Let's discuss who was involved, what they did, why they did it, how it was fought, how it ended and what significance it had, then and now. Let's discuss it all!
World War II was a world wide conflict fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers from 1939 to 1945. Armed forces took part in naval battles, air battles, and ground combat. About 72 million people died in the war. Different conflicts: Germany, led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party invaded Poland according to a secret agreement with the Soviet Union. The empire of Japan invaded China. Japan launched surprise attack s on the US navy. (Pearl Harbor) Japan attacked the Philippines, which was politically controlled by the US. Germany and Italy declared war on the US. Japanese- Battle of Midway, Battle of Milne Bay, Battle of Gaudalcanal. Began Island Hopping in the Solomon Islands. US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and then dropped one of Nagasaki. Cause of War in Europe- Germany and France had been struggling for dominance in Continetal Europe for 50 years. The power of the Soviets threatened them instead. Failure of the Munich Agreement showed that Hitler could not be trusted. British attacked the French Navy in fear that it would fall into German hands. Control of southern Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa was important because the British Empire depended on shipping through the Suez Canal. Italian troops crossed into Egypt from Libya to attack British bases, beginning the North African Campaign. The goal was to capture the Suez Canal. Basically the goal of winning was the resources. Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian forces invaded Yugoslavia, ending with the surrender of the Yugoslav army. The UK and Red Army troops occupied Iran, securing its oil and a southern supply line to the Soviet Union. The Battle of Greece and the invasion of Yugoslavia delayed the German invasion of the Soviet Union by six critical weeks. Hitler kept his plan to invade the USSR secret from the Japanese. The USSR decided to make peace with Japan. The USSR and the Japanese signed the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor, then less than 24 hours after that invaded Hong Kong. In the North Atlantic, German U-boats attempted to cut supply lines to the United Kingdom by sinking merchant shi ps. In 1941 the Soviets entered the war on the side of the Allies. The Germans began advancing on Stalingrad... Surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad (Feb 2, 1943) D-Day, the Battle of Normandy. Whole bunch of stuff.. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin made arrangements for Post- war Europe at the Yalta Conference. It resulted in many resolutions such as the formation of the United Nations, democratic elections in Poland, borders of Poland moved westward at the expense of Germany, and the Soviet Union would attack Japan within three months of Germanys surrender. Harry Truman decided to use the new atomic bomb to bring the war to a swifter end. The American use of atomic weapons against Japan and the Soviet invasion helped Hirohito to intervene and eventually the war would come to and end. The Japanese surrendered.
I hope this is ok... I kinda just wrote down some things that I thought were important, and some things I could remember... don't really know if it all makes sense.
Hitler blew off the Munich aggreement and went on to spread the idea of racial "hygiene", which ended up with the mass destruction of millions of people. Do you think that there were any indications that we should never have trusted Hitler in the first place? Or do you think this came to us as a surprise once he started his journey to take over the world?
I think that when Hitler began to invade his surrounding countries to build his "super-race" was probably a good indication that if you werent his model of a human you couldnt be trusted. Also the Munich Agreement that he did not care to acknowlege was also another big indicator that Hitler was no good.
I agree with what Tom said, because the US wouldn't have not trusted him just out of no where, he obviously had to do something first. But I don't think the Munich agreement would have been the first time that they would see it was not good to trust him. He was a an invading machine! =] Different things may have led to suspicion, but maybe the US officially realized they couldn't tryst him during the time of the Munich agreement.
Brandi it is true that the U.S. was also having a second opinion on Hitler's trust but we need to remember that after WW1 we helped to keep Germany up economically because that was our trade partner durign the time. We lost even more trust though when he invaded France, our ally since the American Revolution. The only reason we got involved in Hitler and his mad idea to conquer Western Europe was becuase when we declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbor the Germans and Italians jumped in on the bandwagon. We also lost trust with the Germans when they used their U-boats to sink British ships, our Lend-Lease ships and a cruise ship going to Britain.
Another indicator that shoed that Hitler couldn't br trusted was his betrayl of Stalin in the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty. This was a pact between Hitler and Stalin where they both agreed to invade Poland. The idea was after they took over, Hitler and Stalin wouldn't have to worry about thier countries attacking eachother. Unfortunately Hitler didn't keep his promise. Another thing that could have shown us that Germany wasn't to be trusted was that after WWI, their economy was so devistated and their country was so desperate that they had nothing to lose by attacking other countries and doing what they wanted. Thats a reason why they did what they did.
Brandi, you mentioned that the cause of the war was that France and Germany were vuying for control of Continental Europe and while this is true I really don't think that is the main cause. I think the main cause of WWII was WWI because WWI destroyed Germany and sunk them into a deep depression, much greater than the Great Depression in the US. (Now imagine you are a German living through what I'm about to say) Then a leader rises up named Adolf Hitler and he brings your counrty out of the mess it had been in and makes Germany a power again. And you love him (and the Germans did love him, at first) so you fight for him. That is why WWII was fought. The winners of WWI brought it on themselves by destroying Germany to the point were they would do anything to get back. So when Germany did become powerful again it began to take over other places and enjoy its power. Hilter was able to do this because he gave these trampled people an enemy to focus on and to blame the depression on.
I remember talking about Hitler in class and how he gained so many followers. I think its amazing how he first advertised himself to the desperate people of Germany and his advertisements didnt sound so bad. The German people were already desperate enough.... and when Hitler started speaking about no more poverty and a happy future, he began getting his followers. It was only until Hitler started throwing innocent people into consentration camps and taking over nearby countries when people started living in fear.
When the U.S. were Island Hopping, they had their tactics translated by the Natives to confuse their enemies and so the enemies wouldn't know the plans of the U.S. soldiers...I think that's right.
Hitler is a jerk and a coward. He was such a big man when he was killing innocent Jewish people because they didn't look a certain way. But when they came to get him and punish him for what he did, he killed himself. That is a true coward move.
If Harry Truman would have never decided to use the atomic bombs, do you think that the war would have lasted a lot longer? Do you think that it was a smart move to bring forth the atomic bomb?
The Holocaust Timeline from 1939-1945: In 1939: 200 Jews are burned alive in a synagogue by the Germans who charge Poles with the crime, and then execute 30 of them in a public square. Reinhard Heydrich becomes the leader of new Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) Proclamation by Hitler on the isolation of Jews. Evacuation of Jews from Vienna. The first Jewish ghetto is established in Lublin. Forced labor decree issued for Polish Jews ages 14 to 60. Yellow stars required to be worn by Polish Jews over age 10. The first transport of Polish women arrives at Ravensbruck concentration camp. In 1940: First deportation of German Jews into occupied Poland. The Lodz Ghetto in occupied Poland is sealed off from the outside world with 230,000 Jews locked inside. Rudolf Hoss is chosen to be commandant of Auschwitz. The Germans open Auschwitz concentration camp. Vichy French radio announces that laws protecting Jews in France have been dropped. Dutch decree bans Jews and half-Jews from public employment. The Warsaw Ghetto, containing over 400,000 Jews is sealed off. In 1941:
430 Jewish hostages are deported from Amsterdam after Jews kill a Dutch Nazi.
German Jews ordered into forced labor. A commissariat for Jewish Affairs is set up in Vichy France. 3,600 Jews arrested in Paris. 3,800 Jews killed during a pogrom by Lithuanians in Kovno. The Hungarian Army rounds up 18,000 Jews at Kamenets-Podolsk. German Jews ordered to wear yellow stars. The Vilna Ghetto is established containing 40,000 Jews. 23,000 Jews killed at Kamenets-Podolsk, in the Ukraine. In 1942:
The deportation of Jews from Lublin to Belzec begins.
The deportation of Slovak Jews and French Jews to Auschwitz. First trainloads of Jews from Paris arrive at Auschwitz. German Jews are banned from using public transportation. At Auschwitz a second gas chamber, Bunker II, is made operational at Birkenau due to the number of Jews arriving. Himmler grants permission for sterilization experiments at Auschwitz. The British section of the World Jewish Congress claims that 1,000,000 Jews are already dead in occupied Europe. 7,000 Jews are arrested in unoccupied France. Sterilization experiments on women at Birkenau begin. In 1943: First resistance by Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Krakow Ghetto is liquidated. Newly built gas chambers/crematory IV, crematory II, crematory III and crematory V opens at Auschwitz, with the completion of the four new crematories at Auschwitz they had a daily capacity of 4,756 bodies. 200 Jews escape from Treblinka extermination camp during a revolt. In Sobibor 300 Jews escape safely into nearby woods, only 50 survive. Exterminations then cease at Sobibor, after 250,000 deaths, all traces of the death camp were removed and trees were planted. Operation Harvest Festival in Poland leaving 42,000 Jews dead. The chief surgeon at Auschwitz reports that 106 castration operations have been performed. In 1944: Rosenberg orders operation Hay Action the kidnapping of 40,000 Polish children aged 10 to 14 for slave labor in Germany. A revolt by Jewish slave laborers at Auschwitz-Birkenau results in the complete destruction of Crematory IV. The last train transport of Jews to Auschwitz are gassed, the 2,000 Jews collected from Theresienstad. The gas chambers at Auschwitz are used for the last time. Himmler orders the destruction of the crematories at Auschwitz. In 1945: Nazis evacuate 66,000 inmates from Auschwitz back into Germany. Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz. Estimated 2,000,000 persons, including 1,500,000 Jews have been murdered there. Ohrdruf camp is liberated by the Americans. Theresienstadt taken over by the Red Cross. The first open session of the International Military War Crimes Tribunal indicts 21 top Nazis. 55 Personnel convicted of atrocities at Belsen and other concentration camps are hanged.
Hitler is a jerk and a coward. He was such a big man when he was killing innocent Jewish people because they didn't look a certain way. But when they came to get him and punish him for what he did, he killed himself. That is a true coward move.
It depends on how you look at it Butchie. While I'm not even remotely saying I like Hitler, I do understand why he would have killed himself rather than be captured. Remember Saddam Husein and how everyone brought down his "accomplishments" after he was captured and put on trial. This also happened to the rest of the German leaders after WWII. Since he killed himself he was able to keep his reputation and have people remeber what he did during his glory days and not after he was caught. Now this is the way I believe he would have thought. If I had my way he would have swung.
Timeline for World War 2: 1939 Germany invades Poland and annexes Danzig; Britain and France give Hitler ultimatum (Sept. 1), declare war (Sept. 3). Disabled German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee blown up off Montevideo, Uruguay, on Hitler's orders (Dec. 17). Limited activity (Sitzkrieg) on Western Front. 1940 Nazis invade Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg (May 10). Chamberlain resigns as Britain's prime minister; Churchill takes over (May 10). Germans cross French frontier (May 12) using air/tank/infantry Blitzkrieg tactics. Dunkerque evacuation > about 335,000 out of 400,000 Allied soldiers rescued from Belgium by British civilian and naval craft (May 26June 3). Italy declares war on France and Britain; invades France (June 10). Germans enter Paris; city undefended (June 14). France and Germany sign armistice at Compiègne (June 22). Nazis bomb Coventry, England (Nov. 14). 1941 Germans launch attacks in Balkans. Yugoslavia surrendersGeneral Mihajlovic continues guerrilla warfare; Tito leads left-wing guerrillas (April 17). Nazi tanks enter Athens; remnants of British Army quit Greece (April 27). Hitler attacks Russia (June 22). Atlantic CharterFDR and Churchill agree on war aims (Aug. 14). Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, Philippines, Guam force U.S. into war; U.S. Pacific fleet crippled (Dec. 7). U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan. Germany and Italy declare war on U.S.; Congress declares war on those countries (Dec. 11). 1942 British surrender Singapore to Japanese (Feb. 15). Roosevelt orders Japanese and Japanese Americans in western U.S. to be exiled to relocation centers, many for the remainder of the war (Feb. 19). U.S. forces on Bataan peninsula in Philippines surrender (April 9). U.S. and Filipino troops on Corregidor island in Manila Bay surrender to Japanese (May 6). Village of Lidice in Czechoslovakia razed by Nazis (June 10). U.S. and Britain land in French North Africa (Nov. 8). 1943 Casablanca ConferenceChurchill and FDR agree on unconditional surrender goal (Jan. 1424). German 6th Army surrenders at Stalingradturning point of war in Russia (Feb. 12). Remnants of Nazis trapped on Cape Bon, ending war in Africa (May 12). Mussolini deposed; Badoglio named premier (July 25). Allied troops land on Italian mainland after conquest of Sicily (Sept. 3). Italy surrenders (Sept. 8). Nazis seize Rome (Sept. 10). Cairo Conference: FDR, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek pledge defeat of Japan, free Korea (Nov. 2226). Tehran Conference: FDR, Churchill, Stalin agree on invasion plans (Nov. 28Dec. 1). 1944 U.S. and British troops land at Anzio on west Italian coast and hold beachhead (Jan. 22). U.S. and British troops enter Rome (June 4). D-DayAllies launch Normandy invasion (June 6). Hitler wounded in bomb plot (July 20). Paris liberated (Aug. 25). Athens freed by Allies (Oct. 13). Americans invade Philippines (Oct. 20). Germans launch counteroffensive in BelgiumBattle of the Bulge (Dec. 16). 1945 Yalta Agreement signed by FDR, Churchill, Stalinestablishes basis for occupation of Germany, returns to Soviet Union lands taken by Germany and Japan; USSR agrees to friendship pact with China (Feb. 11). Mussolini killed at Lake Como (April 28). Admiral Doenitz takes command in Germany; suicide of Hitler announced (May 1). Berlin falls (May 2). Germany signs unconditional surrender terms at Rheims (May 7). Allies declare V-E Day (May 8). Potsdam ConferenceTruman, Churchill, Atlee (after July 28), Stalin establish council of foreign ministers to prepare peace treaties; plan German postwar government and reparations (July 17Aug. 2). A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima by U.S. (Aug. 6). USSR declares war on Japan (Aug. 8). Nagasaki hit by A-bomb (Aug. 9). Japan agrees to surrender (Aug. 14). V-J DayJapanese sign surrender terms aboard battleship Missouri (Sept. 2).
Causes: -Japan closed the Open Door Policy in China -The Japanese expansion in Asia and the Pacific -Pearl Harbor was attacked -Germany declared war on the US
Some Events: -Guadalcanal -Midway -Leyte Gulf -El Alamein -Stalingrad -Normandy Invasion -Battle of the Bulge
Treaty- Accords with the Axis Powers
Terms: -Unconditional surrender -Germany, Itlay, and Japan gave up Fascist philosophoes and methods -Japan and Germany occupied by Allied forces
Importance of the war: -Atomic at Hiroshima -USSR/ US began the Cold War -The United Nations was founded The US became an international superpower
We also need to remember that World War 2 also changed our international policy and view by the world greatly. We went from weakling to a powerhouse that still remains the strongest today. Also its important to realzie the outcome of the war if we didnt join the war. Our allies would be decimated and we would eventually have to deal with uneasy alliances or eventual attack from all sides.
When Germany invaded Poland, do you think neutrality would have been in the US's favor in avoiding World War, could a nuetral stance have prevented World War 2, free of foreign entanglements, or are the entanglements and allies necessary to economic prosperity?
Okay so, yes butchie, we all know Hitler's an *******.
well, i mean, jerk. sorry.
But, do you think it's possible that Hitler was in fact the way he was due to the influence of a stronger believer that maybe had just done less public pursuing?
Of course, it doesn't justify that fact that he went back on the Munich Agreement, and his cruelty towards Jews. But, where the heck did that twisted way of thinking come from. Why on earth was Hitler the you know what dictator he was.
World War II was the most widespread war every experienced, it involved over 100 million soldiers from over 61 nations, with hostilities covering over 20 million km. Nearly two thirds of those killed in the war were civillians. Which is a very sad fact to know that a large amount of people killed were innocent people it could have possibly been people that didn't even agree with the war.
in a sence thats kind of whats going on in Iraq right now large amounts of innocent people are dieing. but i guess thats something you have to risk inorder to keep us free.
sorry.
