Download A World in Flames

Bell Ringer
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On a scale of 0-4 how much do you know
about WWII?
What is one thing you would like to know
about America’s involvement in WWII?
A World in Flames
Chapter 24
America and the World
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Wilson intended for democracy to be spread
throughout the world
Instead, the treaty along with the economic
depression that followed lead to the rise of
antidemocratic governments in Europe and Asia
There are four major anti-democracies that arise
during this time: Mussolini and Fascism in Italy,
Stalin and Communism in the USSR, Hitler and
Nazism in Germany, and Militarists in Japan
America and the World
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Benito Mussolini returned from WWI convinced that Italy
needed a stronger leader
In 1919 he founded the Fascist Party
Fascists say that the nation is more important than the
individual, that individualism makes a country weak
It also believes that a strong government comes from a
dictatorship that expands territory and building up its military
Mussolini was backed by Blackshirts, or Fascist militia, who
“defended” Rome from Communists
The King was persuaded into appointing Mussolini as the
premier, where he quickly turned Italy into a dictatorship—in
which he was the dictator
America and the World
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Vladimir Lenin lead the Bolshevik Party by
uniting the Russian Empire (USSR) and
spreading communism throughout
Lenin established control over these territories
and instituted one-party rule, suppressed
individual liberties and punished opponents
When Lenin died, Joseph Stalin became
dictator and killed 8 to 10 million peasants
who resisted the Communist policies
America and the World
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Adolf Hitler was an anticommunist and an admirer
of Mussolini
Hitler fought for Germany in WWI
The Versailles Treaty left him with hatred for the
Allies and the German government who accepted the
treaty
The political and economic chaos lead to new
political parties such as the National Socialist
German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party—which did
not represent workers but rather focused on
nationalism and anticommunism
America and the World
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The Nazis tried to march on Munich and then try to take
Germany by marching on Berlin, the capital—Hitler was
arrested
While in prison he wrote Mein Kampf or “My Struggle”
which said all German should unite under one government
and that Germany belong to the blond, blue-eyed that were
part of the “master race” called Aryans
He called for Germany to expand into Poland and Russia
He believed that Slavic people belonged to an inferior race
and that Jews were to blame for Germany’s defeat and the
world’s problems
America and the World
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After his release from prison, Hitler changed
tactics, he went from violence to trying to get
Nazis elected to the Reichstag, or lower
Parliament
When the Great Depression struck, many
Germans began voting for radical parties such
as Nazis and Communists, by `32 the Nazis
were the largest party in the Reichstag
America and the World
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Many German leaders felt that if they helped Hitler
into leadership, they could control him
In 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor, or prime
minister
Once in power, Hitler ordered Storm Troopers (Nazi
paramilitary units) to intimidate voters away from
Socialist and Communist parties
By 1934 Hitler became president, renamed it fuhrer,
and a year later began rebuilding the military in
violation of the Treaty of Versailles
America and the World
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Economic hardship helped undermine the political system of
Japan as well
Japan was having to import nearly all their resources
In the 20s Japan didn’t earn enough from exports to pay for
imports, leading to unemployment and limited economic
growth
When the Depression struck, many countries raised tariffs
making the problem worse
Many Japanese blamed corrupt politicians and believed that
Japan was destined to dominate East Asia; they also felt that
democracy was “un-Japanese”
America and the World
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Japanese officers, acting without the government’s
permission, invaded Manchuria as a way to get
needed resources
The Japanese prime minister tried to end the war, but
was assassinated by Japanese officers which
effectively lead to military rule over Japan
The military rulers were appointed as prime
ministers and the nationalist policy was to expand
the empire
America and the World
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The rise of dictatorships made Americans discouraged about
the sacrifices they had made to get involved in WWI
Americans began to support isolationism again, or the idea
that to avoid going to war, America should avoid
international commitments
These ideas became stronger in the 30s because the only
debtor nation to repay WWI debts was Finland and dozens of
books and articles appeared arguing that weapons
manufactures tricked the US into WWI
The Nye Committee investigated the US’s involvement in
WWI, finding that arms factories made huge profits and made
the impression that these businesses influenced the US to go
to war
America and the World
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Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935 which
made it illegal to sell arms to any country at war, due
to the Spanish Civil War, the US added to the act by
saying sales to either side of a civil war was also
illegal
During the Spanish Civil War Fancisco Franco lead
the Fascists against other groups such as the
Communists
Russia supported the communists, Hitler and
Mussolini supported Franco
America and the World
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Hitler and Mussolini signed an agreement pledging
to cooperate, creating the Rome-Berlin Axis
Shortly after this Japan allied itself with Germany by
signing the Anti-Comintern Pact, requiring the two
countries exchange info about Communist groups
Together Germany, Japan and Italy became known
as the Axis Powers, although they did not become
allies until Sept. 1940
America and the World
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With the situation in Europe getting worse,
the US passed the Neutrality Act of 1937
which created a “cash and carry” policy for all
goods sold to warring nations—those nations
had to come pick up their goods, and pay
cash, no loans allowed
The reason they did this was to avoid going to
war over attacks on merchant ships—one of
the reasons the US went into WWI
America and the World
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FDR knew that fixing the Depression was the most
important problem at the time
He was not an isolationist however, he believed in
internationalism which says that trade between
countries creates prosperity and helps prevent war
He did believed that the US should try to preserve
world peace
FDR warned that the neutrality acts may cause us to
go to war instead of keeping us out, but he did not
veto them, since the public supported neutrality
America and the World
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When Japan launched a full attack on China, FDR
sent help to China, saying that the Neutrality Acts
did not apply since neither country officially
declared war
FDR warned the nation that we should not stand by
and let lawlessness infect the world
Americans ignored FDR, refusing to risk another
war, to which he replied “It is a terrible thing to look
over your shoulder when you are trying to lead—and
find no one there”
World War II Begins
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It is not known whether FDR could have negotiated
peace with Hitler, what is known is that once Hitler
raised his army, he was bent on conquest and many
European leaders gave into his demands, hoping for
peace, rather than trying to stop him
Some wanted to avoid a bloody conflict like WWI,
some thought that Hitler was not being unreasonable
and others believed that the Nazis would be
interested in peace once they gained more territory
World War II Begins
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Hitler first turned his attention to Austria and
Czechoslovakia
By seizing them he would gain food supplies,
defensible frontiers, and soldiers for Germany
He threatened to invade Austria, but the
chancellor gave in, which lead to Hitler
announcing Anschluss, or unification with
Germany
World War II Begins
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People accepted Hitler taking Austria, since the two countries
had so much in common
When Hitler went after Czechoslovakia, it was a democracy
backed by France and the Soviet Union
Germany demanded the Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia,
so France said they would fight, as did the SU and the British
prime minister, Neville Chamberlain
However, to prevent another war, Britain, France, Germany
and Italy met in Munich, and decided on appeasement, giving
concessions to Hitler in exchange for peace—Czechoslovakia
had to turn over the Sudetenland
World War II Begins
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Supporters of appeasement assumed that Hitler
would be satisfied
Chamberlain was buying time for the British army,
since they were not prepared yet
That following March, Germany went into
Czechoslovakia and broke of the country creating
Slovakia, a German satellite state, and Czech lands a
German protectorate
World War II Begins
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After the Munich Conference, Hitler turned his
sights on Poland
He demanded that Danzig, a Baltic Sea port, be
returned to Germany and that a highway and RR be
put across the Polish Corridor, which separated
Germany from Prussia (a German state)
This convinced France and Britain that appeasement
had failed; Britain and France declared they would
help Poland if Germany attacked
World War II Begins
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Germany proposed a nonaggression treaty with the
Soviets, who agreed
Stalin believed the way to stay safe was to turn the
capitalist nations against each other, and when
Germany attacked, USSR would be safe
The Nazi-Soviet pact shocked the world since they
were supposed to be against each other
France and Britain knew that the deal freed Hitler for
war against Poland, what they did not know was that
USSR and Germany secretly planned to divide
Poland
World War II Begins
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On Sept. 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, on Sept.
3, Britain and France declared war on Germany,
officially starting WWII
Poland resisted Germany, but the Germans used a
new type of warfare called blitzkrieg or lightening
war—using large numbers of massed tanks to break
through and encircle the enemy, then used aircraft
and paratroopers to cut supply lines
On September 27 the Polish capital of Warsaw fell
and by October 5 the Polish army was defeated
World War II Begins
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Western Europe remained quiet during the sitzkrieg,
or sitting war (the British called it the Bore War, and
the Americans called it the Phony War) where both
sides sat on the defense waiting for the other to
attack
During WWI the French had developed the Maginot
Line, a concrete barrier on the German-French
boarder where the French waited for the Germans
This allowed the Germans to focus on Poland before
moving on to France and Britain
World War II Begins
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After Poland, Hitler attacked Norway and Denmark
before invading France (which only took one month
for Germany to control)
Hitler decided to go around the Maginot Line by
attacking the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium
When Hitler attacked he came through Luxembourg,
while the British and French expected him to come
through Belgium, the Germans easily came through
France, to the English Channel, trapping British and
French forces in the Belgium
World War II Begins
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The Germans drove the surviving French and British
troops toward the English Channel
The Allies knew they needed to escape by sea, but
Germany controlled all northern French ports except
Dunkirk
As Hitler closed in on the forces at Dunkirk, he
ordered them to stop (no one knows why)
This gave Britain a three day delay to evacuate what
they thought would be about 45,000 troops, instead
everything from warships to civilian sailboats
rescued 338,000 British and French troops
World War II Begins
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The evacuation left a large amount of the
British’s supplies at Dunkirk
On June 22, 1940 France surrendered in the
same railway car in which the Germans
surrendered in WWI, giving Germany most of
northern France and it’s Atlantic coastline
Hitler then set up a puppet government to run
France
World War II Begins
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Winston Churchill took Neville Chamberlain’s place
as prime minister
He declared that Britain would never surrender, so
Hitler ordered an attack
The challenge for Germany was getting to Britain,
the waters of the channel were choppy and Germany
had few ships, the British air force would sink them
Germany knew they had to defeat the air force to
attack Britain
World War II Begins
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In June 1940, the Luftwaffe, or German air force, attacked
British shipping, then they launched an air battle to take out
the British Royal Air Force
The air battle lasted into the fall, became known as the Battle
of Britain
On Aug. 23 German bombers accidentally bombed London,
causing rage by the British, who bombed Berlin the next
night (the first time bombs were dropped in Berlin)
The British endured the bombing by using newly developed
radar and hiding in subways when they saw German planes
coming
The British fighters inflicted more losses than they suffered,
leading to Hitler canceling the invasion of Britain
View of a V-1 rocket in
flight, ca. 1944.
Aircraft spotter on the roof
of a building in London. St.
Paul's Cathedral is in the
background.
"Children of an eastern suburb of
London, who have been made
homeless by the random bombs of
the Nazi night raiders, waiting
outside the wreckage of what was
their home."
Bell Ringer
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The American public did not truly take in the
horror of Adolf Hitler’s regime until years
after the existence of concentration camps
was first reported in American newspapers.
Partly this was the fault of the media, which
did not give prominent placement to news of
the Holocaust. What other factors do you
think contributed to the long delay in
understanding the Holocaust?
Common Board
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Objective:
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Learning Goal/Standard:
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Students will analyze the Holocaust (Hitler’s “final
solution”), its impact on Jews and other groups, and
postwar trials of war criminals.
SS.912.A.6.3—Analyze the impact of the Holocaust
during World War II on the Jews as well as other
groups
Essential Question:
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Could the United States have done more to prevent
the Holocaust?
Self-Reflection
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It’s quite possible that you already know a lot about
the Holocaust.
Rate yourself 0-4 on how well you think you know it
(0 being I’ve never heard it, 2 being I know some key
terms and main ideas, 4 being you could teach it)
If you are a 0-2 write what you do know about the
Holocaust and then say what you would like to know.
If you are a 3-4 what can you do to expand your
understanding beyond just memorizing facts
The Holocaust
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The Holocaust occurred when Nazis killed nearly 6
million Jews and millions of other people they
considered inferior
Shoah is the Hebrew word for catastrophe, is now
used specifically for The Nazi campaign to
exterminate Jews
Once the Nazis took over, they put Hitler’s radical
ideas in place, persecuted anyone who opposed
them, were disabled, Gypsies, homosexuals, Slavic
people and Jews
The Holocaust
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In Sept. 1935 the Nazis put the Nuremberg Laws in place
which took citizenship away from Jewish Germans and
banned marriage between Jews and other Germans
Two months later, they defined Jews as anyone with at least
one Jewish grandparent, and denied them from voting or
holding office
Jews with German-sounding names had to take Jewish
names, and “J” was marked on their passports
Jews found it very hard to live since they were not allowed to
work anywhere
Many Jews refused to move during early Nazi rule, not
wanting to give up the life they had made, also they thought it
had to get better soon
With a partner…
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Discuss the following: Why did people go
along with things like the Nuremburg Laws?
The Holocaust
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A young Jew killed a German diplomat in Paris as retaliation
for the treatment of Jews
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Hitler ordered a staged attacks that made it look like a spontaneous
reaction to the news
The killing spree became known as Kristallnacht or “night of
broken glass”—where 90 Jews died, thousands of businesses
were destroyed and nearly 200 synagogues were wreaked
The Gestapo, German secret police, arrested 20,000 wealthy
Jews releasing them only if they would emigrate and
surrender all their possessions
The Nazis also ordered that the Jewish community pay for the
damage done during Kristallnacht
On a scale…
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Rate how you understand the Nazis’ goals in
carrying out Kristallnacht.
The Holocaust
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Many Jews began trying to escape, including
Albert Einstein and Otto Frank
In 1938 the American consulate in Stuttgart,
Germany received 100,000 applications for
visas
Many would not receive visas to the US or
any other country, leaving them stuck in Nazi
territories
With a partner…
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Discuss the following: knowing what they
knew then, did the United States have a moral
obligation to allow German Jews to immigrate
here?
Why do you think they refused?
The Holocaust
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The idea of allowing immigration in the US was not
popular for several reasons
First, the public feared they would have to take care
of the Jews since they were not allowed to take any
wealth when leaving the country
Second, other countries were not accepting them
Third, unemployment was already high due to the
Great Depression, and people did not want to raise
the 150,000 limit allowed in the country
The Holocaust
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Ships still departed with Jews crammed on them
even though Mexico, Paraguay, Argentina and Costa
Rica refused to allow Jews with fake documents
The SS St. Louis entered Havana, Cuba with 930
refugees which Cuba refused to take; They circled
off the coast of Florida trying to get the US to take
them, but the US also refused
They returned to Europe where most died in the
Nazi’s “final solution”
The Holocaust
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In Jan. of 1942 Nazi leaders met at the Wannsee
Conference to determine the “final solution of the
Jewish question”
Some solutions had included shooting them and
piling them in mass graves while others said to pile
them in trucks and pump exhaust fumes to kill them
At Wannsee the Nazis planned to put healthy people
to work in concentration camps until they dropped
dead and put old, young and infirm in extermination
camps, where they would be gassed to death
The Holocaust
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The Nazis established their first concentration camp in 1933
Buchenwald was the first and largest but had no gas
chambers, but hundreds died as a result of exhaustion and
living conditions
Most extermination camps were built in Poland, including
Treblinka and Auschwitz
Auschwitz alone housed 100,000 people in 300 prison
barracks; the gas chamber killed 2,000 people at a time and
killed 12,000 people in a day
An estimated 1.6 million died there, 1.3 million were Jews
On a scale…
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On a scale of 1 – 4, rate your knowledge of
the Holocaust.
With a partner…
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There have been countless instances of genocide
throughout history; even in the modern day, we
hear of massive bloodshed as people are
murdered simply because of who they are.
Discuss why you think we pay so much attention
to the Holocaust in Germany as opposed to other
instances of genocide? What makes the
Holocaust so interesting to us?
Why is the Holocaust historically significant?
Exit ticket and Assignment
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Looking back at what you wrote at the beginning
of the lesson, did you learn something new?
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If you were already comfortable with the material,
did you gain any new insight or did any of your
thoughts change
Explain
Assignment: Continue conducting research for
your essay that is due on Friday. If finished with
that, begin working on vocabulary. Your next
test is April 23rd!
Bell Ringer
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What is significant about December 7, 1941?
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If you don’t know, make your best educated
guess.
America Enters the War
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Shortly after the war started, FDR asked
Congress to revise the neutrality laws
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Public backed dropping the ban on arms sales to
warring nations, but isolationists asked for
weapons to be paid for in cash and shipped on the
buyers ships
FDR gave Britain 50 old destroyers in
exchange for bases, since there was no “sale”
the neutrality acts didn’t apply
America Enters the War
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The public supported FDR in his deal, showing a
change in the public who now supported limited aid
to the Allies
Opinion was not unified though; at one extreme was
Fight for Freedom Committee who urged the repeal
of the Neutrality Acts and stronger action against
Germany, on the other side was the America First
Committee who was strict isolationists
The election of 1940 showed that the public wanted
to keep a president they knew
America Enters the War
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After the election FDR stated that Britain fought for
democracy and we had to help
He said that the US and Britain stood for the four basic
freedoms: Freedom on speech, freedom of worship, freedom
from want and freedom from fear
FDR came up with the Lend-Lease Act which allowed the US
to lend or lease arms to any country “vital to the defense of
the US”—this opened the door to send weapons to Britain
By the end, the US had contributed more than 40B in supplies
to Allies
This aide would help the SU as well after Hitler violated the
Nazi-Soviet pact and Churchill and FDR said anyone who
fights Nazism will have their support
America Enters the War
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FDR still had to figure out how to get the arms to
Britain, since the US was still neutral
He declared the Western part of the Atlantic part of
the Western Hemisphere, thus neutral allowing the
US Navy to patrol it and reveal German sub
locations
In Aug. 1941 Churchill and FDR met on warships
and agreed on the Atlantic Charter which said the
two leaders would enforce a post war democracy for
the world, nonaggression, free trade, economic
advancement and freedom of the seas
America Enters the War
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Churchill had said that FDR was going to force an
incident to open hostilities with Germany
He didn’t have to though; in Sept. German U-boat
fired on the American destroyer Greer which lead to
FDR ordering “shoot-on-sight” policy toward
Germany subs
Germans retaliated by sinking the Reuben James
killing 115 sailors and creating a tense standoff in
the North Atlantic
America Enters the War
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FDR’s policies toward helping Britain lead to Japan’s attack
on the US
When WWII started, Britain had much of their Navy in the
Pacific protecting its empire
FDR started putting economic pressure on Japan to keep them
from attacking Britain
Congress passed the Export Control Act which allowed the
president to restrict the sale of strategic materials (used for
fighting a war)
FDR blocked the sale of airplane fuel and scrap iron to Japan,
who retaliated by signing a formal alliance with the Axis
Powers
America Enters the War
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FDR thought that his aid to China would have
stopped Japan’s threat to Britain, but it failed so
FDR froze all Japanese assets in the US and sent
MacArthur to the Philippines to build defense there
FDR said he would lift the embargo if Japan
withdrew from Indochina and made peace with
China
Japan decided to attack British and Dutch colonies as
well as the Philippines and Pearl Harbor
America Enters the War
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The thing that finally drew America into the war was the
attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan pretended to go along with negotiations, however, US
Intelligence recovered Japanese communications that made it
clear Japan was preparing to go to war with the US
Commanders at Pearl Harbor received notice that Japan was
going to attack, but Pearl Harbor was not mentioned
Lack of communication lead to the devastating attack, on
December 7, 1941 Japan sank or damaged 21 ships, 188
airplanes and killed 2,403 Americans
The next day FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war
which the Senate voted 82-0 and the House 388-1 in favor of
war on Japan
USS SHAW exploding during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor,
December 7, 1941
America Enters the War
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Hitler did not have to declare war on America
because of the alliance (that was only if Japan was
attacked first) but he grew tired of American attacks
on German subs
He assumed the Japanese would easily take out the
US in the Pacific
He hoped that by helping Japan now, he could count
on them to help with the Soviets after the US was
defeated
On Dec. 11, 1941 Italy and Germany declared war
on the US