WORLD WAR IIRoad to War

Prelude to War

Europe was hit hard by Great Depression

Germany, Italy, and Russia turn to totalitarian gov’t

Totalitarian = gov’t controls every aspect of life

Prelude to War

Germany Adolf Hitler

Italy Benito Mussolini

Both Fascist Rulers Importance of

nation comes before individual

Ruled with terror and censorship

Benito Mussolini WWI vet unhappy with conditions

after the war Formed fascist group Gained power through fear Outlawed political parties and stopped

elections

Mussolini invades Ethiopia in 1935

Adolf Hitler

WWI vet and artist from Austria

Presented as Germany’s savior

Rebuilds economy & military from 1933-36

Openly attacks Jews, communists, & socialists

Europe Goes to War

Nazis occupy Rhineland (1936) Violates treaty of Versailles

Signed treaty with Italy Axis powers

Italy Germany Japan

Europe Goes to War

Germany annexes Austria (1936) Demands Sudetenland

Area of Czechoslovakia with heavy German population

Europe Goes to WarMunich Conference

Great Britain and France upset with aggression

1938 Munich Conference Great Britain France Germany Italy

Europe Goes to WarMunich Conference

G.B. and France follow policy of appeasement

Giving into some demands to keep peace

Hitler gets Sudetenland

Europe Goes to War

Europe Goes to War

6 months later Germany occupies all of Czechoslovakia

Britain and France pledge to support Poland if invaded

Europe Goes to War

Nazi-Soviet Pact Germany and

Russia sign non-aggression pact

Hitler happy that there will be no threat from the east, Stalin happy there will be no threat from the west

Europe Goes to War

Nazis invade Poland

Blitzkrieg: “lightning war” Tanks, artillery,

and soldiers strike quickly

Relies on speed Italy takes Albania

Europe Goes to War

Sep. 1, 1939 Great Britain and France declare war

Europe Goes to War

Russia took the eastern half of Poland

Germany then faced France and it’s Maginot Line

Maginot Line = French defenses along German border

Maginot Line

Europe Goes to War

German Advances April 1940

Denmark & Norway May 1940 Belgium,

Netherlands, & France

Maginot Line was a non-factor

Europe Goes to War

German blitzkrieg drove French & British back to the city of Dunkirk

Turning Point British evacuate

340,000 soldiers from Dunkirk

“Wars are not won by evacuations” --Churchill

Evacuation at Dunkirk

Europe Goes to War

Great Britain stands alone against Axis

Allies = those who fought against the Axis

Battle of Britain

Hitler massed troops on French coast just 20 miles away across the English Channel

Luftwaffe = German air force Used to destroy

Britain's ability and will to resist

Battle of Britain

Royal Air Force (RAF) used to fend off Luftwaffe

“Never… was so much owed by so many to so few” Winston Churchill By the end 30,000

Londoners had been killed in air raids

Japan Builds an Empire

Small chain of islands

Booming industrial nation

Eager to build an empire

Japan Builds an Empire

With lack of natural resources and land becoming scarce

Japan needed Resources Markets Land

Needed land for growing population

Depression added to economic stress

Military gains power

Japan Builds an Empire

1931 Japan occupies Manchuria Mineral rich region of China The ease in which they took this land

surprised the world and Japan!!!

Nanjing Massacre (1937) Episode of mass murder & mass rape Committed by Japanese troops against

Nanking (Chinese capital) No accurate record of death toll

Japan Builds an Empire

Chinese Civil War Provides less

resistance to invasion

1940 Japan controls

eastern China

Japan Builds an Empire

Becomes ally of Germany & Italy 1940

Neutrality pact with Soviets 1941 Stage set for Asian

dominance Set sights on

Southeast Asia Dutch East Indies

Japan Builds an Empire

American Response

Concern over Japan’s actions Move Pacific fleet from San Diego to Pearl

Harbor

American Response

Wanted to avoid war

Disillusioned by WWI

Occupied with Depression

American Response

1930’s Congress passes series of laws isolating U.S.

After war starts, Sep. 1st 1939, Congress passes Neutrality Act of 1939 Allies could only

buy arms with cash

American Response

German aggression slowly changed U.S. policies

1940 U.S. starts first peace time draft in history

Selective Service Act Required all men 18-

36 to register for military service

American Response

Lend Lease Act, March 1941 aid any nation

whose defense was vital to U.S. security

Aid to Britain

Road to War

August 1941 FDR meets Winston

Churchill on warship off coast of Newfoundland

Atlantic Charter Agreement

outlaying aims of the war

“peace that will allow all nations to live safely inside their own borders”

Japan Attacks

After Germany took France, Japan took French colonies in Indochina

FDR cuts financial ties with Japan

Japan Attacks

FDR hopes for peace but is weary U.S. was able to intercept Japanese

messages Demanded

stop to all Japanese troop movement Japan to withdraw from alliance with

Germany & Italy

Japan Attacks

December 7, 1941

7 a.m. Oahu radar picks up mass of planes IgnoredMost of Pacific fleet was in Pearl Harbor (3 square miles)

Japan Attacks

Japanese planes bombed the fleet & airfield

2,400 Americans killed

18 warships sunk 300 warplanes

Japan Attacks

Goal of Japanese military is not accomplished

Fleet’s 3 aircraft carriers were not in the harbor

Japan Attacks

Congress declares war on Japan

Germany & Italy declare war on the U.S.

World War IIAmerica Joins the War

Americans Mobilize Thousands receive

notice to enter army or navy and as many volunteer

GI (General Issue) = name for enlisted American military (after the stamps on uniforms and equipment handed out)

Americans Mobilize Diversity Americans from all

ethnic/racial backgrounds serve Mexican American Native American African American Japanese American

Americans Mobilize Women

275,000 serve by wars end

Serve in all military capacities during WWII except for combat

WASP: Air force WAVES: Navy WAC: Army

War in the Pacific (1941-1942)

Japanese Advance

Philippines Hours after Pearl

Harbor Japanese take out U.S. aircraft in the Philippines

Gen. MacArthur = U.S. commander of the Pacific

Japan land troops

Japanese Advance

U.S. moves to Bataan Peninsula to set up defenses

Intense fighting for 4 months

March 1942 FDR orders McArthur to Australia Became clear

situation was hopeless

Japanese Advance

MacArthur promises “I shall return”

U.S. forces surrender in April 1942

2,000 escape to the defended Island of Corregidor and hold out one more month

Japanese Advance

76,000 surrender by May 6, 1942

Bataan Death March Brutal march of Filipino

and American soldiers by Japanese

12 day forced march to prison camps 10,000 died of

exhaustion or were executed by Japanese

War at Sea

Japan was expanding at rapid pace with efficiency

Battered U.S. Navy faced daunting task of stopping this war machine

War at Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea May 1942 Japan needed

bases to support invasion of Australia

War at Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea Con’t 1st Naval combat carried out entirely by aircraft Ships never see each other Planes bomb & strafe each other’s ships 70 miles away

War at Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea Con’t Both sides lose

more than half of aircraft

Military draw U.S. victory prevents

Japanese invasion of Australia

War at Sea Mid 1942

Soviet holding off Germans deep inside Russia

U.S. prepping for invasion of N. Africa

Despite victory @ Pearl Harbor Japanese knew their success depended on strength of U.S. Navy

War at Sea

Battle of Midway Japan wanted

final decisive battle with U.S.

Drew U.S. fleet out to defend Midway

War at Sea

Midway Con’t 3 of 4 Japanese

aircraft carriers sunk quickly 4th sunk attempting

escape Japan also lost 250

planes

War at Sea

Midway Con’t

Decisive U.S. victory

Japan unable to launch any offensive attacks after

THE WAR IN EUROPE & NORTH AFRICA

World War II

Battle of the Atlantic

German U-boats had isolated Britain

U.S. turned to convoy system to ship food & supplies

Supplying Britain would be costly, U-boats were efficient

War in the Soviet Union

Hitler called for lebensraum in the east and set plans to conquer Soviet Union

When it became clear Hitler would not succeed with the Battle of Britain he broke his pact with the Soviet Union

Josef Stalin

War in the Soviet Union

June 1941 3.6 million

Germans invade Soviet Union

Red Army = Soviet Union Army

Poorly trained and armed

Germans overwhelm Red Army

War in the Soviet Union

Soviets adopt scorched earth policy Destroy everything

useful to enemy while you retreat

Stalin asks for help from U.S. Lend-Lease Act

Congress blocks request for many months

No aid is given until June 1942 (1 year after invasion started)

War in the Soviet UnionBattle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad Sep. 1942 Soviets made a

stand to Nazi advance

Soviets won with numbers and aid of cold weather

War in the Soviet UnionBattle of Stalingrad

Jan. 1943: 90,000 Germans surrender

330,000 German dead

Soviets never release death toll

Turning point of the war in the east

North Africa

Bernard Montgomery Led British in N. Africa

Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox” Led German troops in

N. Africa El Alamein

British victory in N. Africa

Germans pushed west

North Africa

Dwight D. Eisenhower lands in Morocco

Ike = Eisenhower Ike and

Montgomery plan to trap Germans in the middle

North Africa

Rommel is trapped in Tunisia 1st Allied victory

Hitler gives command not to surrender 240,000 Germans

& Italians surrender

North Africa

Casablanca Conference

FDR & Churchill plan rest of war Concentrate on

Europe before Pacific

Will only accept unconditional surrender

Invasion of Italy

July 1943 Attack the “soft

under-belly” of Europe

General George Patton takes Sicily in 35 days

Mussolini is overthrown

Invasion of Italy

Italian Govn’t surrenders

Germans in Italy do not Costly combat

would follow for both Allies and Nazis

Battle of Anzio May 1944 Allies

take Rome

Invasion of Italy

Germans refuse to give Italy up

Germans do not surrender in Northern Italy until 1945

Cost 190,000 American

lives Almost 500,000

Germans

Invasion of Western Europe

Allies had been bombing Germany since 1940

Forced to give up on day time raids by Luftwaffe

Carpet Bombing = when large numbers of bombs are scattered over a wide area

Invasion of Western Europe

Preparation for invasion Allied troops massed

in S. England Fake armies made of

cardboard were erected to mislead Nazis

Time table and location of invasion were kept TOP SECRECT

Invasion of Western Europe Germans strengthened defenses on French coast

Barbed wire Machine guns Mines Underwater obstacles

D-Day

D-Day = code name for invasion day of France

June 6, 1944 RAF bombs French

coast to soften German defenses

Allies drop paratroopers behind enemy lines

D-Day

D-Day

Allied ships bombard French coast along with RAF

150,000 Allied troops land on 60 miles of Normandy shore Largest amphibious

attack in military history

D-Day

D-Day

U.S. troops at Omaha Beach suffer the highest casualty rates 2,000 @ Omaha vs.

197 @ Utah Beach

Germans suffered up to 9,000 casualties on D-Day

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qeCNg8fO0

D-Day

Hitler refuses counterattack Fears larger

invasion elsewhere By the end of the

day the beach has been taken

Thousands of lives lost on each side

D-Day

Allied Advances

Allies liberate Paris: Aug 1944 Belgium & Holland:

Fall of ’44 U.S. crosses

German border: Sep. ‘44

Allied Advances

Battle of the Bulge

Fighting intensifies once on German soil

Nazis reinforce army with thousands of draftees, some as young as fifteen

German counter attack in Belgium & Luxemburg

Battle of the Bulge

Germans overwhelmed the Allied forces Nazis pushed Allies back

creating bulge in the line Small Allied units were

cut off from Army Ike called for

reinforcements Patton moved 250,000

troops from French coast in a few days, relieved pressure

Battle of the Bulge

Allies push Germans back Nazi leaders

recognize defeat Largest Battle ever

fought by U.S. Army 600,000 GIs involved

80,000 casualties 100,000 Nazi

casualties

War Ends in Europe Allies continue to bomb

German cities U.S. & British move

towards Berlin from West

Soviets from the East

War Ends in Europe

Soviet Advance Nazi-Soviet fighting from

1941-1945 is the greatest conflict in Global history

9 million soldiers involved at any one time

13.6 million Soviet deaths 3 million German deaths

War Ends in Europe

April 1945: Berlin falls to Soviets

Hitler commits suicide in his bunker

German govn’t announces surrender May 8th, 1945

War Ends in Europe V-E Day = Victory

in Europe Soldiers &

Civilians celebrate War was not over,

Japan still had to be defeated

War Ends in Europe

Yalta Conference Feb. 1945 Plan of post war world

Divide Germany into 4 areas

French British American Russian

Split Berlin (In Soviet zone) into two areas

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ybnzMnFEWJY

War Ends in Europe Yalta Conference

Con’t Stalin promises

free elections in Soviet occupied areas

Soviets would enter war in Pacific and support United Nations

FDR & Churchill would be criticized later for giving Soviets too much control

WAR IN THE PACIFIC (1943-1945)

World War II

Allied Advances

Island-Hopping U.S. plan to

selectively attack or bypass specific enemy held islands

Japan would occupy every last island with troops

U.S. only attacked those that were worth the cost in casualties

Allied Advances

Philippines Original plans called for U.S. to bypass

the islands MacArthur opposed and FDR overruled

original plans Oct. 1944

U.S. troops land at Leyte MacArthur returns to Philippines and

saves his troops that he deserted two years earlier

Allied Advances

News cameras recorded the dramatic and historic event

MacArthur- “People of the

Philippines, I have returned.”

Allied Advances

While troops fought on shore the largest Naval battle in world history developed in Leyte Gulf

Battle of Leyte Gulf Final naval battle

of Pacific Allied victory

Allied Advances

Battle of Leyte Gulf Continued

Japan turned to Kamikazes Suicide pilots

who fly planes loaded with explosives into targets

Allied Advances

Land forces continued to resist 2 months to gain

control of Leyte 80,000 Japanese

killed fewer then 1,000 surrendered

100,000 Filipino civilians killed

June 1945 the Philippines were secured by Allies

Allied Advances

Approaching Japan fighting intensifies casualties soar on

both sides U.S. bombs Iwo Jima

for 74 straight days prepping for landing force 14-square-mile island Volcanic island

honeycombed with caves and tunnels

Allied Advances

Iwo Jima 700 miles from

Japan Vital airstrip &

base for invasion of Japan

Took marines three days to gain 700 yards from shoreline

Allied Advances Iwo Jima Continued

Japanese defended the island hiding away in caves outnumbered 4-1

25,000 Japanese defended the island only 216 of them surrendered