chapter 32

charles de gaulle

- After France fell, a popular french general named Charles de Gaulle set up a government- in-exile in London - he committed all his energy to reconquering France and went on to organize a free French military force that continued to battle the Nazi's until France was was liberated by the allies in 1944

winston churchill

- After France's defeat, Great Britain stood alone against the seemingly unstoppable German war machine. But conquering Britain would prove more difficult, than Hitler expected, especially now that it was led by the indomitable Winston Churchill - Churchill had replaced Neville Chamberlain as a prime minister in May 1940 - Churchill's iron will, determination, fighting spirit inspired confidence among the British people

Doolittle raid

- After suffering a string of defeats, the Allies, mainly Americans and Australians, were anxious to strike back in the pacific. The U.S in particular wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor - In April 1942, a small force of bombers under the command to lieutenant colonel James H. Doolittle bombed Tokyo and several other Japanese cities - the raid had little damage but had an important psychological impact because it showed that Japan was vulnerable to attack - Doolittle's raid on Japan raised American morale and shook the confidence of some Japanese leaders

what happened on D-day (June 6, 1944)

- Allied forces consisting of American, British and canadian troops invaded France - 150,000 troops landed on the beaches that first day and fought their way through strong German defenses. With beaches secured, more allies flooded into France. After some bloody fighting in the first few weeks following the landing, the allied forces broke through German forces and quickly regained much of France. By end of August, Germany surrendered - huge victory to allies even though many casualties

General Bernard Montgomery and the battle of El Alamein

- Although German general Erwin Rommel had achieved some success in north Africa, he had trouble keeping his elite force, known as the Afrika Korps, adequately supplied, and this limited its effectiveness - the tide turned against the Germans in 1942 at El Alamein in Egypt - British troops under General Bernard Montgomery took advantage of Rommel's supply problems and information gained from secret German codes to win a smashing victory - as a result of the battle, Axis power in North Africa was severely weakened - As the British and Afrika Korps fought in Libya and Egypt, Allied leaders were planning to bring american troops to the European battle field - the soviets wanted the allies to invade Europe, creating a second front that would force Hitler to pull troops away from soviet territory. - Americans and British leaders urged that planning for such a huge action would take time. they instead decided to invade the western part of north Africa first, in the french colonies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia

Phony war

- Although Hitler was eager to continue the war, his forces needed repairs and supplies after the swift victory in poland, and the onset of winter made military operations in northern europe difficult - from october 1939 through march 1940 both sides dug in and waited - the germans jokingly called this period of inactivity and preparation the sitzkrieg, or "sitting war", and some western newspapers referred to it simply as the phony war - the peace of the phony war ended with the coming of spring

Atlantic charter

- Although the U.S had not yet entered the war, Roosevelt and churchill met secretly on August 9, 1941 and joined a joint declaration = atlantic charter - it upheld free trade among nations and the right of people to choose their own government - outlined what the two leaders saw as the purpose of the war - together they proclaimed that they sought no territorial gain, and they looked forward to a peaceful world in which all nations chose their own governments and worked together for mutual benefit - charter later served as the allies peace plan at the end of WWII

ghettos and concentration camps

- As hitler's powerful armies conquered large areas of Europe during the early years of WWII, millions of Jews came under Nazi control - the Nazis used several brutal methods to deal with the jewish citizens they now ruled - at first, some Jews were forced into Ghettos(confined area within a city). Often, walls or barbed wire fences prevented the Jews from leaving, and armed guards shot those trying to escape - the most notorious ghetto was in the polish city in warsaw, which house 400,000 people. Most of these people died of starvation or were murdered by the Nazis - other Jews were sent to concentration camps, labor camps, which were meant to hold the people Hitler called enemies of the state. At the camps, Jews and other prisoners were forced to work as slave laborers. Some subjected to medical experiments, many starved and abused

Polish corridor

- During the 1930s, the three axis powers of Italy, Germany and Japan had effectively played on the fears of the western democracies - Italy and Japan seized territory despite the objections of the league of nations - each time Hitler seized new territory in Europe, he would declare an end to his demands - peace seemed guaranteed, until Hitler seized again - after gaining control over the Rhineland, Czechoslovakia, Hitler turned his eyes to Poland. After WWI, the allies had cut a strip of land referred to as the polish corridor out of German territory to give Poland access to the sea - in 1939, Hitler demanded that the polish corridor, which had a large German population, be returned to Germany

Reasons for the German attack on Stalingrad

- Germans needed help, so called axis powers, they ran out of fuel so they were poised to take the strategically important city of stalingrad = largest and most industrialized cities in soviet union, producing tanks guns and other military equipment for the soviet armies and its ports on the volga shipped grain, oil and other products throughout the soviet union. As the namesake of the soviet union's dictator, the city had also enormous symbolic significance

final defeat of Germany

- Germany's defeat at the battle of the Bulge had marked the end of major German resistance - within 2 months, Allied forces had crossed the rhine river into Germany and were racing toward Berlin. At the same time, Soviet troops were advancing through Germany from the East. The soviets were the first to reach Berlin, and surrounded it. On may 2, they found the body of Hitler who committed suicide rather than be captured = Germany surrendered may 7

allied powers

- His surprise attack took place at dawn on September 1, 1939. As they promised, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3 = known as the Allied powers - unfortunately, Poland was defeated before the Allies could organize their forces and make any meaningful military response - After his victory, Hitler annexed the Western half of Poland

emigration policy

- Hitler at first favored emigration as a solution to what he called the Jewish problem - thousands of Jews were deported from Germany, while thousands of others left Germany on their own - emigration, however, was not an option for all German Jews. Nazi laws had left many without money or property, and other countries were often unwilling to take in poor immigrants - the united states and many European nations were still recovering from the Great Depression and would not accept newcomers who would compete for scarce jobs. Some countries, like U.S, had strict limits on the number of Germans who could enter the country - as a result, at the start of WWII, about 250,000 jews still lived in Germany and Austria - with the outbreak of war, emigration became even more difficult, and Germany finally outlawed it in 1941 - the remaining jews under hitler were trapped

operation Barbarossa

- Hitler had begun planning to attack his ally, the USSR, as early as the summer of 1940. the Balkan countries of Southeastern Europe were key to Hitler's invasion plan. Hitler wanted to build bases in southeastern europe for the attack on the soviet union. He also wanted to protect his southern flank and supply lines from british interference. he forced bulgaria, romania, and hungary to join the axis powers, but yugoslavia and greece, which had pro-british governments, resisted. in early april 1941, Hitler swiftly invaded and conquered both countries - with the balkans under control, hitler moved ahead with operation barbarossa = his plan to invade the soviet union, began on june 22, 1941 - three separate german armies plunged into the soviet union in a powerful blitzkrieg assault. Just as they had in Poland and France, German tanks and soldiers raced across the soviet countryside. The Soviet union was not prepared for this attack: although its red army was the largest army in the world, its troops were neither well equipped nor well trained. Pused 500 miles inside the soviet union. As the soviet troops retreated, they burned and destroyed everything in the enemy's path.

battle of Italy

- In July of 1943, allied soldiers moved North from Africa and landed on the Italian Island of Sicily - Italian resistance was weakening and by the end of the month the Italian government had forced Mussolini from power - the Allies captured the Island a few week later and made plans to invade mainland Italy - Hitler was not going to allow the allies to simply march through Italy into the center of Europe - After the allies moved into southern Italy in September of 1943, German reinforcements poured into the north and slowed the allied advance - the victorious allies did enter Rome on June 4, 1944, but the fighting in Italy continued Until Germany fell in 1945. in the meantime, Mussolini was captured and executed by the Italian rebels

the second front debate

- In the soviet union, the Germans conquered vast amounts of land but failed to capture moscow -with the united states now in the war, the allied leaders began to plan how to defeat the axis - Stalin asked his army to relieve German pressure on his armies in the east. He wanted them to open a second front in the west. This would split the Germans strength by forcing them to fight major battle in two regions instead of one. Churchill and FDR agreed with Stalin - the Allies would weaken Germany on two fronts dealing a deathblow - churchill wanted Britain and the united states to strike first at north Africa and southern europe. The strategy angered stalin because he wanted the allies to open the second front in France. The soviet union had to hold out on its own against the Germans - All Britain and United states could offer was some supplies - in 1942, the allies turned the tied of war both in mediterranean and on the eastern front

Japanese conquests of British territories in southeast Asia

- Japanese also struck British possessions in Asia - After seizing Hong Kong, they invaded Malaya from the sea and overland from Thailand, eventually capturing Singapore, which was strategically located at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula - the Japanese then conquered the resource-rich Dutch East Indies(Indonesia), including the islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Celebes. Also moved westward taking Burma - from there, they planned to launch a strike against India(largest of Great Britain's colonies) - by the time Burma fell, Japan had taken control of more than 1 million sq. miles of Asian land. About 150 million people lived in this area

Japanese expansion in the 1930s and tensions with the united states

- Japans expansion on Asia in the 1930s threatened american controlled territories in the pacific such as the philippines and the island of guam - most americans wanted to stay out of the growing conflict over seas - in 1937, the japanese launched a full-scale invasion of china - like the germans in the soviet union, they expected a quick victory. Instead, chinese resistance caused the war to drag on and placed a serious strain on Japan's economy - to increase their resources, Japanese leaders looked to the european colonies of southeast Asia - in 1941, Japan moved its forces into French indochina = was rich in oil, rubber and other natural resources that Japan would need to supply its military - in response, nervous American leaders banned the sale of oil to japan, a move that was designed to slow the Japanese war machine = serious threat to Japans future plans - in response, the japanese government held peace talks with the U.S while its military secretly planned for war

Final solution, Wannsee conference, and death camps (ex. Auschwitz)

- Nazis were not satisfied, the killing was moving too slowly and was leaving behind too much evidence of Nazi crimes - final solution = deliberate mass execution of Jews. Even though it was made in 1942, it was officially adopted by the Nazi leaders at a secret meeting run by heydrich in the Berlin suburb of wannsee - the Germans established a number of special concentration camps in Germany and Poland for the main purpose of killing large numbers of the Jews and destroying their bodies - these death camps, such as Auschwitz, had specially designed gas chambers in which thousands of people were killed every day - the camps also had furnaces for the disposal of bodies - The Nazis also persecuted other groups they viewed as inferior or as threats to the racial purity of the German empire, including proles, slavs, homosexuals, people with disabilities, and the romany(gypsies) - 5 million people died in these camps, 6 million, 60% of jewish european population died - mass murder of jews = holocaust

effects of the war in: Denmark and Belgium; Germany, and Italy and France

- Smaller countries(Denmark and Belgium) were able to restore their governments and rapidly rebuild - in italy and france, where the devastation of the war was much greater and surviving political leaders were unpopular due to their wartime actions, there was instability and chaos. As a result, the communist party became more popular in western europe. In both france and italy, communist party membership skyrocketed. The communists made huge gains in the first election, to speed it up, they staged a series of violent strikes. Alarmed french and italians voted by anti-communist parties. The U.S also poured a lot of money to aid these countries to help them rebuild and weaken the influence of communism. Communism began to decline - Germany was divided into zones of occupation by the british, French, Americans and Russians. The city of Berlin, though it lay entirely within the soviet zone of occupation, was similarly divided between the allied powers. The division of both germany and Berlin would create many tensions between the soviet union and the united states

blitzkrieg

- The German invasion of Poland was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy Blitzkrieg or the lightning war - it emphasized speed and close coordination between aircraft and fast-moving forces on the ground to take enemy defenders by surprise and quickly overwhelm them - began with air attacks that damaged defenses and caused panic among citizens. Meanwhile, fast moving columns of tanks and mobile artillery struck deep into the countryside. Behind them came foot soldiers, who swept through for any remaining areas of resistance, they concentrate all their fire on the weak parts of the country and achieve a victory - enabled them to quickly conquer Poland, Norway and France from 1939-1930 - The German attack on Poland had a devastating effect. the polish air force was quickly destroyed while on land Polish soldiers fought bravely but were powerless to stop the German forces. In addition, the open polish countryside offered few natural barriers to slow the German's Blitzkrieg - more confidence

the battle of leyte gulf

- The Japanese demonstrated a willingness to fight to the death that amazed and terrified Allied soldiers - from 1942-44, the allies captured locations in the solomon, Gilbert, marshall, caroline and mariana islands. By the middle of 1944, Allied forces had fought to within fighting distance of the philippines - the Japanese threw everything into the fight in the hope that they could defeat the allied fleet and cut off supplies to allied ground troops - ended in the destruction of the Japanese navy and gave the allies almost total control of the pacific

why the German invasion of Russia stalled in winter of 1941

- The central German force began a determined drive on Moscow, heart of the soviet union. by december, the german troops had pushed to the outskirts of the city, but their advantages stalled because unprepared for winter - at same time the soviet union were rebuilding in numbers quickly because of the vast population - Germany's invasion of Russia was initially successful, but bogged down in winter( because Russia is big and conditions got worse) of 1941 outside Moscow

Nuremberg Trials

- While nations were struggling to recover politically and economically, they also tried to deal the issue of war crimes 1945-1946 - an international military tribunal representing 23 nations put nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg germany - 22 German leaders charged with waging a war of aggression. They were also accused of committing " crimes against humanity" including the murder of 11 million people - Hitler, Himmler, and minister of propaganda(Goebbels) had committed suicide long before the trial began - Goering( the commander of the luftwaffe), Hess(Hitler's former deputy) and other high ranking nazi leaders remained to face the charges. Hess was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Goring received a death sentence, but committed suicide before he could be executed - ten other nazi leaders were hanged - many other nazi leaders were put on trial in the following years and found guilty, but few remained in prison for a length of time

Hiroshima

- a japanese city where an american airplane dropped the first atomic bomb - devastation was extreme: more than 70,000 people were killed instantly, and thousands of buildings were destroyed

Douglas MacArthur

- america-controlled but lightly defended guam and wake island quickly fell to japanese forces. Japanese then turned attention to the phillipeans - Macarthur led a small number of american soldiers and poorly equipped filipino troops in a doomed defense - Macarthur escaped, promising to return later, but the remaining American and filipino forces surrendered in the early spring of 1942

battle of Iwo Jima and battle of Okinawa

- americans need to invade these islands to get close to Japan - In february 1945, Allied troops landed on iwo Jima: 7,000 americans died to capture tiny island - the americans invaded Okinawa: 12,000 americans died - made the allies dread the idea of invading the major islands of Japan

discovery of German crimes

- as allied forces in Europe started to push back the Germans, they came upon the Nazi camps - in the summer of 1944, the soviet troops made the first discoveries of an abandoned death camp in Poland - the Germans had tried to cover up crimes before leaving, including removing or killing the prisoners. The Germans were ultimately unable to hide their actions - when the soviets liberated the Auschwitz death camp in 1945, they found about 7,000 starving survivors. They also found thousands of pieces of clothes, a strong indication that many more people had been held there - 1945, American forces reached the Buchenwald camp. Found thousands of corpses as well as many inmates who were nearly dead - around the same time, the british reached the Bergen-belsen camp, where tens of thousands had been murdered .- the scenes of horror at the death camps gave the world a clear picture of what world controlled by Hitler might have been like

Women in WWII

- as men joined the military, millions of women around the world replaced them in essential war industry jobs = built ships and planes, and produced ammunition - British and american served in the armed forces in many auxiliary roles, such as driving ambulances, delivering airplanes and decoding messages - in occupied Europe, women fought in resistance movements

Jews in Germany

- at the time of Hitlers rise of power in Germany, there were about 9 million Jews in Europe. Most lived outside Germany, but Hitler still blamed Jews for many of Germany's problem - Hitler also promoted the belief in the racial superiority of the German people - there was no factual basis for Hitlers anti-antisemitism or for his claims about the German "master race" - for many Germans who had suffered through WWI, the humiliation of the treaty of Versailles, and the economic crisis of the 1920-30s, there was something appealing in Hitlers twisted vision - Jews were an easy scapegoat: a group easy to blame for Germany's problems

New Japanese constitution and article 9

- became a constitutional monarchy - emperor no longer divine, became figurehead - Diet(japanese parliament) created - all men and women over 20 had the right to vote - government led by prime minister - bill of rights protected basic freedoms - article 9 prohibited japan from making war

Japanese view of their empire and how it changed

- before these conquests, the Japanese had tried to win the support of Asians with the anti-colonialist idea of "East Asia for the Asians." After victory, however, the Japanese made it clear that they had come as conquerors. Treated the people of their new colonies with severe cruelty.

The "big three" meeting in Teheran in November 1943

- consisted of Josef Stalin, Winston Churchill and FDR, nations of Allied powers, 1st of 3 meetings - met to decide the future course of the war. Despite the objections of Churchill, who favored a thrust into Southern Europe through the Balkans, but Franklin and stalin decided on an american-british invasion of Europe through france, which they scheduled for spring of 1944 - the acceptance of the plan had consequences, it meant that soviet and british-american forces would meet in defeated Germany along a north-south dividing line and that eastern would be liberated by soviet forces - they also agreed to a partition of postwar Germany, but differences over questions like the frontiers of Poland were left unresolved

the battle in Atlantic, U-boats and "wolf packs" and convoys

- control of the Atlantic was critical in WWI - Great Britain and the soviet union dependent on supplies shipped by sea to their ports - if Germany gained control of the seas and cut off allied access to food and equipment the war would soon be lost - Germany's navy was powerful, but it did not have enough ships to match the battleships of Great Britain - as a result, the Germans came to rely on the same weapon they had used in WWI the U-boat or submarine. U-boats coordinated in small groups "wolf packs" inflicted enormous damage on the allies, sinking hundreds of merchant supply ships in the years of the war - before entering the war, the united states had offered military aid to Great Britain in the form of ships and military for convoys, or groups of many ships that offered safety in numbers. This aid led to shooting between american and German vessels - after the united states had officially entered the war, U-boats even more aggressively targeted american vessels - by 1943, the allies had made a number of adjustments in the war for Atlantic - Allied factories finally began producing ships and planes in large numbers = meant better equipped convoys, which had more firepower to find and destroy U-boats - The German's had also broken a key German code system used to transmit information about German plans = helped the Allies learn the locations of German U-boats. Thanks to these improvements, losses of U-boats dropped sharply - the vital supply line to Great Britain and the soviet union was kept open, and the Atlantic belonged to the allies

Italian and German involvement in north Africa

- even as the bulk of the Luftwaffe battled the british, hitler's forces were drawn into a long and bloody conflict in North Africa - this was mainly due to the botched planning of Hitler's partner: benito mussolini - despite its alliances with Germany, italy had remained neutral at the beginning of the war - With hitler's conquest of france, Mussolini knew he had to take action in order to reap some of the spoils of war - after declaring war on France and Great Britain, Mussolini moved into North Africa in september 1940

vichy

- following Dunkirk, resistance in France crumbled - by June 14, the German's had taken Paris - French leaders surrendered on June 22, 1940 - The German's occupied the northern part of the country, but they left the southern part under the control of a puppet government headed by marshal Philippe Petain, a french hero from WWI - the headquarters of this government was in the city of Vichy

battle of midway

- in June 1942, Japanese and American carriers again fought in the battle of Midway - he japanese had planned to capture the strategic island of midway in the middle of the pacific - this island was home to a key american military base - Japanese leaders wanted the island, but they also wanted to lure the american fleet into a naval battle in which the americans would be outnumbered and destroyed - the japanese had an advantage in the number of ships and aircraft carriers they could bring to midway, but the americans had a more important advantage, they had broken the secret Japanese code used to transmit messages - as a result, the americans knew the date and location of the planned japanese attack - american admiral chester nimitz was therefore able to plan an effective defense that overcame the japanese superiority - in the battle that followed, the americans destroyed four japanese carriers with a loss of only one of their own - the allies had won a great victory and japans navy had suffered a terrible blow - turning point = changed the balance of power in the pacific

german invasion of france

- in May of 1940, Hitler began his long awaited invasion of France - German forces swept through the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg - allied forces rushed to meet the invasion, but the real attack came farther to the south through the ardennes, a dense forest region along the border between France and Belgium - french leaders believed that the thick forest was impossible for an army to pass through and had left it virtually undefended - consequently, when German tanks emerged from the ardennes, they quickly overwhelmed the light resistance they met there - from the ardennes the German tanks rumbled northwest toward the french coast

General Dwight D. Eisenhower and operation tower

- in November 1942 a combined American and British force landed in North Africa in operation torch. It was lead by Eisenhower - the allies faced little resistance after landing, and french forces soon joined them - the landing put Rommel in a difficult spot, with strong allied forces both to the east and west. His supply problems worsened as more and more of the German war effort was consumed by the struggle with the soviet union - after several battles, the Germans and Italians were finally trapped - in 1943, they surrendered and all of north Africa was now in allied hands

the battle of the Bulge

- in december 1944, Hitler ordered one last, massive counterattack on Belgium. Hitler hoped that a victory would split american and british forces and break allied supply lines - exhausted from the fighting in the summer and low on supplies, Allied forces had dug in for the long winter and did not expect and attack - at first the Germans made solid advances, producing a bulge in the allied battle lines = battle of the bulge - the Allies soon recovered and pushed the Germans back - running low on fuel and lacking reinforcements due to Germany's dwindling number of troops, had little choice but to retreat

neutrality acts

- moist americans felt they should not get involved in the war - between 1935 and 1937, congress passed a series of neutrality acts that made it illegal to sell arms or lend money to nations at war - FDR knew, however, that if the allies fell, the U.S would inevitably be drawn into the war with the axis powers

russo-finnish war

- on September 17, Stalin sent soviet troops to occupy eastern poland. Stalin then moved to annex lithuania, Latvia and estonia, which fell without a struggle. - Finland, which had a strategic position that threatened the important russian city of leningrad resisted - in november, Stalin sent nearly one million soviet troops into finland. Although the finns were outnumbered and outgunned, they fiercely defended their country - the soviets expected a quick victory, so they were not prepared for such harsh winter fighting. the Soviets suffered heavy losses, but they finally won the russo-finnish war, also known as the winter war, through sheer force of numbers - by march 1940, stalin had forced the finns accepted his surrender terms - the poor performance of the russian military in this conflict would help convince Hitler that he could defeat the soviet union when he later invaded - After they declared war on Germany, the French and british mobilized their armies and stationed troops along the border between France and Germany in preparation for a german assault

german invasion of denmark and norway

- on april 9, 1940, hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway. both nations fell to german blitzkrieg - Hilter wanted to control these countries so that he could build air and sea bases along the norweigen and danish coasts from which to launch strikes on Great Britain

the blitz

- on september 7, 1940, they began focusing on the cities especially london = Blitz - Hitler's goal in attacking civilians was to terrorize the british public and break their will to fight - German bombs killed thousands of civilians and destroyed large areas of london and other major cities, but the british refused to give in

other countries responses to the Holocaust

- other countries were aware of the Nazi government's anti-semitism in the 1930s - after the outbreak of the war, the full extent of Hitler's brutality was shielded from the outside world - the U.S and Europe began to hear disturbing reports of widespread killings of Jews in Europe - At first they reports seemed to horrific to believe, but as the stories were investigated and confirmed, officials in the united states and Great Britain met to discuss possible responses - no concrete plan was created though - the United states established the war refugee board in 1944 to help rescue European Jews = helped save 200,000 Jews - Allied leaders were unwilling to take actions such as bombing railroad lines that led to the death camps. This government inaction was in part because allied leaders did not want to do anything that might interfere with the war effort, antisemitism and apathy too.

Nuremberg laws

- passed in Nuremberg in 1930s - Created a separate legal status for German Jews - stripped Jews of rights and citizenship, easily persecuted and imprisoned

"cash and carry" policy

- roosevelt asked congress to allow the allies to buy American arms - according to this cash and carry policy, the allies would pay cash and then carry the goods on their own ships - the goal was to supply the allies while avoiding the loss of american lives that had dragged the U.S into WWI

Europe and Asia at the end of the war

- tens of millions of people died in the war, many were civilians - the heaviest losses were in the nations of Eastern Europe(poland, Yugoslavia, soviet union), but Germany, Japan and China suffered greatly - entire cities, villages and farms had been destroyed, and economy was near collapse. Food, shelter and medicine were scarce. - The war uprooted millions of people. These displaced people included former prisoners of war, survivors of Nazi concentration camps, People who had fled their homes when fighting grew near, and even people who had been forced out when national borders changed after the war = had to struggle to regain their lives

dunkirk

- the Germans' two-pronged attack had attack had trapped hundreds of thousands of allied troops who retreated to the french coastal city of Dunkirk near the Belgian border. - From may 26 to June 4, an armada of vessels from Britain containing everything from warships to fishing boats sailed back and forth from Britain to Dunkirk under heavy fire from German bombers to achieve one of the most dramatic rescue operations in history - the boats carried 3,000 battle-weary soldiers to safety in Britain - the miracle at Dunkirk saved the British army and ensured that Britain would continue to fight on against the Germans

Bataan death march

- the Japanese commanders considered it dishonorable to surrender, and they had contempt for the prisoners at war in their charge - on the Bataan death march, a forced march of more than 50 miles up a peninsula in the philipeans, the Japanese subjected their captives to terrible cruelties - 70,000 started, 54,000 survived. thousands more died later in prison camps

challenges for the allied attack on Normandy

- the assault would have to be made across the choppy English channel and would have to be made directly against strong German defensive positions. the allies also had to develop specialized equipment for transporting tanks and troops across open water. They also staged a complex plan to mislead Hitler about where the invasion would take place. To keep Hitler guessing, the allies set up a dummy army with its own headquarters and equipment = appeared to be attacking the French seaport of calais, which was the closest French port to the british coastline - the allied preparations were led by Marshall and Eisenhower

crucial lesson learned by allies from battle of Britain

- the battle of britain taught a crucial lesson to the allies: Hitler's attacks could be blocked with the right combination of determination, skill, and technology

Problems in Europe after the war

- the fighting had ravaged Europe's countryside, and agriculture had been completely disrupted - few remained to plant the fields. With the transport system destroyed, meager harvests often did not reach the cities. Thousands died as famine and disease spread - the first postwar winter brought more suffering as people went without shoes and coats

operation sea lion and Royal air force (RAF) and Luftwaffe= Battle of britain

- the first objective in Hitler's complex plan for invading Britain = operation sea lion, to gain control of the skies by knocking out the British Royal Air Force(RAF) - Once air superiority had been achieved, Germany would land more than 25,000 soldiers on England's shores - between august and october of 1940, the luftwaffe or german air force, sent thousands of planes to attack british targets in what became known as the battle of Britain - At first the germans targeted British airfeilds and aircraft factories

battle of Guadalcanal

- the first target in island hopping was Guadalcanal, a tropical island covered with swamps and jungle and located in the Solomon islands near Australia - U.S military leaders had learned that the Japanese were building a huge airbase on the island. The allies had to strike fast before the base was completed and became another Japanese stronghold - Battle started in 1942, with an invasion by US marines - the battle for control of the island was a savage struggle in which both sides faced terrible conditions and heavy casualties. After 6 months and losing more than 24,000 of a force of 36,000 soldiers, the Japanese abandoned what they came to call " the island of death in 1943

Isoruku Yamamato

- the japanese hoped to catch the european colonial powers and the U.S by surprise - so they planned massive simultaneous attacks on the British and Dutch colonies in Southeast asia and on american outposts in the pacific - the centerpiece of this plan, which was developed by admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japan's greatest naval strategist, would be an attack on the U.S fleet stationed at the pearl harbor base - according to Yamamoto, the american fleet posed the greatest threat to japan's territorial ambitions

kamikaze

- the japanese weapon - Japanese pilots who loaded their planes with explosives and deliberately crashed into the allied ships, sacrificing their own lives - did not change the outcome, but they did sink dozens of allied ships and kill thousands of allied sailors during the closing years of the war

island-hopping

- the war in the pacific involved vast distances and posed enormous problems in terms of logistics and combat - Unlike Europe, where the united states could use Great Britain as a staging area for operations against Germany, in the pacific US forces would have to fight their way close enough to strike at the Japanese homeland - Japanese troops had dug in on hundreds of islands across the ocean - need to conquer lands while getting closer to Japan - General Douglas MacArthur, the commander of the allied land forces in the pacific, developed a plan to handle this problem. This involved skipping over Japanese strongholds and capturing weaker targets. These captured islands would then be used as bases for the next attacks, which moved ever closer to Japan. the Japanese strongholds, meanwhile, were cut off from outside supplies and would eventually weaken = island hopping

Yalta conference in February 1945

- the western nations were concerned about the military power of the soviet union and the spread of communism, while stalin was deeply suspicious of the western powers and desired a buffer in Eastern Europe to protect his country from possible future western aggression. These competing concerns were reflected in the struggle over the future of postwar Eastern Europe - according to the agreements made at the conference, liberated countries were to hold free elections to determine their new governments, but stalin would not accept governments in Eastern Europe that were not pro-soviet - Stalin did agree to join the war against Japan in return for territorial concessions and the Big Three reaffirmed the doctrine of "unconditional surrender" for Germany and that at the end of the war the country would be divided into 4 occupation zones controlled by the British, French, Americans and soviets - the creation of the united nations was a major concern. Roosevelt ensure the participation of the Big Three powers in a postwar international organization before difficult issues divided them into hostile camps. After a number of compromises, Both churchill and Stalin accepted roosevelt's plans

How the Russians won the battle of Stalingrad and the effects of the battle

- they counterattacked. They broke through the axis defenses and surrounded 250,000 men. Hitler would not retreat so they stood and fought. limited fuel, bad weather, and furious attacks by the soviets all doomed his plan - over 1 million soviet soldiers had died in the defense at stalingrad. Unlike the soviet union, Germany did not have a huge population, from which to replenish its losses. the seemingly invincible German army was forced to retreat. Made a turning point in the war

Total war in WWII

- to defeat the Axis war machine, the allies had to commit to total war - democratic governments U.S and Great Britain increased their political power. They directed economic resources into the war effort, ordering factories to stop making cars or refrigerators and to turn out airplanes or tanks instead - the U.S government formed a variety of agencies such as National War Labor board and War Production board - Americans at home made a crucial contribution by producing the massive quantities of weapons and equipment that would help win the war

nonaggression pact

- to make sure Russia did not interfere with his plans, Hitler had already signed a nonaggression Pact in 1939 with Josef Stalin, the dictator of the soviet union - Hitler promised him territory: in a secret part of the pact, Germany and the soviet union agreed to divide Poland between them. Also agreed that the USSR could take over Finland and the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - with the soviet union neutralized, Hitler quickly prepared to invade Poland.

Rationing and war bond drives

- to make sure there would be enough vital resources(rubber, grain, metal) for the war effort, governments implemented programs to ration or control the amount of food and other goods consumers could buy - they raised money by holding war bond drives, in which citizens lent their government certain sums of money that would be returned with interest later. Prices and wages were also regulated

reinhard heydrich and the einsatzgruppen

- to more effiently accomplish the goal of removing so-called, inferior people from German territory, Reinhard heydrich, the head of the SS, security service, created special strike forces called einsatzgruppen = carried out large-scale executions of Jews and other civilians in villages across Poland and Russia - the einsatzgruppen, aided by military forces and local populations, gunned down men, women, and children without mercy - during Germany's invasion of Soviet Union in 1941, the einsatzgruppen became mobile killing units whose purpose was to destroy the Jews who lived in soviet territory. They carried out executions on a massive scale, often aided by local people and police known as collaborators

general Erwin Rommel

- to reinforce the italians, Hitler sent an elite German tank force, the afrika korps, under the command of General Erwin Rommel. - bold and clever, rommel pushed the british back across the desert, and in 1942 seized tubruk, a strategic point in libya. The defeat was a shattering loss for the allies - Rommel's success in North Africa earned him the nickname of desert fox

Nazi view of occupied territories and people

- to the Nazis, occupied lands in Eastern Europe were an economic resource to be plundered and looted. - the Nazis systematically stripped conquered nations of their works of art, factories, and other resources. They then enslaved the native populations and forced them to work producing goods for Germany - to counter resistance movements that emerged in occupied countries, the Nazis used brutally repressive measures, including shooting hostages and torturing prisoners - the Nazis most sinister plans centered on Jews and other groups targeted by Hitler as racially inferior.

Potsdam conference

- took place amid the growing ill will between the soviet union and the other allies - discussed many issues concerning postwar Europe, but often had difficulty reaching agreement. Roosevelt had died and was replaced by truman. During the conference, he received news that the atomic bomb had been tested. Some historians have argued that this knowledge resulted in truman's stiffened resolve against the soviets - whatever the reasons, there was a new coldness between the soviets and the americans - Truman demanded that Stalin fulfill his earlier promise of free elections throughout eastern europe. Stalin refused because after such a devastating war, he wanted absolute military security, which could only be assured by the presence of communist states in eastern europe - free elections might result in governments hostile to the soviets - by the middle of 1945, only an invasion by western forces could undo developments in Eastern Europe, and after the most destructive conflict had ended, few people favored such a policy. The soviets did not view their actions as dangerous expansionism but as a legitimate security maneuvers

lend-lease act

- under this, the president could lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the U.S - by the summer of 1941, the U.S navy was escorting british ships carrying U.S arms. In response, Hitler ordered his submarines to sink any cargo ships they met. - september 4, german u-boat fired on a U.S destroyer in the Atlantic. In response, roosevelt ordered navy commanders to shoot german submarines on sight - U.S now involved in an undeclared naval war with Hitler

MacArthur's occupation of Japan

- was determined to be fair and not to plant the seeds of a future war - although he was not told to revive the japanese economy, he was instructed to broaden land ownership and increase the participation of workers and farmers in the new democracy - he put forward a plan that required absentee landlords with huge estates of sell land to the government. the government then sold the land to tenant farmers at reasonable prices - other reforms pushed by macarthur gave workers the right to create independence labor unions - to ensure peace would prevail, he began a process of demilitarization, or disbanding the japanese armed forces. He achieved this quickly, leaving the Japanese with only a small police force - he also began bringing war criminals to trial. Out of 25 surviving defendants, former premier hideki Tojo and six others were condemned to hang - having dealt with Japan's military leaders, he turned his attention to democratization the process of creating a government elected by the people

importance of Egypt and Suez canal

- while the battle of britain was raging, mussolini ordered his army to attack british-controlled egypt - the suez canal was a vital lifeline of supplies to Britain, and control of the canal was the key to reaching the rich oil fields of middle east = vital for the british war effort - despite outnumbering the british, the disorganized italian army was routed and british forces now threatened hitler's southern flank. Hitler had to step in to save his partner

why the British won the battle of Britain

1. courage and motivation to defend country 2. Radar - modern reproduction enigma machine 3. enigma- german code making machine, enabled british to decode german secret messages - quickly launch attacks - to avoid the RAF, the Germans gave up daylight raids in october 1940 in favor of night bombing. Although bombing at night caused more terror, it also failed to break the will of the british. German bombing continued until may 1941, but heavy losses ultimately forced Hitler to call off his plans to invade Britain - instead, Hitler shifted his attention to Eastern Europe and the soviet union

causes and results of the attack on pearl harbor

Cause: - according to Yamamoto, the american fleet posed the greatest threat to japan's territorial ambitions. U.S military leaders had known from a coded Japanese message that an attack might come, but they did not know when or where it would occur During: - early in the morning of december 7, 1941 the japanese launched their surprise assault on pearl harbor. Hundreds of Japanese fighters launched from aircraft carriers sped over the base, dropping bombs and torpedoes on the unsuspecting american forces below results: - within 2 hours, the japanese had sunk or damaged 19 ships( 8 battleships). More than 2,300 Americans were killed, 1,000 wounded - the good news for the americans was that the three aircraft carriers normally stationed in pearl harbor were out to sea during the attack and were unharmed - President Roosevelt declared war on Japan, congress quickly accepted his request and next day FDR set out the ideals for which america would fight in a speech to congress. Made a " speech for freedom", enduring defense of liberty and democracy - was just one component in a larger Japanese military campaign across the pacific

Censorship and propaganda; internment of Japanese-Americans

Censorship = preventing bad news from being reported, people will be less likely to support the war Propaganda = government puts out positive things about war but most times it's not truthful People were afraid of Japanese Americans and they were forced into camps because people were afraid they were going to spy