Ch. 11: World War II, 1939 - 1945

1. Ch. 11: World War II, 1939 - 1945 Ch. 11.1: Paths to War

2. I. The Path to War in Europe & Failure of the League of Nations “Today Germany, tomorrow the world.” -Hitler • By mid-1930s, Germany & Italy sought military conquests while democracies of Britain & France struggled w/ economic problems & hoped the L.O.N. would solve disputes & violations of Treaty of Versailles • 1935: Hitler announces creation of Luftwaffe & started a military draft to increase German army from 100,000 to 550,000. • Mussolini invaded Ethiopia as part of his dream of a colonial Empire in Africa; Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the L.O.N. for help; they condemned the attack • Britain allowed Italian troops to pass through Suez Canal hoping to keep peace “God & history will remember your judgment….It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.” -Haile Selassie

3. C. 1936: Invasion of Rhineland • March: Hitler sent troops to re-occupy the demilitarized zone of Germany, marking a turning point: • Strengthened Hitler’s power & prestige • Weak response of GB & France encouraged his expansionist plans & put him in position to attack both France & Belgium • Germany & Italy send troops to aid Franco in Spanish Civil War & sign an alliance stating common political & economic goals: Rome-Berlin Axis (October) • Germany & Japan sign Anti-Comintern Pact: a united front against communism (November)

4. D. 1938: German Reich Expands • March, the Anchluss: Hitler annexes Austria, forming a union b/w countries • Sets his sights on Czechoslovakia, the only democracy in E. Europe w/ a strong army & defensive treaty w/ France, but large German population in area called the Sudetenland • Munich Conference: GB, France, Germany & Italy met to discuss crisis & Western allies agreed to Hitler’s demands in exchange for promise of peace & cease of territorial claims • British PM Chamberlain used policy of appeasement hoping to avoid war, but policy convinced Hitler that the West was weak & would not fight N. Chamberlain, E. Daladier, Hitler, & Mussolini meet in Munich

6. “I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget but which must nevertheless be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat….And I will say this, that I believe the Czechs, left to themselves and told they were going to get no help from the Western Powers, would have been able to make better terms than they have got….We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude which has befallen Great Britain and France….And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of reckoning.” • Winston Churchill, 1938, in a speech to the House of Commons

7. E. 1939: Failure of Appeasement & War • March: Hitler seizes all of Czechoslovakia & demanded Polish port of Danzig • GB & France seek aid from Stalin to halt Nazi aggression, but USSR still bitter w/ West over its absence at Munich Conf., Treaty of V., & in LON • August: Hitler, fearing a West-Soviet alliance, made an agreement w/ enemy Stalin: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact • 2 nations promised not to attack each other, in exchange, Hitler promised Stalin control of east Poland & Baltic States • Hitler now free to attack Poland • September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland: WWII begins Stalin& Ribbentrop shake hands at the signing of the N.A. Pact

8. II. The Japanese Path to War • Mukden Incident & invasion of Manchuria, 1931 • Japanese militants, fearing Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist drive to unify China, staged an explosion along Japanese governed RR in Mukden, Manchuria • Provided an excuse for Japanese military to seize control of major Manchurian cities • LON issued a condemnation causing Japan to withdraw its membership • The US refused to recognize Japanese occupation, & Japan proclaimed the “independence” of Manchukuo under the puppet government of Henry Pu Yi

9. B. War with China • An incident in which Japan claimed Chinese soldiers fired upon its soldiers from the Marco Polo bridge in Beijing sets off a full-scale invasion of China in 1937 • The weak & unorganized KMT army is defeated by Japan, which takes control of Beijing, Shanghai & the KMT capital, Nanking, by Dec. 1937 • Chiang Kai-shek, refusing to surrender, moves capital to Chongqing in S., while CCP forces fight in conquered areas • Within 5 mos., Japan conquered all major cities in China & all of its communication systems

10. The Rape of Nanking • In December of 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army marched into China's capital city of Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city. The six weeks of carnage would become known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war. • The actual military invasion of Nanking was preceded by a tough battle at Shanghai that began in the summer of 1937. Chinese forces there put up surprisingly stiff resistance against the Japanese Army which had expected an easy victory in China. The Japanese had even bragged they would conquer all of China in just three months. The stubborn resistance by the Chinese troops upset that timetable, with the battle dragging on through the summer into late fall. This infuriated the Japanese and whetted their appetite for the revenge that was to follow at Nanking. • After finally defeating the Chinese at Shanghai in November, 50,000 Japanese soldiers then marched on toward Nanking. Unlike the troops at Shanghai, Chinese soldiers at Nanking were poorly led and loosely organized. Although they greatly outnumbered the Japanese and had plenty of ammunition, they withered under the ferocity of the Japanese attack, then engaged in a chaotic retreat. After just four days of fighting, Japanese troops smashed into the city on December 13, 1937, with orders issued to "kill all captives."

11. Their first concern was to eliminate any threat from the 90,000 Chinese soldiers who surrendered. To the Japanese, surrender was an unthinkable act of cowardice and the ultimate violation of the rigid code of military honor drilled into them from childhood onward. Thus they looked upon Chinese POWs with utter contempt, viewing them as less than human, unworthy of life. The elimination of the Chinese POWs began after they were transported by trucks to remote locations on the outskirts of Nanking. As soon as they were assembled, the savagery began, with young Japanese soldiers encouraged by their superiors to inflict maximum pain and suffering upon individual POWs as a way of toughening themselves up for future battles, and also to eradicate any civilized notions of mercy. Filmed footage and still photographs taken by the Japanese themselves document the brutality. Smiling soldiers can be seen conducting bayonet practice on live prisoners, decapitating them and displaying severed heads as souvenirs, and proudly standing among mutilated corpses. Some of the Chinese POWs were simply mowed down by machine-gun fire while others were tied-up, soaked with gasoline and burned alive. After the destruction of the POWs, the soldiers turned their attention to the women of Nanking and an outright animalistic hunt ensued. Old women over the age of 70 as well as little girls under the age of 8 were dragged off to be sexually abused. More than 20,000 females (with some estimates as high as 80,000) were gang-raped by Japanese soldiers, then stabbed to death with bayonets or shot so they could never bear witness. Pregnant women were not spared. In several instances, they were raped, then had their bellies slit open and the fetuses torn out.

12. Throughout the city of Nanking, random acts of murder occurred as soldiers frequently fired their rifles into panicked crowds of civilians, killing indiscriminately. Other soldiers killed shopkeepers, looted their stores, then set the buildings on fire after locking people of all ages inside. They took pleasure in the extraordinary suffering that ensued as the people desperately tried to escape the flames by climbing onto rooftops or leaping down onto the street. The incredible carnage - citywide burnings, stabbings, drownings, strangulations, rapes, thefts, and massive property destruction - continued unabated for about six weeks, from mid-December 1937 through the beginning of February 1938. Young or old, male or female, anyone could be shot on a whim by any Japanese soldier for any reason. Corpses could be seen everywhere throughout the city. The streets of Nanking were said to literally have run red with blood. Those who were not killed on the spot were taken to the outskirts of the city and forced to dig their own graves, large rectangular pits that would be filled with decapitated corpses resulting from killing contests the Japanese held among themselves. Other times, the Japanese forced the Chinese to bury each other alive in the dirt. After this period of unprecedented violence, the Japanese eased off somewhat and settled in for the duration of the war. To pacify the population during the long occupation, highly addictive narcotics, including opium and heroin, were distributed by Japanese soldiers to the people of Nanking, regardless of age. An estimated 50,000 persons became addicted to heroin while many others lost themselves in the city's opium dens. In addition, the notorious Comfort Women system was introduced which forced young Chinese women to become slave-prostitutes, existing solely for the sexual pleasure of Japanese soldiers.

13. C. The New Asian Order • Japan hoped for a “New Order” in E. Asia of Manchuria, Japan, & China • Japan would be the model for prosperity & modernization • Initially this included seizure of Siberia, but after the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Japan looked to SE Asia to fulfill its need for raw materials • SE Asia colonized by the Europeans & U.S.

14. 1940: Japan demanded access to raw materials in French Indochina • U.S. warned Japan it would impose economic sanctions unless Japan withdrew to its 1931 borders • Despite the warning to lose US oil & scrap metal shipments, the Japanese military leader Hideki Tojo attacked & occupied U.S. & European colonies in SE Asia

15. Japanese Empire 1940 Japanese Empire 1900 Japanese Empire 1931 Japanese Empire 1942

16. D. U.S. Neutrality Acts • FDR continued to follow policy of isolationism • Neutrality Acts passed in mid-1930s prevented US from becoming involved in European wars; laws banned loans & sale of arms to nations at war • Amended in 1939 with the “cash & carry” program: any ship that could make it to US ports could exchange cash for war materials • By early 1941 became the Lend-Lease Act, wherein the US transported materials on loan to Allies • Summer 1941: FDR & Churchill meet for the 1st time to sign a pact denouncing fascism in the Atlantic Charter & setting principles for the post-WWII world

17. Ch. 11.2: Europe at War

18. I. Europe at War • Blitzkrieg • Sept. 1, 1939 Hitler used panzer divisions, air support & infantry to seize Poland drawing France & GB into war; by Sept. 28 Germany & the USSR divided the country • “Phony war” ended as Hitler resumed his advance in the Spring on N. Europe where intended to build air bases from which to attack GB • April 1940: blitzkrieg on Denmark & Norway • May 1940: he swept through the Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg (Benelux countries) as a strategy to attack France

19. B. The Battle for France • German army went around the Maginot Line to invade N. France & occupied N. coast within 10 days • Allies pushed back to Dunkirk • British navy & civilian boats rescued army under heavy fire • Mussolini, sensing victory, declared war on GB & France & attacked S. France

20. C. Fall of Paris • Paris falls to the Nazis, June 1940 & signs an armistice • Marshal Henri Petain becomes head of Vichy France: “unoccupied France” in S., puppet gov. that “collaborated” w/ Nazis until 1942, when the Germans took over • Charles de Gaulle leads Free French Movement to liberate France, set up a gov-in-exile in London • Britain is now the only Allied nation unoccupied

22. 'Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few ‘ D. Battle of Britain: "What General Weygrand called the Battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin". –Winston Churchill • Aug. 1940, Luftwaffe begins Operation Sea Lion: bombing British air & naval bases, harbors, communication lines & war industries • By Sept. bombing British cities; PM Winston Churchill vows “never to surrender” • Though the Luftwaffe outnumbered RAF 4:1, the British secret weapons provided an advantage: radar detection & ULTRA – intelligence gained by use of Enigma decoding machine • Hitler abandons plans by Sept. 1940, though nightly bombing raids continued to take place in British cities

24. E. The Mediterranean Front • Axis attack N. Africa, 1940 • Italy looking at Suez Canal as key to reach Saudi oil fields, but pushed back by GB • 1941, Hitler sends Erwin Rommel-the “Desert Fox” & his Afrika Korps • After months of stalemate, Rommel captures Tobruk (’42) & advances to El Alamein in Egypt • By Fall ’42, GB Gen. Montgomery defeat Rommel’s forces, which begin retreat across N. Africa • Operation Torch: Allied forces led by US Gen. Eisenhower land in Morocco & Algeria in West & British forces from east defeat Rommel’s forces by May ‘43

25. F. The Eastern Front • The Balkans, 1941 • Goal to build bases from which Hitler could attack the USSR • Bulgaria, Hungary & Romania join Axis; while Yugoslavia & Greece fall in April • Soviet Invasion, June ’41: Operation Barbarossa • Balkan invasion set back planned Spring invasion of USSR to June – blitzkrieg sends Soviet troops in retreat using “scorched earth policy” • Germans surrounded Leningrad & threaten Moscow, but are halted by Soviet counter-attack led by Gen. Zhukov & an early winter

26. II. Pacific Theater: Japan at War • Japan seeks a Pacific Empire • Japan sought to take over Western colonies in SE Asia for resources, although this action was likely to bring war w/ US • By 1940, US knew of Japanese plans & its threat to US territories: Philippines, Guam & Hawaii & US began to aid KMT in China to stop Japan • 1941: Japan takes French Indochina (w/ consent of Vichy gov) & US responds by cutting off oil shipments & scrap metal

27. B. Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 • Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto wanted to destroy US fleet before US could enter War • Dec. 7 Japan sunk 18 ships, including 8 battleships – 2400 dead, 1000+ wounded, but aircraft carriers not in port • Dec. 8 FDR w/ Congress declare war & US Lt. Cnl. Doolittle commands a retaliatory bombing raid on Tokyo – little damage, but boosted morale & showed Japan was not invincible

28. C. Tide of Japanese Victories • Japan seized Guam, Wake Islands • 1942: Attack on US Philippine Islands: took Manila, Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor Island; British Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore; Dutch E. Indies (Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes); Burma: Burma Road – supply route into China, which Japan hoped to cut off & force Chinese surrender • Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere went from intention to “liberate” from colonial rule to brutal conquerors: Bataan Death March (April ’42), Rape of Nanking Tojo's orders regarding POWs was very clear. Guards "must supervise their charges rigidly, taking care not to become obsessed with mistaken ideas of humanitarianism or swayed by personal feelings toward prisoners that might grow over a long incarceration."

29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dR3h2HdnBQ

30. D. The Allies Strike Back & Turn the Tide of War • US & Australia fought in Pacific • May 1942: Battle of the Coral Sea • Stopped Japanese S. expansion & invasion of Australia • 1st battle to use aircraft carrier • June 1942: Battle of Midway • US Admiral Nimitz learned of Japanese plans to attack Midway w/ 150 ships outnumbering US 4:1, but were ambushed • As Japanese planes flew over island, US planes attacked aircraft carriers, many w/ planes on board – US destroyed 322 planes & all 4 aircraft carriers • Turned tide of war against Japanese

31. E. Allies Go on the Offensive • Japan dug into hundreds of islands in Pacific • US Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of Allied land forces in Pacific used “island-hopping” strategy: go past well-defended islands & take less fortified islands closer to Japan to cut off supply lines & starve out enemy

32. F. Battle of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands • Aug. ’42: 1st Allied offensive • Japan building airbase – goal to strike before completion • 19,000 US marines & Australians overwhelmed enemy to capture base, but Japanese refused to surrender • Battle lasted 6 mos. “island of death” • High casualties & time to take island showed difficulty of island-hopping strategy • By 1944 Allies began bombing Japanese cities

34. III. The “Soft Underbelly” of Europe • Invasion of Sicily • 1943: as Stalin battles German army in USSR, he is desperate for an Allied invasion of France, but US & GB decide to invade Italy first • Summer ‘43: Allied forces capture Sicily, causing King to fire Mussolini & Italians surrender in Sept., but Mussolini is liberated by Germans & set up as head of puppet state in N. Italy • By June ’44 Allies enter Rome, but Germans continue to fight in N. Italy until VE Day, May 7, 1945

35. Mussolini was arrested but later rescued by German paratroopers in a mountain top resort where he was imprisoned. After his rescue, he set up the Italian Socialist Republic in German-held northern Italy, with himself as its leader. • On April 28, 1945, Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci, were arrested again by Italian partisans by Lake Como. • Mussolini, realizing he was going to be killed, opened up his shirt and asked to be shot in the chest. His captor complied and attempted to shoot the pair with an Italian submachine gun, but it would not fire. He then pulled out an Italian pistol and again it would not fire. In desperation he grabbed a French weapon, a MAS 7.65, from a fellow partisan and killed them both. Their bodies were strung upside down the next day for all to see.

36. B. Battle of Stalingrad, Aug ’42 – Feb ‘43 • German invasion at Leningrad & Moscow unsuccessful • Summer ’42, Germans plan to seize oil fields in Caucasus Mtn & Stalingrad on the Volga River for its industry • Stalin ordered defense of namesake at all costs, but by Fall ’42 90% city in German control • Soviet counterattack & winter set in, stopping German troops, surrounding them & cutting off supply lines • Defying Hitler’s orders, remaining 90,000 troops (of 330,000) surrender; Soviets lost 1mn men & city destroyed – Stalin will never forget… • German army in retreat

37. Battle of StalingradOperation Barbarossa Fails

39. C. D-Day Invasion at Normandy Beach, June 6, 1944 • 3.5mn Allied forces, under command of Gen. Eisenhower & Montgomery open 2nd front to liberate France: Operation Overlord • Allies set up dummy HQ & fake plans to attack at Calais • Allied forces of US, GB, French & Canadians landed at dawn at Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno & Sword Beaches • Largest amphibious invasion in history • Aided by 10,000 paratroopers dropped the night before behind enemy lines

40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCrw_uMWlgI

41. Omaha Beach: American Cemetery; Pointe du Hoc Memorial The World War II Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument was erected by the French to honor elements of the American 2nd Ranger Battalion.  During the American assault of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, they scaled the 100-foot cliff and seized the German artillery pieces that could have fired on the American landing troops at Omaha Beach.  At a high cost of life, they successfully defended against determined German counterattacks. The monument consists of a simple granite pylon positioned atop a German concrete bunker with tablets at its base inscribed in French and English. This battle-scarred area on the left flank of Omaha Beach remains much as the Rangers left it.

42. D. Liberation of France • Despite heavy casualties, Allies able to push through German defenses at St.-Lo by July 25 • US Gen. Patton’s army forced German retreat & Allies march into Paris by Aug. & liberate France & the Benelux nations by Sept.

44. E. VE Day: May 8, 1945 • Allies advancing from west, Soviets from east: Hitler in a 2-front war • Final German offensive: Battle of the Bulge, Dec. ‘44 – Jan. ’45 failed • Spring ’45, Allies invade Germany in west; Soviets surround Berlin & bomb capital; Hitler commits suicide May 1 • Eisenhower accepts unconditional German surrender May 7; VE Day celebrated May 8, 1945 Gen. Patton

45. VE Day! Times Square Trafalgar Square Big Ben Piccadilly Circus

46. IV. Allied Victory Over Japan • The Japanese Retreat • Oct.: Battle of Leyte Gulf • US Goal: recapture Philippine Islands & cut off Japanese supply lines • J. Goal: destroy US fleet stationed at Leyte backfired (last naval engagement of WWII); now relied on army & kamikaze to prevent Allied invasion • March ’45: Battle of Iwo Jima first Allied success over Japanese home-land • April ’45: Okinawa – bloodiest land battle cost US 12,000+ & Japanese 100,000+ (soldiers & civilians) convinced Truman to use bomb Oct. 20, 1944: MacArthur, “I have returned.” Lieutenant General Kawabe, a leader of the Army's kamikaze attacks in the Philippines and Okinawa, explains why he did not consider a kamikaze attack to be the same as a suicide attack [3]: Please do not call our kamikaze attacks "suicide attacks." This is a misnomer, and we feel very badly about this. They were in no sense suicide. The pilot did not start out on his mission with the intention of committing suicide. He looked on himself as a human bomb, which would destroy a certain part of the enemy fleet for his country. He considered this a glorious thing, while suicide may not be so glorious.

47. Iwo Jima JAPANESE STRATEGY General Kuribayashi, the Japanese Commander of Iwo Jima, was brilliant. His preparations, fortifications and strategy were marvels in the history of warfare. The Japanese strategy was unique for three reasons: 1. The Japanese didn't fight above ground. They fought the battle entirely from beneath the ground. They dug 1,500 rooms into the rock. These were connected with 16 miles of tunnels. 2. Japanese strategy called for "no Japanese survivors." They planned not to survive. 3. Japanese strategy was for each soldier to kill 10 Americans before they themselves are killed. Iwo Jima was Japanese home soil, part of Japan, only 650 miles from Tokyo. No foreign army in Japan's 5000 year history had trod on Japanese soil. To the US, Iwo Jima's importance lay in its location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Marianas. Source: www.iwojima.com

48. "No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima." . . . Admiral Nimitz, CINPAC  Incredibly, this ferocious bombardment had little effect. Hardly any of the Japanese underground fortresses were touched The US sent more Marines to Iwo than to any other battle, 110,000 Marines in 880 Ships. The convoy of 880 US Ships sailed from Hawaii to Iwo in 40 days.  There were no front lines. The Marines were above ground and the Japanese were below them underground. The Marines rarely saw an alive Japanese soldier. The Japanese could see the Marines perfectly.  The battle was won by the inch-by-inch tenacity of the foot soldier.Liquid gas, napalm and hand grenades were more useful against the underground Japanese. In 36 days of fighting there were 25,851 US casualties (1 in 3 were killed or wounded). Of these, 6,825 American boys were killed. Virtually all 22,000 Japanese perished. Iwo Jima was the first place an invader's flag ever flew over Japanese home territory.

49. B. Japan Surrenders, Aug. 1945 • The Manhattan Project: top secret project to develop A-bomb under direction of Scientist Robert J. Oppenheimer & Gen. Leslie Groves • Truman warned Japanese & dropped the 1st bomb on Aug. 6 at Hiroshima, and a 2nd bomb on Aug. 9 at Nagasaki • Japanese surrender Aug. 10 Gen. Groves & Oppenheimer Trinity Test Site, July 16, 1945: .034 seconds after detonation; from 10,000 yds.

50. On 2nd August, 1939, three Jewish scientists who had fled to the US from Europe, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner, wrote a joint letter to FDR about the developments that had been taking place in nuclear physics. They warned Roosevelt that scientists in Nazi Germany were working on the possibility of using uranium to produce nuclear weapons. Roosevelt responded by setting up a scientific advisory committee to investigate the matter. He also had talks with the British government about ways of sabotaging the German efforts to produce nuclear weapons. Meanwhile the scientists working on the “Manhattan Project” were developing atom bombs using uranium and plutonium. The first three completed bombs were successfully tested at Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. By the time the atom bomb was ready to be used, Germany had surrendered. Szilard helped draft a petition signed by just under 70 scientists opposed to the use of the bomb on moral grounds. However, the advice was ignored by Truman, who decided to use the bomb on Japan. On August 6, a B29 bomber dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima. It has been estimated that over the years around 200,000 people have died as a result of this bomb being dropped. Japan did not surrender immediately and a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. On August 10 the Japanese surrendered. A nuclear weapon of the "Fat Man" type, the plutonium implosion type detonated over Nagasaki. 60 inches in diameter and 128 inches long, the weapon weighed about 10,000 pounds and had a yield approximating 21,000 tons of high explosives (Copy from U.S. National Archives, RG 77-AEC) A nuclear weapon of the "Little Boy" type, the uranium gun-type detonated over Hiroshima. It is 28 inches in diameter and 120 inches long. "Little Boy" weighed about 9,000 pounds and had a yield approximating 15,000 tons of high explosives. (Copy from U.S. National Archives, RG 77-AEC)