World War II: People, Politics, and Power / Edited by William L Hosch
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Published in 2010 by Britannica Educational Publishing (a trademark of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.) in association with Rosen Educational Services, LLC 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010. Copyright © 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, and the Thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Rosen Educational Services materials copyright © 2010 Rosen Educational Services, LLC. All rights reserved. Distributed exclusively by Rosen Educational Services. For a listing of additional Britannica Educational Publishing titles, call toll free (800) 237-9932. First Edition Britannica Educational Publishing Michael I. Levy: Executive Editor Marilyn L. Barton: Senior Coordinator, Production Control Steven Bosco: Director, Editorial Technologies Lisa S. Braucher: Senior Producer and Data Editor Yvette Charboneau: Senior Copy Editor Kathy Nakamura: Manager, Media Acquisition William L. Hosch: Associate Editor, Science and Technology Rosen Educational Services Hope Lourie Killcoyne: Senior Editor and Project Manager Joanne Randolph: Editor Nelson Sá: Art Director Matthew Cauli: Designer Introduction by Therese Shea Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data World War II: people, politics, and power / edited by William L Hosch. p. cm.—(America at war) “In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.” Includes index. ISBN 978-1-61530-046-4 (eBook) 1. World War, 1939–1945—Juvenile literature. I. Hosch, William L. II. Title: World War Two. D743.7.W678 2010 940.53—dc22 2009033541 On the cover: American troops roll past the Arc de Triomphe after the liberation of Paris, August 1944. National Archives and Records Administration 23 CONTENTS Introduction 8 Chapter 1: The Origins of World War II, 1929–39 17 The Economic Blizzard 18 The Treaty of Versailles Is Shredded 20 British Appeasement and American Isolationism 27 Chapter 2: Axis Triumphant, 1939–41 35 The Outbreak of War 35 Initial Forces and Resources of the European Combatants 36 38 Arnoured Divisions and Airpower 39 Germany Overruns Europe 39 The Battle for Africa and the Middle East 63 Germany Invades the Soviet Union 73 The War in East Asia and the Pacific 79 Chapter 3: Axis High Tide, 1941–42 95 North Africa 95 Germany Captures Caucasus Oil Fields in Southern Russia 99 Chapter 4: The Tide Turns, 1942–43 102 Japanese Retreat Begins 102 Battle of el-Alamein and Rommel’s Retreat 106 Battle of Stalingrad and the German Retreat 107 Allied Invasion of Northwest Africa 110 Allies Retake Tunisia 111 Command of Sea and Sky in the West 114 125 Extermination and Slave Labour in German-occupied Europe 117 The Eastern Front and the Battle of Kursk 119 The Allies Counterattack the Southwest and South Pacific 120 Chapter 5: Allies Triumphant, 1944–45 121 Italy Collapses 121 The Western Allies and Stalin 126 German Troop Deployment 128 155 The War in the Pacific and East Asia 130 Driving the Germans Out of Italy 137 The Liberation of Europe 138 The Liberation of East Asia 159 Chapter 6: The United States at War 174 The Road to War 174 The United States at War 178 Chapter 7: Costs of the War 183 Killed, Wounded, Prisoners, or Missing 183 Human and Material Cost 184 The Nürnberg and Tokyo Trials 186 166 Chapter 8: Political Leaders 189 Arthur Neville Chamberlain 189 Chiang Kai-Shek 190 Sir Winston Churchill 191 Charles de Gaulle 193 Hirohito 194 Adolf Hitler 194 Benito Mussolini 197 Henri-Philippe Pétain 198 Franklin D. Roosevelt 199 Joseph Stalin 202 Tōjō Hideki 203 Harry S. Truman 203 Chapter 9: Military Commanders 205 Allied Commanders 205 Axis Commanders 220 191 Chapter 10: Wasteland: The World After 1945 229 The Ruin of Europe and Japan 229 U.S. Vision of Reconstruction 230 The End of East-West Cooperation 231 Chapter 11: The Final Solution 236 Wannsee Conference 236 227 The Extermination Camps 237 Jewish Resistance 240 World War II in Retrospect 244 Appendix: Tables 245 German Aircraft Production by Year 245 Allied Air Strength, September 1939 245 World War II Casualties 246 Glossary 249 Bibliography 252 Index 255 238 241 INTRODUCTION Introduction | 9 orld War II—fought between 1939 Italians were disappointed that their nation Wand 1945—was the most widespread did not benefi t from postwar reparations and deadly war in recorded history. as others had. In the subsequent years, Beginning just 20 years after World War I, Benito Mussolini constructed a Fascist three countries in particular aggressively government, fi rst becoming prime min- sought power: Germany, Italy, and Japan. ister in 1922. Eventually, he became a However, by the war’s end, most of the dictator known as Il Duce, or “The Leader.” world’s nations had fought with or against Italy’s imperialist objectives were made this “Axis” coalition. Within these pages, known in October 1935 with the invasion readers will gain insight to a war that of Ethiopia. The following year Mussolini shifted world power in unexpected ways, and Hitler forged an alliance, later called tested the mettle of soldier and civilian the “Axis.” They battle-tested strategies alike, and cost the lives of millions upon and weapons during the Spanish Civil millions of people. War of the mid-1930s. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles Meanwhile, Japan’s growing popula- stripped much from the defeated nations tion desired more natural resources and of World War I. Germany lost territory, additional territory. In 1931, Japan seized military strength, and great wealth. Adolf Manchuria in northeast China; an all-out Hitler rode the rising tide of the German war began several years later. In 1937, public’s postwar discontent, becoming the Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, leader of the Nationalist Socialist—or essentially uniting with Germany and Nazi—Party. In 1934, Hitler became the Italy against Communist Soviet Union, German dictator—the Führer. Fascism tight- the nearest powerful nation capable of ened its grip on Germany as its leaders halting Japanese imperialism. wielded propaganda as both a powerful In March 1938, Germany annexed weapon and a lure. In March 1935, Germany Austria and appeared poised to occupy began rebuilding its military overtly, the Czechoslovakia. Hoping to avoid war, next year sending troops into the Rhineland, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany a demilitarized area along France’s border. entered into the Munich Pact, giving These actions made France, along with western Czechoslovakia to Germany in many other European countries, anxiously exchange for peace. On August 23, 1939, speculate the extent of Hitler’s ambition. Hitler and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin Unlike Germany, Italy fought on the signed a surprising treaty of nonaggres- victor’s side of World War I. However, sion; an invasion of Poland seemed likely. London’s Evening Standard announces Germany’s invasion of Poland, September 1, 1939. Hulton Archive/Getty Images 10 | World War II: People, Politics, and Power Great Britain and France, uniting as the Shortly before the collapse of France, core “Allied” powers, promised retribution. Winston Churchill became the prime On September 1, 1939, German forces minister of Great Britain. From July to stormed into Poland, revealing the power September 1940, the Battle of Britain of blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” Air raged in the skies. German General strikes of low-flying dive bombers Hermann Göring sought to cripple the destroyed communication and trans- nation first with air raids, followed by an portation centres, while tanks and troops invasion. The Royal Air Force used radar pushed deep into enemy territory at to detect attacks, thereby enabling British great speed. After the slow-moving fighters to shoot down Luftwaffe bombers trench warfare of World War I, blitzkrieg faster than they could be replaced. was unprecedented. Germany’s aggression Meanwhile, Hungary, Romania, and surprised few, but its tactics and technology Slovakia became part of the Axis, joining were unanticipated. Consider that Great Germany, Italy, and Japan. Greece and Britain did not have a single armoured Yugoslavia fell by spring of 1941. On the division, while Germany commanded battlefront in North Africa, Italian and 2,400 tanks in 1939. Hitler had been pre- British forces battled in present-day Libya paring for war while the Allies had been and Egypt. When Nazi General Erwin avoiding it. On September 17, the Soviet Rommel and the Afrika Korps joined the Union invaded eastern Poland, revealing Italian forces in 1941, all British gains that the Soviets and Germans had agreed were lost. However, the Allies held terri- to partition the country in their pact. tory in East Africa and the Middle East, In the spring of 1940, the German ensuring the security of the Suez Canal. Wehrmacht (“armed forces”) exploded In June 1941, about three million Ger- into action. After an invasion of Norway man soldiers invaded the Soviet Union in and Denmark, they ploughed through the largest military campaign in history. the Netherlands and Belgium. On May Had the Wehrmacht triumphed, the Third 10, a German offensive force attacked Reich would have been the largest empire France through the forests of the in the world. The Axis captured Kiev— Ardennes, a maneuvre previously not killing, wounding, and capturing more than thought possible by Allied strategists. one million Soviets. Though the Germans More than 300,000 British, French, and nearly reached Moscow by November, Belgian soldiers were evacuated from miscalculations and a Soviet counter attack the port of Dunkirk. Shortly after, drove them back, and they were never able Mussolini—eager to show support for to regain as much ground or strength. Germany—declared war against the Allies In the Pacific theatre of war, Japan and sent troops to France. The Axis took used Germany’s success in Europe as an Paris on June 14. opportunity to attack European colonies in Introduction | 11 After capturing the Philippines in the spring of 1942, the Japanese force-marched American and Filipino prisoners of war in what became known as the Bataan Death March.