World War II: Technology, Tactics, Atrocities

World War Two: Total War
Technology
Tactics
Atrocities

When does WWII Begin?
December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor
September 1940: Tripartite Pact
October 1936: Anti-Comintern Pact
September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
March 15, 1939: Seizure of Czechoslovakia
1935-36: Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
July 7, 1937: Marco Polo Bridge Incident
September 18, 1931: Mukden Incident

Even More Total War
The total committment of human, economic and social resources to the pursuit of military success.
The targetting and destruction of economic and human resources beyond the battlefield, including civilian populations.
Approx. 2/3rds of WWII deaths: Civilians

Air War
Jet engine aircraft
Aircraft carriers
RADAR
air defense networks, anti-aircraft artillery
Missiles: German V-1 and V-2 rockets
Tactical and Strategic Bombing
Incendiary weapons
Atomic weapons

Sea War
Aircraft Carriers
Submarines and U-Boats
Torpedoes
SONAR (and RADAR)
Japanese Gyokusai (Shattered Jewel) attacks, a.k.a. Kamikaze (Divine Wind)

Land War
Tanks, automobiles and mobile artillery
Blitzkrieg - motorized armored divisions with close air support
Maginot Line - French Fortifications
Combined Land/Sea/Air operations
Compact Radio Communications
Automatic weapons

Science and Technology
Physics
RADAR, SONAR, Atomic Weapons, Missiles
Bombing Optics
Computers
Scheduling
Census and Conscription Data
Code making/Code breaking
Chemical Replacements (ersatz)
nylon/polyesters, margarine, bakelite plastics, synthetic rubber

War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
As in past wars, post-war treaties redefine many tactics accepted in wartime as unacceptable in future conflicts
Unlike past wars, post-war War Crimes trials target activities not previously defined as illegal: genocide, aggression
"Just following orders," a.k.a. the Nuremberg Defense, explicitly rejected, creating individual culpability for execution of policy.

Atrocities: Allied
US
internment of Japanese-Americans
bombardment of Japanese cities: Tokyo firestorm and ATOMIC WEAPONS
unwillingness to take prisoners in Pacific theater
Poor treatment of German POWs in immediate post-war.
British: terroristic bombardment of German cities, esp. Dresden (firestorm) and Berlin
USSR: mass execution of Nazi POWs; widespread rape and murder of German civilians; cultural theft

Mitigating Factors?
"they did it first"
Differences of scale and intent
Utility: Ending the war more quickly kinder than waging it fairly?
Avoiding cultural treasures, at least in Japan
Reconstruction and Democratization; Heavy investment in rebuilding
Apology, discipline, rectification.

Atrocities: Japan
aerial bombardment of Chinese cities
"Rape of Nanjing" and other violence against occupied civilian populations
"Comfort women" - forced prostitution
biological and chemical warfare
treatment of POWs - biological and chemical experimentation, camps and executions; illegal labor; "Bataan Death March"
Battle of Okinawa: civilian sacrifices, either in attack, forced suicide or execution

Atrocities: Germany
aerial bombardment of British cities
abuse of occupied populations
biological/medical experimentation
Cultural Theft from individuals and public collections
Mass murder: Holocaust, genocide, ethnic cleansing

War Crimes Trials
Nuremberg
Crimes Against Humanity
"Just following orders" defense rejected
Tokyo International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Violation of 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact as underlying criminal act
"Victor's Justice"?

Sources
Background Image: Grumman TBF-1C Avenger torpedo bomber (1942) model at Smithsonian Air&Space Museum. Picture by Jonathan Dresner
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jondresner/
http://secondworldwar.co.uk/index.php/fatalities

World War II: Technology, Tactics, Atrocities

by Jonathan Dresner

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