History Review - September 11, 2001 & Afghanistan PDF

# The 21st Century - **September 11, 2001**: Four commercial flights were hijacked by terrorists. Two planes were used to destroy the Twin Towers in New York, one crashed into the Pentagon and the final one crashed into a field. Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility. ## The War in Af...

# The 21st Century - **September 11, 2001**: Four commercial flights were hijacked by terrorists. Two planes were used to destroy the Twin Towers in New York, one crashed into the Pentagon and the final one crashed into a field. Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility. ## The War in Afghanistan - In the 1970s, Afghan governments were fighting a losing battle against rebels who supported an extreme interpretation of Muslim scriptures and traditions. - The Afghans appealed to the Soviet Union for help. - In the Cold War era the U.S. feared that Soviet success in Afghanistan would extend their influence in the Middle East. - The United States secretly poured billions to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. - One rebel group they supported was led by Osama bin Laden. ## The Taliban & al-Qaeda - After years of fighting, the rebels finally forced the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the late 1980s. This eventually cleared the way for the Taliban to take over the country. - About this time, bin Laden formed al-Qaeda. Using Afghanistan as a base, he vowed to fight Western influences in the Middle East. - After 9/11, Afghanistan's Taliban government refused to reveal bin Laden's hiding place. ## United Nations & NATO - In October 2001, the United Nations agreed that the U.S. and its allies had the right - as a matter of self-defense - to invade Afghanistan to track down bin Laden and oust the Taliban. - NATO took on the job of leading the invasion force. - In October 2001, Prime Minister Chrétien announced that Canada would join the NATO coalition, and within days, Canadian Forces were on their way to Afghanistan. ## A Long, Tough Slog - By the end of 2001 the Taliban had been driven from power in Afghanistan, and in 2004 the country held democratic elections. - Nonetheless, the country remained very dangerous. - Al-Qaeda and the Taliban recruited guerillas - independent armed forces that fight against government forces - to terrorize the Afghan people and wage a battle against the NATO forces. # Living in the Global Village ## International Organizations - Canada believes that the United Nations is the world's best hope for peace. - Canada has played an important role in promoting universal membership in the UN and in peacekeeping efforts. - Canada is the UN's fourth largest contributor. - After the Cold War, NATO has changed its focus to promoting peace and stability by preventing and managing terrorism. - After September 11, 2001, NATO activated the collective defensive article. This meant that NATO members agreed to help the United States fight terrorism. - The Commonwealth is a voluntary organization of countries that were once British colonies. ## International Peacekeeping ### Former Yugoslavia - In the 1990s, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina became independent. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro became the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. - This was not a peaceful transition. It sparked brutal fighting between ethnic and religious groups. - Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, millions became refugees. ### Somalia - By late 1992 a civil war has broken out in Somalia, which was made worse by a famine that was sweeping the country. - 900 Canadian peacekeepers were sent to Somalia as part of a UN force. - Some members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR) committed violent acts against Somali citizens. The worst was the torture death of a 16 yr old boy. This affair tarnished our image as peacekeepers. ### Rwanda - It too was divided between rival ethnic groups, the Tutsi and the Hutu. - In October, 1993 Canadian general Roméo Dallaire and a small UN force of 2600 arrived in Rwanda to keep the peace. Dallaire discovered a plan by the Hutu extremists to massacre Tutsi and asked the UN for more troops. - His request was denied, and the Hutu extremists killed about 800,000 Tutsis. - Also lead the campaign to establish an international criminal court to try people who commit crimes against humanity. ### Canada and the Persian Gulf War - In 1991, conflict in the Persian Gulf threatened the world's oil supply. # Protecting Human Rights ## International Criminal Tribunal - In 1993 the UN Security Council set up the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. - In 1994, it established a similar tribunal to investigate the genocide in Rwanda. - The mission of both was to bring to justice people who had committed crimes against humanity in Rwanda. - While Canadian Louise Arbour was in charge, the Rwanda tribunal registered the first conviction for genocide since the UN passed the Genocide Convention in 1948. ## Controversy - People disagree over whether UN rules even allow the Security Council to set up bodies like these. - The tribunals have been costly - several hundred million dollars a year - and those costs are shared by UN members. - Others have argued the tribunals move too slowly to be effective. ## International Criminal Court - As a result of the events in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, some countries came to believe that the UN should set up a permanent international criminal court. - In 2002, the International Criminal Court was formed as an independent organization. ## American Issues - Officials argue that countries should be left to bring war criminals to justice in their own courts. - They say that this court is too powerful because it does not answer to any national government. - The U.S. says American citizens are not subject to this court's authority, and the American government has threatened to withhold military aid from those countries that support the court. # Protecting the Environment ## Global Climate Change - Since the 1800s, people around the world have been burning more and more fossil fuels - coal, oil, and natural gas - to create the energy needed to heat and cool homes, power cars, and run factories. The burning process releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that had been trapped in these fuels. - Greenhouse gases form a barrier in the atmosphere. This barrier absorbs heat from the earth's surface and radiates it back to the earth instead of letting it pass into space. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect and many scientists say that it contributes to global climate change - small but steady changes in average temperatures around the world. - These scientists warn that global climate change will have disastrous results. It will, for example, melt a portion of the ice caps at the poles, causing permanent in some coastal areas. It will also destroy the habitat of many animals. - But not all scientists agree that climate change is caused by human activities, some scientists say that the earth goes through natural warming and cooling cycles caused by, for example, differences in the amount of energy released by the sun. ## Earth Summit - In 1992, the United Nations hosted the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Leaders of more than 100 countries, including Canada agreed to stop destroying natural resources and polluting the planet. They also agreed to take measures to reduce global climate change. ## Kyoto Protocol - At a 1997 UN conference in Kyoto, Japan, 141 countries signed the Kyoto Protocol. This agreement was a direct result of the discussions held at the 1992 Earth Summit and set a target of reducing world air pollution to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Countries agreed to achieve this target by limiting the amount of greenhouse gases they produced. Countries that exceed the 2012 goals will be penalized. - On December 17, 2002, Parliament ratified - formally voted to accept - the Kyoto Protocol. Although most Canadians agreed with this action, others disagreed. The Conservative Party opposed the agreement, and Albert premier Ralph Klein warned that it would lead to job losses especially in manufacturing and the oil and gas industries. - Because the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2001, some critics said that the jobs lost in Canada would go to the US where businesses are not required to meet Kyoto targets. ## International Trade - Canadian businesses rely on international trade to keep the economy strong. - As a result, Canada has become the fifth-largest trading country in the world, and exports now make up about 50 percent of the Canadian economy. <start_of_image> देश में # The Quiet and Not So Quiet Revolution ## Quebec and Canada 1914-1998 ## The Problems of Quebec After 1945 - The population of Quebec was leaving the farms for jobs in the city. - English speaking minority in Quebec controlled the economy. - Unemployment in Quebec was the highest in Canada. - The English in Quebec had better pay and better jobs than the French speaking population. - The birth rate in Quebec was falling and new immigrants preferred to learn English. ## "Maitres Chez Nous" - Maurice Duplessis as Premier, was a Quebec nationalist and stressed to Ottawa that Quebeckers must be "masters in their own house". After Duplessis's death, under the Liberal leadership of Jean Lesage the slogan of change continued to be "Maitres Chez Nous". ## Ottawa Responds to Nationalism in Quebec - The new Canadian Flag was adopted in 1965 with English and French. - Canada was to be officially bilingual. - French was to be the primary language of business and government in Quebec. - In 1968 Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Trudeau rejected separatism (Quebec independence) and focused on bilingualism in government. ## Bourassa (Liberal) Takes Power in Quebec - Robert Bourassa believed that Quebec's place was in Canada. - In the first year his government he was forced to deal with a radical separatist group, the FLQ. ## The October Crisis 1970 - FLQ - The Front de Liberation Quebecois wanted the independence of Quebec and were prepared to use violence to achieve this end. - On October 5, 1970 they kidnapped James Cross, the British Trade Commissioner to Canada, then kidnapped the Quebec Minister of Labour - Pierre Laporte. - The FLQ issued a list of demands which included the release from prison of several members of their group and print manifesto. - On October 16, 1970 Prime Minister Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. - This act gave the government special powers of arrest and had been requested by both the government of Quebec and the city of Montreal. - Nearly 500 Quebeckers were arrested and jailed although very few were ever brought to trial. - Pierre Laporte was murdered but James Cross was eventually released. ## Rene Levesque and the Parti Quebecois - Most Quebecois were opposed to the violence and terrorism but at the same time many supported a separate Quebec. This gave rise to a new separatist political party - Parti Quebecois led by Rene Levesque who became premier in 1976. - One of the most controversial measures of the Parti Quebecois was Bill 101 - The Charter of the French Language. This bill made French the only working language in Quebec. ## The Quebec Referendum - The Parti Quebecois organized a referendum on sovereignty-association for May 20, 1980. This meant independence from Canada but the retention of close economic ties. - 82% of the population turned out to vote. Oui 41% No 59%. ## The Winds of Change - The 1980 referendum convinced Pierre Trudeau that constitutional change was necessary. - The Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau undertook the difficult task of patriating the constitution but without the approval of Quebec. This was achieved in 1982. ## The Meech Lake Accord 1987 - Meech Lake was an effort to complete the constitutional process and meet some of Quebec's demands. It included the confirmation of "distinct society" status for Quebec in order to bring the province into the constitution. - This accord was acceptable in Quebec but eventually failed in Manitoba, all 10 provinces were needed. ## The Bloc Quebecois - The failure of the Meech Lake Accord resulted in the formation of a new federal political party - the "Bloc Quebecois." The first leader of the "Bloc" was Lucien Bouchard. ## The Charlottetown Accord 1992 - This was the second attempt to amend the constitution. It promised "Distinct Society" status for Quebec, Aboriginal self-government and Senate reform. - Failed a national referendum in Oct 1992 when the majority of Canadians voted no. ## The 1995 Quebec Referendum - In 1995 the people of Quebec voted on the question of sovereignty. - The "No" side won by 51 percent to 49 percent. - There was shock in the rest of Canada but no immediate solution. # The Cold War ## Igor Gouzenko - Canada's role as an ally of the Soviet Union during the war did not continue after WWII. On Sep 5, 1945, a young clerk with the Soviet embassy in Ottawa smuggled out 109 top secret documents that proved the Soviets were running a spy ring of civil servants and military officers in Canada. They were interested in acquiring info on political activities, troop movements and scientific secrets including the atomic bomb. ## What was the Cold War? - The Cold War was first used in 1947 to describe the power struggle between the USA and the USSR. Both sides feared a "hot" war with troops and weapons and instead fought through diplomacy, propaganda, economic and political pressures and limited military aggression. ## NATO and the Warsaw Pact - **NATO**: North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 after the cooperation the West had experienced with the Berlin Blockade. Canada proposed this union with other nations in the hopes of being consulted and avoiding war. US/Canada and 3 other nations joined together in 1949. The primary goal of this organization was defense against communism. - As Wiston Churchill famously stated in 1946, "an iron curtain has descended across Europe". - **Warsaw Pact**: The Soviets believed that this alliance was not needed because the Soviet Union was not a threat to Western Europe. In fact, the Soviet Union had twice been invaded by Western Europe. In 1955, the Soviet Union organized its own defense alliance with other satellite countries and agreed to defend one another if any other member was attacked. ## The Marshall Plan - Economics as weapons of war - The western nations wanted to see their war-torn allies back on their feet after WWII, the Soviets wanted to prevent an economic recovery in Western Europe. In 1948, the U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a European recovery plan. Canada had already loaned huge sums of money to Great Britain and now joined the United States in pledging $13.5 billion in economic aid (most from U.S.) to help Europe recover. ## The Korean War - After WWII, Japanese held Korea had been divided into zones of occupation. North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union and South Korea by the United States. It was assumed that the country would one day be unified but the Cold War changed all that. In June 1950, the communist North Koreans sent 100,000 troops armed with Soviet weapons into South Korea. The United States demanded a response from the United Nations Security Council. The Soviets were boycotting the Council at this time and did not attend a special meeting set up to deal with this situation. The Council decided to send in UN Forces under American command to defend South Korea. This "police action" lasted for 3 years and Canada sent 22,000 to fight. In the end over 1000 were injured and 300 were killed. The line of division between the forces was established at the 38th parallel and is still there today. ## NORAD - In 1957, Canada and the United States joined together to create the North American Air Defense System (NORAD). This was an attempt to draw the two nations together to defend against a Soviet attack. Three lines of radar stations were built across Canada, the Pinetree, Mid-Canada and Distant Early Warning lines. The head of this organization were American and it was headquartered in Colorado. The Prime Minister at the time also bought American Bomarc missiles (nuclear capabilities) and Voodoo fighters. ## The Cuban Missile Crisis - In October of 1968 an American US spy plane revealed that the Soviets had been building missile bases in Cuba. This threatened to destabilize the region. The Soviets would now have the capability of deploying a nuclear weapon only 90 kilometers from the cost of Florida. This would give them the ability to launch a surprise attack that would be able to reach almost every major city in the US. The Americans decided they could not allow the weapons to arrive in Cuba and blockaded the coast. For 5 days the world held its breath and waited for global destruction, but an agreement was reached that the U.S. would remove its Jupiter weapons from Turkey if the Soviets removed their’s from Cuba. War was averted. ## The Berlin Wall - After WWII, Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation. The Americans, British, and French jointly occupied their zones while the Soviets coordinated theirs separately. Berlin was also divided into 4 zones and was located deep within Soviet held territory. The citizens of West Berlin enjoyed 30 years of economic success while the Soviet controlled East Germany economy floundered. The wall was constructed in 1941 to prevent East German citizens from escaping into the West Berlin and then West Germany. The wall came to symbolize the divide that the Cold War created and stood until 1989. ## Détente - Relaxing of Tensions - After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the superpowers realized the dangers of a nuclear standoff. A direct "hotline" between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was established. The two powers also agreed to a nuclear test ban treaty in 1963. SALT, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty of 1979 set limits on specific types of nuclear weapons. ## Cold War Heats Up - Soviets announced they were placing 350 missiles in Europe and the U.S. would place cruise missiles in Europe as well. The same year the Soviets also invade Afghanistan and the American boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. In 1984, the Soviets boycott the Los Angeles Olympics. In 1981, Ronald Reagan announces massive increase in American defense budget which hurt Soviet's ability to keep pace. ## End of the Cold War - In the late 1980s the Soviet Union was in bad shape and its leader announced reforms were to take place. Perestroika (restructuring) and Glasnost (openness) would be the new slogans of the USSR. In the autumn of 1989, the "Iron Curtain" collapsed from the Balkans to the Baltic without a Soviet response. In 1991, the Soviet Union had divided into 15 smaller states, with the largest being Russia. # WW2: The War at Home ## Total War - By 1942, Canada was committed to a policy of "Total War". - All industries, materials and people were put to work for the war effort. ## Government and Economy - The war launched Canada out of the depression and into an economic boom. - C.D. Howe, minister of munitions and supply, quickly organized Canada's war economy and controlled nearly everything telling businessmen what they would produce including how much and how fast. - Canada became an industrial power. New factories were built, and old ones adapted for war purposes. - Factories churned out thousands of guns, ships, fighter planes and military vehicles. ## Labour - With so many men enlisting, Canada faced a labour shortage mostly in war-related industries. - In 1942, the Canadian government passed the National Selective Service Act to mobilize the country's labour resources for the benefit of the war effort. - One of the main strategies of the program was to recruit women for the work force. ## "Women, Back Them Up – To Bring Them Back!" - At first only single women were recruited, but upon severe labour shortages, both married women and mothers were sought out. - The government even funded daycare centers so that women would be free to work. - In 1943, there were approximately 225,000 Canadian women working in munitions factories. ## In the Army Now - In 1941, for the first time in Canadian history, women were able to enlist in the Army, Navy, Air Force. - Although Canadian women were not allowed to fight during the Second World War, they did just about everything else. - Women served as Nurses, stretcher bearers, drivers, machine operators, cooks and secretaries. - They also flew Canadian built planes to bases in Britain and ferried officers and politicians from Ottawa to London. - They were paid roughly 60% of what their male counterparts made. ## Enlistment By Women In Canada's Armed Forces: - Over 43,000 women served overseas in the Canadian Women's Army Corps, the Royal Women's Navy Service and the Women's Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force. ## Wartime Prices and The Trade Board - Prime Minister Mackenzie King was determined to avoid the problems of greed and inflation which had plagued the Canada during the first World War. - The government set up the Wartime Prices and Trade Board (WPTB) to control prices and supervise the distribution of food and other scarce goods. ## Rationing: A Little Goes A Long Way! - To ensure there was a large enough supply to meet both military and civilian needs, certain staple goods were rationed. - Rationed Items Included: Meat, Butter, Tea, Coffee, Gasoline, Tires (rubber), Alcohol, Clothing Fabric and Silk, Sugar. ## Pitching In On All Fronts - Dedication to the war effort also extended outside the factories. - Women's organizations collected paper, glass, metal, rubber, rags and bones to be recycled into war supplies. - They planted victory gardens, sewed clothes for troops and were recruited to work on farms and in factories. ## Financing the War - The Canadian Government did raise taxes during the Second World War to help offset the cost of financing the war. - The Canadian government also turned to an old idea: Victory Loans Drives. ## The government conducted nine Victory Loan drives between June 1941 and October 1945. These campaigns raised nearly $12 billion by the end of the war. ## Top Secret: Camp X - Camp X, operated in Whitby from 1941 to 1946, and was a British (and Canadian) training camp for spies during WW2. - They trained Allied agents in the techniques of secret warfare and Hydra, a network which communicated messages between Canada, United States, and Great Britain. # Canada at War ## **Part One** ## Canada's Air War - During World War I, Canada had no air force of its own. The Royal Canadian Air Force was not created until 1925. When World War II started in 1939, the air force was divided into three groups: the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan; the Home War Establishment, for the defence of Canada; and the Overseas War Establishment, for fighting overseas. ### British Commonwealth Air Training Plan - Aircrews could not be trained safely in Britain because British airfields were under constant attack by German bombers. As a result, Canada and Britain created the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in 1939. - The plan brought pilots and aircrews to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to train in safety at 231 sites in Canada. Between 1939 and 1945, more than 130,000 pilots and crew, including 86,000 Canadians, were trained. The program was a major factor in the Allies' eventual success in the air. ### Home War Establishment - As in World War I, the convoy system was used by troops and supply ships sailing to Europe from Canada, because the convoys were again the targets of German U-boats. - The mission of the planes of the Home War Establishment was to escort the convoys as far out into the North Atlantic as they could and to attack and sink as many German submarines as possible. Protecting supplies going to Europe was a very important part of the war effort. Soldiers needed food, guns, and ammunition to continue fighting. ### Overseas War Establishment - Canadian pilots and aircrews played an important role in the Battle of Britian in the summer of 1940. During this battle, German planes tried to destroy the Royal Air Force, as well as civilian targets, in preparation for an invasion of Britain. Canadian fighter pilots helped the RAF hold off the Germans, who finally called off the planned invasion. ### The Battle of Britian - With all of Europe under its control, Germany looked to Britian as the last holdout. - The English Channel is only 34 km wide at the most narrow point. -Hitler was not far from his last enemy in Europe. - Hitler began planning a landed invasion of Britain but first he needed to clear the skies over the English Channel before he could attack. - The German Air Force, or Lutwaffe set out to clear the Royal Airforce (RAF) from the skies in July, 1940. -Wave after wave of German Messerschmitts, Heinkels, and Stukas flew across the English Channel. -They spread out over Britain to their bombing targets which were: radar stations, airfields, ports, factories. - Slowly, the RAF planes were wiped out. - At one point every fighter plane Britain had was in the air. - If the Germans had launched a full attack, there would have been no planes to defend Britian. - Suddenly, German tactics changed; in August 1940 the RAF made a surprising bombing raid against Berlin (Germany's Capital city) and responded by blitzing British cities in revenge. - The Germans were furious. - The plan was to terrorize the civilian poppulation into surrender but the plan backfired. - Bombs rained down on London day and night so people moved into air shelters and subway stations they rebuilt and became stronger. - German raids on London allowed RAF fighters like Spitfires and Hurricanes to regroup. - September 15, German planes blacked out the skies over England but the RAF was ready. - When the day was over the luftwaffe was beaten. Hitler called off the attack 2 days later. - The Battle of Britain was won by a few hundred pilots, about 80 from Canada. ### Bomber Command - Canadian aircrews also made an important contribution to the RAF's Bomber Command. Canadians became famous for the accuracy of their bombing - and for returning home safely. - In 1942, Arthur Harris - nicknamed "Bomber" Harris - of the British air force took charge of Bomber Command. Harris believed that saturation bombing - extremely heavy bombing of a wide area - would shorten the war. This strategy was effective but controversial because civilians were killed in the attacks. Many people believed that bombing civilians was wrong. ### Ferry Command - Canadian fliers also played a role in Ferry command, which flew planes across the Atlantic. Transporting new military aircraft to Britain on ships was slow and dangerous. It also used up space that was need for troops and supplies. Ferry Command was a huge success, but the cost was high. More than 10,000 aircraft reached Britain - but more than 500 flyers lost their lives. ## Canada's War at Sea - Britain is an island. For its people and its armed forces to survive, it needed supplies. Convoys from Canada were the Allies' lifeline. - Germany was determined to cut this lifeline. Even before World War II started, Germany had secretly positioned U-boats off the Canadian Cost in the North Atlantic. They had also laid deadly underwater mines. - The Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian merchant marine (the civilian sailors) were given the critical job of making sure the convoys arrived safely in Britain. ### Battle of the Atlantic - The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest and most important battle of World War II. German U-boats hunted the convoys in groups called wolf packs. Their goal was to stop the flow of supplies to Britain. - By early 1941, the wolf packs were winning the Battle of the Atlantic. They were sinking Allied ships faster than they could be built. They even sank the Caribou, a passenger ferry sailing to Newfoundland from Nova Scotia. The sinking killed 136 people. - The job of the Canadian navy was to escort the convoys halfway across the North Atlantic. At that point, the British navy would take over. - Gradually, the training of sailors improved. Canada also built more and better warships, and the Canadian air force increased its support of the convoys. As a result, the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic was starting to turn in 1943. More ships were getting past the wolf packs, and more U-boats were being sunk. This meant that more supplies were reaching Britain. - Though the Canadian navy participated in all area of the war, its successful efforts in the Battle of the Atlantic played an important role in the Allies' victory over Germany ### The Merchant Marine - The sailors working on the ships carrying supplies and troops across the Atlantic were not members of the navy. They were civilians, many were too young or too old to serve in the regular navy. - Many merchant mariners had never been to sea before. They took the same risks as sailors in the navy, but they had no naval training. In addition, there were few, if any guns on their ships, and merchant mariners were not allowed to quit. - The mid-Atlantic area that was beyond the reach of aircraft from either Canada or Britain was especially dangerous. It was nicknamed the "Black Pit." - If a ship was torpedoed, sailors who jumped into the cold waters of the Atlantic died of exposure in less than five minutes. Even those who made it into lifeboats were sometimes not found - and sailors who escaped death by drowning or torpedo ended up dying of starvation. - Canada's 12,000 merchant mariners did a dangerous but essential job. More than 1600 of them died at sea. ### Early Setbacks for Canadian Soldiers - In the early years of World War II, the outlook for the Allies was grim. The Axis Powers - Germany, Italy and their allies - won a series of quick victories. France fell, and Germany controlled most of Europe. German aircraft were also bombing British cities in what came to be called the blitz. - Canadian soldiers played a role in two of the worst disasters of these early years: Hong Kong and Dieppe. ### Hong Kong - In September 1941, Britain realized that Japan was about to join the Axis Powers. As a result, the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, asked Canada to send troops to help defend Hong Kong, which was a British colony at the time. Though Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King knew that the Japanese army was strong, he reluctantly agreed to send 1975 Canadian soldiers. He did not know that Churchill believed that these troops had little hope of holding Hong Kong. - The Canadian force arrived in Hong Kong in mid-November. On December 7, 1941. Japan declared war by attacking the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. - The 14,000 British, Indian and Canadian troops faced 50,000 Japanese soldiers. The badly outnumbered Allied forces held out until December 25 - and surrendered only when they ran out of supplies and ammunition. - Nearly 500 Canadians were wounded and 290 were killed in this battle. The survivors spent the rest of the war as prisoners who were forced to work as slave labour. Another 260 died as a result of their treatment in the Japanese work camps. ### Dieppe - On August 19, 1942, Canadian troops experienced another terrible loss in the raid on the seaport of Dieppe, France. - The purpose of this raid was to gather information about the German defenses and to test new strategies and equipment. By then, Germany had invaded the Soviet Union, and Allied commanders also hoped to help the Soviets by drawing German troops away from the eastern front. - Boats carried the Canadians across the English Channel from Britain. But Dieppe was heavily fortified. Hundreds of Canadians were killed in landing craft/ship before they reached the shore. Hundreds more were mowed down as they tried to race across Dieppe's pebble beach. - When the order to retreat was given, more than 900 of the 5000 Canadian soldiers who took part in the raid were dead. More than 500 were wounded, and nearly 2000 were taken prisoner. - Historians disagree about the value of Dieppe. Some say that it was a poorly planned, costly, and unnecessary failure. Others say that the sacrifice was worthwhile because the raid gave military planners important information that was critical to the 1944 D-day landing landings in France. ## Part 2 ## The Italian Campaign - July 1943, Canadian, American, and British troops caught the Germans and Italians by surprise when they landed in Sicily (Italy). - The Allies had placed a dead body where they knew the Germans would find it - it had fake papers saying the Allies planned to invade Greece. - Sicily fell after 38 days of fierce fighting and in September the Allies landed in Southern Italy. - When the Allies invaded Southern Italy, Italians turned against Mussolini and he was executed. - Italians wanted to surrender but Hitler sent German troops to occupy Italy and continue fighting. - Gradually, the Allies fought their way northward. - One of the fiercest battles was for the port of Ortona which finally fell after 1375 Canadians had died. - The Germans were not ready to give up, deciding to fight they baricaded themselves and mined the streets. - Canadians became experts at mouse-holeing fighting from house to house and street to street. ## The Invasion of Normandy: D-Day - By June 1944, the Germans knew an invasion of occupied France was coming - they didn’t know where or when it would happen. - The Allies made it look like they were planning to attack the French port of Calais. - They put up empty tents, and built fake tanks & airplanes on the British side across from Calais. - German spy planes reported the buildup and the trick worked perfectly. - The Germans were surprised when the Allies launched the biggest invasion in history on June 6, 1944 on the French beach of Normandy. - The invasion force included 156,000 American, British and Canadian troops with tanks, trucks, guns, soldiers and other equipment. - There were 6,500 battleships and 12,000 aircraft. - The invasion struck the Normandy beaches at 5 different locations which were code named: Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah beaches. -The Canadians landed at Juno Beach. - Though the Germans were surprised, their defenses were strong. - But by the end of the Day the Allies had taken the beaches and began marching inland to liberate Europe. - After landing in Normandy, Canadian troops advanced northeast across northern France and Belgium and into the Netherlands. - There, they were involved in some of the toughest fighting of the war as they pushed the German army further and further back. - The Germans opened the dykes that held back the ocean from the low lands making movement extremely difficult. - As the Canadians advanced and liberated Dutch cities, families came out of their homes and welcomed their liberators. - Finally, on May 5, 1945 the Germans in the Netherlands surrendered - this marked the beginning of the end of Hitler's control of Europe. # WWII Foot Soldier: The Axis 1. Who made up the Axis powers? - Germany - Italy - Japan 2. Who was the ideal infantryman? - 18-25 - Fit - Full of stamina - Obedient 3. Who did Hitler borrow the goose step from? - Russians? 4. When did most soldiers begin training for the army? What was the name of the organization that the children joined? - As a child, they joined Hitler Youth. 5. How long would basic training last at the beginning of the war? - 8 weeks 6. What was the best thing about German food? - It was the hot food. 7. What were the different divisions in the German army? - Regular Infantry - Motorized - Armored - Airborne/ Parachute - Mountain 8. Why was the Caspian Sea important to Hitler? 9. What weapon did the German soldier use? - Machine Pistol 40 (MP 40) 10. What was a potato masher? 11. How much was a German solider paid? - $45 / month 12. Who was the Russia's greatest ally? - Old man winter 13. What was one thing the German soldier would drink to survive? - Their urine. 14. What identifies the German foot soldier? - Their helmet. 15. What was the worst enemy of the