WORLD WAR II 1939 -1945 Axis Powers

WORLD WAR II 1939 -1945

Axis Powers and Leaders

Germany • Adolph Hitler • Leader of Nazi political party • Blamed Jews for all of Germany’s economic problems

Italy • Benito Mussolini • Promised a new Roman Empire

Japan • Emperor Hirohito • Wanted full political and economic control of Pacific • Believed in militarism and military run society

Japan • Prime Minister Hideki Tojo –Responsible for all military operations during the war

Allied Leaders

Great Britain • Winston Churchill • Great orator and leader who kept British citizens from giving up

France • Charles De Gaulle • Led opposition against Germany after they took over France

Soviet Union (Russia) • Joseph Stalin • Great Purge – killed all people who opposed his rule or spoke against Soviet Union

Soviet Union (Russia) • Did not join allies until Hitler double crossed him

CAUSES OF WWII

Axis Aggression • Axis Powers wanted to gain economic and political control of the World • Japan invaded Manchuria and China to force US to recognize their dominance

Axis Aggression • US refused to recognize Japan and placed embargos of oil and steel • Germany wanted to gain all lands lost after the WWI in the treaty of Versailles

Axis Aggression • Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 to show its dominance

Appeasement • Policy of giving into political pressure to avoid war • Allowed Germany to recapture some lands & rebuild their military

War Breaks out in Europe

Munich Pact • Hitler and Stalin sign a nonaggression pact agreeing not to attack each other

September 1, 1939 • Germany and Soviet Union invade Poland after being warned not to invade by France and Great Britain • Official start of World War II

US Isolationism • US did not want to be involved in another European War • US was still going through the Great Depression

Lend-Lease Act • US gave military supplies to Great Britain in exchange for islands in the Caribbean • FDR compared it to “lending a garden hose to a next-door neighbor whose house is on fire”.

Lend-Lease Act • US used the war to end the Great Depression

World War II Battles and Strategies

Axis War Strategy

Strategies - Europe • Blitzkrieg – fast, lightning attacks on your enemy before they can recover • Invade and conquer France • Use German Air Force to bomb Great Britain until they surrender

Strategies - Europe • Destroy Munich Pact and quickly defeat Soviet Union • Take complete control of Europe before US got involved in the war

Strategies - Pacific • Japan wanted full military and economic control of Pacific • Felt US needed to recognize their power in Pacific

Strategies - Pacific • Attack US Pacific Ocean military base and then invade Australia and Hawaii • They thought US would rather respect them than fight a long, costly war

Pearl Harbor • Dec 7, 1941 Japan attacked the US military base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii • Destroyed US Pacific fleet of warships

Pearl Harbor • Dec 8 – US declared war on Japan • Dec 10 – Germany and Italy declared war on US • US now fully involved in World War II

Allied Strategy

Strategy - Europe • Defeat Hitler first • Most US resources were sent to Europe and Africa to fight Germany and Italy • Attack Hitler from all directions and push back toward Germany

Battles – Europe and Africa

Battle of Britain (Aug 1940) • British cities were relentlessly bombed by German Air force • Churchill refused to allow British citizens to give up

El Alamein (Nov 1942) • German forces threatening to seize Egypt and the Suez Canal were defeated by the British. • Importance – Prevented Hitler from gaining access to Middle Eastern oil and attacking the Soviet Union from the south. – Allies got access to Germany from the South

Stalingrad (Sept 1942) • Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers were killed or captured in the Russian city of Stalingrad. • Importance – This defeat prevented Germany from seizing the Soviet oil fields – Allies got access to Germany from East

Normandy (D-Day) June 6, 1944 • Allied troops under Gen. Dwight Eisenhower landed in German-occupied France • Importance – Despite intense German opposition and heavy American casualties, the Americans were able to liberate France. – Allies were able to attack Germany from the west

V-E Day (May 8, 1945) • US and Russian forces closed in on Germany from all sides • Adolph Hitler killed himself before he could be captured • German forces surrendered, ending the war in Europe

World War II Battles and Strategies Pt 2

Strategy - Pacific • Island Hopping – seizing islands closer and closer to Japan and using them as bases for air attacks on Japan – cutting off Japanese supplies through submarine warfare against Japanese shipping

Battles – Pacific Ocean

“Miracle of Midway” • American naval forces defeated a much larger Japanese force as it prepared to seize Midway Island • Importance – The American victory ended the Japanese threat to invade Hawaii.

Iwo Jima and Okinawa • Islands were within a couple hundred miles of Japan • Both invasions cost thousands of American lives and even more Japanese lives • Heavy fighting by Japanese soldiers to protect these islands

Kamikaze Fighters • Japanese soldiers who would commit suicide rather than surrender

Iwo Jima and Okinawa • Importance –US could set up military air fields to easier bomb Japan –Made an invasion of Japan possible

Use of the atomic bomb • US did not want to invade Japan because they did not want heavy casualties • President Truman ordered the use of a new weapon called an atomic bomb

August 6, 1945 • America dropped the atomic bomb on Japanese city, Hiroshima

August 9, 1945 • America dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki • Over 250, 000 people instantly killed in both cities • Thousands more died from radiation

V-J Day • September 2, 1945 • Japan formally surrendered to the United States

Contributions of Minorities to Allies Minority units suffered high casualties and won numerous medals for bravery in action.

Tuskegee Airmen • Squad of black air fighter pilots who served with distinction in Europe • No pilots were shot down during war

Nisei Regiments • Asian American groups who worked as spies and soldiers for United States

Codetalkers • Navajo Indians who used their language to code US messages in Pacific • Japanese could not decode intercepted US messages

Mexican Americans • Fought for US in non-segregated military units • Other minorities were segregated from white units

WWII – War Crimes

War Crimes • During WWII, brutal crimes were committed against the innocent by all countries involved in war • Millions of innocent people were killed by random bombing, genocide, and discrimination

Bataan Death March • American POWs suffered brutal treatment by the Japanese after the surrender of the Philippines in 1942. • Forced to march through jungle without food or water • The treatment of POW’s in the Pacific war reflected the savagery of the fighting

Holocaust

Holocaust • Genocide: The systematic and purposeful destruction of a racial, political, religious, or cultural group • Final solution: Hitler’s decision to exterminate all Jews • Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps to be killed

Holocaust • Holocaust victims: 11 million total – Jews (6 million) – Poles – Slavs – Gypsies – “Undesirables” (homosexuals, mentally ill, political dissidents)

Nuremburg Trials • Nazi leaders and others were convicted of war crimes • Emphasized individual responsibility for actions during a war, regardless of orders received • Led to increased demand for a Jewish homeland

Japanese Internment Japanese Americans were sent to camps (prison) during the war

Reasons for Internment • Strong anti-Japanese prejudice on the West Coast • False belief that Japanese Americans were aiding the enemy

Internment • Japanese sued gov’t for violating their civil rights • Supreme Court Case of Korematsu vs United States ruled US did not violate Japanese civil rights

Internment • A public apology was eventually issued by the U. S. government in 1980’s. • Financial restitution was made to survivors

Geneva Convention • Meeting in Switzerland to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners of war by establishing rules to be followed by all nations • “The conduct of war often reflects social and moral codes of a nation “ • Set up the rules of war for future wars

World War II On the Homefront

On the Homefront • United States success in World War II required the total commitment of the nation’s resources. • Public education and the mass media promoted nationalism

United States Resources

US Resources • U. S. government and industry worked together to distribute resources • Office of War Mobilization created to control resources

Economic Resources

Economic Resources • Rationing maintained a steady supply of materials for war • War bonds and income tax were used for financing the war

Economic Resources • Business was retooled from peacetime to wartime production

Human Resources

Human Resources • More women and minorities entered the labor force • Citizens volunteered in support of the war effort

Women • Replaced men who went to serve in the military (e. g. , Rosie the Riveter). • They participated in non-combat military roles

African-Americans • Double V Campaign – Victory in war and victory in equality at home – Demanded an end to segregation in military

Military Resources • The draft/selective service was used to provide personnel for the military

Role of Media and Mass Communications

Role of the Media • Media and communications assisted the gov’t in supporting the war • U. S. government maintained strict censorship of reporting of the war –Censorship: blocking certain materials from being published

Role of the Media • Hollywood produced movies, plays, and shows that boosted morale and patriotism • Portrayed the enemy in stereotypical ways

Political, economic and social consequences of the war

Legacy Of WWII 1. Massive destruction and death 2. End of Allied cooperation and beginning of “Cold War” – political tensions

Legacy Of WWII 3. US and Soviet Unions are only superpower countries 4. Atomic fallout – all countries rushed to get atomic bomb

Legacy Of WWII 5. US troops permanently stationed around the world 6. US will maintain a standing army in peacetime

Legacy Of WWII 7. Germany (and Berlin) divided into 4 military zones • each zone controlled by one of the 4 major Allied powers