World War IIThe Nightmare Begins

By Kathryn Raia

Failure of Collective Security• Treaty of Versailles did not create an

enduring peace by severely punishing Germany and triggering future resentment against the "dictated peace."

• League of Nations, without (US & USSR) didn't have the will nor support to maintain peace.– During the 1930’s the League

essentially stood by while aggressors like Germany and Italy invaded other countries and violated provisions in the Treaty of Versailles

• Washington Naval Conference, 1921-22: did not stop naval arms race

– Five Power Treaty: created a 5-5-3 battleship ratio between U.S., Britain and Japan

– Four Power Treaty replaced Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902: Bound Br., Japan, France, and U.S. to preserve status quo in the Pacific, a concession to Japan’s favor.

– Nine Power Treaty agreed to uphold the Open Door in China

Failure of Collective Security• “Paper Agreements could not be

enforced:– Locarno Pact, 1925: "spirit of Locarno"

no longer relevant once Hitler took power

– Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928: "war is illegal"; not enforceable

• Great Depression resulted in the rise of fascism in Japan and Germany

• Japanese invasion of Manchuria, 1931: – League did little; Japan pulled out of

League

• Hitler withdrew from League of Nations, 1933: secretly begins rearmament

• London Economic Conference in 1933 failed to achieve international cooperation in remedying the depression– The US played a major role in undermining the treaty– The conference’s failure sent a strong signal to Hitler that the

democracies lacked the organization and will to address international cities

Failure of Collective Security

Cartoon showing central bank Governors parading at the 1933 London World Economic Conference before conference president Ramsay MacDonald. Members of the BIS Management are depicted in the crowd.

• Stresa Front, 1935: Mussolini and others concerned Hitler withdrew from Versailles Treaty

• Italy, France, and Britain protested strongly, understanding the danger; agreed to use force to maintain status quo.

• However only a year later, Mussolini allied with Hitler to help fascists win in Spain

Failure of Collective Security

Italian invasion of Ethiopia, 1935: • Italy gained a measure of revenge for its earlier

defeat by the Ethiopians in 1896– 500,000 Ethiopians died in the war as compared to

5000 Italians• Leader Haille Selassie appeals to the League for

help• League of Nations imposed sanctions in Italy but

did not include oil in the list of embargoed goods– No attempt was made to prevent Italy’s Navy from

using the Suez Canal on its way toward Ethiopia– France and Britain were not willing to press Italy

because they needed Italy’s help in keeping Hitler in check

• Britain, in particular, sought to appease Italy to end the crisis and only placed an embargo on the sale of British weapons to Italy.

– In 1936, the League lifted its Sanction against Italy.– The Stresa Front was not defunct as Mussolini

clearly defied the League of Nations• Hitler was further encouraged that the

international community lacked the will to enforce the peace

Failure of Collective Security

• Generalissimo Francisco Franco, a fascist sought to overthrow the republican government in Spain– Franco sought to restore the power of the RCC and destroy socialism and

communism in Spain– Civil war erupted between the fascists (falangists or Royalists) and the

republican Loyalists• 1936: Mussolini and Hitler use conflict as a testing ground for their

military forces: – Italy sent 100,000 soldiers to Spain and the Italian army gained practical

experience in Warfare– Germany's air force – Luftwaffe – bombed innocent cities such as Guernica

Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

• Fascism prevails under Francisco Franco; also known as Falangists (or Royalists)– Help from Germany and Italy was a

major cause for the fascist victory– Britain and France officially

recognized Franco’s government– League ineffective in helping

republicans (Loyalists) against Franco.

– Hoping to maintain the peace, the British government did little to help the Loyalists

– In France, the issue of the war split the government and led to the fall of the leftist popular front

• Rome-Berlin Axis formed (“Fascintern"): an alliance between fascist Italy and Germany

Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

• 1936: violated Versailles Treaty and Locarno Pact• The Rhineland was demilitarized to guarantee France that German forces were not

directly across the border• The German military high command was still too weak to effectively resist a

Franco-British invasion and that Hitler was being reckless• Earlier acts by LON convinced Hitler they would do nothing.• France unwilling to enforce the treaty without British aid

– France was still more powerful than Germany and may have been able to defeat and remove Hitler

• British didn't want another war– Pacifism in Britain from World War I made the government reluctant to go to war

• Anti-Comintern Pact, 1937: Italy signed with Germany to oppose communism in Europe.

German Reoccupation of the Rhineland

Japanese Aggression• Japan invades China, 1937: world watches the

"rape of Shanghai“ (also known as the Rape of Nanjing)– Set up Puppet government in Nanjing – former

nationalists capital– Brutality into the city

Hitler’s Foreign Goals• Two goals:

– Unite all German and Aryan people into one nation.

– Lebensraum or living space for them (eastern Europe)

• Hitler repudiates Versailles Treaty and begins massive rearmament in mid-1930s

• Anschluss: Germany annexes Austria, 1938

• Sudetenland: Hitler demanded the German-speaking province in Czechoslovakia or else there would be war

Czech Crisis• Munich Conference, 1938 arranged by British

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

• Attended by Britain, France, Italy & Germany; Czechoslovakia or Russia not invited!

• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain adopted a policy of appeasement

• Appeasement: making concessions to an aggressor in order to achieve peace

• Pacifism is prevalent in Britain and France: memories of horrors of WWI; don't want war

– Agreement: Czechoslovakia forced to give away Sudetenland

– In return Hitler guaranteed the independence of Czechoslovakia

– Also agreed no more territorial demands in Europe– If the Czechs refused to comply, they would get no

military help from France or Britain– Chamberlain returns to Britain a hero: "peace in

our time"

Last Months of Peace• German invasion of Czechoslovakia,

spring1939: Hitler double-crosses Chamberlain

– Hitler makes demands on port city of Danzig in the Polish Corridor

– Chamberlain says if Germany attacks Poland there will be war

– Hitler does not want a two-front war against France & Britain in west and Russia in east

• Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Aug. 1939

– World shocked that archenemies Hitler and Stalin would make such an agreement

– Hitler sought assurances USSR would not attack Germany if Germany invaded Poland

– Public agreement: nonaggression treaty– Private agreement: Germany and USSR

would invade Poland and split the country in half.

• Germany invades Poland, Sept. 1, 1939: marks beginning of World War II

– September 3, Britain & France declare war on Germany

European Theatre

German Conquests 1939-1941• Blitzkrieg ("lightning war"): new form of

warfare used by Germany to quickly defeat an enemy by poking a hole in enemy line and cutting off front lines from the rear thus surrounding enemy.

– Used coordinated attack on one part of enemy line with airforce, tanks, and artillery

• Poland defeated in about a month; partition occurred when USSR attacked from east

• Stalin invades Finland (1939) and annexes Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania (1940) to create a buffer zone, believing Hitler will one day invade Soviet Union

• sitzkrieg (“phony war”): After Poland, a 7-month lull ensued, causing some to say WWII was a myth. The world waited to see where Hitler might strike next.

German Conquests 1940• Spring 1940: Hitler invaded

Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg

• Fall of France, June 1940 occurred in less than six weeks

– Dunkirk: thousands of French and British soldiers trapped on beaches of France

– Before Germans came in for the kill, thousands were rescued by armada of British vessels

• Vichy France: Hitler did not wish to waste time subduing all of France

• Puppet gov't created in southern France

• “Free French” led by General Charles De Gaulle, who fled to Britain

• Tripartite Pact – Japan is added to the Rome Berlin Axis for military support

Operation Sea Lion• Battle of Britain: one of most critical

battles of the war• Hitler sought to soften Britain up for

an invasion ("Operation Sealion")• Luftwaffe (led by Herman Goring,

one of Hitler's inner circle) sent to destroy Royal Air Force (RAF)

• Winston Churchill emerged as inspirational war leader of Britain

• After almost defeating RAF, Hitler ordered bombing of London: fatal error (London Blitz)

• RAF recovered and ultimately defeated Luftwaffe: Hitler forced to call off invasion of Britain

• Significance: Hitler had to guard against a future two-front war; D-Day launched from Britain

Operation Barbarossa June 1941• Hitler's attempt at "lebensraum“

• Einstagruppen (mobile killing units of SS) move eastward

• "Scorched Earth": Soviets destroyed anything of value as they withdrew to deprive German army of resources; 1,000's of towns disappeared!

• By winter, Germans at the gates of Moscow; lay siege to Leningrad (lasted two years)

• In Soviet Union, WWII became known as “Great Patriotic War of the Fatherland”

Atlantic Charter• Atlantic Charter: Churchill and FDR meet secretly after invasion of Soviet Union• Decide once Axis Powers defeated, there would be no territorial changes contrary to the

wishes inhabitants (self-determination)• Called for “a permanent system of general security”: later became the United Nations• Stalin endorsed the agreement soon thereafter• U.S. neutrality• Neutrality Acts in 1930s prevented FDR from drawing U.S. into the conflict earlier• Lend-Lease Act (1941) gave large amounts of money and supplies to help Britain and

Soviets; effectively ended U.S. neutrality

Japanese Expansion 1939-1941• Took control across Asia and the

Pacific ESPECIALLY when they joined the side of the Axis and war broke out in 1939.

• Mission was to “help Asians escape Western colonial rule”

• Treated conquored people very harshly

• Did the United States have any reason to fear Japanese Expansion?

• How did they plan to stop them?– Banned the sale of materials such

as iron, steel and oil to Japan– Japanese leaders saw this move

as an attempt to interfere in Japan’s sphere of influence in Southeast Asia

– Any other reasons for Japanese dislike of the US? (think immigration)

Boxed In?Boxed In?

December 7, 1941December 7, 1941• General Tojo Hideki ordered a surprise

attack on December 7th.• In two waves of terror lasting two long

hours, they killed or wounded over 3,500 Americans and sank or badly damaged 18 ships– including all 8 battleships of the Pacific

Fleet - and over 350 destroyed or damaged aircraft.  At least 1,177 lives were lost when the Battleship U.S.S. Arizona exploded and subsequently sank.

• How is this invasion similar to the invasion of Poland?

• Why do think historians compare the attack on Pearl Harbor to Operation Barbarossa?

Bataan Death March• April 9th, 1942, US commander

Gen. Edward King, surrendered to the Japanese– Numbering more than 70,000

(Filipinos and Americans), • While the Japanese pounded

Corregidor (which would surrender on May 6), they led their prisoners on a forced march out of Bataan.

• Before the "Death March" was over, those who survived would march more than sixty miles through intense heat with almost no water or food.

• Somewhere between 5,000 and 11,000 never made it to POW Camp O'Donnell, where fresh horrors awaited.

US Enters the War• Hitler declared war on U.S.:

another fatal blunder! Instead of focusing on Japan, U.S. (along with Britain) would instead focus on defeating Germany first.

• The Grand Alliance formed in 1942: Britain, Soviet Union and U.S. and 2 dozen other countries

Nazi Empire in Europe

Nazi Empire in Europe• Nazis exploited Europe for its economic

value• Nordic peoples – Dutch, Norwegians, and

Danes received preferential treatment as they were racially related to the Germans

• Hitler heavily taxed the French as they were seen as :inferior” Latin people

• Slavs in eastern Europe were seen as “subhuman”– Seized en and women for slave labor in

German factories– Hitler planned that the poles, Ukrainians

and Russians would be enslaved and forced to die out while Germanic peasants resettled the resulting abandoned lands

– Polish workers and Soviet pows were transported to Germany where they did most of the heavy labor and were systematically worked to death

• Genocide of the Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses and communists– See Holocaust PowerPoint

The Home Front – Total War• Government – increased political power

– Industry – forced factories to turn out war materials– Rationed important materials– Democratic governments limited the rights of their

citizens– Censored press and used propaganda

Turning Points in the War1. El Alamein: British (under General Montgomery)

drove the Germans (under General Rommel, aka Desert Fox) out of Egypt

• “Operation Torch”, 1943: U.S. and British forces landed on North Africa

• 1943 - Germany eventually defeated and suffered mass casualties and surrenders.

• Hitler’s decision to invade USSR instead of defeat British in Mediterranean now proved to be a disastrous mistake.

2. Stalingrad, Dec. 1942: first Nazi defeat on land; Soviets began the 2.5 year campaign of pushing the German army back to Berlin

• Wanted Stalingrad en route to taking the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains

• German armies were eventually surrounded by Soviet forces – Germans not permitted to surrender

• 21/2 year campaign of the Soviets pushing the Germans back to Berlin

• Battle of Kursk 1943– Largest tank battle in human history – Russian

victory• February 1945 Soviet forces penetrated outskirts of

Berlin

Battle of Stalingrad

Turning Points in the War3. Invasion of Sicily and Italy, 1943• Opened another front that the Germans had to fight in the South.4. D-Day, Operation Overlord, June 6, 1944: invasion of Normandy (northern French coast)• 12,000troops crossed the English Channel from southern England and invaded France in an

amphibious assault on Normandy. • Western front established; spelled end of Nazi domination of Europe; Paris liberated 1

month later• Hitler now fighting on three fronts: east against Russians, west against U.S. and Britain (&

France) and Italy against U.S. and Britain

Onward to Victory• Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 1944: Hitler's last gasp offensive to

drive Allies away from western German border; after it failed, Allies quickly penetrated deep into Germany in 1945.

• V-E Day, May 8, 1945: Germany surrenders (Hitler committed suicide a few days earlier)

Japanese Possessions 1942

Onward to Victory• May and June 1942 –

Successes at battles of Coral Sea and Midway Island

• Midway– Allies took offensive– General Douglas MacArthur –

tried to recapture some Japanese – held islands while bypassing others “stepping stones” to get closer to Japan

– The Americans set up military bases to help them refuel and prepare for the war in the Pacific

– October 1944 – MacArthur begins to take back the Philippines, and the jungles of Burma and Malaya

– NO SURRENDER from the Japanese

End of War in the Pacific• Defeat of Japan

– Allies now focused their resources into defeating Japan

• Invasion versus the bomb– Officials estimated that an invasion of Japan would

have cost an estimated 1 or more million causalities

– Bloody battles – Okinawa and Iwo Jima – Japanese will fight until the end – die to save their homeland

– Kamikaze – pilots who flew suicide missions– Manhattan Project

• Nazi, soviet and American scientists

• FDR dies, Truman president– Warns Japan if they do not surrender “face utter

and complete destruction”– Japan doesn’t surrender – Drop first atomic bomb

on Hiroshima on August 6 1945– Hiroshima – radiation sickness / mass destruction– August 9th Nagasaki

• August 10th, Emperor Hirohito intervened and forced government to surrender

• Peace treaty signed on USS MISSOURI

Diplomacy During the War• Casablanca Conference, 1943:

– FDR and Churchill declared a policy of unconditional surrender for “all enemies”

– Italy would be invaded first before opening 2nd Front in France (to Stalin's dismay)

• Moscow Conference: 1943: – US obtained Soviet agreement to enter the war against Japan after

Germany was defeated and to participate in a world organization after the war was over.

Diplomacy During the War• Tehran Conference, 1943:

First meeting of the “Big Three”: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin– Allies agreed to an invasion of the

Western Europe in 1944.– Stalin reaffirmed the Soviet

commitment to enter the war against Japan

– Stalin insisted on Soviet control of Eastern Europe and the carving up of Germany

– Churchill demanded free governments in Eastern Europe and a strong Germany after the war to preserve a balance of power in Europe.

– Roosevelt acted as a mediator and believed he could work with Stalin to achieve a post-world peace within the construct of the United Nations.

Diplomacy During the War• Yalta Conference, 1945: "Big Three" met again

– Stalin agreed to enter Pacific war within 3 months after Germany surrendered– Stalin agreed to a “Declaration of Liberated Europe” which called for free elections.– Called for United Nations to meet in U.S. beginning in April 1945

• Soviets would have 3 votes in General Assembly• U.S., Britain, USSR, France & China to be permanent members of Security Council.

– Germany to be divided into occupied zones and a coalition government of communists and non-communists was agreed to for Poland.

– U.S.S.R. allowed to keep its pre-1939 territory.– FDR accepted Soviet control of Outer Mongolia, the Kurile Islands, the southern half of Sakhalin

Island, Port Arthur (Darien), and partial operation of the Manchurian railroads.

Diplomacy During the War• Potsdam Conference, July 1945: Stalin, Harry Truman and Clement Atlee

– Issued warning to Japan of unconditional surrender or face utter devastation   – During conference Truman ordered dropping of atomic bomb on Japan– Stalin reversed his position on eastern Europe stating there would be no free

elections– Approvals given to concept of war-crimes trials and the demilitarization and

denazification of Germany.– Reparations from Germany could be taken from each respective zone.

Results of World War II• About 55 million dead (including missing); 22

million in USSR alone• Poles, Ukrainians, lost their lives as slave

laborers• 4 million Soviet POWs were killed in captivity

– Holocaust resulted in deaths of 6 million Jews and 6 million others

– Hitler's "Final Solution" to the Jewish problem– Formal plan came at Wanasee Conference in

1942– Six death camps built in Poland in addition to

hundreds of concentration camps– Auschwitz was most notorious – 90% of the Jewish populations of Poland, the

Baltic counties and Germany were exterminated

• Millions homeless and millions relocated (especially Germans living outside Germany)

• Much of Europe lay in ruins: would take years to rebuild economy

• Women played even larger role in the war economy than in WWI (gained more rights after war)

• The U.S. and Soviet Union emerged as the two dominant powers in the postwar world.

•  

Results of World War II• War Crimes Trials in

Nuremberg – The Nuremberg Trials brought

some of those responsible for the atrocities of the war to justice.

– There were 22 Nazi criminals tried by the Allies in the International Military Tribunal.

– Twelve subsequent trials followed as well as national trials throughout formerly occupied Europe.

– The International Military Tribunal took place in Nuremberg, Germany in 1945 and 1946.

– 12 prominent Nazis were sentenced to death.

– Most claimed that they were only following orders, which was judged to be an invalid defense.

Results of World War II• Japan turned into

democracy• Allied Division of

Germany• Beginning of the Cold

War

Why did the Germans Lose?1. Three-Front War2. German Occupation Territory

too large3. Major Blunders

• Left the Battle of Britain without a victory

• Invasion of the USSR• Declaration of War against US

4. Industrial Capacity not equal to Allies

5. Axis Alliance proved to be a liability

• Mussolini was more of a liability than ally.

6. Grand Alliance proved overwhelming

American Memorials