Section 1

Working together using this wiki

 

Identificatons - World War II (chapter 31):

 

Allied Powers vs. Axis Powers -

Occupation of the Rhineland - 

 

Sudetan Crisis - D. Holter

The Sudetan Crisis occurred when Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia turn over the Sudetenland, which contained a number of ethnic Germans, to Nazi-controlled Germany. Military tensions were escalating, and Germany was prepared to invade not just the Sudetenland, but all of Czechoslovakia as well, providing an unacceptable balance of power in Europe. France and England, uneasy about this prospect, sent Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier to negotiate for the peaceful handover of the Sudetenland to Germany in order to prevent war. 

                                                                                                                                    v v -Caption- v v 

http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=87

http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Czech-German_Declaration

 

Munich Conference/Appeasement - 

Nazi-Soviet Pact - Colt Burgin

 

 

Citation-

"German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact." MSN Encarta. Microsoft. 24 Mar 2009

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588283/German-Soviet_Nonaggression_Pact.html.

 

 

A political cartoon explaining the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Showing that Germany and the Soviet Union are at peace but implying that it won't last for long.

 

 

 

 

Invasion of Poland - Maggie Dillon

 

- Invaded by Germany, Soviet Union and a small German allied Slovak contingent in 1939

- Also known as the September Campaign/1939 Defensive War

- Marked the start of WWII in Europe when England, Australia and New Zeland declared war on Germany

- Ended October 6 1939, when Germany and Soviet Union occupied all of Poland.

- Germany and the S.U. signed the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact which divided Eastern Europe into Soviet and German spheres of influence

- though the entire country was overrun and most of the Polish army was forced out (or evacuated to then neutral Romania,) the Polish governmen never surrendered

- Through out the course of the war, Poland lost 20% of its pre-war population and ended the Second Polish Republic

 

 

Moscow, 8/23/39 - Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov signs the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Ribbentrop and Stalin behind him, standing)

"Invasion of Poland." Wikipedia 26 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Poland>

 

Blitzkreig - 

Fall of France - 

Blitzkrieg – Cameron Tripp

• German for “lightning war”
• It was a fighting style used by Germany during WWII
• Rapid advancements into enemy military along with massive air strikes
• The use of the radio was extremely effective in allowing the troops to move as precisely as possible
• It was a highly mobile form of warfare
• The simplicity and flexibility of the Blitzkrieg tactics made it successful

 

"Blitzkrieg." 2worldwar2. 26 Mar 2009 <http://www.2worldwar2.com/blitzkrieg.htm>.

 

The Blitzkrieg tactics relied heavily upon tanks and aircraft to do the brunt of the attack

Winston Churchill - Will Boggs

•  He was a British politician that was known for his leadership in England during World War II.
• He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955.
• Churchill followed two different political parties. From 1900 to 1904 and from 1924 to 1964 he allied with the Conservative political party. In addition he followed the Liberal political party from 1904 to 1924.
• He married Clementine Churchill and they had five kids together.
• Churchill had many different professions during his lifetime and was considered one of the most talented people during his time. He worked as a Member of Parliament, statesman, soldier, journalist, historian, author, and painter.
• Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 and died on January 24, 1965. He is buried in Hyde Park in London.

 

This is a picture of Churchill, one of the most talented people in the United Kingdom's history. He helped the country get through a difficult period in history.

 

"Winston Churchill." Wikipedia. 22 Mar 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_churchhill.

 

Battle of Britain - Kim Martinez

 

Refers to the air attacks/ bombings of England by the German Luftwaffe (Air Force)

·                     First major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces

·                     German objectives were to (1) neutralize the British Air Force (RAF), (2) demoralize Britain , and (3) force Britain to either surrender or withdraw from war

·                     RAF bases and cities (including London ) were heavily bombed

·                     Had the German air assault been successful, it would have been much easier for Germany to invade Britain by sea

·                     However, RAF successfully meet and repulsed squadron after squadron of Luftwaffe, and Britain refused to “give in”

·                     British royal family and Winston Churchill inspired the British people throughout the bombing raids by radio

·                     This battle marked first time Hitler’s military forces were unsuccessful, and clearly demonstrated to US and other countries, that Britain was not simply destined to fall

 Battle of Britain a soldier watching the enimes in the skies.

 

"Battle of Britain." Wikipedia . Wikipedia . 25 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain>.

 

Lend-Lease Act - Jordan Hubbard

·         March 11, 1941 the Lend- Lease Act was approved by Congress.

·         It gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt almost unlimited freedom to send supplies, tanks, aircrafts, and ammunition to the Allies without sacrificing America’s Neutrality Act of 1939.

·         $31.4 billion was given to Britain, $11.3 billion to the Soviet Union, $3.2 billion to France, and $1.6 billion to China.

·         The total amount of money given to the Allies was around $50 billion.

·         The Lend- Lease Act was a critical factor in the eventual success of the Allies in WWII because it allowed them to keep fighting until America joined.

·         In 1943- 44, about a fourth of all British munitions came from this program.

·         September 2, 1945 the Lend- Lease program ended but Britain had to retain some of the supplies so America sold it to them.

·         This was seen as America’s first step away from its non- intervention policy and made America one step closer to entering the war.  

·         "Lend- Lease." Wikipedia”. 25 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease>.

 

President Roosevelt signing the Lend- Lease Act which would get the U.S. one step closer into entering the war.

Operation Barbarosa - 

Pearl Harbor - Adam Barr

 

• The attack was a surprise strike by the Japanese on the US military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
• It occurred early in the morning on Sunday, December 7, 1941
• Japan’s plan was to use the attack to discourage the US Pacific Fleet from becoming involved in the war Japan was planning to start in Southeast Asia against Allied holdings.
• The attack caused the American people to become enraged, and led to the US entry into World War II
• The United States lost 2,402 civilians and soldiers, 5 battleships, 2 destroyers, and 188 aircraft
• Japan lost 64 soldiers, 4 submarines, and 29 aircraft

 

A shot of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor taken from a Japanese plane. If one looks closely, individual aircraft and torpedo strikes can be seen.

 

"Attack on Pearl Harbor." Wikipedia. 23 Mar 2009. 23 Mar 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor.

 

Battle of Midway and Coral Sea - 

Battle of El Alemein - 

Battle of Stalingrad - Andrew Craver

 

ж       Lasted from 17 July 1942 to 2 February 1943.

ж       Cost a total of around 2,000,000 lives.

ж       German forces invaded Russia in June 1941.

ж       Because Hitler was incapable of learning from Napoleon’s mistake, and decided to stay in Russia through the winter.

ж       While Germany had won many battles previous to then, they were not able to hold Russia back when they counter attacked during the Battle of Moscow.

ж       Hitler wanted Stalingrad because of the rich natural resources that would be easily accessible if he had it.  These resources would include oil.

ж       After the bombing of Stalingrad, the infantry rushed in.  The town in ruble.

ж       After the two Armies met, the Russian Army held them locked in place by getting as close as they could.

ж       There was fighting for every room in the entire city, any land u could take was good land. Even the sewers.

ж       Russia finally broke the German’s back with a pincer from the North, where they were weakest.

ж       The Germans no longer had the will or means to fight, they no longer had the equipment to fight through yet another Russian Winter.

ж       The German Army tried to break and run but were unsuccessful, they were crushed.

 

panoramic of stalingrad 1942

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Stalingrad

 

Invasion of Normandy - Dalyn Bellingham

 

• Invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France
• The initial invasion took place on June 6, 1944 (Commonly known as D-Day)
• D-Day attacks consisted of parachute jumpers, glider landings, naval bombardments, air attacks, and boats dropping off foot soldiers onto beaches
• The D-Day invasion was rehearsed numerous times, and 638 soldiers were killed by German U-boats during one of these training exercises
• Keeping the date confidential was very difficult, but the invasion succeeding establishing a foothold in Normandy
• After a decisive victory, Allied forces left in late July 1944

Initial Invasion on June 6, 1944

"Invasion of Normandy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Mar 2009, 08:53 UTC. 25 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Invasion_of_Normandy&oldid=279327794>.

Battle of the Bulge – Russell Stewart

• Fought over the winter months of 1944-1945
• Was the last major offensive attack by the Germans in WWII
• The attack was made in hope that it would destroy the alliance of Britain, France, and America
• The focal point of the offensive was made against American forces
• It was initially called the Ardennes Offensive but became the Battle of the Bulge because of the bulge it created in the Allied lines
• The plan also included the capture of Antwerp—as city in which the Allies received many of their supplies
• The Germans were in retreat from D-Day and were low on supplies and morale
• Low cloud cover and the element of surprise allowed for the initial success of Hitler’s plan
• The success lasted for two days until the cloud cover raised and the Allies mobilized air support
• In mid-January, the lack of fuel caused Germans to abandon their vehicles
• The Americans lost 81,000 men while the Germans suffered 100,000 casualties

 The Battle of the Bulge took place in the winter months.  The Germans relied heavily on armored vehicles but lacked the fuel to maintain them.

Trueman, Chris. "The Battle of the Bulge." History Learning Site. 24 Mar 2009 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_bulge.htm.

Strategic Bombing - John Caudle

• Strategic bombing was of its greatest scale during WWII
• Both the Allies and the Axis used this technique
• Atomic weapons as well as conventional weaponry was used in carrying out the bombing
• It focused on destroying highly populated areas
• They focused on bombing industrialized areas so that they could halt weapons production
• Examples of this include the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki  
• If tried to affect unindustrialized areas because there was less of a chance they would be shot down by anti-aircraft weaponry
• These campaigns were effective for their purpose and rose morale in their countries because they had fast results and slowed the progress of enemies
• The German version of strategic bombing raids was their Luftwaffe
• New planes and weapons were results of strategic bombing
• Ultimately, after some issues, this type of warfare is looked down on by some

     This is an image of a German plane after an aerial raid (Strategic Bombing), it was one of the first successful attacks.

 

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Atomic Bomb - Toomey

·         The bombings were triggered by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

·         Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 at 8:15 am

·         9,700 pounds of uranium

·         Those close died instantly, any others who hadn’t escaped were killed by the ensuing fires

·         Nagasaki was bombed on August 9, 1945 at 11:02 am

·         The bomb was 40% bigger than that of Hiroshima

·         The geography of Nagasaki saved them from much worse damage

·         Everything within ½ mile of the explosion was destroyed

·         Nagasaki is much less famous than Hiroshima, but the effects were still horrendous.

 

 

This is the plane flown that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.

 

 

"The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki." The Manhattan Project. 25 Mar 2009 <http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/nagasaki.htm>.

 

 

 

"The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima." The Manhattan Project. 7 Jan 2009 <www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/hiroshima.htm>.

 

 

 

Holocaust -   Rebecca Overcash

 

• The word holocaust is a word of Greek origin that literally means sacrifice by fire.
• The most famous holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews and five million others (Gypsies, the disabled, some of the Slavic peoples, Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals) by the Nazi regime in Europe.
• The Nazis came to power in Germany in January 1933 and believed they were racially superior to Jews and that the Jews might also be a threat to the “purity” of the German race.
• From 1933 to 1945 the population of Jews in Europe went from nearly nine million to three million, which is 2 out of 3 Jews.
• The Nazis created ghettos to keep the Jews monitored and know their locations, so eventually they could be sent to concentration and/ or extermination camps, some of the most famous camps being Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau.
• The Jews were packed on train cars that weren’t made for passengers, people died simply on the trip because they couldn’t breath because of the large number of people in a small space.
• Many died in these camps from exhaustion, starvation, gassing chambers, or even medical experiments.
• There were also “death marches” where prisoners were forced to walk from one camp to another, often in snow or other harsh conditions.
• Allied forces eventually liberated most of the camps as they made their way across Europe, but prisoners kept being relocated by the Nazis to try to avoid being found.
• Many survivors had no where to go, or no family to go home to. Even after liberation it was a very hard time for those that did survive.

 

This is a photograph of Jews in a concentration camp after liberation.

 

 

 

"The Holocaust." ushmm. 11 Mar 2009. 22 Mar 2009

            <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005143>.

 

 

Nelson, Larry. "The Holocaust." thinkquest. 2007. 22 Mar 2009

            http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00841/HOLOCAUST/the%20holocaust.htm.

 

Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam Conferences (overview) - Andrew Steiner

 

 - Tehran:  the Big Three (USSR, Britain, and US) agreed on the invasion of Nazi-occupied France over the objections of Churchill, who desired a Mediterranean-based invasion that would give Britain spheres of influence in Eastern Europe following the war’s conclusion (this decision would lead to the creation of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War); a United Nations Organization was tentatively agreed to; the USSR pledged to support the Pacific Theater campaign after Hitler was defeated

 

 - Yalta:  the three powers agreed to divide Germany into four occupation zones; tensions arose when discussing the future of Eastern Europe as the Western powers foresaw the development of tensions with the USSR; it was confirmed that a United Nations would be created; Roosevelt pressed Stalin for support in its war against Japan

 

 - Potsdam:  the only conference to take place after the war’s conclusion; Truman replaced Roosevelt as the US representative, and Clement Attlee replaced Churchill; Russian forces occupied most of eastern Germany, so it was agreed that the USSR could take over much of eastern Poland; Germany was divided pending a final peace treaty (which would be signed more than 40 years later); treaties were hammered out for Germany’s allies, but the USSR and the US signed separate treaties with Japan

 

 - The stage was set by these three conferences for “decolonization” and the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union

 

 

 

 

United Nations- Josh Broach

The UN is a successor to the original League of Nations that had spawned after the First World War.

The League of Nations was considered ineffective because it failed to prevent the Second World War.

The UN came into existence following WW2 on October 24, 1945. On this day the 5 permanent members of the Security Council (Republic of China, France, UK, USA, and the Soviet Union) ratified the charter to make the international organization.

The United Nations is divided into the following organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice. The Court of Justice is located in The Hague while the other four headquarters are located in New York City.

The six official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish which are used in meetings.

The general function of the UN is to maintain the terms of peace ever since the end of World War Two. Following a ceasefire the UN’s Security Council will usually send in a peacekeeping force to issue the terms of peace.

In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Rights was issued and adopted by the General Assembly as the standard code for civility among UN nations.

Today the United Nations is comprised of 192 nations, Western Sahara rule is in dispute and thus do not have a representative while the Vatican City is given observer status in the UN.

 

The UN’s International Court of Justice in the Hague

"United Nations." Wikipedia. Wikipedia. 1 Apr 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_nations.

 

Quit India Movement - 

Muslim League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah - 

Kenya Africa Union - 

National Liberation Front in Algeria - 

 

Apartheid in South Africa - Meghan Edwards

-system of legal racial segregation by the Afrikaner National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and 1994

-apartheid meaning "separateness"

-introduced following general election of 1948

-peoples were segregated by force and removal

-blacks would often be banned, therefore becoming parts of tribes of self governing colonies

-segregated in terms of education, medical care, public service

-1994 welcomed the first ever democratic election in South Africa, ending apartheid 

 

http://rasml.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/untitled-1.png

 

"History of Apartheid in Africa." History of Apartheid in Africa. 2009. 25 Mar 2009 <http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html>.

 

 

 

 

Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin (all seated) represent the “Big Three” at the Yalta Conference

 

"Tehran Conference." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 24 Mar 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran_conference>.

Stearns, Adas, Schwartz, Gilbert, World Civilizations: The Global Experience. 4th. Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

 

THE FALL OF FRANCE

France fell because of their great hesitation to act. The plan was that Russia would move into Sudentenland only if the French made the first move, in turn the french waited too long and were masacred. In addition the French army was inferior to the German forces, so the French created the Maginot Line; this worked for a short amount of time then the Germans started going around the line. Contiuosly being flanked is not good in a war. To make matters worse the French were in a depression before the war, the economy was failing much like our Great depression; this was the main component in their downfall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima." The Manhattan Project. 7 Jan 2009 <www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/hiroshima.htm>.

 

 

"The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki." The Manhattan Project. 25 Mar 2009 

<http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/nagasaki.htm>.