World War II

World War II

1939-1945

Japanese Expansion

• 1931- Japan seized Manchuria.• The League of Nations pressured them to return it

to China, but Japan just withdrew from the League.• 1937-Captured Beijing and Nanking– “Rape of Nanking”- 6 week rampage where they

massacred more than 100,000 civilians and raped about 20,000 Chinese women.

• By 1941, Japan controlled French Indochina and several Pacific islands.

Italy

• 1935- Italy invaded Ethiopia.• Lack of action with Japan encouraged

Mussolini to act on his promise to expand Italy.

• Italians supported this after feeling cheated by the Treaty of Versailles.

Germany

• SPACE and RACE– Hitler’s main goal was the territorial expansion of

the superior German race.– This was outlined in Mein Kampf:• Germans are a superior race and should unite to form a

German Empire “Third Reich”• Jews, Poles, Slavs, etc… were inferior and should be

enslaved and forced to die out.• Germans would resettle their land to gain lebensraum

“living space”.

Hitler Defies the Treaty of Versailles

• Treaty limited German army to only 100,000 men. Hitler disobeys this and builds up the military.

• 1936- Hitler marches army into the Rhineland (30 mile demilitarized buffer zone with France).

• The League of Nations was supposed to enforce the treaty but nothing happened

Appeasement

• GB and France gave in to Hitler to keep peace.• WHY???– Felt guilty about Treaty of Versailles– Saw Hitler as better than Soviet Communism– Great Depression – Pacifism – no one wanted another war

Hitler Expands

• 1938- Hitler annexes Austria (Anschluss)-Next, Hitler demanded the Sudetenland be given to Germany (western region of Czechoslovakia with 3 million Germans)• Czechs ask France for help (allies). Near war.• Sept 1938-Munich Conference– GB and France agree to let Hitler have

Sudetenland. He promises no further expansion.

A woman in the Sudetenland greets incoming German troops

with tears and a Nazi salute.

Munich Conference

Two Views on the Conference

• GB Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain – I have secured… “peace with honor…peace for our time.”

• Winston Churchill – “They had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor; they will have war.”

Hitler Breaks His Promise

• March 1939 – Hitler took over Czechoslovakia• August 1939 – Signed the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression

pact with Joseph Stalin.– Stunned the world because they were enemies– Secretly divided Poland and eastern Europe between them

• Sept 1 – Hitler invades Poland• Sept 3 – GB and France declare war. WWII begins!

German Invasion of Poland, 1939

WWII• Blitzkrieg “lightning war” – Poland crushed in 4 weeks– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ha0qKquG2

E• Winter: Sitzkrieg “phony war”• 1940: Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands,

Belgium, and France are taken over by Germany.

• May 1940- Germans came through the Ardennes Forest to France.

• Bypassed the Maginot Line – system of fortifications along the German/French border.

• British and French troops were trapped! • Miracle of Dunkirk– Heroic rescue of 300,000 Allied soldiers across the

English Channel to GB.

Operation Sea Lion

• By 1940, all of western Europe was under German control or neutral except GB.

• Battle of Britain: RAF v. Luftwaffe– 57 straight nights of bombing on London and

other cities, then sporadic until May 1941– Killed over 40,000 civilians, massive damage– British never surrendered; Hitler gave up

Operation Barbarossa

• June 1941-Hitler invades the Soviet Union– Wanted rich resources (land, oil, grain)– Wanted to defeat Communism– Wanted to put more pressure on GB

• Scorched earth policy• Temps reached -40 degrees in Dec 1941;

thousands die• Siege of Leningrad (900 Day Siege) – 1 million

Soviets died over 2 ½ year siege-Supplies blockaded. Ration: 2 pieces bread/day

Back in the US…

• President FDR is building support for US involvement– Persuaded Congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act– Allowed US to sell/lend war materials to “any

country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States”

– Wanted to try to stand up for democracy without joining the war

Japan

• July 1941 – US cut off sale of oil to Japan because of their takeovers in Asia– Reduced their oil supplies by 90%

• Dec 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor– Sank or crippled every American battleship but all

aircraft carriers were out at sea and unharmed– Killed 2,400 people– “A date which will live in infamy”

The Big Three

• FDR, Winston Churchill, and Stalin– FDR and Churchill were true allies, not Stalin– Only cooperated to defeat Hitler– Stalin wanted FDR and WC to open a 2nd front

against Germany to take pressure off USSR– Didn’t until 1944.

Turning Points

• May 1942 – Battle of the Coral Sea– 1st time US stops the Japanese air force/navy

• June 1942 – Battle of Midway– Americans destroyed several Japanese ships and planes– “island hopping” strategy

• Jan 1943 – Russians defeat Germans at the Battle of Stalingrad

• May 1943 – Allies led by Dwight. D. Eisenhower force an Axis surrender in North Africa (Operation Torch)

• IwoJima:Capturedto stagean attackon mainland;26,000 UScasualties

D-Day

• June 6, 1944 – Allies land at Normandy (France)

• Free France, Belgium, enter Germany by March 1945

• Soviets also advancing from East• Mussolini – executed• Hitler – suicide Apr 30, surrender May 7• May 8, 1945 – V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

Japan?

• Will not surrender– Kamikaze– Manhattan Project – code name for the research

on atomic bomb– Harry S Truman is now President of US• FDR died April 12, 1945

– August 6 – Hiroshima – 70,000 killed instantly– August 9 – Nagasaki – 40,000; surrender – Many more died later from radiation