World War II Axis Attacks September 1 1939

World War II

Axis Attacks September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hitler used the tactic of blitzkrieg, or “lightning war, ” to overrun much of Europe, starting with Poland. The German air force, the Luftwaffe, bombed airfields, factories, and cities in Poland. Then, fastmoving tanks and troops pushed their way in from the west. Meanwhile, Stalin’s forces invaded Poland from the east. Within a month, Poland ceased to exist.

Hitler waited out the winter. Then, in the spring of 1940, German forces overran Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Next, German troops poured into France, trapping the retreating British forces at Dunkirk. British vessels crossed the English Channel and ferried more than 300, 000 British troops to safety. (Miracle of Dunkirk)

Germany continued to attack Western Europe. • German forces headed to Paris. With Italy attacking from the south, France was forced to surrender in June 1940. • Germany occupied northern France and set up a puppet government at Vichy in southern France. • Next Hitler set his sights on Britain, calling this planned invasion “Operation Sea Lion. ” • In September of 1940, the Luftwaffe began 57 straight nights of showering high explosives and firebombs on London.

London did not break under the Nazi blitz. • Citizens carried on with their daily lives, seeking protection in shelters and subways. • The Luftwaffe could not gain superiority over Britain. Operation Sea Lion was a failure.

Despite his failure to conquer Britain, Hitler seemed unstoppable. • German armies under the command of General Erwin Rommel, the “desert fox, ” pushed into North Africa. • In addition, Axis armies invaded Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. • By 1941, the Axis powers or their allies controlled most of Europe.

Germany Invades the Soviet Union In June 1941, Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact when he attacked the Soviet Union. The attack stalled during the winter when thousands of unprepared Germans froze to death. (Sound familiar? ) Leningrad withstood a two-and-a-half-year siege. Stalin made an agreement to work with Britain.

Life Under Nazi and Japanese Occupation Japan and Germany set out to build a “new order” in the lands they occupied. • Japanese troops seized crops, destroyed cities, and brutally treated local Chinese, Filipinos, and other conquered people. • The Nazis sent millions of Jews and political opponents to concentration camps. • The Nazis also targeted other groups they considered “inferior, ” including Gypsies, Slavs, homosexuals, the disabled, and the mentally ill.

By 1941, Hitler had devised plans for his “Final Solution”—the extermination of all Jews in Europe. At special death camps in Poland, some six million Jewish men, women, and children were systematically murdered.

The scale and savagery of the Holocaust are unequaled in history. Young survivors of Auschwitz, the largest Nazi death camp.

Japan Attacks the U. S. The United States declared neutrality, but Roosevelt wanted to be prepared for war. • In August 1941, he met secretly with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to create the Atlantic Charter. Its goal was to destroy the Nazi reign. • Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass the Lend. Lease Act, allowing the United States to sell or lend supplies to Britain. • At the same time, tensions between the United States and Japan grew after the United States banned sale of war materials to Japan.

In a sneak attack on December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes bombed the American fleet docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. As the United States mobilized for war, Japan expanded deeper into Asia.

All-Out War The Allies committed to total war, using all of their resources for the war effort. • The United States raised money by selling bonds and regulating prices. • Factories ceased producing consumer goods and turned out airplanes and tanks instead. • Although shortages meant consumers learned to live with less, the increase in production ended the unemployment of the Depression era.

British and American women served in the armed forces in many auxiliary roles: • Driving ambulances • Delivering airplanes • Decoding messages In the Unites States, Rosie the Riveter became a symbol for the many women who worked in defense plants or shipyards.

Under the pressure of war, democratic governments limited the rights of citizens. • Allied governments censored the press and used propaganda to win support for the war. • Many Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians lost their jobs and property and were interned in camps. • The British took similar action against German refugees.

Allies Forge Ahead American naval victories in the Pacific also turned the tide of the war. • The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was fought entirely by air. • U. S. bombers launched from aircraft carriers destroyed four Japanese carriers and 250 planes. • After Midway, Japan made no further advances in the Pacific.

The Allies planned their strategy. • The “Big Three”—Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin—agreed to focus on finishing the war in Europe before trying to end the war in Asia. • Though the Allies distrusted one another— Churchill and Roosevelt feared Stalin, and Stalin feared the destruction of communism—the unsteady alliance continued.

Significant Allied victories in 1942 and 1943 marked a turning point in the war. • At the Battle of El Alamein in November 1942, British troops halted Axis advances in North Africa. • A joint British and American force under Dwight Eisenhower then drove Axis powers back into Tunisia, where Rommel’s army surrendered. • Moving on to southern Italy, Allied forces defeated Italian forces in 1943. Italy surrendered and overthrew Mussolini.

The Battle of Stalingrad was another turning point for the Allies in Europe. • Hitler launched an offensive in 1942 to gain the rich oilfields of the Soviet Union. • His troops got only as far as Stalingrad, where they launched a fierce house-by-house battle. • As winter came, Soviet troops surrounded the attackers. • Without food or ammunition, the German troops surrendered in January 1943.

After Stalingrad, the Red Army drove Hitler’s forces out of the Soviet Union. By early 1944, Soviet troops were advancing into Eastern Europe toward Germany. German prisoners marched to Stalingrad after their defeat by the Soviet army.

Allies Push Toward Germany By 1944, the Allies were ready to invade France. On June 6, 1944, ships ferried 156, 000 Allied troops across the English Channel to the beaches of Normandy.

Despite heavy German defenses on the beach and heavy losses, the D -Day landing was a success. • Allied troops broke through the German lines and advanced toward Paris. • Within a month, all of France was liberated.

By this time, Germany was reeling under round-theclock bombing. After freeing France, Allied forces battled by land into Germany. By early 1945 Germany’s defeat seemed inevitable.

In 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for the Yalta Conference. Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan after Germany’s surrender. They agreed to split Germany into four zones governed by the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Stalin insisted that the Soviet Union must retain control of Eastern Europe. Churchill and Roosevelt favored self-determination for Eastern Europe. After the war this issue would cause a split among the Allies.

Nazis Defeated In the spring of 1945, the Nazis were surrounded and defeated. • From the west the Allies surged into Germany, and from the east Soviet troops closed in on Berlin. • In Italy, guerrillas captured and executed Mussolini. Hitler committed suicide. The Allies proclaimed May 8, 1945, V-E Day.

There were several reasons why the mighty Axis powers fell to the Allies. • Germany’s geographic location left it open to invasion from all sides. • Hitler made some poor military decisions. • The Soviet army proved far stronger than expected. • The United States had an enormous capacity for industrial production.

Struggle for the Pacific The Allies could now focus on defeating Japan. Until mid-1942, Japan had been undefeated in the Pacific. They gained control of the Philippines in May 1942 and forced U. S. and Filipino soldiers on the Bataan Death March. However, after the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea, the United States took the offensive in the Pacific.

In the summer of 1942, U. S. Marines defeated the Japanese at Guadalcanal. Led by General Douglas Mac. Arthur, they began an island-hopping strategy to move north toward Japan. As the Allies poured all of their resources into defeating Japan, bloody battles ensued. Kamikaze pilots undertook suicide missions, crashing their planes into American warships.

The Allied advance toward Japan

Defeat for Japan Meanwhile, Allied scientists offered another way to end the war. • They worked on splitting the atom to create a new kind of bomb. • In July 1945, the Manhattan Project successfully tested the first atomic bomb in New Mexico. • Harry Truman, who had become president after the death of Roosevelt, realized that it was a terrible new force for destruction. Nevertheless, he decided to use the new weapon against Japan.

Allied leaders warned Japan to surrender or face destruction. Japan ignored the warning. On August 6, 1945, U. S. planes dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, instantly killing more than 70, 000 people.

August 8: The Soviet Union invaded Manchuria. The Japanese did not respond. August 9: The United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This time, more than 40, 000 people were killed. August 10: Emperor Hirohito intervened and forced the government to surrender. September 2, 1945: A formal peace treaty was signed.

The End of World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War

Estimated Casualties of World War II Military Dead Military Wounded Civilian Dead Allies Britain 264, 000 277, 000 93, 000 France 213, 000 400, 000 350, 000 China 1, 310, 000 1, 753, 000 1, 000 Soviet Union 7, 500, 000 14, 012, 000 15, 000 292, 000 672, 000 6, 000 3, 500, 000 5, 000 780, 000 242, 000 66, 000 153, 000 1, 300, 000 4, 000 672, 000 United States Axis Powers Germany Italy Japan

In 1945, Germany, Japan, China, the Soviet Union, and other countries were in ruins. • Cities, factories, harbors, bridges, and railroads were destroyed. • More than twenty million refugees wandered through Europe. • Hunger, disease, and mental illness were rampant. The Allies needed to help these devastated countries.

After the war, the horrors committed by the Axis powers became apparent to the world. • The full extent of the inhumanity of the Holocaust was revealed. • At the Nuremberg trials, a number of Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes and sentenced to death. Similar trials were held in Japan. • The Allies built new democratic governments in Germany and Japan to promote tolerance and peace.

The United Nations was another attempt to promote peace. • In April 1945, delegates from 50 nations met to form a United Nations charter. • Each nation had one vote. However, the five permanent members of the Security Council—the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China—could veto any decision. • The UN was given the authority to back up its resolutions with economic sanctions or send a peacekeeping military force.

Plans for world peace did not go smoothly as conflicts developed between the former Allies. The United States and Britain wanted Stalin to honor his promise to hold free elections in Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe. Stalin ignored his promise. He wanted to spread communism and make Eastern Europe a buffer against Germany. Conflicting ideologies and mutual distrust soon led to the Cold War.

By 1948, pro-Soviet communist governments were ruling in Eastern Europe, backed by the Red Army. New conflicts developed outside of Eastern Europe. Stalin was menacing Greece, and also Turkey in the Dardanelles. President Harry Truman set forth the Truman Doctrine. This policy said that communism should be limited to the areas already under Soviet control.

The United States helped relieve postwar hunger and poverty in Western Europe. • The Marshall Plan provided food and economic assistance to decimated countries. • Truman hoped the Marshall Plan would strengthen democratic governments. • Stalin refused the aid and forbade Eastern European countries to accept aid.

Germany became a focus of the Cold War. • Western Allies united their zones of control and extended the Marshall Plan. • The Soviets were furious at Western efforts to rebuild the German economy. • Stalin held on to East Germany.

Hungry Berlin residents greet planes delivering supplies during the Berlin Airlift. • In an effort to drive Western powers out of Berlin, Stalin blocked delivery of supplies to the parts of the city they controlled in June 1948. • The United States and Britain organized the Berlin Airlift to drop food and supplies into West Berlin. • After more than a year, Stalin was forced to end the blockade.

As tensions grew, two competing military alliances took shape. Twelve countries, including the United States and nations in Western Europe, formed NATO. Members pledged to defend one another against Soviet attack. The Soviet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe formed the Warsaw Pact. The Soviets often used Warsaw Pact troops to keep its satellites in order.