Chapter 24 & 25 – World War II

What is isolationism?isolationism : a policy of minding your own business

Why would the United States have supported this idea in the 1930s?

Dictators rise in Europe

Mussolini – Italy (Il Duce)Founded the fascist party – developed fascism

fascism: nation more important than the individual; strong government; anti-

communist

Stalin – Russia (USSR) Lenin dies 1924; Stalin takes over 1926 – new Soviet Dictator

Hitler and Nazism in Germany –Nazi Party – nationalist, anti-communistMein Kampf – Hitler’s plan – includes the idea of the master race (Aryans)-lebenstraum- more living space

Appointed Chancellor in 1933

WWII BeginsHitler marches into Poland (lebenstraum)

(Europe doesn’t really respond)

Hitler announces Anschluss (joining of Germany and Austria)

Poland tries in vain to resistGermany uses blitzkrieg –

lightning war*large numbers of tanks followed by devastating waves of troops

France falls-France builds the Maginot Line (of concrete bunkers) and awaits attack

*Why not attack Germany? What’s happening in the US in the 1930s? In Europe?

Germans went around the Maginot Line into the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg (*as expected)Hitler invades France – British and French troops unprepared – no match

French authorities surrender in the same railway car where Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles

Luftwaffe (German air force) begins attacking English ships and all the way into London

Battle of Britain

Holocaustideology (the principle)Nazis persecuted anyone who opposed them, plus Gypsies, homosexuals, Slavs, and Jews

Nuremberg Laws – took citizenship away from German Jews and banned doctors and lawyers from working

Kristallnacht (Nov 9, 1938)eruption of anti-Jewish violence – Nazis wrecked shops, synagogues, and homes

Goering (German Interior Minister) declared Jews would have to pay the damages

*Why didn’t Jews flee to the USA?

Final SolutionConcentration Camps (Buchenwald and Dachau and others) - work til you drop death camps

Extermination Camps (Treblinka and Auschwitz and others) - For those who could not work – immediate elimination

America enters the WarThe date that will live in infamy!

Japan attacks the US at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Dec 7, 1941)

US declares war on JapanFDR Addresses the Nation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8gYGg0dkE

Germany declares war on the US – BUT according to the Japan-Germany alliance agreement, Germany was only required to come to Japan’s aid if she were attackedHmmmm… then WHY??

American Industryconverts quickly to wartime production• automobile assembly line easily

converts to tanks, weapons, helmets, even bridge pieces and cookware!

Selective Service went into effect during peacetime (had been drafting men since Germany invaded Poland)

*Why are American soldiers called GIs?

From Pearl Harbor, the US continued to suffer blow after blow from the Japanese

• Pearl Harbor – December 6• Guam – December 10• Wake Island – December 23• many other smaller losses from all

Allied forces

Iwo Jima

Guam

Americans were dismayed by these losses in the Pacific – had the been given the choice, they would have voted “Pacific First” instead of “Europe First,” which is what the military decided

Winter-Spring 1942 – Americans were most concerned with fighting in Corregidor and Bataan in the Philippines

• Pacific Fleet unable to provide backup• Troops fought gallantly without

reinforcements• Troops at Bataan are eventually forced to

surrender and prisoners of war are forced to march 55 miles to the railroad that would take them to their POW camp• became known as the Bataan death

march

• prisoners received little or no food and water along the way (they were already weakened from lack of supplies)

• stragglers were killed• by the time they reached the railroad – 600 American and 5000 Filipinos

were killed

• Japanese General Homma was tried and executed for his inhumane treatment of prisoners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQWdETwFACsBataan 10:46

Island HoppingBattle of Midway – June 3, 1942

• Americans held and had a base at Midway Island

• got secret info the Japanese planned to invade

• exchanged bombing runs and naval attacks

• Japanese grew overconfident and kept all their

fighters at low altitude making them easy targets for flak (anti-aircraft fire)

The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war… but Why?

*Why was Midway a turning point in the war?• Americans won due to Japanese overconfidence and superior intelligence

gathering• without decoded messages, Nimitz would not have known to concentrate

his forces at Midway• if Midway had been lost, Japan could’ve threatened Hawaii from land and

American forces would have been diverted from Europe

The HomefrontAs war production soared, so did the need for raw materialsRationing• goods like rubber (tires), gasoline, foodstuffs, metal, clothing, and paper were rationed• families were issued ration books, stamps or coupons• government propaganda promoted the use

of rationed goods sparingly

Victory GardensAs part of food conservation, since Americans were limited in the amount of produced they could buy – they were encouraged to plant Victory Gardens and to can as many fruits and veggies as they could

War ProductionWith men gone to war, women were encouraged to take wartime jobs – either replacing men in the workforce or taking newly created war production jobsRosie the RiveterWomen entered the workforce in droves

after the start of the war thanks to government campaigning, patriotism, and the promise of their own paycheck

At War in EuropeThe Allied Players:

United States – President Franklin RooseveltGreat Britain – Prime Minister Winston ChurchillSoviet Union – Joseph Stalin

Discussions between the Allies agreed that an invasion of France would be an ideal strategy, but Britain balked – they eventually agreed that the Allies should attack Hitler in North Africa first to establish a base to enter France and Italy

This is successful, but time-consuming.

When the time comes to invade France – Germans are expecting the Allies to come from the south, but instead…

D-Day: June 6, 1944Allied landings on the Normandy coast of German-occupied France was wone of the most climactic days of World War II• Allied forces planned this day since at least 1943• Codename: Operation Overlord• Allies landed 160,000 US, British, and Canadian forces to establish beachheads in Normandy• Invasion was commanded by

Gen. Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower• Under his command were three

British Service Chiefs including General Bernard Montgomery

• Field Marshall Erwin Rommel controlled the German forces that opposed the D-Day landings

Naval Armada• The D-Day plan began with the night-time passage across the English

Channel of a naval armada laden with Allied troops to anchor opposite the five invasion beaches• Sword, Juno, and Gold – in the east – to be landed by British and

Canadian forces• Utah and Omaha – on the western side – to be landed by US troops

• shortly before , three Allied Airborne divisions would land to secure the flanks

• after heavy aerial and naval bombardments, assault forces would land on these beaches

Bad Weather• D-Day was originally slated for June 5, 1944 – but bad weather forced

Eisenhower to postpone• weather was no better on June 6, but the rough seas enabled Allies to

further surprise the Germans who would have never expected an attack in those conditions

In the early hours of June 6, Airborne forces began landing inland from the beaches• local German units predicted they were the lead-in for an invasion, but

higher commanders believed they were simply a diversion for a battle at a different location

Beach Assaults• between 6:30 and 7:45am, Allied amphibious assaults began on the

designated beaches• US Forces began their attack on Omaha beach at 6:30am, but before this

time, things had gone awry…• fire support had been less effective than planned• heavily laden infantry waded through neck-deep water under

devastating German fire• the landing at Omaha was the most difficult and devastating –

American forces held a small 1-mile line just above the cliff-edge after 6 hours of fierce fighting – and more than 2,000 casualties in that time

The beachhead assault was ultimately a success, establishing a second front for the Germans – a crucial step in the Allied march to victory.

Band of Brothers Reading

Forward from NormandyJuly-August 1944 – Allied forces broke a stalemate that had emerged in Normandy just after D-Day which forced the Germans out of the region

Paris is liberated in August 1944.

Sneaky GermansIn that time, Hitler decided the only way to keep the Allies from pushing into Germany was to attack full force.• Secretly moved all his eastern forces to the border – under complete

radio silence – and attacked the Allies on December 16, 1944• Allies taken completely by surprise• Americans were outnumbered and driven back (15 miles in the first

two days), creating a bulge in the Western Line – eventually 65 miles deep and 45 miles wide• Except for the city of Bastogne (Belgium), which the Americans bravely held

Thus, the Battle of the Bulge

Bastogne• As soon as the Germans attacked the line, the 101st Airborne Division

rushed to Bastogne as reinforcements – guess who?? Easy Company – led by Major Dick Winters

• December 21 – Bastogne is surrounded• supplies and ammunition were scarce, weather prevented airlifts• December 22 – Germans demanded surrender to which American

General McAuliffe replied only “Nuts.”• December 23 -

supplies are dropped into Bastogne

• December 24 – Patton’s 3rd Army broke German lines and reached the town

• It took until January to restore the western line to where it was before the Germans attacked

Iwo Jima8 square miles of volcanic rubble less than 800 miles from Japanese islands – currently being used as a Japanese airbase

Feb 19, 1945 – American Marines landed on Iwo Jima confronting 20,000 Japanese soldiers dug in to an extensive series of tunnels, caves, and pillboxes• hardest fight the Marines had in the Pacific

• continuous heavy bombardment

Mt. Suribachi, extinct volcano that made up much of the island had to be wonAmericans take Mt. Suribachi on Feb 23, where a marine patrol raises the flag – in a famous photograph – which is now the Marine Corps memorial at Arlington National Cemeteryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6KDyKPXFGQ

3:42

Flags of our Fathers Reading

Okinawa – the next island of attack

By now, Americans had realized just how fiercely the Japanese intended to fight and were very concerned about a main island invasion

Solution?Atomic Warfare

• the US, having won strategic ground and naval battles all over the Pacific now had the ability to strike Japan with bombing runs

• since the Japanese had fought with no regard for civilian life – US forces had little trouble planning bombing raids on Japanese cities

Allied forces attack Japanese cities – causing firestorm damage

Demanded “Unconditional Surrender” from the Japanese• this was problematic, because the Japanese were not willing to give up

their Emperor – they might have negotiated for peace, but not unconditionally

• By spring of 1945, Americans had succeeded in developing the atomic bomb and using it to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan