World War II

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Chapter 8

• World War II

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1. Causes of the War

• Spanish Civil War
• - During the 1930s, Spain experienced much
  political
• unrest
• - In 1936,Francisco Franco, a General in the
  Spanish Army, led a revolt against the government
• -Franco and his supporters called for the
  creation of
• a Fascist state in Spain
• -Mussolini and Hitler formed an alliance
  (Rome-Berlin Axis) that sent supplies and troops
  to aid Franco
• -The Soviet Union sent weapons and supplies
  to aid the Spanish government
• -The Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 with a
  victory by
• Franco, which turned Spain into a Fascist
  Dictatorship

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B. German Expansion

• -In March 1935, Hitler decided to ignore the
  Versailles
• Treaty and started to build up the German
  military
• -Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland area,
  which was a neutral military free zone set up
  after WWI between France and Germany
• -After not receiving any opposition from France,
  Hitler took the area over and its reserves of
  coal and iron
• -In 1938, Hitler increased Germanys size and
  power by annexing Austria, another action that
  was prohibited by Treaty of Versailles
• -Hitler, wanting to unite all former WWI German
  lands, demanded Czechoslovakia give him Western
  lands called the Sudetenland.
• -The Czechs refused and asked France for help

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C. Italian Aggression

• -In October 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia,
  which is in Eastern Africa
• -The Ethiopian Emperor asked the League of
  Nations to help them against the Italian takeover
• -The League of Nation only proposed a European
  boycott of German goods, proving how ineffective
  and weak the League was
• -In May 1936, Italy annexed Ethiopia

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D. Preparing for War

• -France and Great Britain, fearing another war,
  proposed a meeting with Germany and Italy as a
  compromise to Germanys aggressive policies
• -In Sept 1938, French and British leaders met
  with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, Germany to
  discuss matters
• -Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great
  Britain, proposed a policy of appeasement in
  order to maintain peace by giving into the
  demands of Germany
• -At the meeting, Germany was given the
  Sudetenland area in exchange for an end to any
  further Nazi aggression in Europe

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2. Start of the War

• -In March 1939, Hitler went against the Munich
  Conference and took over the rest of Czech
• -In 1939, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with
  the Soviet Union (pledged not to attack each
  other) in dealing with Eastern Europe
• -On Sept 1, 1939, German forces attacked Poland
  from the western side
• -When, Hitler refused to stop his attack, France
  and Britain declared war on Germany
• -Meanwhile, Soviet Union attacked Poland from the
  Eastern Side
• -In less than one month, Germany and the Soviet
  Union took over Poland divided it between them

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A. Takeover of France

• - Using a new style of warfare strategy called
  Blitzkrieg (lightning war) by using a combination
  of planes, tanks, artillery, and mechanized
  infantry in quick fashion, Germany began to
  takeover Europe
• -Germany invaded Belgium to mobilize their troops
  along the French border.
• -While Germany invaded Northern France, Italy
  invaded southern France.
• -On June 22, 1940 France surrendered. In the
  peace agreement, Germany occupied and governed
  Northern France directly.
• -In Southern France Germany set up a puppet
  regime known as Vichy France, due to their
  capital in the city of Vichy.

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B. Stalin Fears Germany

• -Because Stalin feared that Hitler would
  eventually break the Nazi-Soviet Pact and attack
  the Soviet Union, Stalin moved to strengthen his
  defenses.
• -Stalin attacked and took over the small
  countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and took
  over some territories of Finland.

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C. Battle of Britain

• After the surrender of France, Great Britain
  stood alone against Germany. Neville Chamberlain
  resigned due to the failure of his appeasement
  policy.
• The new prime minister became Winston Churchill.
• The British rallied around Churchills
  determination, courage and inspirational
  speeches.
• Hitlers goal was to invade and take over the
  island nation of Great Britain.
• Hitler planned to weaken the British forces by
  having German planes bomb British cities and
  defense installations.

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Winston Churchill
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C. Battle of Britain Pg.2

• This punishing bombardment lasted nearly three
  months.
• These brutal attacks by Germany, only
  strengthened British morale rather than
  destroying it.
• Britains royal air force attacked German planes.
  
• British pilots were aided by radar, a recent
  British invention.
• By late 1940, Hitler cancelled plans for an
  invasion of Britain, although the bombing
  continued off and on for several years.

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D. Further Attacks

• After gaining control of most of western Europe,
  the Axis leaders turned their attention to the
  Balkans (eastern Europe) and north Africa.
• The Italians attacked the British in north Africa
  by invading Egypt.
• Fighting in north Africa continued for many
  years.
• Also, Hitler turned against Stalin and the
  Nazi-Soviet Pact and attacked the Soviet Union in
  June 1941.
• Hitler needed the Soviets rich farmland and oil
  fields to supply his troops and military
  equipment.

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D. Further Attacks Pg.2

• Around 3 million German soldiers invaded the
  Soviet Union.
• The Soviets resisted but were forced to retreat.
  As the Soviets retreated, they destroyed the farm
  equipment and burned crops.
• This Scorched Earth policy kept much needed
  supplies out of enemy hands.
• However, the Soviet winter and a strengthening
  defense kept the Germans from advancing further.
• The German siege of Leningrad, a Soviet city,
  lasted for two years.

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E. Sides of The War

• The alliance between Italy and Germany became
  known as the Axis Powers.
• Spain, though technically neutral, was pro-axis
  due to their fascist government led by Franco.
• Spain allowed Germany to use their ports.
• Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania,
  Bulgaria, and Western Poland also joined the axis
  powers.
• The Nazis exploited the occupied areas of
  France, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
• Germany imposed heavy taxes in these areas and
  sent men and women as slave labor to work in
  German factories. Great Britain and the Soviet
  Union were the main Allied Forces. In March 1941,
  the United States passed the Lend-Lease Act that
  furnished military supplies to Great Britain and
  the Soviet Union.

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3. War In The Pacific

• A. Japanese Expansion
• In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale war against
  China.
• In December of 1937, Japan had taken over
  Nanking, the former capital of the Republic of
  China.
• During this take over the Japanese military
  murdered hundreds of thousands unarmed Chinese
  soldiers and civilians. This mass act of genocide
  is referred to as the Rape of Nanking as well
  as the Nanking Massacre.
• The Chinese resisted but by 1938, Japan
  controlled northern and central China.

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3. War In The Pacific Pg.2

• Japan announced the creation of a New Order in
  East Asia.
• When World War II broke out, Japan signed an
  alliance with the Axis powers creating the
  Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.
• Japan took advantage of their alliance with the
  axis powers and took control of many territories
  that were controlled by Western powers but were
  defeated by the Axis Powers.

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B. U.S Involvement

• The United States took an aggressive stance
  against Japanese expansionism. When Japan
  attacked China, the U.S cancelled their
  commercial treaties with Japan.
• The U.S stopped exporting oil and scrap metal to
  Japan.
• The U.S moved their fleet from the West Coast of
  the United States to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to
  show its military readiness against Japan.

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B. U.S Involvement Pg.2

• Even after the U.S relocated their fleet, Japan
  began pushing farther into Southeast Asia.
• General Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan,
  wanted to negotiate new treaties with the U.S but
  negotiations ended when Japan insisted on
  occupying China.
• On December 7, 1941, In the early morning,
  Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor for nearly
  two hours.
• In this attack the Japanese sank 8 American
  battleships, 188 planes, and killed over 2,500
  Americans.
• The following day the U.S declared war on Japan.
• Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war
  on the U.S.

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3. Japanese Victories

• The Japanese followed their successful attack on
  Pearl Harbor with numerous assaults across the
  Pacific.
• Within months Japan had captured Guam, Wake
  Island, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
• Great Britain was too involved with the war in
  Europe to spare resources while France was
  defeated early and could not help defend their
  territories.
• After the Philippines were lost, the U.S set up a
  headquarters in Australia to manage the war in
  the Pacific.
• Japan was able to gain resources through their
  conquests which helped supply their troops.

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4. Turning Points In The War

• After months of axis triumphs, two allied
  victories offered hope.
• The first took place in North Africa when the
  allies were able to force Germans back to Tunisia
  and ultimately forcing them to surrender in May
  1943.
• The second took place on the Russian front. In
  the fall of 1942, Hitler launched a massive
  attack on the city of Stalingrad, In southern
  part of the Soviet Union.
• After a fierce two month battle, Soviet forces
  won and forced the Germans out of the Soviet
  territory.

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Stalingrad
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5. Allied Offensives

• Two events in Europe changed the face of World
  War II. The first event was the invasion of
  Italy.
• After a month of fighting allied troops took
  control of Sicily and moved into mainland Italy.
• During this time Mussolini was forced out of
  power, there were still thousands of German
  troops in Italy.
• Eventually allied forces pushed northward and in
  June 1944, they took control of Rome.
• By early 1945, members of the Italian resistance
  captured Mussolini and killed him.

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5. Allied Offensives Pg.2

• The second event was the allied landing in
  Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.
• Which became known as D-Day, 120,000 allied
  troops crossed the English channel into France.
• Another 800,000 allied troops joined the fight
  for control of France. Meanwhile, other allied
  forces moved into southern France pushing
  northward.
• On August 25, 1944, allied troops marched into
  Paris.

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6. March Into Germany

• After the invasion of Normandy, the allied had
  begun heavy bombings of all major cities in
  Germany.
• By April 1945, allied forces began pushing
  eastward into Germany, while Soviet forces began
  pushing westward.
• As allied troops approached Berlin and realizing
  that defeat was near, Hitler committed suicide in
  an underground bunker.
• A week later, Germany surrendered. World War II
  in Europe was over.

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7. The End of The War In The Pacific

• The Americans began using a military campaign
  known as Island Hopping to defeat the Japanese
  forces in the Pacific.
• The U.S would attack some Japanese-held islands
  but would bypass others. The captured islands
  would serve as stepping-stones to their next
  objectives.
• The bypassed islands would have their supply
  lines cut off and would eventually be defeated
  easily.
• On the Asian mainland, the allied forces
  supported local nationalist forces and began
  overthrowing Japanese forces.
• In April 1945, American forces landed on Okinawa,
  a small Japanese island about 1000 miles away
  from Tokyo.
• American casualties were especially heavy due to
  Kamikaze attacks. Japanese suicide missions in
  which they crashed planes loaded with explosives
  into American ships.

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8. Defeat of Japan

• After the allied forces took on Okinawa, allied
  bombers began bombing mainland Japan causing
  heavy damage to major cities. Still, the Japanese
  would not give up.
• In the U.S, president Franklin Roosevelt died and
  vice-president Harry Truman succeeded him.
  Trumans military advisers warned him that the
  only way to make Japan surrender was to invade
  mainland Japan.
• The problem was that many more troops would be
  killed in the invasion. Instead president Truman
  decided to use the newly invented Atomic Bomb.

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8. Defeat of Japan Pg.2

• On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the
  Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima.
• The blast leveled 42 square miles of the city and
  killed 80,000 people instantly.
• Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on
  Nagasaki, killing at least 40,000 people
  instantly.
• Thousands died afterward due to radiation
  sickness and other injuries.
• On August 14, Japan surrendered.