Ch 19 Notes

World History

 

Italian path to war- invades Ethiopia, L of N does nothing

 

German path to war- Goals: Show German pride/power, unite Germans (nationalism), more land

-         Hitler announces rearming army, navy, air force

o       Violates Versailles Treaty

o       Eng/Fr condemn it, but too concerned with depression to do more

-         Germany reoccupies the Rhineland (was supposed to be demilitarized)

o       Violates Versailles Treaty

o       France mad, but England wouldn’t support military action

§         England basically decides this is reasonable

-         Appeasement- give in to little things that were reasonable (done by England)

o       Keep them happy so less likely to be mad later

-         Germany forms an alliances

o       Germany/Italy send aid to Spain to help the fascists in Spanish Civil War

o       Germany/Italy/Japan sign Anti-Comintern Pact (fight spread of communism)

-         Germany annexes Austria

o       Germany “invited” in to keep law and order

-         Germany wants German speaking part of Czechoslovakia

o       Czech wants to keep it

o       Munich Conference

§         Germ, It, Fr, Eng meet to decide what should happen

§         Decision- they let Germany have Sudetenland if Hitler promises “that’s it, no more”

o       Germany later takes rest of Czech, last straw

-         Poland-

o       Eng/Fr pledge to help protect Poland

o       Hitler is emboldened, doesn’t think anyone will fight for Poland

o       Germany/USSR sign non-aggression pact (shocking, b/c Nazis hate Commies)

o       Sept 1, 1939- Germany invades Poland

§         Eng/Fr declare war on Germany

 

Japan’s path to war-

-         hurt by depression/need for resources, aggressive militarists take power in Japan

o       feel they need more resources to be industrialized/prosperous- take them by force

-         takes over NE China (Manchuria) and Korea

o       League of Nations condemns attack

§         Japan drops out of L of N

-         Japan later attacks rest of China

-         Still wanting more resources, turns its eyes to SE Asia (European colonies, and trading partners w/ US)

o       US threatens economic sanctions (cut off oil, iron) unless Japan leaves China

o       Japan has to choose which it wants more- US oil/iron or SE Asia’s stuff

o       They choose SE Asia, knowing war w/ US is inevitable, attack 1st

 

Sec 2

Poland- attacked by Germany

-         later USSR splits it with Germany

 

1940- not much going on after Poland’s defeat

- spring- attacks Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands and France

- France- doesn’t last very long

            - British troops cut off to the north, retreat to channel

                        - surrounded at Dunkirk, but escape across the channel to England by massive rescue operation (300,000 get away)

            - France forced to surrender, created a gov’t friendly to Germany

 

US- didn’t want to get sucked into this war like they did WWI

-         many in US felt trade with combatants brought US into WWI

-         Congress passed laws making it hard/forbidding US to trade w/ nations at war

-         FDR- wants to help England- gets the laws changed so US can help Eng

 

Battle of Britain-

-         England is the only country left in Europe fighting Germany

-         Germany plans to invade England, but needs control over the air first

-         German air force attacks air bases in England attempting to destroy the RAF

o       England is in short supply of pilots, but has RADAR

-         Hitler gets mad about English bombing raid on Berlin- orders air force to bomb English cites instead of air bases

o       This allows the RAF to regroup and defend better

-         Germany gives up, England not invaded

 

Soviet Union- invaded by Germany summer 1941

-         was supposed to be attacked earlier, but Italy screwed that up

-         Germans advance a long way into Russia, looks like Russia is about to collapse

o       Bitter winter cold helps stop German advance in 1942

 

Japan-

-         attacks main US naval base in Pacific at Hawaii (Pearl Harbor)

o       why? knew war with the US was inevitable

§         result- woke US up, strengthened US resolve

 

-         at the same time, attacks other possessions in the Pacific (Indonesia, Philippines, etc)

-         goal- they said to cooperate with these territories so they all could prosper instead of being controlled by Europe

o       reality- the Japanese became more oppressive then European colonizers

 

The Big Three- leaders of US, England, USSR (FDR, Churchill, Stalin) the Allies

-         did not see eye to eye, but agreed to put aside differences to win the war

 

Allied wins-

-         Europe- by 1942, Germany is deep into Russia, has control over western Europe

o       El Alamein- in Africa, Germans turned back by British

o       Stalingrad- Russian city becomes massive German defeat

§         Cold weather/starvation doom German army

o       Germany now on defense from here on out

-         Asia-

o       Midway- US island, Japanese not able to take it

§         Japanese navy is crippled

o       Island hopping- US takes some Japanese held islands and skips others on way to Japan

 

Towards the end-

-         Europe

o       Italy invaded from N. Africa by the Allies

§         Italians overthrow Mussolini and switch sides

o       D-Day- Allies invade N. France (Normandy) from England

§         Largest naval invasion in world history

§         From here on, Allies slowly push way towards Germany

o       Soviets- gradually push from the east, squeezing Germany

§         Soviet troops commit major atrocities on German civilians (kind of like what Germany did)

o       V-E Day- May 1945 Germany surrenders

-         Asia

o       US forces slowly push way towards Japan

o       As they get closer, Japanese resistance stiffens

o       Kamikazes used to slow US advance

o       Invasion of Japan planned

§         US opts to use atomic bomb instead (Aug 6, 1945)- Hiroshima

o       Japan surrenders Aug 1945