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Research Paper Andrew Tyler This is the 8th grade exit project. The decade chosen was the 1940’s. This was a decade of bloody warfare and triumph. Winston Churchill gave a speech on June 18, 1940, stating that a battle for Britain was imminent. The speech was given on June 18, 1940, four days before the attack. The attack occurred just a couple of days after France surrendered, and Germany was able to concentrate its forces on Great Britain. The Germans believed air superiority was the key to winning the battle of South England. They chose to use Messerschmitt Bf-109’s and 110’s against the somewhat weaker Hurricane and Spitfire British fighters. The Luftwaffe appeared to have an edge in numbers, but the British had about an equal number. The brunt of the attacking force was to attack ports and freighters. The Luftwaffe made thousands of bombing runs to take Allied attention away from Hitler’s real plan, codenamed Operation Sea Lion. The operation was executed with a force almost equal to the original air attack. This attack was to be on Britain’s industrial complex. The British, however, launched a counterstrike on Berlin; this caused the Germans to react with force and attack British civilian targets. These attacks resulted in more than 23,000 British civilians being killed. Hitler called off the operation that month, however bombing raids continued. After the first and second forces of the Luftwaffe, as well as the German navy, the RAF was outnumbered four to one and, thanks to their radar were able to easily defeat the Germans when they were vulnerable. The RAF took its greatest losses in August of 1940. The British planes could out-maneuver the Germans and defeat the powerful German Luftwaffe against the odds. Since the mid-1930’s differences over China utterly drove Japan and America apart. When Japan attacked China, the US put an embargo on Japanese oil, which further enraged Japan. The danger of the American Pacific Fleet drove Japan to targeting the naval base first. Japan then voted that if the peace talks with the United States had not succeeded by December 4th, Japan would conduct “Operation Z”, the invasion of Oahu and many US-occupied islands including the Philippines, Midway Island, Marshal Islands, Wake Island, Marianas Islands, and Guam. These attacks were all carried out simultaneously throughout the Pacific. The offensive was planned by Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. On the calm morning of December 7th, Japanese ships and aircraft attacked Oahu. This attack got America into the brewing war and awakened the mighty war machine. This “dastardly attack” sunk eight battleships, as well as several cruisers and destroyers. Luckily, all five American carriers, the Wasp, Lexington, Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet were at sea during the attack. The Pearl Harbor naval base was destroyed along with Wheeler Field, Hickam Field, and Kaneohe Field. That night, Britain declared full-scale war against Japan. However, President Roosevelt did not declare war until the following morning. He declared war in his speech to congress on December 8th. In late May, 1942, the US Naval Intelligence intercepted a Japanese transmission saying that they were going to invade Midway. Admiral Chester Nimitz repositions carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown to a position near Midway. Nimitz places Admiral Spruance in command of Hornet and Enterprise and Captain Garth in command of Yorktown. Yorktown, badly damaged from the Battle of Coral Sea barely makes it to the rendezvous in time. Admiral Nimitz and his associates converse about the desperate gamble he has made. On the HIJMS Akagi, Admiral Yamamoto calls a meeting with the other Japanese admirals to discuss the invasion he has dubbed “Operation K”. The four carriers, Kaga, Akagi, Soryu, and Hiryu, as well as cruisers Tone, Minekazi, and Takao launch scout planes to survey targets for the first strike. One of the Japanese scouts, scout #4, was late taking off and located the American carriers after the other scouts had reported in. The scout’s radio was defective, however, and the Japanese did not know of their presence until after Admiral Nagumo had proceeded with the attack. Admiral Yamamoto had ordered him to attack with the rookie pilots and keep the veteran pilots in reserve. The attack was extreme long-range for carrier-based fighters. The fighters tore right through the American defenses and allowed the Japanese bombers to attack Midway’s main airfield. As Lieutenant Tomonaga radios in, the attack is unsuccessful, and the Americans plan a counterattack. Of the three attacks launched by the USS Hornet and the one by the USS Yorktown, the Japanese down the planes with ease, thanks to their superior Zero fighters. The attacks only amount to a minor hit on a destroyer. Hornet launches two more bomber squadrons and a torpedo bomber squadron that is commanded by Captain Garth due to a shortage of pilots. The planes received no resistance because the Zero fighters were all refueling from previous attacks. In Admiral Nagumo’s words, “We have no fighter umbrella to protect us from enemy attacks”. The attack sets Akagi and Soryu ablaze and sinks Kaga. Captain Garth’s plane suffers a hit to the starboard wing. The plane crashes onto the aft of Hornet when he attempts to land upon arrival. Commander Genda aboard the Hiryu launches an attack that the Americans mistake the Japanese planes as friendly. The attack does major damage to Yorktown, and her crew abandons ship. Hornet’s flight deck is put out of operation and a Japanese plane rams Enterprise’s bridge. Enterprise then launches a torpedo squadron that sinks Hiryu. Admiral Yamamoto orders a retreat and abandons “Operation K”. In early 1943, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt meet in Casablanca and discuss the current war. After careful planning, they choose to invade Sicily and codename the attack “Operation Husky”. General Alexander of the 15th army, General Montgomery of the British 8th army, the US 82nd Airborne Division, and General Patton of the new US 7th army were called upon for the invasion. The defending armies, under General Alfredo Guzzini, and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, were not dug in and ready for the invasion. On July 9-10th, Allied paratrooper units attacked to distract the Axis forces. Three hours after the last paratrooper landed, the main ground forces stormed the first beaches. Due to lack of coordination between the Allies, the advance suffered. The British soldiers got bogged down and ordered Patton to assist. Patton thought a more important role for his troops was to attack the capitol, Palermo, so he ordered them there. When General Alexander, himself, ordered Patton to stop his advance, Patton simply ignored him and pressed on. Patton would later claim that the message was garbled. Thanks to Patton’s insubordination, he captured Palermo and helped fuel Sicily’s war effort greatly. The successful campaign taught the Allies valuable lessons that would be utilized during the D-Day invasion. After an extensive debate in 1944, Allied leaders plan to liberate the Philippines. The landings were to take place on Leyte Island and be commanded by General Douglas Macarthur, the man who swore to return when the Japanese invaded Sicily in 1941 and he was forced to retreat. To assist them, the US 7th fleet, under Vice Admiral Thomas Kincaid, would provide support while the US 3rd fleet, containing a carrier taskforce would provide cover. The landings would commence on October 20, 1944. Japanese Admiral Toyoda, in command of the Japanese fleet, was already aware of the attack. He planned to send the cruisers and destroyers to distract Kincaid’s forces and draw them away from Leyte. The cruisers and super-battleships Musashi and Yamato were to destroy the landing craft. There were four major encounters between the opposing forces in the gulf. In the first, the Japanese were attacked by two American submarines, losing two cruisers and the Musashi. In the second, the Japanese sought revenge and sunk an American escort carrier. In the third battle, the battle of Cape Engano, four Japanese carriers and a Japanese supply ship convoy were sunk by American battleships USS Iowa and USS South Dakota, as well as an American carrier taskforce lead by the USS Enterprise. In the fourth and final battle, the Japanese lost many planes and escort ships, and therefore decided to retreat to Iwo Jima. The retreat ended the naval battle. Because of the losses of this battle, the Japanese would never again perform a large-scale naval assault. When the Marines had taken the beach near the southern city of Manilla, General Macarthur triumphantly came ashore, declaring, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!” He would then lead a successful campaign that would lead to the capture of Leyte’s capitol, Luzon, in just a few months. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born January 30, 1882 in New York State. In the First World War he became assistant secretary of the Navy. Just a few years later in 1921, he contracted polio and believed it to be the end of his career. In 1933 he became President and was famous for aiding the US’s economy during the Great Depression. Roosevelt initially strives to keep the United States out of World War II, but after the attack on Oahu by the Japanese, he decides to enter the war. During the war, he planned post-war workloads, such as the United Nations. Thanks to the spending during the war, full economic recovery was in order. Roosevelt died in office of cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945, less than a month before Germany’s surrender. His last words were, “I have a terrific headache.” He was 63 years old and called one of the country’s greatest presidents. He was the only US president to be elected four times. Harry S Truman, Roosevelt’s vice president, took over after he died. 36 Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes, aggressive war, and crimes against humanity. They were brought before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. The 12 trials were known as Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings. They lasted until 1949. There were four major publications of this event. America, England, France, and Russia were in charge of it. The plannings as to where the trials would be held were slow because Germany had few remaining courthouses and the planning countries wanted the trials held in Germany. Nuremberg was one of the few remaining cities with one, and ironically one of the sites of Hitler’s many crimes. Taken care of in the first trial were 21 war crimes. Many Nazis killed themselves so they would not have to answer for their crimes. There were our counts addressed in four courts – “Conspiracy to wage an aggressive war”, “waging an aggressive war”, “war crimes”, and crimes against humanity”. Many defendants who took the stand tried to make their statements sound as innocent as possible. The verdicts were decided on October 1, 1946. Three Nazi leaders were released, 18 were convicted, and 10 were hanged. British rule was established in India in 1858, taking rule away from the East India Company. The life and death struggle for England’s rule lasted two years and cost 36 million pounds (about 50 million dollars). The British rule was overtaken in the mid to late 1940’s. With the US’s foreign policy, many British thought it was only a matter of time before the Indians revolted. Thanks to World War II, Britain’s available army in India was severely diminished and unable to stop a revolution. On August 15, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister and presented the people with a declaration of independence. British rule was established in the 18th century, but after the Indians began to revolt in 1857, England assumed total control over the subcontinent. Britain passed the Rowlatt Act in 1919, allowing Indians suspected of sedition to be jailed without trial. Mohandas Gandhi began a nonviolent movement against the British around this time. The campaign was known as “satagraha”, meaning “devotion to truth”. For 13 years, Gandhi’s protests went on. He started a weekly magazine called “Indian Opinion”, in which he explained India’s fight for freedom. Gandhi decided to name his protests “satayigrapha”, meaning “force contained in truth and love”. Some of Gandhi’s protests ended in Indians being shot. India’s struggle ended in 1947 when independence was granted. Gandhi was assassinated on January 13, 1948 by Nathuram Godse. The first heightening of the Cold War tensions occurred in Germany. The whole blockade started when the Soviet Union announced that it was unhappy with the way the US, Britain, and France was treating the Germans. Stalin cut routes from Soviet-held Germany to Allied-controlled Germany. The three major things that swayed Russia to cut routes were: the institution of the Marshall Plan, the London Conference, and England’s plan to separate East and West German currency. Through these events, President Truman decides to quadruple US forces in Germany. Soon after, England came up with the London Program, designed to create peace between East and West Germany. Josef Stalin, Russia’s Premier, decided to create new routes to pressure the Allies. He also decided to completely blockade eastern Berlin. The Allies decided not to be pressured by this and created a new nation in West Germany. The next day, the Soviets nearly doubled their troop count in East Germany. They denied all Allied access to the capitol city. The Americans and British flew supply drops into East Germany to oppose the Soviet roadblocks. The planes flew supplies into East Berlin for 324 days and dropped nearly 50 tons of supplies each day. Due to the Allied determination, Stalin lifted the blockade and allowed access. Small delays would occur in moving the blockade away, but was ultimately successful. It was the first time Russia has resorted to total blockade in 40 years. The North American Treaty Organization (NATO) is operated by the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, Canada, Iceland, and Portugal. The organization was designed to be a collective self-defense from the Soviet Union. It also increased American influence in Europe. In 1955, a counter-NATO, known as the Warsaw Pact was founded by the Soviets. NATO’s primary function was not warfare, but diplomacy. It was first used on April 4, 1949, when France, the only country ever to leave NATO, left NATO. NATO’s function during the Cold war was to slow or stop Soviet communism. Also, it created peace in European military powers. It attempted to discourage Soviet attack on Europe. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, NATO’s focus has been organization. NATO’s commander has always been a US general since the Cold War. When the Soviet Union broke apart, many former-Soviet countries rejected communism and sought a NATO membership. NATO could not allow the smaller Soviet countries membership without risking war with Russia. In 1944, the Partnership for Peace program began to create peace between the former-Soviet countries and NATO countries.