Unit 5 Part 2: World War II

Blitzkrieg

"Lightning war", or striking more rapidly than the enemy with use of the radio which provided instant communication between parties. Displayed in the four week German invasion of Poland with radio communication between armored units on the ground and dive-bombers in the air.

B-29 Superfortress

- 1944, bomber with pressured cabin that allowed it to reach altitudes up to 35,000 feet, far beyond the range of enemy fighters and antiaircraft weapons

General Douglas MacArthur

- A smart general with a big ego, his defense of the Philippines made him a hero but his arrogance made him unpopular with his superiors and subordinates alike - Had shared control of Souther route in Pacific with Admiral Nimitz

The possibility of Japanese surrender

- Allied sea blockade of Japanese islands cut supplies of food and war materials, Japanese oil shipments reduced by 85 percent, Japanese faced slow starvation, Allied blockade prevented Japan from transporting the three million Japanese troops in China back to their homeland, U.S. air bombardment of Japanese cities cut Japan's industrial production to 40 percent of its wartime peak and killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians, one hundred and eighty square miles of Japanese urban areas had been leveled by General LeMay's campaign - U.S. intelligence operations, which had broken Japan's diplomatic code, informed the Truman administration that the Japanese had secretly approached the Soviet Union as early as May 1945 to suggest that the Soviets help end the war. (The Soviet Union did not declare war against Japan until August 1945.) - After Potsdam Declaration - Japanese diplomats indicated they wanted an impartial third party to mediate their surrender using the Potsdam Declaration as the basis for negotiations.

What were the different viewpoints immediately following the use of atomic weapons?

- Americans were happy they didn't have to fight in Tokyo - Japanese were horrified at mutilation of their people

What difficulties did Americans face in the war against Japan?

- Amphibious assaults deadly -> unmapped Pacific in 1940s -> generals coordinating landings with tidal variations had to rely on guesswork provided by Pacific Islanders - On land ground forces faced well-established, skillful Japanese infantry with extreme dedication to their cause and willing to follow the ancient samurai code by dying to the last man - Poisonous insects and reptiles, stifling heat and drenching rains, and tropical fevers and diseases added to the burden of fighting (also had to fight in the jungles of Burma and New Guinea)

Manhattan Project

- August 1942 - Project established to direct the activities of the several sites involved in nuclear research. - Oppenheimer and a team of scientists lived together in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in what was the biggest team of scientists the world had ever seen - Top secret project - Two types of bombs developed: "Little Boy" - U-235, and "Fat Man" - plutonium - July 16, 1945 - a twin of "Fat Man" called "Trinity" successfully tested in New Mexico

What factors contributed to the ferocity of Japanese resistance to American forces on Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa?

- Death over dishonor (bushido says to surrender was to break the bonds of duty and obligation that linked the soldier to his divine emperor and his family) - The closer they got to Japan, the more important it was to fight off American forces as the capture of these islands could ultimately lead to the fall of Japan - Kamikazes

Potsdam Declaration

- Document that stated Allied terms of Japan's surrender - Japan expected to give up the territory it had acquired since 1914. - Japan occupied by Allied forces, its wartime government removed, and its armed forces dismantled. - Did not address the postwar status of the Japanese emperor, whom the Japanese viewed as divine.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

- Hired to direct the actual design and construction of an atomic bomb - Recruited many of the scientists who would be working with him

Iwo Jima

- Invasion would place B-29s within range of Japan's home islands - Desolate volcanic island defended by 20,000 Japanese - Began in February 1945 and lasted three hellish weeks - Japanese died to the last man, 6,000 Americans killed, 25,000 wounded - Only Pacific Battle in which American casualties exceeded Japanese (31,000 vs. 21,000)

Okinawa

- Invasion would serve as a staging area for an amphibious assault upon Japan itself - Lasted nearly three months (April-June 1945) - 110,000 Japanese dead, 7,000 Americans - Kamikaze fighters sank 55 ships and terrified Americans who considered them evidence of unrelenting Japanese fanaticism - They were actually evidence of desperation as the best pilots were dead and fuel to train replacements was unavailable/ first-time pilots were usually killed at once by experienced Americans -> Japanese leaders decide this way might at least inflict some damage

D-Day

- June 6, 1944, the day on which the Allies invaded France to begin to liberate Western Europe from German occupation. - Anglo-American invasion of France led by Eisenhower, Stalin launched a massive Eastern offensive to distract German and relived the pressure on Allied soldiers at the beaches - Surprised German military, Allied hold ground, Stalin's invasion has surprising gains/ pressure in Poland, appeared likely European war would end in 1944 in mid-August of the invasion

German surrender

- March 7, 1945 - Americans and British enter Germany - German army cracks due to weak soldiers - April 30, 1945 - Hitler commits suicide as Soviet troops in the east take Berlin - May 8, 1945 - German surrender in the West - May 9, 1945 - German surrender in the East

How were civilians impacted by the war?

- Rationing, many hours spent working in defense plants, women take men's jobs in farms/ factories, - Britain, Germany, Japan, Poland, Russia - Long hours spent in blackouts/ underground shelters, - Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo - deaths from firestorms - trapped in asphalt, boiled in canals, melted - Russia - Germans burned Russians alive in synagogues and churches - Germany - Russians crucified German farmers on barn doors, and raped and mutilated women - Manila - Japanese in hospitals slaughter patients and throw babies against walls, shattering their skulls - China and Russia - many die as battlefields shift across cities - Benghazi (North Africa) - change of hands of who controls is destructive - Bengal (India) - famine due to shipping shortages and British administrative failures - Shortages and lengthy work weeks - Nazi-occupied Europe - suffering from cold, malnutrition, and deprivation, treatment as inferior peoples

The policy of unconditional surrender

- Reasons for policy: US and Britain wanted to reassure Soviet Union they would not negotiate separate peace with Germany, reinforced that war was struggle between good and evil/ no compromises to be made with forces of evil (Roosevelt), did not want repeat of WWI where German military leaders claimed they hadn't been defeated all the way -> German militarism under Nazis - -> Potsdam Declaration

Yalta

- Spring 1945 - Conference where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into military occupation zones at the end of the war. - A Soviet conquest of Berlin at a time when British and American forces hadn't yet entered Germany might have embarrassed and worried the Western Allies. - Stalin says USSR will fight Japan 3 months after Germany surrenders

European War

- UK vs. Germany - Germany vs. USSR

Battle of Britain

A contest between British and German air forces between August and November 1940 that the British won using a new detection system called "radar" invented in Britain in 1938, to direct their fighters against incoming German raiders. Pilots performed with great efficiency and heroism -> "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." - Churchill

Midway

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, architect of the Pearl Harbor strategy, designed another two-pronged plan to destroy the carriers. Japanese fleet splits up, some to Alaska, some to Hawaii however Admiral Chester Nimitz (US Admiral) expected it and destroyed all four Japanese carriers, ending Japan's string of victories and guaranteeing its defeat.

Rape of Nanjing

After invading Nanjing in December 1937, Japanese troops went on a rampage in Nanjing, massacring as many as 200,000 people and raping thousands of women -> energized Chinese resistance to Japanese military occupation and produced further atrocities ("comfort stations").

What were the six factors in U.S. decision-making regarding the atomic bomb?

American military casualties, the policy of unconditional surrender, emerging problems with the Soviet Union, the destructive power of the atomic bomb, the preservation of American values, the possibility of Japanese surrender

Why did the fall of France shock the world? What were the implications?

Because the French army had been considered the bastion of democracy against fascist aggression; its amazingly swift collapse demoralized those throughout the world who yearned for Hitler's defeat. Many feared that the Third Reich, as Hitler had boasted, really would last a thousand years.

Winston Churchill

British prime minister who replaced Neville Chamberlain just before the Nazi Attack on France, very anti-German, using his rhetorical skills regarding Nazism to inspire Britain and rebuild its confidence, leading to its ultimate victory.

Emerging problems with the Soviet Union

Couldn't agree over political future of Eastern Europe/ Poland, and joint occupation of Germany, Soviet desire for continuation of Lend-Lease, US concern over Soviet position in East Asia (Soviet promise to invade Japan -> possible claim of territory + Soviet expansion into East Asia after war)

Pearl Harbor

December 7th, 1941 - Japan's First Air Fleet sinks/disables all 8 American battleships and kills 3,000 at Pearl Harbor. Americans were unprepared -> the greatest military disaster in American history. Germany enters war with Japan - Hitler believed that if Germany supported Japan in this war it would a. Boost Japanese moral b. Tie U.S. down in Pacific --- Miscalculation: U.S. also declares war on Germany

Stalingrad

Desire to drive toward Caucasus -> German army in house-to-house battle for Stalingrad. November 1942 - Soviet counteroffensive penetrated a weak point in the German lines, encircling the city. German forces forbidden to break out until Soviet forces withdrawn however by then the army was reduced from 220,000 to 90,000 due to freezing and starving men. Germany surrendered on February 2nd, 1943.

What were the outlook, goals, and military accomplishments of Japan in the 1930s and early 1940s?

Desire to secure resources in Manchuria, Invasion of northeast China - Rape of Nanjing, Invasion of Indochina, planned a campaign to conquer British Singapore and Malaya, the oil-rich Dutch East Indies, and the Philippine Islands, an American commonwealth -> surprise assault on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Erwin Rommell

Field Marshal/ one of the century's finest battlefield commanders in Africa to head two tank divisions - the "Africa Korps" to reverse Italy's failure.

What was the "firestorm formula" and what effect did it have on the German cities of Hamburg and Dresden?

First dropped high-explosive bombs to splinter wood structures and shatter windows, providing the fuel and increased air flow necessary to spread fire with incendiary bombs. The objective was to create a "firestorm" that engulfed the whole city in flames. In both cities, it destroyed mass amounts of infrastructure and caused immense death (Dresden - largest loss of life in one day up to that point in the 20th century -> unconditional German surrender).

Luftwaffe

German air force, plan was to destroy the British Air Force so that the Luftwaffe could keep the British Navy at port while the Germany army invaded.

German invasion of USSR (list reasons why it did not go as planned)

Immensity of USSR - local roads slow German advance but moreover, not enough German soldiers to win in a country so large, Red Army substantially larger than the German, treated non-Russian ethnic groups as Slavic subhumans diminishing support for them as liberators from Communism, German failure to define a single objective - chose to drive for Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev all at the same time, Soviet resistance more persistent than anticipated (250,000 Siberian troops -> Moscow front).

Why did Nazi Germany use aerial bombardment against the Allies during the early years of World War II?

In order to destroy the British will to resist rather than Britain's military might.

Why did Hitler declare war on the USA? What were the consequences of that action?

In order to encourage the Japanese the United states in a lengthy war that would distract America for years, however Roosevelt, Churchill, and their military advisors agreed to pursue the defeat of Germany first.

German invasion of France

Invaded France by driving armored units through the Ardennes Forest on the Franco-Belgian border in 1940, French forces were unprepared and surrendered on June 24th, 1940.

What was the purpose of the Allied campaign of strategic bombing?

It was safer to bomb at night, maximized the destructiveness of their campaigns (although accuracy lost).

Battle for North Africa

Italy fails to push Britain out of Egypt -> Britain evades Tripoli -> German tanks push British back into Egypt -> General Bernard Law Montgomery attacks and defeats Africa Korps with help from U.S. forces landing in Morocco and Algeria

Wannsee Conference

January 30, 1942 - Reinhard Heydrich (head of Nazi SS) convenes conference in Berlin for Nazis across Europe to discuss the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question": mass murder. Decision was to ship Jews to concentration camps in Poland on trains in poor conditions with little food or water, where if they hadn't died already, would die of disease, malnutrition, exposure to cold, overwork, and murder.

Would Japan have surrendered without the use of atomic weapons? What evidence is there?

No, because in their meeting they still thought they would be able to inflict enough casualties on American troops that their unconditional surrender wouldn't be necessary.

Tripartite Pact

Japanese joined Axis Powers (Germany and Italy) on 1940 as a result of attraction to French Indochina assets and awe at Nazi success.

Who were the targets of the Holocaust?

Jews (also Gypsies - Sinti and Roma people Hungary and Romania, Polish people with college degrees - doctors, lawyers, Catholic clergy, military officers, Soviet and Slavic prisoners of war, gays)

Kursk

July 1943 - Germans attacked Soviets at Kursk in week-long battle and largest tank battle in history at that point. However, the Soviets were victorious, marking the end of German expansion.

American military casualties

July 1945 - 1,000,000+ casualties + war prisoners and planned execution of captured Allied pilots -> desire for quick end to war with loss of minimal American lives

Tokyo

March 9 1945 - raid on Tokyo by 279 B-29s destroyed 40 percent of the city in three hours, killing 89,000 civilians and demolishing 267,000 buildings (hoped aerial bombing might force Japanese into surrounding before a landing would be necessary)

The destructive power of the atomic bomb

Originally designed for Germany; Japan only option left, immense harm to city, people, and environment

Russo-Finnish War

Russian War with Finland, resulting from the Nazi-Soviet Pact in order to help Germany complete the division of Poland.

What steps did the Nazis take to implement their "Final Solution"?

Shipped Jews to concentration camps in Poland on trains in poor conditions with little food or water, where if they hadn't died already, would die of disease, malnutrition, exposure to cold, overwork, and murder (also systematic killing of inferiors, shootings, gassings - Zyklon-B, brutalization, combing of Europe, forced labor on minimal rations, medical experiments, prostitutes, "death marches")

Why did American casualties keep rising as U.S. forces moved closer to Japan?

The closer Americans got to Japan, the harder Japanese forces fought off American forces as the capture of these islands could ultimately lead to the fall of Japan

The preservation of American values

US leaders only entered to repel aggression, preserve freedom, and champion the rights of the individual, In 1945 the US had won over an enemy that in their eyes fought in a barbaric and unjustified manner; now the US had a quick solution to end the war - did the ends they pursued for 4 years justify the means?

How and why did the U.S. develop the atomic bomb?

With the Manhattan project, in fear that the Germans would develop the bomb before the Allies could (also a quick ending to the long and bitter struggle that was WWII)