CHAPTER 32: WORLD WAR II, 1939-1945

SECTION 1 Hitlers Lightning War

Main Idea: Germany overruns much of Europe and North Africa using a mass, sudden attack called Blitzkrieg. Why it matters now: It set off World War II. Still affects the politics and economics of todays world. Setting the Stage: 1930s Hitler plays on the hopes and fears of western democracies. Peace seemed guaranteed. Germany Starts a New War in Europe

Hitler is in Rhineland (1936), Austria (1938), and Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) Threatened Poland and demanded it be returned to Germany Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin signed a 10-year nonaggression pact with Hitler Secretly conspired to take over and split Poland, Finland, and the Baltic countries

Germanys Lightning Attack on Poland 1.5 million soldiers march into Poland in a surprise attack maneuver Crumbled the capital of Warsaw and unleashed World War II Invasion of Poland was a test of the new military strategy blitzkrieg which involved using fast airplanes and tanks followed by a massive infantry

The Soviets Make Their Move November 1939, Stalin sends 1 million troops into Finland and wins by sheer numbers

The Phony War French and British mobilize armies to invade Germany and wait at the border between nations. They stare at each other for a while and Hitler launches an attack on Denmark Denmark falls in 4 hours, Norway surrenders 2 months later

The Battle for France and Great Britain Germans attack smaller nations and while the Allies are focused on those countries he slips into France through the forests in northeastern France They reach the northern coast in 10 days

France Battles Back Belgium is trapped and surrenders instantly Britain comes in with the navy and saves 338,000 soldiers

France Falls Italy senses the Germans will make quick work of the French and join in the attack, declaring war on both France and Great Britain When France fell, Charles de Gaulle flees to London and is determined to reclaim France He organized the Free French military forces and liberated France in 1944

Germany Attacks Great Britain

Winston Churchill, the new British prime minister, refuses to surrender Hitler sends 250,000 men to English shores and the air force to bomb cities British have radar and a German code making machine called Enigma which they smuggle and have secret messages opened to them The Battle of Britain was called off by Hitler because of Britains stunning resistance

Germany and Italy Attack North Africa Italian leader Benito Mussolini decides to take action and moves his army east from Libya to conquer Egypt while Germany is in Great Britain

Great Britain Strikes Back British strike back at the Italians and take 130,000 prisoners Hitler had to intervene to save his Axis partner by forming a tank corps, the Afrika Korps Leader of the corps, Erwin Rommel seized Tobruk

The War in the Balkans Hitler increases influence in the Balkans and conquers Yugoslavia and Greece Plans to attack his allies the USSR

Hitler Invades the Soviet Union The soviet Red Army had 5 million men and was the largest in the world They werent well equipped or trained and over 1 million died in the siege of Lenigrad Hitler turns his attention to Moscow, winter comes, and he refuses to retreat. Fuel and oil froze tanks, trucks, and weapons useless. Cost Germans a million lives

The United States Aids Its Allies

Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly on a battleship off Newfoundland Issued a joint declaration called the Atlantic Charter. This gave free trade among nations Japan attacks the United States and draws them into the war.

SECTION 2 Japan Strikes in the Pacific

Main Idea: Japan brought the U.S. into World War II Why it matters now: World War II made the U.S. a world leader Setting the Stage: Japan started to expand its empire Japan Seeks a Pacific Empire Japan fought China and was losing. They started to look for new places to conquer

Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor U.S. sent aid to China Japan attacked French Indochina and the U.S. cut off oil shipments Isoroku Yamamoto wanted to destroy Pearl Harbor 2400 died, 1000 were wounded

The Tide of Japanese Victories Japan starts seizing islands for a total of 1 million square miles

Allies Strike Back Japan seemed unbeatable but the U.S. attacked with Australia

The Allies Turn the Tide of War Japan was struggling to keep their empire under control Battle of Coral Sea stops Japanese expansion

The Battle of Midway Japan sent their biggest fleets to capture Midway U.S. had an ambush waiting and beat the Japanese

Allies Go on the Offensive

Douglas MacArthur was the commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific U.S. started island hopping Battle of Guadalcanal was located at a Japanese strong point the U.S. captured Hitler begins to really start enslaving Europe

SECTION 3 The Holocaust

Main Idea: During the Holocaust, Hitlers Nazis killed 6 million Jews and 5 million other nonAryans

Why it matters now: Violence against Jews led to the founding of Israel after World War II Setting the Stage: Nazis proclaimed the Aryans to be a master race. They slaughter civilians and especially Jews The Holocaust Begins Persecution across Germany, Jews blamed for European failure in economy 1935 Nuremburg Laws took away Jewish citizenship, jobs, and property Jews had to wear yellow stars on their clothing

Kristallnacht: Night of Broken Glass November 9, 1938 H. Grynszpan shot a German embassy employee Germans stormed Jewish homes and murdered 100 Jews

The Flood of Refugees At first, Hitler just wanted Jews to emigrate, but countries stopped admitting Jews after too many had come into their borders.

Isolating the Jews Hitler moved Jews to isolated cities in Poland called ghettos. His plan was to starve them and kill them off with disease Many died, many organized secret groups to smuggle in food, keep records, and teach schools in secret.

Hitlers Final Solution

The final solution was genocide, the direct killing of an entire people. Pure Aryan race goal of Hitler, included eliminating all Jews, gypsies, Polish people, Russians, homosexuals, insane, disabled, and incurably ill people.

The Mass Killings Begin The SS Hitlers security force Rounded up Jews and shot them in pits Concentration camps were meant to speed up the elimination process

The Final Stage: Mass Extermination 1942 Gas chambers made for mass murder 6 death camps formed with gas chambers that killed 6000 people daily Auschwitz largest death camp which included gas showers and crematoriums to burn the bodies of victims

The Survivors

Less than 4 million survived

SECTION 4 The Allies Are Victorious

Main Idea: Led by the U.S., Britain, and the USSR, the allies won the war Why it matters now: The victory set up conditions for the post-cold war world Setting the Stage: Germany slowed down in 1942, the U.S. entered the war and boosted the allies strength and morale The Allies Plan for Victory Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt plan on attacking Germany on both East and West sides

The Tide Turns on Two Fronts Debate on where to attack from Soviet Union fights Germans alone for a while, allies come in and turn the war around

North African Campaign Erwin Rommel captured port city of Tobruk. In effect, Britain sent Bernard Montgomery to take control of British forces in North Africa. Montgomery launches surprise attack at El Alamein and defeated Rommel. Allies launched operation torch in which 107,000 troops crushed the Afrika Korps

Turning Point at Stalingrad

Hitler sent his 6th army to seize Stalingrad on the Volga River. Started with nightly bombing raids In 3 months the Germans controlled 90% of Stalingrad Soviets invade and fend off the Germans

The Invasion of Italy The U.S. launches an attack on Sicily and topples Mussolini from power Struggle for power of Italy between the allies and Germany Mussolini discovered in hiding and killed

Life on Allied Home Fronts Except for Hawaii, the U.S. did not suffer invasion or bombing Americans produced weapons that would win the war

Mobilizing for Total War

18 million U.S. workers were working in war industries Inspired their people and launched effective propaganda

Civil Rights Curtailed by the War Wave of prejudice against 127,000 Japanese Americans Japanese rounded up and but in relocation camps

Allied Victory in Europe In 1942, Allies started winning major battles In 1943, Allies built force in Britain to invade Germany across the English channel

The D-Day Invasion 3.5 million troops ready to attack Germans aware of an attack, didnt know when it would happen Allies set up a dummy army and attacked Calais in France 3,000 soldiers died on D-Day Punched a hole in German defenses and liberated France, Belgium, and Luxembourg

The Battle of the Bulge Hitler surrounded from the east and west, makes a desperate gamble and attacks the west Pushed into Allied lanes and gave the battle its name

Germanys Unconditional Surrender

9 million allies surrounded Berlin and pounded the city with heavy artillery While Soviet shells bombarded the city Hitler married Eva Braun and then wrote a final address to the German people He blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it He and his newly wed wife took poison and shot themselves. Their bodies were burned Roosevelt suddenly died and his successor Truman received the Nazi surrender

Victory in the Pacific Allies still fight the Japanese although the war is technically over

The Japanese Retreat

Japanese gambled everything on Oct 23rd in the Battle of Leyte Gulf Kamikaze suicide pilots sunk Allied ships by crashing into them Bloodiest land battle of the war on June 22nd. Japanese lose 110,000 troops

The Atomic Bomb Brings Japanese Surrender Truman uses atomic bomb instead of invading Japan and costing more ally lives

Truman warned Japan but they didnt respond. Launches the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima which kills 73,000 people almost instantly Three days later a second bomb hit Nagasaki and killed 37,500 people The war is over and countries face the task of rebuilding the war-torn world

SECTION 5 The Devastation of Europe and Japan

Main Idea: World War II cost millions of lives and billions of dollars in damages. Europe and Japan were in ruins by the end of the war Why it matters now: World War II was one of the most horrifying events of human history and has led to new distinctions on ethics concerning atomic warfare. Setting the Stage: Allied victory came at a large price and caused death and destruction Europe in Ruins Almost 40 million died, bombing reduced cities to rubble, and war destroyed the countryside

A Harvest of Destruction Paris, Rome, and Brussels were undamaged by the war London, Warsaw, and Berlin were razed People wandered around Europe and were in the wrong countries during postwar treaties.

Misery Continues After the War Only a few people remained to farm, transportation systems were also destroyed

Postwar Government and Policies Germany, Italy, and France couldnt go back to their old leadership Communism went up and then it was crushed because of violent strikes

An Attempt at Justice: The Nuremberg Trials Nazi leaders put on trials. Out of 22, 12 were sentenced to death in a concentration camp

The U.S. Occupies Japan Emperor Hirohito asked people to rebuild, General McArthur accepted surrender

Demilitarization in Japan Disbanding of Japanese armed forces, war criminals were put on trial and hanged Democratization process of creating government. U.S. drew up new constitution for Japan and helped workers and farmers U.S. Occupation Brings Deep Changes

 Emperor had to step down his divine status and become a constitutional monarch Diet Two house parliament, women could vote, could not start a war September of 1951 U.S. and other nations signed a peace treaty with Japan and officially ended the war. Enemies became allies and allies became enemies.