WORLD WAR II

JAPANESE EMPIRE Wanted more living space and resources Japan takes over southeast Asian countries March 1931 – invade Manchuria

Withdrew from the League when confronted League does nothing (other nations see that the League has

no true power)

RAPE OF NANKING December 1937 – Japanese invaded

Nanking, China Brutally tortured and murdered 300,000

people (out of a total of 600,000)

GERMANY BEFORE AND AFTER WWI

GERMANY VIOLATES THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

1933 - Germany began a military buildup and withdrew from the League of Nations.

1936 – Invades the Rhineland (very important industrial area)

1936 – Signed the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact with ItalyAll of these acts violated the Treaty of VersaillesLeague of Nations does nothing

MUSSOLINI ATTACKS ETHIOPIA

Wanting to expand Italian claims, Mussolini wanted to conquer Ethiopia as they had tried to do in previous years.

While the League of Nations condemned this act they did nothing. In fact the British owned

Suez Canal allowed Italian ships with troops and supplies to pass through on to Ethiopia.

AXIS POWERS

US ISOLATIONISM The United States was committed to

neutrality:The Kellogg-Braind PactThe Great DepressionNye Committee – Said the US was dragged

into WWI by bankers and arms dealers who made a profit off of the war

US ISOLATIONISM Neutrality Acts – 1935

Outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war Was also meant to keep the US from making

alliances Anti-war feelings were so strong Congress almost passed an amendment that would require a national vote before the US could declare war

THE MUNICH PACT In March 1938, Hitler

sent an army into Austria and annexed it. Britain and France

promise to protect Czechoslovakia

He then turned his attention to the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. This area was

previously part of Germany

THE MUNICH PACT September 30, 1938 – Hitler signs the Munich

Pact with France and England in order to prevent war Britain and France settled on an appeasement and

allowed Germany to take the Sudetenland as long as they promised not to invade any more territory.

Winston Churchill strongly opposed this decision – he insisted it would lead to war rather than maintain peace.

INVASION OF POLAND Despite the Munich Conference, Hitler sets

his sights on Poland. In order to prevent a war with the USSR,

Hitler meets with Stalin and they sign a Non-aggression pact: 1. Promise not to attack one another2. Divide Poland in half between them

BLITZKRIEG The German invasion of

Poland was the first test of Germany to test their newest military strategy – the blitzkrieg (lightning war) Used fast-moving

airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces, to take enemy defenders by surprise and overwhelm them.

WWII BEGINS! After Germany invaded Poland, Britain and

France declared war on Germany September 3, 1939

On April 4th, 1940 Hitler invades Denmark and NorwayDenmark fell in just four hoursNorway surrendered two months later

LEADERS OF THE WAR

The Axis Powers Allied Powers

Germany Adolf Hitler

Italy Benito Mussolini

Japan Emperor Hirohito General Hideki Tojo

USSR Joseph Stalin

Great Britain Winston Churchill

France Charles de Gaulle

USSR (switches in 1941) Joseph Stalin

United States Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman

THE FALL OF FRANCE In May 1940, Hitler sets his sights on France

and invades. He uses the same path they used before in WWI under the Schlieffen Plan.

In almost one month France falls to Germany. The Germans occupied northern France and left

the southern part to a puppet government called Vichy France.

As a symbol of redemption for Germany’s defeat in WWI, Hitler insists France sign the armistice in the very train car Germany was forced to sign in WWI.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

BATTLE OF BRITAIN With the United States remaining neutral and the Soviet

Union not yet involved, England stood alone against the Nazis.

Hitler’s plan was to first knock out the Royal Air Force (RAF) and then land more than 250,000 soldiers on England’s shores. In the summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe, Germany’s air force,

began bombing Great Britain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT8MEXdr6tw

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Hitler begins daily bombings of Britain hoping to force to surrender (targeting industrial and military sites, major cities, and civilians) Bombings

continued from September 7, 1940 to May 10, 1941

US RESPONSE 1939 – Congress revises the Neutrality

Acts.Some nations could buy arms from US if

they paid cash and carried them home in their own ships (Cash and Carry)

Aimed at Great Britain 1940 – FDR is elected to his 3rd term

Creates 1st peacetime military draftDrafts 1 million men into the military ages

18-38

LEND-LEASE ACT

It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.”

LEND-LEASE ACT

THE ATLANTIC CHARTER July 1941--FDR and Churchill signed the

Atlantic Charter Declare that they had the same goal: to

defeat HitlerUS begins sending our navy to help

ensure shipments of the lend-lease act (and orders German submarines sunk on sight)

JAPANESE ATTACK PEARL HARBOR

Japan needed US oil to fuel their war machine US cut off trade with Japan when they continued

invading nations US expected an attack, but believed the target

would be our base in the Philippines or Malaysia

ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR December 7, 1941—The Japanese

attacked Pearl Harbor, the largest US naval base in the Pacific

Begins at 7:55 on Sunday morning

18 ships damaged or sunk350 planes destroyed (Japanese only lost

27 planes) 2400 dead (including 68 civilians) 1177

casualties from the USS Arizona alone

1178 wounded

December 8, 1941 theUnited States declares war on Japan!

JAPANESE INTERNMENT US citizens feared invasion by Japan Believed Japanese-Americans were spies

and sent 110,000 to relocation centers Also included German-Americans and

Italian-Americans Took away their rights and property Almost 2/3 were US citizens

INTERNMENT CAMPS

AMERICA PREPARES FOR WAR American Mobilization: US converts to a war

economy Creates 7 million jobs (lowered unemployment,

helps end the depression) Convert factories to war production – War

Productions Board Citizens conserve oil, gas, food, etc. 15 million

volunteer or are drafted into the military

250,000 women serve in non-combat military jobs

6 million women join the workforce

Many other minority groups fight for the US

2 million Mexican Americans

1 million African Americans

13,000 Chinese Americans

25,000 Native Americans

33,000 Japanese Americans

SUPPORT AT HOME

Number of people required to pay income taxes increases Introduced withholding

income taxes War Bond Drives

Promoted the purchase of bonds through advertisements, posters, and movie stars

Rationing Government program began

to control how certain resources were distributed.

Some items citizens were limited to the amount they could purchase

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH Randolph proposed a march

on Washington due to racial discrimination in the military

The press predicted over 100,000 people would march on Washington

Roosevelt met with Randolph and issued an executive order - Number 8802, establishing the Fair Employment Practices Committee, which had the authority to investigate and end discrimination in defense industries, federal agencies, and unions.

Randolph called off the march.

BATTLE OF STALINGRAD In the spring of 1942, Hitler wanted to

capture the oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains and the city of Stalingrad.

Germans bombed the city for weeks and weeks. By November they controlled 90% of the city.

BATTLE OF STALINGRAD As winter set in the Soviets led a massive

counterattack. The Germans were soon trapped inside the city cut off from all supplies.

Finally in Feb.1943, 90,000 Germans surrendered of the 330,000 army it started with.

99% of the city was destroyed.

ALLIED POWERS After Germany’s attack against the USSR and

Japan’s attack against the United States; Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States now stood together as the Allied powers along with several other nations.

The tide of the war began to turn late in 1942 with Stalin pushing the Germans west and the United States with

Great Britain pushing the Axis powers out of North Africa.

NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN Allies attacked German-occupied North

Africa.Needed to distract Hitler so Stalin could

mobilize forces May 1943 – The Allies defeat the Germans

commanded by Erwin Rommel

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN July 10, 1943, Allied forces landed in

Sicily. After Sicily was taken, King Victor

Emmanuel III had Mussolini arrested July 25th and surrendered on Sept. 3rd to the Allies.

THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

September 1943 – Hitler invaded Italy and restored order to Mussolini

April 28, 1945 – Mussolini was captured by Italian resistance members and the following day he was executed.

Fighting would continue in Italy until the war ends

99TH PURSUIT SQUADRON

OPERATION OVERLORD D-DAY INVASION

Allies planned the invasion of Germany for 2 years

Led by US General Dwight D. Eisenhower Known as Operation

Overlord USSR would move west into

Poland, while the other Allies moved into occupied France

June 6, 1944—“D-Day” Allies landed on the

beaches of Normandy, France

Largest land-sea-air invasion in history

176,000 troops - 600 ships - 11,000 planes

D-DAY INVASION

Within 1 month, the Allies landed 1 million troops

By September 1944 France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands had been liberated

Cleared the way for an invasion of Germany

BATTLE OF THE BULGE October 1944—US forces invaded Germany Germans responded with a counter-attack in the

Ardennes Mountains Final German offensive of the war Battle of the Bulge lasted 1 month Hitler lost: 120,000 troops 600 tanks/assault guns 1600 planes Germany was forced to retreat after huge losses

FALL OF BERLIN

GERMANY SURRENDERS April 30, 1945—Hitler

committed suicide after the Soviets invade Berlin along with his long-term

mistress, Eva Braun, whom he married the day before)

Many historians believe that he had their bodies burned so they would not meet the same fate as Mussolini

May 7, 1945—Germany surrendered “VE Day”—Victory in Europe

Day

V-E DAY

THE YALTA AND POTSDAM CONFERENCES February 1945—FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (“The

Big Three”) meet to discuss what to do after the war ends

FDR (died April 1945) and Churchill (his party lost majority in parliament) are replaced in the middle of the conference by Harry Truman and Clement Atlee 1-Create the United Nations (UN) 5 powers would have permanent seats on

the Security Council: United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union, France, and China

2-Defeat Japan Stalin agrees to help the United States

defeat Japan in exchange for 2 Japanese Islands (we don’t need his help)

THE YALTA AND POTSDAM CONFERENCES

3-Hold Free Elections Stalin promises to

allow Poland and other occupied nations to hold free elections (he lied)

4-The Division of Germany Allies divide Germany

into 4 zones controlled by the US, Britain, France, and USSR

Each group also controlled a section of Berlin

PACIFIC THEATRE Bushido Samurai Warrior Code was a strict

code that demanded: loyalty devotion honor to the death

Under this code, if a samurai warrior failed to uphold his honor he could regain it by performing seppuku (ritual suicide). – So during WWII if the Japanese were going to lose an island, rather than be captured they would kill themselves before the enemy got there. It was the honorable thing to do. To them it was dishonor to lose a battle and come back alive.

Ex – Guam – in the process of regaining the island 17,000 died and only 400 surrendered. This is only one island.

DIFFICULTIES DELIVERING SUPPLIES

Task for quartermasters – procure, store, and distribute supplies. All of which were difficult for the Pacific Theatre.

Procure: Took time for the US to get

fully industrialized for war Supplies for Europe came

first. Supplies for the Pacific greatly improved after VE-Day

Store: Underdeveloped countries

had poor warehouses to properly store supplies

DIFFICULTIES DELIVERING SUPPLIES High temperatures and

humidity- mold, mildew, rust (even canned items) Rainstorms, exposure to the tropical sun, and insects destroyed supplies. 100,000 cans became spoiled

in one shipment. Clothing would deteriorate

faster and the clothes supply left in storage would rot.

Distribute: Long supply lines – from

6,200 to 8,000 miles Underdeveloped countries

had poor infrastructure – railroads, highways, and communication

DOOLITTLE’S RAID

BATAAN DEATH MARCH

THE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA

BATTLE OF MIDWAY US Admiral Chester Nimitz learned that Japan was

headed for Midway with the largest naval force in history

They planned to continue to Hawaii to destroy what was left of US naval power at Pearl Harbor

Nimitz’s surprise attack was a success Avenges Pearl Harbor and turns the tide of the war

KAMIKAZES

BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF

IWO JIMA & OKINAWA

FDR’S DEATH FDR had been elected to his 4th term in

1944Chose Harry Truman as his vice-president

April 12, 1945 – FDR suffered a stroke and died, making Truman president

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT July 1945--1st atomic bomb was tested and

determined to be more powerful and deadly than originally planned – tested in Los Alamos, New Mexico – cost 2 billion dollars to create it. Truman had to decide whether or not to drop the bomb on

Japan Determined that more lives on both sides would be saved if

we dropped the bomb rather than continue the war

HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI August 6, 1945 - drop 1st atomic bomb

over the city of HiroshimaApproximately 72,000 people were killed

August 9, 1945 – 2nd bomb was dropped on Nagasaki when Japan still refused to surrenderBy December 1945 nearly 200,000 had died

August 15, 1945 – Japan surrenders “VJ Day” Victory in Japan Day

HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI

LEGACY OF THE WARUS becomes THE dominant world powerEconomic Boom demand for US goods

and services increased, more foreign markets open to US

GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act) provided education and loans for veterans

The end of WWII sparked the beginning of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union

22nd Amendment – Limited presidents to serving only two terms

BABY BOOM Rapid population growth after World War 2

At the height of the baby boom in 1957, one infant was born every 7 seconds (4,308,000 that year)

Largest generation in US history

INTEGRATION OF THE ARMED FORCES

Returning African American soldiers began calling for their civil rights

Truman supported civil rights, and when Congress failed to pass proposed civil rights legislation, he signed Executive Order 9981

July 26, 1948-Truman ends segregation in the US military Also prohibited discrimination in government jobs