World war 2, history homework help

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Simply describe what element of this World War 2 do you find the most interesting? What about the world war was new information or helped you to look at the World Wars in a new way. You can analyze the Wars politically, culturally, economically etc. Make sure that you provide a thorough and analytical explanation of the topic you choose.

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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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Running head: THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The Second World War
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THE SECOND WORLD WAR

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Introduction
The Second World War went down to be one of the deadliest in history which left
millions of casualties and set the stage for among other things, the Cold War and the formation
of the United Nations. Several aspects of the war are interesting such as the leaders who were
actively involved in the preparation for the war and the fact that it was a war fought on different
fronts. Another aspect is the formation of alliances prior to the beginning of the war. Most
important of these elements, though, is the cause of the war. The failures of the League of
Nations are just some of the causes of the war but perhaps important to recognize is that the
Second World War was nothing less of direct results of the suffering, animosity and economic
destruction created and...


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