World War II Part 1: Crash Course US History #35

Summary

This Crash Course episode, hosted by John Green, delves into the complex history of World War II, focusing on the American perspective. The video discusses the U.S.'s initial isolationist stance shaped by the Great Depression and World War I, leading to a period of neutrality and limited involvement in global affairs. Despite this, the U.S. pursued the Good Neighbor Policy in Latin America and engaged in arms reduction negotiations. As global tensions rose, Congress passed Neutrality Acts, but the U.S. eventually became the 'arsenal of democracy' through the Lend Lease Act, providing military aid to Allies. The attack on Pearl Harbor marked the U.S.'s full entry into the war, leading to significant battles in both the Pacific and European theaters. The video also addresses the ethical debate surrounding the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, highlighting the immense civilian casualties and the strategic decision to end the war swiftly. Green emphasizes the importance of studying history and understanding the complexity of decisions made during wartime, encouraging empathy and a nuanced view of the past.

Takeaways

• 📚 World War II holds a significant place in American history and collective memory, often overshadowing other historical events.
• 🏛️ The U.S. adopted a policy of isolationism after World War I, influenced by the Great Depression and the perceived futility of the League of Nations.
• 🛠️ Despite isolationist tendencies, the U.S. engaged in arms reduction negotiations and pursued the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America, though with mixed results.
• 💰 The U.S. initially took a neutral stance in the 1930s but eventually became the 'arsenal of democracy' through the Lend Lease Act, providing military aid to Allied nations.
• 🔫 The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was a pivotal moment that led to the U.S. formally entering World War II.
• 🌊 In the Pacific theater, the U.S. strategy of Island Hopping was a slow and costly process, aimed at using captured islands as bases to launch attacks on Japan.
• ⏳ The U.S. involvement in World War II was extensive and multifaceted, with significant contributions in both the European and Pacific theaters.
• 🗽 The war in Europe ended with the Russians capturing Berlin after a long and devastating conflict that saw massive civilian casualties.
• 💥 The use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains one of the most controversial decisions of the war, with debates continuing over its ethical implications.
• 🌟 Ernie Pyle, a renowned war correspondent, provided insightful accounts of American soldiers, highlighting their humanity and the challenges they faced.
• 🕊️ The end of World War II is a complex moment in history, marked by both the relief of victory and the sobering reality of the immense loss of life and the introduction of nuclear warfare.

Q & A

What was the general sentiment of the American public towards foreign involvement after World War I?

After World War I, the American public was largely isolationist and reluctant to engage in foreign affairs, partly due to the significant loss of life and the perception that the war did not result in substantial positive change.

What was the 'Good Neighbor Policy' of the United States towards Latin America?

The 'Good Neighbor Policy' was a strategy by the United States to be less intrusive in Latin American politics, which included the removal of troops from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. However, it was criticized as the U.S. continued to support repressive dictators in the region.

What were the Neutrality Acts passed by the U.S. Congress in the 1930s?

The Neutrality Acts were a series of laws passed by the U.S. Congress in the 1930s that aimed to keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts by banning the sale of arms to belligerent nations, even those the U.S. was friendly with.

What was the significance of the 'Cash and Carry' policy in 1940?

The 'Cash and Carry' policy allowed the United States to sell arms to Great Britain, but required that they be paid for in cash and transported by the British themselves. This marked a step towards aiding the Allies without officially entering the war.

How did the Lend-Lease Act impact the United States' involvement in World War II?

The Lend-Lease Act allowed the U.S. to provide military aid to countries like Britain and the USSR, which promised to repay the aid after the war. This significantly increased U.S. involvement in the war before the country officially entered as a combatant.

What was the strategy known as 'Island Hopping' in the Pacific theater?

Island Hopping was a strategy used by the U.S. in the Pacific theater of World War II, which involved capturing Japanese-controlled islands one at a time, using them as bases to launch bombers against Japan.

Why was the Battle of Midway considered a turning point in the Pacific War?

The Battle of Midway was a significant victory for the U.S. as it halted Japanese expansion in the Pacific and gave the U.S. a strategic advantage, marking a turning point in the war.

What was the significance of the Normandy invasion (D-Day) on June 6, 1944?

The Normandy invasion, or D-Day, marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany as it opened up a second front in the European theater, allowing the Allies to attack from both the east (with the Soviet Union) and the west.

Why is the use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki still a subject of ethical debate?

The use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is debated due to their immense destructive power, which resulted in a large number of civilian casualties. Some argue that the bombs saved lives by preventing a full-scale invasion of Japan, while others believe their use was ethically wrong and a significant escalation in the destructiveness of warfare.

How did World War II change the nature of warfare with regards to civilian casualties?

World War II saw a significant shift in warfare with a marked increase in civilian casualties, partly due to the widespread strategy of total war and the acceptance of targeting civilians. Approximately 40% of the estimated 50 million people killed were civilians, compared to 10% in World War I.

What is the importance of studying history and attempting empathy in understanding complex historical events?

Studying history and attempting empathy allows us to grapple with the complexity of the world as it is, rather than as we wish it to be. It helps us understand the perspectives and decisions of people in the past, fostering a more nuanced and compassionate view of historical events.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to World War II

The video starts with John Green introducing the topic of World War II, emphasizing its vastness and significance in history. He humorously notes the shift in focus of the History Channel from historical events to more sensationalist content. Green highlights the importance of discussing World War II's impact on American foreign policy, shaped by the Great Depression and World War I. He touches on the isolationist sentiment post-World War I, the Washington treaties, the Good Neighbor Policy, and the Neutrality Acts. The segment also covers the U.S.'s indirect involvement before officially entering the war, including the Cash and Carry policy and the Lend-Lease Act, which provided military aid to Allies.

05:00

🌐 World War II: Pacific and European Theaters

This paragraph delves into the events that led the U.S. into the war, notably the attack on Pearl Harbor, which resulted in significant losses and prompted a near-unanimous declaration of war from Congress. It then contrasts the Pacific and European theaters of the war, discussing the initial challenges faced by the U.S. in the Pacific, including the surrender at Bataan and the Bataan Death March. The paragraph outlines the U.S. strategy of Island Hopping and the fierce battles in the South Pacific. It also covers the European theater, starting with the U.S. involvement in North Africa, the defeat of Rommel, and the eventual D-Day invasion of Normandy. The segment ends with a brief mention of the Mystery Document segment, featuring a quote from war correspondent Ernie Pyle.

10:02

💥 The Atomic Bomb and Its Aftermath

The final paragraph discusses the decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which brought a swift end to the war in the Pacific. It presents the debate over the ethical use of such weapons, mentioning the immediate and long-term death tolls, and contrasting them with other civilian attacks during the war. The paragraph explores various perspectives on the bombings, including the potential to save lives by avoiding a mainland invasion of Japan, the strategic message to the USSR, and the unprecedented destructiveness of the bombs. It concludes with a reflection on the importance of studying history and empathy, encouraging viewers to consider the complexity of historical decisions and their consequences.

Keywords

💡Paratroopering

Paratroopering refers to the military technique of deploying troops by air, specifically by parachute into combat zones. In the context of the video, it's mentioned as a significant aspect of World War II history, although the video focuses more on the broader historical context and the American involvement in the war.

💡Isolationism

Isolationism is a foreign policy doctrine that involves avoiding alliances and involvement in international affairs. The video discusses how the U.S. was often characterized as isolationist between 1920 and its entry into World War II, despite engaging in some international negotiations and policies like the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America.

💡Lend-Lease Act

The Lend-Lease Act was a law that allowed the United States to provide military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It is highlighted in the video as a pivotal moment that marked America's shift from neutrality to active support for the Allies, despite not yet officially entering the war.

💡Cash and Carry

Cash and Carry was a policy that required countries receiving U.S. military aid to pay cash and transport the goods themselves. This policy is mentioned in the video as an early step towards aiding the Allies, particularly Great Britain, before the U.S. officially entered World War II.

💡Neutrality Acts

Neutrality Acts were laws passed by the U.S. Congress in the 1930s that aimed to keep the country out of foreign conflicts by banning the sale of arms to belligerent nations. The video discusses how these acts reflected the isolationist sentiment of the time and how they eventually changed as the global situation evolved.

💡Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was a surprise military attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base at Oahu, Hawaii, in 1941. The video describes it as the event that fully pushed the U.S. into World War II, leading to a declaration of war and a significant shift in American foreign policy.

💡Island Hopping

Island Hopping was a military strategy used by the Allies during World War II in the Pacific. It involved capturing Japanese-controlled islands to use as bases for further attacks. The video explains how this strategy was slow and costly, but was crucial in the U.S. campaign against Japan.

💡D-Day

D-Day, the term used for the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. The video emphasizes D-Day as a significant event in the European theater of World War II, showcasing the large-scale commitment of American and Allied forces to the war effort.

💡Atomic Bomb

The atomic bomb represents the use of nuclear weapons for the first time in history, with the U.S. dropping bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The video discusses the ethical and strategic implications of this decision, including the immediate and long-term consequences for both the war and the future of warfare.

💡Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was the U.S. research and development project during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. The video mentions it as a covert operation that led to the creation of the atomic bombs, which were a turning point in the war and marked the beginning of the nuclear age.

💡Ernie Pyle

Ernie Pyle was a famous American war correspondent during World War II known for his intimate and humanizing reports from the front lines. The video includes a quote from Pyle, illustrating the perspective of American soldiers as 'good boys' thrust into the horrors of war, highlighting the personal and emotional aspects of the conflict.

Highlights

World War II has a significant place in American imagination, with its own dedicated cable channel.

The Great Depression and World War I shaped America's ideas about foreign policy.

Post-World War I, America experienced isolationist sentiment due to the high death toll and perceived lack of change.

Between 1920 and the U.S. entry into World War II, the U.S. pursued arms reduction and the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America.

The U.S. was less involved in world trade due to the Depression and tariff policies.

The U.S. Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts in the 1930s, banning the sale of arms to belligerents.

FDR's desire to aid the Allies led to the Cash and Carry arms sales agreement and the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

The Lend Lease Act allowed the U.S. to provide military aid to countries like Britain and the USSR.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led to the U.S. officially entering World War II.

The Pacific theater saw more American personnel deployed than in Europe until 1944.

The U.S. strategy in the Pacific, known as Island Hopping, aimed to take Japanese-controlled islands for use as bomber bases.

The European theater of war began with U.S. troops fighting against Nazis in North Africa.

The Normandy invasion on D-Day marked the beginning of the end for the Nazis.

Russia bore the brunt of the fighting in Europe, losing at least 20 million people and capturing Berlin.

The use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains one of the most debated ethical questions in history.

The atomic bombs were developed through the Manhattan Project and were the most destructive weapons known at the time.

World War II saw a significant increase in civilian casualties compared to World War I, with around 40% of the estimated 50 million deaths being civilians.

The decision to use atomic bombs forces us to consider our understanding of history and the complexity of total war.

Crash Course is made possible by the support of viewers through Subbable.com, a voluntary subscription service.

Transcripts

Hi, I’m John Green, this is Crash Course U.S. history, and today we’re going to talk

about a topic so huge to history buffs that we can only discuss a tiny, little fraction

of it. I am of course referring to paratroopering. No World War II.

World War II is the only historical event that has, like, its own cable channel. Well

I should say it used to have its own cable channel. These days the History Channel is

of course devoted primarily to lumberjacks and oh my gosh is that guy really going to

shoot an alligator. Who knew how nostalgic we could be for documentaries

about Joseph Stalin. Mr. Green, Mr. Green. Finally we get to the

good stuff: like Patton, and Rommel, and Churchill, and Eisenhower, Stalingrad, Gomer Pyle!

Oh I’m sorry to disappoint you, Me From the Past, but while Patton and Eisenhower

were Americans, Rommel was a German (or General Monty Montgomery’s dog).

Regardless, they were both from the green parts of not-America also no Americans fought

at the battle of Stalingrad, although we did talk about that in Crash Course World History.

And Gomer Pyle was a television character played by Jim Nabors. I believe that you mean

to refer to the journalist Ernie Pyle. intro

So here at CrashCourse we like to focus on causes and effects of wars rather than strategy

and tactics, but given the importance that World War II has in the American imagination,

we’re gonna discuss those a bit too today. We’re going to defy Maria von Trapp and

start before the very beginning, because America’s ideas about foreign policy were shaped by

two things: The Great Depression and World War I.

After the American experience of World War I, it’s not surprising that Americans were

just a smidge gun shy about involvement in foreign affairs. Seriously Stan? A gun pun?

Now? No. Now America actually came out of World War

I stronger than ever but man did a lot of people die for not much change.

I mean I guess the Treaty of Versailles sort of re-made Europe, but it didn’t make it

better. And the League of Nations was a flop and generally

there was a lot of disappoin ted idealism. The period of time between 1920 and the U.S.

entry into World War II has been called an age of isolationism, although that isn’t

100% accurate. I mean, for one thing the U.S. sponsored a

series of arms reduction negotiations that resulted in the Washington treaties limiting

the number of battleships that a country could possess.

But of course those negotiations led to a fat lot of nothing because the idea of a nation

limiting its battleships was a bigger joke even than the League of Nations, which I will

remind you, we invented and then did not join. Another way that the U.S. was less-than isolationist

was our pursuance of the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America. So called because we were

not a good neighbor. Our idea was to be less intrusive in Latin

American politics, and we did remove troops from the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which

was something but “good neighbor” is a bit of an exaggeration.

I mean we continued to support repressive dictators like Somoza in Nicaragua and Batista

in Cuba. You know, we’d never really been great neighbors.

However, we were isolationist in the sense that the United States was much less involved

in world trade, largely because of the Depression, you know that meant that there wasn’t much

world trade, but also because of tariff policies. But there was also something isolationist

about the formal actions of Congress, like after Europe and Asia began to become belligerent

in the 1930s with Japan’s invasion of China, and Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, and the

rise of fascist dictators in Spain and, of course Germany, Congress responded by passing

a series of Neutrality Acts which banned the sale of arms to belligerents.

Even if they were really nice, tea-drinking belligerents who we were pals with.

And that points to another reason why people tend to regard this as a time of isolationist

sentiment, our old friend Eurocentrism. We were generally neutral in terms of foreign

intervention when it came to Europe. Popular groups, like America First with celebrity

members from Charles Lindbergh to E. E. Cummings cautioned against involvement in foreign affairs.

But they mostly meant European affairs. The U.S. didn’t officially get involved

in the war until two years after Hitler invaded Poland but America was deeply involved in

the European war before we actually sent troops. FDR really wanted to help the Allies, especially

the Brits, who after the French surrender in 1940 were the only ones actually fighting

the Nazis until 1941, when there were a whole lot of Russians also fighting them.

Even Congress recognized that the Nazis were a threat, and in 1940 it agreed to allow Cash

and Carry arms sales to Great Britain. By the way, “Cash and Carry” is the name

of a liquor store near Stan’s house, but anyway the sale of arms were “cash” sales

meaning that they were not paid for with loans or IOUs and the carry part meant that the

British would carry their own arms over, you know, to Britain.

It’s the difference between buying a pizza at a grocery store and getting it delivery,

except, you know, it’s not like that at all and I just want pizza.

Then, in September 1940 Congress created the nation’s first peacetime draft, taking the

next step toward involvement. And that was a huge deal because, you know, you don’t

muster an army with no desire to eventually use it.

By 1941, in spite of all our neutrality, FDR had pretty clearly sided with the Allies.

America became the “arsenal of democracy” with the Lend Lease Act authorizing military

aid to countries that promised to pay it back somehow after the war. We promise, we’ll

figure it out. So, the U.S. essentially gave billions of

dollars worth of arms and war material to Britain and, after the Nazis invaded in June

of 1941, to the USSR as well. And the U.S. also froze Japanese assets here

and basically ended all trade between America and Japan.

But of course the event that pushed us fully into the war happened on December 7, 1941

when Japanese pilots attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

187 aircraft were destroyed, 18 naval vessels were damaged or destroyed, and more than 2000

American servicemen were killed. FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war,

which they granted voting 477 to 1. And the day after that, Germany declared war on the

United States and World War II officially became a world war.

We almost always start the American story of World War II in Europe because, you know,

Hitler, so I’m going to start in the Pacific, where until 1944 there were actually more

American personnel deployed than in Europe. Things didn’t start well in the Pacific.

Let’s go to the ThoughtBubble. Perhaps worse than Pearl Harbor was the surrender

of 78,000 American and Filipino troops at Bataan. This was the largest surrender by

American troops in history and it resulted in thousands dying on the Bataan Death March

to prisoner of war camps where thousands more would die.

But in May of 1942 we protected Australia from the Japanese fleet by winning the Battle

of the Coral Sea, and then in June we won a huge victory at Midway island, midway between

Hawaii and Japan I guess, and probably named by historians.

The U.S. strategy in the Pacific has been called Island Hopping and it involved taking

Japanese controlled islands one at a time to be used as bases for bombers that could

then be used against Japan itself. It was a slow process and the fighting over these

jungle-y South Pacific islands was fierce and extraordinarily costly. The battle at

Guadalcanal went from August 1942 to February 1943 and they didn’t freeze like in Stalingrad,

but conditions weren’t much better. And now let’s switch to the European theater.

We call this the European war because we were fighting against Europeans and it ended in

Europe, but the first U.S. troops to fight against Nazis actually did so in North Africa,

so it’s kind of a misnomer. American weaponry was pretty poor but after

our initial invasion in North Africa in November 1942 we got into it, and by 1943 we and the

British defeated Rommel in the desert and we were ready to invade Europe, which should

have made Stalin happy because up to this point Russians had been doing the bulk of

the dying in the war. But Stalin wasn’t happy, first because he

was a mean and nasty person and those kinds of people are rarely happy, and secondly,

because rather than invading France and striking at Germany more directly, the Allies invaded

Sicily and Italy where we fought for most of 1943 and much of 1944 until finally, on

June 6th we joined some Brits and Canadians in invading Normandy on D-Day. And that was

the beginning of the end for the Nazis. Thanks, ThoughtBubble. Oh it’s time for

the Mystery Document already? Alright. The rules here are simple.

I read the Mystery Document and usually I get it wrong and I get shocked.

“They seemed terribly pathetic to me. They weren’t warriors. They were American boys

who by mere chance of fate had wound up with guns in their hands, sneaking up a death-laden

street in a strange and shattered city in a faraway country in a driving rain. They

were afraid, but it was beyond their power to quit. They had no choice. They were good

boys. I talked with them all afternoon as we sneaked slowly forward along the mysterious

and rubbled streets, and I know they were good boys. And even though they weren’t

warriors born to the kill, they won their battles. That was the point.”

Man, that is some good writing, Stan. By famous war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Pewwww. That

was me being a warrior. Pew, pew. I can’t even make finger guns. That’s-that’s

how much of a not-warrior I am. I’m a worrier. I knew it was Ernie Pyle for two reasons.

First, he’s talking about cities so it’s the European theatre. Secondly, he’s the

best European theatre American writer in World War II by far.

So while Americans did liberate Paris and were part of the final assault on Germany,

and also liberated a number of concentration camps, Russians did most of the fighting in

Europe, losing at least 20 million people, and in the end it was the Russians who captured

Berlin. Although the Nazis never really had a chance

to win the war after they started fighting the Russians and the Americans entered into

it, it didn’t actually end until May 8th or 9th, 1945 (depending on when you got the

news) And the war in the Pacific continued until

August. Japan surrendered unconditionally after the United States dropped an atomic

bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th and on Nagasaki on August 9th.

We don’t celebrate the end of World War II in the United States, and I guess this

is because we would have to decide whether to celebrate the end of the war in Europe

or in Japan. Or maybe it’s just because it’s difficult to celebrate the use of atomic

weapons. Atomic bombs were developed through the Manhattan

Project, so called because the bombs were partly invented in Chicago and then built

and tested in New Mexico. Trickery. That was the sort of covert thing the U.S.

used to do really well before we developed the Internet. Although we weren’t that good

at it since the Soviets did steal our technology and build a nuclear bomb like three years

later. The two atomic bombs that were eventually

dropped were the most destructive weapons the world had ever seen. The one dropped on

Hiroshima killed 70,000 people instantly and by the end of 1945 another 70,000 had died

from radiation poisoning. The bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki also

killed 70,000 people. In fact, the death toll from those two bombs was greater than the

number of American fatalities in the entire Pacific War.

And that leads to one of the most hotly debated questions in recent history: was the use of

atomic bombs justified or ethical? Those arguing against their use often point

out that the Truman administration had good evidence that Japan would surrender if they

were allowed to keep their emperor on the throne.

And some also point out that the primary targets were not military, although there were 40,000

troops stationed in Hiroshima. Others argue that the real reason the United

States dropped the bombs was to threaten the USSR, and prevent them from taking more territory

in the east. And then there’s the argument that using such a destructive weapon was morally

reprehensible because it was so destructive as to be qualitatively different from other

weapons. For a couple centuries, our weapons had had

the theoretical capability of eliminating all humans, but never before had it been so

easy. But others reply that dropping the bombs helped

save American lives. Some of Truman’s advisers worried that invasion of Japan would result

in 250,000 American deaths and at least that many Japanese deaths.

And that’s important to note because if there was one thing truly, horribly innovative

about World War II, it was bombing. Sure there was radar and jets, but they weren’t

nearly as significant as aerial bombardment, and by the time the a-bombs dropped, the idea

of precision bombing only military targets wasn’t an option, in part because bombing

was incredibly risky to planes and pilots. And by 1945, it was an acceptable and widespread

strategy to target civilians as part of a total war. In World War II perhaps 40% of

the estimated 50 million people killed were civilians.

Compare that with World War I, where it was only 10%.

We should be horrified that 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima, but we should be

horrified by all the civilian attacks in World War II. 25,000 people died in Dresden, more

than 100,000 died in the firebombing of Tokyo in March of 1945.

Thinking about Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs is important because it forces

us to consider our understanding of history. Part of why we say that using atomic bombs

was worse than conventional bombing was because we know what came after – the Cold War,

the threat of nuclear annihilation. From the present, the dawn of atomic warfare is indeed

terrifying. But people living at the time were living

amid a different kind of terror and they couldn’t have known that there would be a nuclear arms

race that threatened all of humanity. The Japanese didn’t look like they were

going to give up and people on both sides were dying every day, so before we pass judgment,

let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of both the soldiers who were fighting, who

didn’t have to fight on mainland Japan, and the civilians who were killed by the bombs.

There’s no answer to be found there, but the opportunity of studying history is the

opportunity to experience empathy. Now of course we’re never going to know

what it’s like to be someone else, to have your life saved or taken by decisions made

by the Allied command. Studying history and making genuine attempts

at empathy helps us to grapple with the complexity of the world, not as we wish it were, but

as we find it. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week.

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