World War II Lecture

History M01B – Krister Swanson – Moorpark College

On the Road to War (again)

· GD reopens Germany’s wounds

· Hitler’s goal: Lebensraum for volk

· Gears up: Poland nonagression, Luftwaffe, draft

· 1935- League of Nations dies (won’t sanction), GB & Fr. can’t contest rearm

· Stresa Accords don’t work (no unity GB, Fr., It.)

Back in the Rhineland

· 3/36- Hit knows GB & France will wuss & rearms Rhine

· GB won’t support Fr., Fr. too defensive (Maginot Line)

· blow chance to stop him, start appeasement

Spanish Civil War

· 1931- Democratic Republic

· Reforms don’t please anyone

· 1936- Popular Front wins election, Falangists Franco fascists rise

· Germany & Italy back Franco, GB & Fr. back gov’t

· 3 yrs, 100ks die, training for WWII

· 1939- Barcelona falls to Franco

Austria & Czechoslovakia

· 3/13/38 plebiscite on unification, Germany invades day before

· anchluss  Czech surrounded

· Nazis push Ger. autonomy in Cz.

· 5/38- GB & F “We’ll back Cz.”

· Chamberlain (GB) willing to appease Hitler with Cz.

· 9/38 Hitler’s given Sudetenland, says he’s done

· War in ‘38 better for GB & FR. (No USSR & Ger., Cz. helps)

· 3/15/39- Hit. takes rest of Cz.

· Poland’s next (Danzig, old EP)

· Chamberlain says he’ll back Pol. (uh, sure…)

Nazi-Soviet Pact

· distrust between GB & F vs. USSR

· 8/23/39- Nazi-Soviet Non Aggression Pact (divide Poland, USSR gets Balkans)

· ideological enemies are allies, Hitler avoids 2-front

· Gee, what’s Germany gonna do now?

Western Europe:

· 9/1/39: Blitzkrieg through Poland, Russia grabs their half

· Russia into Poland & Finland

· Maginot Line + Belgian Neutrality protect west

· 4/40: Invasion of Belgium, GB & France evacuate at Dunkirk (leave equip.)

· Italy invades France

Battle of Britain:

· no free hand for Germany as long as GB’s left

· Churchill, RAF, & Radar defend GB

· Aid from U.S. (Lend Lease Act)

· first attack airfields, then shift to London (psych impact)

· destruction of London, 15k deaths

· only stiffens British resolve

Plans of a Madman

· Build a Reich for a 1000 yrs

· good life for Germans

· push Sovs to central Asia

· assimilation of similar races, servitude & elimination for others

· plunder conquered lands

Napoleon was here...

· Hitler wants Ukraine for Lebensraum

· Barbarossa- get ‘em before winter

· 2/41- Muss pissy, invades Egypt & Greece

· Hit must help (distraction from goal of invading Soviets), this starts the

· N. African Campaign vs. GB then U.S., ultimately beginning of end

· delay costly, 6/22/41- Barb starts

· 11/41- Germans outside Moscow & Leningrad (siege)

· Can’t get KO punch, winter gives Soviets time to dig in & reinforce

N. Africa & Sicily

· 1st Ger. vs. GB in N. Africa, then U.S. (8/42), 5/43- German defeated in N. Africa

· from there to Sicily (7/43)

· Muss. overthrown, new gov’t surrenders to Allies

· Ger. steps in to defend

· slow progress up peninsula for Allies

Soviet Campaign

· By early ‘42- long supply lines, cold, resistance stiffened

· siege Leningrad, pushed back from Moscow

· summer of ‘42- go south (oil, Stalingrad)

· summer of ‘43- last offensive, Ger. starts to fall apart

Fall of the Festung Europa

· Stalin wants true 2nd Front from U.S. & GB

· 6/6/44- US invades Normandy, deception & planning, massive amphibious assault

· 12/44- Ger. counterattack at Ardennes (“Bulge”)

· Allies rally to win, Gers. done

· USSR comes in from east

· Allies want uncond. surrender, get it 5/8/45 (VE Day)

· Liberation makes atrocities of 3rd Reich real

Japan & U.S. enter the War

· Japan aggressive (Manchuria-1931), ally with G & I

· U.S. cuts raw materials (oil)

· 10/41- Tojo to power

· 12/7/41- Pearl HarborU.S declares war on Japan  Germany & Italy declare on U.S.

Fall of Japan

· 5/42- Battle of Midway

· 1943- U.S. starts island hopping

· 6/44- Marianas as bombing base

· 10/44- retake Philippines

· 1945- Iwo Jima & Okinawa vs. heavy resistance (kamikaze, etc.)

· invasion vs. A-Bomb, Truman decides to

Drop the Bomb

· Hiroshima (8/6/45) & Nagasaki (8/8/45)

· Hirohito intervenes, Japan surrenders (8/14/45)

· Atomic Bomb shapes rest of century

Overall Impact of War

· 15m military deaths, 15m more civilians

· destruction of Europe & parts of Asia

· Atomic Age

· need stable peace

Racism in WWII

· planned extermination of Slavs & Russians (SS squads)

· final solution for Jews: ghettos  work camps  death camps (6m die, 1m survive)

· also Gypsies, homosexuals, Slavs

· effects: hiding, emigration, resistance

· Stalin’s army killed, raped & deported millions of Poles

· Why did this happen? scapegoat, war as an opportunity, racism & nat. tension from WWI

Homefront Stuff

· industrialization

· shortages & rationing

· propaganda & politics

USSR’s “Great Patriotic War”

· surprised by war, greatest losses (20m)

· lose 1/2 of trans & ind - Germany pillages

· centralized state, Stalin controls army

· Lots of propaganda (music & novels)

Great Britain

· Churchill & Nat’l Gov’t

· immediate need: planes for BOB

· expansion of WC (taxes & savings up)

· Total commitment to war effort, all pitch in

· propaganda from BBC

· Labour comes out on top

France

· 6/22/40- Armistice starts occupation

· Vichy Gov’t in unoccupied (cons. response to 3rd Republic, Nazi friendly)

· renewed racism & nationalism in Vichy

· deGualle & “Free French”

· late ‘42- resistance to Vic & Ger picks up (under 5%)

· ‘44- D-Day increases support for resistance

Germany

· 1939-41: life’s good

· Failure of Soviet invasion puts pressure on homefront

· more mil. goods & less consumer

· 5/42- food shortages

· 6/43- labor shortages (young, old & women, forced labor, shut down services)

· pressure on women (sons & hubbies off to war, conserve)

· propaganda- blame on GB & Jews, portray the horror of defeat

· Nazis increase control

· ends in destruction & total defeat