World War Two

What was the League of Nations?

The League was established by the US President at the end of WW1. Its aim was to create an organisation that would step in and mediate the conflict to avoid full scale war. Countries could join as long as they agreed to follow the League's rules. USA did not join which made the League weakened from the start. By the 1930s many countries were ignoring the League and taking land from other countries.

What was the League of Nations?

Why was appeasement initially popular?

People wanted to avoid another war as memories of WW1 were still fresh

The Depression meant that Britain could not afford another war

Many thought that the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh on Germany and that it deserved more

People did not see how dangerous Hitler really was

People believed that it was easier just to roll over and let Hitler do what he wanted

What was the Blitz and what was it like?

Heavy bomb attacks on London and other major British cities and ports from September 1940 to May 1941. London was bombed for every day and night (except one) for 11 weeks straight. One third of London was destroyed. Nearly 2000 people wiere killed or wounded in the first attack in London. Overall, 43,000 people died. When the sirens sounded people would go to underground stations for Andersen shelters or other air raid shelters. Blackouts were common to make it harder for the German bombers to see at night.

What was the Blitz and what was it like?

Evacuation:

Government decided to evacuate the more vulnerable from the targeted areas to safer ones. These included school children, children under 5 with their mothers, pregnant women, the disabled and teachers. They were sent to areas such as Lancashire, Susses, Yorkshire, Kent, Cheshre, Essex, Northants and Herts. Billeting officers were in charge of finding homes for these evacuees. Children were only allowed to take a change of clothes.

Evacuation:

What was the Battle of Barbarossa and why did Germany lose?

Hitler invaded the USSR in June 1941

The Germans lost this war because they were ill prepared for the harsh Russian winter

Stalin had moved all of his weapon factories to the East out of range of the German bombers

Germans did not have enough fuel to travel across such a huge country - petrol froze in the winter temperatures

Germany was arrogant and didn't think that USSR would be a match for them

The USA's involvement in WW2

Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on 7th December 1941. Prior to this they had been officially neutral but had indirectly involved by lending Britain arms for the war effort (the Lend-lease programme). In July 1941, Japan invaded part of China and USA demanded that they withdraw and stopped selling them oil (Japan depended on USA for 80% of its oil). After the attack on Pearl Harbor, USA declared war on Japan - they were allies of Hitler (the Tripartite Agreement of Germany, Italy and Japan) so this brought them into WW2.

The USA's involvement in WW2

Atomic bomb - In May 1945 war had ended in Europe but Japan had not yet surrendered despite having been pushed back by USA. Due to the island geography of Japan the USA didn't want to risk that much loss to life (more deaths than caused by the bomb) and President Truman decided to drop the Atomic bomb. On 6th August 1945 a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped the bom on Hiroshima. Estimated 70000 people died within minutes. Japan still did not surrender. On 9th August a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and a further 36000 people were killed. 14th August Japan surrendered. One could argue that the bombs shortened the length of the war and therefore saving more lives.

World War Two

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