California Standards in This Section
Reading Strategy
- Adolf Hitler’s theory of Aryan racial
- The need for natural resources fueled
Hitler and Mussolini create Rome-Berlin Axis Preview of Events
World War II begins 1938 Hitler annexes Austria 1936
1937 Japanese seize Chinese capital 1939
✦ 1931 ✦ 1932 ✦ 1933 ✦ 1934 ✦ 1935 ✦ 1936 ✦ 1937 ✦ 1938 ✦ 1939
1931 Japanese forces invade Manchuriavention (isolationism), and the domestic distrac- tions in Europe and the United States prior to the outbreak of World War II.
10.8.2: Understand the role of appeasement, noninter-
drives for empire in the 1930s, including the 1937 Rape of Nanking, other atrocities in China, and the Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939.
10.8.1: Compare the German, Italian, and Japanese
10.8: Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.
totalitarian regimes (Fascist and Communist) in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting especially their common and dissimilar traits.
10.7.3: Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of
California Standards in This Section
Reading this section will help you master these California History–Social Science standards.
Categorizing Information Create a chart Japanese aggression and German aggres- sion prior to the outbreak of World War II.
2. Explain why Germany believed it needed more land.
Paths to War
Guide to Reading
1. Describe the agreement reached at the Munich Conference.
Reading Objectives
Rhineland, Sudetenland, Manchukuo
Places to Locate
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Chiang Kai-shek
People to Identify
labor, achieve, conference, assume
Academic Vocabulary
demilitarized, appeasement, New Order, sanction
Content Vocabulary
the Japanese plan to seize other countries. (p. 539)
domination laid the foundation for aggressive expansion outside of Germany. (p. 536)
Nationalistic competition and ambitions the way for the outbreak of World War II.
Section Preview
CHAPTER 11 World War II Japanese Aggression German Aggression
The German Path to War Adolf Hitler’s theory of Aryan racial domina- tion laid the foundation for aggressive expansion outside of Germany.
Reading Connection Have you ever been forsaken by a friend? Read to find out how Czechoslovakia was abandoned by its Western allies.
World War II in Europe had its beginnings in the ideas of Adolf Hitler, the head of the Nazi Party and leader of Germany. He believed that Germans belonged to a so-called Aryan race that was superior to all other races and nationalities. Thus, Hitler felt that Germany was capable of building a great civi- lization. To do so, however, Germany needed more land to support a larger population. During the 1930s, Hitler became more aggressive, but no nation opposed him, even when he demanded a part of neighboring Czechoslovakia. One British politician, however, Winston Churchill, believed that Hitler’s actions could only lead to war.
As early as the 1920s, Hitler had indicated that a Nazi regime would find this land to the east—in the Soviet Union. Germany therefore must prepare for war with the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union had been conquered, Hitler planned to resettle it with German peasants. The Slavic peoples could be used
as slave labor to build the Third Reich, an “Aryan” racial state that Hitler thought would dominate Europe for a thousand years.
The First Steps After World War I, the Treaty of Ver-
sailles had limited Germany’s military power. As chancellor, Hitler, posing as a man of peace, stressed that Germany wished to revise the unfair provisions of the treaty by peaceful means. Germany, he said, only wanted its rightful place among the European states.
On March 9, 1935, however, Hitler announced the creation of a new air force. One week later, he began a military draft that would expand Germany’s army from 100,000 to 550,000 troops. These steps were in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
France, Great Britain, and Italy condemned Ger- many’s actions and warned against future aggressive steps. In the midst of the Great Depression, however, these nations were distracted by their own internal problems and did nothing further.
Hitler believed the Western states would not use force to maintain the Treaty of Versailles. Hence, on March 7, 1936, he sent troops into the Rhineland. The Rhineland was part of Germany, but, according to the Treaty of Versailles, it was a demilitarized area. That is, Germany was not permitted to have weapons or fortifications there. France had the right to use force against any violation of the demilitarized Rhineland but would not act without British support.
Great Britain did not support the use of force against Germany, however. The British government viewed the occupation of German territory by German troops as a reasonable action by a dissatisfied power. The London Times noted that the Germans were only “going into their own back garden.” Great Britain thus
of Commons: “
I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget but which must neverthe- less be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat. . . . And I will say this, that I believe the Czechs, left to themselves and told they were going to get no help from the Western Powers, would have been able to make better terms than they have got. . . . We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude which has befallen Great Britain and France. . . . And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning.
” Winston Churchill
CHAPTER 11 World War II In 1938, after France and Great Britain gave in to Hitler’s demands for territory in Czechoslovakia, Churchill gave a stern warning to the British House
Union With Austria By 1937, Germany was once
more a “world power,” as Hitler proclaimed. He was convinced that neither France nor Great Britain would provide much opposition to his plans. In 1938, he decided to pursue one of his goals: Anschluss (ANSH•luhs), or union, with Austria, his native land.
By threatening Austria with invasion, Hitler forced the Austrian chancellor to put Austrian Nazis in charge of the government. The new government promptly invited German troops to enter Austria and “help” in reinforcing law and order. One day later, on March 13, 1938, after his triumphal return to his native land, Hitler annexed Austria to Germany.
Demands and Appeasement Hitler’s next objec-
tive was the destruction of Czechoslovakia. On Sep- tember 15, 1938, he demanded that Germany be given the Sudetenland, an area in northwestern Czechoslovakia that was inhabited largely by Ger- mans. He expressed his willingness to risk “world war” to achieve his objective.
At a hastily arranged conference in Munich, British, French, German, and Italian representatives did not object to Hitler’s plans but instead reached an agreement that met virtually all of Hitler’s demands. History
German troops were allowed to occupy the Sudeten- This 1937 Italian illustration depicts Hitler land. Abandoned by their Western allies, the Czechs and Mussolini. What ideology brought stood by helplessly.
Hitler and Mussolini together?
The Munich Conference was the high point of West- ern appeasement of Hitler. When Neville Chamber- lain, the British prime minister, returned to Britain began to practice a policy of appeasement. This policy from Munich, he boasted that the agreement meant was based on the belief that if European states satisfied “peace for our time.” Hitler had promised Chamber- the reasonable demands of unsatisfied powers, the lain that he would make no more demands. Like many unsatisfied powers would be content, and stability and others, Chamberlain believed Hitler’s promises. peace would be achieved in Europe.
Great Britain and France React In fact, Hitler was New Alliances Meanwhile, Hitler gained new
more convinced than ever that the Western democra- allies. Benito Mussolini had long dreamed of creat- cies were weak and would not fight. Increasingly, ing a new Roman Empire in the Mediterranean, and, Hitler was sure that he could not make a mistake, in October 1935, Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia. and he had by no means been satisfied at Munich. Angered by French and British opposition to his
In March 1939, Hitler invaded and took control of invasion, Mussolini welcomed Hitler’s support. He Bohemia and Moravia in western Czechoslovakia. In began to draw closer to the German dictator. the eastern part of the country, Slovakia became a
In 1936, both Germany and Italy sent troops to puppet state controlled by Nazi Germany. On the Spain to help General Francisco Franco in the Spanish evening of March 15, 1939, Hitler triumphantly Civil War. In October 1936, Mussolini and Hitler made declared in Prague that he would be known as the an agreement recognizing their common political and greatest German of them all. economic interests. One month later, Mussolini spoke
At last, the Western states reacted to the Nazi of the new alliance between Italy and Germany, called threat. Hitler’s aggression had made clear that his the Rome-Berlin Axis. Also in November, Germany promises were worthless. When Hitler began to and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, promising demand the Polish port of Danzig, Great Britain saw a common front against communism.
CHAPTER 11 World War II
German and Italian Expansion, 1935–1939 SWEDEN
LATVIA
DENMARK MEMEL 10°E 20°E 30°ENorth Baltic TERR. LITHUANIA KINGDOM EAST UNITED Sea Sea NETHER– LANDS Danzig PRUSSIA SOVIET 50 °N GERMANY BELGIUM H R Warsaw IN E L A SUD ETE N Berlin N POLAND UNION Paris LUX. LA D Prague CZECHO ND
Germany, 1935 SL SLOVAKIA O VA KI A FRANCE Vienna Munich SWITZ. AUSTRIA HUNGARY German acquisitions,
ROMANIA
German occupation, 19361938–1939 Italy and possessions, 1935 Italian acquisitions, ITALY YUGOSLAVIA
1935–1939 Caspian
Corsica Black BULGARIA Sea Sea
Rome ALBANIA 40°N
Sardinia GREECE D A N EA ERITR N Sicily S U Addis ETHIOPIA N N Ababa 10°N A L A IA L IL A D 500 kilometers W S E 500 miles Mediterranean Sea KENYA 500 kilometers 500 miles IT SO M 50°E 0° Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection LIBYA Germany and Italy expanded their territories in the years
the danger and offered to protect Poland in the event leading up to World War II. of war. At the same time, both France and Britain realized that only the Soviet Union was powerful
1. Interpreting Maps Approximately how much territory
enough to help contain Nazi aggression. They began did Germany annex between 1936 and 1939? How did
Italy’s size in 1939 compare to its size in 1935?
political and military negotiations with Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator.
2. Applying Geography Skills Use the information on the map to create a chart comparing German and Italian
Hitler and the Soviets expansion. What geographic factors made it easier for
Meanwhile, Hitler pressed
Germany to expand more readily?
on in the belief that the West would not fight over Poland. He now feared, however, that the West and the Soviet Union might make an alliance. Such an
Hitler shocked the world when he announced the
alliance could mean a two-front war for Germany. To
nonaggression pact. The treaty gave Hitler the free-
prevent this possibility, Hitler made his own agree-
dom to attack Poland. He told his generals, “Now ment with Joseph Stalin. Poland is in the position in which I wanted her. . . . I
On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet
am only afraid that at the last moment some swine
Union signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. In
will submit to me a plan for mediation.” it, the two nations promised not to attack each other.
Hitler need not have worried. On September 1,
As compensation for signing the pact, Hitler offered
German forces invaded Poland. Two days later, Stalin control of eastern Poland and the Baltic states. Britain and France declared war on Germany.
Because he expected to fight the Soviet Union any-
Reading Check Explaining Why were the Western
way, it did not matter to Hitler what he promised—
allies willing to appease Hitler? he was accustomed to breaking promises.
CHAPTER 11 World War II
better teach Asian societies how to modernize than The Japanese Path to War the one Asian country that had already done it? Part of Japan’s plan was to seize Soviet Siberia,
The need for natural resources fueled the with its rich resources. During the late 1930s, Japan Japanese plan to seize other countries. began to cooperate with Nazi Germany. Japan assumed that the two countries would ultimately
Reading Connection Have you heard about possible oil launch a joint attack on the Soviet Union and divide shortages in the United States in the next 30 years? Read to Soviet resources between them. learn about how the Japanese reacted when they needed When Germany signed a nonaggression pact with certain natural resources in the 1930s. the Soviets in August 1939, Japanese leaders had to rethink their goals. Japan did not have the resources
In September 1931, Japanese soldiers had seized Manchuria, which had natural resources that Japan Japan turned its attention to raw materials that could needed. To justify their seizure, Japan cited a Chinese be found in Southeast Asia to fuel its military attack on a Japanese railway near the city of Mukden. machine. A move southward, however, would risk In fact, the “Mukden incident” had been carried out war with Europe and the United States. Japan’s by Japanese soldiers disguised as Chinese. World protests against the Japanese led the League of Nations to send investigators to Manchuria. When
Japanese Expansion, 1933–1941 the investigators issued a report condemning the seizure, Japan withdrew from the League. Over the next several years, Japan strengthened its hold on
SOVIET UNION
Manchuria, which was renamed Manchukuo. Japan KARAFUTO now began to expand into northern China.
140°E By the mid-1930s, militants connected to the gov-
N MANCHUKUO ernment and the armed forces had gained control of
(Manchuria) W E
Japanese politics. The United States refused to recog- N S 40°
Sea of nize the Japanese takeover of Manchuria but was
Japan N unwilling to threaten force.
A g He Beijing u a n P H KOREA JA
War with China Chiang Kai-shek tried to avoid a Yan-an conflict with Japan so that he could deal with what
CHINA N
he considered the greater threat from the Commu- 30° Nanjing SICHUAN Shanghai nists. When clashes between Chinese and Japanese
Chongqing PROVINCE n g Hankou troops broke out, he appeased Japan by allowing it to h F a n g Ji a C O govern areas in northern China. As Japan moved C PI T RO C ER
Formosa AN
steadily southward, protests grew stronger in Chi- C Guangzhou nese cities. In December 1936, Chiang ended his mil- U.K. 20°N
Hong Kong itary efforts against the Communists and formed a
Hainan
Japanese territory, 1933 united front against the Japanese. In July 1937, Chi-
Japanese acquisitions South nese and Japanese forces clashed south of Beijing. to November 1941
China This 1937 incident eventually turned into a major
Sea FRENCH 1,000 miles conflict. The Japanese seized the Chinese capital of
INDOCHINA °N 1,000 kilometers 10 Nanjing in December. Chiang Kai-shek refused to 110°E Two-Point Equidistant projection 130°E surrender and moved his government upriver, first to Hankou, then to Chongqing.
The New Asian Order Japanese military leaders Like Germany, Japan attempted to expand its territories had hoped to force Chiang to agree to join a New prior to the beginning of the war.
Order in East Asia, comprising Japan, Manchuria,
1. Applying Geography Skills Pose and answer your and China. Japan would attempt to establish a new own question about the territories Japan did not system of control in Asia with Japan guiding its acquire but wanted to acquire.
Asian neighbors to prosperity. After all, who could
CHAPTER 11 World War II
History Prime Minister Hideki Tojo (front center) is pictured with the Cabinet of Japan. Tojo had a military career before being appointed prime minister in October 1941. What do you think Tojo’s appointment repre-
sented in terms of Japanese foreign policy?
Asia, Japan had to risk losing raw materials from the attack on China in the summer of 1937 had already United States. Japan’s military leaders, guided by aroused strong criticism. Nevertheless, in the sum- Hideki Tojo, decided to launch a surprise attack on mer of 1940, Japan demanded the right to exploit eco- U.S. and European colonies in Southeast Asia. nomic resources in French Indochina.
The United States objected. It warned Japan that
Reading Check
Explaining Why did Japan want to it would apply economic sanctions—restrictions establish a New Order in East Asia? intended to enforce international law—unless Japan withdrew to the borders of 1931. Japan badly needed the oil and scrap iron it was getting from the United States. If these resources were cut off, Japan would
have to find them elsewhere.
Japan was now caught in a dilemma. To guarantee access to the raw materials it wanted in Southeast
Checking for Understanding Critical Thinking Analyzing Visuals
1. Vocabulary Define: labor, demilita-
5. Cause and Effect
7. Analyze the illustration on page 537 to rized, appeasement, achieve, confer- In what sense was World War II a prod- determine what opinion the artist had
CA HI 2 ence, New Order, assume, sanction. uct of World War I? about Italy’s alliance with Germany.
What aspects of the illustration indicate
2. People Identify: Adolf Hitler, Benito
6. Sequencing Information Create a that its creator and its publisher either Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Chiang chart like the one below listing in did or did not support Hitler’s relation- Kai-shek. chronological order the agreements ship with Mussolini and Italy? that emboldened Hitler in his aggres-
3. Places Locate: Rhineland, Sudetenland, sive expansion policies.
Manchukuo.
Agreements Encouraging Hitler’s Aggression Leading to World War II Reviewing Big Ideas
8. Persuasive Writing Imagine you are the editor of a British newspaper
4. List the reasons why Hitler’s pact with in 1938. Write an editorial that cap-
Stalin was a key factor in forcing Britain tures the essence of your viewpoint and France to declare war on Germany. on how war can be avoided.
CA 10WA2.4a,c
CHAPTER 11 World War II
- Allied victories forced Germany and Japan to surrender unconditionally.
Reading Objectives
Academic Vocabulary
The Course of World War II Preview of Events
Guide to Reading
Section PreviewThe devastation of the war was brought effective military operations, and Axis miscalculations.
Cause and Effect Create a chart like the one below listing key events during World War II and their effect on the outcome of the war.
Reading Strategy
2. Identify the major events that helped end the war in Europe and Asia.
1. Explain why the United States did not
(p. 548)
Content Vocabulary
blitzkrieg, partisan
- Germany used a “lightning war” to gain
- The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
isolationism, neutrality, indefinite
- The Allied forces stopped the advance of the Germans and the Japanese.
10.8.4: Describe the political, diplomatic, and military
✦ 1939 ✦ 1940 ✦ 1941 ✦ 1942 ✦ 1943 ✦ 1944 ✦ 1945
1944 Allied forces invade France on D-Day
1942 Japanese defeated at the Battle of Midway Island
1943 Germans defeated at Stalingrad
1940 Germans bomb British cities
541
attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.
10.8.6: Discuss the human costs of war, with particular
leaders during the war (e.g., Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower).
a map and discuss the major turning points of the war, the principal theaters of conflict, key strategic decisions, and the resulting war confer- ences and political resolutions, with emphasis on the importance of geographic factors.
People to Identify
10.8.3: Identify and locate the Allied and Axis powers on
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Reading this section will help you master these California History–Social Science standards.
control of much of western and central Europe, but Britain was undefeated and German troops were stopped in Russia.
(p. 542)
outraged Americans and led to the entry of the United States into the war. (p. 544)
(p. 546)
Stalingrad, Midway Island, Normandy, Hiroshima
Places to Locate
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman
CHAPTER 11 World War II Event Effect
Europe at War Germany used a “lightning war” to gain con- trol of much of western and central Europe, but Britain was undefeated and German troops were stopped in Russia.
Reading Connection Have you ever been in the middle of two people fighting, but you refused to take a side? Read how the United States remained neutral even though the British asked for its help.
Hitler stunned Europe with the speed and effi- ciency of the German attack on Poland. His innova- tive blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” used armored columns, called panzer divisions, supported by air- planes. Each panzer division was a strike force of about 300 tanks with support forces. Hitler had com- mitted Germans to a life-or-death struggle.
The forces of the blitzkrieg broke quickly through Polish lines and encircled the bewildered Polish troops. Regular infantry units then moved in to hold the newly conquered territory. Within four weeks, Poland had surrendered. On September 28, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland.
Hitler’s Early Victories After a winter of waiting (called the “phony war”), Hitler resumed the attack on
April 9, 1940, with another blitzkrieg against Denmark
and Norway. One month later, on May 10, Germany launched an attack on the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The main assault was through Luxembourg and the Ardennes (ahr•DEHN) Forest. German panzer divisions broke through weak French defen- sive positions there and raced across northern France.
French and British forces were taken by surprise when the Germans went around, instead of across, the Maginot Line—a series of concrete and steel for- tifications armed with heavy artillery along France’s border with Germany. The Germans’ action split the British army on the beaches of Dunkirk. Only by the heroic efforts of the Royal Navy and civilians in pri- vate boats did the British manage to evacuate 338,000 Allied troops. Most of them were British.
The French signed an armistice on June 22. German armies now occupied about three-fifths of France. An authoritarian regime under German control was set up over the remainder of the country to the south of the parts of France the Nazis occupied. It was known as Vichy France and was led by an aged French hero of World War I, Marshal Henri Pétain. Germany was now in control of western and central Europe, but Britain had still not been defeated. After Dunkirk, the British appealed to the United States for help.
No one described the sacrifices this struggle would demand better than Hitler himself. On September 1, 1939, after the attack on Poland began, Hitler addressed the German Reichstag with these words:
“ I do not want to be anything other than the first soldier of the German Reich. I have once more put on the uniform which was once most holy and precious to me. I shall only take it off after victory or I shall not live to see the end. . . . As a National Socialist and as a German soldier, I am going into this struggle strong in heart. My whole life has been nothing but a struggle for my people, for their revival, for Germany. . . . Just as I myself am ready to risk my life any time for my people and for Germany, so I demand the same of everyone else. But anyone who thinks that he can oppose this national commandment, whether directly or indirectly, will die! Traitors can expect death.
” Hitler addresses the Reichstag on September 1, 1939. President Franklin D.
Roosevelt denounced the
aggressors, but the United States followed a strict pol- icy of isolationism. A series of neutrality acts, passed in the 1930s, pre- vented the United States from taking sides or becoming involved in any European wars. Many United States had been drawn into World War I due to economic involve- ment in Europe, and they wanted to prevent a recur- rence. Roosevelt was con- vinced that the neutrality acts actually encouraged Axis aggression and wanted the acts repealed.
They were gradually relaxed as the United States supplied food, ships, planes, and weapons to Britain.
The Battle of Britain
Hitler realized that an amphibious (land-sea)
London buildings collapse as a result of nightly German bombing.
invasion of Great Britain could succeed only if Ger-
Attack on the Soviet Union
Although he had no many gained control of the desire for a two-front war, Hitler was convinced that air over the island nation. At the beginning of August Britain stayed in the war only because it expected
1940, the Luftwaffe (LOOFT•vah•fuh)—the German Soviet support. If the Soviet Union was smashed, air force—launched a major offensive. German Britain’s last hope would be eliminated. Hitler was planes bombed British air and naval bases, harbors, also convinced that the Soviet Union had a pitiful communication centers, and war industries. army and could be defeated quickly. The British fought back with determination. They
Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union was sched- were supported by an effective radar system that uled for the spring of 1941, but the attack was gave them early warning of attacks. Nevertheless, by delayed because of problems in the Balkans. Hitler the end of August, the British air force had suffered had already gained the political cooperation of Hun- critical losses. In September, in retaliation for a gary, Bulgaria, and Romania, but the failure of Mus-
British attack on Berlin, Hitler had the Luftwaffe solini’s invasion of Greece in 1940 had exposed begin massive bombing of British cities. Hitler hoped Hitler’s southern flank to British air bases in Greece. to break British morale. Instead, because military tar-
To secure his Balkan flank, Hitler seized both Greece gets were not being hit, the British were able to and Yugoslavia in April. rebuild their air strength quickly. Soon, the British air
Reassured, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on force was inflicting major losses on Luftwaffe June 22, 1941, believing it could be decisively bombers. At the end of September, Hitler postponed defeated before the brutal winter weather set in. The the invasion of Britain indefinitely.
CHAPTER 11 World War II 543
Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection 400 kilometers 400 miles 20°W 10°W 0° 10°E
Stuttgart Munich Kiev Ploiesti
On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. The same day, other Japanese units launched additional assaults on the Philippines and began advancing toward the British colony of Malaya.
Reading Connection Do you think the terrorist attacks of 2001 unified or divided Americans? Read to find out how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected American opinion about World War II.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor outraged Americans and led to the entry of the United States into the war.
Evaluating In the spring of 1941, what caused Hitler to delay his invasion of the Soviet Union? Reading Check Japan at War
An early winter and fierce Soviet resistance, how- ever, halted the German advance. Because of the planned spring date for the invasion, the Germans had no winter uniforms. For the first time in the war, German armies had been stopped. A counterattack in December 1941 by a Soviet army came as an ominous ending to the year for the Germans.
Neutral nations
Major battle with dateMajor city severely
damaged by bombing Air battle Maginot Line massive attack stretched out along a front some 1,800 miles (about 2,900 km). German troops advanced rapidly, capturing two million Russian soldiers. By November, one German army group had swept through Ukraine. A second army was besieging the city of Leningrad, while a third threatened Moscow, the Soviet capital.World War II in Europe and North Africa, 1939–1945 Axis Powers Axis-controlled area, November 1942 Farthest Axis advance, December 1941 Vichy France and territories Allied Powers Allied-controlled area, November 1942
Moscow Budapest
Rome Cairo Alexandria
Belgrade Valletta Dunkirk Vichy
D¨usseldorf Cologne Dresden Frankfurt Mannheim
50 °N
Manchester Hull Rotterdam Hamburg Bremen Hanover
Bristol Coventry Birmingham Liverpool
Crete Cyprus London Plymouth
Corsica Sardinia Malta Ger.
Sicily (July 1943) El Alamein (Oct.– Nov. 1942) Tobruk (April 1941) Tunis (May 1943) Anzio (Jan.–Mar. 1944) Monte Cassino (Jan.–May 1944) Stalingrad (Aug. 1942– Feb. 1943) Kursk (July 1943) Minsk (July 1944) Warsaw (Aug. 1944–Jan. 1945) Leningrad (Sept. 1941–Jan. 1944) Berlin (Apr.– May 1945) North Africa Landings (Nov. 1942) Battle of Britain (July–Oct. 1940) Normandy (June 1944) Paris (Aug. 1944) Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944–Jan. 1945) UNITED KINGDOM IRELAND FRANCE SPAIN PORTUGAL NETH. BELG. SWITZ. ITALY ALBANIA It. GREECE G E R M A N Y AUSTRIA HUNGARY YUGOSLAVIA BULGARIA ROMANIA POLAND LITHUANIA LATVIA ESTONIA FINLAND SWEDEN NORWAY DENMARK SLOVAKIA S O V I E T U N I O N SP. MOROCCO MOROCCO ALGERIA TUNISIA LIBYA EGYPT SAUDI ARABIA PALESTINE LEBANON SYRIA IRAQ TRANS-JORDAN IRAN TURKEY
Se a
English Channe ea l V o l g a R. R h in e C a s p i a n
Med i t e r r a nean S
Baltic
Sea
Black SeaAtlantic Ocean North Sea
40 °N 20°E 30°E 40°E 50°E 60°E
CHAPTER 11 World War II N S E W
Axis Offensives, 1939–1941 Allied Offensives, 1942–1945 20°E 30°E 40°E 50°E 60°E 30°E 40°E 50°E 60°E
Axis offensives, 1939 Allied offensives, 1942–1943 Axis offensives, 1940 N Allied offensives, 1944–1945 Axis offensives, 1941 N
10°W FINLAND E 20°W 0° 10°E 20°E FINLAND E 20°W 10°W 0° W NORWAY NORWAY W S Atlantic S 50 °N IRELAND UNITED KINGDOM °N KINGDOM BELG. NETH. DENMARK SWEDEN ESTONIA Ger. LITH. LATVIA UNION SOVIET 50 Ger. LITH. Ocean IRELAND UNITED BELG. NETH. SOVIET DENMARK SWEDEN LATVIA ESTONIA UNION
Atlantic GERMANY POLAND GERMANY POLAND PORTUGAL Ocean SPAIN FRANCE FRANCE VICHY SWITZ. HUNGARY SWITZ. HUNGARY ITALY YUGOSLAVIA SLOVAKIA ALBAN. ROMANIA BULGARIA Black Sea PORTUGAL SPAIN FRANCE FRANCE VICHY ITALY YUGOSLAVIA SLOVAKIA ALBAN. ROMANIA BULGARIA Black Sea MOROCCO Fr. SP. MOR. ALGERIA SYRIA Fr. Med Fr. MOROCCO 40°N it e GREECE TURKEY SP. MOR. ALGERIA 40°N GREECE TURKEY SYRIA Fr. Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection 400 kilometers 400 miles TUNISIA a Fr. r Fr. Fr. ra n LEBANON e LIBYA SAUDI EGYPT SAUDI n Sea 400 miles ra n It. PALESTINE U.K. EGYPT JORDAN TRANS- ARABIA It. ARABIA U.K. IRAQ TUNISIA it e LEBANON Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection 400 kilometers Fr. a Med r LIBYA e n Sea PALESTINE U.K. JORDAN TRANS- U.K. IRAQ Heavy fighting took place in Europe and North Africa. treated the countries under its rule as conquered
1. Interpreting Maps Name at least six major land bat- lands. tles of the war in Europe. Which side, the Allies or the Japanese leaders had hoped that their lightning Axis Powers, was more aggressive at the beginning of strike at American bases would destroy the American the war? Summarize the changes in direction of this fleet in the Pacific. The Roosevelt administration, side’s offensives during the first three years of the war. they thought, would now accept Japanese domina-
2. Applying Geography Skills Using information from tion of the Pacific. Why did the Japanese predict such all of the maps on pages 544 and 545, create an imagi- a reaction from the United States government? The nary model of the war’s outcome had Hitler chosen not answer is that in the eyes of many Japanese leaders, to invade the Soviet Union. Your model could take the the American people were soft. Their prosperous and form of a map, a chart, or a database and include such items as battles, offensives, and casualties. easy life had made them unable to fight.
The Japanese miscalculated. The attack on Pearl Harbor unified American opinion. Up to this time, many Americans wanted to remain neutral. Now Soon after, Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East they were ready to become involved in the war. The Indies and occupied a number of islands in the United States now joined with European nations and Pacific Ocean. In some cases, as on the Bataan Penin- Nationalist China in a combined effort to defeat sula and the island of Corregidor in the Philippines, Japan. resistance was fierce. By the spring of 1942, however, This decision quickly brought a declaration of war almost all of Southeast Asia and much of the western against the United States from the Nazis. The Ger- Pacific had fallen into Japanese hands. man navy had been fighting an undeclared sea war A triumphant Japan now declared the creation of a with American ships helping the British. Now that community of nations. The name given to this new Hitler’s ally Japan had attacked the United States, the “community” was the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity long-expected war with America had come. Four Sphere. The entire region would now be under Japa- days after the Pearl Harbor attack, Germany and the nese direction. United States were at war. Another European conflict Japan also announced its intention to liberate the had turned into a global war. colonial areas of Southeast Asia from Western colo-
Reading Check Determining Why did the Japanese nial rule. For the moment, however, Japan needed the resources of the region for its war machine, and it attack Pearl Harbor?
CHAPTER 11 World War II
World War II: Attack and Counterattack
May 1940 December 1941 Spring 1942 May 1945
- Attacks against • Japan attacks • United States wins • Germany Netherlands, Pearl Harbor, battles of the Coral Sea surrenders
June 1944 September 1939
Belgium, France Philippines, and and Midway
- Rome falls
- Germany invades Dutch East Indies
to Allies Poland
- United States
February 1943 August 1940
- D-Day, June 6
- Great Britain and enters
- Germans surrender
- Air attack
France declare war at Stalingrad against Britain on Germany
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946
April 1940 June 1941 April 1945
May 1943 August 1944
April 1941
- Blitzkrieg against • Hitler invades
- Soviets enter Berlin • German and Italian • Pari
- Greece and Denmark and Soviet Union
- Hitler and troops surrender in liberated
Yugoslavia Norway Mussolini die French North Africa are captured
July 1943 Fall 1942 March 1945
June 1940
- Soviets defeat
- Germans attack • German
- France
Germans at Stalingrad invaded surrenders
Battle of Kursk
- Britain and United States
August 1945
invade North Africa
- United States
Spring 1942 drops atomic
Axis attacks and victories
- Japan controls most bombs on Japan
Allied attacks and victories of Southeast Asia • Japan surrenders
The time line above traces the major events of World War II.
The Allies Advance
1. Identifying How much time elapsed from
France’s defeat until Paris was liberated?
The Allied forces stopped the advance of the Germans and the Japanese.
2. Cause and Effect What were the effects of three
dramatic events in 1939, 1941, and 1945?
Reading Connection Have you ever had to fight obsta- cles to achieve a goal? Read to find out how the Allied forces fought the Germans and the Japanese to work for the uncondi- tional surrender of Germany and Japan.
The European Theater The entry of the Americans into the war created a Defeat was far from
new coalition, the Grand Alliance: the United States, Hitler’s mind at the beginning of 1942. As Japanese
Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. Ever since the forces advanced into Southeast Asia and the Pacific,
Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet Union had Hitler continued fighting the war in Europe against
been relatively isolated from the West. Now they had the armies of Britain and the Soviet Union.to come together to fight a common enemy, Nazi Ger- Until late 1942, it appeared that the Germans
many. To overcome mutual suspicions, the Allies might still prevail on the battlefield. In North Africa,
agreed to stress military operations and ignore polit- Erwin Rommel, whose daring exploits and willing-
ical differences. ness to use trickery to outwit his foes had earned him
At the beginning of 1943, the Allies agreed to fight the nickname “Desert Fox,” commanded the Reich’s
until the Axis Powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan— Afrika Korps. Rommel’s clever tactics helped the
surrendered unconditionally. The unconditional sur- Germans break through the British defenses in Egypt
render principle, which required the Axis nations to and advance toward Alexandria. Meanwhile, a
surrender without any favorable condition, renewed German offensive in the Soviet Union led to
cemented the Grand Alliance by making it nearly the capture of the entire Crimea in the spring of 1942.
impossible for Hitler to divide his foes. In August, Hitler confidently boasted:CHAPTER 11 World War II
on the Caucasus and its oil fields. Hitler, however, Images As the next step, we are going to advance south
“