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Chapter 24: World War II Looms I. Dictators Threaten World Peace a. Grips Europe and Asia i. Causes of WWII 1. —build up of army 2. Alliances a. , Germany, Japan unite to control the world around their Axis b. Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. become the Allies 3. —expanding empires a. Ex. Mussolini wants to recreate the Roman empire 4. Nationalism—belief that your Nation is supreme and should take control of surrounding territories 5. Appeasement—Britain and France allow Hitler to Treaty of Versailles to hoping that he would not attack surrounding territories. 6. World Depression—economic crisis opened doors for dictators to take control in Europe a. Ex. Hitler, Mussolini 7. League of Nations—did not have the force to stop Japan and Hitler. 8. Treaty of Versailles—unfair terms create resentment from Germany a. Germany resents: i. blame for war ii. loss of colonies and border territories iii. outrageous reparations that they had difficulty repaying 1. Dawes Plan—U.S. loaned Germany money to pay reparations and set up a reasonable repayment schedule b. Russia resents loss of lands used to create other nations c. New democracies had little experience, little tradition, and were weak i. flounder under social and economic problems d. Dictators rise; driven by nationalism, desire for more territory ii. Joseph Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union 1. 1922 V. I. Lenin established Soviet Union after civil war 2. 1924 Joseph Stalin took over: a. created a great industrial power (second in the world) by using the “five- year plan” b. replaced private farms with collectives—large government owned farms i. Millions died in famines caused by the restructuring c. Stalin used the army and other police forces to crush all opposition i. Great Purge (1930s)—arrested or killed anyone who threatened his power; 8–13 million killed 3. Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state (a country where the government has complete control) a. Totalitarian government exerts almost complete control over nearly every aspect of public and private behavior i. Totalitarian state, individuals have no rights, and the government suppresses all opposition ii. They maintain themselves in power by means of secret police, disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, regulation and restriction of free discussion and criticism, and widespread use of terror tactics iii. Rise of in Italy 1. Unemployment and inflation led to bitter strikes—some communist were led 2. Middle and upper classes wanted stronger leaders 3. played on fears of economic collapse and communism a. Supported by government officials, police, army b. 1922 Mussolini led an army of his followers, whose uniforms gave them the name Blackshirts, in a march on i. Italian king appointed Mussolini prime minister and granted him dictatorial powers c. He called himself Il (the leader), he crushed all opposition with the Blackshirts d. He wanted to restore the Roman Empire e. Fascism, a military-dominated government that controls all aspects of society—stresses nationalism and the needs of state above individual iv. The Nazis Take Over Germany 1. leader of National Socialist German Workers’ Party () a. He wanted to emulate Mussolini’s , his attempt failed and he was sent to jail 2. While in jail he wrote —which outlined the basic beliefs of , based on extreme nationalism a. Wanted to unite German-speaking people, enforce racial “purification” 3. By 1932, there was 6 million unemployed—they bought into Hitler’s message; many men joined Hitler’s 4. Nazis became strongest political party; Hitler named chancellor (“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”) 5. Dismantled democratic Weimar Republic; established Third Reich (the Third Empire) and claimed dictatorial powers 6. Hitler prohibited Jews and non-Nazis from holding government positions, outlawed strikes, and made military service mandatory 7. Nazi storm troopers, known as Brownshirts because of the color of their uniforms, crushed all political opposition v. Militarists Gain Control in Japan 1. 1931, Nationalist military leaders seized Manchurian northeastern China a. They did this because Manchuria was mineral-rich and contained an abundance of factories 2. League of Nations condemned action; Japan quits League 3. Militarists took control of Japanese government a. Wanted to lessen Japan’s reliance on foreign imports and reduce the influence of Western countries in Asia vi. Aggression in Europe and Africa 1. Hitler and Germany a. 1933, he quit League of Nations b. 1935, he began military buildup i. sent troops into Rhineland—German region bordering France and Belgium ii. League did nothing to stop him 2. Mussolini and Italy a. 1935, he invaded i. The League’s economic boycott failed to stop Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia vii. Civil War Breaks Out in 1. 1936, General rebelled against Spanish republic— began 2 a. Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco b. Stalin aided opposition c. Western democracies remained neutral 2. War led to Rome-Berlin Axis—alliance between Italy and Germany 3. 1939, Franco won the war—became dictator b. The Responds Cautiously i. U.S. Cautious after Peace Agreements Broken 1. Washington Conference—an international conference that the United States held— led to three important treaties (Japan broke by invading Manchuria) a. Four-Power Treaty—an agreement among US, Great Britain, France, and JAPAN to respect one another’s Pacific holdings b. Five-Power Treaty—US, Great Britain, JAPAN, France, ITALY agreed to freeze their navies at 1921 levels and thus avoid the financial strain of further naval buildups c. Nine-Power Treaty—signed by US, France, Great Britain, JAPAN, ITALY, Belgium, China, the Netherlands, and Portugal; it put the “Open Door” China policies of John Hay into a treaty 2. Kellogg-Briand Pact—treaty signed by 62 counties (including the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy) that renounced war as a national policy ii. Americans Cling to Isolationism 1. Americans became isolationists— avoid entangling alliances with other nations and avoid all wars not related to direct territorial self-defense a. Girl Scouts of American actually change uniforms from khaki to green to appear less militaristic 2. FDR backed away from foreign policy a. “Good Neighbor” Policy—nonintervention in Latin America and removal of troops already stationed in Latin American countries 3. Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act of 1934 allowed the state Department to make treaties with other countries to mutually lower import duties a. within six years, the United States had reached such agreements with more than a dozen nations 4. US formally recognized Soviet Union a. hoped that the Soviets would help eliminate the military threat of the Japanese expansion 5. Public was outraged at profits of banks and arms dealers during WW I a. America, fueled by the Nye committee, called them “merchants of death” 6. 1935 Neutrality Acts tried to keep U.S. out of future wars a. outlawed the transportation or sale of arms to warring nations and banned loans to nations at war outside the Western Hemisphere iii. Neutrality Breaks Down 1. 1937 Japan launched new attack on China; a. FDR sent aid to China—got around the Neutrality Acts because Japan had not actually declared war on China 2. FDR wanted to isolate aggressor nations to stop war—U.S. public and newspapers exploded in protest on FDR accusing him of leading the nation into war II. War in Europe a. Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall i. Union with Austria 1. Post WW I of Austria-Hungary created fairly small Austria 2. Majority of Austrians are German and favored unification with Germany 3. 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed and the union was completed 3 4. U.S. and the rest of world did nothing to stop Germany ii. Bargaining for the Sudetenland 1. Hitler next wanted to control the Sudetenland, a German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia (3 million German-speakers) a. Hitler claimed Czechs abused Sudetenland Germans and massed troops on border 2. 1938, Prime Ministers Daladier (France), Neville Chamberlain (Great Britain) met with Hitler—Munich Conference a. The leaders signed the Munich Agreement which gave Germany control of the Sudetenland if in return Hitler promised to make no further territorial demands. 3. The European leaders had adopted a policy of appeasement, or giving in to demands in an attempt to avoid a larger conflict. a. Winston Churchill, Chamberlain’s political rival in Britain, condemned appeasement policy and warned war would follow b. The German Offensive Begins i. The Soviet Union Declares Neutrality 1. March 1939, German troops occupied rest of Czechoslovakia 2. In an attempt to gain the German speaking lands of Poland, Hitler charged Poles mistreated the Germans in Poland a. Many thought he was bluffing since invading Poland would bring two-front war (USSR in the East and France-Great Britain in the West) 3. Stalin and Hitler signed nonaggression pact—would not attack each other a. This shocked the world but the rest of the world did not know that there was a secret clause that the two nations agreed to divide Poland between them ii. Blitzkrieg in Poland 1. September 1, 1939—World War II begins 2. Hitler overran Poland in blitzkrieg a. Blitzkrieg: lightning war—using excessive force, quick tanks and powerful aircraft, to surprise and quickly overtake enemy before they can mobilize formal defense b. The German Luftwaffe, German air force, began dropping bombs on strategic Polish sites c. The tank units rolled in and the major fighting was over within a matter of 3 weeks 3. Germany annexed western Poland 4. U.S.S.R. attacked and annexed eastern Poland 5. France and Britain declared war on Germany—World War II began iii. The Phony War 1. French and British soldiers waited on the Maginot Line—a system of fortifications built along France’s eastern border a. German troops waited on the other side waiting for orders—became known as sitzkrieg—”sitting war” 2. While France and Britain waited—Germany invaded Denmark, Norway and then Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg 3. Stalin annexed Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania; defeated Finland c. France and Britain Fight On i. The Fall of France 1. German army bypassed the Maginot Line (French and British) by going through the Ardennes—a region of wooded ravines thought to be impassable 2. British and French retreated and became trapped on Dunkirk 4 a. From May 26 to June 4, 1940, Operation Dynamo was put into action; 887 ships (mostly private—fishing trawlers, tugboats, river barges, etc.) crossed the English Channel to rescued 338,226 men b. Allied forces were battered, but they were in tact enough to fight another day 3. Few days later, Italy invaded France from the south 4. French defeated and signed an armistice at Compeigne on June22 in the same railway car that Germany sign its humiliating armistice to end World War I 5. Hitler set up a Nazi puppet government in the southern French city of Vichy 6. General Charles de Gaulle set up government-in-exile in England ii. The Battle of Britain 1. Summer 1940, Germany prepares fleet to invade Britain 2. Battle of Britain—German planes bomb British targets a. From September, 1940 to June 1941, the German air force, or Luftwaffe, dropped bombs on London and the other major cities of Great Britain in a plan to overwhelm the city, Operation Sea Lion i. London and other cities had blackouts at night—cities would turnout their lights because they did not want the lights of the cities to create a target b. Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) fought back brilliantly c. German aircraft were eventually detected by early forms of RADAR d. Over 30,000 Londoners died, but Germany lost over 1,700 aircraft e. Hitler calls off invasion of Britain 3. Germans, British continue to bomb each other’s cities III. a. The Persecution Begins i. Jews Targeted 1. Europe had a long history of anti-Semitism 2. Germans believed Hitler’s claims and blamed Jews for many of Germany’s problems 3. Nuremberg Race Laws a. Nazis took away citizenship, jobs, and property b. Required Jews to wear a bright yellow Star of David 4. Holocaust—murder of 11 million people, more than half were Jews ii. Kristallnacht 1. Kristallnacht—Night of Broken Glass—November 9, 1938 a. All over Germany, Austria and other Nazi controlled areas, Jewish homes, businesses, synagogues had their windows smashed and contents destroyed b. The attack came after a Jewish boy shot and killed a member of the German Embassy staff in retaliation for the poor treatment of his father and his family suffered at the hands of the Nazis in Germany 2. About 100 Jews killed, hundreds injured, 30,000 arrested iii. A Flood of Jewish Refugees 1. 1938, Nazis tried to speed up Jewish emigration 2. France had 40,000 refugees 3. Britain had 80,000 refugees a. both refused more 4. U.S. took 100,000, many “persons of exceptional merit”—scientists (Albert Einstein), architects (Walter Gropius), authors (Thomas Mann), etc. 5. Americans feared:

5 a. refugees would deny U.S. citizens jobs during the depression thus further straining economy b. enemy agents c. the already wide spread anti-Semitism would increase iv. The Plight of the St. Louis 1. Coast Guard prevented passengers on St. Louis from disembarking despite the majority having U.S. immigration papers 2. Ship forced to return to Europe 3. Most of the 943 passengers were later killed in Holocaust b. Hitler’s Final Solution i. The Condemned 1. In an attempt to rid Europe of Jews, Hitler put in place his “Final Solution”— slavery, genocide of “inferior” groups in order to preserve his idea of a “master race” a. Genocide—deliberate, systematic killing of an entire population 2. Targeted: a. Jews—blamed as the cause of Germany’s economic and social failures b. Gypsies—believed to ban “an inferior race” c. Freemasons—believed to be supporters of the “Jewish conspiracy” to rule the world d. Jehovah’s Witnesses—because they refused to join the army or salute Hitler e. Unfit Germans—homosexuals, mentally deficient, the mentally ill, the physically 3. Nazi death (SS) rounded up Jews and shot them on the spot ii. Forced Relocation 1. Jews forced into ghettos a. segregated areas in certain Polish cities sealed off with barbed wire and walls 2. Factories were built alongside ghettos where people were forced to work 3. Some form resistance movements; others maintain Jewish culture 4. Resistance in ghettos a. Between 1941 and 1943, underground resistance movements formed in about 100 Jewish groups b. The most famous attempt by Jews to resist the Germans in armed fighting occurred in the Warsaw ghetto i. In the summer of 1942, about 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka ii. When reports of mass murder in the killing center leaked back to the Warsaw ghetto, a group called the Z.O.B. (Jewish Fighting Organization) began to form iii. On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport its surviving inhabitants iv. Seven hundred and fifty fighters fought the heavily armed and well- trained Germans v. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended vi. The Germans had slowly crushed the resistance vii. Of the more than 56,000 Jews captured, about 7,000 were shot, and the remainder were deported to killing centers or concentration camps 6 iii. Concentration Camps 1. Many Jews taken to concentration camps—forced labor camps a. families often separated 2. Camps were originally prisons given to the SS to warehouse “undesirables” a. Prisoners crammed into wooden barracks and given little food b. Prisoners work from dawn to dusk, 7 days a week c. Those too weak to work were killed i. "The brute Schmidt was our guard; he beat and kicked us if he thought we were not working fast enough. He ordered his victims to lie down and gave them 25 lashes with a whip, ordering them to count out loud. If the victim made a mistake, he was given 50 lashes. . . . Thirty or 40 of us were shot every day. A doctor usually prepared a daily list of the weakest men. During the lunch break they were taken to a nearby grave and shot. They were replaced the following morning by new arrivals from the transport of the day. . . . It was a miracle if anyone survived for five or six months in Belzec."— RUDOLF REDER quoted in The Holocaust c. The Final Stage i. Mass Exterminations 1. Germans built death camps with gas chambers to kill thousands a. On arrival, SS doctors separated those who could work and those who couldn’t b. Those who couldn’t work were immediately killed in the gas chambers 2. At first, bodies were buried in pits but later they were cremated to cover up evidence 3. Some prisoners were shot, hung, poisoned, or died from experiments performed on them 4. Auschwitz a. A German concentration camp in Poland. The camp was a major element in the perpetration of the Holocaust. The camp was actually subdivided into three camps: i. Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp which served as the administrative centre for the whole complex, and was the site of the deaths of roughly 70,000 Poles, gay men and Soviet Prisoners of War ii. Auschwitz II (Birkenau), an extermination camp and the site of the deaths of roughly 1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, gay men and some 19,000 Roma iii. Auschwitz III (Monowitz), which served as a labor camp for the IG Farben ii. The Survivors 1. About 6 million Jews were killed in death camps and massacres 2. Some escaped, many with help from ordinary people 3. Some survive concentration camps a. survivors were forever changed by experience b. Elie Wiesel i. A Holocaust survivor, a world–renowned author, and a political activist ii. He is the author of over 40 books, the most famous of which, Night, serves as a testimony to his experiences during the Holocaust.

7 1. "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, which has turned my life into one long night. . . . Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." —ELIE WIESEL from Night IV. America Moves Toward War a. The United States Musters its Forces i. Moving Cautiously Away From Neutrality 1. 1939, FDR persuaded Congress to pass Neutrality Act of 1939—contained “cash- and-carry” provision a. allowed allies to buy munitions with payment up front and required them to provide their own transportation 2. U.S. hoped to retain neutrality while helping to defeat Germany ii. The Axis Threat 1. 1940, FDR tried to provide Britain “all aid short of war” 2. Germany, Japan, Italy signed Tripartite Pact, mutual defense treaty a. became known as b. also included Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland 3. Pact aimed at keeping U.S. out of war by forcing fight on two oceans iii. Building U.S. Defenses 1. Nazi victories in 1940 lead to increased U.S. defense spending 2. U.S. new it needed to be ready for possible war because: a. After the Germans captured France the U.S. realized that the Atlantic Ocean would become a lot smaller if Hitler and Mussolini added both the British and French fleets to their arsenal b. The U.S. military was at a low and needed to train new troops) and thus passes the Selective Service Act 3. Selective Training and Service Act—First peacetime draft a. It required all men between 21 and 35 (later 18 to 45) to register for the draft b. Draftees to serve for 1 year in Western Hemisphere only iv. Roosevelet Runs for a Third Term 1. FDR broke two-term tradition and ran for reelection 2. Republican candidate was Wendell Willkie a. Willkie’s biggest campaign idea was urging people not to vote for FDR because he argued it would lead to the U.S. entering the war 3. FDR reelected with 55% of votes v. b. “The Great Arsenal of Democracy” i. The Lend-Lease Plan 1. FDR tells nation if Britain falls, Axis powers free to conquer world a. U.S. must become “arsenal of democracy” 2. By late 1940, Britain has no more cash to buy U.S. arms 3. 1941 Lend-Lease Act—U.S. to lend or lease supplies for defense a. These goods could be returned or replaced after the war, thus avoiding the prospect of huge new war debts 8 b. By the end of the war, the total value of American aid to Allied countries was about $50 billion ii. Supporting Stalin 1. 1941, Hitler breaks pact with Stalin, invades Soviet Union 2. Germany broke the treaty because: a. it wanted the agricultural capabilities of Western Russia b. the Germans feared that the Red Army was preparing to attack them, and their own assault was thus presented as a preemptive war 3. Roosevelt sends lend-lease supplies to Soviet Union a. “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” iii. German Wolf Packs 1. To prevent delivery of lend-lease shipments, Hitler deployed U-boats to attack supply convoys 2. Wolf packs—groups of up to 40 submarines patrolled the North Atlantic a. sink supply ships 3. FDR allowed navy to attack German U-boats in self-defense c. FDR Plans for War i. The Atlantic Charter 1. FDR’s proposal to extend the term of draftees passes House by 1 vote 2. FDR and Churchill held a secret meeting in Newfoundland 3. Result was the Atlantic Charter—joint declaration of war aims 4. The agreement said: a. that the United States and Britain would not pursue territorial expansion b. affirmed their belief that every nation has the right to choose its own form of government c. called for freedom of international trade and equal access for all countries to raw materials d. once the war was over—all aggressor states should be disarmed 5. Charter is basis of “A Declaration of the United Nations” or Allies a. Allies—nations that fight Axis powers; 26 nations sign Declaration i. Including GREAT BRITAIN, U.S., USSR—France, China, India, Poland, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, Norway, and Denmark ii. Shoot on Sight 1. Germans fired on U.S. ship, FDR ordered navy to shoot U-boats on sight 2. U-boat attacks led Senate to repeal ban on arming merchant ships d. Japan Attacks the United States i. Japan’s Ambitions in the Pacific 1. Hideki Tojo—prime minister of Japan ordered invasion of China 2. Japan then seized French bases in Indochina (now Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) 3. In an effort to discourage Japan's war efforts in China, the United States, Britain, and the Dutch government in exile (still in control of the oil-rich Dutch East Indies) stopped selling oil and steel to Japan—put an embargo on them a. Embargo— restriction of trade on another country (not trading with and in some cases denying the trade of others) b. Japan saw this as an act of aggression, as without these resources Japan's military machine would grind to a halt c. Japan needs oil from U.S. or must take Dutch East Indies oil fields ii. Peace Talks are Questioned 1. 1941 U.S. broke Japanese codes 9 a. learned Japan planning to attack U.S. b. issued warning to military commanders in Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines 2. Peace talks with Japan lasted about 1 month 3. December 6, Japanese envoy instructed to reject all U.S. proposals and to destroy key documents as well as decoding machines iii. The Attack on Pearl Harbor 1. On the morning of December 7, 1941, planes and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a surprise attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor— largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific 2. At 6:00 a.m. on December 7th the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters 3. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 7:53 a.m.. They attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor iv. Attacks Especially Devastating 1. Attack on U.S. soil—moral damaging 2. Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet and more than 300 aircraft were damaged or destoryed 3. 2,403 Americans killed; 1,178 wounded 4. U.S. did not anticipate an aerial attack a. Pearl Harbor was too shallow for conventional torpedoes to be dropped (they would bottom out); however, Japanese modified the tail to allow them to be dropped into shallower water 5. Because the U.S. did not fear an aerial attack, they focused on sabotage a. To guard planes and ships against sabotage, the U.S. put all of their planes and ships together so it would be easier to guard them i. " It was a mess. I was working on the U.S.S. Shaw. It was on a floating dry dock. It was in flames. I started to go down into the pipe fitter's shop to get my toolbox when another wave of Japanese came in. I got under a set of concrete steps at the dry dock where the battleship Pennsylvania was. An officer came by and asked me to go into the Pennsylvania and try to get the fires out. A bomb had penetrated the marine deck, and . . . three decks below. Under that was the magazines: ammunition, powder, shells. I said “There ain't no way I'm gonna go down there.” It could blow up any minute. I was young and 16, not stupid. " —JOHN GARCIA quoted in The Good War v. Deciphering the Clues 1. Clues about the forthcoming attack on Pearl Harbor a. Missing Japanese’s fleet b. The overflow of Japanese communications (this usually meant a country was up to something and they did it to delay the interpretations/translations of the real messages because the enemy had to sort through all the false messages) c. The Radar station picking up the Japanese aircraft but were dismissed as US B-59 Bombers flying in from the mainland d. The Japanese Embassy closing up and destroying all confidential documents including their decoding machine vi. Reaction to Pearl Harbor 10 1. “Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” 2. Congress approved FDR’s request for declaration of war against Japan 3. Germany and Italy declared war on U.S. 4. U.S. was unprepared to fight a two-front war (both Atlantic and Pacific)

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