Major Battles in WWII

The Philippine Islands

Conflict in the Philippine Islands began with the invasion of Japan, in December of 1941. This was shortly after the Japanese Empire declared war on America. The Japanese invaded the Philippines because the United States had control over the islands with large military bases there. Capture of the Philippine Islands was crucial to Japan's effort to control the Southwest Pacific. Unlike the air strike on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which was to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet in its home port, the attack on the Philippines was meant to be full-scale invasion and occupation. From the very beginning the Japanese overwhelm the unprepared American troops in Philippines. The significance of the campaigns in the Philippines was that after the American and Filipino soldiers stop the advancement of the Japanese, they would soon gain control over the Pacific. Besides this another leading significances of this campaign was that I allow General Douglas MacArthur to escape form the Philippines to Australia. MacArthur was the man in charge of operations in the Philippines, and he left saying that he will return.

Propaganda During WWII

The "Man the Guns" poster is tryign to convince men to join the navy. The man with the larger bullet it obviously a sailor in the navy, you can tell this by white hat he is wearing. The poster was intended to get young men to sign up for the navy. The phrase "Man the Guns" means that fighting is going on and men are needed. This poster hopes that the audience will join the navy and fight for there country. Most of the fighting for the navy was going on in the Pacific against the Japanese, and they desperatly needed men, ships, and supplies. I believe this poster is very persuasive. It tells men that the their help is greatly needed in the navy.

Top 5 Cause of WWII

1) “Stab In The Back”
The number one cause of World War II was because of the “Stab in the Back” myth. It was the idea that German never lost World War I. The people of Germany thought that the government betrayed them in a way. They figured that since the war was never fought on German land that they did not lose World War I. The “stab in the Back” myth brought about a lot of German nationalism and distrust in their government.
2) Disobey The Treaty Of Versailles
The second most prominent cause was how Germany disobeys the restrictions stated at the Treaty of Versailles. At the treaty there were many restrictions made on the German military. According to the treaty Germany could only have a certain number of men in their army, as navy with only so many ships, they could not have an air force, and the Rhineland was to be demilitarized. The Germans disobeyed all of these restrictions.
3) Appeasement
Another top cause the idea of appeasement. Appeasement was what the other European countries did when Germany was breaking the Treaty of Versailles.
They would just tell them to stop but would not do anything about it. They did this to avoid more conflict. This gave Germany the possibility to rebuild their army.
4) Soviet Non-aggression pact
The Soviet Non-Aggression was a huge reason for World War II. It allowed Hitler to move about Europe without the fear of Russia trying to stop them. The pact made it so that the Germans would only be fighting a one front war. Shortly after the pact was sign World War II began.
5) Invasion of Poland
The most obvious cause and is recognized as the beginning of the war was when Germany invaded Poland. This was the first time that military forces were put into action. Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939, and then two days later on September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.

WWI on the Home Front

Raising Funds and Troops

When congressed passed the Selective Service Act, it changed my life forever. I was twenty-three at the time. The Selective Service Act of 1917 or the Selective Draft Act of 1917 required all men from the ages 21 to 30 to register for the draft, but was later changed to accept men from the ages 18 to 45 in 1918. About 2.8 million troops were drafter during The Great War and I was one of them. I had to go through all the training and boot camps to prepare for war, although I never did go overseas. Many of my friends they I had trained with went to Europe to fight in The Great War. They were called the American Expeditionary Forces. They fought along the sides of British and French soldiers in the last year of the war. The convoy system is how the supplies and soldiers were brought to Europe. Because of the Germans U-boats, the merchant ships could not safely cross the seas, so they form convoys with armed boats as escorts. A main way in which America raised money for the Great War was by encouraging citizens to buy war bonds. Bonds are when someone gives the government money and the government will pay you back when they can.

Stay Neutral or Fight

I think that the United States did the right thing by joining the allies in World War I. There are two reasons that stand out to me on why it was necessary to fight in World War I. First and most important is national security. Germany asking Mexico to invade the United States was a reason for war all by itself. The threat of being invade is rather extreme. The United States need to defeat the Germans in Europe so they could not assist Mexico, which they were planning on doing if they won the war. The second reason was the war crimes that Germany was committing in British waters. German submarines, called U-boats, were sinking any ships they came a cross without warning. This was a huge problem because of the trade is severely hurt the trade with Britain. These acts, I believe, were more then enough reason for America to fight in World War I.