1 World War I, the Russian Revolution and the Interwar Period This lecture will cover several different elements that all fit into the World War I Era and the decade after it that will lead up to World War II. World War I July 1914 – Nov 1918 Like with most wars, there were numerous causes for the Great War (World War I). One of the major reasons was that a very complicated series of alliances between European nations had developed such as Austria with Germany, France with Great Britain and so forth. The Ottoman Empire was weak and crumbling, a situation which revived local nationalist interests in the Balkans among the Serbians. Additionally territorial ambitions of the Austrians, who wanted more control of Balkan areas created tensions. There were also the personal motivations of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918) of Germany and he was determined to prove his Prussian military skill. In addition to alliances and other issues, massive militarism and stock piling of weapons was occuring throughout Europe and they were anxious to show off its military technology. War was still viewed as a romantic challenge, an opportunity for leaders and young men to prove their manhood valour, national devotion. At the same time, Serbian nationalists grew increasingly unhappy with Austria (whose control they were under). The Serbs were determined to free themselves from Austrian control. When diplomacy failed, the Serbs were willing to turn to violence and terrorism. On the 28 June, 1914 a Serbian nationalist from the Black Hand political terrorist society assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand (1863-1914) and his wife Sofie. This event alone did not cause the war; we have already seen how the causes of the war were numerous and complex. But this act, the killing of the Austrian heir, made war absolutely certain. Everyone in Europe except the Serbian press 1 2 denounced the act of terrorism, and Austria saw this as an opportunity to attack Serbia and settle the Balkan issue once and for all. However, to do this she needed the support of her ally Germany, particularly if Russia came to Serbia's aid. Alliances The pre-war alliances made the situation more complicated. The German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1856-1921) and Kaiser Wilhelm knew they had to support Austria in some way; but if Austria lost the war, which was a distinct possibility, then Germany would be seen tied to a weak ally. Germany was counting on Austria to act quickly and attack the Serbs while Europe was outraged by the assassination, and limit the war to only those two parties. Germany also counted on Russia hesitating to act on Serbia’s behalf, as she had done consistently throughout the preceding decades. She also counted on British neutrality, that they preferred. Finally, if France and Russia did enter the war, the Germans were sure they could win quickly and decisively. None of those things happened.   Instead the Germans got: an Austria who declared war weeks before she had an army to fight, a Russia that mobilized immediately, immediate British support of France, the entrance of the United States into the war and finally a bloody stalemate of a war that lasted four years, devastated Germany and paved the war for Hitler in the thirties. War Schemantics Germany was to sweep down through Belgium and attack France from the north, trapping the French army from the west and then to take Paris in six weeks. After that Germany could concentrate her war effort on Russia whose army outnumber 2 3 hers four to one and seemed threatening. This was called Schlieffen plan. The key to the Schlieffen plan was to prevent a war on two fronts, with Germany in the middle. Violating Belgian neutrality by invading them angered Britain, who had promised that country its neutral status in 1839. If Britain was hesitating before about entering the war to support France, this act secured it. Although the Russian army was large, they slogged on until their revolution in 1917 and they were never a serious threat to Germany. Russia's huge army was ill-equipped (particularly when compared with the Germans) and poorly trained. After they were defeated at the battle of Tannenburg on 26-10 August, 1914, the Russians remained little more than a nuisance for the Germans. All of the really important fighting occurred on the Western Front. In September, 1914, just two months into the war, the German advance into France was halted at the battle of the Marne. From then on the war was one of stalemate and attrition. Both sides were dug into trenches, trying to bleed one another dry. WWI was a new type of war due to modern technologies. Machine guns, gas, tanks, trench warefare changed war. Attempts to move the war along failed. Both sides drew in new allies as the war went on. Perhaps the most coveted ally was the United States. It was after this war that the US began to replace Europe as the world power. 3 4 US Involvement Wilson had proclaimed American neutrality at the onset of the war, but American commerce and shipping were soon swept into conflict. Britain blockades American merchant ships to Germany. Then the Lusitania, a passenger ship was sunk by a German submarine and 1198 people died including 124 Americans. Germany had an aggressive policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and it was sparking outrage. By the end of 1915 Wilson embarked on a policy of preparedness and viewed Germanys policies as a ‘foe to liberty.’ US Joins the War Wilson won reelection in 1916 on the slogan “He Kept Us Out of War.” However soon war was pressing closer to the US. Germany had resumed submarine warfare and several US ships were sunk adding to the current tensions. Then in 1917 The Zimmerman Telegram was intercepted. The telegram was from Germany to Mexico and asked Mexico to join Germany in war and invade the US. In return Germany promised to help regain land lost in Mexican American war 1846-48. Wilson asks Congress to enter the war and received overwhelming support. Women and WWI As the war began men were on the front lines and women from all the countries involved became part of the war in a variety of ways. One of the most significant was war work and the production of war goods. In the early 20th century many women worked outside of the home, but these were working class women. Remember industrialization? By 1914 nearly 5.09 million out of the 23.8 million women in Britain were working outside of the home. But due to the war many more middle class women get involved “to do their part.” Thousands worked in munitions factories, offices and large hangars used to build aircraft. In England women who worked 4 5 making shells in the munitions factories were called canary girls because the chemicals were toxic and turned their skin a yellow/orange. Women were also involved in volunteer work knitting socks for the soldiers on the front, joining the Red Cross, encouraging the sale of war bonds, planting "victory gardens," and rationing. But as a matter of survival, many women had to work for paid employment for the sake of their families. Women working outside the home showed that they were highly capable in diverse fields of work. There is little doubt this expanded the view of the role of women in society, and changed the outlook of what women could do in the workforce. However, women were still paid less than men in the, about two-thirds of the typical pay for men. Believe it or not this was a 28% progress from before the war. Many women claimed that this level of PUBLIC involvement/participation in the war effort Canada, the US, Great Britain, and a number of European countries extended suffrage to women in the years after the First World War Women were also involved in the actual war. Nursinig became almost the only area of female contribution that involved being at the front and experiencing the war. In Britain, nursing organizations had been organized before the war and continued on and grew in numbers throughout the war period. More than 12,000 women enlisted in the United States Navy and Marine Corps during the First World War. About 400 of them died in that war. Over 2,800 women served with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the First World War. The role of Canadian women in the military first extended beyond nursing and women were given paramilitary training in small arms, drill, first aid and vehicle maintenance in case they were needed as home guards. Forty-three women in the Canadian military died during WWI. The Russian army was the only one to deploy female combat troops in substantial numbers in 1917. Its few womens battalions fought well, but failed to provide the propaganda value expected of them and were disbanded before the end of the year. In the later Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks would also employ women infantry. War Ends Russia pulled out of the war after the Lenin Revolution in 1917 to focus on their internal issues to be discussed in a bit. Wilson issued the Fourteen Points in January 1918, which established the agenda for the peace conference that followed the war. One of the things that turned the tide of the war was when American troops finally arrived in Europe. The US only fought in a few major battles from 1917 to 1918. Their presence was probably the deciding factor in ending the war. By 1918, both sides were 5 6 exhausted, physically, in manpower, in money, and in weapons. The promise of a huge, new and fresh army of men from America seemed to signal the end of Germany's chances to win the war. Now the allies are on the offensive, pushing back German troops. On November 9, 1918 German Kaiser sues for peace and the war ends officially in 11/11/1918. Treaty of Versaille Germany After the War Prince Max of Baden (1867-1928) was asked by the German army to take over running Germany. Baden asked for peace under Wilson's Fourteen Points proposal, a sort of liberal guideline for international relations the idealistic American president was pushing. The Fourteen points promised self-determination for nationalities, freedom of the seas (no more unrestricted submarine warfare or blockades), open diplomacy, and above all, the formation of an international body to ensure peace and establish common policies. Called the League of Nations, with its own court, it was the model for the United Nations at the end of the second World War. Treaty of Versaille Germany may have been the first to seek peace and promised a "peace without victors," but she was also the one to pay most heavily at the Versailles settlement. Neither Germany nor the Soviet Union were invited to attend the negotiations. Instead, the Big Four victorious nations led the peace conference: Wilson for the US, David Lloyd George (1863-1945) for the British, Georges Clemenceau (1841-1921) for the French Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (1860-1952) for Italy. It is they who decided and dictated the peace terms to Germany. The terms of the Treaty of Versaille were very harsh and made Germany liable for the war. In almost every instance the principles of Wilson's Fourteen Points were not administered. Instead Germany was to pay reparations to the victorious nations, five 6 7 billion dollars annually until 1921, when a lump sum would be determined. Germany was to be permanently disarmamed (no army, navy, etc). Alsace and Lorraine (won by Germany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870) was given back to France and the Rhineland between Germany and France was made a demilitarized zone. What was even more insulting for the Germans was that they had to make a public statement of guilt for starting war by their own aggression. Post War Europe The countries who dictated these guidelines ignored the true complexity of the war's causes, and especially the role of Austria. The terms were harsh, and certainly designed to cripple and humiliate the Germans. Additionally, the treaty failed to set up provisions to ensure the terms would be, and could be met. Germany could not afford the reparations, and in trying to pay them her economy deteriorated further, paving the way for the Nazis. Germany was not occupied by foreign powers and no one was around to make sure the country remained disarmed. Results of WWI Eastern Europe was also reshaped geographically as a result of WWI. Czechoslovakia was born out of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovenia, Poland was revived, Germany was divided into Germany and East Prussia, Austria and Hungary were separated into 7 8 individual nations; Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became independent, as did Yugoslavia. All of these changes created a lot of nationalistic problems. The new borders divided and brought together people of various languages, ethnic groups, and backgrounds. WWI was very much a ‘Total War’ for all concerned. Ten million dead, twenty million wounded and all of Europe left the war poor and in debt to the United States. Reduced in population, traumatized, and generally lacking in the self confidence she had enjoyed throughout the nineteenth century Europe will have difficulty rebounding. Having expecting a moderate peace agreement, the harsh terms of Versailles surprised the German people and they felt betrayed by their own government and the rest of Europe. The road for Hitler to come to power had been lain. Russian Revolution The biggest change actually came during the war, when the troubled Russian empire fell to the communists in the Revolution of March, 1917. After the revolution the last tsar of Russia, Nicholas II and his German born wife Alexandria (granddaughter to Queen Victoria) were executed along with their five children in 1917. The Revolution began partly because of the war (food shortages, huge Russian losses to the German army, spontaneous and unplanned strikes and demonstrations in 1917). Vladmir Lenin Once the tsar abdicated on 15 March, the government was taken over by competing political parties and Russia was soon involved in a civil war. A Provisional government had been established but it could not hold out against the Communist Bolshevik party, who led the worker's councils, or soviets. The Germans, sensing an opportunity to win on the Eastern Front, smuggled Vladmir Lenin into Russia to lead the Bolshevik party. Although there was a brief setback, Lenin and his partner Leon Trotsky (1877- 1940) were ultimately successful in taking over the Russian government. Their ideologies were all influenced by socialism and the ideas of their forerunner Karl Marx. They took control of Russia, sued Germany for peace (and got a very harsh treaty themselves out of it, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk), and nationalized all the land. Land 8 9 and businesses were then turned over to the peasants and workers to run. The civil war continued, however, until 1921, when the Red Army of the Bolsheviks finally defeated the White Army of the provisional government and the Soviet Union was born. We will revisit the history of the Soviet Union when we discuss the Cold War. Road to World War II The first World War was meant to be the war to end all Czar Nicholas & Family wars, and the war that would make the world safe for democracy. Instead, it laid the road to World War II, a far more devastating war. It also prepared the way for communist expansion into Eastern Europe, Cuba, China, and Southeast Asia, thus also laying the road to the Cold War, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. All of this from a seriously bungled peace treaty (Treaty of Versaille). Facism was an emerging ideology that bitterly condemned idividualism, liberalism, feminism, parliamentary democracy & communism. Small groups of facists appeared all over europe (Britain, France, etc) but most had little impact. Italy The first significant facist group appears in Italy which had only been unified in 1870. Benito Mussolini was a former journalist and a skilled orator. He had a private army of disullutioned WWI veterans and unemployed followers. Mussolini led a violent overthrow of Italy’s king and promised social reforms. Mussolini’s government suspended democracy, imprisoned, deported, or executed opponents and disbanded labor unions. Bennito was an atheist but embraced catholic culture (he would have had little support in Italy if he had not). Mussolini also believed in the traditional housewife and women’s rights were suppressed. Benito Mussolini 9 10 Germany Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German and was an aspiring artist who had been denied entrance into the Vienna Art School twice. He attempted a coup in Munich called the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The attempt (inspired by Mussolini’s succeessful March on Rome in 1922) failed and and Hitler was imprisoned for nine months. While in prison, he wrote a book Mein Kampf (meaning ‘my struggle’). A lot of his antisemetic ideas are visible in this book. The Nazi Party was actually a political party. The great depression and debt significantly impacted germanies economy and high unemployment rates and inflation were problematic for the country. The current Weimar government couldn’t handle the current situation or fix anything. People were desperate and looked to the Nazi or communist parties for guidance. Hitler was a phenomenal speaker and convinced people he could do a better job of leading the nation than the current government. Rise of Hitler By 1933 Hitler was the Chancellor of Germany and the Nazi party was in control of Germany, both domestically and of its foreign policies. German President Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) died in 1934 and Hitler became President and Foreign minister as well. He had around him a small cohort of top Nazi officials, who with one exception will all remain personally loyal to him throughout the war. Hitler and the Nazis now had total control of Germany, and through the SS (protection squadron) and SA (assault division) began to reAdolf Hitler militarize the country, directly violating the Versailles treaty. One of the first questions we must ask is why no one stopped Hitler? Britain, France, Soviet Union, United States, and the entire League of Nations all stood by and let Hitler re-arm Germany and begin to expand her borders. You will see why in a bit. Hitler was thus free to indulge his plans for Germany, which were many, and all determined to exceed the goals Germany failed to achieve in the First World War. Hitler was determined to forge a Third Reich, a new German empire to rival her greatest empires of the past. The First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne in 800, and the Second Reich was Bismarck's unified Germany in 1871. 10 11 Hitler's goals were basically twofold: the expansion of Germany territorially, and the forging of a new Volk (a pure German race) gathered from all European countries to one unified Germany. He mixed popular nationalism, bitterness from the Versailles reparations, and racial sentiments popular in Germany for decades. He was primarily concerned with the need for Lebensraum, literally "room to grow" for the expanding German populace. But Germany did not need only land, it needed "clean" land purified of Jewish, Slavic, Gypsy, homosexual, Communist, and Polish people. Of all of these, first and foremost the Jews, were declared to be üntermenschen, or lesser races, by Hitler. The best of the üntermenschen, the Slavs and Poles, were to be enslaved to provide labor for Germany, while the Jews, the most inferior race according to Hitler, were to be exterminated. Hitler began his campaign against the Jews with the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, which amongst many other things, prevented intermarriage and sexual intercourse between Jews and Christians, revoked Jewish citizenship, and limited the number of Jewish marriages (an effort to reduce the Jewish population). Expansion & Harrassment The first concentration camp was built in 1935 as a labor camp, but by the 1940s they had merely become death camps. Kristallnacht (literally means breaking glass) in 1938 was an event in which thousands of Jewish homes, stores, businesses and synagogues were destroyed by the SA. From the very beginning then Hitler had two basic plans expansion and purification. In his goal to expand, he was determined to take Poland and the Ukraine, to provide both room for expansion and food for the German people. He was also determined to unify all German Volk, starting with Austria (the 11 12 Anschluss), then on to the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, and then East Prussia. These were all German lands separated from Germany or prevented from unification at the end of World War I. Kristallnacht Hitler went about achieving his goals slowly, which pacified the fears of the British and French. To answer my earlier question (why Germany’s neighbors allowed him to grow in power) they feared of provoking another World War and were willing to wait and see how far Hitler would go. Hitler was extremely clever at manipulating the British and French into giving him what he wanted. He was also willing to make treaties he never intended to honor, such as a non-aggression pact with Poland in 1934, and another with the Soviets in 1939 (both of wich he violated). Hitler had to first systematically revoke the Versailles treaty. He withdrew Germany from the League of Nations in 1933 and began to rearm not only Germany but specifically to re-militarize the Rhineland, which had been established as a buffer between Germany and France. In 1935 he formally renounced disarmament and started conscripting (drafting) an army, and built a German air force. The League of Nations had officially condemned Germany's rearmament, but had no provisions for actually stopping Hitler. Plus, France 12 13 and Britain had never fulfilled their part of Versailles, which was dis-armament of their nations as well. Resistence & Tensions While France sought a treaty with Italy to hold back Nazi expansion, Britain sought to protect her navy by allowing Hitler to rebuild the Germany navy to thirty five percent of the British size, something France opposed. France actually wanted Britain to give up her navy, rather than allow Germany to have a single ship. The weakness of the League of Nations was further revealed by its inability to stop Japan from invading Manchuria in September 1931 and to prevent Italy, who by 1935 was an ally of France and Britain with the Stresa Front, from invading Ethiopia in October, 1935. The league was ineffective, because although it condemned both Japan and Italy's actions, its members could not agree on how to deal with the situations. Japan responded by withdrawing from the League altogether, a declaration that it would not be bound by League decisions. The League declared an embargo on Italy that limited the amount of money, arms, and oil that could be imported into Italy. Unfortunately, Britain did not uphold its end of the embargo, and allowed Italy free passage through the Suez canal because they wanted to prevent upsetting Mussolini. The survivors of the first World War, still reeling from the devastation. WWI had many technological innovations that were new to war. Poisonous gas, trenches, tanks, and machine guns, airplanes, bombs etc were still fresh menories for many. They knew that new arms developments would make another war even worse. In short, people still wanted to avoid war. General Francisco Franco The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) There were two political alliances in the 1930s - the democracies of France, Britain, and the United States versus the fascists states of Germany and Italy. Elections in Spain in 1936 brought to power a democratic republic with communists and anarchists in full force in the parliament. The Spanish Fascists were led by General Francisco Franco (1892-1975). In July of 1936 Franco and his forces marched north from Spanish Morocco toward Madrid and further north. Spain was now embroiled in a Civil War that would last three years and kill thousands. The Spanish Civil War was the perfect opportunity for Hitler and Mussolini to train troops and try out their new weapons. Hitler loaned Franco dozens of German planes 13 14 as well as troops. On the other side, the republican forces were supported officially by Stalin who sent equipment and advisors. And unofficially by the United States, Britain, and France, from which hundreds of men volunteered to fight against Franco. All three nations sold weapons and supplies to the republican government but forbid the sale of such goods to Franco's fascists forces. The Spanish Civil War was a double success for fascism because Franco prevailed and it also brought Hitler and Mussolini closer together. Germany and Italy signed the official Berlin-Rome Axis Pact and were later joined by Japan in the Anti-Comintern pact. The fascist side of the second World War was drawn. Axis Advancements Now with Mussolini officially on his side, Hitler was free to take over Austria. Austria had discussed the possibility of unification with Germany after the first World War. Both were German speaking peoples, with similar views on Jews, Slavs, and the supremacy of the German Volk. Hitler was himself an Austrian. There was also a large and popular Nazi party in Austria. But Hitler was unable to get the Austrian Premier, Kurt von Schuschnigg (1897-1977) to agree to unification. Hitler, through the Austrian Nazi party, used propaganda and threats but could not get Schuschnigg to agree. Finally the Premier agreed to let the Austrians vote by plebiscite whether to unify with Germany. Hitler knew that a plebiscite was unlikely to give unification full support. So instead he simply invaded Austria on 12 March, 1938. The invasion was unopposed by either Mussolini or by the western democratic powers. The only objections came from Czechoslovakia, who was now surrounded by Germany on three sides. The Sudetenland, given to Czechoslovakia by the Versailles settlement but contained millions of unhappy Germans. Hitler was very vocal about his dissatisfaction with the Sudetenland situation… he wanted it badly. In September 1938 Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini, and the French premier Edouard Daladier (1884-1970) met in Munich to discuss Hitler's demands that the Sudetenland be given over immediately to Germany. It was. Again Hitler said one thing in public, that he was satisfied territorially, but another thing in private, as he prepared to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia, which he did in March, 1939. 14 15 Appeasment Fails Now it was clear that appeasement was not working. Hitler's next target was Poland. Again, he tried propaganda and threats, and as Austria had done the year before, Poland held fast and refused to join Germany. This was too much even for Chamberlain, who announced a pact between Britain, France and Poland guaranteeing they would defend Poland’s independence from Germany. Hitler also knew that if a war did come, he had the support of Mussolini, and a new ally in Stalin. The Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939 was not an agreement between comparable ideologies; in fact both sides despised each other. But enemies became ‘friends’ or at least allies, Stalin & Hitler sealing the fate of Poland. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Hitler breaks its pact with the Soviet Union, the complete betrayal of Hitler and invades Russia in 1941. As had happened at the beginning of the first World War, Britain and France were trapped by their Polish Alliance into declaring war on Germany on September 3. A second World War had begun. Japan’s Road to War Japan’s aggression began well before most of those in Europe. The Russo Japanese war of 1904 – 1905 gave them great influence in Manchuria, increasing tensions with China. Japan Invades manchuria in 1931 which infuriated wetsern powers, so Japan withdraws from League of Nations. Japan was also upset that the United States had strict antiimmigration laws, barring many of Asian heritage. Japan was also dependent on many foreigners for a variety of porducts. For example, they got 80% of their oil and half of its copper from the US. Japan had ambitions to expand its territory throughout Asia. They primarily wanted to control regions rich in resources. So, they begin to target colonies of western powers (French, British, US, Dutch, etc). Remember our Imperialism lecture?? They will focus on Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Indonesia and the Phillipines. To accomplish their goals, Japan used brutal techniques that surpass many of the European regimes. 15 World War II * Please be aware that this lecture contains discussion and graphic images of war crimes, the holocaust and rape victims. Fighting World War II World War II was truly was a ‘world war’ with two fronts, one in Europe and one in Japan. Although these regions were separated geographically, they were still deeply interconnected. By the end of the war there were between 35 million & 55 million casualties. WWII like most wars was extremely complicated, so today we will look at the war in Europe first and then the war in Asia. War in Europe Lets recap a few things from our previous lecture. Remember that Stalin surprised everyone by signing a non-aggression Pact with Hitler who had previously been sworn enemies. Then Germany launched an aggressive campaign in Poland. Hitler used a strategy called the Blitzkrieg or “lightening War” in which his troops administered a constant barrage of firepower and appeared unstoppable. In 2 months Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg had all been taken by a combination of air and land forces; panzer tanks. Traditionally all of these had been neutral countries. Britain and France had pledged to support Poland and   1   therefore declared war on Germany. For nearly two years, Britain stood virtually alone in fighting Germany. Battle of Britain was a series of devastating air attacks on London other cities bringing collateral damage to the nation. The Germans occupied Northern France and they eventually occupied Paris. American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wished to help Britain, but US public opinion limited him from getting involved. In September of 1940 Germany, Japan, & Italy created an alliance called the ‘Axis’ powers. Hitler’s next objective was ‘Operation Barbarossa’ the invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941. Hitler knew he needed to be fast and reach the capital before winter. He was successful all the way to Leningrad leaving a path of destruction through Russia on his way. But he changed course to attempt to gain control of some oil fields. This gave Stalin a chance to fortify the city of Moscow and prepare for Hitler’s attack. In addition winter had begun and trapped the German troops. Russia now joined the allies, as did the US. Operation Barbarossa   2   Americans had wanted to stay out of the conflict but congress agreed in 1940 to sell arms to Britain on a cash and carry basis. The US also started the rearmament process (just in case). Congress passed the Lend Lease Act in 1941, which gave military aid to allied forces; it funneled billions of dollars into Britain and China. The US also froze Japanese assets halting all trade and oil exports with the country. Remember Japan got 80% of their oil for the US so this was very problematic for them and leads to increasing tensions. The War in the Pacific The first few months of American involvement witnessed an unbroken string of military disasters. Remember Japan Invades Manchuria 1931, but then signed a Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy and joined the Axis powers. There was never a close connection between Japan and the other Axis powers, they just shared the same goals and had common enemies. At the same time Japan sought her own expansion goals in the pacific including China. They captured the capital of Beijing in 1937. Russia immediately offers help to China bringing Alliance between Japan and Germany them into the Allies. Pearl Harbor As tensions between the US and Japan escalated, they came to a head on December 7, 1941. Japanese planes launched from aircraft carriers and bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This was the first foreign attack on US soil since war of 1812. It was a surprise attack that completely devastated the base and infuriated the American people. Roosevelt addressed the nation and said it was ‘a date that will live in infamy.’ Over 2000 servicemen died, 187 aircraft, 18 naval vessels and 8 battleships were all destroyed. Fortunately, there were not any aircraft carriers in the harbor (they   3   were all out to sea). The battleship USS Arizona was struck and sunk, as were seven others. But unfortunately the servicemen aboard the USS Arizona were trapped on board. 1,177 men died on board the ship. Before After Roosevelt immediately asked for a declaration of war against Japan and congress votes 388 to 1 in favor of the war. The next day Germany declared war on US. The American Home Front Mobilizing for war affected all aspects of society. We are going to look at how people at home helped contribute to the war effort. The economy is usually hugely affected. Mobilization means war production of weapons, ammunition, planes, boats, uniforms, etc. Unemployment from 14% - 2% in 3 years and y 1944 the US was producing 1 ship every day and 1 plane every 5 min (this is what really ended The Great Depression). Americans produced an astonishing amount of wartime goods and utilized science and technology improving inventions like radar, jet engines and early computers. Women at Work Women in 1944 made up over one-third of the civilian labor force, but as men were away fighting new opportunities opened up for married women and mothers. Previously only   4   single women worked unless they were very poor, but now more middle class women will work to ‘do their part.’ Propaganda campaigns flooded the world encouraging women to do their part in the war. This leads to the birth of the famous Rosie the Riveter. Women in vast numbers were working in the industrial world building airplanes bombers and other war goods. We also see women take on active roles in the war. For example, the development of the WASP program – Women’s Air Force Service Pilots. The call came in 1942 when more and more military pilots were being called overseas to fight in combat. At this time some male air force pilots remained in the United States in order to ferry the newly built aircrafts to their final destinations where they would be put into use. This method was effective until higher than expected casualties overseas required more men to leave these ferrying and transportation posts to actively fight. Over 25,000 women applied for the WASP’s. From this number 1830 were selected for training and 1,074 completed their training. The Wasps were formally disbanded rather abruptly as the war began to come to an end in 1944. Flew approximately sixty million miles during the war. Throughout this timeframe the women’s division endured thirty-eight casualties during their training and missions. This casualty ratio is similar and equal to that of the men who had done the same job.   5   Trained nurses were valued necessity during any combat situation, however with the advance of technological warfare and airplane bombings, injuries and deaths were gruesome and frequent. In 1940 before the war there were about 1600 women enlisted in the both the army and navy nurse corps. This number grew to over 40,000 in just three years. Female nurses were officers, paid very well and traveled all over the world. These were all opportunities usually denied to young single women. These nurses were often near the front lines and involved in bombings, and hundreds were taken as prisoners of war. Lastly women were often involved in espionage. The United States governments had used female spies since the civil war, so the concept and implementation of them during World War II was not completely new, but used in a new and official way. The British and US formally organized of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Women were used because they were less suspicious, and didn’t have to carry documents that men in Europe usually did. Many educated American women also possessed language skill that was useful in espionage. Many female spies found it necessary to compromise their ethics and morals and implement their sexuality in order to achieve the desired results of their mission. They often used the sexual desire of officers to seduce high ranking military officials in order to gain access to secret information. An example of a women who used her sexuality for information was Amy Elizabeth Thorpe Brousse whose codename was Cynthia. Cynthia had sexual liaisons with three separate men in order to gain information. Her most important seduction was of an Italian admiral/naval attaché of the Italian Embassy. “Of her willingness to grant sexual   6   favors for information she remarked, ‘ After all, wars are not won by respectable means!’” The third man was sympathetic to the United States and joined her to help her gain French Vichy naval codes. The admiral was so taken with Cynthia that he handed over Italian naval codes. Another young woman named Patty O’Sullivan flirted with a German officer and made a date with him to distract him from inspecting her suitcase filled with secret documents. Japan War & Atrocities The Japanese, like the Nazi’s, committed war crimes beyond what many comprehend. In Hong Kong and Shanghai, the Japanese imprisoned thousands of British, Dutch, and American citizens. Like the Nazis, the Japanese thought themselves to be racially superior. In China Japan was especially brutal and some twenty-one million Chinese were killed by the Japanese, whose official slogan in China was "Kill all, Burn all, Loot All." Decapitated heads in China Rape of Nanking from 1937 – 1938 left about 300,000 Chinese dead. In six weeks, many consider this the worst single atrocity of WWII. 90,000 POW’s killed horrifically and between 20,000 – 80,000 women were gang raped then stabbed to death. There was no mercy and no one was off limits pregnant women, children, the elderly were all rape victims. The Japanese also forced the Chinese to   7   participate in family rapes. They would barge into homes and force, family members to rape each other (fathers to daughters, sons to mothers, brothers to sisters. All of the women were usually killed after words. In addition to the rapes and POW executions there were citywide burnings, stabbings, drowning’s, strangulations, thefts, and massive property destruction. Often the Chinese were forced to dig their own graves before they were executed. Lastly the Japanese forced many Chinese to take drugs, including children, leading to a drug addicted society of about 50,000. In short China was left in ruins after the Japanese had descended on the nation. Meanwhile, Japan dominated the South Pacific, hopping from Island to Island conquering them as they went. Thousands of Americans and Filipino’s were forced to surrender. Over 60,000 Filipino’s were forced to march 8- miles with little food, dirty water and enduring abuse. This event, known as the Bataan Death March killed over 10,000 people. The Japanese however could not keep their stronghold and the tide of the war in the Pacific turned with the battles at Coral Sea in May and Midway in June of 1942. Both battles devastated Japanese Navy, but the battle of Midway Island was particularly debilitating. The War in Europe Lets check back in with the war in Europe. The war in Europe was first fought in North Africa and Italy. But as Hitler expanded his forces throughout Europe the allies expanded as well. A turning point for the war in Europe was D-Day Invasion   8   the D-Day Invasion were 200,000 Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy (NW France) to take back France from the Germans. Up to a million allied troops entered over the next few weeks. This invasion established the muchneeded second front in Western Europe and the German armies retreated and Paris is liberated from their control. Even though the western front is a major benefit, the crucial fighting in Europe took place on the eastern front between Germany and the Soviet Union. The battle of Stalingrad in Russia marked the biggest turning point in 1943 where Germany surrendered. Other methods implemented in 1943 to try and end the war were constant (twenty-four hour a day) bombings of German cities. One of the targets was the city of Dresden were as least 100, 000 inhabitants, mostly civilians were killed. The fighting alone claimed millions of lives, and the Holocaust claimed millions more. The holocaust was the strategic execution of millions of Slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, Jews, communists, mentally ill and disabled. These were the groups that Hitler deemed undesirable and needed to be eliminated to create a ‘master race’. Hitler did not immediately begin to execute these groups but occurred in stages. First, Jews were first targeted with the Nuremberg laws that took legal rights away from Jews. Next Jews had to wear badges on their clothing in the shape of a star so they could be identified on sight (one of the Nuremberg laws). The third step was that many Jews were moved to Ghettos neighborhoods where they would be monitored daily). The fourth step was the transportation of Jews into concentration   9   camps. At first just labor camps, they quickly transitioned to execution camps. These executions, the fifth and final step, are known as Hitler’s ‘Final Solution.’ Heinrich Himmler's (1900-1945) SS killed at least thirty million Slavs and imprisoned some six million more forcing them to be slave labor. To eliminate the Jews, Hitler used firing squad at first but did not find it efficient enough and then used the Gas chambers. The gas that was used was called Zyklon B. The Jews were told that they were going to take showers and instead of water, the poisonous gas came through the vents. Six million Jews were executed during WWII. The End of the War In 1943 Mussolini was overthrown and Italy joined the Allies. By early 1945 an allied victory was ensured and in March American troops entered Germany and Hitler committed suicide on May 1, 1945. Even in his last will and testament Hitler blames the war on the Jews. V-E day, meaning Victory in Europe was March 8, 1945. But there is still a war waging in the South Pacific. The Most Terrible Weapon The United States and her allies were island hopping to reclaim pacific Islands from Japan and are firebombing Japanese cities, including Tokyo. One of the most momentous decisions ever   10   confronted by an American president fell to Harry Truman (FDR had run for a fourth term but died of a stroke shortly thereafter). The options that Truman had was to launch another land invasion and risk hundreds of thousands of lives, or drop the bomb and end the war but in so taking innocent lives. On August 6, 1945, an American plane dropped an atomic bomb that detonated over Hiroshima, Japan. Population of the city included 280,000 civilians and 40,000 soldiers. 70,000 people died immediately, 140,000 more by the end of year & thousands more over 5 years from radiation poisoning. Three days later on August 9 a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki with similar casualty results. Japan surrenders within the week. Because of the enormous cost in civilian lives, the use of the bomb remains controversial. Planning the Postwar World Even before the war was over there were a series of meetings between Allied leaders known as The Big Three, Stalin, FDR, Churchill, formulated plans for the postwar world. The Big Three had tensions amongst themselves. Stalin is a communist so they are allies in the war but ideological enemies. We will learn more about this when we transition to The Cold War. The three peace conferences included the Tehran and Yalta conferences (FDR was at these), and the Potsdam conference in 1954 (Truman). At the Potsdam meeting, Stalin gets to retain Eastern Europe and the Baltic states for his part in the victory; this will lead to the cold war. The end of WWII leads to ‘Peace, But Not Harmony’ as tensions for The Cold War escalate instantly.   11   
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