everyone has one vote, includes international opinions​

    • Security Council: Given power to send out military forces​

  • Five countries hold permanent seats with veto power: Britain, France, USA, Russia, China​

East/West Germany

  • The French, British, and American zones of Germany joined together to form “West Germany” in 1949​

  • USSR controlled East Germany and was angry that France, Britain, and America had allowed west Germany to unite​

  • East Germans were fleeing Russian control to go to the West and USSR puts up the Berlin Wall - dividing the city of Berlin in half​

  • USSR demands control over West Berlin and cuts off access - US responds by airlifting supplies​

  • Soviet Union backs down but maintains control over East Germany/Berlin (wall stays until 1989)​

​North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Warsaw Pact​

  • In response to the Soviet Union’s aggression, ten European nations (and the US and Canada) form NATO​

  • An attack on one is an attack on all​

  • Scared the Soviet Union into backing down, but also heightened Cold War tensions​

  • Soviet Union formed Warsaw Pact in response with 7 Eastern European countries​

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