The Nuremberg Trials

After World War II, the victorious allies (Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States) held a series of trials titled the Nuremberg Trials. This was to trial the major Nazi commanders who had been responsible for crimes committed during the Holocaust. It was chosen as to be held in Nuremberg, Germany and these trials took place from 1945 to 1946. Twelve prominent Nazis were sentenced to death. Most had admitted to the crime which they had committed. Despite many of the Nazis on trial had claimed to be simply following orders, the individuals directly involved in the killing received the most severe punishments. Some other such as business executives who had used concentration camp inmates as force laborers received short prison sentences or no sentencing at all.

This was the first time the term, Genocide had been introduced to the trial. It stands for a violation against humanity. The charged criminals had been accused for crime against peace, planning and waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and most significantly, crime against humanity. There was a total of twenty four trialled, nineteen convicted and three acquitted. The Nuremberg Trials are now regarded as the foundation for the establishment of a permanent international court and a important precedent with later dealings of crimes against humanity and genocide.



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Rosie the Riveter (women in WW2)

In order to recruit women for factory jobs, the government created a propaganda campaign focused on a figure known as Rosie the Riveter. Rosie was tough yet feminine at the same time. To reassure men that the demands of war would not make women too masculine, some factories gave female employees lessons in how to apply makeup, and cosmetics were never rationed during the war. Keeping American women looking their best was believed to be important for morale. Sexism was still obvious and enforced during this great revolution for women. So much that in order to not intimidate men, they were forced to look feminine and weak while working at factories.

“Rosie the Riveter was the star of a campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for defense industries during World War II, and she became perhaps the most iconic image of working women.”link She was a symbol of the female workforce during WW2. Her famous poster “We Can Do It” was aimed at motivating women to stand up for the cause of the war. (war effort) Based in small part on a real-life munitions worker, but primarily a fictitious character, the strong, bandanna-clad Rosie became one of the most successful recruitment tools in American history, and the most iconic image of working women in the World War II era.

“In movies, newspapers, posters, photographs and articles, the Rosie the Riveter campaign stressed the patriotic need for women to enter the workforce. On May 29, 1943, The Saturday Evening Post published a cover image by the artist Norman Rockwell, portraying Rosie with a flag in the background and a copy of Adolf Hitler’s racist tract “Mein Kampf” under her feet.Early in 1943, a popular song debuted called “Rosie the Riveter,” written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, and the name went down in history.”

The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

To this day, one of the most, if not the most, controversial decisions of World War II was the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Many questions can be asked about the decision: was the decision necessary to win the war?  Did Truman make the best decision for the United States?  Was it the right decision?  While all of these questions seem similar, they all have different answers.

To address the first question: no, the atomic bombings were not necessary to win the war.  The Japanese military was already on its way out, and they had been reaching out to the Soviet Union asking them to be a 'middle-man' in negotiations with the United States.  Japan was isolated from other nations, so would sooner or later run out of food or other resources.  However, America did not wait around for this to happen (as it seemed at the time like Japan would never surrender), but rather went on the aggressive and dropped the atomic bombs.

To address the second question: yes, Truman did make the best decision for the United States.  First of all, the country had already spent billions of dollars producing this bomb.  To not use it would be both politically and economically demeaning for the nation.  In addition, the entire nation, civilians and soldiers both, were extremely war-weary.  Nobody wanted the fighting to go on, they just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible.  Finally, if the Americans were not to use the bomb, the next plan would probably be an invasion of Japan.  This would cost hundreds of thousands of American lives, and would be extremely expensive.  From Truman's perspective at the time, there was no question of whether or not the bomb should have been used.

To address the third question: we are not sure whether or not it was the right decision.  The use of atomic bombs was arguably a main cause of the Cold War (and, more specifically, the Arms Race) which has raised nuclear tensions which are ever-expanding today.  However, many American lives were saved, and the bombs hastened the end of the war, two short-term (in the big picture) effects that can not be ignored.  So, the answer to whether or not it was the right decision in the long term has yet to be answered.

Jesse Owens

In 1936, Germany was chosen to hold the olympics.  At the time, there was a very politically tense atmosphere ad Adolf Hitler had recently come into power in Germany and began spreading his extreme nationalist point of view.  Hitler wanted to use these Olympic Games to further the ideal that German was the superior race.

Jesse Owens, an African American from the United States, is well known for winning 4 golds at these 1936 Olympic Games.  While these 4 golds are impressive, Owens is more well known for his feat for another reason.  As Hitler was attempting to win as many golds as possible to show German superiority, it would be terrible for him and cause to lose to an African American from the United States.

When Jesse Owens won his 4 gold medals, which were against German athletes, Hitler was furious.  Without intending to do so, Jesse Owens had defied Hitler and led the people of the United States and the people of Berlin to hail him as an American hero.  To this day, there is still both a school and a street named after Jesse Owens in Berlin.

A potential WWIII brewing??

As we've already learned about how WWI and WWII came to be, there are talks flying around, humorously or seriously, about WWIII potentially brewing. Some of these such as North Korea military issues, the debate over Donald Trump's presidency and his political actions, Russia's plans about preparing for another potentially oncoming war, and etc. After seeing all the disasters being in war causes to countries around the world, how beneficial or not beneficial would it be if we had another war similar to WWI and WWII? It would definitely be way worse than both wars combined (reasons due to all these new technology advances such as atomic bombs developed in WWII, computer exact coordinate and such kinds of technology, and etc), even more casualties of innocent civilians and soldiers who fight to protect our country, and etc. But if it were to actually happen in the far future, who would choose to get involved and how would each country plan on protecting themselves and other allied countries?

Warfare Comparison: WWI vs. WWII

    Combat in the first world war was heavily infantry based. Theoretically, attackers were supposed to leave their trenches and charge through "no man's land" to the enemy's front line, staying low to the ground to avoid gunfire and explosions. If the attackers succeeded, they would overtake and seize the opposing trench, winning the battle. However, in World War I the defenders typically won because of better positioning and cover. Many times, they also had machine guns set up in the trenches, while attackers were forced to drag their equipment from the trenches and into battle with them. Massive infantry charges were many times suicidal in World War I because of the effectiveness of artillery and machine guns, and many battles were standstills for days to even weeks on end. Giant tanks and landships were also a new technological innovation which was first seen in World War I. Tanks were used mostly by the Allies, with the first tank being built in Great Britain and the French ultimately producing the most tanks in the war. While tanks were feared during World War I, they also were poorly used and designed. For example, on the Nivelle Offensive, the French used tanks for the first time. However, most of the tanks were taken out quickly by German artillery. Heavy tanks known as the Saint-Chamond were also poorly designed and many times were unable to cross the German trenches. Naval warfare also occurred in WWI. Dreadnought battleships were the most deadly ship, and submarines were also introduced and commonly used by the Germans. Sonar use was also in development by the end of the war. Aviation, on the other hand, was rarely used during WWI, with the majority of planes being used for scouting.
    While infantry was also a large part of World War II, trench warfare rarely occurred in battle. Instead, land warfare was much more mobile, allowing the attackers to have the advantage throughout the war. Tanks, which were much more advanced in terms of design, became the primary focus of many land battles. They were faster and stronger than their World War I counterparts. Although tanks were a large part of the war, there were few tank vs. tank battles between the Axis and the Allies, as the Axis forces relied on artillery, grenades, and anti-tank guns to destroy Allied tanks, rather than fight with their own. Naval and air warfare became much more significant as well, especially in the Pacific. The most important part of naval technology were the aircraft carriers, and submarines were useful as well. For example, for Americans naval warfare was especially important against Japan. When many of Japan's aircraft carriers were destroyed, many highly experienced Japanese pilots and officers were killed. less experienced Japanese pilots had to fight in aerial battles, leading to huge American victories such as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, where almost 350 Japanese aircraft were lost. Submarines and their deadly torpedoes were also used to sink ships. Overall, warfare was very different in WWI and WWII due to new technology, which led to advancements in tanks, ships and planes.

Navajo Code Talkers- What made them so important?

          During WWII, the Marines recruited 29 Navajo Native Americans in their attempt to create a secret and indecipherable language to transmit messages, war plans, and commands. This idea was not new: the United States had used parts of the Chocktaw language during WWI, but it along with many other Native American languages were learned by the Germans and Japanese in the period between the two wars. The Navajo language was so special because its grammar and syntax is very hard to understand for people unfamiliar with the language and it is not written. Chester Nez, a Navajo code talker said, "We acted as coding machines, transmitting messages that would have taken a couple hours in just a couple of minutes." These first 29 code talkers, in only 13 weeks, created and memorized more than 200 new words that would be important on the battlefield. This new code mixed in direct translations from english as well as code for words created from combination of Navajo words, so that even when the Japanese captured a Sergeant who spoke Navajo, he could not decipher the code. 15 of these 29 recruits were then trained for combat and were sent to help at the battle at Guadacanal. The General of the 1st Marine Division was so impressed that he requested more be sent, and, by the end of WWII, more than 350 people would learn the secret language.
         
             In battle, the code talkers worked in pairs, taking shelter wherever they could find it, sending important messages about ammunition, reinforcements, and strategies on the ground before moving again to avoid getting shot or bombed. At Iwo Jima, they were reportedly able to send over 800 messages during a 48 hour period- all error free. Generals from the fighting sited the Navajo code talkers as invaluable during the decisive battle, as the Japanese were not able to decipher the codes and the military could conduct all operations without knowledge from the enemy.
           These men were not able to speak about their experiences and the crucial role they played in the Pacific until the program was declassified in 1968 and received discrimination when they returned home from war, unbeknownst heroes. In 2001 the group received the Congressional Gold medal. In recent news, they were recognized at the White House for their service and the ceremony proved we may still have work to do in fighting discrimination.

D-Day at the French beaches

The attack against the Germans in France is still controversial. Whether we should have attacked or not can easily be debated looking at the losses we faced, and the goal the United States had in mind. I personally went to see the beaches in Normandy, France and saw te disastrous terrain that halted the soldiers. Not only were they being shot at in cross sections, but the span of terrain was difficult, long, and rocky.

The D'Day invasion began with the planning. The generals believed that an invasion on the Normandy beaches would be their best shot at regaining French territory from the Germans. To do this, they tricked the Germans into believing they would attack from 2 different places (which I wrote a blog post about btw). The day was planned for June 5th. This day was chosen because of the full moon that would allow for visibility, and the calm waters for safe landing.

As the day approached, it became obvious the weather would be terrible. On the day of the invasion, thousands of men landed feet away from the beach in cold stormy water. The wade there was slow and cold, plus the rapid crossing fire ricketing in all directions. The cross on open land was either smooth and sandy or rocky and sharp, such as on Omaha beach. This stretch of land was, besides gunfire, covered in mines that exploded upon contact. This impossible attack was won by the Americans, but only after loosing 209,000 Allied men.

American, Japanese, and German Propaganda

During WW2 there needed to be propaganda to keep American citizens in line and to never deny the purpose of the war.  If too many people were against something the country is doing, then the war may have been lost.  We saw in a presentation from class many different kinds of propaganda targeting Japanese and Germans.  I noticed and I believe many others have noticed the difference between the two kinds of propaganda.  The one targeting the Japanese did their very best to make them seem inhuman and animalistic, however ones targeting Germans, they targeted the idea of Nazism.  I believe there are many reasons behind this subtle difference.  We learned in class that the Japanese have the strategy that they would rather die than surrender, based off of the ancient code of the samurai, who when they were dishonored they would commit seppuku, a form of suicide where they slash themselves across the stomach with their katana.  To Americans, this is seen as insane, thus making it easier to propagate the idea that they are less than human.  Another reason why it was easier to dehumanize Japanese people was because of physical appearance.  It is a known fact that a person of European descent and a person of Asian descent look different.  In the picture below, we see huge exaggerations of features that are common in Asian people.  A real picture of Hideki Tojo, the leader of Imperial Japan, then a propaganda poster representing him.
 
However, in propaganda attacking Germans, the main point of propaganda posters is to attack Nazism instead of being of German ethnicity.  This could be because there are in fact a lot of Americans that immigrated from Germany, and exaggerated features of people from the same race as yourself are more difficult to appeal. For example, we have this poster.