UNIT 3 TURMOIL AND TRAGEDY



UNIT 3 TURMOIL AND TRAGEDY271933-1945WORLD WAR II - BATTLESEuropeNorth AfricaPacificNOTESHISTORY 12LEPOREOctober 29, 2012WAR IN EUROPEFall of France and Battle of BritainInvasion of Poland and NorwayAllied and Axis Strategy French and British believed their greatest strength was defence and through the Maginot Line and the Royal Navy adopted a defensive strategyGermany developed blitzkrieg (lightening war) to suit strategy of conquest that was based on surprise, speed, and weight of attack Invasion of PolandSeptember 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland launching 63 divisions and 2,000 aircraft against the Poles 20 divisions and 6000 aircraft and by September 17 the Poles were defending Warsaw, Lublin, LvovSeptember 17 Soviets invaded Poland to occupy eastern PolandOctober 1 Germans enter Warsaw and Poles surrender the next daySoviets gain a front line further to the west in the event of a German attack and wanted to improve the defensive position of Leningrad with territory in Finland but the Finnish refused and the Soviets invaded (Winter War)Finnish territories were added to the Soviet Union in March 1940Phoney War and Invasion of Norwayafter Poland’s defeat the French and British were inactive militarily on land for six months until the invasion of Norway in April 1940 > phoney warMarch 1940 British and French decided to tighten blockade of Germany by planning a landed invasion in Norway to seize the port of Narvik through which Sweden shipped iron ore to Germany but Hitler invaded firstApril 9 German troops landed in Norwegian ports and British plan failedNorway surrendered and a puppet government established under QuislingMay 10 Chamberlain resigned and Churchill became PMFall of France (refer to map MHMW p.67, TCH p.160, GF p.117)Maginot Line and armies behind it provided strong defence only as far north as the border of Luxembourg, French and the British Expeditionary Force protected northeast but the area between the armies in the northeast and the Maginot Line was left unprotected because it was felt that the terrain of the River Meuse and Ardennes Mountains was impassableMay 10, 1940 Germany attacked France and destroyed most of its airforce, tanks moved through the Ardennes and captured bridges along the Meuse and then punched a hole in the French front line, the roads were now open and armoured divisions swept through pushing French, British, and Belgian forces against the sea and trapping themChurchill refused to commit the entire air force because he wanted the RAF to defend any future German invasion of BritainMay 28 Belgian surrenderedMay 27-June 4 Operation Dynamo: 330,000 French and British soldiers were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk June 10 Mussolini attacked in the southeast but was halted by the FrenchJune 22 new PM Marshall Petain signed an armistice with GermanyGerman occupied the whole of the north and the Atlantic coast and allowed Petain to govern southern France from VichyCharles de Gaulle escaped to France and led the Free French in EnglandFrance was defeated because the of their defensive strategy, the Maginot Line was useless because Hitler bypassed it, they deployed tanks in such way as to slow them down to the speed of the infantry they supported, airforce was inferior to Luftwaffe, internal political divisions within France Battle of Britain (refer to map TCH p.162)Operation Sea Lion was Hitler’s plan to invade Britain by land, sea, and air forces but needed to establish German air superiority over the English Channel if the plan was to succeedGermany had 975 bombers, 326 dive bombers, and 930 fighters while Britain had 650 fighters > Spitfire, Hurricane (fighters) vs Messerschmidts (fighter) and Stukas (bomber)the battle started July 10, 1940 when the Luftwaffe attack convoys in the ChannelAugust 13 the Luftwaffe began a three week attack on British fighter basesbeginning of September British Fighter Command was down to 840 pilots compared to 1,400 in August and young pilots were rushed into service and shot down before replacements could be trainedAugust 23 German bombers mistakenly bombed London and Churchill retaliated by bombing Berlin which prompted Hitler to respond by ordering the Luftwaffe to shift from its strategic attack on airfields to the bombing of London which became known as the blitzthe shift was significant and a turning point in the battle as it spared Fighter Command from possible destruction and provided the RAF with an opportunity to rest and rebuildas Fighter Command was released from defending its bases it began to inflict heavier casualties on the German bombing squadronsGermany’s hopes of air superiority faded so Hitler postponed the invasion several times and finally cancelled Operation Sea Lion in January 1941Germany continued to blitz London which was subjected to intensive bombing from early September to mid-November killing 13,000 other cities were bombed and the raids continued until the end of 1941 killing 43,685 people (20,000 in London)the British won because of their determination and will, the RAF, radar and the Ultra which intercepted and deciphered German signals and gave them advance information about the bombers’ targets significance: the British victory in the Battle of Britain was significant because it was the first time Hitler was denied conquest, it meant the war would be long and this was an advantage for Britain once the U.S. entered the war, and it gave Britain and future Allies a base from which to launch an invasion of EuropeBritish in the Mediterranean and North Africa (refer to map TCH p.173)November 1940 British attack Italian fleet at Taranto damaging three of six battleshipsBritish help Selassie free Ethiopia from Italian occupation by Nov 1941September 1940 Italians advance from Libya against British positions in Egypt but are halted and forced to retreat > by early February 1941 the British capture 130,000 ItaliansHitler responds by dispatching General Rommel and his rapid offensive in April pushed the British towards Egypt and surrounded the port of Tobrukby the end of May 1941 Britain’s position was not very secure as the Luftwaffe continued its blitz and German submarines were threatening the Atlantic sea routes to the Americas and the British Empire along which most of Britain’s food and arms are shipped > the Battle of the AtlanticWAR IN EUROPEBarbarossa and Battle of the AtlanticBritish in the Mediterranean and North Africa (refer to map TCH p.173)November 1940 British attack Italian fleet at Taranto damaging three of six battleshipsBritish help Selassie free Ethiopia from Italian occupation by Nov 1941September 1940 Italians advance from Libya against British positions in Egypt but are halted and forced to retreat > by early February 1941 the British capture 130,000 ItaliansHitler responds by dispatching General Rommel and his rapid offensive in April pushed the British towards Egypt and surrounded the port of Tobrukby the end of May 1941 Britain’s position was not very secure as the Luftwaffe continued its blitz and German submarines were threatening the Atlantic sea routes to the Americas and the British Empire along which most of Britain’s food and arms are shipped > the Battle of the AtlanticEastern Europe (refer to map TCH p.165)August 1940 Soviets absorb Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia after seizing Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from RomaniaBulgaria, Hungary and Romania become German client statesSeptember 1940 Germany signed Tripartite Pact with Japan and Italy in which each country promised to support the others if they were attacked by any new enemy > Hungary, Slovakia, Romania joined laterOctober 1940 Mussolini invaded Greece but the Greeks resisted with British assistance > Hitler saw the British as a threat to the oilfields of Romania and decided to evict them from GreeceApril 6 Hitler attacked Yugoslavia and Greece > Yugoslavia surrendered on April 16 and Athens fell on April 27 forcing the British to evacuateGreece was occupied by mostly Italian forces and Yugoslavia was replaced by areas occupied by Italy, Germany and a puppet state in CroatiaBarbarossa (refer to map GF p.122, TCH p.168, MHMW p.67)Operation Barbarossa had three goals: implement lebensraum control the wheat of the Ukraine, oil of the Caucasus and other resources destroy communismJune 22, 1941 Germany invaded Soviet Union to begin Operation Barbarossa > Hitler viewed it as the best time to attack before the Soviets consolidated their strengthHitler confident Soviets could be conquered in approximately six months because of blitzkrieg, weakened Red Army due to Stalin’s purges and minorities in western Soviet Union (Ukrainians) would not support Stalindespite evidence Stalin thought the invasion was a bluff to mask a German invasion of BritainGermany’s divisions were divided into three groups:Army Group North (Leeb) was responsible for capturing Leningrad which was the center of the Soviets’ armament industryArmy Group Center (Brock) was responsible for capturing MoscowArmy Group South (Rundstedt) was responsible for capturing the Ukraine wheat fields and Caucasus oilthe three army groups punched holes in the Soviet defenses and the Red Army retreated on all fronts within weeks the Germans had destroyed 5000 aircraft, 1500 tanks and more than 3 million Soviets were killed or taken prisonersoldiers and citizens who welcomed the Germans as liberators were tortured, used as forced labour or executedStalin implemented a scorched earth policy by ordering Soviet armies to hold on until defeat was imminent and then retreat and destroy anything the Germans may use (villages, crops, livestock, poison wells) so they would not have resources to live off > this strategy was intended to give up territory in order to gain timeArmy Group north reached Leningrad and laid siege to it until Jan 27 1944August 1 the Germans called a three week halt because they made so much progress that they did not have the human resources to supply all three battle groups at the same time > the strategy meeting wasted good campaigning weatherafter resuming the offensive at the end of August the Germans capture Kiev and laid siege to Sevastopol in the Crimea > Germans decided to capture Moscow and force surrender before the winter set inOctober 1941 Army Group Center launches an attack on Moscow and almost succeed in encircling the city by December 5 but ran out of troops and supplies December 6 General Zhukov launched a Soviet counter-attack and pushed Germans away from the city > the Germans halted the attack on December 8 > space, snow, and time saved Moscow the German army was not prepared for a winter campaign and suffered as a result > 100,000 cases of frostbiteby December 1941 German armies had advanced beyond the Sea of Azov in the south, surrounded Leningrad in the north and were outside of Moscow despite losing 40% of is industrial and food production areas, half its armed forces with almost all of its equipment, the Ukraine and a third of its population the Soviets would not surrenderthe German’s failure to defeat the USSR placed them in a precarious situation as they did not have the resources to fight a prolonged warHitler underestimated the number of Soviet forces, the campaign would be completed prior to winter, and that he would have control of Soviet industries but Stalin had moved the factories eastsome German generals realized that the armed forces had attempted too much and questioned whether Germany could support three separate army groups operating in the USSR at the same timeas Operation Barbarossa came to a temporary halt in early December the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl HarbourPearl Harbour (refer to map GF p.109 & 143, TCH p.171, MHMW p.73)December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, Hawaiithe Japanese calculated on a short three-four month war to give them the resources and living space needed to complete their industrialization and like the Germans were not able to fight a long war and counted on a swift victory followed by a favourable negotiationsalthough technically neutral the U.S. supported the Allies through the destroyers-for-bases deal, cash and carry and lend-lease programs, rearmament of the Anglo-French forces after Dunkirk and war patrols at seaDecember 11, 1941 Germany declared war on the U.S. so the Americans decided to fight Germany first as it was potentially the most dangerous enemy Battle of the Atlantic 1941-1943the critical factor in a prolonged war is the mass production of war materielBritain’s ability to stay in the war depended on getting food, fuel, and raw materials from North America and it was this weakness that Germany sought to exploit through submarine warfarethe battle was fought in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine wolf packs and Allied merchant convoys protected by naval escorts and anti-submarine aircraftGerman U-boats (Unterseeboot) came close to forcing Britain out of the war during the period from 1941-1943 as they were immune to detection except in the vicinity of other shippingBritish imports fell from an annual 50 million tones to 22 million tones1941 1299 merchants ships sank and 1942 1644 were lostan added strain on shipping was the Arctic convoys to send aid to the Soviets as the route was within range of German aircraft and surface ships100 ships and 2800 crew members were lost from 40 convoysit took time to organize an effective convoy system the heyday of German U-boats was July to December 1941 and beginning in January 1942 the U-boats controlled the sea lanes from Quebec City to Bermudathe critical stages of the battle occurred between August 1942-May 1943 when German submarines were deployed across the sea lanes in wolf packsbut sweeping back and forth across the ocean they encountered more and larger convoy escorts and maritime patrols craft equipped with sonar detection and acoustic homing torpedoesby the end of 1943 the Allies had several escort groups at sea each with an aircraft carrier and the latest anti-submarine warfare devices to deal the U-boats in the Atlantic1069 of 1162 German submarines were sunk or surrenderedthe last German U-boat victory was in March but by May Canadian and British escorts sank 41 U-boats which was one-quarter of its submarine strength and as a result the Germans withdrew its U-boats and conceded the sea lanes to the Alliessignificance: the significance of the Allied victory meant that goods from the U.S. continued to reach the Allies (Britain and USSR) in their war against Germany and the Axis powersas the sea lanes became more secure the Allies were able to focus soldiers and materiel on the battle fronts and begin planning the invasion of Europe which was the Normandy Landings in June 1944WAR IN EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICABattle of Stalingrad and Battle of El AlameinThe Allies: U.S.S.R, U.S.A., BritainStalin wanted Britain and the U.S. to attack Germany by opening a second front in Western Europe (France) to relieve pressure on the USSR but the Americans and British were not ready to launch such an invasionRoosevelt also wanted to strike directly at Germany through France but were not ready to undertake the attack until at least the spring of 1943Churchill wanted to begin with strikes against North Africa, Italy, and the Balkans as they were also not ready to open a second front in France a bombing campaign was the only direct action against Germany in 19421942 was the turning of the tide with Allied victories in the battles of Midway in the Pacific, El Alamein in Egypt and Stalingrad in southern USSRBattle of Stalingrad (refer to map MHMW p.69, TCH p.172, GF p.122 & 133)March 1942 Red Army counter-attacks on German lines had been halted Spring 1942 German renewed their offensive towards the industrial complex of Stalingrad which was a strategic transportation and communication hub and its capture would cut off the land route providing the Soviets supplies from Britain and the U.S. and provide the Germans with a base for attacks on the Soviets second industrial centre east of the Ural Mountains which produced most of the Soviets war equipment September 1, 1942 Germany began its attack on Stalingrad by bombing the city and the German Sixth Army under Field Marshal von Paulus began leveling the southern part of the city over the next four monthsHitler divided his forces: one group to capture Stalingrad and another to advance further south to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus but this group was halted in October before reaching its objective > the splitting of the forces was an error that cost the Germans the battlefierce house-to-house fighting took place in Stalingrad where buildings were taken and retaken until they were totally destroyed by gunfireas the battle for the city waged the Soviets built up their forces to the north and south of Stalingrad and in November General Zhukov attacked along the German flanks encircling the German Sixth Army > striking deep behind the German lines they completed a pincer movement in December and cut off Stalingrad from the outsidethe Soviet victory was a prelude to the USSR’s counter offensive in 1943Hitler refused to allow the von Paulus to retreat and ordered the Luftwaffe to supply the army by air but it was unable to provide the 500 tonnes of daily supplies that was required and instead only managed 65 tonnesvon Paulus surrendered on February 2 1943 with 90,000 troopssignificance: Battle of Stalingrad September-February 2 1942 was a turning point and the significance of the Soviet victory was the loss of some of the best German units, Hitler was denied access to the Caucasus oil fields, the supply route carrying supplies from Britain and U.S. via Iran to the USSR remained open, Germany was now forced on the defensive, it began the road to liberation of Eastern Europe > the first time a Germany army was defeated in EuropeBattle of El Alamein (refer to map MHMW p.69, TCH p.173, GF p.133)while the battle for Stalingrad was at its height the Germans suffered a serious reversal in North Africa as the 10 day battle at El Alamein near the Suez Canal was the beginning of the liberation of North AfricaItalian forces opened the war in North Africa when they attacked British forces in Egypt September 1940 but the British Eighth Army counter-attacked in December and pushed Italian forces back into Libya by February 1941 but General Erwin Rommel and the German Afrika Corps attacked and advanced through Libya into Egypt March-April 1941British Eighth Army advanced through Libya November 1941-January 1942 but the Afrika Corps forces the Eighth Army back into Egypt January-June 1942 and pushed the British Eighth Army back to El Alamein sixty miles from the Suez CanalU.S. and Britain agree to a joint invasion of North Africa called Operation Torch > Churchill wanted to relieve the pressure on the Eighth Army and Roosevelt wanted to be involved in an offensive campaign > American generals were concerned it may drain men and resources and delay the opening of a second front in Western EuropeGeneral Bernard Montgomery commander of Eighth Army had 230,000 men and 1,444 tanks while Rommel had 80,000 troops and 540 tanksNovember 4 British tanks broke through Rommel’s defences and pushed his Axis forces back through Libyasignificance: Battle of El Alamein October 23-Novemeber 4 1942 was a turning point and the significance of the victory was the Suez Canal remained in Allied hands, Hitler was denied access to the oil in the Middle East, it proved to the Allies that Hitler’s best forces could be beatenAllied Landings in North Africa – Operation TorchNovember 8 Operation Torch began with the Americans landing in Morocco and the British in Algeria after the Allied landing in North Africa German and Italian troops occupied Vichy France (southern France) American, British advances towards Tunisia faltered and Allied Commander-in-Chief Major-General Dwight D. Eisenhower called a halt Christmas EveFebruary Allied forces resumed the offensive on Tunisia and by May 13 they controlled Tunisia capturing 130,00 German and Italian troops > Hitler lost thousands of experienced troops that he will sorely miss the Allies now controlled the Mediterranean and North African coastthe Allied victory in North Africa represented a reversal for the Axis powers in a major theatre of war, prepared the way for the liberation of Italy, reopened the routes of the Middle East, proved to Allied forces that the best of Hitler’s forces could be defeated > it was the first American action in alliance with the European powers in this warHitler may have not taken the war in North Africa seriously enough as the Middle East was of great importance strategically to Britain’s empireit was too late to move troops to Britain and prepare to open a second front in France so the Americans and British decided to invade SicilyCasablanca Conference January 1943while the American and British forces were advancing into Tunisia Roosevelt and Churchill meet in Casablanca, Morocco in January 1943 Roosevelt and Churchill discussed Anglo-American strategy and decided a second front in France was still not possible because there was not enough equipment ready to transport the large forces needed for the seaborne assaultRoosevelt and Churchill issued the Casablanca Declaration which stated that they would only accept an unconditional surrender from Germanythe declaration was intended to reassure Stalin that they would not make a separate peace with Germany and leave him to face Hitler alone WAR IN EUROPEInvasion of Italy and Bombing of GermanyInvasion of Italy (refer to map MHMW p.69, TCH p.173, GF p.133)Churchill proposed this strategy as a means of inserting Allied presence into Central Europe but Roosevelt was unhappy because it delayed the invasion of France another year > Americans did not believe Allied armies could bring the enemy to a decisive battle in ItalyJuly 10 1943 British, American, Canadian Armies land in Sicily July 24 Italian army officers depose Mussolini and enter armistice negotiations with the AlliesAugust 17 Allies enter Messina and take control of SicilySeptember 3 Italy signs an armistice with the Allies September 9 the Allies land at Salerno and Taranto in southern ItalySeptember 12 Germans rescue Mussolini and install him as leader of German occupied northern ItalyOctober 1 Allies enter NaplesOctober 13 Italy declares war on Germany as a result the Germans occupy northern Italy and are fighting the Allies who are occupying southern Italythe Germans establish a defensive line from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Adriatic Sea (coast to coast) anchored at the monastery Monte Casino called the Gustav LineNovember 1943-January 1944 the Allies attack the Gustav Line trying to break through but are not successfulAllied Bombing of Europeinstead of establishing a second front in France Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to bomb strategic targets in Germanythe difficulty hitting specific military targets shifted the strategy to the area bombing of larger targets like communications and transportation centres and industrial and power-generation plants and selected cities to delay aircraft fighter production as the size of the air fleets grew other cities came under attack including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and Dresden as it was believed that bombing would directly affect civilian morale and destroy their will to resist but it did not achieve its objectivesEastern Front: Battle at Kursk (refer to map MHMW p.69, TCH p.173)as the Allies bombed German cities and landed troops in Sicily the largest tank battle of the war took place at Kursk July 5-12 1943 as the Germans launched an offensive > it was the last German offensive on the eastern frontGermans were attempting to cut off a Soviet salient and struck at the bulge from Orel to Kharkov > a million soldiers and 2700 tanks were involved Soviet air superiority and their use of anti-tank rackets and weapons brought decisive defeat for the German Panzer corpsafter Kursk the Soviets were able to advance along a broad front of 1200 km with 6 million soldiersby 1944 the Soviets had superiority in weapons on a 5 to 1 ratio except in the air where the ratio was 17 to 1Teheran Conference November 28-December 5 1943Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Teheran, Iran and agreed to establish a second front in France to begin in June 1944Allied efforts in the eastern Mediterranean and Churchill’s proposal to strike for Vienna and the Balkans (Mediterranean Strategy) were set aside as Churchill could not convince Roosevelt of the political danger of permitting the Red Army to liberate Eastern Europe > Roosevelt wanted to leave political matters for post-war conferenceAmericans needed Stalin’s help in Asia against Japan (he agreed to participate at the end of war in Europe) and Roosevelt believed Stalin would be reasonable regarding the future of a liberated Europe so he accepted Stalin’s promise of self-determination and free elections for Europeans after the war but Stalin had not intention of giving up any of the territorial gains the Soviets demanded the re-establishment of its 1939 boundary with Poland so it was decided to restructure Poland by setting its eastern boundary at the Curzon line and compensating the Poles with German territory but no agreement was reached on Poland’s governmentthe spheres of influence that would dominate the post-war world (Cold War) were beginning to take shape at this conference with the British and Americans giving up their interests in Central EuropeWAR IN EUROPENormandy Invasion, Liberation of France, Eastern FrontAllied Bombing of Germany and the Italian Campaignsince the Battle of Britain combat in Western Europe was mostly a battle of the air as the Allies employed strategic bombing in Germany > keep the Allies fighting in the West, limit German ability to wage war by bombing factories and vital facilities and demoralize the enemyby the end of 1943 Allied advance in Italy is slowJanuary 22, 1944 Allied armies landed on the coast of Anzio behind the Gustav Line the main German front in southern Italy May 17 Germans evacuate Monte CasinoJune 5, 1944 Allies enter Rome > the fighting continues until May 2, 1945the importance of the Italian campaign was that it was a prerequisite step for the liberation of Europe and it occupied German troops and made them unavailable to defend France when the Allies attacked in June 1944D-Day and Normandy Campaign (refer to map MHMW p. 71, TCH p.179)the Germans prepared for an attack of the French northern coast and Hitler appointed Rommel to defend the beaches of France and the Lowlands (Belgium and Holland)the German coastal defences, called the Atlantic Wall, included massive concrete bunkers protected by guns and the beaches were heavily minedOperation Overlord: General Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied forces (3 million) whose objective was to secure the beaches, break through the Atlantic Wall and advance to Berlin to meet the SovietsJune 6, 1944 the initial attack began with an amphibious assault when 175,000 men with their equipment landed on several beaches > the Americans were to capture beaches named Utah and Omaha, the British to take Gold and Sword and the Canadians to seize JunoHitler expected the invasion to be in the Calais area and Eisenhower reinforced this idea by bombing the area and setting up dummy camps in southern England facing Calais > as a result when the attack occurred in Normandy Hitler was convinced it was a decoy and held back his heavy armour for the expected attack at Calaisby the end of the day the Allies with the aid of naval bombardment and air assaults held and secured their beaches > by the end of the month 640,000 soldiers were ashore the caution of the Allied commander and fierce resistance from the Germans slowed down their advance in Normandy and throughout July and August the fighting in France, Belgium and Holland was fierceearly August Americans advanced west into Brittany and then east for the Rhine River while the British and other Allied forces advanced towards Belgium and HollandAugust 15 Operation Anvil: Americans land in southern France and advance August 16 the French Resistance in Paris organized an uprising in Paris and with the aid of a French armoured division was able to capture Paris Aug 25Allied armies liberated most of the rest of France and Belgium in Augustby September Americans were near the German border but instead of advancing the Allies decided to pause to refit, refuel, and rest > this allowed the Germans to reinforce their armies and positionan attempt to outflank the German armies at Arnhem (Belgium) on the Rhine River by Montgomery failed Germany launched the first V-2 rockets at London which flied at supersonic speed and contained a tonne of explosives > in seven months more than 500 rockets were launched and almost 3,0000 killed in LondonBattle of the Bulge: December 16 Hitler caught the Allies by surprise with an offensive in the Ardennes and had some initial success December 24 the Allies launched a counter-offensive by bombing German supply lines and by December 26 with the Allies reorganized and advancing the Germans began to fall backHitler’s no withdrawal policy resulted in the loss of 120,000 men, 500 tanks and 1,600 aircrafts in the Battle of the BulgeEastern Front (refer to map MHMW p.71, TCH p.179)January 27, 1944 the Red Army broke the siege of Leningrad but the Germans were able to hold up their advanceRed Army able to advance in the south as they entered Poland in January, recover the Ukraine in April and force the Germans out in the CrimeaJune 22 the Red Army launches a massive offensive across the Eastern Front as they struck the centre of the German front and pushed the Germans back beyond Minsk and by July they had reached Warsawas German resistance stiffened in the centre the Red Army began to advance in the south > August the Soviets signed an armistice with Romania and Bulgaria > October the Red Army advanced into Hungary and Yugoslavia > November the Germans leave Greece and the Red Army surrounded Budapest, Hungaryin the north Finland signed an armistice in September and the Red Army captured the Baltic states and were on the East Prussian borderOctober 9 Churchill visited Moscow to discuss the fate of Central Europe which the Soviet now controlled > Churchill proposed establishing spheres of influence in the Balkans and Central Europe that mirrored the reality of the situation as the Soviets were in control of Central Europe and could not be removed without forceby the beginning of 1945 the Allies pushed the Germans back in the west and east to land that laid between the Rhine and the Vistula River (refer to TCH map p.179)WAR IN EUROPEDefeat of GermanyYalta Conference February 4-11 1945 (refer to map MHMW p.195)Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met at Yalta to discuss Germany after defeatGermany was to be divided into four zones each occupied by an Allied power and France > Berlin was also divided into four zones of occupationGerman industries were to be dismantled and reparations levied Americans and British were more interested in reconstruction in their zones than stripping them of their resources but the Soviets wanted to seize German resources to help rebuild the war-ravaged U.S.S.R.Allies could not reach agreement on whether to levy reparations before or after reconstruction and left it for the Potsdam ConferenceStalin wanted to address the Polish frontier but it was not entirely settledAllies agreed to the disarmament and denazification of Germany and to conduct trials of war criminals at Nuremberg after the warStalin promised free elections and self-determination for the people the Soviets liberated in Eastern and Central Europe > but Stalin was firmly committed to the concept of spheres of influence and defending the U.S.S.R.Stalin promised to enter war against Japan 3 months after victory in Europe League of Nations to be replaced by the United Nations Organization international organizations were created to help post-war recovery: International Monetary Fund (IMF) lend money to countries whose economies were in poor shape and stabilize their currencies World Bank lend money for re-building Europe and to help poor nations International Trading Organization/General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (now called the World Trade Organization (WTO) promote free tradeRoad to Berlin (refer to MHMW p.71, TCH p.191)January-February 1945 Western Allies built up massive formations of troops, armour, and aircraft for an assault towards the Rhine > Hitler diverted most of his forces to the east to hold the front against the SovietsFebruary 13-14 Allies bomb Dresden force the Germans to surrender March Allies launched an attack across the Rhine and met little resistanceApril 11 Western Allies reached the Elbe River while the Soviets broke through the north and advanced across GermanyApril 25 U.S. and Soviet troops met at Torgau on the Elbe Riverend of April Germans were fighting the Soviets in BerlinApril 12 Roosevelt died and was replaced by Vice-President Truman, April 28 Mussolini was shot by partisans, April 30 Hitler committed suicide April 29 German generals surrendered in Italy, May 4 German forces in the north surrender to Montgomery, May 2 Germans in Berlin surrender to SovietsMay 7 General Jodl surrendered all German forces at RheimsPotsdam Conference July-August 1945Churchill, Truman, Stalin met to discuss post-war issues and plan a peace conference (it never happened) > Clement Atlee replaced Churchill as PMAllied cooperation came to an end as Stalin and Truman disagreed on many issues such as the treatment of Germany and Poland and the conference was the origins of the cold war between the U.S. and USSR > the atomic bomb is successfully tested in New Mexico July 17Stalin had no intentions of allowing the Americans or British to interfere with his plans for Eastern Europe which was occupied by Soviet troops > he paved the way for a Communist takeover in Poland by arresting non-Communists leaders and assisting the Communist Party establish a provisional government > Western Allies were unable to resist the moveas decided at Yalta Germany was divided into four occupation zones as was Berlin > Austria was separated from Germany and also jointly occupiedAllies agreed that Germany should be administered by a Control Council made up of the four military commanders of the occupied zones but disagreements on how to administer Germany between the Western Allies and the Soviets eventually led to a splitAllies agreed Germany would be purged of its Nazis (denazification) > SS members would be put on trial as well as wartime leaders of the Nazi Party and the army before an Inter-Allied Special Tribunal at Nuremberg6 million former Nazi members were interviewed, twenty-four major Nazi leaders were brought to trial for crimes against humanity while 50, 000 were brought to trial locally Goring committed suicide, twelve given death sentences, three given life imprisonment, four given 10-20 years in prison and three were acquittedWAR IN THE PACIFICPearl Harbour and Japanese OffensivePacific War 1937-1941 Japan vs Chinathe Pacific War had its origins in the struggle between Japan, China and the USSR over the mineral resources of Korea and Manchuriathe Pacific War started when the Japanese invaded northern China in July 1937 in an attempt to destroy Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (Kuomintang) forcesafter the Japanese invaded China Chiang Kai-shek withdrew his Nationalist forces up the Yangtze River to Chongqing (Chungking) (refer to GF p.109) where he was safe from Japanese attack and continued to receive aid from British, American and Soviet allies > Soviet supplies came down the northern road from Turkestan while American and British supplies came by road from Burma (the supply route was called the Burma Road)by 1939 Japan was in control of most of eastern China which provided them with vast foodstuffs and resources but were unable to destroy Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang who were unwilling to agree to peacein order to force Chiang's Nationalists to surrender the Japanese planned to cut off the supply routes to Chongqing by capturing the caravan routes in the north through Xinjiang and the Burma Road (refer to MHMW p.73) > this would mean risking an expansion of the Pacific war (against the USSR, Britain, and the U.S.)but if successful would force Chiang to acknowledge Japanese control in Manchuriathe Japanese army struck north and attacked the Soviet armies in Vladivostok and Mongolia but were not successfulafter land and air attacks against the USSR were unsuccessful the Japanese adopted a naval strategy that would give them control of Southeast Asia and its mineral resources (especially oil) > the main battle plan called for a simultaneous strike against all foreign colonial possessions in Asia with the main thrust directed at the mineral wealth of Malaya, the Philippines, and Dutch East Indiesonce the imperial powers were driven out of Asia the Japanese planned to fortify an arc of islands stretching out into the Pacific toward North America as an outer defence perimeter (refer to map GF p.143) > attempts to break through would result in heavy losses and the imperial powers would negotiate an end to the war> the major objective was to gain recognition for the Japanese right to Manchuria Japan realized it could not remain in the occupied territories indefinitely as they did not have the forces or posses the resources to fight a long war against the U.S. so the whole plan depended on forcing negotiations after the first six months of warPrelude to Pearl HarbourJapanese Foreign Minister Matsuoko Yosuke concludes that the USSR would defeat Germany in a prolonged war after visiting Stalin and signs a non-aggression pact with the Soviets April 13 1941 > this gives the Soviets and Japanese a single front to fight in the event of a general Pacific warJuly 1941 Japan seized French air bases in Indo-China (France defeated June 1940) as now able to conduct air strikes against Malaya, Burma, and the Philippines after the Japanese occupation of Indo-China U.S., Britain and the Dutch East Indies imposed sanctions on Japan that included oil and as their fuel supply dwindled were forced into negotiations with the U.S. > by the summer of 1941 the oil shortage was so critical that Japan decided that if a solution to the fuel problem was not found by the end of November war would result and the Japanese would have to attack to seize the oil resources in Southeast Asiathe Japanese wanted to force the pace of negotiations and were at first prepared to give up some of their mainland possessions but that changed when General Tojo became PM in October 1941 as he was not prepared to give up any of the territory conquered by the armythe American tactic was to draw the talks out as long as possible to enable the maximum military forces to gather in Manila and Singapore before hostilities broke out > the Americans demanded that the Japanese respect the territorial integrity of China and withdraw from their occupation zones and refused to recognize Japan's right to large parts of China (ie Manchuria)November 25, 1941 Roosevelt sent a final ultimatum to the Japanese demanding their withdrawal from the Asian mainland and knew the result would likely be war but he was informed by intelligence sources that during negotiations the Japanese invasion fleet had been put to seaAmerican fighter planes were sent to Guam and Midway and secret war warnings went out to U.S. military commanders in the Pacific and Manila (Clark Field airbase) and Singapore (British naval base) went on high alertPearl Harbour and the Japanese Offensive December 1941-June 1942the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour was the first stage of the Japanese offensive to capture essential fuel and mineral resources in Southeast Asia > the Japanese calculated on a short, victorious conquest of Southeast Asia that would expel the Western imperial powers, bring an end to their support of Chiang Kai-shek, and force the Chinese to negotiate a settlement of Manchuria > the only military force that stood in their way was the American Pacific Fleet in Pearl HarbourJapanese launched its attack across a 10,000 km arc from Hawaii to Singapore and Manila striking Pearl Harbour, Hong Kong, Rangoon, Manila, and Midway (while still in occupation of northern China, Korea and Indo-China) > this was the beginning of six months of continuous victories that threw the colonial powers out of AsiaPearl Harbour December 7, 1941Japanese attack force commanded by Admiral Yamamoto with six aircraft carriers, two battleships, and other warships and submarines left Japan at the end of November and arrived undetected within 600 km of Pearl Harbourfirst wave of attack occurred 7:55 am when 200 Japanese planes bombed battleships moored side by side on Battleship Row and was followed by a second wave of 180 planes at 8:40 am and concluded at 9:45 amfour American battleships had been sunk > the Arizona sank with a thousand crew members > another four battleships were severely damaged > ten other warships were sunk or damagedAmerican airforce suffered more damage than the naval forces as two-thirds of the air force (200 planes) was destroyed > 2403 Americans killedthe Japanese lost 5 submarines, and 29 planes (out of 360)the attack on Pearl Harbour was intended to immobilize the U.S. Pacific Fleet by destroying its battleships and aircraft carriers and although many of the battleships had been sunk or damaged and out of service the aircraft carriers were not effected because they were not in port > the Lexington and Enterprise were ferrying fighters to Wake and Midway Islandsalthough the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour was crippled it was not destroyed and the survival of the aircraft carriers was significant as it was a major factor in defeating the Japanese in the Pacific War (ie Midway, Leyte Gulf)December 8 Roosevelt declared war on Japan as did BritainDecember 11 Germany and Italy honoured their agreement with Japan (Tripartite Pact) and declared war on U.S. > Hitler's decision to declare war on the U.S. is questionable as the American public may have insisted on fighting only the Japanese and the alliance between the U.S. and Britain may never have resulted to ultimately defeat Germanythe U.S. decided on a Europe First strategy as they believed Germany was the most dangerous enemy because of its industrial capacity and therefore gave priority to the European theatre which meant maintaining a defensive posture against Japan until enough war materiel and personnel was available to fight major campaigns on both sides of the globethe attack on Pearl Harbour was questionable as the American fleet had been unable to stop Japanese expansion in Asia, the aircraft carriers were not in harbour and the ships that were damaged were quickly prepared and put back into action, it may have been more effective to destroy American oil-storage facilities which would have delayed American involvement in the Pacific War longer than the destruction of ships and aircraftsJapanese Offensive December 1941-June 1942 (refer to map GF p.143, MHMW p.73 &75, TCH p.171)in addition to the attack on Pearl Harbour the Japanese launched a series of offensives on the Philippines (U.S.), Hong Kong (Britain), Malaya (Britain)Japanese bombed American positions on the Philippines and destroyed Clark Field leaving the Philippines without air defences > they attacked the British in Hong Kong by land and air and forced the Scottish, Canadian and Indian forces to surrender in two weeks > they landed troops in Thailand and advanced towards Malaya to cut off the Burma Road and capture the British naval base at SingaporeJapanese air force bombed Guam, Wake Island, and Midway (U.S. bases) and captured Guam December 10 and Wake Island December 23January 1942 Japanese captured Dutch East Indies (Netherlands) February 15 Japanese captured Singapore and 80,000 men May 6 Japanese captured the Philippines and 110, 000 Filipinos and 30,000 AmericansMay Japanese captured Burma (Britain) cutting off Chiang Kai-shek’s supply route (Burma Road)together with their other conquests in the Pacific islands the Japanese held a vast empire on the mainland of Asia, in the East Indies and dispersed over the sea and called it the Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (MHMW p.73)WAR IN THE PACIFICMidwayDoolittle Raid April 18 1942fifteen American B-25 bombers dropped bombs on Tokyo destroying a few buildings and causing few casualties > the saturation of the airwaves with radio signals allowed the Americans to break the Japanese codes and as a result the Allies were informed about Japanese plans for the rest of the warthe fact bombs were dropped on the home islands had a profound effect on morale in Japan and the U.S.the most significant result of the Doolittle raid was Japan’s decision to capture Midway Island to serve as a forward post in the Pacific defence perimeter > from Midway reconnaissance planes could warn Japan of potential threats to the home islands (refer to GF p.137)Battle of the Coral Sea May 6-8 1942Japanese naval units were recalled from the Indian Ocean so that they could escort invasion forces against Australia prior to the Midway operation but the invasion was turned back after a fierce naval battle in the Coral Seait was an air battle supported by aircraft carriers > although there was no decisive winner it could be viewed as a setback for the Japanese because it prevented them from taking Port Moresby (south coast of New Guinea) from which they could bomb Australia Battle of Midway June 4 1942 the first phase of the Midway operation was the landing of Japanese troops on Alaskan islands in order to draw Americans away from the main battle the decisive part of the battle occurred when American torpedo planes and dive bombers caught the Japanese aircraft carriers as they were refueling and rearming their own planes and dropped bombs on the fighter planes which resulted in a series of fires that destroyed the aircraft carriers > four of five Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk and about 300 planes destroyedthe Americans lost one aircraft carrier and one destroyerthe core of the Japan’s naval air arm was destroyed and Japan would no longer dominate the Pacific significance: the Battle of Midway was significant as it was a turning point in the Pacific war because it halted the string of Japanese victories, the American fleet defeated the Japanese fleet, and the Japanese lost irreplaceable aircraft carriers and pilots, naval aviation (aircraft carriers with their planes) was confirmed as the most important element of combat in the Pacific > Japan would be on the defensive from this point onwithin 9 months the U.S had 19 aircraft carriers while Japan had 10WAR IN THE PACIFICAllied Offensive 1942-1944The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Spheremany viewed Japanese as liberators from European colonial rule and had the Japanese harnessed this support they would have been a military and economic match against the Allies > by 1942 the Japanese had captured more resources than they could have used there was support for the idea of Co-Prosperity Sphere of independent nations in the Pacific > nationalist movements were encouraged to embrace self-government > Burma and the Philippines were granted a form of independence but other colonies would have to wait until after the waralthough the Japanese gave lip-service to the idea of a commonwealth of independent Asian nations it had no desire to turn the fruits of their military victories over to nationalist leaders and tried to direct independence movements to benefit Japan and lost support of millions of potential alliesnationalist leaders were angered at Japanese treatment of their peoples and the ruthless exploitation of their resourceshundreds of thousands of people were sent to work in the mines of Korea or build railways and air bases far from their homesJapanese resorted to terror to govern the large populations under their control and their cruelty inflamed hatred towards themtroops bayoneted civilians in the streets, sacked hospitals in Singapore, used Chinese for bayonet practice, prisoners of war were herded on long marches to concentration campsNovember 5-6 1943 Prime Minister Tojo brought nationalist leaders to Tokyo and agreement was reached to create a common market, Burma and Philippines were given republican status > but the army did not approve and treated the nationalists as inferiors and chose force as the best means of control over the Asian alliesAllied StrategyAmericans adopted a strategy that assumed that the aircraft would be the most important weapon and instead of taking every island occupied by the Japanese they chose to remove the Japanese from strategic islands in order to get them close to the main islands of Japan > the strategy is called island hopping and it saved them much fighting and casualtiesAnglo-American strategy in the Pacific took shape in the fall of 1943 > British and Commonwealth forces would strike back from India into Burma and American forces would mount their attacks on the Philippines and Japanese-held islandsNovember 22-26 1943 Chiang Kai-shek met Churchill and Roosevelt in Cairo British did not like Chiang and preferred Communist leader Mao Zedong who seemed to have the support of the Chinese people but the Pacific was an American theatre of war and the British relentedBritish were more interested in regaining their positions in Burma and Malaya even though the Americans insisted they were not fighting the war merely to reinstate the old colonial empires and were adamant that no American lives be lost in restoring Asia to colonial statusU.S. and Britain demanded unconditional surrender of Japan, return of China to its traditional borders (including Manchuria) and elimination of trade concessions on the mainlandChiang agreed to the construction of air bases for American B-29 bombers in return for more loans > the B-29 bombers could reach Japan from Chiang's bases near Chongqing but alerted to the dangers of long-range bombers the Japanese army overran the air bases and drove Chiang's forces deeper inlandafter the Cairo Conference Roosevelt and Churchill met with Stalin at Tehran November 28-December 1 where Stalin agreed to enter the Pacific war after Germany’s defeat which meant the Americans did not need Chiang Kai-shek > in return the Soviets would regain their Eastern empire as Lushun (Port Arthur) would be returned, control over the Manchurian railway system would be regained as well as the southern half of Sakhalin Island Allied Offensive 1942-1944 (refer to map GF p.147, MHMW p.75)after the Battle of Midway the Allies went on the offensive in Asia the U.S. divided the Pacific into two areas of command: the Pacific Ocean area under the command of Admiral Chester Nimitz and the South-West area under the command of General Douglas MacArthur (included Australian and British forces)August 1942 the Americans attacked Japanese air bases on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and begin landings on the Solomon Islands > it took the American marines six months before they defeated the Japanese in Guadalcanal as Japanese resistance was fierce and hand-to-hand combat routine on the "island of death" this type of fighting would be repeated on other Japanese held islands such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa and Japanese resistance would intensify as the Americans advanced towards the Japanese home islands November 1943 U.S. forces landed on the Gilbert Islands and Nimitz captured the Gilbert Islands in late 1943, then moved on to the Marshall Islands in December and captured the Marshall Islands in February 1944 and landed in the Marianas Islands in June 1944 after the Battle of the Philippine Sea which enabled B-29 bombers to bomb JapanBattle of Leyte Gulf October 1944October 25 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf (refer to map MHMW p.75) was the largest naval battle in history as almost 300 warships and hundreds of aircrafts clashed pitting the American Pacific fleet against the Japanese fleet > the Americans viewed the battle as a necessary prerequisite to retaking the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte Gulf kamikaze (meaning divine wind) pilots crashed their bomb-laden planes into American ships as part of a suicide mission and demonstrated Japanese willingness to die rather than a dishonourable surrenderthe objective was to gain time for the preparation of insurmountable defences to be built in the Philippines and at home and inflict huge losses on the enemy that would result in a negotiated end to the war not the occupation of JapanOctober 1944-January 1945 kamikazes hit 121 ships and sank 19 Japanese planned three times as many kamikazes against enemy ships when the invasion of the home islands beganbut the kamikazes failed to stop the Allied advance and the Americans adopted a bombing strategy that would make it unnecessary to land troops on the home islandsthe Americans were victorious in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers, 3 battleships, 10 cruisers, 11 destroyers, 500 aircraft and 10, 550 men while the U.S. lost 3 aircraft carriers and over 200 aircraft and 3,000 menthe Battle of Leyte Gulf was a strategic victory as it cut off the Japanese from their oil supplies in the Dutch East Indies as well as sink most of the Japanese fleet and pave the way for the invasion of the PhilippinesPhilippinesafter the Battle of Leyte Gulf General MacArthur began clearing out the Japanese from the Philippines in late October 1944 > it was a grim struggle and the Japanese resisted fiercely as they viewed surrender as dishonourable BurmaMacArthur planned to invade Japan on Christmas 1945as the Americans (and Australians) were destroying the Japanese empire in the Pacific the Allies set up a new South-East Asia Command under British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten whose objective was to clear the Japanese out of Burma and open the Burma Road 1943 the British had little success but in early 1944 they stopped the Japanese offensive in Assam and counterattacked in September and began to push back the Japanese in Burmamid-October 1944 the British began to drive the Japanese out of Burma and achieved this by May 1945WAR IN THE PACIFICBombing of Japan, Iwo Jima, OkinawaAir Assault on Japanthe air assault on Japan began in November 1944 from air bases in the Mariana Islands and continued with few interruptions until August 1945the initial raids were carried out at high altitudes against specific military or industrial targets but proved ineffective as the bombs missed their targets so the strategy was changed to saturation or carpet bombing of entire areas suspected of having military value but this also proved ineffective as the Japanese dispersed their military and industrial assetsthe air strategy was changed into one of terrorism against civilian populations using low-level incendiary raids against cities hoping it would weaken the will of the people to continue the war and lead to surrenderMarch 1945 the first raid was on the industrial suburbs of Tokyo > hundreds of bombs created a fire storm that spread through the streets destroying the wooden buildings and as temperature rose spontaneous combustion ignited buildings > 26 square km of Tokyo was destroyed and killed 80,000 peoplesixty-one Japanese cities were subjected to incendiary raids but despite the destruction and death the air assault did not bring about their surrenderGeneral Lemay estimated that it could take another 12 months to finish the task and force the Japanese to surrenderIwo Jima and Okinawa (refer to map GF p.147)American island-hopping strategy was effective but caused high casualtiesFebruary 1945 fighting was fierce in Iwo Jima as Japanese defenders had to be dug out of their defensive positions one by one > only 216 of 20,000 Japanese defenders were captured alive at a cost of 5,000 American livesApril 1 U.S. forces landed on Okinawa and the fighting was as fierce as it was on Iwo Jima as the Americans came under attack by kamikazes but gained control of the island in June > 130, 000 Japanese soldiersat Iwo Jima and Okinawa Americans faced Japanese soldiers who were prepared to fight to the last soldierif the Japanese were so fanatical about defending the outer islands how would they behave when defending their homeland?the Japanese had approximate 2 million troops defending Japanin Manila, Philippines MacArthur began assembling the invasion forces to go ashore on Honshu (main island of Japan) in December but it was estimated that the invasion of the Japanese home islands would cause about one million American deathsWAR IN THE PACIFICHiroshima and Japan’s DefeatHiroshima and Nagasakiby the beginning of August 1945 Prime Minister Suzuki wanted to end the fighting but not an unconditional surrender which would give fanatics in the army an excuse to overthrow the government and resist at all costs and cause a greater loss of lifeStalin was poised to attack against Japanese positions in Manchuria and hoping to gain territory in China and a share of the occupation of Japan as the price of Soviet participationU.S. and Britain were concerned about Soviet penetration of Asia to match the territory it occupied in Eastern and Central Europe > Truman advised that an invasion of Japan may result in approximately one million American lives and another twelve to eighteen months of fightingat the Potsdam Conference in July Truman was informed that testing of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico was successful so Truman now had another option to end the war as he had a weapon that would eliminate the need to invade Japanese home islands and thereby save American livesTruman decided to use the atomic bomb to avoid an invasion of Japan and save American lives the atomic bomb also meant that the Americans no longer needed the Soviets as allies in the Pacific and the war could now be won without themAugust 6, 1945 Colonel Paul Tibbets piloted a B29 (Enola Gay) that took off from the island of Tinian in the Marianas and at 8:15 am dropped an atomic bomb (Little Boy) on the industrial city of Hiroshima the bomb killed people instantly by fire and blast and from the radiation the city was destroyed and approximately 100,000 people killed August 8 the Soviets declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuriawhen the Japanese did not immediately surrender the Americans dropped a second bomb August 9 on Nagasaki killing 40,000 peopleeven the second bomb did not completely convince the Japanese cabinet that the war was lost but the Soviet invasion of Manchuria was of great concern > as long as the Soviets remained out of the war there was a chance of bringing the armies in China and Manchuria back to Japan to defend the homeland and inflict huge casualties on the Americans but now that the Soviets were fighting the Japanese armies in China that was not possible the cabinet consulted Emperor Hirohito who advised them to surrender provided that they were allowed to retain the imperial dynasty > the Allies agreed and the Japanese accepted the terms August 14Surrender and OccupationSeptember 2, 1945 General MacAthur accepted the formal surrender of the Japanese forces on board the battleship Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bayas Germany, Japan was to be occupied by Allied armies but it was not to be divided into Allied zones since the Americans had won the war the Americans would determine the peacea military government was established under MacArthur as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers who was responsible for demilitarizing and democratizing JapanPost-War Worldthe war altered the balance of power between the industrial nations with the U.S. and the Soviet Union emerging as superpowers and the world’s power structure became bipolar (two groups or camps)despite significant losses the Soviets maintained an armed forces of 12 000,000 and was in occupation of Central and Eastern EuropeU.S. contained $20 000, 000, 000 of the world’s gold supply, over half of the world’s industrial output, and 12 000, 000 men in armsBritain and France were economically and militarily drained by the war and would be reduced to middle powers and become allies of the U.S.the development of a bipolar world in part shifted the global power from Europe to North America and Asia and resulted in the Cold War between the U.S. and USSR for the next 46 years (1945-1991)The Cost of the Waran estimated 40-50 million people died in World War II > the Pacific War accounted for approximately a quarter and half of the 300,000 American deaths > most of the deaths occurred in Europe particularly Eastern EuropeUNIT 3 TURMOIL AND TRAGEDY 1933-1945Role of Technology in Allied VictoryTechnologyBattle/Campaignradarradar played an important role in allowing the British to win the Battle of Britain and avoid invasionaircraftSpitfires and Hurricanes were key factors in the British victory in the Battle of Britainair support enabled Americans to capture Japanese occupied islands and facilitate island hoppingaircraft played an important role in hunting and destroying U-boats in the Battle of the AtlanticEnigma(German)Purple(Japanese)British control of the Enigma (ULTRA) gave them knowledge of German communication and helped during the Battle of Britain and throughout the warAmerican knowledge of Japanese communications helped them defeat the Japanese fleet at Midway sonarsonar was an important factor in anti-submarine warfare and destruction of the U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic and vital in keeping Allied convoys moving to BritaintankSoviet tanks were an important factor in their victory on at Stalingrad and KurskBritish tank superiority contributed to victory at El Alameinaircraft carrierAmerican aircraft carriers facilitated island hopping and the capture of Japanese occupied islands it enabled Americans to win critical naval battles in the Pacific such as Midway, Leyte Gulf it defended against U-boats in the Battle of the AtlanticMulberryHarboursMulberry Harbours contributed to the success of the Normandy Landingsatomic bombthe atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in Japanese surrender and end of the war in the PacificOther factors besides technology that contributed to Allied victory:numerical superiorityindustrial production of the U.S.access to resources (especially oil)on the Eastern front Soviet success was aided by the extreme weather conditions of winter which the Germans were not prepared for and could not deal with effectivelyconventional bombing of Germany reduced and hindered German industrial production and war capacity by 1945resistance movements against the Germans within European nations occupied by Germany (Yugoslavia, France, Italy)control of the oceansUNIT 3 TURMOIL AND TRAGEDY 1933-1945Total WarTotal war is a war in which a nation engages in the complete mobilization of fully available resources and population.In a total war, there is less differentiation between combatants and civilians than in other conflicts, and sometimes no such differentiation at all, as nearly every human resource, civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of the belligerent effort.Examples of total war during World War II: ................
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