WW2 Test
Battle of El Alamein
The German and Italian force in Africa was called Afrika Korps was led by German general Erwin Rommel -Earned nickname called Desert fox, by skillfully pushing the British out of Libya and back into Egypt -Afrika Corps had troubles supplying forces, which limited its effectiveness -1941-42 British and Afrika corps equally fought -Battle of El Alamein: A key battle that took place in Oct. 1942 at El Alamein in Egypt -British troops under general Bernard Montgomery took advantage of Rommel`s supply problems -Using info gained from secret German codes, the British won a major victory -As a result the Axis powers in North Africa was severely weakened
American response to Pear Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor had a major effect on the American public -December 8th Us declared war on Japan -Germany and Italy declared war on USA -United States joined the allies against the Axis powers
Fighting in Italy
The next goal of the Allies was to gain Italy itself -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 dictator Benito Mussolini from power -The allies captured the island a few weeks later and made plans to invade mainland Italy -Hitler was not going to allow this -After the Allies moved into Southern Italy the invasion was slowed by German resistance as troops moved from the north -bloody fighting continued for months
Germans invade the Soviet Union
-1941 German invasion of SU stopped during the Soviet winter -German equipment failed in cold weather and Hitler had poorly equipped soldiers -After Germans failed to capture the city of Leningrad hitler ordered a siege, or a military blockade designed to force the city to surrender -Hitler wanted to kill this city`s whole population -In winter of 1941-42 Soviet civilians starved, 3,000 - 4,000 ppl died a day -1 million SU civilian died in Siege of Leningrad
American Home Front
-2 weeks After the US navy ship was sunk the attack of Pearl harbor occurred -After US entered the war they needed to get military ready -hard task - to defeat the Axis powers the US needed soldiers, sailors and pilots, military equipment and supplies -Millions of men volunteered to fight, still more were drafted -Women were not allowed to fight but helped as pilots, clerks ect. -Nation responded quickly to the need of war supplies -new demand for workers gave new employment opportunities to women and African americans -Americans at home helped the country by using less fuel, food and other items - all were needed by the armed forces -Participated in scrap drived to collect iron and rubber which could be recycled for military purposes
Czechoslovakia
-After the take over of Austria, Hitler was convinced that nobody dared to stop him -Wanted to take of Czechoslovakia -It had a large German speaking population, many of whom lived in the region of the Sudetenland -Those people were eager to join Germany -Hitler began to threaten Czech government -Czechs prepared for war -Czech believed if fighting began that they could count on the support of France
Americans join the Battle in Africa
-As British and Africa Corps were fighting in Liby and Egypt, Allied leaders were planning to bring American troops to the European battlefield -Soviets wanted the Allies to invade Europe, creating a second front that would force Hitler to pull troops away from the Soviet territory -British and American leaders insisted that planning for such a huge action would take time -They decided to invade the Western Part of North Africa first, in the French colony of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia -1942 a combined American and British force landed in North Africa -Led by american general Dwight D. Eisenhower -Allies faced little resistance after landing, and the french forces soon joined them -Landing put Rommel in a difficult position, stron Allied forces were both at East and West, and supply problems continued to worsen -Germans and Italians were finally trapped -May 1943 Germany and Italy surrendered -250,000 Axis soldiers were taken prisoner -All of North Africa was in Allied hands
Background/Preparation of Battle of Stalingrad
-As weather warmed in 1942 HItler ordered renwed assaults on the SU -To aid in the attack he assembled a large force including troops from Italy, Romania and Hungary -At first Axis forces fought well, fuel shortages slowed their advance -At the end of the Summer a large Axis force was ready to take Stalingrad -Stalingrad: an industrial city on the Volga river, one of the largest cities in the SU -Its factories produced tanks, guns, and other military equipment for the Soviet armies Stalingrads ports shipped grain oil and other products throughout the SU
Turning Point in the Pacific
-Attack on Pearl Harbor was an enormous success for Japan - The damage to the US navy`s fleet took time to overcome and limited the American ability to strike back
Island Hopping
-Battle of Midway changed balance of power in the Pacific -In Pacific the allies pursued a strategy that became known as island hopping -This involved skipping over Japanese strongholds and capturing weaker targets -These captured islands were used as bases for other attacks which moved even closer to japan -The bypassed Japanese strong holds were cut off from outside supplies wand would eventually weaken
(28.2) American involvement and the Battle of the Atlantic
-Before the United States had declared war on Japan, the country had been helping the Allies by shipping supplied across the Atlantic Ocean -Control of the Atlantic Ocean was a critical factor in WW2 -GB and SU depended majorly on supplies shipped by sea to their ports -If Germany gained control of the sea and cut off Allied access to food and equipment the war would be lost -Germany had a powerful navy but it did not have enough ships to match the battleships of GB -Germans became to rely on their submarines once again -Submarines caused great damage to the allies, sinking hundreds of merchant supply ships in the early years of the war -Before entering the war, the US offered military aid to GB in the form of ships and military escorts for convoys -Convoys - groups of many ships that offered safety in numbers -This aid led to shooting between American and German vessels -In 1941 a U - boat sunk the American escort USS Reuben James, killing most of its crew -It was the first U.S. navy ship sunk by Germany in the war
Battle of Britain
-Britain stood alone now against Germany -Conquering Britain was harder for Hitler than the rest of Europe -Britain was led by Winston Churchill Churchill`s fighting spirit inspired confidence among the people -1940 Germany sent thousands of warcraft over the English Channel to attack British targets -Germany wanted to destroy British Royal air force, to make it possible to invade Britain -Germans failed, for the first time - British had a new technology called Radar - radar: uses radio signals to locate and create an image of distinct objects -In Battle of Britain radar allowed the british to detect incoming German air attacks before the german planes were visible -Battle continued and German planes began to bomb British ports such as London`s port -This became known as the London Blitz -Hitlers goal: To terrrerize the British public and break their will to fight - German bombs killed thousands if civilians and destroyed parts of Britain -German losses increased -Hitler was forced to call of hid plans to invade Britain
(28.3) Nazi Anti - Semitism
-During Hitler`s rise in Germany there were about 9 million Jews in Europe -Most lived outside of Germany but Hitler blamed them for Germany`s problems -Hitler promoted the belief in the racial superiority of the German race -No factual basis for Hitler`s anti - semitism, or his claims about the German "master race" -Due to the humiliation of WWI and the Treaty of V, the German people saw some appeal to Hitler`s twisted vision -The Jews were a group to blame for Germany`s problems -Hitler`s anti - semitism was not new -Long history of anti - semtism in Europe -Nazi Germany: Semitsm was on religion was changed to based on race -During the 30s Hitler`s nazi government passed the Nuremburg Laws - which created a separate legal status for Germany Jews
French and British
-France and Britain were alarmed, but wanted to avoid war so did not want to confront Hitler -At a meeting in Munich, germany British Prime minister Neville Chamberlain and French leader Edouard Daladier agreed to not stop Hitler -Czech was told that if they fought hitler, they would do so alone
Annexing Austria
-Hitler knew that Europe opposed war, so he plotted more aggressive moves -Targeted Austria: A german speaking country that bordered Germany, Hitler`s birth place -Dreamed of uniting al the German - speaking people in Europe -Nazi party had many supporters in Austria -1938 - Hitler bean to demand that Austrian officials accept annexation by Germany -Annexation: The formal joining of one country to another -It became clear that Hitler would conquer the country by force, so many Austrian people supported unification with germany -Austrian government gave in -March 1938 German forces marched into Austria with no opposition
Hitler Rises to power
-Hitler realizes that no European leaders were willing to fight against him -Became chancellor in 1933 -Secretly began to rebuild the German military, which was greatly weakened because of WW1 -In little time he was openly stating his plan to rearm Germany -This action would would violate the Treaty of V, but nobody was stopping him -Hitler was planning to make the world a German empire
Battle of the Bulge
-Hitler was not finished -December 1944 he ordered a huge attack on Belgium -At first Germans made solid advances, producing a bulge in the Allied Battle lines -By Jan. the Allies crushed the Germans -This defeat marked the end of major German resistance
The "Final Solution"
-Hitler`s armies conquered large areas of Europe during early years of WWII - Millions of Jews were under Nazi control -"Final Solution": The deliberate mass execution of Jews
Allies Fight Back and recovery after the attack of Pearl Harbor
-In the attack on Pearl Harbor the Pacific Fleet`s aircraft carriers were not damaged in the attack against Pearl Harbor -After Pear Harbor, the Japanese Navy ruled the seas -Early months in the Pacific were difficult for the Allies -Japanese forced were better equipped and fighting closer to home -Japan conquered vital territory : Singapore, Hong Kong, Burma, and strategic islands in the Pacific -Japan targeted the Philippines which was held by the Americans -The General Douglas MacArthur led a small # of poorly equipped Filipino troops and american soldiers -1942 Americans surrendered the Philippines -Japanese forced 70,000 prisoners to march up the Bataan Peninsula to a distinct prison camp -During the Bataan Death March, tropical heat, lack of food and water and brutal violence from their captors killed 600 Americans and 10,000 Filipino prisoners -Thousands more died on the prison camps
War in North Africa and Italy
-Italian and British forces began a battle for the control of N. Africa -Territory was vital for the allies -If British could control N. Africa they could protect the Suez Canal, the shipping route that linked the Mediterranean Sea w/ the oil fields of the Middle East -Keeping this oil line flowing was essential to the British war effort -1940 - Italian forces based in Libya attacked British controlled Egypt -Attack was a failure -British forces eliminated the Italian threat to Egypt, and soon drove into Libya and threatened to gain to control of all N. Africa -Hitler was forced to send troops to defend the Italians
Spanish Civil War
-Italy and Germany worked for an alliance with Spain - 1936 - fierce political conflict led to war in Spain -One side was nationalists, a Fascist group -Italy and Germany gave support to the Nationalists - led by Spanish general Francisco Franco -Other side - republicans, supported by the Soviet Union -After yrs of war the nationalists won, -Spain became under a Fascist leader
The Battle of the Coral Sea
-Japan was at height of power when Japanese and and American aircraft carriers first came together in battle -This location was the Coral Sea, a body of water off the northeast coast of Australia -The battle took place as Japanese forces were preparing to invade NEw Guinea (British owned) -A group of allied vessels tried to stop the attack -both sides lost an aircraft carrier in this battle, which hurt Americans more than the Japanese -Battle marked the first time the Japanese had been stopped
Japan
-Japan`s military expansion and aggression in Asia during the 1930s had concerned many countries, especially American leaders -Most americans wanted to stay out of the war -In 1941 Japan moved its forces into French Indochina, a French colony in Southeast Asia - Region was rich in soil, rubber and oil and other natural resources -In response americans were nervous so they banned the sale of oil to Japan which was meant to slow the Japanese war machine -This was a serious threat to Japans future plans -Japanese government continued to hold peace talks w/ the United States -Japan secretly planned for war
The Victims
-Jews were not the only victims -nazis imprisoned other groups they considered inferior (poles, slavs, homosexuals, people w/ disabilities, gypsies) -5 million people from these groups died after the war -Jews suffered the most - 6 million Jews died Holocaust:The mass murder of jews
Invasion of the Soviet Union
-June 1941 Hitler broke his non- aggression pact with Stalin -sent 3 million troops into the Soviet Union -German blitzkrieg was highly effective at first -Soviet red army had many soldiers but they were poorly trained and poorly equipped which was no match for the German forces -Soviet Union did not collapse -By fall the Germans had reached deep into the Soviet territory, but did not reach their major goals - Moscow and Leningrad -They were not prepared for the severely cold weather of the Soviet winter -German troops lacked warm clothing and and their vehicles and equipment worked poorly in conditions -Progress slowed and stopped for germany during the winter - @ same time the Soviets were still trying to recover from the huge # of casualties they lost -the huge population of the soviet union allowed the Soviet armies to rebuild quickly -Soviets survived the germans and began to fight back
Battle of Guadalcanal
-Not always an easy task -Allied invasion of the island of Guadalcanal, near Australia led to a series of brutal battles in late 1942 and 43 -6 months US fought Japanese troops on the swamp and jungle covered island -Japanese troops fled the island in Feb. 1943 -Many battles followed -Japanese demonstrated a willingness to fight to the death which amazed the Allied soldiers -Allies made steady progress in South Pacific -From 1942-44 allies captured locations in Solomon, Gilbert, Marshal, Caroline and Mariana Islands -By the middle of 1944 Allied forces had fought within distince of the Philippines
Allies improvements that helped win the Atlantic war
-Once US went officially into war Germany sent submarines to American waters - in hope to destroy merchant ships and they did destroy many of them -By 1943 the Allies had made many adjustments in the war for the Atlantic -Allied factories began producing planes and ships in large numbers, this meant better equipped convoys which had more power to find and destroy U - boats -Allies broke a key German code system used to transmit information about German plans -This helped allies learn the location of German U boats -Due to these improvements the losses because of U boats decreased -The vital supply line to GB and the SU was kept open and and the Atlantic belonged to the Allies
Battle of Stalingrad
-One of the most brutal battles of the war -After the Germans bombed the city to rubble with air and artillery attacks, German troops moved into the ruins to wipe out the surviving Soviets -Soviets fought very hard - led by Stalin -Estimated loss of tens of thousands of soldiers lost on each side -Soviet marshal Georgy Zhukov gathered his remaining forces for a counterattack -By november Soviets were ready to strike -Strong force broke through the Axis defenders quickly surrounding 250,000 men -Hitler insisted his troops to stand and fight promising to supply the force by air -This effort fell short - Hunger, cold and Soviet attacks took a toll on on Germans -German commander told Hitler that his troops had no ammunition, food or medicine -Hitler responded by saying that surrender wad forbidden -Within days 90,000 half dead Axis survivors were captured -Many soon died in Soviet prison camps -Over 1 million Soviet solders died in the defense of Stalingrad, but result was a horrible defeat for HItler -German Army was retreating to West -This battle along with Allied victories in N. Africa and Italy marked a turning point in the war
War Begins: Germany attacks Poland
-Sept 1 1939, germany launched an attack on Poland --Marked the start of WWI Blitzkrieg: German for "lightning war", it was a new tactic Germans used against the Poles -Emphasized speed and close coordination between planes in the air and fast moving forces on the ground Blitzkrieg began w/ air attacks that damaged defenses and caused panic among civilians -Fast moving columns of tanks and mobile artillery struck deep into the country side -Behing them came foot soldiers -Poland was devastated -Polish air forces were quickly destroyed -Polish country side had few natural barriers to slow the blitzkrieg -Poland had the support of GB and France -Britain and France declared war on Germany, they became known as the allies - Neither country gave a lot of help to Poland - In just weeks Poland was taken over by Germany
D -Day
-Soviets forced Axis armies back toward Germany as the other allies were finalizing their plans for a massive attack on Western Europe -invasion of Europe would be difficult, assault would have to come by sea -Allied preparations were led by George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower -Allies needed supplied and trained troops, developed specialized equipment for transporting tanks nd troops across open water -Also staged a plan to mislead Hitler about where the invasion would take place
Emigration/ Deported
-Thousands of Jews were deported (forced to leave the country) out of Germany -Thousands of German Jews left on their own -Emigration was not an option for all German Jews -Nazi laws had left many Jews w/o money , property - countries were often unwilling to take in poor immigrants -U.S. and many other countries were still recovering from the Great Depression and did not want immigrants to take jobs from people who were already citizens because jobs were scarce - Some countries had a limit to how many Germans could live in their country -At start of WW2 about 250,000 Jews still lived in Germany and Austria - Germany outlawed Jewish emigration in 1941 -The rest of the Jews in Germany were trapped
The Axis powers form
-Totalitarian regimes had emerged in Italy and Japan after WWI -These countries demonstrated a willingness to use military force to achieve their goals -Showed disregard for opinions of other nations -Similarities between Germany, Italy, and Japan led to a series of agreements that joined them together in a military alliance -These countries became known as Axis powers -1936- The AntiComintern Pact : This agreement united Germany and Japan in an effort to prevent the spread of communism and oppose the Soviet Union - The next year Italy joined the agreement - 1939- Italy and Germany signed a military alliance in which each sided pledged to aid each side in war
Germany after WWI
-Treaty of Versailles - which ended WWI seriously damaged German economy -Left Germany humiliated 1933- Adolf Hitler came to power w/ a promise to restore German greatness -Hitler wanted the Germans to have growing space - more territory -German neighbors were aware of German`s threat of expansion -^Harsh memories of WWI no one was willing to fight Hitler1s words
Negatives of War
-Wartime had negatives too -Some government officials worried that Americans of German, Italian and Japanese descent would help the enemy -German americans and Italian americans faced restrictions during war but Japanese Americans had the biggest restrictions -More than 100,000 Japanese americans were forced to leave their home on the West Coast and travel to internment camps -Most were american citizens but Americans were concerned w/ racial background -Life in camps were hard -Many were located in deserts with harsh climates and surrounded by barbed wire fences -Families lived in small facilities and quality of education and health was poor
Germans attack France
-germans began to attack France in 1940 -Germany first invaded Norway and Denmark -Captured these countries which helped improve Germany access to the Atlantic Ocean -May 10 attacked France -First attacked Belgium and Netherlands - which were in between Germany and France -At same time German force was attacking the further south - Ardennes - a dense forest region along the border between France and Belgium -Then Germans went to french coast -Germans trapped hundreds of thousands of Allied troop, who then retreated to Dunkirk -Allied military and civilian ships saved over 300,000 soldiers and brought them over to GB -June 22 1940 - France surrendered to Germany -Germany controlled most of France - Placed part of the country under the control of the French officials who cooperated w/ Hitler -This area was known as Vichy, France -Some France leaders escaped to Britain to organize resistance against Germany -Within France fighters fought to liberate the country
Germany`s deal w/ Stalin
-late 1930s Fascist Germany and Italy strongly disliked the Communist Soviet Union -Mostly because Fascism and Communism were very different - Fascism: Based on extreme nationalism and loyalty to the state -Communism: Sought international change and a classless society -Soviet leader, Stalin felt that German military threatened his nation -In Summer of 1939 British and French officials concerned about Hitlers aggressive actions were discussing an alliance w/ Soviets -Stalin had lost confidence in Britain and France -Stalin secretly made an agreement with Germany -Nazi - Soviet Nonaggression Pact: An agreement in which each side promises not to attack the other -Agreement allowed Germans to keep on fighting and taking over -secret section of the agreement allowed each side to take territory in eastern europe (divided Poland into Soviet and German areas) -Britain and France were shocked
Hitler militarizes the Rhineland
1936 - Hitler was ready to make more direct action -Sent a small armed force into the Rhineland (German territory that bordered France) -Militarization of the Rhineland was another violation of the Treaty of V - required German troops to stay out of this region -French, and British complained about Germans treaty violations, but took no action -german troops remained at the Rhineland and Hitler grew bolder
The Battle Of Midway
1942 Japanese and American carriers fought in the seas during the battle of Midway -Japanese had planned to capture the island of Midway in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, home to a key American military base -Japanese leaders wanted the island but also wanted to destroy the Americans in a naval battle because they knew they would outnumber the Americans -Japanese had the advantage in the # of ships and aircraft carriers they could bring to Medway -American had a better advantage - they had broken the Japanese code used to transmit messages -As a result the Americans knew the date and location of the planned Japanese attack -American leaders were able to an effective defense that overcame the Japanese superiority in fire power -The plan worked perfectly -Americans destroyed four japanese carriers and with a loss of only one of their own Allies won a great victory and Japan sufferd -
World reacts
1942 ppl from the US and Europe began to hear about killing of the Jews in Europe -US and GB met to discuss possible responses -No Action was taken -1944- after millions of jews had already died, the US established the War Refugee Board to help rescue European Jews -Board helped save 200,000 jews -As allied forces in Europe started to push back the Germans, they came across Nazi camps -Soviet troops discovered an abandoned death camp in Poland -Germans tried to cover up evidence -Soviets liberated the Auschwitz death camp in January 1945, found 7,000 starving survivors -Britain and America kept on finding more death camps and were shocked by what they found.
(28.4) Soviet Victories
1944 Soviets ended the Siege of Leningrad -Achieved great success for the Soviets, led to another 800,000 German casualties -Other important victories followed, driving Axis forces out of SU and back into Central Europe -By end of Jan 1945 Soviet forces were within 40 miles of German capitol, Berlin
Great Britain
After meeting Chamberlain returned to GB with his policy of appeasement: Giving into aggressive demands in order to maintain peace, had prevented an unnecessary war -Others believed that this was wrong, and Hitler would not stop taking over -In parliament Winston Churchill spoke out against Britain`s plans -In GB Chamberlin was viewed as a hero -He wanted peace and so did the people of Great Britain
D-Day
Allied forces invaded France -Over 150,000 troops landed on the beaches of Normandy that first day -D-Day was huge victory for allies -Beaches secured, allied forces poured into France -1 million soldiers had came to shore -Allies quickly reconquered France -Germany surrendered Paris
Phillipines War
First major battle in the Philippines was the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in 1944 -Largest naval battle ever fought -Saw the major use of the Japanese weapon the kamikaze attack -Kamikazes attack - were japanese pilots who loaded their planes with explosives and deliberately crashed into Allied ships -Ended in an allied victory Months of fighting and allies took control of Phiippines -Japans naval power was destroyed
pearl Harbor
For month Japanese military leaders under General Hideki Tojo had been developing plans for a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor Hawaii, home to US navys Pacific Fleet -December 7th 1941 Jpanese attack began -Nearly two weeks Japanese aircraft carriers ad been approaching Pearl Harbor from the North, undetected by the American military -When attack started hundreds of Japanese fighters and bomber launched from the carriers and sped over Pearl Harbor dropping bombs and torpedos on the American base -The attack lasted less than 2 hours 2,400 americans were dead -200 aircraft were destroyes -8 battleships were sunk `
Nazi ways of Killing
Ghetto: Jews were forced into ghettos - a confined area within a city -Walls of barbed wire fences prevented the Jews from leaving -Arm guards shot those trying to escape -Warsaw- Most famous ghetto, housed 400,000 people -Most of these people either died of starvation or were murdered by Nazis Concentration Camps: Labor camps that Jews were sent to -meant to hold people that Hitler called were enemies of the state -Jews and other prisoners were forced to work a s slave laborers -Some were subjected to cruel medical treatments -Many died of severe hunger -Hitler`s forces carried out large scale executions of Jews in villages across Poland -German soldiers shot men, women, children -When German y invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Nazis established mobile killing units, to destroy Jews that lived in Soviet territory - Mobile killing units carried out executions on a massive scale, aided by police and local people -in one 2 day period on Sept. 1941 35,000 jews were murdered in SU -the killing was leaving behind too much evidence of the Nazi crimes - Germans established a number of special concentration camps in Poland for the main purpose of killing large numbers of Jews and destroying their bodies -Death camps had specially designed chambers in which thousands of people were killed every day - The camps had furnaces for the disposal of their bodies