WORLD WAR II

BATTLE OF BRITAININVASION OF RUSSIA

PEARL HARBOR

Battle of Britain“Where Napoleon failed, I shall succeed. I shall

land on the shores of Britain.” - Hitler• Lasted from August 1940 – May 1941– The British were now being led by Winston Churchill– Hitler’s plan was to destroy the British Royal Air

Force (RAF) to make it possible to invade Britain– Needs to destroy the RAF before ships can safely land

troops on British soil• In WWII, planes sink ships

– Would be mostly an air battle

• Operation Sea Lion– Soften up Britain for invasion – The Luftwaffe attacks British ports and shipping• 70% of RAF destroyed

• Operation Eagle– The Luftwaffe attacks RAF airfields and factories• British inflict heavy losses on the Germans• Have something the Germans don’t: radar

– Bomb London in September• British repay by bombing Berlin

– Lend-Lease Act• Britain can no longer pay for the military

equipment it needs due to the war

• The U.S. “leases” Britain the military aid it needs and under the program, the weapons would be returned at the end of the war

• London Blitz– More than 70 attacks against the city, ends in May

1941– At one point London is bombed for 57 consecutive

nights• The goal is to terrorize the British people and

cause them to lose their will to fight• 1300 Londoners killed in one week

– Thousands of civilians are killed and large parts of London and other cities are destroyed

• Hitler calls off the operation, even though Britain was weakening– Too many losses: Luftwaffe lost 1400 planes to RAF’s

800– The RAF shot down German planes faster than

German factories could build them

• Britain survives: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” - Churchill

Invasion of the Soviet Union• In preparing for his next attack, Hitler decided to gain

new allies– He succeeded in getting Hungary, Romania, and

Bulgaria – When Yugoslavia resisted, Germany invaded and

captured it eight days later

• Operation Barbarossa – German invasion of the Soviet Union – June 22nd, 1941– Hitler hates communism and views the Russian

people as just a step above Jews• Has no respect for the Russian army

• Orders the execution of Russians wearing the Communist insignia

– Attacks with 3 million soldiers and at first the German blitzkrieg is highly effective• German troops and tanks race across the Soviet

countryside• The Soviet army has lots of soldiers, but they are

poorly trained and equipped– Within six weeks one German army group is 220

miles from Moscow• Expect to win before winter arrives• By winter the Germans are deep into Soviet

territory, but have not captured Moscow or Leningrad

– As winter sets in, German progress slows and then stops• Were unprepared for the Russian winter• The Soviets rebuild their armies and get ready to

fight back• The Germans commit horrible atrocities against the

Russian people: murder, torture, cities starved or completely wiped out– The Russians knew this would be a fight to the death

and they fought with a sense of desperation

Pearl Harbor – Dec. 7, 1941• Why the Japanese attack– Island nation – need resources and raw materials, so

they have an expanding empire– Feel provoked by the U.S.• The U.S. has placed embargoes on resources, such

as oil, and has frozen Japanese bank accounts• Other defensive measures due to the Japanese

invasion of China• Why Pearl Harbor– Need a quick win– Center for the U.S. Pacific Fleet– Destroy fleet, take colonies, and sue for peace

• The attack– Was a two prong attack• Planes bombed airfields and ships at Pearl Harbor

in three different waves– Lasted just under two hours• 200 aircraft destroyed all 8 battleships were either

damaged or sunk in the harbor– Casualties • 2,403 dead and 1,100 wounded• 1,177 men die aboard the U.S.S. Arizona

– At the same time the Japanese attack U.S. colonies of Wake Island and the Philippines

• The Philippines fall and General Douglas MacArthur leaves with a promise to returne• Bataan Death March–70,000 prisoners march towards a distant

prisoner camp–Thousands die due to lack of food, water, and

violence from their Japanese captors–Many more will die at the prisoner camp

– They also attack Hong Kong, Thailand, Burma, Malaya, Guam, and French Indochina

• Why fails– Didn’t eliminate the fuel tanks or other ships (didn’t

launch the third wave)

– All aircraft carriers not in port – they were sent out to sea a week before• Aircraft carriers are crucial to battles at sea since

they are able to launch planes– U.S. reaction• U.S. Congress declares war on Japan on Dec. 8• Three days later Germany and Italy declare war on

the U.S.• The U.S. and the Soviet Union are now part of the

Allied Powers• Revenge – Doolittle’s raiders bomb Japanese cities– Bring war home to the Japanese

War in the Pacific• The Japanese start off with an advantage as the U.S.

works to overcome the damage from Pearl Harbor

• Battle of Coral Sea – May 1942– Japanese and Americans meet in battle off the coast

of Australia as the Japanese were getting ready to invade British-controlled New Guinea

– Both sides lose an aircraft carrier, which hurt the Americans more

– Japan claims a victory, although it was the first time that the Japanese advance was stopped

• Battle of Midway Island – Turning Point *– June 1942 – Japanese want to capture this American

military base• Japan wants to lure the Americans into battle and

finish what they started at Pearl Harbor by destroying their fleet

– The U.S. had broken the secret Japanese code and knew of the attack – U.S. ready and waiting• They destroy four aircraft carriers in five minutes,

only lose one of their own– The Americans now have the advantage

• Island-hopping = take islands that are not as well defended and cut off supply lines to Japanese strongholds– Bypass strongholds and capture weaker targets,

which are then used as bases for the next attack– Will “hop” from one island to another as they

advance towards Japan

• Battle of Guadalcanal – summer 1942– Japanese are building an airstrip there– Brutal series of battles that lasts for six months– Thousands of Japanese die or kill themselves to avoid

capture• women and children jump off cliffs, soldiers carry

out old samurai traditions, suicide charges

• Tarawa– It takes the Americans three days to capture the 8

square mile island– 17 out of 5,000 Japanese survive– 3,000 American casualties

• From 1942 to 1944 the Allies capture the Solomon, Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana islands

• MacArthur returns to the Philippines in fall of 1944– Battle of Leyte – largest naval battle ever fought• First major use of a new Japanese weapon, the

kamikaze attack

• Kamikazes = Japanese pilots who load their planes with explosives and deliberately crash into Allied ships, sacrificing their own lives• Battle ends in victory for the U.S.

– America recaptures the Philippines

• Iwo Jima – Feb. 1945– Want to capture the island to make the regular

bombing raids on Japan easier for U.S. pilots– The Japanese decide to make the Americans think

twice about invading Japan• Takes 25 days to capture the five mile island• Approximately 7,000 Americans dead and 20,000

wounded

– Out of 21,000 Japanese, only 216 surrender• Fought to the death

– Raising the flag

• Okinawa– Many casualties, war of attrition• 82 days of combat • Kamikazes sank or damaged 245 ships• U.S. casualties = 75,000, with 12,000 dead• Approx. 120,000 Japanese killed, along with

150,000 Okinawan civilians

• Now at Japan’s doorstep