The Second World War

Questions Why did another world war break out in Europe and in the Pacific in the late 1930s Why did the Allies win WWII? What innovations in warfare were introduced in WWII? How did WWII differ from WWI on the front lines and behind the lines?

Axis Powers Hitler: Nazi Germany Mussolini: Fascist Italy Hideki Tojo: Imperialist Japan

Allied Powers Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minister Joseph Stalin: USSR’s Dictator FDR: President of USA

Outbreak of War in Asia July 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident –Japan responds by attacking China, U.S. and Japanese relations deteriorate –Panay Incident, Dec July 1940 U.S. Embargo –Aviation fuel and scrap metal September 1940 Tripartite Axis Pact –Embargo on oil July 1941 Japan decides to invade Dutch East Indies Dec Japan attacks U.S. forces in Pacific

Outbreak of War in Europe Aug 23, 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression pact Sept. 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland –Poland partitioned according to terms of Nazi-Soviet non- aggression pact –‘Blitzkrieg’ Sept. 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany –Through May 1940, Britain and France mustered troops in France ‘Sitzkrieg’ –May 1940, German armies attacked through Belgium; France fell June, 1940

Battle of Britain, Sept.9-Nov –Blitz: 70,000 bombs dropped by Luftwaffe on Britain Jan 1941 Germans entered war in N. Africa June 1941 Hitler invaded Soviet Union –Operation Barbarossa –Violated the Nazi-Soviet Nonagression Pact –At outskirts of Moscow by winter Dec. 1941, Germany declared war on U.S. Nov –U.S. landed in Africa –S.U. counterattack at Stalingrad Hitler’s War

The Second World War in Europe

The US Enters the War Pearl Harbor: Dec. 7, 1941 –Hirohito ordered the attack of Pearl Harbor –Kamikaze suicide bombers attack on 7 AM –Admiral Yamamoto: “We have awakened a Sleeping Giant” US declares war on Japan Dec. 8

The Collapse of Nazi Germany Jan –Battle of Stalingrad –Germany surrendered– turning point of war on E. Front Italian Campaign –Allies take control of Italy from the south June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion –“Operation Overlord” –Normandy Invasion May 8, 1945 Germany surrendered

The War in Asia June Battle of Midway –Turning point of the war in the Pacific Aug Feb 1943 Guadalcanal Oct Philippines invaded Feb 19-March : Iwo Jima –March 10, 1945 Firebombing of Tokyo Aug. 6 and Hiroshima and Nagasaki September 2, 1945 Japan surrenders

New elements in warfare Tanks: Presence on battlefield prevented WWII from turning into into the hopeless stalemate of WWI Strategic Bombing: Use of large aircraft to knock out enemy industries and terror- bomb enemy civilians –Dresden 1945 Anglo-American air raids burn city and kill 50,000 Atomic Bomb: Forced Japan to surrender in Sept The Ruins of Dresden

Military Aircraft Production, in thousands of Planes

Total War Warfare in the industrial era meant that to fight and win, nations had to mobilize their entire population –Soldiers fought on front lines –Workers manned factories to make weapons –Farmers fed the soldiers and workers Industrialization made it possible for the state to direct the entire economy toward the war effort Civilians were regarded as legitimate casualties of war, since civilians manned factories, made weapons, and kept armies supplied

Total War “Civilians must have the war brought home to them. Every individual must be made to see the immediacy of the danger to him.... He must be made to understand that he is an integral part of the war front, and that if he loses the war, he loses everything.” –Government Information Manual for the Motion Picture Industry U.S. Office of War Information

Consequences of War Estimated million dead Soviet Union lost 27 million Poland lost 6 million, incl. 3 million Jews Germans lost 5 million Germans killed between 12 and 20 million in their zones of occupation Germany and Berlin were divided into 4 occupation zones European economy was devastated U.S. ended war with 1/2 of the manufacturing capability on Earth Postwar Berlin