United States Involvement in World War II Aim:

1)To learn why the US became involved in WWII

2)Why we wanted to remain neutral

3)Turmoil in Europe

4)US Economy and life during war

Quick Overview of WWII• Time period of 1939-1945

• Involved many countries around the world (definition of World War)

• Two main sides: Allied (Britain, France, Russia (only after Hitler surprise attacked the country) and the United States. The Axis Powers included: Germany, Italy and Japan.

• World Takeover: Not a movie, but real life. Hitler was not only trying, but somewhat succeeding in his goal of taking over the world by invasion. Mussolini of Italy was not far behind. In the late 1930s, this is what was going on in most of Europe.

• US knew of such invasions and problems in Europe, but why get involved in an overseas matter?

Axis Powers

Allied Powers In Blue

The Big Question: Why did the US become involved? • The main reason the US got involved, or dragged into this war is

because of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941.

• December 7, 1941 “A date that will live in infamy”

• Japanese orchestrated a surprise attack on the US Naval Base at sunrise, killing thousands of innocent men stationed there.

• Similar to the 9/11 attacks on the US, no attack on America on our soil will go un punished or un pursued.

• On December 8, 1941, the US declared war on the Japanese Empire.

• Thus, directly involving us in World War II.

Pearl Harbor Attack

But wait…we wanted to remain Neutral

Amidst all of the Holocaust and dictating actions that Europe almost fell to, the United States wanted to remain neutral.

Why get involved in an overseas problem that did not directly affect us while we were trying to pick up the pieces from the Great Depression?

The US could not afford to join another World War at the time, the people simply did not want it.

FDR actually, on a weekly basis, implemented a new way of keeping the public informed on our “neutrality state” – Fireside chats.

He would go on the radio (televisions of the time) and give updates on the state of Europe and how we would remain neutral, for as long as we possibly could. FDR became famous for this.

Europe Falling Apart (1939-1941)• While the US was prospering once again after many dark years,

Europe was not.

• Turmoil in countries such as Germany and Italy led to the rise in power of dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini.

• Hitler tried invading other European countries (by using force) in attempt to step by step, make Germany a super country – with the most territory and power.

• Hitler’s unfortunately “famous” concentration camps were in full effect to get rid of any non-German, white, blond hair, blue eyed race.

• War has begun in many countries

• --All of these factors, and the US didn’t want to get involved in any--

US Economy and Life During Such a War • Because of the newly entered war, US patriotism sky rocketed. The US

gov’t encouraged the sale of “liberty bonds” and rations – ways to save food and money for the Armed forces who needed it most.

• Propaganda was at an all time high

• Many women took their mans job while they were at war and built artillery and planes. “Rosie The Riveters”

• Although the US was at war, surprisingly and strangely the life in the country was overwhelmingly positive. Even the economy was flourishing.

Propaganda During WWII Helped Us Win

Review • US wanted to remain NUETRAL in Europe’s problems

• Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (excellent movie) dragged us into war

• Rising tensions between West Indies area and US also did not help in our fight against those countries

• US life after introduction to WWII was better than expected, but still hard

• Economy was steady and everyone helped out at home

The End By: Nicholas Ferraro