1. World War II
Chapter 26 sections 2, 3, and 4

2. Overview When? Where? Who was involved? What happened?
(in Europe), (in the Asia)
Where?
Fighting took place primarily in Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, East Asia (China, Japan, Korea), Oceania (Indonesia, Polynesia, Australia), and India.
Generally speaking, fighting is divided into two areas: 1-Europe, 2-Pacific
Who was involved?
Allied Powers (Grand Alliance, United Nations): US, UK, USSR, and many other countries, plus the colonies of these countries (South Africa, Australia, India, for example)
Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, other Axis occupied territories (Austria, Czechoslovakia, Korea, Manchuria, etc.)
What happened?

3. WWII in the Pacific: 1941-1943 Three phases: Japanese Expansion
Japanese expansion stopped:
Allied expansion:
Japanese Expansion
Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor combined with surprise attacks all over the Pacific
Japanese quickly captured US/Allied territories throughout the Pacific
Guam, Wake Island, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines
Japanese Expansion Stopped
Battle of the Coral Sea 1942
Battle of Midway 1942
Battle of Guadalcanal

4. Allied Plan in the Pacific
Strategy for expansion in the Pacific: Island Hopping
Japanese held thousands of islands and territories throughout the Pacific
It would be almost impossible to recapture every island
Allied goal was to defeat the Japanese by “cutting off the head”
Problem: the Japanese home islands were located thousands of miles from the nearest Allied positions
Solution: capture islands close to the mainland to use as bases for the eventual invasion of Japan
Beginning in Hawaii and Australia the US would hop from island to island, bypassing most Japanese possessions, only capturing the ones they needed until they could get close enough to launch an attack on Japan

5. WWII in the Pacific: 1943-1945 Allied Expansion
Key battles
Leyte Gulf 1944 (Allies retook the Philippines)
Iwo Jima 1945 Okinawa 1945 (Allies captured islands only a few hundred miles from the Japanese home islands, high casualties)
Allied losses and Japanese resistance increased dramatically the closer the Allies got to the home islands
Fears rose of the cost of an invasion of the home islands—people began to search for an alternative way to win. . .
By 1945 the US was bombing Japanese cities virtually around the clock
Fire-bomb raids destroyed entire Japanese cities and killed tens of thousands at a time

6. WWII in Europe and the Atlantic: 1941-1945
Three phases of the war in Europe
Axis expansion:
Axis expansion stopped:
Allied expansion:
Axis Expansion
Germans had control of most of western, central, and eastern Europe by 1941
Spring/summer of 1941: Axis powers conquered the Balkans, Greece, and Crete, Hitler launched a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union
Winter of 1941/1942 Hitler had almost succeeded in capturing Moscow
Axis Expansion Stopped
Russia: Stalingrad , Russians stop German advance in southern Russia
North Africa: El Alamein 1943, British stop German advance into Egypt
Atlantic Ocean: Battle of the Atlantic US and British navies defeat German submarines

7. WWII in Europe Allied Strategy in Europe
US and UK support the Russians with military aid
US and UK need to open up a second front to take pressure off the Russians as soon as possible
Problem: US military ill-prepared and untrained, British military too small to open a second front on its own
Solution:
Start out in Africa, move into Italy, gain experience, then invade western Europe (France) – problem: this took a lot of time. . .
US and British invasion of western Europe/France D-Day June 6, 1944
Allied Expansion
1943 US and UK capture North Africa, invade Sicily and then mainland Italy
D-Day June 1944: US and UK open second front in Europe—Germany now fighting on two sides west (US and UK) and east (Soviet Union)

8. End of the War: VE and VJ Days
Spring/Summer 1945 British/Americans and the Russians met in the middle of Germany
Berlin captured soon after, WWII in Europe over—VE Day: May 7, 1945
War in the Pacific
Allied demand for unconditional surrender meant that an invasion of Japan was necessary in order to finish the war
Problems:
Invasion of Japan would involve a massive loss of life for everyone involved (Americans, and Japanese alike)
Invasion of Japan would require the military aid of the Soviet Union, US didn’t want to increase the influence of the Soviets once the war was over
Solution: Atomic Weapons
Had been developed by the US during the war (Manhattan Project)
Decision was made to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What factors do you think influenced this decision?
Bombs dropped August 6 and August 9, 1945 Japan surrendered August 15, 1945
90, ,000 killed in Hiroshima, 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki

9. The Human Toll of WWII: The Holocaust
Systematic and deliberate killing of European Jews by the Nazi state
6 million European Jews killed (2/3rds of total Jewish population of Europe)
Jews in occupied countries were forced into ghettos and concentration camps, from there they were sent to death camps
Why?
How related to nationalism?
Why didn’t the allies do more to stop it, is there anything they could have done?
Why is it important to remember the Holocaust?

10. The Human Toll of WWII: Europe
Eastern Europe
Nazi plan was to kill or remove the Slavic population of Eastern Europe, replace with ethnically German “colonists”
Slavic leaders targeted for death by the Nazis
4 million Slavs died as slave laborers
Roma (Gypsies)
Also targeted as an “inferior race” by the Nazis
About 400,000 killed in death camps
Prisoners of War
Prisoners from the western allies (Great Britain, US) were generally treated well by the Germans
Prisoners from the Soviet Union were not—3 to 4 million Soviet prisoners died in captivity
Resistance
Many people who lived in countries that were occupied by the Axis powers (Norway, France, Yugoslavia, Poland) actively fought against the Nazis
When these people were captured they were often killed or sent to death camps as well
Other Groups
Anyone who resisted Nazi party rule, challenged the Nazi totalitarian state, or the value system of the Nazis was targeted
Jehovah’s witnesses, communists, political dissidents, homosexuals, etc.

11. The Human Toll: Asia
Japanese occupation of Asian countries was equally as brutal as the Nazis in Europe
Slave labor was used on a wide scale
Prisoners of war were not treated well—some were killed, many were used as slave labor, many died due to overwork and lack of food and medical attention
Millions of Chinese civilians were killed during Japan’s war in China ( )

12. The Human Toll: The Allies
Allied countries also were responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of civilians during the war
US and UK bombing of German and Japanese cities
Dresden 100,000 people died in single night
Tokyo—100,000 people died
Atomic Bombs—Hiroshima and Nagasaki 150,000 to 250,000 estimated deaths
Soviet Union
Treated German prisoners very harshly--500,000 died in captivity
Mass rapes of German women
US internment of Japanese Americans
100,000 Japanese Americans forced to relocate to camps in the interior of the country

13. Wartime Mobilization
WWII was a total war—total mobilization of military, economy, and civilian population to fight the war
US, UK, USSR
Government control of economy, prices, labor
Massive expenditures to fund the military—less resources available for consumer goods
Widespread employment of women
USSR only—use of women as frontline soldiers
UK and US—women in the military (non-combatants)
Germany and Japan
Same government control of economy and widespread economic mobilization as the allies
Never fully mobilized their female population, why?
Effects of Total War after WWII
Increased rights for women, minorities
Greater acceptance of government involvement and control of aspects of the economy—welfare state in UK

14. Shaping the Postwar World: Wartime Conferences
Wartime Conferences: Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam
Tehran Conference 1943
US, UK, USSR (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin)
Allies agreed to cooperate to fight the war, western allies agreed to open a second front (invade France) as soon as possible
Yalta April 1945
US, UK, USSR
Agreed to the partition of Germany after the war
Free elections in Poland after the war
General agreement to form the United Nations
USSR would join the war against Japan 90 days after the surrender of Germany
USSR would receive compensation in east Asia for declaring war against Japan (influence in Manchuria and Korea, annexation of some Japanese territories)
Potsdam May 1945
US (Truman), UK (Clement Atlee), USSR (Stalin)
Division of Germany into 4 zones finalized
Borders of Poland altered
Ultimatum issued to Japan to surrender or face annihilation (nuclear weapons)

15. Origins of the Cold War: Late 1940’s
Cold War: unofficial rivalry and conflict between the Soviet Union and its allies and the United States and its allies
Why the COLD War? Hot War=actual armed conflict, Cold War=conflict without official declaration of war and armed hostilities
The Cold War was the single most influential reality of US domestic and foreign policy and of world history in general since the end of WWII
What started the Cold War?
Rival economic and political systems
USSR: totalitarian, communist, dictatorship
US: liberal, capitalist, democracy
Two most powerful countries in the world militarily and economically (natural rivals)
Misunderstandings
US western Europe wanted to secure peace through spreading democracy and capitalism, USSR wanted to secure peace by building a buffer between themselves and Western Europe
US and the West viewed the creation of a series of “buffer states” in Eastern Europe as acts of aggression by the Soviet Union, Soviets viewed spread of capitalism into central Europe as US imperialism

16. Germany Divided Yalta and Potsdam conferences
Germany (and Austria) would be divided after WWII
Berlin and Vienna would also be divided
American, British, Soviet, and French zones
Plan was to eventually reunite these zones
Austria eventually unified into one country—didn’t side with USSR or USA
Soviets and western allies couldn’t agree on how to reunify Germany
Eventually two Germanys emerged
West Germany: Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)
Sided with west
Democracy
Capital=Bonn
East Germany: German Democratic Republic (GDR, or DDR)
Sided with Soviets
Dictatorship
Capital=East Berlin

17. Partition and Occupation of Germany and Austria

18. Partition of Germany and Berlin

19. Picking Sides in the Cold War
The 1st World
USA and its allies: Western Europe, Asia, etc.
The 2nd World
Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe, Asia, etc.
The 3rd World
Countries that didn’t side with the USA or the USSR
Most of these countries were recently independent former colonies in Africa, Asia, etc.
Usually poor underdeveloped
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization 1949-present
Created by the US and its allies in western Europe to discourage Soviet Invasion of Europe
An attack against one is an attack against all
Warsaw Pact
Created by Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe as the Communist equivalent to NATO

21. Picking Sides in Asia Yalta and Potsdam Conferences China Korea Japan
Soviets would occupy Manchuria (Northwest China) and Northern Korea
USA would occupy Japan and Southern Korea
China
Communist influence in Manchuria eventually helped the Chinese Communists to defeat the Chinese nationalists
China became a communist country in 1949: People’s Republic of China
Korea
Plan was to eventually reunify Korea
Soviets and USA couldn’t agree on how to do it
Two separate Koreas emerged
North Korea: Communist, allied with USSR
South Korea: Non-communist, allied with the USA
Japan
New constitution written by US army
Became a major American ally after WWII

23. The United Nations Created in April of 1945 in San Francisco
Structure of the UN
Security Council
Can vote to use military force
5 permanent members with veto power (big 5): US, Russia, China, France, UK
10 other members without a veto (rotates from country to country)
Resolutions are technically binding
General Assembly
Every country has a representative
No vetoes
Votes not binding
Trusteeship Council
Established to help colonies gain their independence
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Deals with human rights issues, humanitarian issues
Secretariat
Runs the day to day affairs of the UN
Secretary General=head of the Secretariat/head of the UN
Question: How is the UN different than the League of Nations?