Thursday, March 15th

[6CarlyN]

Today we continued notes.

German Invasion of USSR- June, 1941

• Frist plan of operation Barbarossa
• Largest military operation in history in both manpower and casualties- close to two million casualties for both sides.
• They needed to take over Leningrad, Moscow, and Staligrad to be able to win (Hitlers plan)

Scorched Earth Policy

• Stalin demanded this of the Soviet troops as they retrated
• It was proventing Germany from using the resource found in USSR against USSR.
• In the winter German Soldier get pushed back by Soviet Soldiers.

Atlantic Charter (August 1941)

• Set up the war goals of the US and Great Britain.
• No Territorial gain
• No Territorial changes with out the peoples support form those countries
• Self- determination
• Free trade
• Destruction of the Nazis and then setting up a peaceful government in Germany
• Freedom of 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

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 one 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

We told them we would continue trading with Japan, if they would back out of China and French Indochina.

US refused plan on November 29^th

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 29^th 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