1. World War II
Unit 10 Notes

2. WWII Key Terms Axis Powers Allied Powers blitzkrieg
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Battle of Britain
Winston Churchill
cash and carry policy
Lend-Lease Act
Pearl Harbor
Douglas MacArthur
Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of Midway
“island hopping”
Battle of Guadalcanal
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Erwin Rommel
Battle of Stalingrad
D-Day/Invasion of Normandy
Battle of the Bulge
Iwo Jima
Okinawa
Harry S. Truman
Hiroshima
Nagasaki

3. A few basics the participants
the Allied Powers – primarily Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States
the Axis Powers – Germany, Italy, and Japan
the time frame – the war lasted from 1939 to 1945
the theaters of war (where it was fought)
European Theater
Eastern Front – Europe east of Germany (mainly Poland, USSR, Finland)
Western Front – primarily consisted of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Germany
North Africa/Mediterranean – mainly Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Italy, the Balkans, and the Middle East
Pacific Theater – Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands

4. Causes of World War II
the outcome of the First World War – specifically the Treaty of Versailles
military aggression by Germany, Italy, and Japan
desire of the Axis Powers to gain large amounts of territory
Hitler’s hatred of the Jews – the Second World War was fought as a cover up to the “real” war – his extermination of the Jews

5. Who’s Who of World War II
Adolf Hitler
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Joseph Stalin
Benito Mussolini
Hideki Tojo
Harry S. Truman
Douglas
MacArthur
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Erwin Rommel
Winston Churchill

6. Douglas MacArthur Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific Theater
famous line: “I shall return.”
oversaw the occupation of Japan after the war

7. Erwin Rommel German Field Marshal
leader of German forces that were defeated in North Africa (Afrikakorps) and at Normandy (Army Group B)
known as the “Desert Fox”

8. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme Allied Commander in the European Theater of the war
defeated Rommel in North Africa
architect of Operation Overlord (Normandy invasion/D-Day)

9. Harry S. Truman
Vice President who became President when FDR died in April 1945
oversaw the end of the war
ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

10. Winston Churchill British Prime Minister during World War II
refused to surrender to the Nazis
inspired many Brits to persevere throughout the war

11. War Begins
the war began when Great Britain and France abandoned the policy of appeasement following Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939
during this invasion, Germany came from the west and the Soviet Union, at the time an ally of Germany because of a secret non-aggression pact, came from the east
the Germans used a style of war called blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)

12. War Begins
the war in the Pacific actually began in 1937 when Japan invaded China
despite the passage of several neutrality acts between 1935 and 1937, President Roosevelt knew the U.S. must get involved to prevent the defeat of the Allies
cash and carry (1939)
Lend Lease Act (1941)

13. War Begins
following the invasion of Poland, Hitler took control of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France
he then tried and failed to invade Great Britain
the invasion was known as the Battle of Britain
marked the first defeat for Hitler
British used radar and intercepted German coded messages to help defeat the Luftwaffe (German air force)
in June 1941, Hitler turned from Britain and betrayed his alliance with Stalin (Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact) and attacked the USSR

14. War Begins
Japan invaded French Indochina in 1941, prompting the US to place an oil embargo on Japan to prevent further aggression
part of the Japanese response was the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
this sneak attack brought the United States into the war against both Japan and Germany

15. Pearl Harbor

16. Pearl Harbor 1: USS California (sunk) 2: USS Maryland
3: USS Oklahoma (sunk)
4: USS Tennessee
5: USS West Virginia (sunk)
6: USS Arizona (sunk)
7: USS Nevada
8: USS Pennsylvania
9: Ford Island
10: Hickam Field
Ignored infrastructure targets:
A: Oil storage tanks
B:CINCPAC headquarters building
C: Submarine base
D: Navy Yard

17. USS Oklahoma

18. USS Arizona

19. War in Africa and the Mediterranean
North African Campaign (June 1940-May 1943)
Western Desert Campaign
Operation Torch
Tunisian Campaign
Italian Campaign (July 1943-May 1945)
invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky)
landing at Anzio (Operation Shingle)
Battle of Monte Cassino

20. Normandy Invasion/D-Day
Battle
Date
Theater
Significance
Invasion of Poland
Sept. 1 – Oct. 6, 1939
Battle of Britain
July 10 – Oct. 31, 1940 
Pearl Harbor
Dec. 7, 1941 
Battle of Coral Sea
May 4-8, 1942 
Battle of Midway
June 4-7, 1942 
Battle of Guadalcanal
Aug. 7, 1942 – Feb. 9, 1943 
Battle of Stalingrad
Aug. 23, 1942 – Feb. 2, 1943 
Normandy Invasion/D-Day
June 6, 1944 
Battle of the Bulge
Dec. 16, 1944 – Jan. 25, 1945 
Iwo Jima
Feb. 19 – Mar. 26, 1945 
Okinawa
 April 1 – June 22, 1945
Hiroshima
Aug. 6, 1945 
Nagasaki
Aug. 9, 1945 

21. D-Day Invasion

22. D-Day Invasion

23. D-Day Invasion

24. Normandy Invasion/D-Day
Battle
Year
Theater
Significance
Invasion of Poland
Battle of Britain
Pearl Harbor
Battle of Coral Sea
Battle of Midway
Battle of Guadalcanal
Battle of Stalingrad
Normandy Invasion/D-Day
Battle of the Bulge
Iwo Jima
Okinawa
Hiroshima
Nagasaki

25. Hiroshima

26. Hiroshima

27. Hiroshima

28. Nagasaki

29. Nagasaki

30. Nagasaki

31. The End of the War
on April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died and Vice President Harry S. Truman became President
following the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans retreated back into Germany and surrendered on May 7, 1945 (V-E Day)
Truman oversaw the end of the war, including the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945 (V-J Day)

32. Normandy Invasion/D-Day
Battle
Date
Theater
Significance
Invasion of Poland
Sept. 1 – Oct. 6, 1939
EUROPE
started war
Battle of Britain
July 10 – Oct. 31, 1940 
 first Nazi defeat
Pearl Harbor
Dec. 7, 1941 
 PACIFIC
drew U.S. into war 
Battle of Coral Sea
May 4-8, 1942 
stopped invasion of Australia 
Battle of Midway
June 4-7, 1942 
damaged Japanese fleet beyond repair, is. hopping
Battle of Guadalcanal
Aug. 7, 1942 – Feb. 9, 1943 
first major U.S. offensive  against Japan
Battle of Stalingrad
July 17, 1942 – Feb. 2, 1943 
EUROPE 
stopped Nazi invasion of USSR 
Normandy Invasion/D-Day
June 6, 1944 
 EUROPE
liberated France
Battle of the Bulge
Dec. 16, 1944 – Jan. 25, 1945 
final German offensive of the war 
Iwo Jima
Feb. 19 – Mar. 26, 1945 
guidelines for Okinawa and invasion of Japan; flag raising
Okinawa
 April 1 – June 22, 1945
 provided airfields and troop staging areas; led to nukes
Hiroshima
Aug. 6, 1945 
 1st nuclear bomb
Nagasaki
Aug. 9, 1945 
2nd nuclear bomb; led to Japanese surrender 

33. World War II by the Numbers
the most devastating war in human history
60-80 million people died as a result of the war
23-25 million soldiers
35-47 million civilians
6 million Jews
nearly 22.5 million men were wounded in combat
millions of civilians were homeless, starving, and diseased after the war

38. The Holocaust

39. Holocaust Key Terms (Unit 10 Part 2) Workbook p. 231-236
anti-Semitism (212)
Aryan (231)
Nuremberg Laws (231)
Kristallnacht*
“Final Solution” (232)
genocide (232)
Holocaust (234)
Nuremberg Trials (235)
Zionism*

40. Anti-Semitism: “The Longest Hatred”
intense hatred of Jewish (Semitic) people
the heart of Nazism
widespread in Europe for a very long time
led to the Holocaust – the systematic murder of European Jews during World War II by the Nazis
Jews were scapegoats

41. Why did Europeans hate or distrust Jews?
there is no definitive answer to this question
religious and cultural differences made Jews stand out among other Europeans
they were often viewed as more intellectual and successful and less nationalistic and patriotic
many Jews were very well educated, very prosperous

42. Why did Hitler and the Nazis hate Jews?
again, no clear definitive answer
possible identity crisis – Hitler may have “found himself” or his “calling” in his hatred of Jews and other non-German groups
possibly it was exposure to Völkisch (anti-Semitic ideas in Austria) thinking during his youth
what is known is that anti-Semitism was the heart and soul of Nazi ideology

43. Hitler’s Claims
Germans or “Aryans” were the master race and all others were inferior
inferior groups included:
Jews
Gypsies
Poles
Russians/Slavs
communists
homosexuals
the physically and mentally handicapped
the Nazis wanted to eliminate those inferior groups and other undesirables

44. Jewish Persecution in Germany
Nuremberg Laws
passed by the Nazis in 1935
denied German citizenship to Jews
prevented Jews from marrying non-Jews
Jews were forced to wear the Star of David as identification
Kristallnacht – “Night of Broken Glass”
November 9, 1938
huge race riots all over Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland
Jewish synagogues and businesses were destroyed
about 100 Jews were murdered and about 30,000 Jews were arrested and put in concentration camps

46. The “Final Solution”
this was Hitler’s plan of genocide – to kill all Jews
it was carried out by Nazi death squads – special mobile killing units
the Einsatzgruppen were elite SS and Nazi troops attached to the regular military whose job was to locate and exterminate any and all Jews

47. The Camps
many Jews and political prisoners were sent to concentration camps – basically prison camps where they were used for slave labor
starting in 1942, the Nazis built camps for the specific purpose of killing Jews – these were the death camps
in the death camps, Jews were taken to huge gas chambers and executed – then cremated in huge ovens

48. The Camps
the first concentration camp to open was Dachau in March of 1933
the death camps were ordered built by Heinrich Himmler in 1942 as part of the Final Solution
there were six death camps
Auschwitz-Birkenau (the largest)
Belzec
Chelmno
Majdanek
Sobibor
Treblinka

49. Results of the Holocaust
camps began to be liberated in summer 1944
around 6 million Jews were killed and 3 million or more survived
up to 6 million more were killed in addition to the Jews (Poles, Russians, disabled people, etc.)

50. Victims Killed Jews 5.9 million Soviet POWs 2–3 million Ethnic Poles
Romani (Gypsies)
220,000–1,500,000
Disabled
200,000–250,000
Freemasons
80, ,000
Slovenes
20,000–25,000
Homosexuals
5,000–15,000
Jehovah's Witnesses
2,500–5,000

51. Est. Pre-War Jewish population
Country
Est. Pre-War Jewish population
Estimated killed
Percent killed
Poland
3,300,000
3,000,000 90
Baltic countries
253,000
228,000
Germany & Austria
240,000
210,000
Bohemia & Moravia
90,000
80,000 89
Slovakia
75,000 83
Greece
70,000
54,000 77
Netherlands
140,000
105,000 75
Hungary
650,000
450,000 70
Byelorussian SSR
375,000
245,000 65
Ukrainian SSR
1,500,000
900,000 60
Belgium
65,000
40,000
Yugoslavia
43,000
26,000
Romania
600,000
300,000 50
Norway
2,173
890 41
France
350,000 26
Bulgaria
64,000
14,000 22
Italy
8,000 20
Luxembourg
5,000
1,000
Russian SFSR
975,000
107,000 11
Denmark 52
<1
Total
8,861,800
5,933,900 67

52. Year
Jews killed
1933–1940
under 100,000
1941
1,100,000
1942
2,700,000
1943
500,000
1944
600,000
1945
100,000

53. Nuremberg Trials and Aftermath
trials of 22 Nazi leaders for “crimes against humanity”
military tribunal from 23 countries conducted the trials
10 of the Nazi leaders were hanged and had their bodies burned at a concentration camp
others received penalties of life in prison and some were set free
Zionism (support for a Jewish state) increased after the Holocaust
Israel became a country in 1948 as a response