World War II Notes

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World War II Notes
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What was WWII?

• Largest war in human history.
• Involved countries, colonies, and territories
  around the entire world.
• By the end, over 70 million were dead.
• It lasted from 1939 until 1945.

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Causes

• W WI and the Treaty of Versailles

• Appeasement

• Rise of Totalitarianism

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WWI and the Treaty of Versailles

• Germany lost land to surrounding nations
• War reparations
• Allies collect to pay back war debts to US
• Germany pays 30 billion (around 50 trillion
  modern day equivalent)
• Germans are bankrupt, embarrassed, guilt ridden,
  and angry.
• Desperate people turn to desperate leaders
  Totalitarian regimes

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Appeasement

• Appeasement Giving someone something to make
  them happy and leave you alone. Hitler demanded
  land that wasnt Germanys and others just gave
  it to him.
• Isolationism Nations were trying to prevent war
  focus on domestic issues
• Appeasement just showed Hitler that he could do
  whatever he wanted. Isolationism allowed Hitler
  to punish German jews without fear of reprisal
  from the international community

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• Peace in Our Time!

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Rise of Totalitarianism

• A system in which the state and its leader have
  nearly TOTAL control.
• Individual rights are not viewed as important as
  the needs of the nation.
• No right to vote
• No free speech
• Government controlled economy
• Often a police state

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Adolf Hitler-Germany
Hideki Tojo - Japan
Benito Mussolini-Italy
Josef Stalin-USSR
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What is Fascism?

• Political belief that says the individual is less
  important than the nation.
• Glorifies violence, believes it is needed to
  prove strength of a people.
• Uses nationalism and racism.
• Dictatorships.
• Italy and then Germany became fascist.

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How did WWII start?

• Germany invaded Poland to get lebensraum

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What did Hitler Want?

• Militarism- soon after becoming chancellor he
  begins rearming Germany breaking the Treaty of
  Versailles
• Rhineland- moves troops into the Rhineland
  territory again breaking the Treaty of Versailles
• Lebensraum- living space
• Austria - annexed peacefully in 1938
• Sudetenland territory in Czechoslovakia
• Given to Germany by Great Britain and France
• Hitler then invades the rest of Czechoslovakia

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How did WWII start?

• Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 3rd, 1939.
• Allies declare war on Germany.
• Germany then invades France, Belgium, etc.
• Then Hitler invades Russia.
• Germans use blitzkrieg to overwhelm other
  armies.
• Blitzkrieg means lightening war in German.
• Surround with tanks and troops in trucks.

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Who was on each side?

• Axis Powers
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan

• Allied Powers
• Great Britain
• Soviet Union
• United States
• France
• Surrendered to Germany in 1940 after 6 weeks

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Battle for France

• May 10th, 1940 France is invaded by Hitlers
  army through a thick forest the Ardennes.
• France believed the forest would protect them,
  but it couldnt protect them from Hitlers Panzer
  Division.
• On June 22nd, 1940 France Surrendered Germany.

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Battle for Britain

• Britain helped to evacuate 300,000 soldiers from
  France escaping the German Army.
• Their plan was to weaken the will of the British.
  Germany bombed London for over 50 days,
  slaughtering civilians, destroying ancient
  buildings.
• After the use of Radar technology, German forces
  are unable to make many successful attacks on
  Britain.
• By 1941, Germany could not continue to lose
  planes/pilots on London Bombing Raids.

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Battle Against the Soviets

• After failing in Britain, Hitler turned toward
  his old enemy Josef Stalin and the Soviet Union.
• In June, 1941 Germany invaded the Soviets with a
  force of 3 million troops.
• At first the assault is highly effective, but as
  winter sets in German machines and people are
  unprepared for Soviet Winter.
• After Winter, Stalins forces regroup and
  millions begin marching against the Germans

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What about the Pacific War?

• The US (mostly) fought the Japanese.
• December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in
  Hawaii to sink US ships there.
• Two hours most US navy destroyed and over 2,000
  sailors killed
• Japan surrenders after US drops atomic bombs on
  Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Pearl Harbor Why?

• Japan needed a lot of oil for its War Machine to
  remain operational. America traded a lot of oil
  to Japan.
• America cut-off their oil supplies to Japan in
  response to their Militarism/Imperialism in Asia
  (i.e., China, Korea, Manchuria).
• Japan responded by planning a secret attack on
  the U.S. base in Hawaii Pearl Harbor

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Pearl Harbor The Attack

• The attack begins early on the morning of Dec.
  7th, 1941 (Day of Infamy)
• 2 waves of attack from planes/submarines
• Attack takes less than 2 hours.
• 2402 Dead Japanese Losses
• 1282 Injured 65 people
• 4 Battleships Sunk 5 Subs
• 128 Aircraft destroyed 29 aircraft

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The Aftermath

• America was shocked and entered the war the very
  next day (Dec. 8th).
• America, upon entering the war, rounded up
  Japanese into Internment Camps.
• Germans and Italians also experienced severe
  mistreatment.
• Jingoism patriotism in the form of warlike,
  aggressive, ethnocentric behavior

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How did WWII end in Europe?

• Operation Overlord- Allied invasion of France.
  Also called D-Day.
• Within a month 1 million Allied troops were
  stationed in Europe.
• Germany is surrounded with the USSR to the east
• Germany surrenders in 1945 after Hitler commits
  suicide.

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How did WWII end in Europe?

• Allies divide Germany up between them.
• This helps start the Cold War.
• Trials are held in Germany (and Japan) to try the
  people responsible for the war.
• Many are executed and jailed for war crimes.

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How did WWII end in the Pacific?

• Island-Hopping Invading throughout the
  pacific Island by Island
• Costly in lives, resources bloody battles
• Battle of Midway US destroys Japanese fleet
  turning point in the pacific
• Japan continues to fight despite losses
• Truman doesnt want to invade mainland Japan
  (projected too costly in lives)
• Aug. 6 Hiroshima Aug 9. Nagasaki

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What was the Holocaust?

• Nazi plan to kill all Jews.
• Why? Hitler provided a scapegoat to Germanys
  problems
• 6 million Jews murdered in camps in Europe.
• 5-6 million others (gypsies, mentally ill,
  homosexuals)
• Total of 11-12 million exterminated
• What is genocide?
• Purposely trying to exterminate an entire group
  of people (ethnic, religious, racial).

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Quick Facts

• War Costs
• US Debt 1940 - 9 Billion
• US Debt 1945 - 98 Billion
• WWII cost 330 billion 10 times the cost of WWI
  equivalent to all previous federal spending
  since 1776

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Losses of the Major Wartime Powers in WWII,
1939-1945

• Germany
• 4.5 million military
• 2 million civilian
• Japan
• 2 million military
• 350,000 civilians
• Italy
• 400,000 military
• 100,000 civilian
• China
• 2.5 million military
• 7.4 million civilians

• USSR
• 10 million military
• 10 million civilians
• Great Britain
• 300,000 military
• 50,000 civilians
• France
• 250,000 military
• 350,000 civilian
• United States
• 274,000 military

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Postwar Effortsat Revenge

• The Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46
• After, WWII the Allied powers decided to place on
  trial the highest-ranking Nazi officers for
  crimes against humanity
• Allied forces had attempted to do this after WWI,
  but had released them on the grounds that they
  were just following orders
• Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler were dead but, 22
  Nazi leaders (including Goring) were tried at an
  international military tribunal at Nuremburg,
  Germany. 12 were sentenced to death. Similar
  trials occurred in the east and throughout the
  world.
• The Tokyo Trial (1946-48)

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Postwar Efforts at Peace

• The United Nations There was some hope when, in
  1945, the United Nations was created an
  organization to promote international stability
• A General Assembly where representatives from all
  countries could debate international issues.
• The Security Council had 5 permanent members
  U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China
  could veto any question of substance. There were
  also 6 elected members.
• Key the U.S. joined in contrast to League of
  Nations

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Wartime Agreements

• Unlike WWI, there was no Peace of Paris to
  reshape Europe.
• Instead, the Yalta agreement of February 1945,
  signed by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin,
  turned the prevailing military balance of power
  into a political settlement.
• Potsdam Conference, in suburban Berlin (July
  1945)Truman, Stalin, Churchill Finalized plans
  on Germany. Germany would be demilitarized and
  would remain divided.

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Postwar RealitySoviet Control of Eastern Europe

• Europe was politically cut in half Soviet troops
  had overrun eastern Europe and penetrated into
  the heart of Germany.
• During 1944-1945, Stalin starts shaping the
  post-war world by occupying SE Europe with Soviet
  troops that should have been on the Polish front
  pushing toward Berlin.
• Roosevelt did not have postwar aims because he
  still had to fight Japan Stalin did have postwar
  aims.

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Postwar Reality

• Consequences of World War II
• Soviet Union with agenda
• Unlike the isolation after WWI, the U.S. was
  engaged in world affairs
• The triumph of Communists in China
• Decolonization
• The independence of nations from European (U.S.
  Japan) colonial powers.