SA WWII Historical Introduction to WWII
World War II was the most widespread and deadly war in history. It was a total war, raining as much destruction on civilians as on armed forces. It involved brutalities on a scale never before known. One of these was the attempt by Germany to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe.
Unlike World War I, World War II was fast-moving and mobile. There were periods of stalemate, especially in Italy, but none that compared with the lengthy periods of stalled trench warfare in World War I.
The tank and the airplane had been introduced during World War I, but their use was more widespread and effective in World War II. The aircraft carrier emerged as the most important surface warship, and the submarine caused great damage, as it had in the earlier conflict. New military developments of World War II included the use of parachute troops, radar, sonar, and suicide airplanes. The most destructive weapon ever developed—the atomic bomb—was used in the closing days of the war.
Women played a far greater part in World War II than in any previous conflict. They served in the armed forces as nurses, technicians, and clerks, and also took the place of men in factories and on farms. Some fought alongside men as guerrillas.
Among the results of World War II was a greatly changed map of the world. The Soviet Union annexed territory along its western borders, and the map was redrawn throughout the rest of Europe. Germany and Korea were each divided into Communist and non-Communist sectors. All of eastern Europe and most of the Balkans came under Soviet domination. The European colonies in Africa and Asia began demanding independence. A Jewish state—Israel—was carved out of Palestine.
The most profound political effects after World War II were the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as the two leading world powers (often referred to as the superpowers), the rise of Communist China, and the division of the world's nations into three groups—those allied with the United States, those allied with the Soviet Union, and those not committed to either.
After World War I
The close of World War I found the nations of Europe exhausted by the long conflict and determined to build a lasting peace. The Treaty of Versailles was designed to prevent Germany from ever again taking the offensive. Many people hoped that through the League of Nations and mutual disarmament agreements countries would be able to conduct international relations on a peaceful basis. The Washington Naval Limitation Agreement of 1921, putting limits on the numbers and sizes of major naval vessels, seemed a successful first step toward international disarmament. However, the League of Nations was doomed from the start, in large part because of the refusal of the United States to join.
The victorious Allies demanded huge reparations (payments for damages) from defeated Germany. These demands, later described by Winston Churchill as "malignant and silly," were impossible for Germany to meet. German leaders sought to ease the burden of reparations by deliberately devaluing their currency; in the resulting runaway inflation, German money became worthless.
Meanwhile, world opinion was becoming less harsh towards Germany. When France sought to enforce collection of reparations from Germany by armed occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, the action was widely denounced. The Dawes Plan of 1924 and the Young Plan of 1929 provided huge loans to restore the German economy and put reparations on a more equitable basis.
The European nations permitted Germany to participate as an equal in negotiating the Locarno treaties in 1925. In these treaties, Germany and France agreed not to attack one another, and Germany and Belgium made a similar agreement. Britain and Italy agreed to aid the victim of a violation of these treaties. Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, and Czechoslovakia pledged to settle disputes among themselves peacefully. The treaties also stipulated that the German Rhineland, which was adjacent to the French border, would be a demilitarized area. In 1926 Germany entered the League of Nations, and in 1928 it signed the Pact of Paris, or Kellogg-Briand Pact, by which 62 nations renounced war as an instrument of policy. The Lausanne Conference of 1932 permitted Germany to cease reparations payments.
Hitler's Rise to Power
BackgroundInside Germany, conditions were unsettled throughout the early 1920's. Many Germans felt betrayed by their leaders for surrendering to the Allies in 1918 and resented the current German government because it had agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and because it seemed weak and inept. The country was beset by runaway inflation and high unemployment, and political turmoil was made worse by a fear of Communism and a mistrust of democracy. Extremist groups and political parties on the right and the left competed for control, often using violence to achieve their goals. One of these groups was Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers', or Nazi, party.
The Nazi party was founded in 1918 and quickly attracted a following among embittered veterans of World War I and others who wished to unite the German people and erase the "shame" and "betrayal" of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler joined the party in 1919 and soon gained prominence by virtue of his electrifying oratory. In 1923 he led the Nazis in an attempted putsch (seizure of the government) in Munich. The putsch failed and Hitler and other conspirators were arrested. While in jail, Hitler began Mein Kampf (My Struggle), which outlined his program for the Nazi party and for Germany.
The Nazi program, like that of Benito Mussolini's Fascists in Italy, was one of extreme nationalism. The Nazis were contemptuous of democratic forms of government and believed that people owed total obedience to their country. In addition, the Nazis held that the only true Germans were "Aryans," or people with northern European physical characteristics. Aryans, they claimed, formed a "master race" which had a right to conquer additional territory for exploitation and colonization and to exterminate all "inferior" races who stood in the way. The Nazis were also violently anti-Semitic and accused Jews of being the main cause of Germany's problems.
The Nazi party's racial theories appealed to Germans looking for something on which to blame their economic and political troubles. The Nazis' program of authoritarian government also found favor with many army officers and some industrialists, who saw in it a chance to regain the power they had held before Germany's defeat, to restore stability and order to the country, and to block the growth of leftist parties and ideas.
Hitler Becomes DictatorThe Nazi party lost prestige and support after the failed putsch in 1923, but Hitler continued to work diligently to gain power. In 1930 the Nazis won 107 seats in the Reichstag (legislature); in 1932, 230 seats. In 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor (prime minister) and soon demanded and received absolute power from the legislature. He then crushed all opposition.
Hitler proclaimed his desire for peace and promised that Germany would fulfill all treaty obligations. One of his first acts, however, was to withdraw Germany from the League of Nations, after denouncing the Treaty of Versailles, under which the League had been formed. He also began making territorial demands, especially for the incorporation of Austria into Germany. In 1935 Hitler announced the formation of an air force and the reinstatement of conscription, both prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles.
Occupation of the RhinelandFrance reacted to German rearmament by negotiating an alliance with the Soviet Union. Germany claimed the pact was a violation of the Locarno treaties, and used this "violation" as a pretext to send troops into the Rhineland. The German general staff opposed this action, fearing it would lead to a war Germany was not yet prepared to fight. Although many nations condemned the occupation, no actions were taken against Germany.
Beginning of the Axis
German-Italian AllianceDespite a shared fascist ideology, Italy was not friendly to German ambitions. Italy particularly opposed German union with Austria, which would greatly increase German influence in European affairs and expand German territory to the Italian border. When Nazi sympathizers in Austria assassinated Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934, Mussolini mobilized troops at the Austro-Italian border.
A change in Italy's attitude came after Mussolini, anxious for new colonies and military prestige, ordered the invasion of Ethiopia in October, 1935. The League of Nations called for economic reprisals against Italy. Although the world's leading nations did little, Italy's international reputation was damaged. Germany, however, fully supported Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. In 1936 the two countries signed a political and commercial agreement that Mussolini called "an axis around which all European states animated by the desire for peace may collaborate." This statement provided the name "Axis" for Germany, Italy, and their allies in World War II.
Spanish Civil WarIn July, 1936, rebels led by General Francisco Franco began an attempt to overthrow the republican government of Spain. Franco's rebels were sympathetic to fascism, and both Italy and Germany sent equipment and troops to assist them. The Soviet Union gave some aid to Spain, and many people from around the world volunteered to fight for the Spanish government. Most countries, however, held to a policy of nonintervention. With the help of the fascist countries, Franco was able to overthrow the government and establish a dictatorship. The Spanish civil war was later called a dress rehearsal for World War II because the fascist countries used the occasion to experiment with many new weapons and tactics.
The following March, however, Hitler annexed most of Czechoslovakia, leaving untouched only Slovakia, which was made a puppet state, and small border areas ceded to Poland and Hungary in return for their noninterference. On March 22, 1939, Germany seized from Lithuania a German-inhabited area called Memel.
Appeasement
Hitler's Land GrabsIn May, 1937, Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Great Britain. His program for dealing with Hitler was one of appeasement, that is, of attempting to meet German grievances in hopes of avoiding war. Hitler took advantage of this policy by annexing Austria on March 13, 1938. He then demanded the return to Germany of the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia inhabited largely by Germans. Czechoslovakia, assured by various treaties of the backing of France and the Soviet Union, prepared for war.
To avoid a major European war that would eventually involve Britain, Chamberlain flew to Hitler's mountain home at Berchtesgaden with the hope of resolving the crisis. Hitler merely increased his demands. On September 29, 1938, Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Premier Edouard Daladier of France met with Hitler in Munich. Without consulting the Czechs or the Soviets, who were allied with the Czechs, they agreed to the German annexation of the Sudetenland and other border areas of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain, convinced that this would satisfy Hitler, proclaimed the agreement to be a guarantee of "peace in our time."
War Draws NearGreat Britain and France increased production of armaments, particularly airplanes and antiaircraft guns. On March 31, 1939, Chamberlain announced complete support of Poland in its long-simmering dispute with Germany over the Polish Corridor and access to Danzig. (The Polish Corridor was a strip of Polish territory that separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany and gave Poland access to the Baltic sea.) France joined in supporting the Poles. In April, the first peacetime conscription in British history was announced. Guarantees of protection for other small states menaced by the Axis were also announced by Britain.
In August the world was surprised by the announcement of a nonaggression pact and trade agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union. This move, uniting two apparent enemies, gave Hitler the freedom to annex more territory in the east without fear of Soviet intervention. Secret clauses in the agreement divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence and provided for the division of Poland between the two countries.
Poland, aware of the significance of the German-Soviet pact, prepared to defend itself, and reminded Britain and France of their promises to help it resist aggression. With Hitler becoming increasingly belligerent and tensions mounting, Europe braced itself for war.
Weapons and Tactics
Air WarfareWorld War II involved both strategic and tactical air warfare. Strategic air warfare is the use of bombers to destroy an enemy's industry, cities, and morale. Tactical air warfare is the use of planes to attack the enemy's troops on the battlefield, usually in coordinated support of one's own troops. The heavy bomber was used to conduct strategic air raids, most notably by British and American forces in the war against Germany. The development of long-range aircraft made bombing raids deep into German-occupied Europe feasible, but daytime missions were dangerous, and night raids proved inaccurate and largely ineffective. The development of long-range fighter planes, which could offer protection to the vulnerable bombers, made it possible to carry out daylight raids, which were more accurate, without heavy losses. Japan was also attacked in strategic raids. (See section "The War with Japan, 1941-45," subtitle The Air and Submarine War Against Japan: Air War.)
The primary weapon of tactical strikes was the fighter-bomber. The fighter-bomber was a fast, heavily armed and armored plane, sturdy enough to withstand steep dives, rapid maneuvers, and some of the ground fire that its low-level attacks would encounter. Typical armament included bombs, heavy machine guns, automatic cannon, and air-to-ground rockets. Fighter-bombers were used to strike enemy armor and defensive positions, destroy supply and communications centers close to battlefields, and harass enemy troops behind the lines. They were often called upon by ground troops to attack entrenched enemy positions, or to lay down a barrage of fire before an attack.
The Soviet and German air forces were designed for a largely tactical role. The German Stuka dive bomber, later widely converted to a cannon-bearing anti-tank plane, at the beginning of the war was a major component of the German blitzkrieg. The Soviet Sturmovik, a heavily armored attack plane, was used with great effect against German tanks. American and British forces quickly learned the value of tactical air warfare, and employed a variety of heavily armed fighter-bombers in Europe and the Pacific.
Airborne Assault. The military value of paratroops and glider troops was first demonstrated in World War II. Airborne combat troops could be dropped behind enemy lines to seize or sabotage key positions and installations. The Germans were the first to make successful assaults with paratroops and gliders, during the Battle of Flanders, and later staged the first large-scale airborne invasion in history, on the island of Crete. The Allies employed some 700 gliders, loaded with troops and equipment, and three divisions of paratroops during the landings at Normandy.
Naval WarfareSubmarines. As in World War I, the major menace to shipping at sea was the submarine. Beginning in 1940, German submarines used the "wolf-pack" method of attack, with large groups of submarines making coordinated assaults on shipping convoys. American submarines adopted wolf-pack techniques against Japanese shipping in the Pacific with great success.
The principal weapon of the submarine, and of some surface vessels, was the torpedo. One of the most successful torpedoes was the Japanese "Long Lance," which was used to sink four cruisers at the Battle of Savo Island (1942). Late in the war, the Germans introduced homing torpedoes guided by the sound of the target ship's propellers. Aircraft Carriers. The most significant development in naval warfare in World War II was the use of aircraft carriers as capital ships—that is, as the main warships of a fleet. Before the war, aircraft carriers were generally viewed as support ships, intended to provide air protection and air reconnaissance for battleships. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor showed the carrier's potential as an offensive weapon. In May, 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea, fought entirely by carrier-based aircraft, took place. It was the first naval confrontation in history where the opposing fleets never came within sight of each other and were never close enough to exchange gunfire. From that point on, the carrier was the dominant warship in the war in the Pacific.
Amphibious Tactics. By 1934 the U.S. Marines had developed methods for landing troops and equipment on strongly defended shores. Key elements of amphibious assault were the use of landing craft designed to be beached for easy unloading, close support by naval gunfire and aircraft, and carefully planned logistical support that allowed a rapid buildup of equipment and troops on the beachhead. Nearly all the fighting on land in the Pacific was preceded by amphibious assaults, and the lessons learned were applied to the landings at Normandy, the largest such assaults ever attempted.
Land WarfareTanks. Because of the different role it was intended to play, the World War II tank was quite different from the tall, unwieldy vehicle invented during World War I. Instead of being used to accompany and protect advancing troops or to break the stalemate of trench warfare, the new tanks were designed for independent offensive action as the spearheads of blitzkrieg attacks. They were fast, low, heavily armored, and armed with powerful large- and small-caliber guns. The Soviet T-34, considered by some to be the finest tank of the war, had an 85-mm main gun and two machine guns and could reach speeds of more than 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). The Germans so respected the T-34 that they copied its design to build their Panther tank.
Artillery. Advances in artillery weapons included the adaptation of artillery pieces for easy mobility, often by mounting the guns on tracked, self-propelled carriages. The recoilless rifle, a lightweight weapon capable of firing a powerful shell, was introduced. Hand-carried rocket launchers, such as the American bazooka, were widely used, especially against tanks. Larger rockets, mounted in arrays and fired sequentially, were used as anti-aircraft weapons and to lay down barrages. The German V-2 ballistic missile was used as a long-range artillery weapon against England, France, and the Netherlands.
Small Arms. In general, the firepower of the individual soldier in World War II was considerably higher than in previous conflicts. Most American soldiers, and some troops of other nations, were equipped with semi-automatic weapons. These weapons required only that the trigger be pulled repeatedly to shoot; no lever or bolt needed to be worked to reload the gun from its magazine. Many troops, particularly those of the Soviet Union, were equipped with submachine guns. Light machine guns were also more widely used than in previous conflicts.