CAUSE AND EFFECTS

WW2 end

At the western front it was ended with the capture of Berlin. At the Eastern front, nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki to bring a quick end to the war. The one big factor common to both theaters was the involvement of the US. In Europe the Soviet Union was the single largest factor in defeating Germany. The countries that fought with Hitler lost territory and had to pay reparations to the Allies . Germany and its capital Berlin were divided into four parts. The zones were to be controlled by Great Britain, the United States, France and the Soviet Union.

Battle of Stalingrad

Cause: Germany wanted to occupy the city of Stalingrad, Hitler believed that it would bea catastrophic blow to the USSR moral if hitler took over the city. When stopped in Moscow, Hitler, began contemplating offensive plans. Lacking the manpower to remain on the offesnive along the entire eastern front for the rest of the war, he decided to focus german efforts in the south with the goal of taking teh oil fields, which would result teh draining of soviet mechanized vehicles and make them defensless against teh german Panzer divisons. Hitler was stressed to how long the battle on the easter front was so he split the group into A and B. Army group a went to the oil fields while Group B was ordered to take stalingrad. Teh Volga river near stalingrad was a key trasnport hub. Effect:It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. This battle is known as the turning point of World War 2 in the Eastern Front. About 2 Million people died during the course of this battle. Germans lost Battle of Stalingrad because they decided to engage the Soviet in urban warfare in the first place. German commanders wanted to bypass the city and cross Volga at a crossing north of the Stalingrad. The Germans lost the battle of stalingrad becuase they simply did not have enough man power, the Germany Army was in full retreat. Individual streets were fought over using hand-to-hand combat. The Germans took a great deal of the city but they failed to fully assert their authority. Areas captured by the Germans during the day, were re-taken by the Russians at night. Germans also had to face the winter. Temperatures dropped to well below zero and food, ammunition and heat were in short supply. With such a massive loss of manpower and equipment, the Germans simply did not have enough manpower to cope with the Russian advance to Germany when it came. Hitler was very angry and he commented "the God of War has gone over to the other side"

Blietzkrieg

Cause: Hitlers war strategy fusing fast moving airplanes and tanks to take enemy defenders by surprise worked in Poland. Effect: Most countries fell without struggle but Finlad fought back.

japan invasion of Manchuria

Cause: In order to execute this ideology and grow its military, Japan needed more natural resources to increase its industrial productivity and strength. Japan did not want to be reliant on other countries for these resources, so Japanese leaders ordered the invasion of resource-rich colonies. Leaders soon decided on invading neighboring China, specifically the province of Manchuria. Effect: Japan violated the League of nations terms of war by invading without declaring war in 1931. It sought resources of coal, oil and rubber that Japan lacked. When China went to the league of nations for help, it was clear the lon did not have much power against nations and the confidence was eroded. The United States did not approve of Japan's invasion but did not interfere.

Battle of Midway

Cause: Japan was seeking to expand their control of the Pacific. They had seriously damaged the United States at Pearl Harbor, and were looking to permanently cripple the US in the Pacific with a decisive win at Midway. Effect: The US was able to discover Japan's plans by breaking their naval code. As a result, the US was able to sink three of Japan's aircraft carriers, seriously damaging their strategic capabilities. After Midway, the US beat Japan back across the Pacific for the next three years. It was the first defeat of the Japanese Navy & put a stop to Japan's advancement in the Pacific. The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll, marking a turning point in the war in the Pacific theatre.

Treaty of versailles

Cause: On 28 June 1919, the peace treaty that ended World War I was signed by Germany and the Allies at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. Allied interests were represented by the 'Big Three': British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Premier George Clemenceau and US President Woodrow Wilson. Effect: The Treaty of Versailles imposed reparations on Germany and reduced both its land and population, stirring feelings of resentment that contributed to Germany's instigation of World War II. The treaty placed limits on the German military meant to reduce the possibility of further German aggression. The immediate economic consequences of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were a significant concern and added to Germany's humiliation. Under the terms of the treaty Germany had to pay huge sums in reparations.

Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Cause: The United States only had two choices: To bomb Japan, or to invade it. Experts estimated that invading Japan would cause 1.7 to 4 millions Allied casualties and about 5 to 10 million Japanese casualties, as well as making the war longer and more expensive. Alternatively, dropping the bombs would result in fewer casualties on both sides, and allied forces hoped it would cause Japan's surrender. Ultimately, the allied forces chose to deploy the atomic bomb. Effect: These two bombs are the only nuclear bombs that have ever been dropped on an enemy during wartime.The dropping of the atomic bombs, ultimately prompted Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945 and ended the Second World War. Japan was forced to emasculate its military and to adopt a western constitution. Additionally, the United Nations was formed in order to promote international co-operation and it acted as a replacement for the ineffective League of Nations. The dropping of the bombs had devastating effects on Japan's economy since both Nagasaki and Hiroshima were important industrial towns. Hundreds of thousands of buildings were demolished or burned down, transportation systems were destroyed, and many large companies like Mitsubishi were destroyed. It cost Japan billions of dollars and many years to rebuild their industrial powerhouses.

pacific Theater

Cause: The immediate cause of World War II in the Pacific was the Japanese attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Going back a little further, the cause was really United States opposition to Japanese expansion in southeast Asia and the Pacific. Effect: The war culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other large aerial bomb attacks by the United States Army Air Forces, accompanied by the Soviet invasion of Manchuria on 8 August 1945, resulting in the Japanese announcement of intent to surrender on 15 August 1945.

Pearl Harbor

Cause: he tensions between Japan and the United States escalated until the U.S decided to place an embargo on Japan. This embargo blocked the Japanese from receiving crucial materials, such as steel and aviation fuel. The United States placed this embargo because Japan tried to take over more territory. In 1941, Japan had two goals. The first was to get the embargo lifted, since Japan needed oil to fuel it's military. The second goal was to get territory and to prepare for war. The Japanese began to plan a war. They asked to conquer Burma, Malaya, the East Indies, and the Philippines. However, the Japanese feared that the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor would come and disrupt their plans. As a result, the Japanese army decided to attack Pearl Harbor, a U.S. Base, as a precaution, in a surprise air attack. America had placed an embargo on Japan due to their increasing power and taking over most of the South Pacific islands. Japan was wanting to increase its oil for its war effort and saw the Pacific Fleet of the United States as its biggest threat. Effect: The United States was to remain neutral during the second war in Europe and the bombing made declaring war a popular reaction. It pushed Americans into the war that they were avoiding for so long. The Americans fought a long and hard front in the Pacific trying to avenge the attack on Pearl Harbor.

D-Day Invasion

Cause: were undertaken by the Western Allies in an effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history at the time. Germany invaded northern France because they set the law of the treaty of Versailles to make them pay for the damage of WWI. Thousands of paratroopers and gliders were already on the enemy lines ready to attack. The germans landed on the beach successfully. invaders walked through the slow water to reach the beach. Effect: The Germans killed a lot of french defenders on the beach to get revenge from WWI. They blocked of bridges, roads, paths from anyone trying to get away. They were trying to take over France. They fully secured the beach with more than 50,000 vehicles and about 100,000 tons of equipment. Defenders got a chance to shoot at the invaders, but as much as they killed them there were still more than they could handle.

Suez Canal crisis,,,,

During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War) and in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) and Tunisia (Tunisia Campaign).

Atlantic Charter

Effect: The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued by the governments of the United States and Great Britain that specified the Allies' goals for the post-war world. Published on Aug. 14, 1941, the document was formally accepted by all of the Allied powers on Jan. 1, 1942. The Atlantic Charter defined eight principles to guide the Allies' actions after the defeat of Germany. The Allies would not seek to enlarge their own territories, nor would they alter existing borders unless asked to do so by the people affected by the changes.

Holocaust ,,,,,,

Hitler hated Jewish people and blamed them for Germany losing World War I. He considered Jewish people to be less than human. Hitler also believed in the superiority of the Aryan race. He wanted to use Darwinism and breeding to create a race of perfect people. Hitler wrote in his book Mein Kampf that when he became ruler he would rid Germany of all the Jews. Not many people believed he would really do this, but as soon as he became Chancellor he started his work against the Jews. He made laws that said Jews had no rights. Then he organized attacks on Jewish businesses and homes. On November 9, 1938 many Jewish homes and businesses were burnt down or vandalized. This night was called the Kristallnacht or "Night of Broken Glass". Ghettos During World War II when the Nazis would take over a city in Europe they would force all of the Jewish people into one area of town. This area was called a ghetto and was fenced in with barbed wire and guarded. There was little food, water, or medicine available. It was also very crowded with multiple families sometimes sharing a single room to live in. Concentration Camps All Jewish people were eventually to be brought to concentration camps. They were told they were relocating to a new and better place, but this was not the case. Concentration camps were like prison camps. People were forced to do hard labor. The weak were quickly killed or died of starvation. Some camps even had gas chambers. People would be led into the chambers in large groups only to be killed with poison gas. The concentration camps were horrible places.

Nuremberg Trials

Nuremberg, Germany, was chosen as a site for trials that took place in 1945 and 1946. Judges from the Allied powers—Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—presided over the hearings of twenty-two major Nazi criminals. Twelve prominent Nazis were sentenced to death. Held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, the Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949. conducted by a U.S., French, and Soviet military tribunal based in Nuremberg, Germany, begins. Twenty-four former Nazi officials were tried, and when it was all over, one year later, half would be sentenced to death by hanging. After the war, some of those responsible for crimes committed during the Holocaust were brought to trial. Nuremberg, Germany, was chosen as a site for trials that took place in 1945 and 1946.

Kristallnacht

On November 9 to November 10, 1938, in an incident known as "Kristallnacht", Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. That night in Germany, thousands upon thousands of Jews were subject to terror and violence by the Nazis. Over 1,000 Jewish synagogues and over 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, and approximately 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and taken to concentration camps.

Battle of Berlin

The Battle of Berlin was the last major battle in Europe during World War II. It resulted in the surrender of the German army and an end to Adolf Hitler's rule. After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into Soviet, American, British and French zones of occupation. The city of Berlin, though technically part of the Soviet zone, was also split, with the Soviets taking the eastern part of the city.

battle of Guadalcanal

The World War II Battle of Guadalcanal was the first major offensive and a decisive victory for the Allies in the Pacific theater. With Japanese troops stationed in this section of the Solomon Islands, U.S. marines launched a surprise attack in August 1942 and took control of an air base under construction. he battle marked the first time since entering the war that the United States had gone on the offensive and attacked the Japanese. The battle lasted six months from August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943. Guadalcanal is an island in the South Pacific Ocean.

Munich Conference

cause: In late 1938 a crisis developed in Europe. Adolf Hitler, the fascist dictator of Germany, had already annexed Austria the year before. Now he wanted to also take the "Sudetenland" region of Czechslovakia and make the territory a part of Germany. He claimed that the German speaking inhabitants of this land were being mistreated by the Czech government. Effect: The Munich Agreement was an agreement between France, Italy, Nazi Germany and Britain. After Germany invaded the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Britain and France allowed Germany/Hitler to annex the Sudetenland, which was a strip of land in Czechoslovakia bordering Germany where there was a large number of ethnic Germans back into Germany. In return Hitler promised that this would be the limit of his territorial ambitions. the British and French prime ministers tried to get Hitler to agree not to use his military in the future in return for the land he had taken. Hitler agreed.

Battle of the Bulge ,,,,,

was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front towards the end of World War II in the European theatre.