InNo+hyejijun94+02.28.11

= Part 2: The War Becomes Global 1941-42 =

=**  ** =
 * This chart is explaining the important factors that saved the USSR from total defeat. There are four major reasons why the USSR survived the German invasion - factories, bad weather, help from other countries, and German's brutality.

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 * This is a real video about the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor launched by the Japanese during World War II, 7th December 1941. Japanese airplanes stroke the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II.


 * This is a German U-boat, which is a submarine that can hunt ships unseen beneath the waves and destroy them with torpedoes. These were used frequently as the European war grew into a global war in 1941, when more and more fighting took place at sea.

=  =

**Why did Germany attack the USSR?:**

 * Because of the pact signed in 1939, Stalin did not stop Hitler invading Poland
 * Instead, Soviet forces occupied the eastern half of Poland
 * Soviet forces took more land from their east European neighbors - Finland, Romania, etc
 * The Nazi-Soviet Pact was not a pact of friendship
 * Hitler hated Communism and had long planned to destroy the Soviet Union
 * Stalin knew that Hitler hated the Soviet Union but signed the Pact because the Soviet armed forces were not ready to fight
 * Hitler, by 1941, controlled most of western Europe, prepared for an invasion of the USSR


 * Operation Barbarossa:**
 * The invasion (code-named Barbarossa) began on 22 June 1941
 * German armies destroyed much of the Soviet air force, took over prisoners, and captured supplies
 * After total defeat, Stalin made a radio speech, telling the people to use **'scorched earth'** methods against the Germans
 * This policy could not halt the German invasion
 * German then advanced on the capital of Soviet Union


 * How the USSR was saved:**
 * There are four reasons that stopped the Germans from defeating the USSR in 1941
 * First - Soviet moved many important weapons factories to eastern regions beyond reach of the Germans
 * Millions of workers went with the factories to make weapons, transport, ammunition, etc
 * Second - The weather was bad when Germany invaded the USSR
 * As Germans prepared for an attack on Moscow, rains turned the countryside into lakes of mud which slowed them down
 * 1942, Britain and the USA signed treaties of collaboration with the Soviet Union
 * Germans behaved brutally, especially Jews were massacred by Nazi **Special Action Groups**

** War Spreads To The Far East **

 *  **The United States and Japan:** **
 * During the 1930s, the US Congress had passed a series of **Neutrality Laws**, isolating the USA from other countries' disputes
 * The Japanese however spent the 1930s invading and occupying foreign lands and gaining resources


 * The end of US isolation:**
 * The US policy changed after war started in Europe in 1939
 * The Neutrality Laws were altered to allow Britain buy war supplies from the USA on a '**cash and carry**' basis (British had to pay and collect the goods in their own ships)
 * March 1941, Congress passed a **Lend-Lease Act**, allowing the USA to provide Britain with war supplies
 * The USA also helped China in its war against Japan
 * Stopped trading with Japanese companies and selling supplies to Japan
 * After Japanese occupation of Indo-China in July 1941, the USA also stopped the sale of oil to them
 * 90 percent of Japan's oil came from the USA, so their complained but the Americans said they would only stop the ban if Japan held peace talks with China
 * Japanese refused, both countries began to talk of war


 * Japan attacks Pearl Harbor:**
 * Japanese planned to attack the oil-rich British and Dutch colonies in South-East Asia
 * Japanese thought they were not strong enough to fight both the Americans and the British
 * They therefore planned a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet in its base at **Pearl Harbor**
 * The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor took place on Sunday, 7 December 1941
 * Japan damaged eight American battleships and put ten other warships out of action
 * Luckily, the Fleet's four aircraft carriers were not in port that day


 * Declarations of war:**
 * On 8 December, the USA and Britain declared war on Japan
 * Eight other countries also declared war on Japan
 * Japan, Germany, and Italy signed a **Tripartite Axis Pact**
 * On 1 January 1942, nations that declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan signed a pact in Washington - **United Nations Declaration**


 * Japan conquers Asia:**
 * Declarations of war did not stop Japan's plans to conquer Asia
 * Within six months, the Japanese had brought all of South-East Asia and western Pacific under their control

 War At Sea
**Sea Battles:**
 * Major sea battle took place in December 1939, when three British warships trapped the German pocket battleship (Graf Spee) in the **River Plate** in South America
 * May 1941, Germans decided to create a squadron of powerful warships based in the occupied French port of Brest
 * Aim was to attack British fleets in the Atlantic
 * Bringing their only battleship, //Bismarck// and the battlecruiser //Prinz Eugen// from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic to join the cruisers that were already active there
 * The //Bismarck// was destroyed on the way, but the //Prinz Eugen// was able to join the cruisers in Brest
 * These ships made many attacks on British shipping from there before returning to the safety of the Baltic in March 1942


 * The menace of the U-boats:**
 * German submarines, the **U-boats** were even more dangerous to British ships
 * U-boats can hunt ships unseen beneath the waves and destroy them with torpedoes
 * A single submarine penetrated the Royal Navy's harbor at Scapa Flow and sank the battleship //Royal Oak// in October 1939
 * To protect against U-boat attacks, ships travelled in **convoys** and guarded by Royal Navy destroyers and corvettes
 * So many British ships were being sunk that a 'Battle of the Atlantic' was taking place


 * The Battle of the Atlantic:**
 * The Battle of the Atlantic widened after the USA joined the war in December 1941
 * U-boats not only attacked British ships but also attacked American shipping
 * As the battle went on into 1943, the American and British Allies benefited from new inventions which helped them to find and destroy U-boats
 * However, the Allies were still losing the Battle of the Atlantic by early 1943
 * In May 1943, the Germans massed sixty U-boats for an attack on a slow convoy
 * This time, the Allies were better prepared
 * They sank seven U-boats for the loss of twenty ships in the convoy
 * Within a month, the Allies destroyed forty-one U-boats
 * The Germans failed to cut Britain's supply lifelines across the ocean

 Summary
The war declared by Germany seemed to be Soviet's total defeat but there were several reasons that stopped the Germans from defeating the USSR. When war began in Europe in 1939, the USA was not anymore an isolated nation. They helped China in its war against Japan, stopping the sale of oil and other important supplies. Japan then launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. As the European war grew into a global war in 1941, more and more fighting took place at sea, especially the Atlantic Ocean, between the British and German navies.

 Questions
1. Why did the USSR sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact even though they knew that Hitler the Soviet Union? 2. What were the things that stopped the Germans from defeating the USSR in 1941 3. How did the Neutrality Laws change in 1939? 4. What is the Tripartite Axis Pact? 5. Why are U-boats dangerous?