Operation Barbarossa• …………following Dunkirk………..”the

road to London goes through Moscow’• was the code name for Nazi Germany's

invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II

• that commenced on June 22, 1941. • The operation was named after the

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire, a leader of the Crusades in the 12th century;

• according to Nazi ideology the conquest of 'inferior races' was similarly righteous.

I. Motives:

• Inferior race (Slavs and Jews)• Hates Communism• Oil and wheat• Lebensraum (Living Space) –

wrote about in Mein Kampf• “………to the East….”• [……did not see Russia as part of

Europe……told the Russians to move to India…..]

• A. Begins June 22 1941 (delayed the operation….supposed to begin in early spring 1941……to assist Mussolini in Yugoslavia and N. Africa vs. the British)

• [damages their relationship, Hitler sees him as a liability]

• B. Stalin calls for “scorched earth policy” –

• Soviets practice scorched-earth policies: As the Nazi German Army pushed the Soviets through the Ukraine in 1941 and 1942,

• Joseph Stalin ordered his army and civilians to destroy anything that could be useful to the Germans,

• including industrial facilities, rail lines, communication lines, and shelter.

• The Germans practiced their own scorched-earth policy in 1943 and 1944

• as they retreated through Russia and Europe.

• As his country was collapsing in March 1945, Adolf Hitler ordered his armaments minister, Albert Speer, to destroy any German resources not yet in Allied hands.

• Unknown to Hitler, Speer never carried out the order.

• C. Germans reach Moscow Dec 1941 (-60 degrees)

• ……..aaaahhhhh How I long for those Russian Winters…………

• - Hitler and Germans not prepared for winter.

• “Behind us is Moscow, there is no room left for retreat”

• B. Russians begin counter attack

• - huge population rapidly creates new army

• - aid from US (officially enters war Dec 1941)

• - German ideas of racial superiority and hatred of Communists create resentment and motive for Russians to fight

• - Germans begin retreat……the beginning of the end…….

• Hitler faces choice………use resources (men, trains, equipment) to reinforce his troops in the East or use those resources to “exterminate” the Jews in “DEATH” camps.

Japanese Expansion • 1. What were Japan’s motivations in

expanding to East and Southeast Asia

• Raw materials, living space

• 2. What imperialist powers had previously controlled these regions?

• French, Dutch, British

• 3. Why was Japan able to move against these imperialist powers in these regions?

• German victory over France and Netherlands

• British focus on surviving

• 4. How did Japan justify its attempts to gain control of these regions?

• A new order = “Asia for the Asiatics”

• Get rid of European rule

• (remember equality issue w/ L of N)

• 5. What did the U.S. do that would increase tensions between U.S. and Japan?

• Embargo on scrap iron to Japan• 6. Explain (in your own words) why Japan

signed the Tripartite Pact and what it is.

• Tripartite Pact 1940• Japan joins in response to US actions / right

to “receive the space to which it is entitled” and cooperate with each other

• (Germany, Italy, Japan)

• 7. What further steps did the U.S take to upset Japan?

• Oil embargo on Japan and halt all Japanese economic actions in U.S.

• 8. What was Japan’s motivation and strategic goal of attacking Pearl Harbor?

• Dec 7, 1941 • Dec 8 – US declares war • US is obstacle for Japanese expansion (and survival)• Strategy: destroy US Pacific fleet

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto stated: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant..."

• "In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success."

Prime Minister / General

Hideki Tojo Emperor Hirohito

Isoroku Yamamoto