Chapter 14: Focus Your Knowledge

1.) Why Did the Japanese Plan a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor? Was it Successful? - Relations between western nations and Japan were already at their breaking points. - U.S Naval ships were already anchored at Pearl Harbor incase war in the pacific was going to break out so an attack there could wipe out much of the U.S forces. - Japan s Goals were to conquer the west s resource rich colonies in East Asia and the pacific. - The U.S had a strong naval force ( The Pacific Fleet ) and Japan knew that the U.S would eventually interfere with their plans so in attacking Pearl Harbor, Japan was hoping to severely cripple as much of the U.S Army as they could. 2.) Why was the entry of the U.S crucial to Germany s Defeat? - U.S was the richest nation in the world (With the largest steel industry) - U.S had a population 10x Greater than Canada - Because it had an enormous amount of money and population, the U.S was able to invest great amounts in arms and personnel towards the war effort. 3.) Why were many Canadian War Veterans bitter about the government s decision to send Canadian troops to Hong Kong? - Two battalions, The Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to Hong Kong and every soldier was either killed or captured by the Japanese. - No one but King knew why they were sent there. - It was as though the Canadian troops were sent to Hong Kong without any rational reason ( A bitter veteran had said They sent us into a position where we d either be killed in action or be taken prisoner. ) - Canada began its invasion of Hong Kong just after the attack on pearl harbor however, just before the attack over 50,000 Japanese soldiers had been massed within 50 kilometers of Hong Kong for an invasion.( An invasion in conquering Hong Kong code named Hana-Saku that had been laid out for more than a year before.) - On top of that, the soldiers who were sent to Japan were of rank C, meaning they were insufficiently trained and not recommended for operations. - Canadian soldiers who were captured suffered inhumane brutality in Japanese prisoner of war camps or had simply been murdered and burned to death. 4.) Why was the attack on Dieppe launched despite little expectation of success? - Canadian troops along with thousands of British commanders and American rangers had been trained in English for almost 3 years and they were to attack the strongly defended

French Port of Dieppe. - It was to find out the requirements they needed to make a successful ,full-scale allied invasion across the English channel - It was to distract Distract German forces away from the Russian front. - Although it was a tragedy, the war was shifting in favor of the allies afterwards. - Large American Armies were handling well against the axis powers, and the German Wehrmacht was being held off by the Soviet Army. (Germany was slowly being defeated.) 5.) Why was the capture of Ortona significant to the Allied offensive in Italy? - To Capture Rome, the allies were blocked at Ortona (Germans had blown up all bridges in the Area ) so they had to capture it first. - The first-rate 90th Light Panzer Grenadier Division, a german division famed for incredible fighting, was the defender of Ortona, and the allies were able to defeat the german division and capture Ortona. - The forces were then assigned in the spring and summer of 1944 to fight in the Italian Peninsula . They eventually succeeded in capturing Rome therefore defeating Italy, one of the 3 Axis of powers. - Germany was beginning to lose. 6.) How did the allied forces prepare for the invasion of Normandy? - With Dieppe in mind, the allies had massive air and naval firepower along with better communications from ship to shore in place in France. - They upgraded and created new versions of the Sherman tank Funnies that could wade in water, destroy obstacles, explode mines, and shoot bursts of flames. -Over 30,000 Canadians were ready for D-Day -They had a well thought out plan and enough artillery do deal with the Germans. (5 Divisions landing along an 80km Front, the Americans attacking west of Normandy Beach, Canada and France attacking the east. Skies of Juno beach were surrounded by Canadian RAF bombers and 171 air squadrons to eliminate the Luftwaffe and Panzers. Over 7000 Allied ships were also scheduled for the invasion.) 7.) Describe the treatment of Jews and other inmates of the Nazi Concentration camps. - Camps had piles of corpses, mass graves and survivors who looked like skeletons because of starvation. (Millions of Jews, homosexuals,jehovah s witnesses, communists, resistance fighters,gypsies, poles, and other religious and ethnic groups died ) -They were mass murdered.

-Jews were forced to leave their homes and into crowded slums, they were forced to wear the yellow star of david, they worked as labourers/slaves for the Nazi regime, they had scarce food, and they lived in extremely ghetto and brutal living conditions. - Nazi s would pretend to let some prisoners free; tricking them into walking into death camps which were gas chambers ; and then kill them. - Jews who were able to work were kept as slaves, the others were immediately killed. - While they were working, they were shouted at, whipped, and beat with shovels until they died. - Their labour was called Productive annihilation 8.)Describe the effect of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Both immediately and in the years following the war. - Most were instantaneously vaporized, scorched by radiation burns, killed by flying debris, or buried in the rubble of collapsed buildings. - Survivors either died of radiation sickness from deadly gamma rays or had higher risks of cancer, genetic mutations and other diseases. ( not-yet born children were at risk as well. - Japan had to surrender and WWII was over - Peace returned to the world, because of the fear that the human race could be destroyed through a nuclear war.