What caused WWII?
-Europe
Treaty of Versailles: It allowed Hitler to come to power and begin breaking the Treaty of Versailles. France and Great Britain stayed out of German affairs, even when the Germans invaded nearby lands. Failure of League of Nations: no military force to enforce rules. True start of war: invasion of Poland
-Asia
The Great Depression: forced Japan to attack to acquire resources. Japan invaded China in 1937
-USA
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; US had been though to Japan regarding peace talks and negotiations
Major Generals:
Rommel (Desert Fox), was one of the best generals in WWII, he was forced to kill himself near the end of the war; Albert, commander of German Luftwaffe; Monte, British general in North Africa, unfriendly competitor with Patent; George Patent, American general in North Africa, great athlete (Swedish Olympian); Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied forces in European campaign, became president after the war; Douglas MacArthur, naval commander in the Pacific
Pearl Harbor:
-December 7, 1941
-What happened at Pearl Harbor?
Japanese airplanes flew to Hawaii to bomb the US naval fleet stationed there.
-Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
When the Japanese invaded French Indo-China, the US stopped trading with them. The Japanese were left with three options: withdraw troops and stop invading, negotiate with the US, or attack British and US forces. Japan tried to negotiate, but when negotiations failed, they attacked Pearl Harbor.
Backdoor to War conspiracy: Roosevelt made tough negotiations so Japan would refuse and attack the US.
-How did the US respond to the attack?
President Roosevelt met with Congress and declared war on Japan a day after the attack
Home-front:
WPB (War Production Board)-led factories in WWI and WWII
US produced goods far faster than the axis powers, which helped us win the war
Women & kids- women got jobs in factories and became nurses, some teen-aged boys lied to get into the army
Japanese Americans- Any american citizen of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned in internment camps, they lost all they had
Manhattan Project- $2-billion to research and develop an Atomic bomb
Holocaust:
Hitler and the Germans imprisoned and later started killing Jews and other 'inferior' races.
1933-'temporary' suspension of Jewish rights, took jobs away from Jews
1935-Nuremberg Laws: Jews were no longer German citizens, they could only marry other Jews
1938-Kristallnacht: "Night of the broken glass", SS troops broke into and destroyed Jewish businesses, Germans started to move Jews to camps (not to die yet), all Jews were expelled from school
1939-Hitler orders the deaths of mentally and physically disabled people (they were inferior), Jews began to wear armbands and symbols to show they were Jewish
1940-Jews were forced into Polish ghettos, were Germans began gassing them
1941-largest massacre of the Holocaust: Germans shoot about 37,000 Ukrainian Jews
1942-Nazis declare their 'final solution' regarding the Jews, to kill them. Five death camps were made in Poland
1943-Warsaw Ghetto: had a Jewish uprising that lasted a month before the Nazis put them down
1944-12,000 Hungarian Jews are deported to the death camps
1945-Hitler commits suicide, German camps were liberated by Allies
1947-Israel was set up as a place for the surviving Jews
Slavs, Pols, handicapped, and homosexual (to be 'reeducated') people were also targeted
Human experimentation was huge in the camps, especially among twins
about 6 million Jews were killed in German concentration camps
North Africa:
Casablanca Conference, January 1942: Roosevelt, Churchill, and Allies decided to attack North Africa/Italy first. They also confirmed that Germany and the Axis powers had to unconditionally surrender.
June 1940, Italy takes over North Africa. Over the next 3 years, fighting between GB (Allies) and Italians (Axis). Operation Torch: D-Day-like invasion of North Africa, Axis lost control of North Africa months after.
Italy:
Operation Husky, July 1943, invasion of Sicily; also led to Mussolini's downfall, made him lose favor with the Italians. Operation Avalanche, September 1943, invasion of Italy itself. Italians surrendered quickly, but Germans in the area continued fighting.
Tuskegee Airmen- Group of black pilots that preformed very well on the field
Europe:
Precision bombing by US B-17s on German targets (railways, factories)
D-Day: June 6, 1944, invasion of occupied France by American, British, and Canadian troops. Toughest and most important battle of the war. Atlantic Wall: fortifications all along Normandy beaches. Eisenhower was in charge of the attack
France was liberated on August 25, 1944
Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's last offensive, created a giant bulge in the western front line, Allies had many casualties but won in the end
VE-day: victory over Europe on May 8, 1945 when Germany surrendered
Why did the US and Allies win WWII?
-production: medical supplies, tanks, planes, ships, weapons
-women: helped with production; also helped by becoming nurses
-codes: US had deciphered Axis codes (Ultra-Germany, Magic-Japan) while we had the undeciphered Navajo code
-war bonds: many people were willing to give for the war
-Allies had most of the world powers; China, US, Russia, Australia, Great Britain, Italy (later on) vs. Germany and Japan
-better technology: A-bomb, medicines
-lots of good troops
-Japanese/German mistakes: Japan-Pearl Harbor (got the US involved) and invasion of China (too big), Germany-Two-sided war (invaded Soviets), their ally Italy (had to bail them out many times), killed Jews and others instead of letting them fight in the war for Germany, and declared war on the US
What effects did WWII make?
Got the US out of the Great Depression; created jobs, helped economy. Government got more power, got more involved. Women started fighting for more rights, since they were kicked out of factories and other jobs when the men came back. Segregation gained more rights.
Many cities in Germany and Japan were destroyed. Nazi party and German military were dismantled. With Nazis gone, the world aimed its focus at Communism; Cold War began (US vs. USSR)
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