World War II in Europe & the Pacific

The Nazis caused heavy damage, but did not cripple Britain:

1) 3.5 million homes damaged or destroyed 2) 250,000 made homeless 3) 60,595 dead (mostly civilians)

How far had Hitler's Third Reich expanded over Western Europe by the end of 1940?

1) By the end of 1940, Hitler's Third Reich controlled most of Western Europe, having conquered six nations in less than a year, and Great Britain stood alone in defiance of Nazi domination. 2) Led by Winston Churchill, Britain refused to consider peace with Hitler—appeasement had failed—and instead vowed to resist.

What was the Battle of Britain?

1) During the Battle of Britain, from the 15th of August to the 7th of September, 1940, battle raged in the skies as the RAF tried to hold off the German bid for air supremacy. 2) The German Luftwaffe focused initially on destroying the RAF, inflicting terrible damage on airfields and shooting down hundreds of British fighters. 3) While the planes could be replaced, there was not enough time to train pilots to fly them, despite the foreign volunteers.

The Phony War

1) Great Britain and France responded to the Blitzkrieg on Poland by immediately fulfilling their Polish Guarantee and declaring war on Nazi Germany on September 3rd. 2) British colonies and India automatically joined the war; British Dominions (such as Canada) joined within a month, except Ireland, which remained neutral. 3) The British & French armies and navies were mobilized, and the British Expeditionary Force was sent to France, but no offensive action was taken, and thus this period of time is known as the "Phony War." 4) The United States of America passed the Neutrality Act of 1939, uninterested in joining in another European war. 5) This act did include a clause allowing "Cash & Carry" purchasing of American goods by combatants, but allowed the President to ban merchant ships from war zones.

What political change occured within GB after 1940?

1) Great Britain still had taken no aggressive action, and France continued to wait behind the supposed protection of the Maginot Line. 2) Political change occurred in response to frustration with the Phony War, and in 1940, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was replaced by a man named Winston Churchill. 3) Churchill had long urged Britain to stop appeasement and to rearm, and he promised to resist & fight the Nazis.

What was Operation Seelöwe & how was a response to the British Resistance?

1) Hitler did indeed have plans to invade Great Britain, which he called Operation Seelőwe, ("Sealion"). 2) Two German armies gathered at English Channel ports to invade Britain, but Germany needed to control the air in order to assure the safe passage of its troops across the water. 3) On July 10th, 1940, the German Luftwaffe began attacks on British ships and channel ports in preparation for invasion. 4) The main British defense consisted of Fighter aircraft such as the Spitfire and the use of a new technology called Radar. 5) Radar allowed the British to scan for approaching aircraft and, once detected, to "scramble" their own fighters to meet the bombers before they could drop their deadly loads. 6) Polish, French, American, and Canadian pilots flew and died for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) in defense of the British Isles.

Winston Churchill defiantly declared:

"Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..."

At the same time as the French government capitulated, a General and former WW1 prisoner of the Germans named Charles de Gaulle communicated his defiance to the Nazis in the "Appeal of 18 June" on the BBC:

"It is the obligatory duty of all Frenchmen who still bear arms to continue the struggle. For them to lay down their arms, to evacuate any position of military importance, or agree to hand over any part of French territory, however small, to enemy control, would be a crime against our country."

How was Stalingrad besieged by the Nazis?

1) In Stalingrad, two entire Nazi armies were bogged down in vicious street fighting and sniper battles which lasted from September 1942 to January 1943. 2) Both the Germans and Soviets committed more than 1 million soldiers to the battle, over 10,000 artillery pieces and over 1000 planes each, and 1500 total tanks. 3) The German General Paulus was ordered not to retreat, and was eventually promoted to Field Marshal of the entire Nazi army in order to accomplish the capture of Stalingrad. 4) The USSR waged a war of attrition, attempting to wear down the Germans with wave after wave of poorly-equipped conscripts. 5) Anyone attempting to desert was shot by Russian officers, or by their own troops if they tried to retreat. 6) German air superiority made the early days of the conflict brutal, as Russian troops had to cross the Volga river under constant attack.

What was set up in the South of France after the armistice was signed with the Nazis?

1) In the south of France, a puppet government led by Marshal Pétain was set up in the town of Vichy, and this Vichy France was viewed as the official government of France by the Nazi occupation. 2) A substantial French Resistance (The Maquis) existed, however, as well as a government-in-exile in Britain, and these would prove to be significant later in the war effort.

The Nazi advance stalled at two key locations:

1) Leningrad on the Baltic sea (formerly St. Petersburg) 2) Stalingrad (today called Volgograd). 3) Both of these were key targets for the Germans; Leningrad because it was the USSR's only "warm water port" in the Baltic and Stalingrad because it was eponymous and controlled the vital oil fields of the Crimea. 4) Stalin was equally determined not to lose these, and ordered his Generals to fight to the death in their defense. 5) Both cities did indeed hold on until the USSR's secret defender arrived: "General Winter," which had destroyed Napoleon's army more than a century before. 6) Nazi troops, expecting a quick victory, and wearing light summer clothing, were forced to dig in and prepare to spend the winter in Russia.

How was Leningrad besieged by the Nazis?

1) Leningrad was besieged by the Nazis, who were unable to conquer it but were determined that no-one would escape alive. 2) Despite a renewed Nazi offensive in 1942, and another in 1943, the people of Leningrad held out for over 900 days, until they were rescued by the Soviet counter-attack. 3) Over 900,000 people starved to death or were bombed by Nazi attacks during this period.

What followed the Blitzkrieg and affected the Jews in Poland?

1) Nazi Einsatzgruppen ("special action groups") followed the German invasion, beginning their task of addressing the "Jewish Problem." 2) The SS rounded up and executed "undesirables," including Jewish leaders, Polish government officials, and Gypsies. 3) Jews were consolidated into ghettos, the most infamous of which was in Warsaw, and many Poles were sent to work in Germany or to concentration camps.

Operation Barbarossa

1) On June 22nd, 1941, encouraged by his string of resounding victories and the USSR's struggles in the Winter War versus Finland, Hitler launched a Blitzkrieg invasion of the USSR, called Operation Barbarossa. 2) This attack took Stalin completely by surprise, and he is reported to have retreated to his rooms for several days, shocked into inaction. 3) With Stalin unavailable to give orders, the Soviet military was paralyzed, and Nazi troops penetrated hundreds of kilometers into the USSR, destroying farmland and viciously massacring captured Soviet troops. 4) Death Camps were set up deep in Russian territory and execution of Jews and other "undesirables" began also. 5) When Stalin finally emerged, he was furious, and determined to destroy the Nazis and Hitler. 6) He ordered that the Soviets retreat, carrying out a "scorched earth" policy—destroying food supplies, burning all structures, blowing up railway tracks, poisoning wells, and slaughtering livestock. 7) This served two purposes: slowing the Nazi Blitzkrieg and denying the invaders shelter or forage as their supply lines stretched farther and farther into the USSR. 8) Stalin also ordered that Soviet heavy industry be physically moved east of the Ural mountains, where it would be safe and could begin rapid production of military supplies, such as artillery shells, guns, planes, and tanks. 9) Railways were built connecting these factories to the front, and the command economy of the USSR allowed a complete dedication to military production that might not have been possible in other countries.

The War Spreads

1) On May 10th, 1940, Hitler began "Operation Yellow," sending Blitzkrieg attacks into (neutral) Belgium and Holland. 2) At the same time, Hitler sent German tanks through the dense Ardennes forest (thought to be impassable) into France, skirting around the Maginot Line. 3) Outflanked, the French, Belgians, and British Expeditionary Force had no option but to retreat, abandoning the expensive, but useless, French defensive line. 4) What followed was a panicked evacuation of the remaining BEF and parts of the French forces to the British isles, at a place called Dunkirk, in an attempt to continue the war following the fall of France.

What was the Blitz?

1) On the 28th of August, the British carried out a punitive bombing of Berlin, which had little tactical significance but which was taken as a personal insult by Adolf Hitler. 2) Since Hitler had ultimate authority over all military operations in the Third Reich, he ordered that the priority of the Luftwaffe be changed to bombing London and other British cities. 3) While this did damage to many landmarks and destroyed public property and civilians' homes, this was actually a huge tactical error, and in fact gave the RAF a chance to regroup and replace their losses. 4) From September 1940 to May 1941, the Germans carried out what the British called "The Blitz" —bombarding British cities relentlessly, targeting communications, ports, factories, and civilian housing. 5) During this time, however, the Germans failed to gain air supremacy, and in fact had to switch to night bombing raids to avoid British fighters attacking their bombers.

What happened after the Battle of the Coral Sea?

1. The Japanese then targeted the U.S. air base on the tiny island of Midway—so called because of its location in the Pacific, 1,500 miles west of Hawaii (making it the closest U.S. base to Japan, and best place to launch attacks). 2. Thanks to U.S. code-breakers, U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, head of the Pacific fleet, knew that Admiral Yamamoto (head of the Japanese fleet) was leading a huge attack on the island. 3. Nimitz hid his fleet beyond the horizon, and allowed the Japanese attack to begin before springing his trap, attacking the Japanese fleet by air while their own planes were away. 4. American pilots destroyed 322 Japanese planes, sank all four Japanese aircraft carriers, and one other ship, forcing Yamamoto to withdraw his crippled fleet. 5. By June 7th, 1942, the Battle of Midway was won, and the tide of war in the Pacific had turned.

What were some of the reasons for the British successes?

1) The reasons for British success included outstanding airplanes and pilots—British factories produced 1836 fighters in 4 months during this period. 2) The development and use of Radar also helped greatly, as did the change in German strategy from bombing airfields to bombing cities. 3) However, another huge contributing factor was the success of the British navy in stealing one of the German encoding machines called "Enigma" off of a German U-Boat.

In the East of Poland, the Soviets took steps to increase their control of their new territory:

1) Tried to eradicate Polish culture and language 2) Confiscated all private property 3) Deported 1.5 million Poles. 4) Killed resisters—approximately 30% of the population of Poland died during this period. 5) The Soviets also sent troops to Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, occupying the Baltic coastline and obtaining access to more "warm water ports."

The United States strikes back

1. Having declared war, President Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the White House on December 22nd, 1941, to plan for the U.S. entry to the war in Europe. 2. Stalin and the Soviets were under tremendous pressure from the Nazi blitzkrieg and needed the Allies to open a Western Front to force Hitler to divert some of his forces. 3. While there was inevitably some disagreement about priorities for the U.S. forces between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, it was eventually agreed that the U.S. would attack North Africa first.

When did Hitler f*ck off?

1. Hitler retreated to his underground headquarters beneath the city, married his girlfriend Eva Braun, and they committed suicide together on the 30th of April—their bodies were burned. 2. This fueled speculation that perhaps Hitler had escaped in a secret submarine to Argentina, had his body frozen, had plastic surgery performed on his face, etc.—in any case, Hitler's dictatorship was over.

What happened while the British Suez canal was protected?

1. However, while this took place, the USSR would be left to fight off the Nazi Wehrmacht entirely on their own. 2. In support of Stalin, the United States expanded the Lend-Lease Act to begin sending supplies and war materiel to the USSR, though these had to be transported to Archangel in the far north. 3. This support would help Stalin's forces hold out until the Allies were able to attack from the West, crushing the Nazis in the middle.

How much further did the Japanese expand along the Pacific?

1. In 1942, the Japanese also conquered the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), along with their rich oil fields, and also moved westwards, conquering Burma and preparing to launch an attack on India—Great Britain's largest and most treasured colony. 2. Japan had conquered over 1 million square miles of Asia, and controlled over 150 million people.

When did the US Marines land on the first Japanese island? What was this battle called?

1. In February, 1945, the U.S. Marines landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, only 760 miles from Tokyo, and a critical target from which the U.S. could easily strike at the other Japanese home islands. 2. The U.S wanted to use this as a base for fighters to protect the giant B-29 "Flying Fortresses" that had already been bombarding Japan, but suffering losses from Japanese fighters. 3. Iwo Jima was part of Japan, and no enemy had trod on Japanese soil for 500 years. 4. Therefore, the Japanese were fiercely determined to defend this stronghold: the Japanese strategy called for "no Japanese survivors"—they would fight to the last man. --> The US strongly opposed this mindset, as the Japanese had previously defended their island nation well, hence the consensus was that if they die, then they at least want the cost for the enemy to be so grim that the US surrender. Contrarily, the US had a mindset similar to General Patton when he said, contrary to this: "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making some other poor dumb bastard die for his country." 5. The Japanese were led by the brilliant General Kuribayashi, who had written to his wife months before the attack, telling her not to expect his return.

Who were the Japanese troops on Okinawa commanded by?

1. The Japanese troops on the island were commanded by Lieutenant-General Ushijima who had been ordered to hold onto the island at all costs. 2. Ushijima decided on his tactics - he would concentrate his forces in the southern sector of the island and station his men in a series of secure fortifications. 3. If the Americans wanted to take these fortifications, they would have to attack the Japanese in a series of frontal assaults, likely resulting in large numbers of casualties.

Why had France built the (ultimately ineffective) Maginot Line so that it did NOT protect them along the Belgian border? (Kissinger historiography)

1. The Locarno Treaty had promised that Germany would "never again seek to alter the borders of Germany, France & Belgium" 2. Unfortunately, France's outdated reliance upon the maginot line is what Henry Kissinger has called a Maginot-line mentality - dependence upon a strategy which may collapse or may never be used, but which meanwhile prevents the consideration of any alternative. 3. When that prop is gone, the alternative seems to many to be inaction and acceptance of the inevitability of defeat. 4. After all, once the Germans have the power to destroy the French by their air superiority and blitzkrieg means, the French have no way of absolutely preventing them from doing so. But every nation, whatever its status, needs a strategy -- need a new approach.

How much did it cost and what was the necessity of the Manhattan project?

1. The Manhattan project was large and costly, employing 200,000 people and operating at 40 different sites by 1945. 2. There was a strong sense of urgency, as a Nazi victory in the race for Atomic weapons would allow him to obliterate London, and destroy Allied forces on the ground elsewhere in Europe. 3. During the war, successful raids were conducted on Nazi research facilities in Norway by special branches of the military, destroying valuable nuclear materials and sabotaging Nazi progress.

What problem did the US face regarding Okinawa?

1. The U.S. also faced the problem that they had not been able to get much intelligence information about Okinawa. 2. The Americans estimated that there were about 65,000 Japanese troops on the island - with the bulk in the southern sector of the island. 3. In fact, there were over 130,000 Japanese troops on the island with more than 450,000 civilians, all of whom might fight to the death to defend their homes.

What was the US plan regarding atomic bombs on Japan?

1. The U.S. plan was to drop more Atomic bombs on Japan as quickly as they could be produced—a rate of one every two weeks—until Japan surrendered or was destroyed. 2. This did not take long, and on August 15th, the Japanese Emperor went on the radio and announced the unconditional surrender of Japan; it was the first time most of the Japanese people had ever heard his voice.

The War in the Pacific Concludes

1. The United States was drawing closer to the Japanese home islands, having won victory at Iwo Jima, and The next target of MacArthur's "island hopping" strategy was the island of Okinawa, 2. Okinawa is the largest of the Ryukyu islands at the southern tip of Japan, stretching about 60 miles long and between 2 and 18 miles wide. 3. Its strategic importance was great, due to the American desire not only to regain control of Japanese conquests in Asia, but also to destroy what was left of Japan's merchant fleet and use airstrips in the region to launch bombing raids on Japan's industrial heartland. 4. Okinawa was valuable in this respect because there were four airfields there that the U.S. wanted to take control of to provide fighter support for their raids.

Operation Torch

1. In November, 1942, the Americans launched Operation Torch, landing a force of 100,000 troops in Morocco and Algeria. 2. This was the first Allied attempt at an amphibious landing and it did not go well at first. 3. However, the U.S. sent maverick General George Patton to take command of the U.S. attack and, between Patton and Montgomery, the Nazis were pushed out of North Africa and Rommel was recalled to Berlin. 4. 1943, General Patton would lead the Americans to victory and eventually attack what Churchill called the "soft underbelly of Europe."

When did MacArthur return to the Philippines?

1. In October, 1944, MacArthur returned to the Philippines, wading ashore and declaring: "People of the Philippines, I have returned." 2. Unfortunately, it would not prove that simple. The Japanese knew that their fates hung in the balance at this point, and took a fearsome gamble, risking their entire remaining fleet in an attempt to destroy the American fleet. 3. On October 23rd, at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese fleet attacked the American fleet in the largest Naval battle in history. 4. Unfortunately, the American fleet was, by this point, even stronger than the pre-Pearl Harbor fleet, and the Japanese lost almost their entire fleet in the course of four days of fighting. 5. The Japanese navy was eliminated from the war, no longer able to pose any threat to the Americans, or defend Japan itself.

An Allied offensive in the Pacific

1. In the Pacific theater, and having won a significant victory at Midway, the U.S. launched an offensive, led by General Douglas MacArthur. 2. MacArthur, forced to evacuate the Philippines and abandon his men there, did so reluctantly, and left them a famous message: "I shall return!" 3. In the Fall of 1944, he would make good his promise. 4. The challenge for MacArthur was dealing with the vast distances involved in a war in the Pacific, which takes up more than 1/3 of the earth. 5. Japanese troops had fortified many of the islands they had conquered, digging deep bunkers reinforced with concrete, and hiding large artillery pieces and machine gun nests in protected positions. 6. Networks of tunnels and camouflaged hatches allowed Japanese troops to sneak behind enemy lines as well.

What happened in the Pacific meanwhile?

1. In the Pacific, the Japanese looked unstoppable, with victory following victory. 2. In order to strike a psychological blow against the Japanese, in April 1942, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle conducted a long-range bombing raid on Tokyo, crash-landing into China. 3. This Doolittle Raid did little significant damage, but communicated to the American people that the Japanese were vulnerable to attack. 4. Even still, the U.S. was so unready for war in the Pacific that the Japanese Emperor taunted: "Where are the U.S. Marines?"

What were Hitler's reactions to the "crumbling of the third reich"?

1. Indeed, Hitler was gambling all his remaining troops and tanks in a desperate attempt to drive back the Allied invasion and (hopefully) a wedge in the alliance between France, Great Britain, and the U.S., which Hitler thought was fragile. 2. Hitler had Soviet tanks rolling in from the East, an Allied invasion in the West, and really had no choice, saying: "This battle is to decide whether we shall live or die...all resistance must be broken in a wave of terror."

How did the wave of anti-Japanese sentiment reflect on American policies during WW2?

1. Japanese-Americans were suddenly seen as potential spies or even active enemies, and on February 19th, 1942, President Roosevelt issued an executive order calling for the internment of all people of Japanese ancestry. 2. In March, the U.S. military began rounding up "aliens" (two-thirds were Nisei, native-born Americans whose parents had come from Japan) and transporting them to "relocation camps." 3. These camps were in isolated places—the high desert, for example—where their inhabitants would be cut off from the war and unable to assist a Japanese invasion of the U.S. 4. Many of these families lost their properties while they were locked up in the internment camps, returning home after the war ended to find their homes and farms taken over by squatters. 5. While they were not tortured or killed, these American citizens were deprived of their liberty and rights, and many children spent significant formative years living as though they were prisoners. 6. Only one way to get out of the internment camps was offered, and that only to young Japanese-American men: join the army and go fight for your country. 7. While many were too angry or hurt to do so, others chose to prove their patriotism and joined up, forming the 442nd Infantry Regiment. 8. This all-Japanese-American regiment (nicknamed the "purple heart battalion"fought in the European theater, and won more medals of bravery than any other regiment in the Army.

.What attacks were experienced during the Battle of Okinawa?

1. Kamikaze attacks were being experienced by the American navy anchored off of Okinawa in a desperate attempt to stop the invasion. 2. Out of the 193 kamikaze plane attacks launched against the American fleet, 169 were shot down before they could complete their missions, but those planes that got through did cause a great deal of damage. 3. Japanese pilots made concerted efforts to target U.S. Aircraft carriers, which did not have armored flight decks, and which held tremendous value to the American attack. 4. In all, 21 American warships were sunk, and 66 other warships were badly damaged by these Kamikaze attacks. 5. For the invasion, however, the U.S. had a navy of 300 warships and 1,139 other ships, and thus the invasion took place as planned.

The Manhattan Project

1. The battle of Okinawa lent even more urgency to a top-secret project that the U.S. had been working on for some time, called the Manhattan Project. 2. Just before WW2 broke out, German scientists had succeeded in splitting the nucleus of a Uranium atom, a process that releases a massive amount of energy. 3. Albert Einstein, a Jewish refugee who had fled to the United States, wrote to U.S. President Roosevelt, warning him that Nazi scientists might try to develop an atomic bomb using this new technology. 4. Thus, the United States began a race against the Nazis to be the first to develop nuclear weapons, which could change the outcome of the war. 5. The American project was code-named the Manhattan Project because the initial laboratory was set up in New York City.

By whom were the American troops lead by?

1. The Americans land commander was Lieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner, who had 180,000 men under his command—more than had been used on the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. 2. The Americans chose to land at Hagushi Bay on the western side of the island. 3. As with Iwo Jima, the landings on April 1st, 1945 were preceded by a period of intense bombardment but America's forces were also open to attack from Japanese fighters flying out of Taiwan or Japan itself.

The attack on Okinawa had taken a heavy toll on both sides:

1. The Americans lost 7,373 men killed and 32,056 wounded on land. At sea, the Americans lost 5,000 killed and 4,600 wounded. 2. The Americans also suffered a total of 36 ships sunk, 368 ships damaged, and a total of 763 aircraft destroyed. 3. The Japanese had fought to the last man once again, losing 107,000 killed and only 7,400 men taken prisoner. General Ushijima had committed suicide at the end of June when defeat became inevitable. 4. The Japanese also lost 16 ships sunk and over 4,000 aircraft were destroyed—the vast majority in Kamikaze suicide attacks. 5. Even more horrible was the fact that the Japanese army had ordered the civilian population of Okinawa to commit suicide if they should lose the battle. 6. Terrified by propaganda telling of American brutality and rape, 94,000 civilians killed themselves rather than be captured by the U.S. troops—blowing themselves up in groups with Japanese grenades, or simply throwing themselves off the cliffs onto the rocks below.

What was the Atlantic wall?

1. The Atlantic Wall (1942-44) was the name given to a massive coastal defensive structure built on Hitler's orders 2. It stretched all the way from Norway, along the Belgium and French coastline to the Spanish border 3. Hitler called his defenses the Atlantic Wall, part of his "Fortress Europe" and which he claimed was impenetrable. 4. Hitler sent Erwin Rommel to France to oversee construction and fortification of massive defenses, knowing that the French coast was the probably destination of an Allied invasion of Europe.

New technology was developed that helped the Allies win the war as well:

1. The B-24 Liberator, a long-range bomber, was built which enabled the U.S. to protect convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. 2, Radio technology was developed, as well as the HF/DF ("Huff Duff") scanner which detected enemy submarines. 3. In new Orleans, a man named Andrew Higgins designed and mass-produced a new type of troop transport boat called a LCVP (or "Higgins boat") which allowed the U.S. to conduct amphibious landings in the Pacific and European theaters. (Historiography): When he heard of Higgins' death, Allied Supreme Commander General Eisenhower said of him that "He was the man who won the war for us."

While there was inevitably some disagreement about priorities for the U.S. forces between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, it was eventually agreed that the U.S. would attack North Africa first. This would have several results:

1. The British Suez canal would be protected, allowing them to control access to the Mediterranean due to their fortress at Gibraltar. 2. The U.S. would be able to attack Italy, take Mussolini out of the war, and attack Germany from the South. 3. The U.S. would threaten German oil supplies in North Africa.

What new tactic did the Japanese adopt to fight the allies?

1. The Japanese adopted a new, desperate tactic at this point: the use of Kamikaze pilots. 2. Meaning "divine wind" and referring back to the great hurricane that destroyed the Mongol invasion fleet in the 1200sAD, these Kamikaze pilots were determined to fight off the American invaders, at the cost of their own lives. 3. Japanese pilots would load their planes with explosives, and then crash them into U.S. ships, like living missiles—they were highly honored for their bravery. 4. This tactic spread fear throughout the U.S. fleet, of course, and desperate efforts were made to shoot down approaching Japanese planes before they could fulfill their deadly mission. 5. In some cases, Japanese teenagers carried out these missions, confident in their Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation, and full of Samurai spirit—they would be taught only how to take off their aircraft; not to land them.

War in the Pacific (December 1941 - August 1945)

1. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is the most famous attack of this time, but was not the only one carried out as the Japanese began to create their co-prosperity sphere. 2. At the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese bombed British Hong Kong and Malaysia, and sent 60,000 troops to invade and conquer Singapore. 3. On December 10th, Japanese bombers sank the British Navy's two most powerful vessels in the South China Sea--a blow to them as grievous as the Americans' loss at Pearl Harbor. 4. By Christmas day, 1941, Hong Kong had surrendered, and Singapore was to follow in February of 1942, making Japan's southern advance a total success. 5. Simultaneous attacks against the U.S.-held islands of Guam and Wake Island were also carried out, and an invasion force was sent into Thailand—all three targets were conquered quickly by the Japanese. 6. In January, 1942, the Japanese invaded the U.S.-controlled Philippines, landing in the Capitol city of Manila and occupying it.

What did the American marines encounter after their landing at bay on Okinawa?

1. The first landing of Marines met little opposition and by the end of the day 60,000 American military personnel had landed at Hagushi Bay. 2. By April 20th, all Japanese resistance in the north of the island had been eradicated except for some guerrilla activity. 3. It took three weeks for the Americans to get past the Machinato line, after which they encountered yet another area of fortification called the Shuri Line. 4. On May 3rd, Ushijima ordered a counter-attack, which failed. On May 21st, Ushijima ordered his men to pull back from the Shuri Line, retreating to yet more fortifications. 5. Fighting continued throughout all of June, and it was not until July 2nd that Okinawa was declared secure by the U.S. invasion force.

When was the first successful testing done for the atomic bomb and what did this mean for WW2?

1. The first successful test occurred at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16th, 1945, after V-E Day but while the U.S. was still at war with Japan. 2. The test was terrifying in many ways, as no-one knew what would happen; some of the participating scientists hypothesized that the detonation might ignite the atmosphere! 3. Instead, a model town, complete with furnished houses, cars, and dummies to represent people, was destroyed. 4. The explosion released heat energy the equivalent of 10 million degrees Fahrenheit, and fused the desert sand to glass. 5. The United States had won the Atomic race, and now the military application of this new weapon needed to be considered.

How was the magnitude of the Blitzkrieg on Poland a part of Nazi propaganda and actually not as powerful as it was told?

1. While the Nazis later claimed that Poland had been stunned by the magnitude and ferocity of the attack, and that most of their air force was destroyed on the ground, this has now been shown to be propaganda. 2. In fact, the Polish army resisted fiercely, evacuating and setting up defenses to the East, but on September 17th, 1939, the USSR invaded from the East as well. 3. Warsaw was captured on September 27th, and organized resistance ended by October 5th, but not before the Polish army had suffered 66,000 dead and over 200,000 wounded. 4. Around 90,000 Polish soldiers escaped (through Romania) to England, where many of them later joined in the fight, and many Polish pilots joined the British Royal Air Force (RAF).

What continued after the Battle of the Bulge and what consequences did this have?

1. With continued Allied bombing of German factories and fuel plants, the Nazi Wehrmacht simply could not function, and now faced imminent invasion from both the Allies in the west and the USSR in the east. 2. In March, 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine river into Germany, and by the middle of April, a noose of 3 million Allied troops and 6 million Soviet troops was tightening around Berlin. 3. By April 25th, the Soviets had surrounded Berlin and began shelling it.

Why should Stalin have suspected that Hitler wanted to invade the USSR? Why do you think that Stalin had trusted Hitler, to the extent of sending trainloads of supplies to Germany even up to the moment of the invasion?

Hitler's desire for Lebensraum had always included parts of Russia. Fascism & Communism both do not value the individual = complementing ideologies (ideological struggles) --> The Nazi-Soviet Pact = Stalin wanted to buy time - McCauley argues that Stalin was expecting a War of Attrition such as in WW1.

Who and when was proven victorious after their first fight in the Pacific?

In February, 1943, after more than 6 months of fighting on Guadalcanal, the U.S. forces were victorious—the Japanese pulled out after losing 24,000 out of 36,000 men on what they called "the island of death."

World War II in Europe Theater timeframe:

September 1st 1939 - September 2nd 1945

Thus, how were the German doing?

Thus, by the summer of 1944, the Germans were struggling to keep tanks running, and had very few aircraft remaining with which to fight off an Allied invasion of France.

Not all actions taken in support of the war were positive, however;

in the U.S., a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment swept up following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

What did this first victory for the allies allow?

This allowed the United States to send fresh troops and move their navy & aircraft carriers up to Papua New Guinea, forcing the Japanese to retreat back towards their home islands in the face of the Allied attack.

What was Operation Dynamo?

1) Operation Dynamo began on May 26th as a hodge-podge British armada evacuated 200,000 British and 130,000 French troops from France until June 4th. 2) Despite the bravery of sailors and common fishermen, there were 70,000 casualties, as German Luftwaffe strafed (due to air superiority = urban warfare) the boats, and over 150,000 Prisoners of War were taken. 3) Most escaping soldiers lost their weapons and equipment and arrived in Great Britain as little better than refugees. 4) However, the German forces were ordered by Hitler not to wipe out the remains of the BEF but to turn south and capture more of France -- this was the first major strategic error made by Der Fuhrer. 5) Some revisionist military historians, including Lucy Draper believe that this could have been the first tipping point in the war; had the Germans driven the BEF into the sea, the invasion of the British Isles might have succeeded. 6) The Netherlands surrendered on May 15th, and Belgium on May 27th. 7) Italy joined the World War on June 10th, invading the south of France. The Paris government fled to Bordeaux, and Prime Minister Reynaud resigned on June 16th. 8) French Marshal Henri Phillipe Pétain signed an armistice with the Nazis, fittingly in the same railroad car as the WW1 armistice was signed.

In May, 1943, the battle turned, mainly as a result of new weapons and technology, including:

1) Radar 2) Long-range aircraft capable of protecting convoys 3) "Huff Duff" (HF/DF: High Frequency/Differential Frequency—a scanning device capable of detecting submerged submarines.) 4) The Enigma machine 5) As a result, Germany began to lose 40 - 50 U-Boats per month, and their morale and effectiveness declined rapidly.

How did the Battle of the Atlantic involve the US?

1) The Battle of the Atlantic involved the United States of America as well: in 1940, the policy of "Cash & Carry" allowing the British to purchase American weapons and equipment was changed as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the Destroyer Deal with Churchill. 2) This gave 50 WW1-era Destroyers to the British in exchange for leasing military bases from the British, for example in the Bahamas, and preceded the Lend-Lease Act (1941). 3) Roosevelt wanted to do more, but the U.S. policy of isolationism prevented him from doing so. 4) Destroyers were used to protect the merchant fleets and to hunt Submarines, dropping "depth charges" which can crack the subs' hulls and sink them or force them to surface. 5) The U.S. began to employ a convoy system of Destroyers in response to German use of unrestricted submarine warfare, but still continued to suffer heavy losses from the "wolf packs" which attacked in groups of up to 50. 6) In August, 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill strengthened their ties, meeting on a warship off the coast of Newfoundland and signing the Atlantic Charter. 7) The Charter was a commitment towards Allied aims (although the U.S. was not yet in the war) and towards the vision of the post-War world. 8) It included ideas of self-determination, freedom from threat of force, freedom of the seas, and was a pre-cursor to the establishment of the United Nations and Independence movements in the Colonies following the war.

The British Resistance

1) The British, now standing alone against the Nazi Wehrmacht, began to prepare for the inevitable German attack. 2) The Home Guard was raised to 1 million men, and military preparations—particularly of fighter aircraft—continued under Churchill's leadership. 3) A great many sacrifices and tremendous effort by the British people also took place as they changed their lives in response to the war. 4) All street signs were removed to prevent German spies and planes from using them as landmarks. 5) Scrap metal was collected and melted down to make tanks, guns, and artillery shells. 6) Gas Masks were created in great numbers and distributed to all citizens in preparation for chemical attacks such as in WW1. 7) British families built air raid shelters in their gardens, stocked with food, water, and lanterns. 8) Barrage Balloons were put up to protect cities from bombing raids. 9) Enforced blackouts took place also, as families covered their windows with blankets or sat in the dark to avoid providing targets to German bombing raids.

The terms of the French surrender were as follows:

1) The French Army was disbanded; a force of 100,000 was allowed to remain to keep domestic order, but were forbidden from leaving the country. 2) 1.5 million French became Prisoners of war (POWs). 3) The French were ordered to immediately turn over all Jews to the Nazis. 4) The French were required to pay all costs of the German occupation. 5) The German people were indeed being given the revenge Hitler had promised them, and it was sweet.

What was the Winter War?

1) The USSR invaded Finland on Nov. 30, 1939, having demanded and been refused disputed territory, beginning what was called the "Winter War." 2) The Finnish military fought bravely, and made the eventual Soviet victory in March, 1940, far more costly than Stalin would have expected. 3) This hurt the Finnish economy and population, which was small to begin with, but also gave Hitler the idea that the Soviet military was weak. 4) The British had laid mines along the Norwegian coast, hoping to cut off the half of Germany's iron supply that came from Sweden. 5) In 1940, therefore, Hitler continued his conquests in Europe by invading Denmark and Norway, which fell in only 2 weeks. 6) In Norway, the Nazis established a puppet government led by a man named Vidkun Quisling, the head of the Norwegian Nazi party, whose name has become synonymous with "traitor."

How was the Battle of Stalingrad a critical turning point of the war?

1) The battle of Stalingrad was a critical turning point of the war, because the delay of such a large portion of the Nazi invasion force bought time for the Soviets to increase their war production and prepare for a counter-attack. 2) In January of 1943, the Soviets poured out in a massive counter-offensive, rescuing Leningrad and Stalingrad, capturing 91,000 Nazi soldiers (most of whom were sent straight to Siberia), and Field Marshal Paulus. 3) The Nazis had lost an entire army group, the Soviets were encouraged by their fortitude in resistance and their victories, and now had a clear path to Berlin. 4) Hitler was quoted as having said: "The god of war has gone over to the other side." 5) The tide of the war was indeed turning in Europe, in part because of the entry to the war of a new power: the United States of America.

What was Enigma?

1) The project to reverse engineer the Enigma device, called "Ultra," was led by a Polish refugee and included British cryptographer Alan Turing, and the breaking of the code allowed the British to decipher secret messages that that Nazis believed were impenetrable. 2) The selective use of this information was also essential; if the Nazis discovered that their code had been broken, they would cease to use it. 3) The breaking of the Enigma code would play a huge role in the eventual Allied victory in the war.

The Battle of the Atlantic

1) While the Battle of Britain waged, another key battle was beginning: the Battle of the Atlantic (on SEA). 2) As Great Britain is an island nation, shipping was key in providing military supplies and even food to its population. 3) In an attempt to cut these supplies off, the Nazis sent out flotillas of U-Boats (Unterseeboots) that became known as "Wolf Packs" to surround the British Isles. 4) Created by Nazi Admiral Dőnitz, the first of these attacks took place between October 17th and 19th, 1940, where seven U-boats attacked convoy SC-7 and sank 22 of its 34 ships. 5) The British government immediately began working with the Canadians to build ships capable of defending merchant convoys against these Wolf Packs, and of "sweeping" the mines that the Germans were also laying around the British and French coastlines. 6) This protracted battle—lasting from 1940 to 1943—severely impacted the merchant fleets travelling to Great Britain, carrying food, military equipment & fuel. 7) Rationing was enforced to a great degree, but did not alleviate the severe food shortages experienced in Britain. 8) By March, 1943, the British were weak and almost out of fuel, making them practically unable to continue the war.

War in the Balkans

1) With Hitler conquering most of Western Europe, Benito Mussolini turned his attention to the Balkan peninsula, where he had already taken control of Albania. 2) In October of 1940, Mussolini's troops (allies was another reason for Germany's defeat - just as in WW1) invaded Greece, only to be defeated and driven back to Albania. 3) The Italian fleet was then soundly defeated by the British in November, and was driven back to Naples. 4) Hitler was concerned about a new front to the south, and that the RAF bases in Greece could attack valuable oilfields in Romania. 5) Therefore, in December, 1940, the Nazis occupied Romania which—along with Hungary and Bulgaria—agreed to join the Axis powers rather than fight. 6) Yugoslavia refused to join Hitler, and was invaded in April, 1941 and quickly forced to surrender. 7) With Mussolini unable to accomplish the task, Hitler was forced to divert military forces to invade Greece in April, 1941. 8) The British sent a resistance force of 58,000 men, but the Blitzkrieg forced them back quickly and occupied both Greece and Crete. 9) By the summer of 1941, therefore, Germany controlled all of Western Europe (save Britain) as well as the Balkans.

The Invasion of Poland

1) With the Nazi-Soviet Pact in place, Hitler did not fear retaliation from the USSR, so on September 1st, 1939, the Nazi Wehrmacht invaded Poland in full force. 2) This was the first time Hitler revealed his new military strategy, which he called Blitzkrieg ("lightning war"), and it devastated Poland and struck fear into the rest of the world.

What was Operation Overlord aka. D-Day?

1. A plan, called Operation Overlord, involving sending a massive (largest to this date) amphibious landing across the English Channel into France was made. 2. A tremendous amount of work went into the planning, which took more than a year, including using captured German spies to feed misinformation to them about the planned location and numbers of allied forces, called the Double-Cross system. 3. The basic problem was that every soldier, bullet, tank, and piece of equipment would have to be taken across the English Channel and then land on a hostile beach. 4. To accomplish this, the Allies needed complete air supremacy, and the U.S. had accomplished this. 5. B-17 bombers, built just for WW2 and never used since, protected by fighters, launched raid after raid into German territory, destroying infrastructure & air fields. 6. These grew into the famous thousand-bomber raids of 1942-1944, which destroyed Germany's ability to make war. 7. Railroad tracks, bridges, factories, military bases, fuel supplies—all were targeted and destroyed by American bombers. 8. These also grew into terror bombings of German cities, most famously Dresden, on which the U.S. dropped incendiary bombs in March, 1945, destroying the city.

What were some factor that lead to the victory of the Allied troops on D-Day (also according to Ambrose)?

1. Allied Tanks—equipped with "skirts" intended to allow them to float into the beaches—mostly sank to the bottom of the English Channel, and Naval and Air bombardments failed to damage the three-foot thick concrete walls of German bunkers. 2. Thus, it may have been the bravery and leadership of ordinary officers—citizens who had volunteered to fight for their countries—and the ability to think and act independently that led Allied troops off the beaches on D-Day. (Ambrose) 3. The American and British troops successfully established a beachhead, allowing massive numbers of Allied troops, tanks, transport vehicles, and equipment to be transported from England to France. 4. Travelling over a makeshift "bridge" of boats stretching across the English channel, three million Allied troops landed in France, completely changing the face of WW2 in Europe.

What were other factors that contributed to Allied victory during D-Day?

1. Another factor contributing to Allied victory was the Nazi command system, based on the total power of Adolf Hitler. 2. By coincidence, the Nazi commander, Erwin Rommel, was attending a strategic meeting with Hitler and other German generals on the 6th of June, and thus was absent on the day of the attack. 3. Furthermore, Hitler was asleep at the time of the attack, and fear of wakening him prevented any orders from being given until the battle was almost won by the Allies.

Why was it so important to the Allies that they receive an unconditional surrender from Germany (and Japan) in WW2?

1. Any changes could be demanded by the victors 2. Ideologically, Nazi Germany and Militaristic Japan were opposed to the Allies, and Germany and Japan needed to be "remade" to restore the world order 3. There would be no danger of war resuming 4. The instigators of the war would be punished 5. The lessons from WW1, where an armistice ended the war, leading to the "November criminals" and "Stab in the back" theories, meant that a clear winner and loser was needed.

The Third Reich Crumbles

1. Following the success on D-Day, the U.S. and Allies landed an invasion force in France—within a month, more than 1 million U.S. troops were ready to march on Berlin. 2. On July 25th, 1944, the Sherman tanks of the U.S. Third Army, led by George Patton (now returned to active duty) knocked a hole in the German defenses at Saint-Lô and allowed the invasion force to "break out." 3. By the end of August, 1944, the Allies had liberated Paris, Belgium, and Luxembourg. 4. An invasion of the Netherlands called Operation Market Garden saw U.S. Paratroopers drop into the occupied nation and be quickly welcomed by Dutch resistance leaders and jubilant citizens. 5. Unfortunately, a concerted Nazi counter-attack drove the invasion back, forcing the U.S. to abandon the temporarily-liberated Netherlands.

What was the first attack that the US made in the pacific after Pearl Harbor? Why would the U.S. not want to fight in a traditional ship vs. ship manner against the Japanese?

1. As the U.S. rebuilt its navy following the attack on Pearl Harbor, they were able to begin their offensive, particularly using Aircraft Carriers to transport both fighters and bombers. 2. In May, 1942, the U.S. began supporting the Australian forces ("diggers") in their defense of a critical geopolitical location: New Guinea. 2. The capital of New Guinea, Port Moresby, held an important Allied Air base; if the Japanese captured this, they would be able to attack and conquer Australia. 3. The battle that followed was called the Battle of the Coral Sea, which involved a new type of warfare, with no direct ship-to-ship contact at all, but only air attacks on the opposing navy. 4. The battle of the coral sea was costly for the Allies, who lost more ships and aircraft than the Japanese, but the Japanese attack was forced back, unable to complete their southern advance.

What was the Hitler's last major offensive in World War II?

1. Beginning on December 16th, 1944, this Ardennes Offensive by the Nazis created a "bulge" of surrounded Allied troops, and thus is known in the US as The Battle of the Bulge. 2. Hitler sent three armies to re-capture Belgium, taking the capital of Brussels, the port of Antwerp (cutting off Allied supplies) and also defending to the South. 3. Hitler hoped that his forces could destroy a combined Allied force of Canada's 1st Army, America's 1st and 9th Armies and Britain's 2nd Army. 4. Called "the greatest American battle of the war" by Winston Churchill, the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium was Adolf Hitler's last major offensive in World War II against the Western Front. Hitler's aim was to split the Allies in their drive toward Germany.

What is Blitzkried and how was it used in the attack on Poland?

1. Blitzkrieg made full use of modern technology (mechanised warfare) and, as the name implies, relied on surprise and speed. 2. The attack in Poland began with an aerial bombardment of enemy airfields (for air superiority --> ) and communication centers. 3. This was followed by landings of paratroopers behind enemy lines, who captured bridges and other key objectives to allow the main attack to succeed. 4. In the third stage, dive bombers attacked fixed defenses, punching holes in enemy lines and destroying key targets. 5. This preceded a massive wave of tanks, which in the fourth stage punched through weak points in the enemy lines, racing deep into their territory. 6. In stage five, mechanized infantry (in trucks, motorcycles or "half tracks") followed in, securing territory and wiping out any remaining pockets of resistance to avoid trench & static warfare, hence they penetrated everything.

Victory in Normandy - D-Day

1. By the end of August 1944, the Allies had reached the Seine River, Paris was liberated and the Germans had been removed from northwestern France, effectively concluding the Battle of Normandy. 2. The Allied forces then prepared to enter Germany, where they would meet up with Soviet troops moving in from the east. 3. The Normandy invasion began to turn the tide against the Nazis. 4. A significant psychological blow, it also prevented Hitler from sending troops from France to build up his Eastern Front against the advancing Soviets. 5. The following spring, on May 8, 1945, the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. 6. Hitler had committed suicide a week earlier, on April 30.

How long did Iwo Jima Battle last?

1. Capturing the rest of the island took three more weeks, however, finally cornering the Japanese survivors on the 16th of March. 2. The U.S. suffered 6,891 men killed and 18,070 wounded. 3. Out of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers posted on Iwo Jima, only 212 were taken prisoner, showing the total Japanese commitment to defending their home islands.

What was D-Day?

1. D-Day - The invasion of Normandy, France to liberate Europe from Germany was a kind of once-for-all attack, which tried to avoid a war of attrition by all means (which would have lasted a lot longer without this attack). 2. During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. 3. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. 4. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. 5. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target (Pas-de-Calais (the narrowest point between Britain and France) rather than Normandy.) In addition, they led the Germans to believe that Norway and other locations were also potential invasion targets. Many tactics were used to carry out the deception, including fake equipment; a phantom army commanded by George Patton and supposedly based in England, across from Pas-de-Calais; double agents; and fraudulent radio transmissions. 6. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. 7. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

How well were the German prepared of the Battle of the Bulge?

1. Even on paper, this plan was ludicrous, as the German army had been in retreat since D-Day, and was poorly equipped and in disarray because of Allied air supremacy and relentless bombing raids. 2. However, since Hitler was der Fűhrer, his orders to attack had to be obeyed. 3. A two-hour bombardment preceded a massive attack by most of Germany's tanks, and this initial attack met with great success, driving back the Allies except for U.S. 101st Airborne paratroops in "the bulge."

How was the stalemate broken and what consequences did the Battle of the Bulge have on both sides?

1. Finally, George Patton's Third Army (which had also run out of fuel temporarily) managed to break through Nazi lines and ended the Battle of the Bulge. 2. The U.S. poured 600,000 troops into the battle, and suffered 81,000 casualties; their largest battle of the war. 3. The Germans suffered 100,000 killed and wounded, along with the loss of most of their Armor, precluding any further offensive by them.

What were the conditions of the Battle of the Bulge and what consequences did this have on the troops?

1. Foggy conditions prevented Allied air support—such as the British Typhoons and U.S. Mustang "tank busters"—from helping stop the attack, and the surprise nature of the attack was also very effective. 2. The Nazis advanced 60 miles, but stalled after only two days, mainly because the Nazis simply did not have sufficient fuel remaining to keep their tanks running! 3. Instead, a stalemate resulted, with ill-equipped U.S. troops attempting to hold off the Nazi assault in the depths of winter.

What awaited the US Marines on Iwo Jima? How did the Americans react?

1. Kuribayashi had dug into Mount Suribachi, filling it with 16 miles of tunnels, 1500 rooms, bunkers, fortified artillery, and his command center, complete with 5-foot thick walls, a 10-foot thick roof, and under 75 feet of solid stone. 2. Kuribayashi hoped that, if each Japanese soldier could fulfill his mission of killing 10 men before dying in the Kamikaze spirit, the costs to the Americans would be so steep that they would not want to invade other Japanese islands. 3. The Americans attacked with 110,000 Marines, carried in 880 ships—the largest attack force at that time in the war. 4. The Navy pounded the island with the most intense barrage of the war, and U.S. troops landed on Feb 19th, 1945, expecting to find the Japanese troops dead or stunned. 5. Instead, they found 22,000 Japanese troops, ready to fight to the death. 6. American troops could not dig foxholes because the island was covered in sulphurous, volcanic ash—Japanese artillery dug into Mt. Suribachi could target them anywhere on the island. 7. There were no front lines, as the Japanese fought from underground—most American troops never saw a Japanese soldier. 8. The U.S. bombardment had not been effective, and the Japanese resistance force was intact, including snipers—a few of whom could hold up the entire U.S. advance for hours. 9. U.S. Marines tenaciously attacked, however, and on only the third day of the attack succeeded in taking the summit of Mt. Suribachi—the photograph of the planting of the "Stars & Stripes" there is one of the most iconic of the war.

What did MacArtur come up with to deal with the war in the Pacific?

1. MacArthur, therefore, came up with an idea he called "island hopping," where only the most strategically significant islands would be attacked with troops, while others would be left to "rot on the vine," as he put it. 2. This would allow the U.S. to "hop" past strongholds, and move closer to the Japanese home islands.

The Home Front (US)

1. Much of this was made possible by war efforts at home by the American people, the "Arsenal of Democracy." 2. While the U.S. had been unprepared for war in December of 1941, by mid-1943, the U.S. had converted its peacetime economy to a wartime economy, producing huge amounts of weaponry and equipment: 1. 85,000 Tanks 2. 295,000 aircraft 3. 77,000 warships 4. 5,500 merchant ships 3. Automobile factories produced tanks, typewriter companies made artillery shells, shoe companies made army boots, and the massive wave of employment (17 million by 1944) that resulted from this ended the Great Depression in the United States. 4. Many of these new workers were women, who were able to gain employment for the first time in factories, and even as police officers and fire fighters as men went off to war. 5. A shortage of consumer goods also took place in the United States as items such as canned meat, sugar, tires, gasoline, soap, and even nylon for stockings went to support the troops. 6. A great deal of propaganda was used to encourage people to do their part, rationing their consumption and even growing their own vegetables in "Victory gardens" at home. 7. "Rosie the Riveter" was probably the most famous of the posters produced at this time.

What was the situation in Nazi Germany at this point?

1. Nazi Germany's situation was dire at this point, and so many casualties had been sustained that Hitler had resorted to using 15 and 16 year-old members of the Hitler Youth to fight in the war. 2. Hitler also belatedly tried to use some of his "Vengeance Weapons" such as the Me-262, the world's first jet fighters, which wreaked havoc on the Allied planes, but for which there was also no fuel. 3. Indeed, the fuel shortage was so severe that the Nazi 1st SS Panzer Division had to abandon its tanks and actually walk back to Germany. 4. Even so, the conditions on the ground were terrible, with frostbite and trench foot common for Allied troops, and a severe shortage of food, medical equipment and even ammunition.

What happened after Hitler f*cked off?

1. On May 7th, 1945, Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. 2. Unfortunately, U.S. President Roosevelt had died while in office on April 12th, and so it was his Vice-President-become-President, Harry Truman, who received the news of Germany's surrender. 3. On the 9th of May, the surrender was officially signed in Berlin, and was celebrated by the Allies as V-E Day (Victory in Europe), following 6 years of war.

What was the victory in the Pacific like?

1. On September 2nd, 1945, (sometimes called V-J Day—Victory over Japan) aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese formally surrendered to General MacArthur, and the Second World War came to an end. 2. Approximately 60 million people died in the war (mostly civilians), and much of Europe and Japan had been destroyed by bombing. 3. The U.S. occupied Japan, and established military bases in Okinawa and elsewhere, some of which remain today. 4. The Japanese constitution was rewritten by the U.S.A., making Emperor Hirohito the last Emperor of Japan, and forbidding Japan from ever using its military in an aggressive way again. 5. Japanese culture was irrevocably changed by American influence: for example, the sport of Baseball became hugely popular in Japan. 6. The world had been ravaged by war for six years, and the challenge now facing the victorious Allies was how to rebuild it, and what this "new age" would look like. 7. Unfortunately, instead of world peace, a new war was looming on the horizon: one which would come to be called the Cold war.

How did Hiroshima come to place?

1. President Roosevelt had died in office, and new President Truman learned of the Manhattan project only after becoming President (though Stalin's spies already had detailed information about it). 2. Following Okinawa, the U.S. now needed to invade the Japanese home islands, which were being brutally fire-bombed. 3. Even so, General MacArthur postulated that such an invasion would cost another million U.S. casualties, and possibly extend the war by another year. 4. Plans for this invasion, code-named Operation Downfall, were already fully developed, on a scale never yet seen in the war. 5. Roughly five times as large as the D-Day invasion of Normandy, this was the largest application of force that the U.S. could direct against Japan. 6. Thus, eager to end the Second World War and protect American lives, President Truman warned the Japanese government that, unless they surrendered, they could expect "a rain of ruin from the air." (air superiority). 7. The Emperor did not reply, and so the Enola Gay dropped the first of its two existing Atomic bombs, nicknamed "Little Boy," on the city of Hiroshima on the 6th of August, 1945.

Opening a Western Front

1. The Allied forces operated under the leadership of General Dwight Eisenhower, who took the title of Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force—he was in control of all forces: British, French, Canadian, Australian, and American. 2. The task Eisenhower faced now was the opening of a Western Front in Europe, so that the Allies could attack Hitler directly; the problem was the defenses Hitler had built in France.

What was MacArthur's first "island hopping" target?

1. The first target was at Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, where the Japanese were building a large air base in order to attack Australia. 2. If the United States could strike before the base was completed, it would go a long way towards protecting Australia and maintaining the air supremacy which had proved to be so significant. 3. On the 7th of August, 1942, the U.S. Marines played their first part in the war, making an amphibious landing using Higgins boats on the island of Guadalcanal. 4. The American troops, supported by the Australians, took control of the airfield quickly, but the battle for control of the island lasted more than six months. 5. This coincided with an equally important struggle taking place in Papua New Guinea, as the Japanese again tried to take over Port Moresby, this time by land. 6. Japanese troops tried to climb over the mountains, only to be met by fierce and unyielding Australian and U.S. defenders.

What was the Japanese invasion of the U.S.-controlled Philippines like?

1. The government and U.S. Admiral Douglas MacArthur retreated to the harbor fort called Corregidor, where they were besieged. 2. MacArthur ordered that the U.S. and Philippine troops still on the island continue to fight a resistance struggle against the occupation, and these forces retreated to the dense jungle of the Bataan Peninsula to do so. 3. After more than three months of guerrilla fighting—and suffering from mosquitoes, malaria, starvation, and exposure, the resistance fighters surrendered. 4. What followed in April 1942 is known as the Bataan Death March, where 70,000 captured American troops were marched 70 miles to their prison camp, while prevented from resting or drinking water. 5. Over 15,000 of these men—mostly native Americans from the same town of Santa Fe, New Mexico—died on this forced march, which exemplified Japanese contempt for surrendered prisoners.

But an invasion did follow, what was this like?

1. The invasion took place in Normandy, on five beaches—two attacked by the Americans, two by the British, and one by the Canadians. 2. These beaches were defended by fortified bunkers, artillery, and the Allies knew that the costs of the invasion might be high. 3. However, forming a "beachhead" in France was essential, so paratroopers had dropped in behind enemy lines, and an intense aerial bombardment and a naval bombardment (including two battleships from Pearl Harbor) preceded the largest amphibious attack in history on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, called D-Day. 4. The attack was a "once-for-all" attempt by the Allies—if it failed, the war might be lost. 5. The Allied attack was massive: in 36 hours, 175,000 soldiers and 50,000 vehicles ranging from tanks to motorcycles crossed from England to France. 6. Casualties were high, particularly on Omaha Beach, where the first waves of Americans hitting the beach took up to 90% casualties and over 2,700 U.S. soldiers killed on the first day. 7. Predictably, the plan did not go perfectly, as the rising tide pushed boats off course, and panicked airplanes mis-dropped paratroopers all over Normandy.

Who were the members of the Manhattan Project and what was their goal?

1. The project was led by General Leslie Groves, who assembled a team of brilliant physicists, most of whom were European immigrants who had fled Nazi oppression. 2. Included in this team were Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi, and the team leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer. 3. Together, their mission was to create and detonate an atomic bomb.

What was the impact of "Little Boy," on the city of Hiroshima on the 6th of August, 1945?

1. The target had been chosen for its cultural value, rather than its military value, intending to crush the Japanese spirit as well as cause massive devastation to the city of 350,000 people. 2. Between 70 - 80,000 people died in the explosion, which incinerated everything for 2.7km, and left a crater 70m deep and 330m wide. 3. Many times this many were killed or made ill by radiation poisoning called fallout following the explosion, which was deadly for up to 2 weeks following the blast. (140km) 4. Still others were struck blind from looking at the blast.

Who are Rommel and Montgomery?

1. The top Nazi tank General, Erwin Rommel, had taken over North Africa, capturing the key Libyan port of Tobruk in June, 1942. 2. The British had sent their top tank General, Bernard Montgomery ("Monty") to defend Egypt against Rommel's advance, and at the Battle of El Alamein in October, 1942, Monty was able to surprise Rommel's forces with over 1000 tanks, and pushed back the Nazi advance.

What were the conditions of the two first battles fought by the Allies in the Pacific?

1. The two battles kept the Japanese forces split, and despite the fact that the Japanese poured more and more troops into Guadalcanal and Papua New Guinea, the Allies did also, and so the Japanese never had quite enough to finish either job and both sides fueled a war of attrition. 2. Conditions in both places were terrible, with hot weather & tropical rain, shortages of food & water, trench foot, mosquitoes and other diseases, and man-eating saltwater crocodiles and sharks in the ocean.

What was the impact of the second bomb on the city of Hiroshima on the 9th of August, 1945?

1. Three days later, the U.S. dropped its second bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki. 2. More than 70,000 more Japanese died here, and even more fallout was spread throughout Japan by coastal winds.

What did the Allies do in face of the Atlantic wall and knowing that they can not invade Europe from France?

1. Thus, the Allies opened their attack with an invasion of Italy, using Generals Montgomery and Patton to attack the island of Sicily in July, 1943. 2. Sicily was conquered in a month, and this signaled the end of Benito Mussolini's reign as dictator—Italian King Emmanuel ordered his arrest, and Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 3rd, 1943. 3. Hitler was not pleased with this, seized control of Northern Italy, and sent a rescue force which freed Mussolini and restored him to power. 4. Although Rome fell to the Allies in June, 1944, Italy remained "in the war" until Germany's fall in May, 1945. 5. Mussolini, however, was caught by Italian resistance fighters while attempting to flee in disguise as a German soldier in April, 1945; was shot, and his body (and that of his mistress) was hung from a telephone pole.

What did the military force of Japan put a lot of faith in?

Alongside the land Japanese defences, the Japanese high command put their faith in the kamikaze pilots which it was believed would inflict such serious casualties on the Americans in Okinawa that they would retreat.