4.2 wwii big one_website

World War IIWorld War II

Causes of WWII• Hitler and the Nazis gained power in

Germany in 1933 during a state of economic depression

• Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of WWI

• Hitler ignored the Treaty of Versailles and began rebuilding the German armed forces

• March 1938, the Nazis annex Austria– In June the allied countries appease

Germany by allowing them to annex part of Czechoslovakia

Causes of WWII

• When German armies invaded Poland, England and France declared war on Germany

• WWII started in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland

• The two sides would be:1) The Allies – Britain, France, the U.S.S.R., the U.S., Canada, and other commonwealth countries2) The Axis – Germany, Italy, Japan

The Phony War• German armies invade Poland in September of 1939• When German armies invaded Poland, England and

France declared war on Germany• The Nazi armies crushed Poland in less than 1 month• Hitler used German tanks and Stuka dive bombers to

invade like lightning, a strategy he called Blitzkrieg or “lightning war”

• Although England and France declared war on Germany neither country immediately went to the aid of Poland. This period of the war became known as the “Phony War” or “Sitzkrieg”

The city in Poland destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing

Canada Entering the War• Statute of Westminster (1931) – gave Canada

complete control over its dealings with foreign nations.

• One week after Britain declared war, PM King called Parliament and a declaration of war was passed.

• King told the Canadians that Canada would not practice conscription and would send few soldiers, but would help the war effort in the form of food and manufactured goods.

Canada Entering the War• King did not want to divide Canada with the issue

of conscription as in WWI.• Only after the defeat of France (1940) did Canada

make a full-scale war effort• By then, France, Belgium, the Netherlands,

Norway, and other smaller countries had fallen to the Nazis.

• Britain stood alone and was in danger of defeat.

Total War• Canada with the fall of France in 1940,

became Britain's’ most powerful ally until 1941

• In 1941 Japan declared war on the USA by attacking Pearl Harbor and thus (somewhat predictably) brought the US into the war against the Axis powers

• Japan also attacks Canadian forces in HONG Kong in 1941 and takes the surviving soldiers as prisoners of war.

• The Fall of France• Attack on Pearl Harbor Roosevelt's speech

Battle of Dunkirk

BBC - History - Animated Map: The Fall of France (Dunkirk)

British fisherman giving a hand to an Allied soldier while a Stuka's bomb explodes a few meters ahead

DunkirkBattle of France, Dunkirk: May 25-31, 1940

• German armed forces pressed the Allied armies trapped in the north, from south and east, into the English Channel. Meanwhile, German infantry divisions reinforced the southern flank of the German penetration.

The “Miracle of Dunkirk”• As men retreated, they moved North towards England.

They had no way to cross the channel, the Germans pursued behind them. If caught, the soldiers would be forced to surrender, and England and the allies would lose hundreds of thousands of troops.

• The officers of the German air force told Hitler they could defeat the allies in three days, so Hitler turned towards Paris with his land army, to complete the conquest of France.

The “Miracle of Dunkirk” Continued..

• As news reached Britain, a plan was developed to evacuate the British and French soldiers back to England.

• In one of the most heroic examples of civilian bravery during WWII hundreds of ships, including many pleasure craft and other non-military vessels crewed by civilians crossed the channel to do their part and help the men of England.

• Miraculously, while the men were being evacuated foggy weather inhibited the efforts of the German Luftwaffe. The channel usually choppy waters, remained calm, allowing for quick evacuation. By June 3rd, 338,226 men were evacuated from Dunkirk.

Battle of Britain (1940-1941)• Only Britain remained unconquered

• Hitler ordered his air force to attack military targets, and then civilian targets in Britain

• The Royal Air Force, along with many Canadian pilots, fought back against all odds until the German air raids ceased.

Battle of Britain (1940-1941)• The “Battle of Britain” lasted 8 months and cost

the lives of 40 553 men, woman and children.

• Hitler, after failing to gain air superiority over Britain during the summer months, decided to turn his army East against the U.S.S.R.

• It was the first German defeat of the war.Battle of Britain Newsreels

• The Supermarine Spitfire was the most notorious of the RAF’s WWII arsenal. (But the Hurricane was way more important and did a lot more than the spitfire!!)

Battle of the AtlanticBattle of the Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic• During WWII, supplies for England and the Allied

forces in Europe were carried by ship across the North Atlantic Ocean.

• Thousands of Canadian merchant sailors served on ships carrying food, fuel, weapons, ammunition, and other supplies to English ports.

• These sailors faced the constant threat of attack from German submarines.

Battle of the Atlantic• Thousands more Canadians served on Naval

vessels and in aircrafts that were assigned to protect the merchant ships from enemy attack.

• In 1940, the German navy launched a campaign of submarine warfare using U-Boat Wolf-packs to cut off Britain’s oversea lifelines.

Battle of the Atlantic• From 1940 on these sailors faced the constant threat of

attack from German submarines• Known as U-Boats they traveled in groups known as wolf-

packs through out the North Atlantic Ocean • The wolf-packs were particularly dangerous in the area of

the Atlantic Ocean that air-planes could not defend called the Black Pit.

• Battle of the Atlantic

Bomber Command • In October of 1942, No.6 Group of Bomber

Command was created to be completely manned by Canadian officers and men and at the end of the war it had grown to thirteen squadrons

• The Canadian Squadrons were based at airfields in England except three squadrons temporarily posted to North Africa to aid in the invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1943.

• Eight thousand decorations for bravery were awarded to No. 6 Group aircrew

Eastern Front

• The eastern front of the war effort was as important (if not more so) to the allied victory as the western front.

• Russia and Germany’s campaigns against one another marked the largest, costliest and most ferocious fighting in the war

• Some of the most lethal battles in human history occurred on the eastern front of WWII

Lend-Lease Act• The USA passed the Lend-Lease Act, allowing

President Roosevelt the power to spend $7 billion to lend or lease military aid to Britain and its allies

• By 1942 Canadian and American shipyards were able to build merchant ships at faster rate that U-boats were sinking Allied Vessels.

• Until that point the U-boats were sinking allied vessels faster than the Allies could produce them

Merchant Sailors• After the war Canadian merchant sailors were

treated as civilian participants and were not given the same benefits as veterans of the army, navy or air force.

• Examples, they were not eligible for:– Pension-able benefits– Free university education– Housing or land-grant benefits– No small business financial aid– Veteran’s health care benefits

• December 1941, 2000 Canadian Soldiers are sent to hold Hong Kong

• they are unable to hold Hong Kong in the face of overwhelming odds

• Part One Invasion of Hong Kong

• Part Two Invasion of Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Japanese victory parade in Hong Kong, 1941

U.S. Enters the War• U.S. boycotts Japan• Japanese attack naval

base at Pearl Harbor, HI, Dec. 7, 1941.

• U.S. declares war on Japan, Germany & Italy declare war on U.S.

• U.S. and other allies decided to defeat Germany first, then defeat Japan

The USS Arizona burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941

Dieppe, France• By 1942, the Allies were making plans to

retake Europe

• To accomplish this, the Allies launched a series of raids across the English Channel

• One of these raids was against the French town of Dieppe which was in enemy hands

• Canadian troops were given the job of capturing the town

Dieppe, France• The Plan: During the cover of night, Canadian

troops were to surprise the enemy from the beach while bombers destroyed the German guns from the air.

• Problems: Delays caused the ships to land on the beach during daylight– Delays caused the bombers to be late on the

attack.– Soldiers were picked off as they scrambled for

cover.– Commanders in the boats could not see what was

happening and continued to send reinforcements onto the beach.

Dieppe, France• The Aftermath:–Of 4963 Canadians who landed, 2853 were

killed or captured–More Canadian soldiers died in those few

hours at Dieppe than in any other day of the war (but still less than Vimy Ridge in WWI!!!)–Dieppe remains under German control until the liberation of France in 1944

The Raid on DieppeFootage from Dieppe

“Soft Underbelly”The Italian Campaign

• Canada invaded Sicily in July, 1943 • Mussolini forced out of office, later shot and

hung• The new Italian government surrendered on

September 3, 1943• Italy then declares war against Germany, Oct.

1944. the Germans immediately seized control and thus it was German troops that the Allies faced in their advance up the Italian peninsula

“Soft Underbelly”The Italian Campaign

• Germans held Northern Italy (Alps) until spring, 1945

• Sometimes the soldiers of the Italian Campaign are called “D-Day Dodgers” because they were already fighting when the primary invasion of the mainland began

• However the brave men who fought against Hitler’s elite Waffen SS paratroopers do not care for the nickname.

D-Day• In June 1944- D-Day – the long awaited allied

invasion on Europe across the English channel began.

• It was code named Operation Overlord, and involved almost 1 million soldiers.

• British, American, and Canadian troops stormed ashore along the entire coast of the French province of Normandy.

• Juno Beach was the Canadian objective• Canadian troops struck at first light, pouring

out of their landing craft and advancing across the sand up into the town of Caen.

D-Day• The allies were back on French soil• D-day marked the beginning of the end for

Germany.• Canadians continued to fight for months in

order to take back all of the French ports along the English Channel.

• They then helped to liberate Belgium and the Netherlands from German control.

• D-Day, The Beginning of the End of World War Two

Canada at the end of the Warin Europe

• Canadian soldiers were give the difficult task of liberating Holland whose people had suffered severely under German control. Canadians in Netherlands Veterans Remember

• 6300 Canadians were killed and wounded in the operation, but by mid-April, most German units had surrendered and the Canadians turned their attention to helping the Dutch

• Canada was also crucial in the success of the Italian Campaign in Europe The forgotten army

The End of the War• In March of 1945, the Allied armies advanced into

Germany• On May 8, 1945, the German forces surrendered and

the war in Europe was officially over. This becomes known as VE or Victory in Europe Day. The war in the Pacific continued.

• The Allies agreed that the US, the Soviet Union, Britain and France should occupy Germany

• They would oversee a program of political and economic reform that would restore peace to Europe.

• End of the War• Churchill’s declaration of peace

Yalta Conference, February 1945. Original caption: "Conference of the Big Three at Yalta makes final plans for the defeat of Germany. Here the "Big Three" sit on the patio together, Prime

Minister Winston S. Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Premier Josef Stalin

The End of the War in Japan• While peace came to Europe on May 8th 1945 war

with Japan continued• In the US, American, British, and Canadian

scientists had spent years developing a powerful new weapon: the atomic bomb

• President Truman of the US decided to bomb two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Close to 500 000 died• The Japanese realized they could not continue a

war in which the enemy was willing to use atomic weapons on civilian populations

• On August 15th 1945, they surrendered

World Peace: Canada and the United Nations, the creation of the

U.N• As WWII drew to a close, delegates from

countries around the world gathered in San Francisco to create an organization that would ensure that such a global conflict would never happen again

• The U.N. was a compromise between the US, Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union, and other smaller countries.

Organizations sponsored by the UN• The World Health Organization (W.H.O) battles global

health problems

• United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Originally, responsible for assisting child welfare in countries devastated by the Second World War

• Expanded its scope to developing countries after 1951

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) works to improve education standards and promote cultural activities

• Canada has always seen the UN as the best means of contributing to world peace to solving problems of global health, poverty, pollution and discrimination