WWII

Final Solution

The Wannsee Conference was where the Nazi Party and German government officials came together to create what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" The people proposed to wipe out and exterminate all Jews, including older populations to wipe out entire race In charge of meeting = SS General Reinhard Heydrich The two points were to Get all other people in the Nazi government together to tell them their roles Make it known that this is secretive; no contact with Hitler Main involved: Adolf Eichman, Reinhard Heydrich, Henrich Himmler, Joseph Gebbles,

End of the war (what is meant for Europe)

WWII was a war of movement and machines Military casualties were enormous Most destructive war in history More than 22 million people died, more than 34 million wounded Germany lost more than 2 million people in battle as did JJapan GB, France, and US each lost hundreds of thousands Seix million Jews died Millions of civilians killed As the war progressed, weapons and tactics became more devastating More shocking, people grew accustomed to the increased destructiveness By 1993, Allied air attacks on Axis civilian centers were accepted simply as part of the modern warfare. Destruction of Hamburg and the atomic bombings of Japan did not immediately bring any great public protest By 1945, killing of civilians = normal practice of war s Damages: Destruction of areas Deaths and wounded civilians Inflation Unemployment Etc. Cold war following

Yalta

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin (Britain, US, and Germany) (The big three) Meeting = assuming that they're going to win the war because all three of their armies are surrounding Germany Major reasons to meet: What's going to happen with Germany ** (split Germany and Berlin it into 4 zones- French, Britain, American, and Russia) The types of government for these new sections Need to create International Peace-Keeping Body How to defeat Japan? -They agreed that Germany should be temporarily divided and occupied by Allied troops including those of France. -Liberated areas of Europe were to have democratically elected governments -Soviet Union was to enter war against Japan (receive small Japanese territories) Big war = Pacific (Americans in Southeast Asia)

Stalingrad

Date: August 1942- February 1943 (Operation Barbarosa) Very important city = industry Important People General Zhukov (USSR) General Eric von Manstein (German) Nations Casualties 2 million people one of the bloodiest battles in history Type of Weapons and Tactics Encirclement Guns Mortars Tanks Hand-to-hand combat General Facts Turning point on the Eastern Front City was a center of industry and location was important Fought in -50 degrees (Germans froze and starved) Urban street fighting (house by house) Hitler humiliated -1 million German soldiers in the beginning -90,000 left only 5,000 survived after being in Gulags

Iwo Jima

Date: February 1945 Important People General Nimitz Tadamachi Kuribayashi Nations Represented Japan & US Casualties 23,000 Americans Japanese 22,000 (2 didn't surrender until 1951) Tactics & Weapons Japanese forces moved inland Used tunnel systems Attritional warfare Naval and air bombardment General Facts US needed this island to establish base for invasion of Japan Japanese used elaborate tunnel and cave system Some of the worst fighting of the war

North Africa Campaign (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria)

Date: June 1940-May 1943 (Operation Torch, Western Desert & Tunisia - 3 phases) Important People General George Patton (US) Loved war Dwight Eisenhower (US) Erwin Rommel (Germany) Nations Represented Britain, Germany, Italy, and the US Casualties All sides total- 1.7 million Main loses = Germans and the Italians Types of Weapons & Tactics Tanks Planes General Facts Axis powers wanted to prevent Allies from getting oil from the Middle East Allowed for allies to attack axis powers from a new location Britain's imperial power gave them an edge (has Egypt, Suez Canal, etc,) Allies intercepted the codes

Midway

Date: June 1942 Important People General Chester Nimitz (American Commander) Yamamoto (Japanese Commander) Nations Represented Japan & the US Casualties 2800 on both sides Types of Weapons/Tactics Sea battle Aircraft carriers Planes Torpedo's Submarines General Facts Out numbered US fleet destroyed part of Japan's navy Yammoto wanted Midway so he could get to Alaska and it would help them get stronghold in the Pacific Provide future outpost for Japanese Navy US intelligence broke Japan's naval codes (Caught them by surprise) Turning in the Pacific- US counteroffensive begins as a result of the battle

Atlantic Charter

Churchill and Roosevelt created this statement to avoid the criticism that the secret treaties of WWI had raised, so in this they announced the war aims of the two democracies. Among its provisions and in the spirit of Wilson's 14 points stated that US & GB: Sought no territorial gain Would allow no territorial changes without the consesnt of the people concerned Respected the right of all the people ot choose their own form of government Believed that all nations should have equal rights to trade and to raw materials Wanted nations to cooperate on economic matters to ensure everyone a decent standard of living Believed people everywhere should have the right to security and "freedom from want and fear" Believed freedom of the seas should be guaranteed Believed that the nations must abolish the use of force and establish a "system of general security", implying the formation of tan international organization

Neutrality Act of 1937

In this act, the United States expressed its determination to remain neutral in future wars. This legislation forbade Americans to: -sell war equipment to belligerent nations -prohibited loans to belligerents -prohibited Americans from sailing on ships of belligerents -restricted the entry of American ships into war zones As war progressed, US became more involved and revised the act in 1939 -allowed American firms to sell munitions to belligerent nations, but only on a cash-and-carry basis.

Pearl Harbor

Japan and America What were they fighting over? Japanese were tired of negotiations with US and wanted to continue expansion, but they couldn't with the strict embargo US had placed on them. Rather than giving in to U.S. demands, the Japanese decided to launch a surprise attack against the United States in an attempt to destroy the United States' naval power even before an official announcement of war was given Japan "won" Result = US declared war on Japan & entered the war Attack was devastating and it gave Americans a rallying cry to fight back *Symbol of the ultimate betrayal of one country towards another, symbol of sacrifice of our navy and marine personnel

Guadalcanal

Japan verse the Allies (US) They both wanted the island. *important- important bases, coal mines and oil, and air strips (you control the air, you control the war) America wins What is the result of the battle? America's victory ensured that Australia was safe from a Japanese invasion while the sea route from Australia to America was protected First major offensive and decisive victory for the Allies in the Pacific

Kamikaze pilots

Japanese Imperial Army and Navy pilots who made suicide attacks, driving their planes to deliberately crash into carriers and battle-ships of the Allied forces

Hiroshima/Nagasaki

Key people Robert Oppenheimer Had family suffering at hands of Nazis 1941 brought into Manhattan Project (secret project name for this bomb) worked in Los Alamos known as the "father of the atom bomb" regretted work pushed for international control or atomic energy; depressed and very upset; pushes legislation to ban atomic weapons The Bombs are Dropped August 6th, 1945 = 1st bomb is dropped Name of bomb In Hiroshima - Little Boy 90% of the city is wiped out hit because it was a military area Nagasaki bomb name- Fat Man Dropped 3 days after Hiroshima Industrial city Did not bomb Tokyo, the capitol, because you can't blow up the government if US wants to negotiate with them afterwards; after the war, we don't want Japan to be chaos, we need government in tact to stabilize Surrender Japan surrenders August 15th, 1945 ****** (VJ Day) Emperor Hirohito surrenders

Potsdam

New people than Yalta (Roosevelt dies) Truman, Stalin, and Churchill (replaced by new PM Clement Attlee) the three leaders planned for the control and occupation of Germany and issued an ultimatum to Japan, demanding its unconditional surrender (Japan rejected) They let Stalin know- they have this new bomb To intimidate Stalin says do whatever you have to do; clearance for them to drop it The conference Issued Japan an ultimatum Divide up land- Berlin (USSR) and Germany (US and allies)

Tora Tora Tora!-

title is made up of the code-words that were used by the Japanese to indicate that complete surprise was achieved (tora = "to" initial syllable of Japanese word "totsugeki, meaning "charge" or "attack"; and "ra" is initially syllable of raigeki, meaning "torpedo attack"

VJ Day

victory over Japan day; September 2nd, 1945 Representatives of both sides signed an official Japanese surrender documents in a ceremony aboard the American US battle ship Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay

"soft underbelly of the Axis"

what Churchill referred to Italy and the Balkans as When the Allies secured North America, Stalin renewed his demands for a landing in Europe. Churchill insisted of an attack on this soft underbelly of the axis

Franklin Roosevelt

• 32nd president of US • served during WWII • resident of the United States. Died right before Germans surrendered in WWII. He creates the Manhattan Project (project that makes destructive bomb), but Truman not him gives the order to drop the bomb. He also passes the Lend Lease agreement that helped the British before the United States officially entered the war. He decided to aid Stalin after Germany broke the peace between them.

Dwight Eisenhower

• 34th president • five star general during WWII

Adolph Hitler

• Austrian-born German politician • Leader of Nazi Party • Chacnellor of Germany • Did not like how the Jewish people in his village were superior and had all the jobs, so thus his hatred of that race begin • Horrific man who aimed for a whole Aryan race country

Neville Chamberlain-

• British Prime Minister & Conservative politician • Followed the policy of appeasement; wanted to avoid war at all costs • Triumphantly announced to cheering crowd, "I believe it is peace for our time" • After Hitler started to slowly take over more and more areas, he helped Britain prepare for war, and he rushed a huge armaments program and a draft law through Parliament; tried to make pact with Stalin of Soviet Union • Resigned in 1940, followed by Churchill • British prime minster. After Hitler had altercations with Czechoslovakia. They also used force to the enter Rhineland and Austria, claiming both of them as their own. A use of force is breaking the Versailles treaty. Chamberlain said that Hitler could take over Sudetenland and that was all he could invade in the Munich Agreement. Chamberlain declared that he had "created peace in our time." Churchill said that Chamberlain was underestimating Hitler and he was correct. Once Hitler broke the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain let Churchill come to power.

Winston Churchill

• British Prime Minister (after Chamberlain) • One of the few prominent politicians in the 1930s to attack appeasement and to warn against the Nazi menace • Exceptional motivational speaker to rally the British • On June 4th, he gave his most engaging and forceful speech • View on Nazis: • "became increasingly angry at the government's unwillingness to recognize the threat posed by the rise of fascism in Europe in general and the establishment of the Nazi Party in Germany, specifically." • Promised the people if they went into war: • He rallied the people to what he called the ultimate fight for survival. His leadership would prove vital to the British war effort, as he forcefully denounced proposals to negotiate with the Germans for some kind of settlement or conditional peace. Such submission to what he saw as the forces of evil was unthinkable.

Result of Atom bombs

The Bombs are Dropped August 6th, 1945 = 1st bomb is dropped Name of bomb In Hiroshima - Little Boy 90% of the city is wiped out hit because it was a military area Nagasaki bomb name- Fat Man Dropped 3 days after Hiroshima Industrial city Did not bomb Tokyo, the capitol, because you can't blow up the government if US wants to negotiate with them afterwards; after the war, we don't want Japan to be chaos, we need government in tact to stabilize Results = Total destruction, Cities and ares around it were ruined and destroyed Millions of people dead and lost Radiation poisoning to continue in generations for years

Non-Aggression Pact (Nazi Soviet Pact)

At the same time when Stalin was negotiating with Great Britain and France, he was carrying on secret negotiations with Germany. Later on, the Western democracies received a tremendous shock when Hitler proudly announced a German-Soviet nonaggression treaty. True reasons for this pact are unclear; however, many believe it was to buy time. Hitler wanted to assure himself of Soviet neutrality to prevent the outbreak of a two-front war while he dealt with France & GB. Stalin apparently hopped Hitler would find himself to bogged down in the west, which would give the Soviet Union time to prepare for the eventual, inevitable encounter with Germany. *Publicly, the Nazi-Soviet Pact pledged that Germany and the Soviet Union would never attack each others. Each would remain neutral if the other became involved in war. Secretly, however, the two dictator agreed to divide eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Germany was to take western Poland, and the Soviet Union was to have a free hand in the Baltic countries, in Eastern Poland, and in the province of Bessarabia. Little doubt existed with the meaning of the pact- Western nations lost possible ally in the East, Germany had secured a pledge of the Soviet Union's neutrality- it was a tremendous military advantage, which Hitler was quick to use

Phony war

Everyone is at a standstill, no one is fighting- everyone is trying to gain materials, resources, getting armaments Preparation: While Germany launched its attack on Poland, France moved its army up to the Maginot Line; British forces cross the English Channel and landed on the northern coast of France, the British navy blockaded Germany's ports. The Germans massed troops behind the Siegfried Line (fortifications they built in Rhineland), although, German submarines began to sin merchant ships (enemy and neutral) there was little action on the western front. Despite the escalation of mobilization and arms production, newspapers began to speak of the "phony war" or "sitzkrieg", or sitting war, instead of a blitzkrieg. As the Germans marched into Poland, te Soviet army massed on the Soviet-Polish border. Then, in accordance, with the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Soviets moved into eastern Poland. The Soviets also seized power of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The SU attacked Finland. On April 9th, 1940, the phony war ended as Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.

Spanish Civil War (sides, Guernica)

For a very long time in Spain, the wealthy landowners had power, controlled government and land. What ends up happening is that by the turn of the century with industrialization, a lot of workers and merchants do not like these wealthy people in charge. However, post WWI, that economic feeling of everyone not doing well, these industrialized workers are starting to have a say in the government. Therefore, the people want to remove the monarch/dictatorship/bad government. Then, Spain tries to become a democracy with the Second Spanish Republic, but in the 1930s, Spain as a society is completely divided. Who's fighting? Republicans (which were loyalists that wanted to keep the seat of power) Nationalists (rebels, wanted dictatorship) (government of the 2nd Republic/insurgent army officers who wanted to overthrow it) How long was the war? 1936-1939 Why are they fighting? They're fighting because the army officers/nationalist wanted to overthrow the Second Republic government/democracy. They do not feel it is going to work, but a monarch has always been in charge. Who won? With the assistance of Italy and Germany, Franco led the Nationalists to victory in the civil war against the Republics GUERNICA PAINTING Mass bombing & massacre- bombed because this place was known as a republican stronghold. SO, Franco needs to send a message to Republicans, so he turns to Hitler and Hitler says to Franco "We want to test out our air force anyways, so what do you want us to bomb" Basically all civilians in this area Picasso- showing destruction and chaos (missing limbs, dark black to represent death, people looking up to heaven/bombs, people being trampled, mother crying with her baby) he did this to speak out against Franco

Blitzkrieg

German for a "lightning war" conducted with great speed and force (Hitler's invasion of Poland)

Axis

Germany, Italy (kinda), Japan, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria

Allies

Great Britain, United States, France, and Soviet Union (later after agreement between them and Germany broken), China, and others.

Normandy (D-Day)

Operation Overload Day: June 6th, 1944 (D-Day)**** Important People Dwight Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Erwin Rommel (German commander) Bernard Montgomery (British Commander) In charge of British troops everywhere B. Nations Represented Germany, Great Britain, US, Canada (0thers were there these were the bigger groups) C. Casualties 125,000 American and German troops were killed, missing, or wounded between 15,000-20,000 French civilians were killed D. Type of Weapons and Tactics Location: Northern France Landing crafts Paratroopers (people that parachute in) Planes Mortars (weapons to blast things) Tanks Dwight Eisenhower plans that they are going to land on the beaches; the Germans have been in France and they know that the allies are coming, but they do not know where, so the Germans are at the top of the hill and someone is at the bottom- you have the advantage. Put US men on naval fleets and carries E. General Facts Invasion of Europe by the Allies One of the largest amphibious military assaults in history Mislead Germany (Operation Mincemeat) Take a dead body, dress it up like soldier, put fake notes in it saying where they're going to attack Germans Hitler knew of invasion but not where The beginning of the end of war in Europe Weather delays Eisenhower Quote: "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you."

Manhattan Project

Robert Oppenheimer- father of the atom bomb Research and development project that produced he first atomic bombs Led by the US Einstein wrote President Roosevelt that Germany was making a destructive bomb 1241- U.S = begins the Manhattan Project Secretive group and research U.S tested bomb in desert in 1945 Roosevelt dies April 1945 so Truman makes the call to use the bomb Reason that Truman makes the call- his generals end up telling him, if we have to do a land invasion in Japan, its going to cost us about a million men

Nanjing (Massacre)

Six-week long Massacre, started when Japanese captured the city, which, at the time, belonged to China Japanese had long standing contempt for the Chinese people and they saw themselves as the superior people After unsuccessfully demanding the defending Chinese troops to surrender, the Japanese troops launched a massive attack on the city. They committed brutal atrocities, especially rapes and killings The Japanese soldiers were ruthless, inhumane individuals who regretted nothing and committed these crimes for "leisure"

Lend-Lease Act

The principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during WWII It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials By allowing the transfer of supplies without compensation to Britain, China, the Soviet Union and other countries, the act permitted the US to support its war interests without being overextended in battle. This act enabled Britain to keep fighting and skirted thorny problems of WWI debt. This act brought the US one step closer to entry. Roosvelt addressed the people on why this act was needed He is promising the people of GB: War involvement for the US puts their interests at stake. Therefore, he was promising the people that this Lease would allow Britain and other nations to be loaned war aid, less radical than the US giving direct aid and putting themselves in a risky situation. What does his analogy mean? (garden hose to neighbor) His analogy means that at the end of the war he wants all the guns and munitions that were lost or damaged to be replaced, because he is giving them to Britain with only the price of giving them back at the end. Was this a "smart" speech to make if the people do not want to enter the war? This was a fairly smart speech because he is convincing the people that helping the British will not hurt America so long as the British give them back their supplies and reimburse them. However, it also plants the idea in the citizens' minds that the British might not do that, or be able to, so America will be at a disadvantage.

Convoy

a group of ships or vehicles traveling together, typically accompanied by armed troops, warships, or vehicles for protection

Sonar (submarines)

a system for detection of objects under water and for measuring the water's depth by emitting sound pulses and detecting or measuring their return after being reflected

Fascism

an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization

Collaborator

people who were willing to assist their country's enemies (Hitler sent Germans to the Scandinavian countries as workers. They were to secure the services of native collaborators)

Barbarossa

code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union Stalin thought Hitler was going to keep their agreement and not invade the Soviet Union; he thought Hitler would not go through the trouble of making the pact if he was going to break it; plus, no one invades Russia. However, Hitler uses the pact to but time so he can cut through and use some other countries. "Dortmund" Hitler's key word to call on invasion When Stalin heard Hitler declared war, he was so shocked he locked himself in his room and took time to let it sink in. Then, Hitler and Stalin's crew realized that in order to succeed they must annihilate the other. In the beginning, the Nazis were doing really well (Hitler brought racial ideology into this because he did not like the Jews or Slavic people there) Tides turn in favor or Stalin because the Germans underestimated the strength of Soviet Union, and the Germans are outnumbered, and the people plan to defend themselves to the death against the Germans Then, the US and GB decide to help Stalin fight (Roosevelt = persuaded - Henry Hopkins did a report on the atrocities and inhumanity of what was happening to the people in the Soviet Union)

isolationist

people associated with isolationism, a policy remaining apart from the affairs or interest of other groups, esp. the political affairs of other countries (the people believed that Europe's war were of no concern to the US; they had risen to power after WWI, keeping US out of the League of Nations, but they began to fade with fear of Nazi conquest)

Appeasement

the action of appeasing; relieve or satisfy; pacify (someone) by acceding to their demands

island hopping

the crossing of an ocean by a series of shorter journeys between islands, as opposed to a single journey directly to the destination The Allies adopted this strategy

VE Day

the day of victory in Europe; May 8th, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally

Benito Mussolini

• Declared war on France and GB • Believed the primary tenents for fascism are: • -war is a good thing for the nation • -everyone can be focused on one goal, so we can "win this for Italy" • -your allegiance, your loyalty, everything you do is for the well-being and promotion of the state • -point of it is to maintain total state control • -suppression political parties, opposition, and materialism • He does not like socialism/Marxism because: • -does not like Marxism because it focuses so much on the poor workers rising up, so they're about one group in society taking over not the whole state working together • -believed that the majority of people could not control the government; its a sham, you claim everyone has a say, but its a lie. Everyone has their own opinion, but not all those opinions are seen, so you have a representative that not everyone wants • -democracy- not everyone has equal wealth, so those who have more money have more power; wealthier are the only ones who are heard • -democracy- freedom is bad and dangerous, when you have too many freedoms, you're not going to care about the state • -in a war, what if all these people who have a say write bad, hurtful thigns about the country and morale goes down • Too much freedom = dangerous • "essential freedom" - enough freedom so that you can do what you're supposed to, which is work for the state

Joseph Stalin

• Dictator of the Soviet Union • the ruler of Russia, an authoritarian communist state. Kind of supported Franco Francisco, as he was another monarch/dictator. Supported Republics in Spanish Civil war. Stalin wanted the Americans to open up a second front in order to give that soviets a break.

Bernard Montgomery

• Field Marshall • British army officer

Hideki Tojo

• General of the Imperial Japanese Army • 40th Prime Minister of Japan during WWII

Erwin Rommel

• German military leader. • Important battles El Alamein and D-Day.

General George Patton

• Loved war • General in North Africa Campaign

Francisco Franco

• Most dominant figure in Spanish history • Generalissimo of the Spanish armed forces and the authoritarian leader of Spain • Great courage, leadership ability, and professionalism • Became a specialist in suppressing worker demonstrations and rebellions • Nationalist factions in the Spanish Civil War had assigned him commander in chief of the army and the chief of state of insurgent regime • Said "His hand would not tremble" until he achieved victory • He organized a new group called the Falange that united previous rightist groups • With the help of Italy and Germany, he lead the Nationalists to victory in Civil War • His plans to reinstitute traditional cultural and spiritual values ended in failure, but his attempts to modernize the economy was a success.

Hedrick Himmler

• Nazi leader at the Wannsee Conference. • The head of the SS. Committed suicide before the Nuremberg trials,

Adolph Eichmann

• Nazi leader that was at the Wannsee Conference. SS Lieutenant Colonel. • He helps Hitler deal with the Jewish people.

Pablo Picasso

• Painted Guernica

General Douglas Macarthur

• U.S. general in Battle of Leyte Gulf against Japanese. • Allies won and gained full control of the Philippines.

Nazis

• a political group in Germany

Charles de Gaulle

• leader of the free French government. A group of French that resist German occupation that was centered in London

Joseph Goebbles

• official propagandist of the Nazi's. Committed suicide before the Nuremberg Trials.

President Truman

• president of the United States after Roosevelt died • Officially gave the order to drop atomic bombs.

R.A.F. pilots

• royal air force. • British planes. • Very important in the battle of Britain. • Very good pilots. • They also had radar unlike the Germans. • Prevented the island from being invaded in the Battle of Britain. • Churchill, "Never have so many owed so much to so few."

SS Soldiers

• subgroup (really intense group) of the Nazi's. • Believed in racial superiority and all of that stuff. Were responsible for fixing the Jewish "problem."

Luftwaffe

• the German air force during the war. • Bombed Britain endlessly in the Battle of Britain but they never gave up.