Lxing+WWII

=World War II Turning Points=

[edits done in //Italics//]


 * TIMELINE**

7/14/1933 : Nazis become the only party in Germany. This meant that there was no one to challenge them should 8/19/1934 : Hitler becomes Fuhrer. He becomes the head of the German state. 3/16/1935 : Hitler violates treaty of Versailles, starts production of German military 9/15/1935 : Jews stripped of rights 5/9/1936 : Mussolini's forces take control of Ethiopia. 10/1/1936 : Franco Declared head of Spain, (Spanish civil war ends in 1939) 3/12/1938: Hitler announces Anschluss with Austria 9/10/1938: Kristallnacht (Night of broken Glass) - a massive, devastating attack on Jewish property in Germany. 9/1/1939: Nazis invade Poland nited Nations is officially born. 7/10/1940 : Battle of Britain begins 3/11/1941: Roosevelt signs Lend - Lease act 6/21/1941: Operation Barbosa begins. German attack on USSR 12/7/1941: Japanese forces bomb Pearl Harbor. The next day, US declares war on Japan. 4/1942 : Japanese - Americans sent to relocation centers 6/1942: Auschwitz starts gassing prisoners 7/9/1942 : Germans march on Stalingrad in USSR 7/22/1942: First deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps; Treblinka extermination camp opened. 6/6/1944: D - Day landing 10/14/1944: Allies liberate Athens; Rommel commits suicide. 10/24/1944 : German surrender at Aachen. This was a huge-scale surrender by the German forces 10/30/1944: Last use of gas chambers: Auschwitz. 3/6/1945: Last German offensive of the war begins to defend oil fields in Hungary. 5/4/1945 : V-E day- The allies declare victory in Europe 8/6/1945 : First A-Bomb bomb was dropped over Hiroshima 8/8/1945 : Nagasaki was bombed. 8/14/1945: Japan Surrenders 10/24/1945 : UN established


 * TURNING POINTS**

The Invasion of Poland:

//This is the event that really started the war//. //The invasion of the neutral country of Poland was an act against humanity, and thus brought the allies into the war. One of the strongest responses was that of Great Britain, who was offended after illicitly telling Germany to withdraw from Poland on 9/1/1939 and declared war 2 days later against Germany.//

This operation was done in a blitzkrieg method (the term 'blitzkrieg', although a German word, was actually coined by an Englishman), which meant that the Germans mobilized all of the available armed forces (including their deadly tanks and dive-bombers) into a giant attack that conquered the country in a relatively short time span (a month and five days). The original inspiration was because Germany was surrounded by countries with militarizes far superior to that of it's own. This invasion warned the world about the strength of the German offensive and was a turning point, as it was one of the instigators of World War II. At the time, the Polish people were devastated by this, as there was a sizable Jewish population in Poland. This could be described as the first step in WWII, as it was Hitler's first military invasion, though it was neither the first time he tested his tactics nor the first time he gained land. This campaign was not stopped by the soviets because of the fact that they had signed the Molotov - Ribbentrop act.

The invasion of Poland is important to the overall turnout of the war. As one can see, there are myriad arrows everywhere, showing the directions of the German offensive. It's astounding that they are able to strike from so many directions. In the last world war, the German's offensive into France was more of a long drive and was a war of attrition, whereas this invasion was to conquer Poland, a neutral country. This depicts just how intimidating the well organized German army was, marching through the streets of Warsaw, Poland as they declared victory. All of them are dressed as though ready to kill at any moment. This is shot from such an angle that makes it look like a hero's welcome, as the perspective of this is shot closer to eye level than photos used to make one individual seem omnipotent or hose used as a strategic tool.

D- Day Landing

This was when the forces of the Allies touched down in Normandy. //The allies consisted of mainly British and American forces.// First, an air assault shocked the ground bunkers. Then, the ships dropped 160,000 troops and stormed the beach of Normandy, France to fight the Nazi German troops.

The Normandy Landing was the largest amphibious assault of all time. This is a significant event in that it took a year to plan and also because of the scale of the invasion. The invasion happened on July 6th, 1944. It is generally accepted as the final major allied push that set the domino effect for the eventual allied victory //in Europe. That day, later on, is called V-E day, which means Victory in Europe day, where in contrast there is V-J day, which is Victory in Japan day.//

This is a picture of a dead soldier. In this defense, many people died (casualties hovering around 9000) due to drowning or otherwise taking fire from the mounted defenses. The boats were shot at and the allies suffered many casualties due to sinking boats. They also lost a lot of equipment.



" Obviously the main job was to get out to the boats. Because when we finally decided to come down out of the ... sand dunes ... you've got to remember, we're running across the beach, and you're jumping over blokes, you know, that are no longer with us, sort of thing. And dodging and diving, because they're coming down, machine gunning you, and everything else. You're trying to keep an eye on there, and there's another one coming that way ... like the Red Arrows. Anyway, as I say, that was my feeling that, to get down and find some way of getting across. 'Cause you certainly couldn't have swam it. They were too far out for that. For me anyway. Some of them did. They just stripped off and got away and good luck to them. But the other thing is that ... they were diving down machine gunning the boats and everything else, and bombing the ships you were trying to get to. You might get half way there and there's no ship there then, because it's been bombed. But, as I say, the main target was to get onto one, and get back home." -Reg Rymer, Private, 2nd Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment

This was an experience of an army private that went into Normandy. He recounts his experience trying to get off the boat and even on to the beach. It sounds horrifying that he had to "[run] across the beach" and "[jump] over blokes", blokes being his dead friends and those who served valiantly until their death for the cause of freedom.

First A-Bomb bomb was dropped over Hiroshima

This was the most devastating bomb in human history, debatablely ever. On August 6th, 1944, Harry S Truman decided it was a good time to use the Atom bomb. This bomb was extremely powerful; it was an end all answer to the remainder of the war, as the fight in Europe had already been concluded. //The reason that the US government picked these two cities was that were crucial to the Japanese war effort. They were immensely populated and they were metropolises that produced a lot of the supplies, food, and weapons for Japanese soldiers. They were also civilian cities.//

At the time, Truman did not know just how bad the bomb obliterated the city (the city was literally leveled). Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the effects of the bomb killed 89,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima alone. This doesn't even count Nagasaki, which would be bombed a few days after Hiroshima and after the Japanese government surrenders. //This was similar to if Japan had bombed New York and Chicago.//

//This was only the initial impact of the bomb -- those hit with the bomb who survived the burning contracted leukemia and other prolonged diseases that caused eventual death and suffering for the families involved//. Even until today, questions about whether this bombing was ethically correct. The leukemia and cancer were similar to torture, //as families witnessed the death of loved ones while they themselves were suffering. Even today, traces from the war can be seen. The half life of Uranium 235 is 708 million years! Thus, the effects will last for a very long time.

The following is an account of what happened to this man on the day of the bombing://



Mr. Osamu Kataoka At the time of the bombing, he was 13; at school. He lost his father and his brother, and his mother and sisters were injured. He recounts just how horrific the scene was: "I ran to the edge of the pool. What did I see there? A drowned classmate, who was burned all over. Another classmate was trying to put out a fire on a friend's clothes with his own spouting blood." (written at age 17)

[Source: http://legacy.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/photo2-18.html, #6]

This is a horrific recounting of an example of the devastation caused by the A-bomb. The description is both graphic and unnerving, as one can only imagine how it must have felt to be one of the unlucky ones who were burnt alive. This bomb must have made a complete dystopia out of Japan. This secured the victory for the US, but at what costs?

Bibliography 1) "World War Two in Europe Timeline." //The History Place//. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .

2) "BBC - History: World War Two." //BBC - Homepage//. BBC. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .

3) "American Experience | War Letters | Gallery." //PBS//. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .

4) "D-Day Picture - American Soldier Dead on the Omaha Beach." //20th Century History//. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. .

5) "Encyclop." //Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia//. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

6) "WAPA - Pacific Theater." //U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America//. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

7) //German troops parade through Warsaw after the surrender of Poland.// Photograph. Invasion of Poland, 1939. //Ushmm.org//. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 28 Feb. 2010. .