Commack Schools



TURNING POINTS IN WORLD WAR IIDecember 7, 1941: “A Date that Will Live in Infamy”87 years after Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and the Treaty of Kanagawa forcefully opened up Japanese Ports to American trade; a powerful Imperial Japan looked to expand its growing empire to control Asia and the Pacific. The United States’ presence, and their trade embargo on Japan, stood in Japan’s way. German victories over the Dutch and the French in 1940, and Great Britain’s precarious military position in both Europe and in Asia encouraged the Japanese to project their influence into Southeast Asia. Particularly attractive were the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and British controlled Malaya, regions rich in raw materials such as tin, rubber, and petroleum. In September 1940, moving with the blessings of the German puppet government of Vichy France, Japanese forces began to occupy French Indochina (now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). The government of the United States responded to that situation by freezing Japanese assets in the United States and by imposing a complete embargo on oil. Economic pressure, however, did not persuade the Japanese to accede to U.S. demands, which included the withdrawal of Japanese forces from China and Southeast Asia. To Japanese militarists who preached loyalty before dishonor, succumbing to the United States’ demands or engaging the United States in war, war seemed the lesser of two evils. -381003429000The Japanese hoped to destroy American naval capacity in the Pacific with an attack at Pearl Harbor and to clear the way for the conquest of southeast Asia and the creation of a defensive Japanese perimeter that would thwart the Allies’ ability to strike at Japan’s homeland. The order to plan for a surprise attack against the United States was passed down to the extraordinary commander of Japan’s Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Yamamoto had studied at Harvard University and had traveled across America; and he objected passionately to the idea of war with America- so passionately that threats were made to assassinate him. It was a bad idea, Yamamoto told his generals. He had seen the capabilities of American factories and its plentiful natural resources while in America. Yamamoto predicted to his superiors, “If I am told to fight, [Japan] shall run wild for the first six months or a year, but I have no confidence for the second and third years.” His superiors looked past his protests. Yamamoto came up with a bold first strike on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, nearly 4,000 miles from Japan and a location completely unsuspecting of attack. On December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,345 American servicemen, 57 civilians, and wounded 1,282. Twenty-one major U.S. vessels were either sunk, or heavily damaged including 8 battleships; 188 U.S. aircraft were also destroyed. President Roosevelt Addresses Congress and asks for a Declaration of War (12/8/1941) “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan... The United States was at peace with that nation, and at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor, looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, but always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER TOJO CLAIMS U.S. FORCED JAPAN TO GO TO WAR“Even a small, militarily weak nation would have taken up arms against the US if it had been handed a note like the one that the US government just presented to Japan. That note demanded that Japan immediately withdraw from China and from Indochina (Vietnam). The United States delivered this note knowing full well that Japan would have to reject it. In May of 1941 when the US stopped all oil shipments to Japan, she was forced to attack her neighbors and take the oil she needed… Indeed the question of how to get Japan to fire the first shot had been debated in Washington D.C. It seems not unreasonable to conclude that the American note was the throwing down of a challenge to Japan.” 1) Compare and contrast the perspectives of Franklin Roosevelt and the Japanese Foreign Minister after Pearl Harbor. How does each leader present a different version of the event? Who is right? 2) Evaluate what changed as a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On December 11, 1941, though not compelled to do so by treaty, Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States. It was all the United States needed to enter the European Theater. The United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union came together in a coalition that liked two vast and interconnected theaters of war, the European and Asian-Pacific theaters.After Pearl Harbor the Japanese swept on to one victory after another. The Japanese coordinated their strike against Pearl Harbor with simultaneous attacks against the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Midway Island, Hong Kong, Thailand, and British Malaya. For the next year the Japanese military maintained the initiative in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, capturing Borneo, Burma, the Dutch East Indies, and several Aleutian Islands off Alaska. Australia and New Zealand were in striking distance. The slogan under which Japan pursued expansion in Asia was “Asia for Asians,” implying that the Japanese would lead Asian peoples to independence from the despised European imperialists and the international order they dominated. In this struggle for Asian independence, Japan reasoned that it required the region’s resources. The appeal to Asian independence at first struck a responsive chord throughout the region, but conquest and brutal occupation made it soon obvious to most Asians that the real agenda was “Asia for the Japanese.” Aug. 23, 1942- Feb. 2, 1943: The Battle for StalingradBritish Historian Sir Ian Kershaw on WWII on the Eastern Front: “Oh, a completely different sort of war to the war in the West. The war in Western Europe was, from Hitler’s point of view much more of a conventional war…what I mean is that the treatment of the enemy was relatively lenient. In the case of the war in the East- against the Soviet Union- it was a very different situation. There, Bolshevism was seen as the ideological arch-enemy, and the people who were seen as being behind Bolshevism were the Jews who were, of course, the racist enemy number one for this Nazi regime. And so, right from the very beginning, racial annihilation – genocide – was built into the equation. And Hitler said when he spoke to his Generals on the 30th of March 1941, preparing for this war in the East, that this will be a different sort of war, this will be what he called “a war of annihilation.” So that type of absolute extreme brutality and ruthlessness, of taking no prisoners of war, was there right in the planning of Operation Barbarossa… What happens when you begin to think about the war in the East is that you can begin to realize visions of Lebensraum, and…you encounter the geographical fact that the vast bulk of European Jews lives in the space between Poland and western Russia. The planning not just for the elimination of the Jewish population in the areas which [the Nazis] occupied, but the strategic long-term removal by death, starvation or displacement of the Slavic population.”The German invasion of the Soviet Union- Operation Barbarossa- had begun in June 1941, and not long after, the first major military setback for the Third Reich occurred on the outskirts of Moscow at the end of 1941. Left in poor defensive positions, the Soviet Union counter-attacked and drove the Germans back. The reasons for the scale of the defeat included the Germans' lack of preparation for the harshness of the Russian winter, and the overextension of their supply lines across their newly-captured areas. Hitler was unwilling to consider retreat.Despite heavy German losses, Hitler continued to make repeated "no retreat" demands to the troops. When the summer of 1942 arrived, Hitler sent his Sixth Army with the command to capture the city of Stalingrad, a major industrial center on Russia’s Volga River. The Battle of Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942. It would last six months. The Luftwaffe (Germany’s air force) went on nightly bombing raids that set much of the city ablaze and reduced the rest to rubble. The situation looked desperate. Rather than surrender, Stalin hold his commanders to defend the city- named after him- to the death.By early November 1942, Germans controlled 90 percent of the ruined city. But then, another Russian winter set in. On November 19, Soviet troops outside the city launched a counterattack. Closing in around Stalingrad, they trapped the Germans inside and cut off their supplie lines. German generals begged Hitler to order a retreat, but still he refused. The city was to be held at all costs, Hitler affirmed. -361951524000On February 2, 1942, some 90,000 frostbitten, half-starved German troops surrendered to the Soviets. These pitiful survivors were all that remained of an army of 330,000. Stalingrad’s defense had cost the Soviets over one million soldiers. The city was 99 percent destroyed. But most significantly to the outcome of the war, the Germans were now put on the defensive, and the Soviets began pushing them steadily westward. Today, Stalingrad remains one of the bloodiest battles in modern history. -4572018351600German General Friedrich Paulus, radio message to Adolf Hitler (1/24/1943)“Troops without ammunition or food. Effective command no longer possible. 18,000 wounded without any supplies or dressings or drugs. Further defense senseless. Collapse inevitable. Army requests immediate permission to surrender in order to save lives of remaining troops.” Adolf Hitler’s radio message in response to Paulus, 1/24/1943“Surrender is forbidden. Sixth Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution towards the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world.”Message from Hitler to his generals, Feb 1, 1943- one day before the German Army surrendered at Stalingrad.“How can they be so cowardly? I don’t understand it. What is life? Life is the Nation. The individual must die anyway. Beyond the life of the individual is the Nation. How can anyone be afraid of this moment of death?3) Evaluate what changed as a result of the Battle of Stalingrad. 27514552730500June 6, 1944: “D-Day”The first brief communique was electrifying:''London, Tuesday, June 6, 1944: Under command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.'' The world caught its breath. Not since 1688 had an invading army crossed the English Channel, but now it was happening- “Operation Overlord,” “D-Day,” the all-out attack on Hitler's fortress Europe. The first assault wave hit the beaches of Normandy at 6:30 a.m.D-Day was an operation so mammoth that once in motion, there was no turning back. Thousands of men were involved in the planning of the assault, and thousands kept it secret. The campaign was a triumph of intelligence and teamwork. While a phantom army maneuvered about in northern England threatening to cross at Calais, the real assault took place on the beaches along a 50-mile stretch of fortified coastline in Normandy. Five thousand ships carried 150,000 men and nearly 30,000 vehicles across the English Channel, one of the most unpredictable and dangerous bodies of water in the world.“Think about Omaha Beach from the standpoint of the young men. The ramp (of the boat) is about to drop. The sights and sounds all around provide the context of hell.” -General Tommy Franks, retired Commander of the US Central Command781051524000 On many counts, the attack went as planned. But the terrible conditions and enormous challenges of the attack also brought about terrible, fatal, human errors. Hampered by overcast skies, a great umbrella of troop transports overshot their drop zone by miles. Sixty percent of all equipment parachuted in was lost. Despite heavy losses, the Allied troops took the Normandy beaches in France. Within two weeks, the Allies landed a million soldiers in France and began to move inland towards Germany. On August 25, 1944, the Allies entered Paris freeing France from Nazi rule. Within a month, all of France was free.4) Evaluate what changed as a result of D-Day. -552458191500VICTORY AT A COSTAllied Casualties:Estimated 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded, or went missing during the Battle of Normandy.Over 209,000 Allied causalities. That’s 70x more people than were killed in the 9/11/01 attacks.Over 125,800 American casualties. That’s 3x more than the population of Commack.Over 2,000 casualties on Omaha Beach alone.It was the largest combined land-water operation in history. It should never be forgotten that, of all events of our tumultuous 20th century, perhaps the most important was the defeat of the Nazi Empire; and for a long and very dark time, for nearly five years, that outcome was by no means certain. D-Day was the turning point. It was “day one” of the final drive to an Allied victory. It opened up a critical second front, and forced the Germans to fight a two-front war against the Allies in the West and the Soviet Union in the East. Separately, Allied forces were also invading from Africa in the South. By the spring of 1945, Berlin, the German capital was captured. Early in May 1945, Hitler committed suicide and the Germans surrendered. On May 8, 1945, nearly six years after the German invasion of Poland, the world celebrated “V-E Day”: Victory in Europe Day, as the Allies accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender. But World War II was still not quite finished…Midway (June 1942), Iwo Jima (February 1945), and Okinawa (April 1945)The turning point in the Pacific War came in a naval engagement near Midway Island on June 4, 1942. The United States prevailed there partly because U.S. aircraft carriers had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although the United States had few carriers, it did have a secret weapon: a code-breaking operation known as Magic, which enabled a cryptographer monitoring Japanese radio frequencies to discover the plan to attack Midway. The U.S. destruction of four Japanese aircraft carriers demonstrated their superiority in the Pacific, stopping the Japanese advance and putting the Allies on the offensive. They adopted an island-hopping strategy, capturing islands from which they could make direct air assaults on Japan. Deadly, tenacious fighting characterized these battles in which the United States and its allies gradually retook islands in the Marianas and the Philippines and then, early in 1945, moved toward areas more threatening to Japan: Iwo Jima and Okinawa.1229360666750022098013335000The fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa was savage. Innovative U.S. amphibious tactics were matched by the vigor and sacrifice of Japanese soldiers and pilots. On Okinawa the Japanese introduced the kamikaze- pilots who “volunteered” to fly planes with just enough fuel to reach an Allied ship and dive-bomb into it. In the two-month battle, the Japanese flew nineteen hundred kamikaze missions, sinking dozens of ships and killing more than five thousand U.S. soldiers. The kamikaze, and the defense mounted by Japanese forces and the 110,000 Okinawan civilians who died refusing to surrender, convinced many people in the United States that the Japanese would never surrender. However, the conquest of Iwo Jima and Okinawa brought the Japanese homeland within easy reach of U.S. strategic bombers. 5) Evaluate what changed as a result of the Battle of Midway.6) Evaluate what changed as a result of the Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. 7) Overall, compare and contrast the war in Europe’s Western Front with the war in Europe’s Eastern Front. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download