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The Atlantic Charter later became an alliance between Britain (Winston Churchill) and the United States (Roosevelt)

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The US had made a series of Neutrality Acts to stay out of the war. They played baseball and car racing while people in Europe are getting slaughtered. The U.S. is thriving while the European countries are being taken over by ruthless fascist dictators. People, outside of war, in Europe feel the wrath of total control by a dictator while the Americans feel the freedom of the Constitution.
PICTURE: To show the small effects becoming bigger problems for the United States. Should they get involved?

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Showing the Stalingrad winter effects on the German forces.

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GERMANY & RUSSIA: Heads off to attack the Soviet Union. The battle of Stalingrad in Russia was attacked by the Luftwaffe and Hitler's army commanded by General Friedrich Paulus. Another Russian winter set in and the Germans were pushed back so close to winning over Stalingrad.

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Beach During D-Day

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Dwight D. Eisenhower was an American army general who led the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on D-Day.

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Mussolini was the leader of Italy and the National Fascist Party. He allied with Hitler during the war but was killed shortly after.

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The Holocaust began with the Germans blaming the Jews for their loss in WWI and the economic problems following -> "Night of Broken Glass" aka Kristallnacht kick started the massacre of Jews. Hitler figured out he couldn't get rid of Jews by emigration. So he instead shoved the many Jews into ghettos or segregated Jewish areas. Hitler then began genocide (the killing of an entire race) of Jews. He would send his SS to hunt down Jews or send Jews from ghettos into concentration camps. Killing about 6,000 Jews a day in gas chambers. In the end of the Holocaust about 6 million Jews were killed.
GERMANY: The mass murder of Jewish people in Auschwitz began.
PICTURE: Political cartoon of Auschwitz

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When Spain was in crisis under control of liberals and socialists, people joined in revolt with Francisco Franco to favor fascist government. Later Franco gained control of Spain as a fascist dictator.

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LEADER BIO: HIDEKI TOJO
Hideki Tojo served as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and Prime Minister of Japan. He was responsible for ordering the attack on Pearl Harbor as Prime Minister.

English translation of Tojo's prison diary

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On the Causes of the War

(1) I will ask about the reasons why Japan started the Pacific war.

Answer: There is much that I would like to say about the deeper causes, but I will save that for later. The immediate cause was the Anglo-American side's extreme military and economic threats that put Japan's existence in crisis. Japan tolerated this, and though it had little hope of success, sought resolution through US-Japan negotiations. However, in the end, the United States made difficult, unbearable demands, and the route to a solution through negotiation finally came to nothing. Japan was forced into a situation that could permit no further delay. Thus, as an independent nation, for reasons of self-preservation and self-defense, Japan bravely determined to wage war.

(2) However, the decision of the Imperial Conference of Dec. 1, 1941, says, "the American plan based on the Imperial Policy Execution Outline formulated on Nov. 5 not having come to fruition, war will be waged with the United States, Britain, and Holland." From this it appears that Japan went to war, not out of self-preservation and self-defense, but because the US-Japan negotiations failed to reach a conclusion.

Answer: Included in the US-Japan negotiations were various matters in addition to the demands that the threats against Japan be eased. The US and British economic and military threats were continued in parallel with the negotiations. I think that if there had been no such threats, the US-Japan negotiations would have continued, and even though there were problems, they could have been resolved by mutual compromise, and the Pacific War could have been avoided. However, these threats were only strengthened with the passage of time, and by August or September of 1941, Japan had already been pressed to the brink of the crisis. Hope lay only in the slim chance of a breakthrough in the US-Japan negotiations.

The decision at the Imperial Conference of Nov. 5, 1941, was taken in these circumstances. The specific conditions with respect to the US-Japan negotiations that arose from this decision were that concessions were to be made on the other political issues, and our demands were to be concentrated on one thing: the easing of the threats to Japan's self-preservation and self-defense. However, in reply to that last proposal, the United States made difficult proposals that were clearly unacceptable to Japan. The possibility of breakthrough through US-Japan negotiations disappeared. Therefore, as explained above, the decision was reached, as an independent nation, to wage a war of self-preservation and self-defense so as to escape from these very real threats. The breakdown in the negotiations itself was not the reason for war.

Tojo reading in his prison cell

Your Excellency, it may be appropriate at this point to quote from the speech you made at the Imperial Conference. It says:

1) An attempt was made on the basis of the decision of Nov. 5 to adjust relations with the United States, but the United States did not make a single concession.

2) In fact, they sought unconditional and complete [Japanese] troop withdrawal [from China] under the joint supervision of the United States, Britain, Holland and China; the repudiation of the Nanking government; and the renunciation of the Tripartite Pact.

3) The United States, Britain, Holland, and China stepped up their economic and military pressure.

The decision of Nov. 5 sought the end of economic pressure (in particular, the unfreezing of funds, and the free acquisition of oil and other materials). The second draft mentions these things clearly.
- Kiyose [Chief defense counsel for Tojo]
(3) From the mass of evidence produced so far,it can be concluded that Japan considered the construction of a New Order for greater East Asia an important political objective. Since the construction of a New Order for Greater East Asia was the primary objective of the US-Japan negotiation and was also the reason for starting the war, this talk of US and British threats is nothing more than an excuse, is it not?

Answer: No. As explained above, the cause of the war was the threats from the US-British side. This is not an excuse.

The construction of a New Order for Greater East Asia was certainly, ever since the China incident, an important Japanese policy, and it was the main point of the US-Japan negotiations. However, Japan hoped for a realization of this policy on a peaceful basis of understanding by both nations. The US-Japan negotiations were one of the means to bring this about. In fact, on this issue, during the US-Japan negotiations, Japan considered the American side's claims and tried to reach a solution by making concession after concession. Consequently, if this had been the only issue, there would have been no necessity to decide on war with the United States.

(4) If, as you say, the cause of the Pacific War was military and economic pressure from the American and British side that forced Japan into a crisis over its very existence, why were the US-Japan negotiations not concentrated on solving this one question?

Answer: The US-Japan negotiations changed over time. In April 1941, when the negotiations began, Japan had political objectives including the following:

1) The reestablishment of peace in East Asia by means of a resolution of the China Incident. 2) The maintenance of peace in the Pacific, which was beset by crises. 3) Prevention, in accordance with the Tripartite Pact, of the spread of the Great European War to East Asia. 4) Establishment of an economy of self-supply and self-sufficiency in the face of US and British economic pressure.

We concluded that the US side also hoped to keep peace in East Asia. It was thought that the satisfactory solution of these issues would be the foundation of a recovery in relations between Japan and the United States, and this was made the basis of U.S.-Japan negotiations. At that time, the economic and military pressure against Japan had not yet reached its peak. In July 1941, the economic blockade of Japan - of which the freezing of assets by the US, Britain, and Holland was the main element - along with military pressure brought Japan face to face with death. Consequently, at this period, the main issue of the negotiations was the relief and elimination of threats. This is clear from the Japanese side's proposal of November 0 [November 7] based on the second draft based on the decision of the Imperial Conference of Nov. 5, 1941.

(5) You say that the cause of the war was economic and military threats from the United States and Britain against the existence of Japan, but what do you mean? Please give us a summary.

Answer: As has already been demonstrated, after the First Great European War, and after the Manchurian Incident, the United States adopted a policy of high tariffs, Britain built up an imperial economic bloc, and Japan's trade was excluded from one part of the world after another.

Further, at the end of July 1939, the United States suddenly applied economic pressure, principally by rescinding its trade and commerce treaty with Japan. This, together with the outrageous act of economic blockade by means of the freezing of Japanese assets by the United States, Britain, and Holland, was a mortal threat to Japan, whose economic activities depended on foreign trade. This kind of economic blockade by nations with which Japan was not in a state of war was felt as an enemy act that was little different from war. From a military point of view, the US-British side openly increased its support of the Chungking forces, thus causing the war to continue. Moreover, the United States, Britain, and Holland, in concert with the Chungking government, concentrated troops in the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, and Dutch Indochina, and strengthened their military preparations by such means as increasing airbase facilities. A great American fleet was assembled in Hawaii and readied so as to be able to start operations at a moment's notice. Such were the threats that faced Japan. Moreover, at the same time, according to reports, on October 3, 1941, British and American leaders met in Manila to discuss operations. Further, on October 9, a U.S. military delegation was received at a meeting in Hong Kong, at which support for China and the continued resistance of Chungking were discussed. Likewise, a certain American admiral (note: commander of the Pacific fleet, [Husband E.] Kimmel) threatened Japan with his famous statement to the effect that if there were war with Japan, the entire Japanese fleet could probably be sunk in a few weeks. Further, on Nov. 10, 1941, the British Prime Minister, at a luncheon for the installation of the [lord] mayor of London, said that if there were war between Japan and the United States, Britain was prepared to declare war on Japan within 24 hours. This was taken to mean that Britain and the United States were in complete accord on the subject of war with Japan, and that this resolve was intentionally being revealed.

Even if the threats from Britain andthe United States were real, were they not provoked by Japan's southern advance into French Indochina and the consequent threat to British and American territory?

Answer: No. Japan's southern advance was to:

1. Cut off the life line to the Chungking forces that ran through French Indochina and Burma - this, with the intention of resolving the China Incident.

2. Establish economic self-sufficiency so as to escape from Anglo-American economic pressure.

If, on the American and British side, there had been no support for Chungking or encouragement of continued resistance, this would not have been necessary. Moreover, if there had been no American and British economic pressure, and Japan had been able to continue in its economic dependency on peaceful foreign commerce, there would have been no need to advance to the south. It was natural that Japan should try to improve friendly relations with French Indochina and Thailand while peace lasted; these were nations with which Japan had broad connections.

When you touch on this point, the Chief of Counsel is likely to refer to the decisions of the July 6 Imperial Conference, particularly "French Indochina and Thailand policy items" and "matters related to furthering the southern policy," and to cross examine you on these matters. Please be prepared.

The summary of item two of the decisions made on July 2 reads, "For its self-preservation and self-defense, Japan will continue the diplomatic negotiations necessary with respect to the southern territories, and will promote various other policies." Furthermore, according to this section... "for this reason preparations for war with the United States and Britain are to be advanced, and first, policy items with regard to French Indochina and Thailand, as well as the matter of promoting the southern policy"... various policies with respect to French Indochina and Thailand were to be carried out and the conditions for southern advance were to be strengthened. It says, "in order to achieve this goal, Japan should not shirk from war with the United States and Britain." The policy items with regard to French Indochina and Thailand were decisions of the Liaison Conference of Feb. 1, 1941, and it says, "for the self-preservation and self-defense of Japan, military, political, and economic union that is close and inseparable is to be established with French Indochina and Thailand."

Furthermore, with respect to the promotion of the southern policy, at what is thought to be about the time of the April 17 Liaison Conference decision, (1) Military, political, and economic relations that are close and inseparable are to be established with French Indochina and Thailand. (2) Close economic relations are to be established with Dutch Indochina. (3) Proper commercial relations will be maintained with the remaining southern nations.

In principle, the realization of the above objective is to be by diplomatic means. In carrying out the above policy, military force is to be used for self-preservation and self-defense, only if such things as the following occur, and there is no means of resolving them: (1) A trade embargo by the United States, Britain, and Holland that threatens the survival of Japan. (2) The encirclement policy against Japan is strengthened by the United States, Britain, Holland, and China, and this cannot be tolerated for reasons of national security.

There is no contradiction between this and your proposed answer, but I noted it so that you would have it in mind. Furthermore, was it not concluded that the reason economic negotiations with Dutch Indochina by Kobayashi [Kobayashi Ichizoo, Minister of Commerce and Industry, who was head of the trade delegation that was sent to negotiate the import of oil, tin and rubber] and Yoshizawa [Yoshizawa Kenichi, former Foreign Minister, who succeeded Kobayashi] failed, was that there was behind-the-scenes interference by the United States and Britain?

(7) In reply to the first question, you said that you would put aside the deeper causes, but are those deeper causes additional reasons why Japan entered the Pacific War?

Answer: The deeper causes are what created the objective circumstances that drew the opponents into the unhappy fate of the Pacific War, but they are not the direct causes. However, in order to avoid future wars, and in order seriously to think about world peace, they are large subjects on which both the winners and the losers should reflect calmly. The reason why disturbances are common in East Asia, the reason Japan had been speaking of a New Order, the idea of building a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, the real meaning of the cry from the heart of the peoples of East Asia - have their origins in these deeper causes.

(8) Is that your personal view or isthat the official view of the Japanese government?

Answer: It is not my personal view. It is the foundational thinking on which the Japanese government based important policies.

(9) In that case, how can you demonstrate that this was official, foundational thinking?

Answer: Of all the declarations made by the various governments since the start of the China Incident, the clearest is the Joint Declaration of Greater East Asia made at the Greater East Asian Conference on Nov. 8, 1943. It is also clear from the speeches given at the conference by the delegates of the various countries. Also, the actual independence or independence movements that arose during the Pacific War in the Philippines, Burma, India and in other places are an eloquent testimonial.

(10) If what you say is true, then what you call the cry from the heart of East Asian peoples and nations, their ardent desire, took shape as Japan's New Order policy. That can be taken as an important cause of the war, can it not?

Answer: No. Indeed, it was one of Japan's important national policies, and everything was done to bring it to fruition. However, it is well known that a nation that exists in an international setting cannot expect its unilateral demands and wishes to be accepted unquestioningly by others. This is something that comes about from a spirit of mutual compromise and mutual sympathy, with each nation and people recognizing the welfare of others and making as their ideal the establishment of world peace. It is a question of the heart, and if only there is a conviction that war is unnecessary can things be achieved peacefully. This was what Japan hoped and strove for to the end. However, for other reasons, and before its policies could be achieved by peaceful means, Japan was lured into war. Therefore, these became the deeper causes that established the environment for the Pacific War, but they were not the direct causes.

(11) Nevertheless, any world statesman from a nation with an important connection with East Asia, if he had the slightest genuine desire for world peace, would not have ignored something as important as this was to the nations and peoples of East Asia. What do you say to that?

Answer: That is correct. It is something that could not be ignored and was not ignored.

(12) On what basis do you say that it was not ignored?
I shall explain the facts.
1. At the Washington Conference in 1922, other important questions were raised, but this problem was also considered. However, at that time, the cry from the heart of the nations and peoples of East Asia was not thoroughly understood. It was thought that the East Asian nations could be controlled through pressure and by alienating them from each other.

2. It can also be seen in the "Atlantic Charter," which was agreed to by Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt at a meeting held in the Atlantic [August 14, 1941]. At this time, the full war in Europe had already broken out, the unfortunate China Incident had occurred in East Asia, and the tactic used by the Americans and the British of sowing discord among the nations of East Asia was a great obstacle to Japan's attempt to reach peace with China. In the Atlantic Charter that resulted from this meeting, one cannot fail to note that the feelings of the East Asian peoples and nations were taken into consideration relatively often. However, the President and the British Prime Minister had, as top politicians, already lost appropriate expectations for East Asia. They should have been more bold in grasping what was happening in East Asia, in making important corrections to the mistakes of the past, and in making adjustments to the demands of the times. Moreover, both nations had failed to understand that they should abandon their traditional East Asian policy of sowing discord among nations, and should instead adopt a position of leadership based on the spirit of mutual aid and cooperation. Their only preparation for a great conflagration was a fire-fighting policy rather than a fire prevention policy.

3. These things are given further consideration in the Potsdam Declaration [August 2, 1945] but this was at the close of the Pacific War, and was not a policy for avoiding war.

(13) Do you mean, in your testimony, to criticize the past policies of the victorious powers and thereby defy the dignity of this court?

Answer: I have no intention at all of defying the dignity of the court. Nor do I intend to criticize the past policies of the victorious powers. It is regrettable if what I have said gives that impression. I am only describing the facts, and explaining the effect that Britain and America's past policies had on the peoples of East Asia. It should be the intention of the victorious powers to seek true peace for the future, and in order to help them make fair observations, I believe it is the duty of a defendant to provide the court with material for reflection.

(14) Assuming that what you say is true, if the leaders of the United States and England had, even to a small degree, taken heed of the hopes and cries from the heart of the nations and peoples of East Asia, then you, as a leader of Japan, should have taken a positive role in showing understanding to these hopes and cries, should you not?

Answer: That is correct. I think what you say is true. This is what Japan desired for Japan as well as for the nations and peoples of East Asia. However, world politics must work with nations and peoples, which are living things. An effect can be achieved, and peace preserved only if the right policies are carried out at the right time. It does no good to give medicine to a corpse.

(15) According to your testimony so far, the reason that Japan went to war was not the breakdown of the US-Japan negotiations, nor was it as a result of Greater East Asian policies. Instead, you say the direct cause was economic and military threats from the allied side, and that Japan went to war for reasons of self-defense and self-preservation. If that is the case, why did Japan not adopt a policy of stopping the war in its early stages, in mid-1942, for example, by which time those threats had been largely dissipated?

Answer: War is not a solitary undertaking. Even if that might have been good for Japan, we did not think that the enemy would have agreed. In particular, both sides were bound by treaty not to make conclude a separate peace, and the world situation did not appear to be one in which proposals advantageous only to Japan would be accepted. Moreover, whatever the reasons for making war, once it had begun, we thought to win it, to adjust Japan's policies to the circumstances of war and, within the parameters permitted by international law, to proceed boldly.

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(1) I will ask about the reasons why Japan started the Pacific war. Answer: There is much that I would like to say about the deeper causes, but I will save that for later. The immediate cause was the Anglo-American side's extreme military and economic threats that put Japan's existence in crisis.

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Hitler led Nazi Germany and was a fascist dictator. He initiated the invasion in Poland and the Holocaust, and was a major player in WW2.

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Amazing Speech Adolf Hitler declares war on Poland

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Traitors can expect nothing but merciless death! Ah! They never told you the REAL reason for the World War 2? Watch and know the truth! Amazing speech. You can feel that there is something wrong with the world, perhaps that's why you've reached this video.

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GERMANY + ALLIES:
Erwin Rommel and his forces are finally defeated in North Africa by Allied forces. This victory of the Allied forces, led by General Eisenhower, ended Italy's invasion of North Africa.
PICTURE: Erwin Rommel

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JAPAN:
Japan conquers Guam, Wake island, Manila in the Philippines (January), the Baatan Peninsula (April), Singapore (February), and the East Indies (March).
The Allies bombs major cities in Japan, showing the vulnerability of the nation.
In the Battle of the Coral Sea, where most of the attacks were performed by warplanes, the Allies stopped Japan's advance to a major air base.
In the Battle of Midway, June 4th-7th, the US knew about Japan's plans to attack a US airfield in advance, and let their forces advance before crushing them.
On August 7th, 1942, the Battle of Guadalcanal began when the US attacked a Japanese air base. By the end of the battle in February 1943, 24,000 Japanese soldiers were dead.
MAP: The Pacific War

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GERMANY + FRANCE:
On June 6, 1944, the US led an attack on German forces in France in the Normandy Invasion, also known as D-Day.
VIDEO: FDR's speech on June 6th

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt speech on the eve of invasion of Normandy, June 06, 1944. Prevelant today.

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1945: Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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1945: Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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JAPAN: Atomic bombs or A-bombs were being developed by the top-secret Manhattan project. Truman bombed Japanese city of Hiroshima killing 80,000. The Japanese didn't surrender, so second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, more then 70,000 killed.
VIDEO: About the Atomic Bombs and how destructive they were.

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THE THINGS THAT GO BOOM! - THE MONTH OF BOMBS ON BRITISH PATHÉ (JULY 2015): Newsreel of the Week: Atomic Bomb - The Big Test (1945). On the day of its 70th anniversary, we share this footage of the first ever explosion caused by a nuclear weapon.

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JAPAN: Japan invades China in what is now known as the Rape of Nanking
PICTURE: Map of Nanjing's (Nanking) location

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US: The United States passes the Lend-Lease Act
GERMANY: Erwin Rommel and a tank force were sent by Hitler to assist in Italy's attack on North Africa. In June 1942, Rommel succeeded in taking the British colony of Tobruk.
Beginning in June, Germany ran Operation Barbarossa, part of an invasion of the Soviet Union. They marched on Moscow on October 2nd, reaching the city by December. This invasion lasted until 1943, costing Hitler valuable troops and resources as they tried to starve out the Soviets.
JAPAN: Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7), called the "Day of Infamy"
PICTURE: Political cartoon of the relations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that led to the German invasion of the Soviet Union

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GERMANY: Hitler commits suicide (apr 30)

VE day (may 8)

U.S. + JAPAN: U.S. bombs Hiroshima (Aug 6) and Nagasaki (Aug 9)

VJ Day (Aug 14, 15)
PICTURE: Political Cartoon of Hiroshima

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FRANCE: Germany invades France on June 16, 1940.
BRITAIN: Battle of Britain, Germany's Blitzkrieg method does not work on the British
Much of Eastern Europe falls
MAP: Battle of Britain

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GERMANY: Germany annexes Austria on March 12, 1938

GB, FRANCE, GERMANY: Great Britain and France appease Germany by signing over the area called Sudetenland, in Czechoslovakia at the Munich Conference in September

Hitler said he only wanted to achieve Anschluss, unification of German states
PICTURE: Political cartoon of Great Britain & France's appeasement of Hitler at the Munich Conference.

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GERMANY, RUSSIA: Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
GERMANY: invades Poland on September 1
GB, FRANCE: France and Britain declare war on September 3
PICTURE: Political cartoon of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact

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SPAIN: The Popular Front (Political union of liberals, Socialists, and Communists) wins election
The Spanish Civil War begins

Hitler & Mussolini send armies to help conservative General Francisco Franco

GERMANY: German army invades the Rhineland
PICTURE: Flag of the Popular Front

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GERMANY: Nazis rebuild their military.
ITALY: Invades Ethiopia
PICTURE: Nazi re-armament

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SPAIN: Conservative government wins the election over the Republican government.
PICTURE: Spanish election map 1933. Dark blue voted for the right, light blue is the right-center coalition, the center in green, and the left in red.

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SPAIN: Monarchy is overthrown and replaced by liberal Republican government
JAPAN: Japan invades Manchuria, and is successful in taking control of the land.
MAP: Japanese invasion of Manchuria

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SPAIN: Started the Spanish Civil War
GERMANY: Invaded Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia (Anschluss), Operation Barbarossa, targeted Balkans, North Africa, Greece and Yugoslavia.
JAPAN: Major player in the Pacific War