WWII and the Holocaust

WWII and the Holocaust Ch 29

I. Introduction • Continuation of WWI • Result of Germany being punished for WWI • Major use of airpower • Ex. Battle of Britain • Extensive Naval Warfare • Including amphibious landings • Casualties(estimates) • Axis Military and Civilian- 8,268,000* • Allied Civilian and Military- 39,963,700* • USSR- 20 million & China 10 Million* • * Varies per source

II. Road to War • World Perspective: Japan was the initial aggressors • 1931 invasion of Manchuria • 2nd Sino-Japanese War (Rape of China) • European Perspective: Hitler and Mussolini were the initial aggressors • October 1933- Hitler pulls from international disarmament conference • February March 1935- Hitler breaks Versailles treaty with creating German Luftwaffe and military conscription • Goal to unite all German people and expand Germany’s territory • March 7, 1936- Hitler sent troops to the Rhineland (demilitarized) • October 1935- Mussolini orders an attack on Ethiopia • Revenge for 1896 defeat

II. Road to War • Spanish Civil War (1936-39) • Francisco Franco (fascist/nationalist) supported by Germany and Italy • Soviet Union supported established republican government • Both sides tested new weapons • Ended with Francisco Franco’s forces winning Guernica

II. Road to War • Austria- united with Germany (Anschluss) 1934-1938 • Nazi’s assassinated Prime Minister but Mussolini interfered • Hitler eventually marches in to takes over on March 12, 1938 • Czechoslovakia • Democratic nation that was a French and Soviet ally • Created as a buffer between France and Germany • Ceded to Germany the Sudetenland as a result of Nazi encouraged riots and the Munich Pact of 1938 • Chamberlain allowed this through policy of appeasement • Major turning point that led to the war

II. Road to War • Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 23, 1939 • Stalin saw Hitler as a threat but wanted to buy some time • Hitler wanted Poland and wanted to prevent a 2 front war • Both countries would divide Poland • USSR would gain the Baltic and Romania

III. The War • Officially begins with invasion of Poland • September 1,1939- Germany invades Poland • Defeated October 6 • Blitzkrieg • September 3- France and Britain declare war on Germany • September 17 USSR invade Eastern Poland

III. The War • Maginot Line • Huge French defensive line that stretched from Switzerland to Ardennes Forrest in Belgium • Thought there was no way that Germany could get through • April 1940- Hitler invades Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg • Belgium had long since stopped building their part of the Maginot Line • Battle of Dunkirk • Failed Ally defense in Belgium • Resulted in French and British retreat across the English Channel • 300,000 troops escaped but left large amounts of equipment • Battle of France May 10- June 22,1940 • Germany invaded from the North (took Paris) and Italy from South • Left Britain fighting alone

III. The War • Battle of Britain July- October 1940 • Hitler initially tried to make a deal with England • Churchill refused • Hitler begins air strikes in July 1940 • Initially focused on military targets but then focused on London (nightly/daily) as a way to break morale • 15000 Londoners killed • Failed- united people and caused Hitler to waste resources • RAF eventually defeated the Germans in the air • With help of US supplies and radar

III. The War • Operation Barbarossa (June 22 –December 5, 1941) • Originally scheduled for May 15th • Caused problems much later on • Plan was to attack Russia for supplies and to crush British morale • Planned to attack USSR all along • Mussolini caused problems by invading Africa and Greece • Hitler eventually had to bail him out • Blitzkrieg got bogged down and USSR bought their time until the Russian winter • Stalingrad-one of the most costly battles on the Eastern Front • Important due to it blocking Hitler from Russian oil fields

III. The War • The United States • Neutral but not really • Japan expanding their empire in the pacific • United States cuts off all supplies to Japan in July 1941 • British and Dutch also cut off Japanese trade • Japan forced to either attack or stop expanding • Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 • Crippled US Pacific fleet (not carriers) • US declares war on Japan (Dec. 8) then Italy and Germany declare war on the US (Dec 11)

III. The War • US continued • US was not geared for war • Needed to increase troop size/training and change most of the industry over to war material production • Pacific Theater • Priority due to Japan being an immediate threat • US loss Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island • Turning point was Coral Sea and Battle of Midway where the US had their first decisive victories (May and June 1942) • Battle of Midway crippled Japanese fleet • Led to US island hopping

III. The War • European Theater • 1943- US and British initially focused on bombing Nazi held territories • 1944- Allies started depleting German ability to control the sky • Allowed for land assaults • June 6, 1944- Normandy Assault (D-day) • Codenamed Operation Overlord • Commanded by General Eisenhower • Massive amphibious landing to gain a foothold in Nazi controlled France • Led to the liberation of Paris (August 25)

III. The War • Battle of the Bulge (December 1944) • Final German attack in the Ardennes Forrest (Belgium) • All or nothing attack that led to the end of the Nazi control in Europe • Fall of the Nazis • Russia captured Berlin while the western powers were still moving east (March 1945) • May 1, 1945 Hitler and his top advisors committed suicide • May 8- Germany surrendered • April 27- Mussolini and his top advisors were captured

III. The War • The defeat of Japan • Japan vowed to fight to the very last man • Became extremely desperate and resorted to suicide attacks • Fire Bombing of Tokyo (Nov. 1944- May 1945) • Systematically torched huge portions of the capital • Operation Downfall • Proposed invasion of Honshu • Estimated casualties as high as 1 million US and 3-10 times as many Japanese

III. The War • Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) • Enola Gay drops the first atomic bomb (Little Boy- Plutonium) on the industrial city of Hiroshima • 70,000 dead • Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) • Bockscar dropped the 2nd atomic bomb (Fat Man- Uranium) of Nagasaki • 80,000 dead • Japan surrenders on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri

IV. The End • Why Germany lost • Overextended military • Had to pad military forces with those from occupied territories • Cut off ties with allies • Overconfident that the Blitzkrieg would be successful • Invaded Russia too late in the year but too soon in the war • 1942- virtually cut all consumer goods to produce war materials • Wore down the citizens (extreme rationing) • Depleted labor force- Teens, women and old men • Forced labor from POW and occupied regions

IV. The end • Tehran Conference of 1944 • Allied forces met to discuss how to defeat Hitler • France was focus • Soviet Union allowed to take over Eastern Europe • Yalta Conference 1945 • Roosevelt gave Stalin Manchuria and parts of Japan in exchange for help defeating Japan • Potsdam July 1945 • Final conference • Confirmed Soviet control of Eastern Europe • US occupies Japan and colonies returned • US and Soviet Union divides Korea (North and South) • Divides Germany and Berlin between US, UK and USSR

IV. The End • The end and the beginning • Leads to the Cold War • Allowed too many concessions to the USSR • Too much land was given to Soviet Union

V. The Holocaust • Holocaust • Hitler’s final solution • About 6 million Jews were killed • Brought to light to the persecution of the Jews • The Jews pushed for their own homeland • Israel became a state on May 14, 1948 • Arabs were unhappy • Suffered numerous invasions in the first year • Ended up increasing territory

V. The Holocaust • Hitler also killed • Gypsies • Homosexuals (pink triangles) • Mentally handicapped • Physically handicapped • Religious leaders who refused to accept the Nazi cult • Slavs

V. The Holocaust • Ghetto • Containment of all Jews in a town that made it easier to ship them off to concentration camps • Many died due to poor conditions and lack of supplies • Extermination • Mass executions • Concentration Camps • Auschwitz and Dachau • Some were work camps with eventual execution • Some were immediate execution

V. The Holocaust • The Holocaust was not the only period of attacks on the Jews, just the most systematic • The Jews/Israel were historically a disliked group • Pogroms- Russian attacks on Jews • Why? • Historically- would not conform to cultural/religious norms • Money lending- In Europe, many would run the banks

VI. Conclusion • WWII changed the political landscape of Europe and large portions of the world • Many colonies were given self-determination • Creation of new countries • Cold War developed resulting in decades of conflict and tension

WWII and the Holocaust