WWII Flashcards
Why wasn’t Canada ready for WWII?
- wwi still fresh in mind
- military funding cut
- pacifism. Canadians worked tirelessly to promote peace
- Great Depression going for 10 years
- Canada followed policy of Isolationism during 1930s. Wanted to be neutral, sell to both sides
- Mackenzie King visited Hitler in 1937 and underestimated the threat
What are the steps to WWII
- 1931 Japan conquers Manchuria (North of Korea)
- 1933 Germany rearms
- 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia
- 1936 Germany invades Rhine Land March (France)
- March 1938 Germany invades Austria
- Sept 1938 Munich agreement signed. France and Britain give Sudetenland as appeasement (Czech)
- October 1938 Rome Berlin Axis signed. Hitler allows Mussolini to take Austria. Promises him to let him take over Europe (1940 Japan joins Axis powers)
- March 1939 Hitler occupies Czechoslovakia
- Aug. 1939 Germany and Russia sign non-aggression pact. Agree to split Poland
- Sept. 1 1939 Hitler invades Poland
- Sept. 3 1939 GB and France declare war
- Sept. 10 1939 Canada joins
What military resources did Canada have at the beginning of WWII?
10 soldiers
10 sea vessels
50 aircraft
How did the Canadian government manage to get Canada prepared when war was declared?
- War Measures Act
- Orders placed for equipment
- New War taxes
- By end of Sept. over 58 000 volunteers
Draw the Dieppe Raid
See text
What were the problems with the Dieppe Raid?
- Go without full support of air or sea
- They were seen but didnt turn around
- Got there in broad daylight
- Arrived at low tide
- Smoke to hide soldiers prevented communication
- Short range ships
- Tanks useless against chert beach
- Crossfire
- Only 5000 soldiers to 10 000
- No exit plan
How many Canadians are at the Dieppe Raid and when was it?
5000
What is the traditional and atypical view of Dieppe?
Crucial to learn lessons that allowed win at D-Day
Prove to Russia that could not enter France and open up a two front war there
What is the difference between tactics and strategy?
T: Stuff we do on the battle field
S: Overall plan for the war
What is the Allies strategy in WWII?
Come from Africa to Italy to draw Nazis down from France. Italy has weak military. Weaken France then open up a third front
Give a timeline of Allies invading Italy
- 1942 Hitler starts dividing efforts to kill Jews. Commander runs out of gas for tanks
- 1943 Allies take Africa
- Germany send best soldiers to Italy
- Germans have reinforced lines as they move back, always at a disadvantage
- Russians are able to take back some land
- 1944 prepare for D-Day
What happens at the battle of Ortona?
- ancient city. Stone houses, narrow streets
- fighting through Hitler line
- Nazis hiding in strategic buildings
- Fill streets with rubble, only one way in
- Allies blew up buildings to make own roads
- travelled rooftop to rooftop
- A victory at great cost
When was the Battle of Britain?
Sept. 1940-May 1941
What was the Battle of Britain?
- massive nightly air raids in key locations
- purpose to soften up, then go in with landing to invade
- Canadian fighter pilots sent to shoot down bombers
- 10% survival rate
- Canadian ground crews did clean up and relief work
When was the battle of Hong Kong?
December 1941-Dec. 25 1941 17 days
What was the battle of Hong Kong?
- battle between Japan and China
- loss. No reinforcement or retreat plan. Surrendered. Not enough men. Only about 2000
- Britain sent their soldiers out, sent in Canadians
- POW faced concentration camps
When was the Dieppe raid?
Aug. 19 1942
How many Canadians were killed in the Dieppe Raid?
900+
1000 wounded
2600 POW
What was the battle of the Atlantic?
- entire war
- need to feed people in Britain
- Canadian navy escorting cargo ships
- Germans sinking cargo ships
When was the Dambuster thing?
May 17 1973
What was the Dambuster thing?
Arial assault on German locations
When was the Italian Campaign?
By Sept. 3 in Italy. July 10 1943.
How many Canadians died in the Italian Campaign?
2163 in Italy
2300 Sicily
When was D-Day?
June 6 1944
What were the numbers at D-Day?
335 dead
739 casualties
30 000 there
When was the liberation of the Netherlands and Holland?
June 1944 to May 1945. After D-Day
What was the liberation of Europe?
- Canadians moved along top of Europe
- 11 000 Canadians lost
When was the Pacific War?
After D-Day
What was the Pacific War?
- take out Japanese
- Japanese Canadian Commando units dropped behind enemy lines in China
- Naval bombardment
What beaches were hit at D-Day?
Omaha and Utah: US
Gold and Sword: British
Juno: Canada. Easiest beach. Sand dunes. No crossfire
Draw D-Day
See text
What was the Hitler Wall?
Early 1944, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel assigned to improve defenses. Mines underwater, Xs to stop ships
What were the reasons for success at D-Day?
- element of surprise
- attack at low tide, first light
- massive air and naval support
- breaking of German defenses with Allied tanks and troops encircling Nazis
- overwhelming numbers
- sand beach
What was the Shelt Estuary?
- worst battle experience in liberation of Northwest Europe
- at 0 sea level
- Netherlands built dikes to keep out water
- raised roads, no defenses
- Germans flood Have to run along roads
- Canadians still fighting after Berlin fell
- incredible response from starving Dutch
What were Hitler’s final days?
- Russians got to Germany first
- Gave orders that body be burned
- Marries Eva before suicide
How does WWII end?
- Aug 6 1945
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed
- Japanese wanted peace
- conflict over wanting to keep Emperor. Americans refused. Wanted them to give up everything
- Bombs: Chaos. Incinerated on the spot
- Japan surrenders
- US keeps Emperor
- Right into Cold War
How did Peal Harbor play out?
- Japanese wanted to warn Americans to stay out of their business
- Military base in Hawaii
- triggers US going to war
What happened to Japanese people after Pearl Harbour?
Racial Profiling
- propaganda
- Hollywood drafted to educate people on good Chinese and bad Japanese
- “Monkey Men” “Japs”
- message to annihilate “until every murdering Jap is wiped out!”
- Dr. Seuss: “You’re a sap, mister Jap”
- used pop culture
- Characturtured as buck teeth, monkey ears, round glasses
What is the immigration of Japanese in Canada?
- starts 1877
- By 1914 almost 18 000
- mostly single males, hopes of new life
- concentrated in British Columbia
- formed communities
- fishing
- 23 000 by Peal Harbour
What persecution did the Japanese face before Peal Harbour?
- Anti-Asian group tried to force out
- 1907: Anti Asian mob.
- Denied right to vote
- not allowed in certain jobs to stop “quiet invasion”
- 1920 tried to exclude from fishing
- 1930 got half of dole
How did Pearl Harbour affect Japanese Canadians?
- felt they were spies
- “Japs keep moving this is a white mans neighborhood”
- War Measures Act gave power to restrict privileges
- curfews
- no rights
- thrown into internment camps
What was the first stage of Japanese Internment?
Dec. 7 1941-Feb 1941
- Zenophobia: Hatred based on culture
- confiscated property, sold at 5% worth
- House sold for $50
- Pushed back from west coast
Second stage of Japanese internment?
Feb. 24 1942
- War measures act
- taken out of homes
- families split
- sent to Hastings Park (cattle barns)
- still working out plan of where to put them
- moved to labour camps
What were conditions in interment camps like?
- forced to pay for own stay. Not protected under Genewa Conventions for POW
- 12 camps as far from coast as possible
- no insulation
- makeshift homes
- overcrowded
- little food, provisions
- several people died
What happened to Japanese Canadians?
April 1949 given homes back
- given option to be deported to Japan or live beyond Rockies. Most stayed
- scattered
- lost everything
- New immigration laws-> young men revitalized culture
When does the government apologize to Japanese Canadians?
Sept 1988
Gives $21 000 to any surviving victims
How many people were killed in the Holocaust 1933-1945?
6 million Jews, 5 million others. 18 million planned.
What does Holocaust mean?
Hebrew word for sacrifice totally burned by fire. Adopted by Jews afterwards
What did Soviet troops find when they liberated the first death camps?
Over 300 000 womens dresses but only 7000+ live people
How many Jews in Europe are killed?
60+%
9.5 million Jews
Highest concentrations in Eastern Europe
How did the Holocaust happen?
- Power of words: Hitler understood human nature. The nation was acting, not him directly
- Stages of Isolation
- The bystander vs. the collaborator
- Anti-semitism
What are the stages of Isolation?
- Strip rights, make them stand out. Lost citizenship, forced to wear armband with star of david
- Segregation: Forced to live in small, fenced off ghettos. Warsaw the largest
- Concentration camps
- Extermination
How were Jews moved to concentration camps?
- all possessions taken
- heads shaved
- annihilation by work
- men, women and children separated
- survival based on strength
What was the Wansee Conference?
Christmas 1941
- 35-40 Nazi leaders, S.S, business leaders, camp supervisors
- what to do about Jews
- were experimenting with different gasses
- taking Jews out of homes and shooting them was too costly and demoralizing soldiers
- discussed mass sterilization: too long
What was the final solution?
- Zyklon B gas. Kill in 15 min
- death camps. Kill 64 000 a day at top capacity
- mass showered. Hundreds at once
- Arrived: Separated. Weak died.
- dead incinerated
- 44-45 start death marches to hide prisoners
