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March 15th

Posted by 3Marea:) on March 15, 2012 at 10:36am

Test over slides 62- when done

Japan

  • Dictatorship also came to Japan
    • not through a political party but the military

History

  • rich military tradition
    • feudal clans fought each other for dominance in Japan
  • The Emperor presided over the Japanese government
    • came form divine origin
    • descendent of the Sun Goddess
    • played minor role in the government
    • he was above politics
    • shogun had the political power
      • ruled in the name of the Emperor

Japanese society

  1. Landowning clans dominated
    • protected by the samurai
  2. Wealthy merchant class
  3. Peasants
    • most of the people of Japan

Japan was very isolated until 1853 when US Commodore Matthew Perry sailed in to Japan and forced them to open their ports

In the late 1800’s many Japanese were tired of being controlled by foreign countries.

  • adopted western ways in hopes to keep Western Powers out of their country
    1. heavy industry
    2. modern army
    3. strong navy

Showed off new power in several wars

  1. Sino-Japanese War
    • 1894-95
    • Japan won
  2. Russo-Japanese War
    • 1904-05
    • Japan shocked the world by beating Russia
    • gained partial control of Manchuria
  3. World War I
    • allied with the US
    • gained German Islands in the Pacific after the war

1920’s

  • gave all men the right to vote
  • signed the 4, 5 and 9 Power Pacts
  • joined the League of Nations
  • signed the Kellog-Briand Pact

1930’s

  • Great Depression changed everything
  • people blamed the government for tough times
  • military leaders stepped in and took control
    • said Japan had to expand in to Asia to help economy
    • assassinated political leaders that opposed them
    • took away people’s rights

Japanese Military Honor

  1. fight to the death
  2. commit suicide rather than surrender
  3. gekokujo
    • open defiance of superior officers by junior officers
    • seen as a positive thing
    • shows the spirit of the soldier

Appeasement Policy

  • "A diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding wat by makin concessions to and aggressor"
  • GB and France used this policy throughout the 1930's
  • Helped give Japan, Italy and Germany confidence that they would face no consequences for their actions
  • Considered to be a huge mistake by historians

Panay Incident- 1937

  • Japan attack the us ship and killed a couple of people
  • Japan "mistakened:" it for a chinese ship when there was clearly US flag on the ship
    • They appoligized
  • First major conflict between US and Japan

Anschluss with Austria- 1938

  • Anschluss- Union
  • Austria was a German speaking country and Hitler was born there so Hitler wanted to combine Germany and Austria
  • The leader of Austia asked the people to vote on if they wanted to join or not and most said no but Hitler ended up taking it over

Sudetenland/Munich Conference- 1938

  • Munich Pact- Appeasement
    • Germany was given the Sucentenland of Czechoslovakia
    • Czech. had the option to accept Pact or deal with Germany itseld
    • Czech. lost it's defensible borders and fortifications
    • Czech. also lost 70% of its iron/steel, 70% of its electrical power and 3.5 million citizens to Germany as a result of the settlement
  • Munich Conference
    • Chamberlain: "Peace for our time"
      • was a hero in '39
  • Hitler takes all of Czech
    • British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain started taking Nazi German and Hitler much seriously after that
    • Winston Churchhill had warned about this happening
    • GB and France started mobilizing for war

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact- August 23 1939

    • German ambassador Von Ribbentrop and Soviet dictator Stalin laugh as Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact on August 23 1939
    • Russian gave raw materials to Germany in exchange for money and waepons
    • Both agreed to stay neutral if the other entered the war
    • Secretly agreed to invade and split Poland. Germany would get the western half and USSR the eastern half
    • Soviet would get Finland, Estonia and Lativa; Germany would get Lithuania
  • How did the world react to this pact?
    • shock
    • poland was in a very tough spot
    • Hitler thought in would force GB and France to back out of their promice to help poland
  • leads to the invasion of Poland

Blitzkrieg-Lightening War- The Concepst of Blitzkrieg

  1. Air force attack enemy front-line and rear positions, main roads, airfields and communication centers. At the same time, infantry attacks on the entire and engages enemy
  2. Tank (panzer) units break through main lines of defense and advanse deeper into enemy territory. While following , mechanized units pursue and engage defenders preventing them from establishing defensive postions. Infantry continues to engage enemy for the same reason
  3. Infantry attacks enemy flanks in order to link up with other groups to complete the attack and eventually en circle the enemy and/or capture strategic position
  4. Mechaniced groups go deeper into the enemy territory outflanking the enemy positions and preventin withdrawing troops and defenders from establishing effective defensive positions
  5. Main force links up with other units encircling and cutting off the emeny
  6. Goal was to achieve victory as quickly as possible

Sitzkrieg- The Phony War

  • Latin: Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay, ect.
  • Europe: Belgium, Czech., Denmark, ect
  • Africa: Eqypt, Ethiopia, ect.
  • Asia/Other: China, India, Iraq
  • Allied main:GB, Soviet Union, US, China, France, Canada, Australlia
  • Axis Main: Germany, Italy, Japan

Maginot Line

  • Was a line of concrete fortification, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses
  • France constructed this along its borders with Germnay and Italy after what happened to them in WWI
  • Built from 1930-1940

Vichy Government

  • Hitler allowed Vichy to have control of southeren France
  • Led by Marshal Henri Petain

Free French Underground

  • Led by Charles de Gaulle
  • Goal: to free france from Germany

Battle of Britia0 July 1940

Nazi Goals

  1. Destroy the Royal Air Force (before invasion was possible- hopefully by 9-15)
  2. Attack and destroy the British Navy
  3. Attack British troops
  4. After gaining air superiority, the invasion of GB would be begin in GB had not already surrendered
    • Germany never succeded #1
    • German bombers did so poorly against the RAF that they started bombing at night only- randomly attacking cities
    • GB was aided heavily by the radar and Ultra- intercepting and decifling of German code, one of the biggest reason for winning
  • Operation Sea Lion- Never Happened
  • Hitler never won because he was never able to have control of the skies
  • 1940 election
    • FDR wins again
  • FDR signs the Lend- Lease Act
    • US would lend or lease supplies to other countries in war and when they were done using it they would give it back and it only went to vountries that are allies to us
  • German Invasion of USSR-June, 1941
    • Final plan for operation Barbosa
    • largest military operation in history in both manpower and casulities
    • Lenengrad, Stallengrad, Moscow
  • Schorched Earth Policy
    • Stalin demanded this of the Soviet troops as they retreated
    • destroy evertthing so that Germans cannot fight back
  • Atlantic Charter
    • FDR and Churchill
    • August 1941
    • Set up war goals of the US and GB
      • No territorial gain
      • no territorial w/o the peoples support from those countries
      • self-determination
      • free trade
      • destruction of the Nazis and then setting up a peaceful government in Germany
      • freedom of the seas
      • abandon the use of force, disarmament and a stronger League of Nations

Pearl Harbor 

  • In July, 1941, Japan invaded French Indochina
  • In response, the US stops trading with Japan
  • Due to embargo, Japan felt it had three options:
    1. abandon ambitions in South East Asia
    2. compromise with the US
    3. attack Dutch and British possessions in the Pacific and US bases in the Pacific
  • Japanese Leaders
    • Hideki Tojo-ran government and military
    • Empereror Hirohito-surrendered in end
  • Yamamoto felt that if Japan had any chance of winning a war against the US it must destroy the US Pacific fleet in a surprise attack
  • A surprise attack would give Japan at least six months to dominate SE Asia unopposed
  • Japan thought that the US then would face a long, bloody struggle and would settle for a negotiated peace that would allow Japan to do as it pleased in Asia
  • Tojo replaces Konoye as Premier of Japan.  Konoye wanted to negotiate with the US. Tojo didn’t and had a low regard of the US
  • Tojo wanted war but Emperor Hirohito wanted on last peace attempt.
  • Japan offered this:
    1. Open door policy everywhere and Japan would withdraw from French Indochina
    2. US would stop Lend-Lease Aid to China and start trading with Japan again
    3. Japan would start peace talks with China
  • US refused plan on November 29th
  • US took a hard line stance with Japan now because we had deciphered their diplomatic code(Magic) and knew that they had some type of attack plan. 
  • Magic Information
    • “November 29th is the deadline”
    • “things are automatically going to happen”
  • Japan felt that the key to success in the Pacific was air and sea power
    • especially launching airplanes from aircraft carriers and submarines attacking enemy ships

Japan had ten aircraft carriers to our three in the Pacific(based in Pearl Harbor)

  • Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack Plan
    1. destroy three aircraft carriers, eight battleships, seven cruisers and other small ships at Pearl Harbor
    2. attack Wake Island and Guam
    3. attack Malay and Hong Kong
    4. attack Philippines, Dutch East Indies and Burma
  • Japanese attack force consisted of
    1. Six aircraft carriers
    2. 360 airplanes
      • Kate High level bombers
      • dive and torpedo bombers
      • Zero fighters
    3. two battleships, three cruisers, eight destroyers
  • Admiral Nagumo commanded the force
  • To succeed, Japan had to travel 3,500 miles without being detected.  That meant absolute radio silence and travelling through a vast, lonely expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  This attack had to be a complete surprise.
  • “Backdoor to War” Conspiracy
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