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Sino-Japanese War. Many historians actually would even consider this the beginning of World War II, while some of them say, okay, this is the beginning of the Asian theater of World War II, of the all-out war between Japan and China, but it isn't until Germany invades Poland in 1939 that you truly have the formal beginning, so to speak, of World War II. Regardless of whether you consider this a formal beginning or not, the Second Sino-Japanese War, it's called the Second because there was another Sino-Japanese War in the late 1800s that was called the First Sino-Japanese War. This is incredibly, incredibly brutal and incredibly bloody, a lot of civilians affected. We could do a whole series of videos just on that. But at this point, it does become all-out war, and this causes the Civil War to take a back seat to fighting off the aggressor of Japan in 1937. So that lays a foundation for what's happening in the Pacific in the run-up to World War II. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
This is incredibly, incredibly brutal and incredibly bloody, a lot of civilians affected. We could do a whole series of videos just on that. But at this point, it does become all-out war, and this causes the Civil War to take a back seat to fighting off the aggressor of Japan in 1937. So that lays a foundation for what's happening in the Pacific in the run-up to World War II. And let's also remind ourselves what's happening in Europe. As we go through the 1930s, Hitler's Germany, the Nazi Party, is getting more and more militaristic. So this is Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany right over here. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
So that lays a foundation for what's happening in the Pacific in the run-up to World War II. And let's also remind ourselves what's happening in Europe. As we go through the 1930s, Hitler's Germany, the Nazi Party, is getting more and more militaristic. So this is Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany right over here. They're allied with Benito Mussolini's Italy. They're both extremely nationalistic. They both do not like the communists at all. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
So this is Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany right over here. They're allied with Benito Mussolini's Italy. They're both extremely nationalistic. They both do not like the communists at all. You might remember that in 1938, 1938, you have the Anschluss, which I'm sure I'm mispronouncing, and you also have the takeover of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. So the Anschluss was the unification with Austria. And then you have the Germans taking over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
They both do not like the communists at all. You might remember that in 1938, 1938, you have the Anschluss, which I'm sure I'm mispronouncing, and you also have the takeover of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. So the Anschluss was the unification with Austria. And then you have the Germans taking over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. And this is kind of the famous, the rest of what will be called the Allied Powers kind of say, okay, yeah, okay, maybe Hitler's just gonna do that. Well, we don't want to start another war. We still all remember World War I. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
And then you have the Germans taking over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. And this is kind of the famous, the rest of what will be called the Allied Powers kind of say, okay, yeah, okay, maybe Hitler's just gonna do that. Well, we don't want to start another war. We still all remember World War I. It was really horrible. And so they kind of appease Hitler, and he's able to kind of satisfy his aggression. So in 1938, you have Austria, Austria and the Sudetenland, and the Sudetenland are taken over by Germany. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
We still all remember World War I. It was really horrible. And so they kind of appease Hitler, and he's able to kind of satisfy his aggression. So in 1938, you have Austria, Austria and the Sudetenland, and the Sudetenland are taken over by Germany. And then as you go into 1939, as you go into 1939, in March, they're able to take over all of Czechoslovakia. They're able to take over all of Czechoslovakia. And once again, the Allies are kind of, they're feeling very uncomfortable. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
So in 1938, you have Austria, Austria and the Sudetenland, and the Sudetenland are taken over by Germany. And then as you go into 1939, as you go into 1939, in March, they're able to take over all of Czechoslovakia. They're able to take over all of Czechoslovakia. And once again, the Allies are kind of, they're feeling very uncomfortable. They kind of have seen something like this before. They would like to push back, but they still are kind of, are not feeling good about starting another world war. So they're hoping that maybe Germany stops there. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
And once again, the Allies are kind of, they're feeling very uncomfortable. They kind of have seen something like this before. They would like to push back, but they still are kind of, are not feeling good about starting another world war. So they're hoping that maybe Germany stops there. So let me write this down. So all of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovakia is taken over by the Germans. This is in March of 1939. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
So they're hoping that maybe Germany stops there. So let me write this down. So all of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovakia is taken over by the Germans. This is in March of 1939. And then in August, in August, you have the Germans, and this is really in preparation for what you could guess is about to happen, for the all-out war that's about to happen. The Germans don't want to fight the Soviets right out the gate, as we will see, and as you might know, they do eventually take on the Soviet Union. But in 1939, they get into a pact with the Soviet Union. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
This is in March of 1939. And then in August, in August, you have the Germans, and this is really in preparation for what you could guess is about to happen, for the all-out war that's about to happen. The Germans don't want to fight the Soviets right out the gate, as we will see, and as you might know, they do eventually take on the Soviet Union. But in 1939, they get into a pact with the Soviet Union. And so this is, they sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop, Ribbentrop, Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union. This is in August, which is essentially mutual non-aggression. Hey, you know, you do what you need to do, we know what we need to do. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
But in 1939, they get into a pact with the Soviet Union. And so this is, they sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop, Ribbentrop, Ribbentrop Pact with the Soviet Union. This is in August, which is essentially mutual non-aggression. Hey, you know, you do what you need to do, we know what we need to do. And they secretly started saying, okay, we're gonna, you know, all of these countries out here, we're gonna create these spheres of influence where Germany can take control of part of it and the Soviet Union, and Stalin is in charge of the Soviet Union at this point, can take over other parts of it. And then that leads us to the formal start, where in September, let me write this in a different color. So September of 1939, on September 1st, Germany invades Poland. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
Hey, you know, you do what you need to do, we know what we need to do. And they secretly started saying, okay, we're gonna, you know, all of these countries out here, we're gonna create these spheres of influence where Germany can take control of part of it and the Soviet Union, and Stalin is in charge of the Soviet Union at this point, can take over other parts of it. And then that leads us to the formal start, where in September, let me write this in a different color. So September of 1939, on September 1st, Germany invades Poland. Germany invades Poland on September 1st, which is generally considered the beginning of World War II. And then you have the Great Britain and France declares war on Germany. So let me write this, World War II, World War II, World War II starts. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
So September of 1939, on September 1st, Germany invades Poland. Germany invades Poland on September 1st, which is generally considered the beginning of World War II. And then you have the Great Britain and France declares war on Germany. So let me write this, World War II, World War II, World War II starts. Everyone is declaring war on each other. Germany invades Poland. Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
So let me write this, World War II, World War II, World War II starts. Everyone is declaring war on each other. Germany invades Poland. Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. And you have to remember at this point, Stalin isn't so concerned about Hitler. He's just signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. And so in mid-September, Stalin himself invades Poland as well. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. And you have to remember at this point, Stalin isn't so concerned about Hitler. He's just signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. And so in mid-September, Stalin himself invades Poland as well. So they both can kind of carve out, they both can carve out their spheres of influence. So you can definitely sense that things are not looking good for the world at this point. You already have Asia in the Second Sino-Japanese War, incredibly bloody war, and now you have kind of a lot of very similar actors that you had in World War I, and they're starting to get into a fairly extensive engagement. | Beginning of World War II The 20th century World history Khan Academy.mp3 |
But because of all of that momentum, they perhaps get a little bit overconfident and stretch themselves or begin to stretch themselves too thin, so let's think about what happens in 1941. So if we talk about early 1941, or the spring of 1941, in March, Bulgaria decides to join the Axis powers. You can imagine there's a lot of pressure being applied to them, and they kind of see where the momentum is and say, hey, let's be on that side. So Bulgaria, Bulgaria joins the Axis. And then in North Africa, you might remember that in 1940, the Allies, in particular the British, were able to defeat the Italians and push them back into Libya. But now in March of 1941, the Italians get reinforcements, Italian reinforcements, and also German reinforcements under the command of Rommel, the Desert Fox, famous desert commander, and they are able, they are able to push, they are able to push the British back to the Egyptian border, and they also take siege of the town of Tobruk. Now you might have noticed something that I just drew. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So Bulgaria, Bulgaria joins the Axis. And then in North Africa, you might remember that in 1940, the Allies, in particular the British, were able to defeat the Italians and push them back into Libya. But now in March of 1941, the Italians get reinforcements, Italian reinforcements, and also German reinforcements under the command of Rommel, the Desert Fox, famous desert commander, and they are able, they are able to push, they are able to push the British back to the Egyptian border, and they also take siege of the town of Tobruk. Now you might have noticed something that I just drew. The supply lines in the North African campaign are very, very, very long, and that's part of the reason why, as one side, so one side has supply lines, as they start to make progress and push into, let's say as the Allies make progress and push into Libya, their supply lines got really long, and so the other side has an easier time resupplying. And then as the Axis pushes the Allies back into Egypt, well, then their supply lines get really long, and the other side has, it makes it easier for them to resupply. And so North Africa is kind of defined by this constant back and forth. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
Now you might have noticed something that I just drew. The supply lines in the North African campaign are very, very, very long, and that's part of the reason why, as one side, so one side has supply lines, as they start to make progress and push into, let's say as the Allies make progress and push into Libya, their supply lines got really long, and so the other side has an easier time resupplying. And then as the Axis pushes the Allies back into Egypt, well, then their supply lines get really long, and the other side has, it makes it easier for them to resupply. And so North Africa is kind of defined by this constant back and forth. But by early 1941, it looks like the Axis is on the offensive. They're able to push the British back into Egypt, lay siege to the town of Tobruk. So let me write this down as North Africa. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And so North Africa is kind of defined by this constant back and forth. But by early 1941, it looks like the Axis is on the offensive. They're able to push the British back into Egypt, lay siege to the town of Tobruk. So let me write this down as North Africa. I have all these different shades of red here. Let me write this down, North. So I'll just write North Africa right over here, or I could say Rommel in North Africa, pushing the British back. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So let me write this down as North Africa. I have all these different shades of red here. Let me write this down, North. So I'll just write North Africa right over here, or I could say Rommel in North Africa, pushing the British back. And then we can start talking about what happens in the Balkans. And this is still in the spring, as we go into the April of 1941. And just as a little bit of background here, and frankly, I should have covered it a couple of videos ago, but as far back as 1939, actually before World War II officially started, in spring of 1939, Italy actually occupies Albania. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So I'll just write North Africa right over here, or I could say Rommel in North Africa, pushing the British back. And then we can start talking about what happens in the Balkans. And this is still in the spring, as we go into the April of 1941. And just as a little bit of background here, and frankly, I should have covered it a couple of videos ago, but as far back as 1939, actually before World War II officially started, in spring of 1939, Italy actually occupies Albania. So this actually should have already been read. This is in 1939. This is 1939 that this happens. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And just as a little bit of background here, and frankly, I should have covered it a couple of videos ago, but as far back as 1939, actually before World War II officially started, in spring of 1939, Italy actually occupies Albania. So this actually should have already been read. This is in 1939. This is 1939 that this happens. And then at the end of 1940, Italy uses Albania as a base of operations to try to invade Greece, to try to invade Greece, but they are pushed back. And actually, one of the reasons why the British were able to be pushed back in North Africa is after they were successful against the Italians, most of the bulk of the British forces were sent to Greece to help defend Greece at the end of 1940. So this 1939, Albania gets taken over by Italy, and at the end of 1940, October 1940, Greece is invaded. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
This is 1939 that this happens. And then at the end of 1940, Italy uses Albania as a base of operations to try to invade Greece, to try to invade Greece, but they are pushed back. And actually, one of the reasons why the British were able to be pushed back in North Africa is after they were successful against the Italians, most of the bulk of the British forces were sent to Greece to help defend Greece at the end of 1940. So this 1939, Albania gets taken over by Italy, and at the end of 1940, October 1940, Greece is invaded. So October 1940, so that is right around there. Greece is invaded by Italy, but they are then pushed back. But to help the Greeks, the Allies send many of the forces that were in North Africa after they were successful against the Italians in Libya. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So this 1939, Albania gets taken over by Italy, and at the end of 1940, October 1940, Greece is invaded. So October 1940, so that is right around there. Greece is invaded by Italy, but they are then pushed back. But to help the Greeks, the Allies send many of the forces that were in North Africa after they were successful against the Italians in Libya. So now, as we go into April of 1941, that was all background. Remember, Albania, before the war started, April 1939, October 1940 was Italy's kind of first push into Greece, and it was an unsuccessful push into Greece. But then the Greeks get support from the Allies in North Africa. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
But to help the Greeks, the Allies send many of the forces that were in North Africa after they were successful against the Italians in Libya. So now, as we go into April of 1941, that was all background. Remember, Albania, before the war started, April 1939, October 1940 was Italy's kind of first push into Greece, and it was an unsuccessful push into Greece. But then the Greeks get support from the Allies in North Africa. And now, as we go into 1941, the Germans start supporting, or really take charge in the Balkans and in Greece. And so, with the help of the Germans, the Axis is able to take over Yugoslavia and Greece and start aerial bombardment of Crete. So once again, we're not even halfway through the year in 1941, and we see a huge swath of Europe is under the control of the Axis powers. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
But then the Greeks get support from the Allies in North Africa. And now, as we go into 1941, the Germans start supporting, or really take charge in the Balkans and in Greece. And so, with the help of the Germans, the Axis is able to take over Yugoslavia and Greece and start aerial bombardment of Crete. So once again, we're not even halfway through the year in 1941, and we see a huge swath of Europe is under the control of the Axis powers. So let me write, so the spring, so let me write Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia and Greece, Yugoslavia and Greece, and aerial bombardments of Crete. And now we go into the summer, the summer of 1941. And this is actually a pivotal move, what's about to happen. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So once again, we're not even halfway through the year in 1941, and we see a huge swath of Europe is under the control of the Axis powers. So let me write, so the spring, so let me write Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia and Greece, Yugoslavia and Greece, and aerial bombardments of Crete. And now we go into the summer, the summer of 1941. And this is actually a pivotal move, what's about to happen. Now, you can imagine that the Axis powers, in particular Hitler, are feeling pretty confident. We are only, so we're about that far into the war. So we're not even two years into the war yet, and it looks like the Axis is going to win. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And this is actually a pivotal move, what's about to happen. Now, you can imagine that the Axis powers, in particular Hitler, are feeling pretty confident. We are only, so we're about that far into the war. So we're not even two years into the war yet, and it looks like the Axis is going to win. Now, you might remember that they have a pact with the Soviet Union. Hey, we're gonna split a lot of Eastern Europe into our spheres of influence, so to speak. But now Hitler's like, well, I think I'm ready to attack. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So we're not even two years into the war yet, and it looks like the Axis is going to win. Now, you might remember that they have a pact with the Soviet Union. Hey, we're gonna split a lot of Eastern Europe into our spheres of influence, so to speak. But now Hitler's like, well, I think I'm ready to attack. And when you attack the Soviet Union really matters. You do not want to attack the Soviet Union in the winter. This is something, or Russia in the winter. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
But now Hitler's like, well, I think I'm ready to attack. And when you attack the Soviet Union really matters. You do not want to attack the Soviet Union in the winter. This is something, or Russia in the winter. Russia is obviously now kind of the heart of the Soviet Union. That's something Napoleon learned, many military commanders have learned, you do not want to be fighting in Russia over the winter. So summer of 1941, Hitler figures, hey, this is the Axis chance. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
This is something, or Russia in the winter. Russia is obviously now kind of the heart of the Soviet Union. That's something Napoleon learned, many military commanders have learned, you do not want to be fighting in Russia over the winter. So summer of 1941, Hitler figures, hey, this is the Axis chance. And so in June, he decides to attack the Soviet Union. So Soviet Union, attack the Soviet Union. So this is a very, very, very bold move because now they're fighting the British. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So summer of 1941, Hitler figures, hey, this is the Axis chance. And so in June, he decides to attack the Soviet Union. So Soviet Union, attack the Soviet Union. So this is a very, very, very bold move because now they're fighting the British. Remember, the British are kind of not a joke to be battling out here in Western Europe. And now they're going to be taking on the Soviet Union in the East, a major world power. But at first, like always, it seems like it's going well for the Germans. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So this is a very, very, very bold move because now they're fighting the British. Remember, the British are kind of not a joke to be battling out here in Western Europe. And now they're going to be taking on the Soviet Union in the East, a major world power. But at first, like always, it seems like it's going well for the Germans. By September, they're able to push up all the way to Leningrad. So this is September of 1941. And lay siege and began laying siege to that town. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
But at first, like always, it seems like it's going well for the Germans. By September, they're able to push up all the way to Leningrad. So this is September of 1941. And lay siege and began laying siege to that town. This is kind of a long, bloody siege that happens there. So we're right now, right about there. And most historians would tell you that this was one of the mistakes of Adolf Hitler because now he is stretched very, very, very thin. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And lay siege and began laying siege to that town. This is kind of a long, bloody siege that happens there. So we're right now, right about there. And most historians would tell you that this was one of the mistakes of Adolf Hitler because now he is stretched very, very, very thin. He has to fight two world powers, Soviet Union and Great Britain. And the United States hasn't entered into the war yet. And that's what we're about to get into. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And most historians would tell you that this was one of the mistakes of Adolf Hitler because now he is stretched very, very, very thin. He has to fight two world powers, Soviet Union and Great Britain. And the United States hasn't entered into the war yet. And that's what we're about to get into. Because if we go into Asia, still in 1941, what happens in July, so a little bit after Hitler decides to start invading the Soviet Union, going back on the pact, the non-aggression pact, in July, you can imagine the US, they were never pleased with what's been happening, what the Empire of Japan has been doing in the Pacific, what they've been doing in China, in Manchuria, or even in terms of the war in China, the Second Sino-Japanese War. They weren't happy of the Japanese taking over French Indochina. And there's a big world power here in the Empire of Japan. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And that's what we're about to get into. Because if we go into Asia, still in 1941, what happens in July, so a little bit after Hitler decides to start invading the Soviet Union, going back on the pact, the non-aggression pact, in July, you can imagine the US, they were never pleased with what's been happening, what the Empire of Japan has been doing in the Pacific, what they've been doing in China, in Manchuria, or even in terms of the war in China, the Second Sino-Japanese War. They weren't happy of the Japanese taking over French Indochina. And there's a big world power here in the Empire of Japan. There's a big world power here in the United States that has a lot of possessions in the Pacific. And so the United States in July of 1941, so remember this is still all 1941, this is the same year, decides to freeze the assets of Japan and probably the most important part of that was an oil embargo. An oil embargo of Japan. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And there's a big world power here in the Empire of Japan. There's a big world power here in the United States that has a lot of possessions in the Pacific. And so the United States in July of 1941, so remember this is still all 1941, this is the same year, decides to freeze the assets of Japan and probably the most important part of that was an oil embargo. An oil embargo of Japan. And this is a big, big deal. Japan is fighting a major conflict with the Chinese, it's kind of flexing its imperial muscles, but it does not have many natural resources in and of itself. In fact, that's one of the reasons why it's trying to colonize other places, to get more control of natural resources. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
An oil embargo of Japan. And this is a big, big deal. Japan is fighting a major conflict with the Chinese, it's kind of flexing its imperial muscles, but it does not have many natural resources in and of itself. In fact, that's one of the reasons why it's trying to colonize other places, to get more control of natural resources. And now if it's fighting a war, it doesn't have its own oil resources and now there's an oil embargo of Japan. And the United States at the time was a major oil producer and actually even today it's a major oil producer. This was a big deal to the Japanese because some estimates say that they only had about two years of reserves and they were fighting a war where they might deplenish their reserves even more. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
In fact, that's one of the reasons why it's trying to colonize other places, to get more control of natural resources. And now if it's fighting a war, it doesn't have its own oil resources and now there's an oil embargo of Japan. And the United States at the time was a major oil producer and actually even today it's a major oil producer. This was a big deal to the Japanese because some estimates say that they only had about two years of reserves and they were fighting a war where they might deplenish their reserves even more. So you can imagine the Japanese, they wanna have their imperial ambitions. They probably want, especially now with this oil embargo, they probably want to take over more natural resources and they probably wanna knock out the US or at least keep the US on its heels so the US can't stop Japan from doing what it wants to do. So all at once in December, December 1941, it's over the course of December 7th and 8th and it gets a little confusing because a lot of this happens across the international dateline, but over the course of December 7th and 8th, Japan goes on the offensive in a major way in the Pacific. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
This was a big deal to the Japanese because some estimates say that they only had about two years of reserves and they were fighting a war where they might deplenish their reserves even more. So you can imagine the Japanese, they wanna have their imperial ambitions. They probably want, especially now with this oil embargo, they probably want to take over more natural resources and they probably wanna knock out the US or at least keep the US on its heels so the US can't stop Japan from doing what it wants to do. So all at once in December, December 1941, it's over the course of December 7th and 8th and it gets a little confusing because a lot of this happens across the international dateline, but over the course of December 7th and 8th, Japan goes on the offensive in a major way in the Pacific. Over the course of really several hours, at most a day, Japan is able to attack Malaya, which is a British possession. It's able to attack Pearl Harbor where the US Pacific Fleet is. It hopes to knock out the US Pacific Fleet so the US will have trouble stopping Japan from doing whatever Japan wants to do. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So all at once in December, December 1941, it's over the course of December 7th and 8th and it gets a little confusing because a lot of this happens across the international dateline, but over the course of December 7th and 8th, Japan goes on the offensive in a major way in the Pacific. Over the course of really several hours, at most a day, Japan is able to attack Malaya, which is a British possession. It's able to attack Pearl Harbor where the US Pacific Fleet is. It hopes to knock out the US Pacific Fleet so the US will have trouble stopping Japan from doing whatever Japan wants to do. In the US, we focus a lot on Pearl Harbor, but this was just one of the attacks in this whole kind of several hours of attacks where Japan went on the offensive. So we have Malaya, we have Pearl Harbor, we have Singapore, we have Guam, which was a US military base. You have Wake Island. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
It hopes to knock out the US Pacific Fleet so the US will have trouble stopping Japan from doing whatever Japan wants to do. In the US, we focus a lot on Pearl Harbor, but this was just one of the attacks in this whole kind of several hours of attacks where Japan went on the offensive. So we have Malaya, we have Pearl Harbor, we have Singapore, we have Guam, which was a US military base. You have Wake Island. You have the Philippines, which was a US possession ever since the Spanish-American War. You have Hong Kong, which is a British possession. And then shortly after that, as you get further into December, so this is when you have kind of Japan attacks, Japan offensive, all right, Japan offensive. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
You have Wake Island. You have the Philippines, which was a US possession ever since the Spanish-American War. You have Hong Kong, which is a British possession. And then shortly after that, as you get further into December, so this is when you have kind of Japan attacks, Japan offensive, all right, Japan offensive. And then as you go into later December, the kind of real prize for Japan was what we now call Indonesia, but the Dutch East Indies. On this map, it says Netherlands East Indies. But you gotta remember, the Netherlands had been overrun. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
And then shortly after that, as you get further into December, so this is when you have kind of Japan attacks, Japan offensive, all right, Japan offensive. And then as you go into later December, the kind of real prize for Japan was what we now call Indonesia, but the Dutch East Indies. On this map, it says Netherlands East Indies. But you gotta remember, the Netherlands had been overrun. They're the low countries. They were already overrun by German forces. So the Japanese say, hey, look, there's a lot of resources here, natural resources, especially oil. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
But you gotta remember, the Netherlands had been overrun. They're the low countries. They were already overrun by German forces. So the Japanese say, hey, look, there's a lot of resources here, natural resources, especially oil. Let's go for this. And so by the end of 1941, they're also going for the Dutch East Indies and for Burma. So you can imagine, it's a very aggressive, very, very bold move on Japan, but they kind of had imperial ambitions. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So the Japanese say, hey, look, there's a lot of resources here, natural resources, especially oil. Let's go for this. And so by the end of 1941, they're also going for the Dutch East Indies and for Burma. So you can imagine, it's a very aggressive, very, very bold move on Japan, but they kind of had imperial ambitions. They were short on or they were afraid of kind of their access to natural resources, so they went for it. But obviously, one of the major consequences of this is the United States was not happy about this, and they were already sympathetic to the Allies. They didn't like what was going on in Europe either. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
So you can imagine, it's a very aggressive, very, very bold move on Japan, but they kind of had imperial ambitions. They were short on or they were afraid of kind of their access to natural resources, so they went for it. But obviously, one of the major consequences of this is the United States was not happy about this, and they were already sympathetic to the Allies. They didn't like what was going on in Europe either. They didn't like what was going on in China. And so that causes the United States to enter into World War II on the side of the Allies, and then the Axis powers to declare war on the United States, which was a big deal. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |
They didn't like what was going on in Europe either. They didn't like what was going on in China. And so that causes the United States to enter into World War II on the side of the Allies, and then the Axis powers to declare war on the United States, which was a big deal. | 1941 Axis momentum accelerates in WW2 The 20th century World history Khan Academy (2).mp3 |