2+World+War+II

Group 2 Home

=//World War II //=

=
Adolf Hitler wanted more land in the east but the problem was he wanted more than just one country. Hitler used the harsh limitations that violated the Versailles Treaty, a pretext for Germany's right to acquire land and the techniques to go about fighting. First, they went in and took Austria on March 13, 1938 even though that was completely against the ruling in the Versailles Treaty. Then they went into Czechoslovakia taken the rest of Czechoslovakia, which they hadn’t yet owned, by March 1939. The only reason Great Britain and France allowed this was because they didn’t want to repeat the bloodshed of World War I. They believed they could avoid another world war by appeasing Hitler with countries such as Austria and Czechoslovakia. Sadly, they didn’t understand that Hitler’s goal was to acquire as much land as he could and he wouldn't let anyone or anything get in his way. Later on September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and took over their land as well, this initially caused the second world wa r. ======
 * ==**Major Players:** ==

Axis Forces: Germany, Italy, Japan Allied Powers: United Kingdom, United States (From December 1941), Soviet Union (from June 1941), Canada Supporters: Free France

Major Events
> > > > > >
 * September 1, 1939 - Leading up the invasion of Poland was Germany pushing the boundaries on the Treaty of Versailles and Britain and France ignoring the advances. Poland was the final spark that started the war. During the summer of 1939, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. The pact was an agreement between the two powers that they would take over Poland and split it between them. This allowed Germany to attack Poland without fear of being attacked by the Soviet Union in return. However, the British and French had said that if German took over Poland, they would attack Germany. On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. The Polish were weak and by the end of the month, the Germans had achieved what they wanted. On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany and on September 17, the Soviet Union invaded Poland as well.
 * 1940 - The British attacked the Italians in North Africa and the fighting continues for almost three years.
 * 1940 - German quickly invades Denmark, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and they all become controlled by Germany within weeks of the invasion.
 * 1940 - Germany plans to invade Britain however when they have their first defeat over England in the Battle of Britain, they never invade.
 * June 1941 - Germany begins their invasion into the USSR starting the war on the Eastern Front.
 * December 6, 1941 - After many attempts, Germany fails to capture Moscow, Russia and the Germans are pushed back.
 * December 7, 1941 - Attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. The Japanese attack from the air and the sea. Eight American battleships are damaged with five ships sunk. The USS Arizona battleship was bombed with a 1,760 pound Japanese bomb and destroyed. Other American vessels are damaged and 2,334 servicemen are killed, 68 civilian are killed, and a total of 1,104 people are wounded. The Americans were taken by surprise and on the next day both America and Britain declare war on Japan. Germany and Italy declare war on the United States on December 11.
 * June 4-7, 1942 - The Battle of Midway takes place and becomes a turning point for Japan in the war. The United States Navy sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers and would be difficult for Japan to replace. Japan never was able to rebuild their navy to help them in the war.
 * September 1942 - February 1943 - The Battle of Stalingrad took place and much of the German Army was lost. General Paulus was ordered by Hitler to attack Stalingrad so the oil fields were under German power. The battle was on of the harshest of the war with many German soldiers dying due to the winter conditions and the fighting. In the end the only option for the Germans was to surrender even though Hitler wanted them to fight to the last bullet. Hitler ordered a day of mourning for the shame that Paulus had brought onto Germany. Hitler was so angry with Paulus that he was stripped of his position to display Hitler's anger. Hitler was quoted saying "The God of War has gone over to the other side."
 * June 6, 1944 - D-Day (see below)
 * April 30, 1945 - Throughout the month of April, Germany slowly falls to the Soviet Union and Britain. While this is happening, Hitler hides underground and still gives orders to the army. By the end of the month, Berlin was almost captured and Hitler's strength was diminishing. On April 30, right before Berlin was captured, Hitler and his wife killed themselves. This signified that the German empire had fallen.
 * August 6 and 9, 1945 - The United States uses the Atomic Bomb on Japan (see below) and the war comes to an end shortly after.

 **D-Day Battle;** **The Beginning of the End of German Cause in World War II:** By 1944 the Axis was weakened because of the successful advances made by the Allies. Although most of Germany's fortresses on the eastern front had surrendered, the conflicts could not be resolved without a successful frontal attack on the Western front of Hitler's empires, France. The D-Day invasion, battle of Normandy, beginning on June 6, 1944 was the "biggest cooperative amphibious operation in history." It involved troops from America, Britain and its Commonwealth countries, Free France, and other European exiles. The amount of coordination and force made by the Allies was remarkable. Also a huge importance in this battle was the Allies' intelligence. It allowed them to decipher many of the Axis secret war codes and tricked Hitler into thinking the Allies would attack further north than they did, causing the opposing troops to be unprepared. The term "d-day" is used to designate the the initiative start of any Military attack, and for this case the official day of landing officially started at 6:30AM on June 6th, 1944. The Allied troops landed and attacked key coastal locations. The efficient planning of this attack and the preparedness was a huge advantage for the Allies. With such force and "grace" in the way the troops worked together deemed this d-day, //The// D-day. The success was significant for the Allies cause.
 * ==End Of The War==

//As The Battles Continue: // By the end of June a million Allied troops were ashore. Germany fought back stubbornly. At one point the Allied troops' progresses were hindered due to major destruction in a battle at The Wehrmacht. By late July the Allies were back in the fight and started making some successful advances against German forces. One after another, Allied forces defeated Axis fronts and continued. As troops started getting closer to German soil Hitler had intentions of one last effort in which he would attack with much force on "weak" American troops driving them to defeat. On December 16, 1944 Hitler underestimated America's newly learned skills from several battle experiences throughout World War II and started an attack. Although German troops dented the American line, success was not reached for the Axis cause. With this, Allied troops struck back and then advanced to cross the Rhine River, the western border of Germany, and made it on March 1, 1945. The troops continued moving to the Elbe River to meet Russian troops and finally reached this point on April 25, 1945. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 and thus German Nazism collapsed with him.

**Many brutal attempts were made by American troops to force Japan's surrender. Bombs were being dropped in cities all over Japan, destroying hundreds of thousands of Japanese but the Military forces would not surrender. Also unbelievable amounts of American soldiers were brutally destroyed within the war in the Pacific. Under these conditions President Harry Truman (Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12) decided to use the two atomic bombs in existence on Japan. On August 6, 1945 the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the second on August 9 on Nagasaki. This killed roughly 135,000 people and weakened Japanese forces immensely. The violent nature of this war was becoming terrifyingly acceptable. The amount of people being destroyed at once was expected and was not as scary to people as it seems now. World War II researches compare the warfare and techniques of fighting to a modern day "high-tech warfare video game."
 * A-Bombs

//After The Atomic Bombs: // The Japanese Military had strong skills while fighting defensively, making it hard to destroy the troops in war. This is one reason why American troops were so brutal while fighting Japan. Quick, rapid fire and powerful weapons were used to kill Japanese soldiers one after another. In the final fight with the battle ship, //Yomato //, planes from one American carrier alone, fired 1.5 million rounds of small-caliber ammunition from their machine guns. Japan, too weak and destroyed to go any further, surrendered to America. Long lasting damage was still apparent over 20 years after World War II ended.

Sources: <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> media type="file" key="World War 2.m4a" width="300" height="50" Time lines__** 12skunkel wwII 12mnemtuda-worldwar2 [|11lmartin] [|10cmascioli_WWII]
 * http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070
 * http://www.2worldwar2.com/timeline.htm
 * http://www.2worldwar2.com/timeline.htm
 * <span style="font-family: times,sans-serif;">http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm
 * http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_midway.htm
 * <span style="font-family: times,sans-serif;">http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_stalingrad.htm
 * http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/death.htm
 * http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_the_ten_most_important_events_in_World_War_2_and_when_did_they_happen
 * __Podcast