world war2 final
operation overlord
Code name for the invasion of Normandy June 6, 1944 the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II.
Adolf Eichmann
German Nazi military leader- charged my Reinhard Heydrich with facilitating and managing the logistics of mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe during World War II. -A team of Mossad and Shin Bet agents captured Eichmann and brought him to Israel to stand trial on 15 criminal charges, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against the Jewish people. Found guilty on many of these charges, he was sentenced to death by hanging and executed on 1 June 1962
Hirohito
Japanese Emperor By mid-1944, Japan's military leaders recognized that victory was unlikely, yet the country did not stop fighting until after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the following August. On August 15, 1945, Hirohito made a radio broadcast announcing Japan's surrender.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What: Dropping of atomic bomb Where: Japan When: Hiroshima - August 6th, 1945 Nagasaki - August 9th, 1945 Why: Arguments about being able to end the war quickly, bombing wasn't working and a land invasion of Japan would cost millions of lives (horrors of Okinawa were ringing). More controversy surrounds the second bomb because it might not have been necessary. August 8th, Soviet Union declared war on Japan and Americans were anxious to end the war so the SU couldn't claim any part in winning the Pacific. Once Truman knew about the possibility of ending the war, he pretty much had to act on the bomb (regardless of the consequences that would follow)
Sippenhaft
What: German punishment that said if you acted against the Nazi regime, you and your family and friends would be thrown into a concentration camp = collective punishment Where: Germany When: July 1944 Why: Some people were willing to throw their lives away to save Jews, part of the terror regime that the Nazi's implemented, introduced after the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler (tensions brewing), shows the extremities of the regime to keep people in line with radical Nazism
Nuremberg Laws
What: Laws that made Jews non-citizens of Germany Where: Germany When: 1935 Why: Development of anti-Semitism in Germany, sparked a serious debate about who is Jewish, first radical step towards anti-Semitism, isolated Jews from economic and social spheres, sparked emigration from Germany, most people in Germany didn't see this as a big deal because it was happening everywhere, this happened all the time, people thought that this was the extent to which anti-Semitism would go to
African Americans in Work
Who: African Americans What: AA's were still very segregated from whites in America even as members of the military. They also had a hard time getting work on the home front Where: America When: Throughout the war Why: Shows the social unrest that was caused by the changing American economy due to the war. Begins a movement of AA's into jobs that had previously only been performed by whites.
Strategic Bombing
Who: Allies (America and Britain) What: Targeted at factories and infrastructures (ball bearing facilities). Goal of defeating an enemy by destroying its economic capability and public will rather than destroy its land or naval forces Where: Germany, Great Britain When: Throughout the war in Europe (really beginning around 1943 in Europe with Op. Tidal Wave) Why: Strategic isn't specifically designed to support ground troops, tactical bombing is. Encompasses the moral ambiguity of the second world war, blurring lines between civilian and combatant (US preferred to bomb during the day while GB preferred to bomb at night and avoid being seen different variants on "strategic bombing") Strategic bombing is a military strategy that is linked with total war (new with WWII). Also include the idea of "bottleneck targets" as one aspect of strategic bombing
D-Day (Operation Overlord)
Who: Allies, American, British and Canadian troops attacking beaches Generals: planned by Montgomery, British, commanded by Eisenhower, American vs. Germany What: Invasion of Western Europe (France) the famous cross channel invasion they had all been waiting for... Where: Normandy (NOT Calais) When: June 6th, 1944 Why: Initially a disaster, even though they planned for an entire year. Maze of obstacles (Rommel's asparagus) on beaches so they had to come in at low tide and at dawn, Stagg was the weather forecaster, checked forecast each day, huge gamble, 36-48 hour break in the bad weather front. Calais was the obvious choice of landing location, but they didn't because it was heavily manned (wanted to catch them off guard). Even after the invasion of Normandy, Germans thought that it was a diversion. Omaha and Utah, STORM THE BEACHES AT NORMANDY, Germans were just stupid. Entire operation needed to be secret. German response confused and delayed, D-Day became the great date of World War II but it was just the beginning of bloodshed as Allied troops moved across France ("contested every acre") Paratroopers were sent in before the invasion to secure key junctions like bridges and roads but many of them died (over 50%) because the plane formations were broken due to the weather - this confused the Germans.
Potsdam Declaration
Who: Allies, Truman, Chiang Kai-Shek and Churchill (later replaced by Atlee) What: 1st conference among victorious allies (after the war ended in Europe) Where: Potsdam, Brandenburg When: July 26th, 1945 Why: Said that the Japanese needed to surrender or face destruction. Sets the tone for the rest of the war, if they won they would occupy Japan, disarm the army and establish a democratic government. The Japanese did not respond to the Potsdam Declaration so the US interpreted it as the go-ahead for dropping the bomb. Also the first appearance of Truman (since FDR's death in April) and Atlee (since the elections in GB)
Manhattan Project
Who: American scientists What: The developing of atomic bomb Where: the US tested in New Mexico and then launched on Hiroshima and Nagasaki When: 1942-1945 Why: Began after Germans started building up their bombs and rockets (V1 and V2) because they couldn't also give Germany the atomic advantage, needed a way to solidify victory over Japan although they initially planned on using it on Germany, Truman initially thought it was just a bigger bomb and didn't know that it was a truly unconventional weapon. When it was tested in New Mexico, Truman was informed at Potsdam. Seen as a way to end the war quickly against an enemy that refused to surrender (estimated casualties in the millions if they had gone ahead with the Invasion of mainland Japan), contributes to the idea of "war weariness." Bomb was launched from Tinian (in the Marianas)
Battle of Falaise Gap
Who: Americans and British What: Massive tank battle to break out of Normandy. Germans attacked from south by Americans, north by British, and above by allied planes Where: Normandy When: August 1944 Why: Breakout of Normandy, sealed the Germans fate. Just a matter of time before the war would be over
White Christmas
Who: Bing Crosby What: The best selling song throughout the war Where: the US When: During the War, came out in 1942 Why: Reflects war weariness and a larger trend spanning across all war music, themes of longing and loss, another aspect of total war that the war touched everyone (even far away in the US)
Montgomery
Who: British General What: In charge of ground operation in NA, Italy, and Europe Why: He was in charge of ground operations and Eisenhower was in charge of Strategy. Developed a rivalry with Patton in Italy. One of the only people who supported the decision to not postpone the invasion. Influence declined after Paris - Market Garden was his idea and it failed.
Carl Spaatz
Who: Chief of Staff of US Air Force What: Believed in the idea of "bottleneck targets" and oil in particular - also believed that air power would be able to win the war alone and a cross channel invasion wouldn't be necessary (Bomber Harris thought this too) Where: US When: Early 1944 (pre-D-Day) Why: Even though Spaatz argued for industrial/oil targets, Eisenhower didn't buy the argument and instead argued that transportation centers should be attacked in preparation for D-Day
Casablanca Conference
Who: Churchill, FDR, Eaker (US General), DeGaulle, Giraud What: British demand that the US switch to nighttime bombing but US insist that daytime bombing is still the better tactic resulted in "round the clock bombing," decided on "unconditional surrender," discussed potentially opening up a second front in Europe but instead decided to move into Sicily (Operation Husky) and then through to Germany (British idea did not sit favorably with the Americans) Where: Morocco When: January 1943 (Post Operation Torch and the invasion of N. Africa) Why: Created the Combined Bombing Offensive (CBO) but it never had real coordination because of each power's belief that theirs was the better bombing tactic; also reveals the points of contention between the Allied powers, US would have to wait another year for their cross channel invasion/second front for Stalin
Resistance Movements
Who: Civilians in occupied countries What: Many of the civilians in the countries occupied by Germany began to resist German rule as the Nazi party became more extreme and demanding. Where: Poland, France When: Throughout the war. Summer 1942 - forced labor caused huge surge of resistance Why: Minimal military contribution - collected intelligence to help the Allies, BBC poem contained a coded message to the French on June 5th 1944 about D-Day which allowed resistance movements to prepare; Helped plan and organize the new world order; Provided hope for citizens that they were fighting for a worthy cause
LeMay/Bombing of Tokyo
Who: Commander of the air attacks over Japan When: Spring 1945 (March-May) and continues through summer Why: Radically changes the bombing strategy for over Europe. Made radical changes to the daylight precision bombing techniques because Hansel sucked. Four changes: (1) Low altitude bombing to avoid the jet stream (2) Night time bombing to protect the low altitude planes (3) Less equipment, heavier bomb loads (4) Area raids instead of precision bombing. Even after these changes, no sign of surrender. Tokyo was wiped out, Japanese cities were tinder boxes. Emperor was sending feelers for surrender, but the military commanders were not. Clear nights but hazy days so daylight precision bombing was hard. Manufacturing wasn't concentrated in one area; factories were dispersed so it was easier to area bomb rather than target a particular industrial zone. LeMay wiped out Japanese cities but remains a controversial figure for his lack of concern about Japanese civilians ("there were no civilians in Japan")
Rosie the Riveter
Who: Cultural Icon in the US - "yes we can" What: Represented the American women who joined the workforce during WWII (war jobs and other industrial sectors) When: 1942 Why: 36% increase of women in the workforce (married, single, old, young), however most saw this influx as temporary (thought it would go back to normal after the war), interesting to highlight that while Rosie was advertising her ability to work she was still dressed in full makeup, women were called the "hidden war," also shows that almost everyone had more mobility and a greater chance to get ahead (still, see above for social unrest)
Operation Torch
Who: Eisenhower and Montgomery vs. Rommel What: Battle in north Africa Where: North Africa When: Nov 1942 Why: Bad blood between French and British led them to choose an American commander. Stalin was pushing for a second front, and this replaced that. Key battle at El Alamein which pushed the Germans out of NA and gave way to Operation Husky
Operation Husky
Who: Eisenhower in command with Patton and Montgomery What: Allied invasion of Sicily Where: Sicily When: July - Aug 1943 Why: Made Patton a war hero. US are now totally committed to war in Italy which is what Churchill wanted - he was hoping to not have to do a sea invasion.
Yalta Agreement
Who: FDR, Churchill, Stalin What: Conference to talk about post-war spheres (clearly Allied victory was imminent) Where: Yalta (South Ukraine) When: February 1945 Why: Figuring out spheres of influence after the war. Eisenhower decides not to invade Berlin because it is in the Soviet sphere, not worth the casualties to give it up. Soviets get eastern Germany and Berlin (would play into the final invasion of Berlin by the Soviets and NOT by the US), discussed the fate of the war-torn nations in Europe, reiterated that unconditional surrender would be INSISTED upon when the time came
Operation Walkure (or Valkyrie)
Who: General Stauffenberg What: German resistance movement attempting to kill Hitler Where: Germany When: July 20th, 1944 Why: Bomb placed in briefing in a room, sent Hitler into a state of paranoia about the loyalty of the Army, minor purge, shows that Hitler was completely out of touch with the rest of the world (even the German public didn't support him anymore), also plays into the leadership aspect of WWII how the public had once rallied around him but unlike the Soviets and Stalin, not everyone supported Hitler through his final days
Battle of Berlin
Who: General Zhukov (Russia) What: Final Soviet offensive on Berlin Where: Berlin When: April 15th, 1945 Why: Berlin is falling, ending of the war. Germany literally didn't stop until Hitler's soldiers are on top of Hitler's bunker (Hitler saw the Germans as failing their mission so their deaths meant nothing to him). Berlin is the ultimate prize. Russian flag on the Reichstag was the same as the flag at Iwo Jima in terms of symbolic content, Final surrender came from the Germans in May 1945 (VE day for US May 8th and for the SU May 9th couldn't even have the same end date, obvious signs of the Cold War). Also atrocities were committed with the Soviet Invasion out of revenge/retribution for the 22 million Soviets dead throughout WWII.
Rommel
Who: German General What: Led German troops in north Africa and Northern France When: Throughout the war Why: In charge of preventing an invasion in Northern france and he left the reinforcements in Calais when Hitler wanted him to put them in Normandy. Not in France during D-Day invasion because weather was so bad. Had the ear of Hitler and could make decisions over those senior to him
Albert Speer
Who: German architect in charge of the German war economy (Minister of War Production) What: Redesigned the German war economy to be more efficient Where: Germany When: late 1943 Why: Paradox that as the curve of Allied bombing went up (British campaign against Berlin) so did German production; people believed that bombing was a failure because the economy was getting better but in reality it was the work of Speer (the economy was so terrible to begin with), his association with the Holocaust is still debated but on trial in 1945 he admitted to the atrocities (known as the "Nazi who said sorry"
Operation Reinhard
Who: Germany What: Establishment of the Nazi death camps (Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka) Where: Poland When: October 1942 (post Wannsee Conference) Why: Implementation of the Final Solution, these death camps only operated through 1943 (Auschwitz through 1944) but were extremely destructive and efficient in the time that they were in operation, they were cloaked by the war and also shielded the horrific nature of the Holocaust from the German public who possibly couldn't handle the idea of mass murder
Battle of the Bulge
Who: Germany (technically Hitler) vs. Eisenhower What: Final German offensive - moving through the Ardennes forest to France (border of Belgium and France) Where: Belgium/France When: December 1944 - January 1945 Why: Called Battle of the Bulge because they got through the allied defense but they weren't able to break through so they created a bulge in the Allied troops. Symbolizes that Germans didn't have the air force support that was necessary, sense of Allied over confidence after the landing at Normandy because they were taken aback by this and they performed poorly when they should have been winning, Battle of the Bulge shocked the American public who were getting excited that the end was near (apparently not...)
Arthur Harris
Who: Head of British Bomber Command (Bomber Harris) When: November, 1943 -March 1944 Why: Convinced that bombing was the key to allied victory and they didn't need a cross-channel invasion. His hypothesis was tested in the battle of Berlin by bombing Berlin factories but he ultimately lost because the bombers lost too many people and it wasn't effective. Also believed in area bombing and not in "bottleneck targets." Criticized in GB as "butcher Harris" because he had virtually no concern for any civilians
Himmler
Who: Head of SS (3rd Reich protective squadron), delegated the job of the Final Solution of Jews by hiring Heydrich to design concentration camps (Summer of 1941) Where: Nazi Germany Why: He was the model Nazi, he was the architect and original creator of the Holocaust, at the end of the war he saw himself as the most important political figure as far as negotiating a separate peace with the allies, conceptual figure - doesn't go into battle, "desk murderer"
Nuremberg Trials
Who: Himmler, Mannstein and other major Nazi figures What: Trials for Nazi's (war crimes) Where: Nuremburg, Germany When: June 1945 Why: Punish the Nazi's for their crimes, interesting because the Allies are so gung ho about punishing them yet they did nothing to intervene in the death camps.
Madagascar Plan
Who: Hitler and the Nazi's What: One of the option of how to deal with the Jewish problem Where: Germany, but sending Jews to Madagascar When: concept tual plan around 1938-1941 Why: Shows tendencies for a massive relocation plan for Jews, however logistically terrible because impossible to move millions of people. Instead, decided to deal with the Jews at home
Okinawa
Who: Japanese and American troops, Buckner was the American commander, first time both commanders on both sides perished. What: Final battle of the Pacific (possible prelude to an invasion? Terrifying...) Where: Okinawa (another home island of Japan definitely within firing range of the mainland) When: Easter Sunday, April-June 1945 Why: Landed without any conflict for three days (new Japanese tactic). This was a horrific battle, monsoon rains blasted the islands, and Sledge called it the "descent into hell" hundreds of kamikaze. 1/3rd of the civilian population died. After this tremendous loss, contemplating an attack on the mainland was terrifying. By the time Okinawa ended the war in Europe was over.
Kamikaze
Who: Japanese bombers, special and revered unit What: Suicide bombers Where Throughout the Pacific (first in Leyte then at Iwo Jima and Okinawa) When: Began in Battle of Leyte Gulf (also seen at Iwo Jima and Okinawa) Why: At first, they were volunteers but then they were drafted (essentially forcing the suicide mentality on Japanese citizens - no longer a choice whether or not you wanted to die for the Emperor). Did inflict a lot of damage, reinforced American sentiments that the Japanese were crazy. Shows the Japanese mentality and willingness to die rather than surrender (primarily from the military)
Internment Camps or "relocation centers"/Executive Order 9066
Who: Japanese-Americans (one great grandparent) What: 112,000 Japanese-Americans removed from their homes and sent to camps. Where: California, across the Southwest When: February 1942-1945 (round ups were from Feb-April/May) Why: Result of hysteria at a military low point, when Allies were doing poorly, didn't feel like they were on top. Highlights racial aspects, driven from American racial ideology, feelings of paranoia and absolute panic, thought the Japanese in the US were a potential "fifth column"
Liberty Ships/Henry Kaiser
Who: Largest ship builder in the world What: Created "liberty ships" to send supplies and troops across the Pacific Where: California!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When: 1944-1945 Why: Because of the US's geographic location, sending troops and supplies overseas was critical, Kaiser was able to build ships like "legos" within 3 to 5 days, extremely efficient, another example of America's completely mobilized war economy, also created an increased demand for labor so women and other minorities were able to join the work force
Einsatzgruppen
Who: Lawyers, Doctors, professors, and other professionals who volunteered. SS working in Poland and the Soviet Union; also included some members of the Gestapo = Paramilitary Death Squad (under the highest command of Himmler) What: Murdering on massive scales Where: Throughout Soviet Union/Eastern Europe (Operation Barbarossa and Invasion of Poland) When: Summer 1941-1942 Why: More ideologically committed because they were volunteers, also a careerist move to move up in the Nazi ranks, tactics of shooting/mass graves replaced by concentration camps because they were too public/inefficient, Nazi's understood that no one was okay with mass murder yet (had to be cloaked from the public eye), also see: Police Battalion 101
John Lewis
Who: Leader of Coal miner Strike What: "the least popular man in America" When: 1943 Why: People responded to the labor strike with outrage "how can you be fighting about this when our boys are dying overseas," highlights the unrest in America (also consider the changing demographics with the new labor force, blacks, etc.), as much as there was total mobilization and they tried to keep unrest under wraps, the changing demographics and influx of workers led to unionization and strikes were inevitable (just another example of the enormous amounts of social change that were products of the war)
Battle of the Philippines /Leyte Gulf
Who: McArthur What: Biggest loss of life in the War, largest naval battle of WWII and possibly ever Where: Pacific (Philippines) When: October, 1944 Why: 1st time kamikaze was used. McArthur insisted they take every single island in the Philippines (controversial move). McArthur gets a grand welcome once he returns, marks transition of Japanese from fighting to win to fighting to the death, shows new Japanese tactics, air forces used more
Operation Market Garden
Who: Montgomery What: Plan for an aerial invasion into Germany over the Rhine. Wanted paratroopers to secure bridges (especially Arnhem) which would help them get across the Rhine. Where: France When: Mid-September 1944 Why: Eisenhower thought it would end the war, but when it failed it was clear the war would not be over by Christmas, wanted to enter Germany through the Ruhr valley, strategically the Allies just could not pull it off (maybe Germany was stronger than the Allies thought, sense of overconfidence on their part), plan required several bridges to be captured and by late September the troops had to withdraw. Only one road to Arnhem and the German tanks blocked it
Wannsee Conference
Who: Nazi officials, Himmler and Heydrich What: Conference of top Nazi officials where the final solution was laid out. Where: Wannsee, Germany When: January 20th, 1942 Why: Explicit announcement of the intent of the Nazi party - killing all of the Jews in Europe. Forbid intermarriage, classified what a Jew was, planned for the emigration, relocation, and extermination of the Jews.
Kristallnacht
Who: Nazi regime, Goebbels What: "Night of Broken Glass", vast pogrom (raid) nationally coordinated attack on Jewish community Where: Germany When: November, 1938 Why: Showed that the regime was capable of anything, showed that there was anti-Semitism in Germany which was formerly a secure place for the Jewish community in Europe. Proved that the Nazi party was a lawless regime. Large step in progression of Nazi policy.
Tarawa
Who: Nimitz What: Battle in Gilbert Islands Where: Gilbert Islands, airbase on the island of Betio When: November 20th, 1943 Why: Example of bad military planning, disaster, the killing was crazy, people wondered whether or not the fighting would continue like this. First place that photographs were taken, showed the horrors, American public now knew it would be a long battle. Terrain was coral so the second wave of ships didn't even make it over the coral reef
Battle for Warsaw
Who: Poland and Germans, Russians outside of city What: Polish resistance against the Germans When: June 22, 1944 Why: Soviets had pushed into Poland and were near Warsaw and the Polish started the battle hoping for the Soviets to aid when they got there, but the Soviets just waited outside. Stalin claimed that they weren't ready to be part of a city war but it was clear that they would not want the polish to be a part of them.
Walter Lippman
Who: Printed allegations of Japanese spies (again just highlighting the racial paranoia in the US racism towards the Japanese that did not exist with the Germans or the Italians)
Butt Report
Who: RAF Bomber Command What: Report about the last couple months of bombing activity Where: Europe When: August 1941 Why: Revealed that Britain's strategic bombing had been extremely ineffective, often they missed the target, navigation was difficult, because the idea of a "target objective" was not so successful the RAF objective changed to entire cities (area raids) this tactic would not be adopted by the US until the raid on Tokyo
Peter Berguson
Who: Rabbi that tried to raise money for liberating Jews in Germany When: Summer of 1942 (traveled to the US in 1940) Why: Demonstrates that the Holocaust was public but there was not a lot of allied response. There were Jewish organizations but there was no unity among them. Of course, the Allies weren't presented with many favorable options and for them the war was not an ideological crusade because they were more focused on military aspects
Tehran Conference
Who: Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill (THE BIG THREE) What: Decided to open second front, making plans for Operation Overlord (decide it will be planned by Montgomery but Commanded by Eisenhower) Where: Tehran, Iran When: November, 1943 Why: Opens second front, first time the three are cooperating, FDR sides with Stalin finally, tension between the British and the Americans about who will command the Operation, planning took about one year (and to think the Germans wanted to plan Sealion in only one month...), reiterate that the Allies will accept only unconditional surrender
Volunteerism (and riots on the opposite side of the spectrum)
Who: The US and Great Britain (primarily) What: Victory gardens, the Hollywood campaign. (Movie stars), drives, rationing, feeling that everyone was committed to the war (volunteering is key in contrast to the Soviet Union) Where: US and GB When: Throughout the war (Post Pearl Harbor but by D-Day the public was getting pretty war weary) Why: Emphasizing togetherness and cooperation to mobilize an entire population, contrast between GB and the Soviet Union, the United States as a democracy/capitalist economy handled the war in a completely different way. Unleashes the next decade of consumerism in America - pent up consumerism, growing war weariness which leads to the dropping of the atomic bombs; also important to note that the US was not a battlefield so the public was able to rally in a way that was impossible in Europe
Norden Bomb Sight
Who: US What: Extremely accurate way of bombing that had to be used during the day. Where: US bombing the Germans When: Daytime beginning in 1943. Hit ball bearings in October 1943 Why: Gave the US accuracy that was unmatched by the other countries. Shows the difference between the US and British strategies of bombing. Targeted the ball bearings industry and others rather than cities so that they didn't inflict too many civilian casualties
B-29 Bombers
Who: US What: New bombers that could fly at higher altitudes and carry more men and were heated and pressurized When: May 1944 Why: Were designed to attack the Japanese homeland. Were rushed in production so they had some malfunctions. Turned out to not be as useful when bombing Japan because of the Jet stream
Operation Tidal Wave
Who: US Army Air Forces What: Bombing of Ploesti, Romania (major oil center) Where: Romania When: August 1943 Why: Planned to knock out the oil centers and the planning was great but the leading planes went down early so the raid wasn't as successful as planned, showed that one raid wouldn't knock out an entire industry, US (Spaatz) saw oil centers as "bottleneck targets," also evidence of the US preferred strategy (after the British bombing campaign on Berlin had not been too successful), testing the value of Strategic Bombing (knocking out industry in Romania in order to hurt Germany)
Willow Run
Who: US Auto Industry (Henry Ford) What: Mile-long assembly line created B-24's Where: Detroit, Michigan When: 1944 (peak of production) Why: At top speed, Willow Run could produce one bomber every 63 minutes, shows the effectiveness of the US war economy, ability for the entire country to mobilize around war (also created a large number of jobs), US tactic of mass parts and assembly that was not adopted in Germany, the ability to churn things out in numbers was crucial in total war
Lucky Bastard Certificate
Who: US Bombers What: Certificate that was given to US airmen who completed 25 missions Where: Europe Why: Highlighted the short life span of US airmen, most didn't even make it past 15 missions, flying was the most dangerous branch of service (extreme casualties), aside from deaths came high rates of psychiatric casualties
Patton
Who: US General What: Led allied forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Led Operations Torch and Husky. Removed from service for slapping his own soldiers but was allowed back into duty do help after D-Day Where: North Africa, Sicily, France When: The whole war Why: Was made a Hero from his performance in Operation Husky. He was very controversial due to his hard-necked approach to leadership. Performed very well in battle of the Bulge.
Marianas (Saipan, Tinian, and Guam)
Who: US Marine Corps. Commanded by Nimitz What: Battle for a string of islands to capture place within launching range of mainland Japan Where: Islands in the Pacific, Saipan, Guam, Tinian When: June-July 1944 Why: Reinforces the fact that Japan will not give up, no way that Japanese could militarily win after these islands fell. On Saipan, first time the encountered Japanese civilians (who commit suicide out of fear of US Marines and rumored atrocities). Made airbases on Tinian where atomic bomb was launched. Fall of the Marianas was a huge blow to the Japanese
Operation Cartwheel
Who: US Marines, Generals: McArthur in New Guinea to Philippines , Nimitz in the central pacific and Solomon Islands (Marianas: Gilbert, Guam, Saipan) What: McArthur's forces move across New Guinea Where: New Guinea and Pacific Islands When: June 1943 Why: After Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943) the Allies had to decide their next plan of attack. Horrible terrain and fighting, fighting would continue with huge casualties, different terrain in each setting, shows that divide and command caused more casualties (MacArthur insisted on recapturing the Philippines for his own ego/gain so the operation was two-pronged). Fighting in the Pacific would be literally until the last man because of the military's refusal to surrender
Peleilu
Who: US vs Japs What: US operation intended to provide protection for other forces When: Sep - Nov 1944 Why: Had a strategic airfield that the Americans thought would help taking over the Philippines but it was not as useful as they thought. Terrible conditions - over 115 degrees and no water. Sledge - dehumanization
Iwo Jima
Who: US vs. Japan, Nimitz is the American commander What: Prelude battle to Okinawa Where: Iwo Jima (home island of Japan) When: February 19th, 1945 Why: Strategically, the Japanese knew that there was going to be an attack so American troops were immediately gunned down as soon as they got on the beach. Volcanic sand made it impossible to dig in bunkers. Japanese were told to fight to the end because there would be no reinforcements. For the first time, number of American deaths came close to number of Japanese deaths. Controversy over whether or not the island was necessary. Raising the flag at Mount Suribachi, photograph by Rosenthal became iconic but that was only the beginning of the fighting. 1/3 of all Americans deaths in the Pacific happened at Iwo Jima. Intense fighting, beginning of the use of flame throwers to suffocate Japanese in caves. Every slope was contested. After the Japanese realized that loss was imminent, bonsai chargers commenced. Completely radical mentality that death was better than surrender.
Vrba-Wetzler Report
Who: Vdra and Wetzler, two escaped Jews from Auschwitz What: Gave graphic details of the camps to the allies, but nothing was acted upon, most extensive/credible Where: Passed information through resistance groups in Eastern Europe - then to London and DC When: April, 1944 Why: Sparks conversation about what is going on in Germany, can't bomb concentration camps and bombing railroad, moral dilemma, allies didn't know what to do about it, they were going into D-Day so their energy was focused elsewhere (also briefly mention the anti-Semitism that was present in the US)
Heydrich - "The Final Solution"
Who: the architect of the physical concentration camps When: Summer of 1941, plan revealed Wannsee Conference in January, 1942, concentration camps built 1942-1944 (Reinhard Plan) Why: Was very secretive and thought that no one should know, used euphemisms to talk about concentration camps, the process of the Final Solution was to round up the Jews in ghettos then shipped off to camps, gypsies and homosexuals included in this - not political prisoners, Final Solution is PURELY death camps