Final Project: WWII
By: Griffith, AHII, Period 3, 5-10-15
Introduction
My topic will be about WWII. Many significant events had happened during the war, from battles to other disputes. The war first started in the late 30's, when Poland was invaded. I decided to do my final project on WWII because I believe many important things happened during this time period.
The events being discussed: Invasion of Poland, The Alliances, Atlantic Charter, Pearl Harbor, Womens Army Corp, War Production Board and Rationing, Battle of Stalingrad, Concentration Camps, The Nuke has Arrived, WWII Is Over
Invasion of Poland
- On 1939, Adolf Hitler, the chancellor of Germany, invaded Poland. This marked the start of WWII.
- At 4:45 a.m. Hitler and his army invaded Poland with over 1.5 millions troops. Clearly, little Poland stood no chance and it was quickly takeover by Germany. This sparked the nerves of other countries.
- Many countries were frustrated with Germany's invasion. Right after the invasion, France and GBR declared war on Germany. After the invasion Germany invaded at least 5 other countries. This sparked the war to become a huge war, a world war.
The Alliances
- There were two alliances in WWII. The two alliances were the Axis and the Allies. These alliances had many different countries and the allies di end up taking the victory.
- Countries in the Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.]
- Countries in the Allies: United Kingdom, USA, USSR, France, Australia, Netherlands, Poland, the list goes on...
Atlantic Charter
- On August 9-13th 1941, President Roosevelt (USA president) and the prime minister of England, Winston Churchill, met on the Atlantic Ocean. The purpose of this meeting was to talk about the Allies goals and their post-world war goals as well.
- Ideal goals: No territorial aggrandizement, no territorial changes in which the people aren't for, the making of self controlled government those deprived of it, free access to raw materials, lower of trade restrictions, global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all.
- Ideal goals cont.: Freedom from fear and want, freedom of seas, abandonment of use of force and the disarmament of aggressor nations.
Pearl Harbor
- On December 7th, 1941, Japan launched a surprise air attack on the naval base in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor.
- In this surprise attack, over 2,000 people were killed. Following the attacks the US realized they needed to get involved, we weren't going to put up with this nonsense.
- The aftermath of the attacks was crazy, especially in the Hawaii. Any Japanese people that lived in Hawaii would be discriminated against and at one point Japanese people were sense to camps because we didn't trust the Japanese, since we were at war with them.
Womens Army Corp
- The women's branch of the USA army created a force of women, WAC, to fight in the war.
- On May 15th 1942, this group of women was created as an auxiliary unit. Then by 1943, they converted to full status known as the WAC.
- Around 150,000 women served during World War II. This isn't including nurses because that is all women were allowed to do before the WAC. I think this was a great implement because more fighters for the army.
War Production Board and Rationing
- This government agency was established on January 16th 1942, and it was made because Roosevelt used an executive order to create the agency.
- The whole purpose of this agency was to keep the materials produced under control because we need ass much supplies for the war as we could get.
- To put this is simpler terms you were only allowed to eat a certain amount of food. Also they rationed fuel, paper, rubber, metals etc.
Battle of Stalingrad
- This battle was an intense battle between Germany and the Soviet that lasted for about five months. This resulted in many deaths reaching two million.
- You may wonder what was involved in this was the German air raids, Luftwaffe, the German air force. It also included bloody street fights throughout the two nations.
- On February 1943, Germany officially surrendered. Hitler never wanted his army to this, but they went against him. Friedrich Paulus surrendered and his army fully retreated.
Concentration Camps
- These camps were scattered all over Europe, but especially in Germany. These camps were started in the late 30's and lasted until the end of the world.
- These camps main goal were to torture and kill as many people as they could. The main people that were in these camps were Jews. They were tortured until they would die, they would be fed very little food. They also had gas chambers inside of them to exterminate mass amounts of people.
- Eventually we ended all of the concentration camps as a whole after WWII. Days before the war was officially over, the Allies marched in killing German soldiers and saving the innocent prisoners.
The Nuke Has Arrived!
- After the Pearl Harbor attacks the Americans were plotting an attack for many years. Before we had nuked Japan the war was already almost over, but we wanted to rest it for life.
- In August of 1945, Harry Truman made one of the most controversial war move of all time. Truman decided to drop the nuke on Hiroshima. This is so controversial because many people said the war was already over and there was no point of killing all of those innocent people.
- The nuke killed over 100,000 people in all, two nuclear warheads were dropped in two separate cities in Japan, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This sent a message to the Japanese and the rest of the Axis, there was nothing they could do.
WWII Is Over...
- Finally, after all of these years, WWII was finally over. A few weeks after the nuclear warhead was dropped on Japan, the Axis knew it was over.
- Peace treaties were signed and many changes were to come. Berlin was separated from democracy and communism. These changes also included the Axis had to pay for the damage they had done, but that was difficult because they didn't have any money left over, so we had to loan them money and they'd pay it back overtime.
- All of the war prisoners from the concentration camps were freed. Unfortunately, they came back to their homes either they were destroyed or taken by other families that arrived first. This was a tough time of recovery for and hopefully we would reach world peace, which didn't happen.
Historical Impact
Sources
"Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Axis Powers." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016. "Axis Powers." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Allies of World War II." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Atlantic Charter." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Bad Stuff of the Week." N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"WOMEN'S ARMY CORPS (WAC) - WWII Original Postcards." Scripophily. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"U.S. Coffee Rationing in World War II - Coffee Crossroads." Coffee Crossroads. N.p., 13 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Battle of Stalingrad." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Auschwitz Concentration Camp." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Graphis." WWII War Is Over -. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.