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The Second World War: Background

The Second World War: Background. Axis: Germany Japan Italy. Allies: Great Britain (England) France Russia USA (China). WHO: . Axis Rally in Tokyo. WHAT:. Truly Global and Industrialized WAR Three Stages: 1939-1941--Initital Push, Battle of Britain

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The Second World War: Background

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  1. The Second World War: Background

  2. Axis: Germany Japan Italy Allies: Great Britain (England) France Russia USA (China) WHO:

  3. Axis Rally in Tokyo

  4. WHAT: • Truly Global and Industrialized WAR • Three Stages: • 1939-1941--Initital Push, Battle of Britain • 1941-1943--Invasion of Russia, Pearl Harbor, Direction of War Changes • 1943-1945--Battles of Midway, Stalingrad, D-Day (June 6, 1944) Allies surge toward Victory. • Finally, 1945--Russians take Berlin, U.S. conducts nuclear attack on Japan. War ends.

  5. WHERE: Practically Everywhere

  6. WHEN: • Officially, 1939-1945 • However, Japan began its war in China in 1931. This is often forgotten.

  7. HOW: • “Revisionists:” especially in Germany wished to revise post-World War I peace treaties (especially the …?) • Fascist and/or Militaristic leaders took over governments in Italy, Germany and Japan • Allies initially follow policy of appeasement • This fails to soothe the new fascist powers, and instead emboldens them • War erupts 1939, global by 1941, over 1945

  8. Japan’s War in China • Conquest of Chinese Manchuria 1931-1932 • Full-scale invasion in 1937 • The Rape of Nanjing • Arial bombing of urban center • 400,000 Chinese used for bayonet practice, massacred • 7,000 women raped • 1/3 of all homes destroyed • If you are sensitive you may not want to look at the next slides.

  9. Nanjing Massacre

  10. Nanjing Massacre

  11. Italian Aggression • Benito Mussolini invades Ethiopia with overpowering force • 2,000 Italian troops killed, 275,000 Ethiopians killed • Also takes Libya, Albania

  12. Germany • Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) withdraws from League of Nations • Remilitarizes Germany • Anschluss (“Union”) with Austria, 1938 • Pressure on Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia)

  13. Munich Conference (1938) • Italy, France, Great Britain, Germany meet • Allies follow policy of appeasement • Hitler promises to halt expansion • British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) promises “peace for our time” • Hitler signs secret Russian-German Treaty of Non-Aggression (August 1939)

  14. Invasion of Poland and France • September 1, 1939 • Blitzkrieg: “lightning war” strategy • Air forces soften up target, armored divisions rush in • German U-boats (submarines) patrol Atlantic, threaten British shipping (just like during…?)

  15. The Fall of France • 1940: Germany occupies Denmark, Norway, Belgium, France • Hitler forces French to sign armistice agreement in same railroad car used for the armistice imposed on Germany in 1918 • Once again--dissatisfaction with Treaty of Versailles and need for revenge. • How it played out…

  16. The Battle of Britain • Air war conducted by the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) • 40,000 British civilians killed in urban bombing raids • Especially London • Royal Air Force prevents Germans from invading

  17. Operation Barbarossa • Lebensraum (“living space”) • June 22, 1941 Hitler double-crosses Stalin and invades USSR • Stalin caught off-guard, rapid advance • But severe winter, long supply lines weakened German efforts • Turning point: Battle of Stalingrad (ends February 1943)

  18. High tide of Axis expansion in Europe and North Africa

  19. US Involvement in WWII before Pearl Harbor • US initiates “cash and carry” and “lend-lease” programs: US lends war goods to Allies with free shipping, leases naval bases in return • US freezes Japanese assets in US • US places embargo on oil shipments to Japan • Japanese Defense Minister Tojo Hideki (1884-1948) plans for war with US

  20. Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) • FDR: “A date which will live in infamy” • Destroyed US Navy in the Pacific—not Aircraft Carriers • Hitler, Mussolini declare war on the US on December 11 • US joins Great Britain and the USSR

  21. The Attack on Pearl Harbor

  22. Japanese Victories and Sphere of Control • Japan dominates south-east Asia, Pacific islands • Establishes “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”World War II in Asia and the Pacific

  23. Defeat of the Axis Powers • Key factors: Russia & USA had more personnel reserves (more people) & industrial capacity (more resources) than Axis • US joining the war turned the tide • Shipbuilding, automotive production especially important

  24. Allied Victory in Europe • Red Army (USSR) gains offensive after Stalingrad (February 1943) • British, US forces attack in North Africa, Italy • D-Day: June 6, 1944, British and US forces land in France (we will view this on Friday) • US, Britain bomb German cities (firebombing) • Dresden, February 1945: 135,000 Germans killed in shelters • 30 April 1945 Hitler commits suicide, 8 May Germany surrenders

  25. The Firebombing of Dresden

  26. Turning the Tide in the Pacific • US code breaking operation Magic discovers Japanese plans • Battle of Midway (4 June 1942) • US takes the offensive, engages in island-hopping strategy • Iwo Jima and Okinawa • Japanese kamikaze suicide bombers • Savage two-month battle for Okinawa (Highly recommended: Letters From Iwo Jima)

  27. Japanese Surrender • US firebombs Tokyo, March 1945 • 100,000 killed • 25% of buildings destroyed • Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 6th and 9th, 1945 • Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989) surrenders unconditionally September 2, 1945

  28. Hiroshima after the Bomb

  29. Deaths During World War II (millions)

  30. Women and the War • WAVES (Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service) • US, Great Britain bar women from serving in combat units • Soviet, Chinese forces include women fighters • Women very active in resistance movements

  31. Women’s Roles • Women occupy jobs of men away at war • Also take on “head of household” duties • Temporary: men returning from war displace women • Yet lasting impact on women’s movement

  32. “Comfort Women” • Asian women forced into prostitution by Japanese forces • 20/30 men per day, in war zones • “Comfort Houses,” “Consolation Centers” • Killed when infected with venereal disease • Large-scale massacres at end of war to hide crimes • Social ostracism for survivors

  33. Deaths During World War II (millions)

  34. Origins of the Cold War • US, USSR, Great Britain unnatural allies during World War II • Tensions submerged until close of war • Yalta and Potsdam Conferences (1945) • Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt • Decided on USSR declaration of war vs. Japan, setting up of International Military Tribunal • Free elections for Eastern Europe • Stalin arranges pro-communist governments in Eastern European countries • 1946: “Iron Curtain” descends

  35. The Truman Doctrine (1947) • World divided into free and enslaved states • US to support all movements for democracy • “containment” of Communism • NATO and the Warsaw Pact established • Militarization of Cold War

  36. The Marshall Plan • Named for George C. Marshall (1880-1989), US Secretary of State • Proposed in 1947, $13 billion to reconstruct western Europe • USSR establishes Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), 1949 • The United Nations formed (1945) to resolve international disputes

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