world war ii the myth of the “good war” causes of the war
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World War IIThe Myth of the
“Good War”
Causes of the war
1. Treaty of Versailles
• Germany blamed for the war
• Huge German reparations
• Germany disarmed• German loss of land• German loss of labor• German loss of honor
• New map of Europe
• Russia lost land• Austria-Hungary
dismantled• Creation of new
weak nations without regards to culture
• Failure of U.S. to ratify the Treaty and become a member of the League of nations
• Failure of the League of Nations and the idea of collective security
• Rise of communism in USSR
• Central Powers lost their colonies to England and France
• Japan and Italy not rewarded as Allied Powers
• Pessimism and disillusionment- “there would be another war”
• New treaties and security alliances of England and France with “new nations”
2. U.S. Isolationism
• Isolationism- opposition to political and economic entanglements with other countries
3. Rise of Totalitarian Dictatorships
• Totalitarianism- a government that suppresses all opposition where individuals have no rights
• Fascism- a government that stressed nationalism and placed interests of the state above those of the individual. Power rests in one strong leader and a small group of devoted party members
• Nazism (German-Fascism)- the government wanted:
• 1. to unify all German speaking people
• 2. racial purification• 3. national expansion
4. Appeasement Policy
• Appeasement- giving up your principles to pacify an aggressor. (giving Czechoslovakia to Germany)
The Road To War
1933- Hitler became Chancellor of Germany
Hitler soon began a program of rearming Germany
March 1936: German troops marched into the Rhineland
• The Rhineland was a region of Germany that was ‘demilitarized’ after the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler’s actions showed how he was willing to directly challenge the treaty.
March 1938: Nazi Germany annexed Austria
• Again, this went against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from uniting with Austria.
Appeasement: The Munich Agreement, 1938
• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
• Now we have “peace in our time!” Herr Hitler is a man we can do business with.
March 1939: Germany invaded Czechoslovakia
• Hitler had ordered the occupation of a part of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland (in October 1938). Many hoped that this would be the last conquest of the Nazis.
• However, in March 1939, he ordered his troops to take over the remainder of Czechoslovakia.
August 1939: Germany and Russia signed a non-aggression pact
• Hitler and Stalin (the Russian leader) signed a ‘non-aggression pact’.
• They promised that neither country would attack the other in the event of war.
• As part of the deal, Hitler promised Stalin part of Poland, which he planned to invade soon.
The non-aggression pact was surprising. Hitler and Stalin were seen as natural enemies.
When Hitler talked of taking over new land for Germany, many thought that he meant Russia.
Hitler also hated Communism, the form of government in Russia
September 1939: Germany invaded Poland
• But, the pact allowed Germany to march into Poland without fear of an attack from Russia.
• On 1st September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This started a war with Britain and France on 3rd September.
Poland Attacked: Sept. 1, 1939
• Blitzkrieg [“Lightening War”]
The “Phony War” Ends:Spring, 1940
• Not much happened between the invasion of Poland in September and the Spring of 1940
May 1940: Germany turned west and invaded France and the Netherlands
• In May 1940, Germany used Blitzkrieg tactics to attack France and the Netherlands.
• British troops were forced to retreat from the beaches of Dunkirk in northern France.
By June 1940, France had surrendered to the Germans. Britain now stood
alone as the last remaining enemy of Hitler’s Germany in Western Europe.
A Divided France
September 1940-May 1941: For the following nine months, the German air force (Luftwaffe) launched repeated bombing
raids on British towns and cities. This was an attempt to bomb Britain into submission.
Battle of Britain
• 1940 - The Germans severely bombed Great Britain during the Battle of Britain but were unable to defeat the island nation.
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
• 'We shall fight on the beaches ...‘, • June 4, 1940
• '... We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender ...'
Operation Barbarossa:Hitler’s Biggest Mistake
American Foreign Policy:1920-1941
Foreign Policy Tensions
• Interventionism
Disarmament
American Isolationism
Isolationists like Senator Lodge, refused to allow the US to sign the Versailles Treaty.
Security treaty with France also rejected by the Senate.
Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. [R-MA]
Washington Naval Disarmament Conference(1921-1922)
Goals naval disarmament and the political situation in the Far East.
Dawes Plan (1924)
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
15 nations dedicated to outlawing aggression and war as tools of foreign policy.
62 nations signed.
Problems no means of actual enforcement and gave Americans a false sense of security.
Japanese Attack Manchuria (1931)
League of Nations condemned the action.
Japan leaves the League.
Hoover wanted no part in an American military action in the Far East.
Neutrality Acts: 1935, 1936, 1937When the President proclaimed the existence of a
foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect:
Prohibited sales of arms to belligerent nations.
Prohibited loans and credits to belligerent nations.
Forbade Americans to travel on vessels of nations at war [in contrast to WW I].
Non-military goods must be purchased on a “cash-and-carry” basis pay when goods are picked up.
Banned involvement in the Spanish Civil War.
This limited the options of the President in a crisis.
America in the 1930s declined to build up its forces!
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
The American “Lincoln Brigade”
Spanish Civil War- practice for WWII?
• General Francisco Franco became dictator of Spain.
Guernica by Pablo Picasso
1939 Neutrality ActIn response to Germany’s invasion of Poland.
FDR persuades Congress in special session to allow the US to aid European democracies in a limited way:
The US could sell weapons to the European democracies on a “cash-and-carry” basis.
FDR was authorized to proclaim danger zones which US ships and citizens could not enter.
Results of the 1939 Neutrality Act: Aggressors could not send ships to buy US munitions.
The US economy improved as European demands for war goods helped bring the country out of the 1937-38 recession.
America becomes the “Arsenal of Democracy.”
Breaking tradition, FDR ran for, and won, a third term as President in 1940
Lend-Lease Act
• (1941) – allowed sales or loans to “any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the U.S.”
• * 1941 – Germany launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union. The U.S. decided to extend Lend-Lease aid to the Soviets as well.
Destroyers-for-bases deal
• FDR’s idea to help Britain maintain control of • the Atlantic by trading 50 older but still
serviceable U.S. destroyers in exchange for giving the United States the right to build military bases on British islands in the Caribbean.
Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941
• Japanese attacked naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• 2,887 Americans killed.
President Roosevelt Signs the US Declaration of War
• “A day which will live in infamy.”
Axis and allies
• Major Axis Powers-• Germany• Italy• Japan
• Major Allied Powers• United States• Great Britain• Soviet Union
European Theater of operations
• Dwight Eisenhower- was Supreme Commander of U.S. forces in Europe. He was in charge of the D-Day invasion and later served two terms as president.
Allied Nation Leaders
• The Big Three- leaders of the U.S. (FDR), Soviet Union (Stalin), and Great Britain (Churchill) who met secretly many times to coordinate military strategies and peace terms.
Conferences• Yalta Conference- agreed
1)to divide Germany into zones, 2)allow free elections in Soviet controlled Eastern Europe, 3) Soviets enter war against Japan, 4) to create a new world peace organization
• Potsdam Conference- call for Japan’s unconditional surrender and agreed to hold war-crime trials of Nazi leaders.
Axis Nation Leaders
• Adolf Hitler- He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and dictator of Nazi Germany as Führer.
• Benito Mussolini- was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party .
• Hideki Tojo- was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army and Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War.
• Directly responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Battles• Battle of Stalingrad- Nazi Germany fought the Soviet Union.
• The battle took place between August 1942 and February 1943.
• It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with casualties amounting to nearly two million.
• The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a turning point in the war.
• Invasion of Normandy(D-Day)- June 6, 1944. It marked the 1st day of the Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled France. Code named Operation Overlord.
Tuskegee Airmen
• African-American fighter group in the Air Corps. These “Red Tails” won numerous awards and citations.
V-E Day
• May 8, 1945 was the day that General Eisenhower accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender, Victory in Europe Day.
Pacific Theater of Operations
Battles in the Pacific• Battle of Midway- It
was the turning point in the Pacific War. The victory sent the Allies island hopping back to Japan.
• Island Hopping- Nimitz’s strategy to bypass strongly held Japanese islands to get the U.S. within striking distance of Japan.
• Flying Tigers- volunteer pilots who supplied China with war supplies at the beginning of the war.
• Navajo Code Talkers- 400 native Americans were recruited into the Marine Corps to use their native language to transmit telephone and radio messages that the Japanese could not interpret.
Atomic Weapons
• Atomic weapons- a weapon of mass destruction whose explosive power derives from a nuclear reaction.
• Manhattan Project- the code name for research done to develop the first atomic bomb.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• The Japanese cities that the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on (August 6 and 9, 1945).
• Hundreds of thousands people were killed as a result of these two bombs.
V-J Day
• August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered unconditionally
• V-J Day Victory in Japan Day
Home front
American mobilization for war
• War Bonds- It was an emotional appeal to patriotic citizens to lend the government their money for the war.
• Rationing- a system that established limits on good that were deemed necessary for the military. People were given ration cards for items such as gas and sugar.
• Victory gardens- government encouraged people to grow their own vegetables at home since food was being rationed. About 20 million gardens were grown in the U.S. producing 1/3 of the vegetables in the U.S.
• Office of War Information- created pro-Allied anti-Axis propaganda through movies, posters, and radio
• Office of Price Administration- fought inflation during the war by freezing prices on most goods
• War Production Board- decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries.
• Rosie the Riveter- became a symbol of women who worked in factories during the World War II.
• Bracero Program- a program to bring temporary workers from Mexico to the U.S. from 1942-1964.
• It was originally created to help with the labor shortage during WWII.
• Nuremburg Trials- the Allies put 24 Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against humanity, against peace, and war crimes.
Internment
• Executive Order 9066- issued by FDR to require Japanese Americans to relocate to interior internment camps away from Western coastal regions.
• Internment- After Pearl Harbor, this was forceful removal and confinement of all Japanese Americans from the West coast to relocation centers.