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WWII Notes
Ch 26
Section 1
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The Rise of Totalitarianism
– Totalitarianism-A political system in which the government controls every aspect of
citizens’ lives. Example: Italy, Germany, Soviet Union, Japan.
Italy
– Fascism- a political philosophy in which total power is given to a dictator and individual
freedoms are denied and nationalism and, often, racism are emphasized.
– The rise of Fascism was a cause of World War II
– Benito Mussolini-Fascist dictator of Italy
Germany
– Adolf Hitler-Fascist dictator of Germany
– Hitler directed his anger towards intellectuals, Communists, and Jews in the 1930s
because he blamed them for Germany’s economic depression and its defeat in World
War I.
The Soviet Union
– Communism- A political system in which all citizens are equal and individual freedoms
are denied. Ruled by a dictator.
– Joseph Stalin-Communist dictator of the Soviet Union
– At first, the Soviet Union and Germany will ally, but then they join the Allied Powers.
Japan
– Hideki Tojo- Fascist dictator of Japan
– Japan invaded China and killed at least 360,000 Chinese. The U.S. was allied with China,
making China an Allied Power.
– Rising tension developed between the United States and Japan because of Japanese
aggressions in East Asia
Axis Powers
– Germany, Italy in Europe and Japan in East Asia
Appeasement Fails
– Appeasement-a policy of avoiding war with an aggressive nation by giving in to its
demands.
– September 1, 1939, Germany invades Poland setting off the war in Europe.
– The Soviet Union also invaded Poland and the Baltic nations.
– Great Britain and France were allied with Poland. They pledged to defend Poland
against Hitler, who attacked it from the West.
Hitler Moves West
– Germany will invade France capturing Paris in June, 1940.
Battle of Britain
– The only nation left to capture was Great Britain.
– In July, 1940, Germany bombs London, and the Battle of Britain begins.
The United States Joins the War
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At first, the United States wanted to remain neutral and remain isolated because of the
Great Depression and the legacy of World War I.
– Roosevelt knew this had to change.
Helping the Allies
– Lend-Lease Act- a policy allowing the United States to aid any nation vital to its defense.
– The United States gave Britain war supplies and old naval warships in return for military
bases in Bermuda and the Caribbean (Lend Lease)
– The U.S. goes from neutrality to economic aid to the Allies.
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
– Japan was raising tension between the U.S. and Japan by trying to control oil and other
resources there. The U.S. demanded that Japan withdraw. However, they choose not
to, so the U.S froze Japanese funds in its banks and cut off exports to Japan.
– Japan planned a large-scale attack against the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor because it
wanted to give itself time to secure control of East Asia before the U.S. military could
respond.
– On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor without
warning. President Roosevelt said that Dec. 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy”
– The U.S. declared war on Japan
– Germany declared war on the U.S.
Gradual change in American policy from Neutrality to direct involvement
– Isolationism (Great Depression, legacy of World War I)
– Economic Aid to Allies (Lend-Lease)
– Direct Involvement in the war (Pearl Harbor)
Causes of World War II
– Political instability and economic devastation in Europe resulting from WWI
• Worldwide depression
• High war debt owned by Germany
• High inflation
• Massive unemployment
– Rise of Fascism
WWII Notes
Ch 26
Section 2
Preparing for War
– Selective Training and Service Act (1940)
– This was this first peacetime draft in the country’s history.
Wartime Opportunities
– Great Depression- America’s involvement in World War II brought an end to the Great
Depression.
– Factories and workers were needed to produce goods to win the war.
New Roles
– Thousands of American women took jobs in defense plants during the war.
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Rosie the Riveter- A cartoon character was a symbol of women’s work to support the
war.
– Americans at home supported the war by conserving and rationing resources.
African Americans
– Workers-The need for workers temporarily broke down some racial barriers because
African Americans were hired to work in the defense plants. However discrimination still
continued.
– A. Philip Randolph- organized a march on Washington in 1941 to demand equal pay for
black workers.
– Tuskegee Airmen-African American Pilots
– Benjamin O. Davis- was a Tuskegee Airman and later became the first African American
general in the U.S. Air Force
Japanese American internment
– Executive Order 9066 allowed the government to begin the process of internment, or
forcing relocation and imprisonment, of Japanese Americans.
– Many Japanese Americans served in the armed forces, others were treated with distrust
and prejudice, and many were forced into internment camps.
Allied Powers
– The Democratic nations of the United States, Great Britain, and Canada were known as
the Allied Powers. The Soviet Union joined the Allies after being invaded by Germany.
Allied leaders
– Franklin D. Roosevelt and later Harry S Truman-United States
– Winston Churchill-Great Britain
– Joseph Stalin-Soviet Union
– The three leaders were called The Big Three
WWII Notes
Ch 26
Section 3
The Allies Fight Back
• The first priority of President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill was to defeat the Axis Powers in
Europe, mainly Germany.
Halting the German Advance
• North Africa and Italy
– Suez Canal-Axis Powers wanted to gain control of the canal.
– Germany’s Afrika Korps was led by Gen. Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox).
– British troops stopped the Afrika Korps in July at the Battle of El Alamein.
– At the same time, American General Dwight D. Eisenhower came ashore in Morocco and
Algeria, west of Egypt.
– Axis Powers were caught between Allied Powers and surrendered in May 1943.
• The Battle of Stalingrad-Jan, 1943
– A battle in the Soviet Union during which German forces froze or starved to death.
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Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union defeated Germany at Stalingrad, marking the turning point of the war
in Eastern Europe.
D-Day
– Germany occupied France.
– France needs to be liberated or freed.
– American and Allied troops landed in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 to begin the
liberation of Western Europe.
– Omaha Beach- D-Day landing site where almost 3,000 Allied soldiers were killed or
wounded.
WWII Notes
Ch 26
Section 4
Japan Advances
• Douglas MacArthur
– He was an American general who was force to retreat from the Philippines in March
1942.
• Bataan Death March
– The Bataan Death march caused the death of 600 Americans and thousands of Filipinos
• Battle of Midway (June 4, 1942)
– The Japanese began bombing the island of Midway.
– American troops destroyed all of the Japanese aircraft.
– The United States was victorious over Japan in the Battle of Midway.
– This victory was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
• Island Hopping
– A strategy where the Allied forces took only the most strategically important islands,
instead of each Japanese-held island.
• Battle of Leyte Gulf
– The Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines was the largest naval battle in history.
• Kamikaze-tactic of purposely crashing piloted planes into enemy ships.
WWII Notes
Ch 26
Section 5
• Germany Surrenders
– After the D-Day (June 6, 1944) invasion
– Battle of the Bulge-due to the success of D-Day, the Germans staged a counterattack
invasion. (Dec., 1944)
– This attack quickly pushed the Allied forces back about 65 miles, creating a huge bulge in
the Allied lines
– Allied Powers recovered quickly and stopped the German’s advance.
– “The cold, the snow, and the darkness were enough to set young nerves on edge. The
thud of something as innocuous as snow plopping to the ground from a tree branch
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could be terrifying. Was it snow? Was it maybe a German patrol? Should you fire at the
sound and risk giving away your position, or worse, hitting one of your own men? But
did the Germans have us surrounded?”
– The function of this quotation would be it could bring to life the thought process of an
anxious soldier on patrol in unfamiliar territory.
Harry S Truman
– Will become President of the United States on April 12, 1945 because FDR died of a
stroke.
– His decisions will change the course of the war.
The Holocaust
– A mass murder that Hitler and the Nazis had attempted to exterminate the entire Jewish
population of Europe in the name of Aryan supremacy. A systematic attempt to rid
Europe of all Jews.
– Anti-Semitism-Against Jews
– Aryan supremacy- The belief that the white race is the best.
– Tactics against the Jews:
• boycott of Jewish stores
• threats
• segregation
• imprisonment and killing of Jews and others in concentration camps and death
camps
The Death Camps
– Genocide- The extermination of an entire group of people.
– In April 1943, Jewish people in the Warsaw Ghetto rose up against the Germans, and it
took nearly a month for the Nazis to crush the uprising.
– Liberation by Allied forces of Jews and others who survived in concentration camps.
Victory in the Pacific
– Manhattan Project-Secret program to develop the Atomic Bomb
– When the Japanese leaders refused to surrender, the US decided to drop the Atomic
bomb
– Harry S Truman was the president who ordered the use of atomic bombs of Japan.
– Aug. 6, 1945 –Enola Gay- dropped Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Aug. 9, 1945Naggasaki
– These two events caused Japan to surrender.
Strongest Power
– The U.S. was expected to be responsible for postwar rebuilding because the U.S.
escaped much destruction and was the strongest power in the world at the time.