IREU 202 Diplomatic History

lecture 7

Dr. S. BARIŞ GÜLMEZURL: https://royalholloway.academia.edu/barisgulmez

Email: Baris.gulmez.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk

Second World War

•Invasion of the Soviets•Pearl Harbour•D-Day•Atomic bomb•Consequences of the WWII

German invasion of the Soviets•The greatest event of the WWII.•Decisive defeat for the German Army•Germany in retreat

•Made the Soviets a world power•Entirely Hitler’s own initiative•Unprovoked war against Russians (22 June 1941)•Even undeclared•«when the attack on Russia starts the world will hold its breath»

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?

1-Hitler was committed to the destruction of communism from the beginning of his political career.Communism as the rival ideology of National socialism

He believed that Jews led and inspired Communism

Hitler believed:By cleansing off the Jews, He saved Germany;By invading the Soviets, He would save the World

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?

•2-Heartland•Hitler believed: Germany must control the «Heartland», if it wants to be a world power.

•«who rules the Heartland commands the World» Halford Mackinder

•Heartland: Area stretching from the Volga to the Yangtze and from the Himalayas to the Arctic.

•Occupied mostly by the Soviet Union• Holding 50% of the world’s resources

HEARTLAND

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?

•3-Natural Resources (oil, tin, rubber etc..)•Soviets were already supplying huge amount to prevent German attack

•NO supply after the invasion•Hitler aimed permanent access to these resources

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?

•4-Preventive War•Attacking while there is no imminent threat.•Action based on a hunch•The Soviets were on the march to the Balkans and the Straits.

•They could cut off German access to Romanian oil and Swedish ore.

•They were becoming an important threat for Germany.•Napoleon used the same justification.•Both Hitler and Napoleon shared the same fate: Loss in Russia was fatal for their authority

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?

•5-The objective of defeating Britain

•Britain remained undefeated.•Stalemate in the European war.•British counted on the Soviet assistance for survival.

•If the Soviets were out of the picture, then it would be much easier to defeat the British

•Problem: The US had already been assisting Britain.

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?

•6-Seeking for a new victim to show the German military might.

•German army: Mainly a ground army.

•Stalemate in Europe due to the failure of invading Britain.

•Hitler aimed for a new continental country to invade: Russia.

•New cause/New enemy to deal with...•Hitler believed the German public would no longer follow him, If he stopped fighting due to the stalemate

Why did Germany invade the Soviets?•7- «Easy victory»

•Hitler underestimated the enemy•The Soviet Army was weaker than the Russian army in the WWI •Great purge: Many army officials were executed as a potential threat against Stalin.

•Hitler believed that Russian public hated Communism•Much easier to invade the Soviets than France•“We have only to kick in the front door and the whole rotten Russian edifice will come tumbling down.”

•British reported that the Soviets would fall in 10 to 30 days

•The US reported 1 to 3 months•Even Stalin was desperate when the invasion started

Why did Germany lose the war against the Soviets?

•1-Hitler did not ask for assistance from its allies

•He did not wish to share the spoils of Russia with anyone.

•Almost no ally participated except for small forces of Romania and Hungary (Bandwagoners)

•Hitler hid his war plans from Italy and Japan. •He discouraged them from joining the fight against the Soviets.

Why did Germany lose?•2-He was so certain of a quick victory•No invesment on the troops invading Russia•German forces in the Soviet campaign were slightly stronger than the ones in the French campaign.

•Hitler reserved war materials that would only last or a month.

•He ordered production of munition to be cut down 40% for the Soviet campaign

•He did not think they would need more military supply.

•He prepared NO long term war plans

Why did Germany lose?•3-Not enough reconnaissance

•Not much German information about the Soviet Army.

•Hitler believed the Soviets were no different than the French

•He did not know German armoured vehicles required good roads to operate.

•In France there were good roads, but in Russia, there was mainly «mud».

Why did Germany lose?•4-German army was not stronger than the Soviet army.

•Germany’s only advantage: •The Soviet war machines were old tech, most of them were to old.

Germany The Soviet UnionArmy (divisions) 200 209Tanks 3350 25000Aircrafts 300 600

Why did Germany lose?•5-The Space.

•Germany ignored the factor of space.•The Soviets were composed of vast land mass.•The deeper you go in, you get lost inside.•The German army was cut off from reinforcements and food supply

•One German soldier: a never ending land mass. We became desperate.

Why did Germany lose?•6-Endurance of Soviet soldiers.

•European armies: They surrender when surrounded.

•The Soviet army: Fight to the last man.

•The deserters or retreating forces were executed.•Cost a great deal of time to capture Soviet posts due to the endurance of Soviet solders

Why did Germany lose?•7-Policy of scorched earth.

•Retreating Soviet forces never left any thropy for the Germans

•They:•Blew up factories•Destroyed bridges, rail ways•Burned down buildings.•Nothing left for Germany

Why did Germany lose?•8-The Russian Winter.

•Germany had spend at least two winters in Russia.

•Many German war machines broke down•Roads covered with Mud

•Many German soldiers froze to death.

The Soviet Problems•The system was crumbling•The great purge destroyed the executive body of the Soviet Army

•Public unrest, looting after the invasion•Weapons and war machines outdated•No serious foreign assistance•British aid only on the paper.•The US denied helping the Communists •«Let them cut each other’s throats».•Still the Soviets were victorious due the obvious mistakes of the Germans and the assistance of the winter...

Pearl Harbor•This attack forced the US entry to the WWII•The war became a truely world war: The US declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.

•Japanese sudden/unexpected strike: important victory over the US

•The American Pacific fleet was almost destroyed.•4 US battleships and 10 other US ships were sunk•349 American aircraft were destroyed •3581 Armerican soldiers and 103 civilians were killed

•Japan only lost 29 aircrafts.

Pearl Harbor•But it was not a complete victory over the US.•All 4 of the US aircraft carriers were away from Pearl Harbor•They were not harmed. •This permitted the US navy to recover quickly and fought back

•The US had big oil stocks in Hawaii equal to the entire oil supply of Japan.

•Japan did not attack these oil stocks. •Japan did not implement a ground invasion to Pearl Harbor.•This helped the US to maintain its best military harbour in the Pacific.

•Japan could have totally destroyed the US navy fleet.

Groupthink

•Groupthink: a phenomenon when a group of people get together and start to think collectively with one mind.

•The group is more concerned with maintaining unity than with objectively evaluating their situation, alternatives and options.

•The group, as a whole, tends to take irrational actions or overestimate their positions or moral rightness.

Groupthink in Pearl Harbor•The US intelligence had encrypted the Japanese naval communication code.

•Many of the senior officers at Pearl Harbor did not take warnings from Washington DC about potential invasion seriously despite the fact that Japanese messages had been intercepted.

•Those who didn't take action believed that the Japanese wouldn't dare to attempt an assault against the U.S.

•This attack started the intensive pacific war between the US and Japan

The Battle of Normandy: D-Day• from June 1944 to August 1944 •resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control

•156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. 

•one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history 

•By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated

•Next spring, Germany were defeated•General Eisenhower: Great Crusade against the Nazi Tyranny

D-Day•The German Commander Rommel was on leave.•Hitler did not send reinforcements as he thought this was a distraction.

•Hitler was expecting a greater attack from the north of the Seine river.

•Germans could not prevent Allied air support •By the end of June, the Allies landed approximately 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy

•Beginning of the end for the Germans

Franklin Delano Roosevelt•The only US President to stay in office 4 times in a row (1933-1945)

•Came to power as a hope for Americans damaged by the Great Depression.

•Ardent supporter of the US isolationism.•Showed no interest in European affairs, let British handle them.

•Architect of the US lend-lease policy which unofficially put the US into the WWII as a supporter of any combatants against Nazism.

•Forced to declare war to Japan after Pearl Harbor.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt•Wilsonian.•Believed in the US liberalism.•Reflected the American mind: having universal purposes and duties rather than short term interests.

•The US was forced to the WWII.•It had no irredentist policies. •The main US objective in the war: •Defeat the enemy that threaten world peace. •Rossevelt came up with an idea of «Four Policemen»

Four Policemen• Coined by Roosevelt himself•The world must be protected by four great powers who won the WWII

•the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China.

•He did not want France as he did not see it as a great power.

•Only these «policemen» must be entitled to have an army.

•Their duty is to protect the world from aggressors.•They would work together to achieve this goal. •A new kind of «Collective Security»

Four Policemen•It did not work:•Huge ideological differences (Liberalism vs Communism)

•Stalin aimed for a Communist world and he was willing to fight for it.

•Roosevelt did not have a back up plan in case the Soviets rejected this.

•Roosevelt and Stalin were diametrically opposed politicians.

•Roosevelt was supporter of Wilsonian liberalism (international harmony), while Stalian was a true supporter of the old school European realpolitik.

•Incompatibility between American liberalism and European realism

•It was not accepted but it open the path for the UN as new form of collective security after the WWII.

The Atomic bombs•After Germany surrendered, the allies won the war in Europe.

•Japan was left the only hostile in the pacific. •Japan rejected the Allied warnings for unconditional surrender.

•The US realized the difficulties of winning a quick war in the Japanese islands.

•The atomic bomb was used to end the war earlier.•Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed•The world stepped into the atomic era.•More than 200.000 people were killed. •Japan surrendered a week later.

Consequences of the WWII•1-End of the European age: Europeans no longer superior•2-Defeat of the dictatorships (Germany, Italy, Japan)•3-Britain and France no longer great powers•4-Rise of de-colonization and independence movements in former European colonies (Africa and Asia)

•5-The US and the Soviets as the new superpowers•6-The Beginning of the Cold War•7-Nuclear age•8-The spread of intergovermental organizations (the UN, NATO, Warsaw Pact, the EC/EU...)

Next Week...

The Cold WarNATO