World War II 1933-1945. World Affairs, 1933-1939 New Deal Foreign Policy President Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated in 1933 Good Neighbor pledge:

World War II 1933-1945

World Affairs, 1933-1939

New Deal Foreign Policy President Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated in 1933 “Good Neighbor” pledge:

- to respect the sovereign rights of all nations in the Western Hemisphere

I. Peaceful Intentions in Latin America Pan-American Conference at Montevideo (Uruguay):

- The US agreed to the resolution that “no state has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of another”

Roosevelt recalls troops from Haiti and Nicaragua Peaceful diplomatic negotiations made with Cuba and Mexico


Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933 – 1945


II. Domestic Recovery Determines Foreign Decisions Roosevelt’s New Deal = economic isolation:

- US not interested in cooperating with Europe and concentrated on internal agricultural and industrial production problems

1933 London Conference: - 60 European nation met to discuss international depression- Roosevelt refuses to cooperate in fear that American farm prices would inflate

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934:- initiated by Secretary of State Cordell Hull- allowed State Department to make treaties with other countries to mutually lower import duties


III. Recognition of the Soviet Union The United States recognized the government of the Soviet Union after years of

refusing to recognize their communist regime Soviet Union’s communist influence diminished due to internal economic

hardships Japan, the USSR’s rival, also threatened Soviet power Roosevelt took advantage of the Soviet’s need for food and industrial equipment

and therefore opened markets for American farmers and manufacturers Although relations between the Soviet Union and the United States improved,

trade was not significantly improved and Japanese militarism continued to grow


Stalin (USSR) Hirohito (Japan)


Aggression and Appeasement Global affairs and events caused

for alarm and American isolation quickly came to an end

I. Japanese Expansion in the Pacific Japanese pursued policy of

expansion due to population growth and a need for larger markets for its products

September 1931: Japan ignored orders from United Nations to return Manchuria


II. Threats from Germany and Italy March 5, 1933: Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi) party was voted

leader and dictator of Germany with plans to control central and eastern Europe Dictator Benito Mussolini had similar plans to control the Mediterranean and to

expand an Italian empire in parts of Africa Fascism = a form of government that seeks power for their nation Totalitarianism = total control of a nation and the people of that nation

- both Hitler and Mussolini adopted fascism and totalitarianism as their ruling doctrine

Both countries blamed their national problems on “undesirables” after WWI

- Mussolini blamed the communists for causing strikes and social unrest

- Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s economic problems


III. Bargaining for Peace Appeasement = response of Great Britain and France; a policy that gave

aggressor nations what they wanted in order to avoid war Americans wanted peace and did not want to go to war Pacifism = Oxford University students refused to go to war on any account Munich Conference (Sept. 1938): British and French leaders allow Germany to

annex part of Czechoslovakia in return for Hitler’s promise not to make any more territorial demands


IV. Neutrality The United States was determined to avoid war, especially after the economic

devastation from the First World War Neutrality Acts (1935-1937): laws passed by Congress that barred the

transportation of or sale of arms to nations at war, and banned loans to nations at war outside the Western Hemisphere

Roosevelt feared that American involvement in war was inevitable and therefore warned Americans that war was “contagious”

Moving Closer to War

Europe at War March, 1939 : Hitler disobeyed agreement made at Munich Conference and

annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia, as well as demanded for territory in Poland Britain and France asked the Soviet Union to join their alliance in order to

defend Poland and contain Germany Joseph Stalin signed nonaggression pact with Germany


I. Outbreak of War September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland Blitzkrieg = “lightening warfare” (term coined after Hitler’s brutal attack

on Poland) September 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany American Congress lifted Neutrality Acts and allowed Britain and France

to buy weapons

II. Near Disaster at Dunkirk May 1940: German forces defeated Allied Army and drove it out to sea at

the French town of Dunkirk on Belgium border 300,000 + British and French troops rescued by British Royal Navy


III. Battle of Britain June 1940: Italy invaded France and declared war on Great Britain Roosevelt promised to extend aid to the democracies June 22: France surrendered Germany attacked a vulnerable Great Britain “blood, toil, tears, and sweat…” = Winston Churchill pledged to defend his

nation at all costs


America Abandons Neutrality Roosevelt disregarded isolationist sentiments and gave Churchill a loan of

50 destroyers to protect shipping from German submarines

I. America Realizes its Peril Americans feared an invasion from Hitler and Mussolini Selective Service Act (Sept. 1940): first peacetime draft that added 800,000

men to the armed forcesII. Roosevelt’s Leadership Endorsed Presidential election of 1940: Isolationists versus Internationalists Roosevelt re-elected and promised to keep America out of the warIII. Aid to a Desperate Britain Lend-lease = US would lend goods to Great Britain and the British could

pay it back after the war


IV. Battle for the Atlantic The United States had to make sure that lend-lease supplies reached their

destinations before German U-boats sank them Roosevelt ordered the US Navy to protect merchant shipping October 1941: German U-boat sank an American destroyer and killed more than

90 members of its crew Neutrality Acts revised, which allowed merchant ships to carry arms

V. Germany Turns on an Ally June 1941: Hitler attacked Russia for wheat and oil supplies As a result, Stalin signed an alliance with Great Britain and the United States Isolationism faded in support for Roosevelt


Aggression in the Pacific European colonies in Southeast Asia US was the only remaining obstacle Japanese had moved into China and to

Japanese ambitions in the Pacific

I. Embargo September 1940: Japan allied with Axis Powers (Germany and Italy) US cut off exports of scrap metal to Japan and other products with possible military use July 1941: Japan refused to abandon their policy of conquest and the US stopped all trade with them and ordered American forces in the Pacific to prepare for war


II. Appeal for Peace October 18, 1941: Japanese Prime Minister Konoye resigned because he did not

believe that he could defeat the United States Konoye was replaced by General Hideki Tojo who favored war to eliminate

American and British influence in Asia Negotiations opened in Washington, D.C. in November of 1941

III. The Talks Stall December 6, 1941: President Roosevelt appealed for peace to Emperor Hirohito However, Japan had already sent out fleet to sea that headed for the US’s main

naval base in the Pacific – Pearl Harbor

The United States at War

The World at War December 7, 1941: Japan attacked Pearl HarborI. Japanese Victories in the Pacific For 6 months, Japan captured American bases and conquered British

colonies throughout the Pacific American forces in the Philippines surrendered to the JapaneseII. German Success in Europe By 1942, German forces occupied nearly all of Europe, parts of Northern

Africa (eg, the Suez Canal), and they had pushed deep into the Soviet Union

III. Turning Point of the War September 1942: Soviet’s Red Army battled German troops at Stalingrad November 1942: German army was defeated due to freezing winter

conditions


IV. German Weak Point Exposed German campaign in North Africa

came to an end after American and British forces pushed German troops into Tunisia

August 1943: the Italian mainland was invaded and its government surrendered after Mussolini’s defeat in Sicily

Allied forces faced fierce German resisted, who continued to control northern Italy


Victory in Europe American and British forces prepared to defeat Hitler’s armies

I. Normandy Invasion June 6, 1944: 176,000 Allied troops landed along a 60-mile stretch of

coastline in France = “D-Day” invasion General Dwight D. Eisenhower led American forces and General George

Patton led British forces into the western border of Germany (Aug.1944)

II. Rapid Soviet Advance from the East At the same time, the Soviets closed in from the east By the end of 1944, most of eastern Europe was in Soviet hands


III. Germany Surrenders December 1944: Battle of the Bulge = last German offensive to attack Belgium Allied forces crushed Hitler’s armies from the west as Soviet forces pushed from the east April 1945: Hitler committed suicide May 7, 1945: German leaders agreed to an official surrender President Roosevelt died before he could see Germany surrender

IV. Crimes Against Humanity When Allied armies entered Germany, they discovered the horrific truth about the

Holocaust As early as 1942, the US government had received reports that Hitler had ordered the

extermination of Jews, but Roosevelt did not respond until 1944 By the time Allied troops reached the death camps, 12 million people had perished; 6

million were Jews



War in the Pacific Battle of Midway = first major defeat of the Japanese navy that ended their

superiority in the Pacific “Island hopping” = to cut Japanses supply lines by capturing key islands

and to use them as bases to attack other Japanese occupancies

I. Guadalcanal American marines landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942 in the Solomon

Islands where they fought the Japanese for 6 months Japan’s resistance came to an end in 1943 October 1944: American General Douglas MacArthur led Allied forces in

the Philippines


II. Iwo Jima and Okinawa 1945: the last of Japan’s islands outposts fell with the taking of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

with high casualties rates on both sides Because Germany was defeated, the Soviet Union agreed to declare war on Japan and

confronted Japanese forces in Manchuria Japan rejected calls for unconditional surrender

III. Hiroshima and Nagasaki Early in the war, American scientists had secretly been developing an atomic bomb August 6, 1945: after Japan rejected a final warning from Truman (who became

president after Roosevelt’s death), an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and destroyed 60% of the city

A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki after Japan still refused to surrender September 2, 1945: Japan’s final surrender took place on the battleship Missouri in

Tokyo Bay



Wartime Diplomacy Atlantic Charter: on January 1, 1942, representatives of the 26 countries at war

with the Axis Powers agreed to support this charter that promised full economic and military support

Roosevelt and Churchill were the predominant leaders Cooperation with the Soviet Union proved to be the most difficult challenge, but

the alliance between the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union lasted until the end of the war

I. Planning for War and Peace Plans for war and peace were worked out in a series of international conferences

- January 1943: Casablanca, Morocco

- November 1943: Cairo, egypt

-November 1943: Tehran, Iran (D-Day invasion was planned here)


II. Yalta Conference February 1945: Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for the last time where they

agreed that the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France should occupy Germany after the war

Soviet Union was promised Japanese territories and in return Stalin agreed to support the Nationalist government instead of the Communists

III. Roosevelt’s Death 2 months after the Yalta Conference, President Roosevelt died (Apr.12, 1945) and left

the American people shocked and deeply saddenedIV. The United Nations 2 weeks after Roosevelt’s death, 50 nations met at San Francisco to make plans for a

new world organization Produced a charter for the United Nations (UN) that pledged “faith in fundamental

human rights,” to “justice and respect” from all countries that had signed US was the first nation to join the UN

War on the Home Front

The Production Battle After a Senate investigation revealed corruption and mismanagement of

private companies involved in war production, Roosevelt gave a War Production Board regulatory power (1942) headed by Donald Nelson

I. Rapid Conversion to War Production By the end of 1942, nearly 33% of American production went to war materials

(50% by 1944) May 1941: Office of Scientific Research and Development established to

mobilize science and technology for the war effortII. Financing the War Increased taxes and war bonds were initiated to raise funds for the war The war increased employment, wages, and consumer goods Office of Price Administration (1942): set price ceilings on consumer products

and rationed goods that were in short supply in order to combat inflation


Financing the war continued… National War Labor Board: established to settle labor disputes by mediation No strike pledges by major unions AFL & CIO


The War and Social Change As men joined the army, more women that ever entered the work force

I. Women Assume Nontraditional Roles Women were encouraged to join the work force “Rosie the Riveter” = national symbol of the vital contribution women

made to the war effort Women filled “nontraditional” roles (worked on production lines, steel

mills and other jobs that required manual labor, as well as truck and bus drivers)

However, women still encountered resistance from male workers



II. Opportunities for African Americans The need for workers also spread the shift of African Americans from farming to

manufacturing Many African Americans left the South and headed North to find jobs in

factories

III. Resentment Toward Social Change Because many Americans moved to fill jobs in war industries, this caused

housing shortages, crowded schools, and social tension rose Prejudice and resentment against newcomers prevailed Fair Employment Practices Commission: established to protect minority hiring

in government offices and in companies that had war contracts

- opposed discrimination but did not reject segregation


IV. Detention of Japanese Americans February 1942: US government moved 110,000 Japanese Americans to

detention centers (most of whom had been born in the United States) Japanese Americans had to leave behind or sell their possessions In detention centers, they were forced to work low-paying jobs and lived in very

poor conditions Detainees appealed to the courts for their rights, but the justices upheld the

government’s policy for national security

Conclusion

400,000 deaths / 600,000 USA wounded Rise of USSR would lead to a Cold War

between USA and USSR Fear of nuclear annihilation for over 40 yrs

Documents

World War II 1933-1945. World Affairs, 1933-1939 New Deal Foreign Policy President Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated in 1933 Good Neighbor pledge: