History - WWII

The Causes of WWII

  1. Treaty of Versailles:

  • The treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June, 1919, to mark the end of WWI, and any financial obligations/debts owed to Allied countries by Germany. This treaty also removed much of the territory gained by Germany during the first world war, and left them in a state of economic depression, much worse than any other country


2. The Great Depression:

  • The global economic crash of 1929 led to falling production of goods, and employment. In the Weimar Republic of Germany (post monarchy), hyperinflation led to many distrusting the government, so extremist parties such as the Nazis, or the fascists in Italy, gained support from the public


3. Adolf Hitler:

  • Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist Party (Nazi), and became Germany’s dictator on 30th of January 1933. He conducted large rallies to strengthen his ideals upon the public, and began rearming Germany, which conflicted with the conditions in the Treaty of Versailles


4. Rearmament and Appeasement:

  • By pulling out of the TOS, Hitler reinstated conscription and the production of new naval bases and artillery. Additionally, he began to threaten other countries bordering Germany with invasion. In order to prevent a large-scale war, large Western countries such as the British Empire and France allowed Hitler to have some land, such as the Rhineland and Czechoslovakia. However, this also bolstered Hitler’s confidence in occupying others - especially Poland


5. Invasion of Poland/the Anschluss

  • The invasion of Poland marked the beginning of WWII at a conflict scale. On the 1st of September, 1939, Hitler’s troops invaded Poland, against the will of France and Britain. Due to the large network of allies, many different countries were dragged into the war in Europe, with Japan and Italy also starting conflicts alongside Germany.

  • The Anschluss was the unification of Germany and annexed Austria. Whilst Hitler claimed this was due to popular demand, many Europeans saw it as a breach of international safety and diplomacy, Austria had been close with Germany before and during WWI, therefore Hitler saw that as a way of justifying this decision. This also allowed the German military to access more personnel, land and industry.


Entering the War

"Every resource in Australia; every man in the street; every woman in the home... must be harnessed to the victory effort". 


Key players - Axis:

  • Germany, Japan and Italy formed a coalition called the Axis Powers

  • Many eastern European countries eventually joined the Axis

  • Germany was led by Adolf Hitler the Fuhrer, Japan was led by Admiral Hideki Tojo, and Italy was led by Benito Mussolini


Key players - Allies:

  • Great Britain, the U.S, the Soviet Union, France and China made up the opposing Allies

  • Between 139 and 1944 at least 50 nations were in the allies, later 13 more such as Australia joining in 1945

  • The U.S was led by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Britain was led by Winston Churchill, China was led by Chiang Kai-Shek, and the Soviet Union was led by Josef Stalin


Statistics:

  • 70 million people fought in the military

  • The Soviet Union had the largest army casualty number of 7 million

  • Estimated civilian deaths was 50-55 million caused by bombing, raids, massacres or other causes

  • Estimated military deaths of 20-25 million (approx 5 million as POWs)

  • At least 6 million Jewish people were killed by Nazi Germany

  • Over 5 million Soviet POW, ethnic Poles, Romani, people with disabilities and homosexuals were murdered 

The Holocaust

“This history teaches us that we can all make a difference and shape a future that is different from our past”

Introduction:

  • “Holocaust” is of Greek origin, originally meaning “great or complete devastation or destruction” - especially by fire

  • It is now used to refer to the mass genocide of European Jews during World War Two

  • Out of respect for the dead, Jewish communities use the Hebrew word Shoah instead, meaning “catastrophe”

  • Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe


Some numbers:

  • In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe was around 11 million

  • By the end of WWII, more than 6 million had died at the hands of the Nazis

  • This systematic persecution and murder of the Jews took place throughout Nazi occupied territories under the command of Adolf Hitler


Nazi Ideology:

  • Nazi Aryan ideology was a false, racist belief system claiming that Germanic and Nordic peoples belonged to an elite “master race”

  • Intellectuals, Communists, political dissidents, Romany people and homosexuals were all regarded as “enemies of the State”


Eugenics:

  • Eugenics is a practice that aims to “improve” the human gene pool by controlling the types of people giving birth to children.

  • This was taught at many universities, and Nazi ideology borrowed heavily from the eugenics movement


Treatment of disabled individuals:

  • Within months of the Nazi’s gaining power, sterilisation of hundreds of thousands of mentally and physically disabled people was compulsory

  • 70,000 severely disabled children under the age of 17 were killed under the Nazi’s euthanisation program 


Antisemitism:

  • Antisemitism is the hostility, prejudice, discrimination, or hatred directed against Jewish people

  • Hitler and the Nazis included it in their political ideology and policies

  • Hitler declared “the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil  assumes the living shape of the Jew” in his book Mein Kampf.

Australia Attacked


During World War Two, there were many conflicts that Australia faced which created a negative effect on their defence. However, the two largest instances of this fighting occurred on home soil - the bombing of Darwin in the early months of 1942, and the attacks on Sydney Harbour in the middle of the year. Whilst both are a significant point in Australian modern history, the initial threats and bombing of the Darwin port, and its civilians, had a greater impact on the country, as it marked the deadliest and sudden escalation of the Japanese advancements on conquesting Australia.


The Darwin Bombings changed the mindsets of Australians during the war by highlighting the very realistic threat of the Japanese. Firstly, the military base at Darwin was crucial for information between Allied countries in the Pacific region, and by destroying it, it emphasised the severity of the conflict. Additionally, the Australians were not as prepared for the Japanese, which made it easier for them to pinpoint and destroy important buildings and programs in the Northern Territory. In comparison, the Sydney Attacks were of less severity, reducing the impacts of civilians, and the Australian Army was more prepared for those advances. Whilst both are serious, the shock of the Darwin attack portrays the events as a more significant landmark in the battle. The casualty numbers for both incidents support this idea: over 250 army members and civilians died during the bombing of Darwin, a stark difference to the small 21 navy members aboard the Kuttabut, with no civilian deaths. This evidence is important as it shows the great devastation of the Darwin attacks in comparison to the Sydney ones. The Darwin bombings were often in small intervals between each other, a constant force oppressed onto an unprepared nation. As a result, they are often remembered as the defining pinnacle of the battle in the Pacific between the Australian and Japanese forces, and signalled the threat of Japanese invasion in reality.


Therefore, it can be concluded that the Japanese attacks on Darwin and Northern Australia had a greater influence on the Australian public than that of the Sydney naval conflict. Although both can be seen as an important event in the war, the consequences of the Darwin attack - whether it was the large casualty number or destruction of important infrastructure - were unsuspected and grave, resulting in it becoming one of the most dangerous and notorious events in Australian global history in comparison to anything else.


Fall of Singapore

BEFORE THE WAR:

  • After World War I, Australia considered Japan its biggest threat because of its expanding Pacific empire

  • Australia and New Zealand decided to build a 54-square-kilometer naval base in Northern Singapore. At the time, it was believed to be cheaper after the cost of the First World War

  • When Japan did enter the Pacific again during WWII, only 2 Australian naval ships were sent to defend the region- the rest of the troops were in either Europe or Northern Africa


WHAT CAUSED IT:

  • The RAAF (British air force) and eight Australian warships fought the initial Japanese attacks on Malaya on the 8th of December, 1941

  • Afterwards, the Japanese army set their sights on Singapore, and the two battleships that Britain sent to defend Singapore’s naval base were sunk on 10 December 1941. 

  • The Japanese forces reached Singapore in less than two months - the region was poorly defended by a lack of planes and ships to prevent bombing

  • Additionally, the Allied soldiers were dispersed too thinly, leading to land occupation on the 8th of February, 1942, and full control on the 15th.

  • Over 15,000 Australian soldiers were captured by the Japanese army, and around 7000 died as POW’s


THE CONSEQUENCES:

“Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom” - John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia (1942)


This quote marks a massive change in Australia’s military and political alliances in the 20th century. Despite being a federation, Australia was still heavily reliant on the support of Great Britain, but after the fall of Singapore, the change in strategic allies was an indication of an increased priority on Australia’s own global interests and safety.


Kokoda

  • The Kokoda Track campaign was a crucial battle during WWII, between July 21 and November 16 of 1942

  • Japanese forces, under military general Tomitaro Horii, aimed to occupy the region in order to move closer to easily invade other countries, particularly Australia

  • They tried to acheive this by advancing over the rugged Owen Stanley Range, which stretched to either side of the island

  • Originally, Australia sent in the inexperienced 39th batallion (the Marouba force), however they were vastly outnumbered and many succumbed to illness and starvation. They were later aided by the 7th Batallion, who were fighting in Africa at the time

  • Constant rain, thick mud, lack of supply and rest, disease, leeches and heavy hunger also impacted the Japanese. They grew starving and tired.

  • Despite their success, a lack of resources and new soldiers pushed the Japanese army away, and eventually abandoned the island, marking a historic victory for Australia and protecting them geopolitically from the Axis.

  • Native Papuans were recruited to work as labourers, carriers and scouts for both sides and executed their tasks in conditions of extreme heat and wet. The Papuan carriers, despite being treated like slaves, were critical to the Australians’ success in the Kokoda campaign. Their practical experience on the Track, combined with their invaluable bush skills, physical strength and dedication, enabled the Diggers to create and maintain a human supply line between the frontline deep in the jungle and the base at Port Moresby

  • “More than 600 Australians died, more than 1000 were wounded in the four months of fighting in the vicinity of the Kokoda Track. Between 8,000 and 12,500+ Japanese soldiers were killed



Historical Skills

CCPRU:

  • Context - when was the piece of media created? What was happening at the time?

  • Content - what can be seen and interpreted from the source? What is being displayed?

  • Purpose - why was this source created? What does it want to influence on its audience?

  • Reliability - how trustworthy is the source? How much of it is swayed by personal or national bias?

  • Usefulness - when would using this source be appropriate? Is it relevant to your chosen topic


Explicit meaning - can be seen

Implicit meaning - is inferred


The 5 R’s:

  1. Remarkable - was the event unusal at the time?

  2. Remembered - what is the significance of the event?

  3. Resulted in change - what actions were prompted after this event?

  4. Resonates - how does it connect to the modern world?

  5. Revealing - what does the event tell us about history, governments and society as a whole?