Download World War II : The World at War

World War II :
The World at
War
Neutral United States
• 1920s-1930s U.S. practiced isolationism (kept
out of international affairs)
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress
passed the Neutrality Act of 1939 declaring its
wish to isolate itself from overseas conflicts
Lend-Lease
• Despite its neutrality, U.S. helped Britain hold off
Hitler’s forces
– Cash and Carry policy : U.S. offered to sell arms if
Britain paid cash AND transported weapons in their
own ships
– Lend-Lease Act of 1941 : authorized prez to lend or
lease goods to any country if they were helping to
defend the U.S.
Anti-Japanese trade ban
• Japanese aggression against China, French
Indochina, & the Dutch East Indies led to
strong protests in U.S.
• 1940 : President FDR banned all export of
materials vital (necessary) to Japanese
industry
– ban included petroleum (gas) & scrap metal
Blitzkrieg
• 1940 - Hitler uses Blitzkrieg (lightning war)
tactics = crushed opposing forces with speed
and mobility
– Troops & artillery in vehicles aided by planes and
tanks
• April 1940 – Germany conquers Norway &
Denmark, then Belgium & Holland in May
Invasion of France
• June 1940 - French surrendered & Italy enters war
• Germany splits France into 2 parts:
– Occupied France & Vichy France
• Occupied France = controlled by German forces
• Vichy France = French fascist paramilitary
organization, The Milice
Britain stands alone
• United States remains neutral, but sent food
and arms to British
• Britain aided by its colonies and former
colonies
Battle of Britain
• August 1940 – Germans begin bombing British
cities, industrial areas, seaports, & military
installations
• Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspired
British people
• British Royal Air Force destroyed large
numbers of German planes
• June 1941 – aid raids eased off
Eastern Front
• Late 1940 – Hungary and Rumania joined Axis
Powers, Bulgaria in 1941
• Yugoslavia & Greece defeated; Germans
control all of the Balkans
Soviet Union
• June 1941 – Hitler invades Soviet Union
– Germans wanted farmlands and oil
• Britain & U.S. aided the Soviets w/ food & arms
– December – Soviet army counterattacks = winter
weather halts Germans
Pearl Harbor
• U.S. ban = Japan’s oil supplies drop = Japan gets
desperate
• December 7, 1941 – Japanese planes bombed U.S.
Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
– Most of U.S. fleet destroyed or severely damaged
• President Roosevelt requests declaration of war on
Japan = Congress agrees December 8, 1941
– 3 days later : Germany & Italy declared war on U.S.
Allied Strategy in Europe
• Jan. 1942 : U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, & 23 nations
sign Declaration of United Nations
– Strategy : concentrate on Europe first, then Pacific
• North Africa
– 1942-1943 : Allied Powers fight Germans to win back
whole of North Africa by May
• Eastern Front
– 1943 : Germans suffer defeat at Stalingrad
– Russians pushed Germany west all the way to Berlin,
Germany in April 1945
Italian Campaign
• July 1943 - Allies invade Sicily
– Mussolini forced out of office & imprisoned by Italian
King (later shot & dragged through streets)
• Italians join Allies, but Germans continue to fight
– 1944 : Rome fell to Allies
– 1945 : German loses Northern Italy
D-Day
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wUjZpPNsxI
• June 6, 1944 – U.S. General Eisenhower led Allied
troops across English Channel to shores of
Normandy, France
• Americans pushed Germans out of France, Belgium,
and Holland
– Dec 1944 : Germany’s last offense in Battle of the Bulge
in Belgium, but quickly pushed back into Germany
Fall of Hitler
• March 1945 : Allies move into Germany from
west as Soviets move into Berlin from east
– Hitler committed suicide
• May 7 : German leaders surrender
– Next day : V-E Day (Victory in Europe) declared