Chapter 5: World War 2 1939 - 1945

Canada Declares War in 1938 the British PM Chamberlain believed that he had achieved ‘peace in our time’ with the Munich Agreement he believed that this would stop Hitler’s aggression it did not, and Hitler marched into Czechoslovakia

Canada Declares War In May, the king and queen visited Canada for the first time to rally support for the upcoming war PM King did not want Canada to be involved in another European war

Canada Declares War September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland, and Great Britain declares war After calling a special session of Parliament, and assuring Quebec and Parliament there would be no conscription, Canada declares war on Germany Sept. 10, 1939

Canada Declares War Canada was not prepared for war, the army, navy, and air force were small and ill-equipped Although not as enthusiastic as WW1, 58, 330 people volunteered in September alone

Canada Declares War First Nations people volunteered at a higher percentage of their population than any other group in Canada African-Canadians were initially refused, but as the war went on were accepted After years of depression the private’s pay of $1.30 a day was welcome

Canada Declares War The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan let pilots from all over the Commonwealth to train over the safe Canadian skies The Canadian government quickly changed the economy into a war economy with C D Howe in charge of Munitions and Supplies

Canada Declares War Crown Corporations were formed to produce military vehicles, tanks and planes

Homework Read pigs 101 - 105 Questions: Why didn’t Canada declare war at the same time as England? What did Mackenzie King promise before WW2? Why? Which people volunteered to be Canadian soldiers? Why?

The War in Europe Allies: Britain, France, and the Commonwealth countries (Later: USA and Russia) Axis: Germany, Japan, and Italy

The War in Europe Germany used the blitzkrieg on Denmark and Norway Germany was so fast (Blitzkrieg) that it trapped the allies on the beaches of Dunkirk in Northern France 340,000 allied soldiers had to be evacuated to Britain

The War in Europe Hitler next turned on Britain in ‘Operation Sea Lion’ The German Luftwaffe (air force) started a massive bombing campaign destroying harbours and shipping facilities in southern Britain

The War in Europe The Luftwaffe then turned on London: the Blitz The British had radar that warned of the attacks, and excellent fighter planes that were more than a match for the Germans

The War Spreads as Hitler’s Luftwaffe were being defeated in Britain, Germany turned its attention to the east, the USSR ‘Operation Barbarossa’ was the invasion of the USSR

The War Spreads the Germans made it as far as the outskirts of Moscow and St. Petersburg on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, which brought the USA into the war it was now truly a world war

Canada’s Role in Europe in 1942 the Allies planned a small invasion of Europe at Dieppe the raid went wrong almost from the beginning

Canada’s Role in Europe a German convoy intercepted a ship of Canadian soldiers and alerted the troops on shore tanks were unable to move on the rocky shore, troops were sitting ducks to the German machine-gunners casualties were high, but a lesson was learned for the future attacks

Canada’s Role in Europe the battle of the Atlantic saw the Canadian Navy, and merchant ships bringing much needed supplies to Britain Canada started building corvettes, small warships, to escort the convoys By 1943, German subs were suffering huge loses due to the breaking of a German code

Canada’s Role in Europe The Royal Canadian Air Force grew rapidly as the war went on Despite nearly 10,000 Canadian bomber crew losses, the RCAF was able to help win the war

Homework Read Pages 106 - 114, and answer the following questions… Describe Germany’s success in western Europe in the beginning of WW2. Why did Russia and USA join WW2? Describe Canada’s involvement in… a) Dieppe b) The Battle of the Atlantic

The Tide Turns in 1943 Canadian soldiers helped with the Allies’ invasion of Sicily it was slow house to house battles that cost many lives Rome was finally taken in mid-1944, and fighting in the rest of Italy lasted until 1945

D-Day and Liberation June 6, 1944, ‘D-Day’ the Allies launched ‘Operation Overlord’ the disaster at Dieppe taught the Allies a valuable lesson, plan and rehearse down to the smallest detail 30,000 Canadian soldiers were to take Juno Beach

D-Day and Liberation casualties were high, 359 dead, but lower than expected after weeks of fighting, the Allies were on their way to Germany in March 1945 Canadian soldiers were liberating the Netherlands

The Holocaust Discovered at the end of the war Allied soldiers discovered Nazi atrocities: concentration camps the death camps were build in a number of places, Bergen-Belsen, and Buchenwald in Germany, and Auschwitz, and Treblinka in Poland

The Holocaust Discovered Jews from all over Europe were shipped to the death camps The weak, the old, and the very young were sent immediately to the showers, that were in fact gas chambers The strong and healthy were put to work

Japan Surrenders on August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki Japan realized it could not last against this new weapon, and surrendered World War Two was over

Homework Read pgs. 115 - 122 Questions: 1. What two invasions turned the tide in WW2? 2. Explain what the holocaust was. 3. Do you think the Allies should have dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki? Why or why not?

The War at Home women were needed in the workforce in increasing numbers as the war progressed to curb inflation the government issued Victory Bonds

The War at Home in 1941 the Wartime Prices and Trade Board froze all wages and prices to control inflation in 1942 the government introduced food rationing because of a shortage of workers, unions became stronger the CCF party gained strength throughout the war

The War at Home as had happened in WW1, the conscription issue was raised, and Quebec was against it PM King tried to smooth over the situation with the slogan ‘Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary’, which made nobody happy Conscription was needed in the end, but only 2463 conscripts ever reached the front

What the War Meant to Canada Canada had made huge contributions to the war By the end it truly was the arsenal of democracy The GDP rose every year during the war, the economy boomed By the end of the war Canada had the world’s third largest navy, and fourth largest air force

Homework Read pgs. 122 - 129 Questions: Paragraph Response: How was conscription in WW2 different than WW1? Do you think countries have a right to make their citizens fight? Why or why not? Study for quiz!!!