Causes of WWII: Italy & Great Depression

• Italy felt slighted by denied territories promised by Britain and France, contributing to the causes of World War II.

Rise of Fascism in Italy

• Fascism is a totalitarian form of government that glorifies the state.
• It is characterized by a single leader and party, with the government controlling everything and suppressing opposition through propaganda and censorship.
• Mussolini wanted to restore Italy to its former glory and sided with the Axis powers in 1940.
• He formed an alliance with Hitler during the Spanish Civil War.

The Great Depression's Global Impact

• The Great Depression affected not only Europe and the U.S. but also countries like Japan.
• Japan, as an island nation with limited resources, resorted to trading and conquering, starting with Korea.
• Korea harbored resentment towards Japan, highlighting the presence of racism and imperialism on a global scale.
• Korea lacked the necessary resources for industrialization, pushing them to seek resources elsewhere.

Japanese Expansionism

• Japanese expansionism extended into China.
• The Soviet Union felt threatened and opposed this expansion.
• Appeasement, such as the Munich Agreement, was used to avoid conflict by conceding to the enemy's demands.
• Militarism led to increased military strength and weapon stockpiles, glorifying war.
• Nationalism, emphasizing the superiority of one's own nation, was embraced by leaders like Hitler, Mussolini, and Japan's Tojo.

American Isolationism

• The Kellogg-Briand Treaty initially solidified the U.S.'s non-involvement in international conflicts.
• The U.S. was preoccupied with its own major depression.
• Conflict in Europe seemed distant, leading the U.S. to adopt a neutral stance.
• The Nye Committee hearings in the mid-1930s concluded that the U.S. had been manipulated into entering World War I by arms manufacturers and Allied propaganda.
• The U.S. was a major industrial power at the time, benefiting from steel production during the Gilded Age.

Failure of Appeasement

• Appeasement involves granting an advantage to the opposing side to prevent further disagreement.
• Hitler was confident in 1939, believing that Britain and France would not intervene.
• Hitler broke his promise by invading Poland on September 1, 1939.
• France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, marking their opposition.
• Nazis successfully occupied Poland.
• Blitzkrieg (lightning war) strategy, reminiscent of the Schlieffen Plan, was used to quickly overwhelm opponents.
• Poland fell quickly due to overwhelming force.
• Germany's superior technology and well-prepared engineers gave them an advantage.
• Fast airplanes, tanks, and infantry forces were used to surprise and quickly defeat the enemy.

Invasion of Poland

• Used Panzers (tanks).
• Poles were not well-prepared to resist Germany.
• Norway was invaded next for its resources, like iron, and access to heavy water for explosives and rockets to create harder to break blockades.

The Fall of France

• French thought were safe behind the Maginot Line, the only border they mobilize, however German tanks went through the dense forest
• The Germans successfully bypassed the Maginot Line.
• French soldiers retreated to Dunkirk.
• On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany, agreeing to German occupation of northern France.

Rescue from Dunkirk

• In May 1940, troops were stuck at Dunkirk.
• Approximately 850 ships crossed the English Channel for their rescue.
• Despite limitations, British boats evacuated as many soldiers as possible to Britain.

The Battle of Britain

• Hitler expected Britain to negotiate peace, but Prime Minister Winston Churchill refused to surrender.
• Hitler planned an invasion, using Luftwaffe attacks to destroy Britain's air defenses.
• Britain withstood the Blitz despite heavy destruction.
• Technology and strategic errors played a crucial role.
• Hitler abandoned the invasion plan.

Invasion of the Soviet Union

• Hitler's pivotal mistake was invading the Soviet Union.
• Destroying Bolshevism was a key ideological goal for Hitler.
• The broad Soviet border made a blitzkrieg strategy difficult.
• On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union.
• The German army advanced quickly but suffered heavy casualties.
• The invasion resembled Napoleon's invasion of Russia 100 years prior.
• As temperatures dropped, the Germans retreated due to inadequate summer uniforms.
• Hitler ordered "NO RETREAT," ignoring Napoleon's winter defeat 130 years earlier.
• Hitler's advance gained nothing but cost many German casualties further weakening Germany.

American Assistance

• The U.S. remained largely uninvolved which could explain why the war lasted so long
• Congress asked Roosevelt to allow the Allies to buy American arms.
• The Lend-Lease Act (March 1941) allowed the president to lend arms and supplies to countries important to the U.S.

Tripartite Pact

• Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact on September 27, 1940, forming the Axis Powers.
• Each nation recognized the others to establish a new order in their respective regions.
• They agreed to assist each other if attacked.
• The purpose was to deter the U.S. from entering the war.

Grand Alliance

• The major Allied powers were Great Britain (Winston Churchill), the U.S. (FDR), and the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin).
• The strategies for war were to defeat Germany first and outproduce the enemy.

Rape of Nanjing

• Japanese troops slaughtered at least 10,000 civilians and raped thousands of women in Nanjing, China, from December 1937 to February 1938.

The Pacific Theater

• Japan gained more territories.
• Roosevelt moved Pacific troops to Hawaii and banned oil exports.
• Japan faced a dilemma as they needed oil.
• Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to cripple the coast's fleet, preventing a prolonged war.

Pearl Harbor

• On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. Naval Base in Hawaii.
• Japan failed to destroy the aircraft carrier but roused a sleeping giant.
• Around 2,000 people were killed and 1,000 wounded.

U.S. Mobilization

• Led to full employment and increased government expenditures and budget.

Consequences of Mobilization

• WWII ended the Great Depression.
• Factories operated at full capacity.
• People moved to Florida for its warm climate.
• People were subject to rationing.
• National debt increased to $260 billion.

Island Hopping

• Strategy to build bases and control supply lines.
• Involved stealing supplies from the Japanese and facing fierce resistance.

Turning Points in the War: Western Front

• The Battle of Stalingrad marked a turning point, putting Germany on the defensive against Stalin.
• Operation Torch (1943) resulted in an Allied victory in North Africa and the invasion of Italy.
• D-Day (Operation Overlord) aimed to liberate Europe from Nazi domination and they were able to do this because they used fake military supplies and dummies.
• General Eisenhower launched an invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
• The invasion was successful, but resulted in 10,000 Allied casualties.
• The Allies gained a foothold in Europe from which to push back Germany.
• The Enigma machine was used to decipher German code, enabling the Allies to understand German plans and prepare counterattacks.

Erwin Rommel

• In 1944, he fortified the coast with "Rommel's asparagus" to take out gliders.

Subsequent Battles

• Operation Market Garden involved an Allied invasion through the Netherlands to attack strategic points in Germany, but was costly in men, time, and supplies.

Battle of the Bulge

• The last German offensive.
• It took place in the Ardennes Forest near Bastogne, Belgium.
• Climate played a significant role as the Germans wanted bad weather to ground Allied forces.
• The surprise attack on the Rhine was successful initially and the allies win.
• Creating a hole in the American forces was intended to create a bulge, but the Americans surrounded it.

Race to Berlin

• D-Day and Stalingrad marked turning points on the Western and Eastern Fronts, respectively, for both sides racing to Berlin.
• Stalin advanced through Poland, encountering concentration camps.
• The British, U.S., and Free French armies pressed into eastern Germany as the Soviets invaded eastern Germany.
• The Allies agreed to let Stalin take Berlin, as the Soviets suffered the most losses and the Allies were not fans of Stalin.

Victory in Europe

• Mussolini was captured and killed by Italian partisans.
• Hitler committed suicide in April 1945 as Russian troops approached Berlin, along with his wife and Goebbels.
• They took pills to kill themselves and requested their bodies burned to avoid recognition and torture.
• Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7, 1945 (V-E Day).
• Fighting in the Pacific would continue until August.

American Naval Battles

• The U.S. stopped Japanese forces in two decisive naval battles:
• Coral Sea (May 1942): The U.S. halted a fleet convoying Japanese troops to New Guinea, ending Japanese designs on Australia.
• Midway (June 1941): Yamamoto aimed to capture Midway Island for another attack against Pearl Harbor, but American forces caught them by surprise, sinking 3/4 aircraft carriers, 332 planes, and causing 3,500 casualties.

Importance of Midway

• The Japanese defeat at Midway marked a turning point in the Pacific.
  • Japanese advances stopped.
  • The US takes the initiative.
  • Japanese pilots ran short.
  • News of the defeat was suppressed from the Japanese public to maintain morale.

End in the Pacific

• Yamamoto was assassinated by the US in April 1944.

Intensive Air Raids Over Japan

• Iwo Jima (Feb 1945): American marines invaded, establishing a base for fighter escorts during bombings over Japan.

Atom Diplomacy

• Japan refused to surrender to preserve their honor, leading to the use of atom bombs.
• FDR funded the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb.
• Robert Oppenheimer successfully tested the bomb in the summer of 1945.
• After FDR's death on April 12, 1945, Harry Truman made the decision to use the bomb, a costlier to the Allied forces.
• On August 9, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped a bomb on Hiroshima, causing immense destruction and casualties.
• Nagasaki was bombed on August 9, 1945.
• Emperor Hirohito surrendered on August 14, 1945.

War Costs

Soviet Union suffered the most deaths, leading to Stalin's control.

Postwar Revenge

• The Nuremberg trials prosecuted high-ranking Nazi officers for crimes against humanity.
• Tried at an international military tribunal, where 12 were sentenced to death.
• The Tokyo Trial (1946-48) was held afterward.

Wartime Agreements

• Transformed the military power distribution into a political settlement.
• Stalin had already occupied Eastern Europe, and USSR entered the war against Japan.
• FDR secured a guarantee of free elections.

Potsdam Conference

• Truman, Stalin, and Churchill.
• The discussion included the Soviet withdrawal from Iranian oil fields.
• Free elections in Eastern Europe were discussed.
• Germany would be split among 4 zones and demilitarized.

Marshall Plan

• Passed on April 3, 1948.
• The goal was to boost Germany's economy by distributing $13 billion over four years.
• Wanted to rise the fear of fascism and another Hitler occurring.

United Nations

• To promote international stability.
• General assembly debated international issues with representative from all countries.
• Security council: permanent members, U.S., Soviet union, Britain, France and China
• 6 elected members.
• The U.S. joined, unlike the League of Nations.

NATO

• An attack on one member was considered an attack on all, primarily due to U.S. involvement.
• Aims to deter Soviet expansionism, prevent national militarism with a strong North American presence, and encourage European political integration.

Treaty of San Francisco

• Signed with Japan in 1951; the treaty established that the Pacific Islands of Micronesia would be administered under UN trusteeship.
• Ryuku and Bonin Islands were given to the USA.
• Whatever they decide there will be obedience. International tribunal for the Far East and other allied war crimes--> agreed to carry out the sentences imposed upon the Japanese nationals imprisoned in Japan.

Post War

• The U.S. became engaged in global affairs.
• Communists triumphed in China.
• The U.S. established protectorates in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
• Decolonization occurred.

Tojo War Crimes

• Tojo war crimes→ around 9:00 “rebuilding Japan after World War 11”
• Self Defence force--> In the same video--> More and more of the region feel under communist influence in the immediate years.