World War II

D-Day- June 6, 1944

• The Allies began "Operation Overlord", invasion of Europe, controlled by Germany
• The operation wasn't a complete success, because of the large number of casualties (1074) and deaths (359), but it was considered a big deal as the Normandy Landings would serve to be the foothold of the Allies pushing the Germans back out

Primary Historical Evidence

• "http://www.cbc.ca/player/Digital+Archives/War+and+Conflict/Second+World+War..."
• These are some Canadian documentaries/films from war period and a bit later on about what happened on D-Day and soldiers' stories

Secondary Historical evidence

• "http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/normandy-invasion/"
• A recent article from the Canadian Encyclopedia on what happened on D-Day, the planning that took place before it, and the aftermath

Battle of the Scheldt: Sep-Nov, 1944

• The Canadian Army was given the task of clearing the Scheldt River of its German occupiers
• A supply line was needed to be made for the Allies in North-West Europe
• The goal was accomplished but came at a costly price of more than 6000 Canadian casualties (injuries, killed, or missing)

Primary Historical Evidence

• "http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/video-gallery/video/7419"
• A veteran talks about his experience in the Battle of the Scheldt and its importance

Secondary Historical evidence

• "http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/canada-n..."
• An article from Veterans Affairs Canada about what the Battle of the Scheldt was for and how the battle was carried out

hong kong: 1941, December 8-25

• Hong Kong was a politically important territory for the British as it was a symbol of British power in the East
• Originally, the Canadians were sent there just to deter Japanese aggression and slow them down but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, it turned on to a full on attack by the Japanese which caused a LOT of casualties

Primary Historical Evidence

• "http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/war-conflict/second-world-war/general...
• A piece of audio of a man speaking about his experience in Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked

secondary Historical Evidence

• "http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/canadian..."
• An informative article by Veterans Affairs Canada on the attack, defense and aftermath of the Battle of Hong Kong

Cause

• Attacks on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese was the start of the battle in Hong Kong as the attack was a violation of international law, since Japan had not declared war against the British
• Britain wanted to protect their British Crown Colony of Hong Kong so they asked Canada to contribute as well

Cause

• The Second Sino-Japanese War was the reason the Japanese troops were attacking Hong Kong and the attack was the initiation of the World War in the far east. Japan wanted to take over land that belonged to China for the vast natural resources that the Chinese land held

Consequence

• Hong Kong fell to Japan
• Citizens, soldiers, nurses were killed, tortured, and raped
• This horrible treatment went on for 3 years and eight months, until Japan surrendered at the end of the war

Consequence

• There was lots of racial discrimination before the war against these people, especially in British Columbia, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the events that took place in Hong Kong, the “true" Canadians finally had a reason to kick the Japanese out of “their land” once it for all. This discrimination lasted till 1949, 4 years after the war ended
• Image:"https://canadianjapaneseinternmentcamps.wordpress.com"

Consequence

• Heavy losses as 290 soldiers killed in action, nearly 300 more died in captivity
• In 1942, because of fear and resentment, nearly 22000 people of Japanese heritage in Canada were sent to 8 internment camps in British Columbia and many others were deported to Japan

Changes

• The world has changed a lot socially in how we interact with different races and ethnicities
• We are more open to meeting and excepting different types of people and don't judge people based on their nationalities, skin color, and differences (although not all racism has completely vanished, it is a lot less than it was during the war times)

Changes

• The role of women in society has changed
• During war-times, even though the women helped out, their efforts were in vain as they were pushed back down to the role of being "housewives" at the return of the soldiers
• Now, however, the female population is equally valued in society and the idea of females being housewives has mostly vanished

Historical Perspectives

• WWII from the perspectives of the Allies was for democracy and freedom
• The Germans of the time were shown to be tyrants that just wanted to take over the world

Historical Perspectives

• Another view of the war would be from the perspectives of the Germans, who before World War 2 were in an extremely poor state
• Because Germany took part in WW1 against the Entente Powers, after the war they had to face lots of consequences (Versailles Treaty) which lead to the country falling into a very bad shape

Historical perspectives

• And it was because of the bad state of the country that when Hitler came along with the idea of rebelling, the citizens immediately favoured him
• The war then, in a way, was fought for freedom, for both the sides

終わり
The End