Friday 2 May 2014

History 12-1: The close of the Second World War

We started by posting comments to summarize the major theatres of the war (see the comments below). If you were absent, I'll ask you to comment on one of the theatres not covered (D-Day and North-West Europe, Mediterranean, Italy, etc).

4 comments:

  1. The Pacific Theater of the Second World War spanned the largest area of all the theaters. The War of the Pacific was one initiated by the Japanese, but ultimately dominated by the American Marine forces. Imperialist goals of Japanese expansion and trade led to a suprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December, 1941. However, these Japanese goals for ocean supremacy were clearly naive, as the Americans had unmatched economic and, subsequently, military power. This marine war of island conquest resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties. It was one of the bloodiest fronts of the War. In the end, American dominance was slow too snuff out suicidal Japanese resilience. To speed up the end, America dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This forced the Japanese emperor to surrender, marking the end of The Second World War.

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  2. ^^^ tristan

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  3. North Africa


    The Italians failed on the North Africa front so Hitler sent in the Afrika corps led by Rommel to beat the British. The war initially went the German’s way, with the exception of Tobruk, which was being held by the Australians. When Wavell was unsuccessful Churchill replaced him with Auchinleck who was then dismissed after his failure in the first battle of El Alamein. The second battle of El Alamein, in which the British had a victory led by Lieutenant-General Montgomery, was the turning point for the North African front. The Germans were pushed back to Tunisia. The objective for the British was to protect the Suez canal and oil. This front also took pressure off of the Eastern Front.

    Jessica

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  4. Summary of the Theatres of War- Battles on the Sea.
    Erik May 2, 2014.

    During the entirety of the Second World War naval warfare would prove to be a key factor in outcome of the war. The two main branches of naval warfare were the Battle of the Atlantic and the War in the Pacific.
    The Battle of the Atlantic was waged in an attempt to break the marine supply lines to Great Britain. Germany’s intent was to cut off all essential external support and starve the British into submission. German battleships and U-Boats sunk many Canadian and American supply ships, however the convoy, sonar, and planes would prove to be effective British counter measures.
    The War in the Pacific was mainly fought between the Americans and the Japanese. The goal of the Japanese was to expand into the Pacific, and the Americans were standing in their way. The main instruments of the Pacific War were aircraft carriers and planes. Nonetheless the Japanese lacked the capacity to fight the superpower in a regular battle, so they resorted to a sneak attack. But when the Americans recovered from the attack, they ended up steamrolling the Japanese back to their home islands with their superior military capacity.

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