Download Ch. 14 and 15 Notes-WWII

U.S. History
Unit 4, Chapters 14 and 15
World War II
Notes
I.
Rise of the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan)
A) Germany: 1920s-30s, rise of NAZI Adolf
Hitler=1933, became Chancellor and used his
Brown Shirt Army (SA) to suppress opposition
in Germany
B) Italy: 1920s-30s, rise of the fascist Benito
Mussolini
C) Japan: 1931, started its expansion in the
Pacific with invasion of China (Manchuria)
which US reacted to negatively (eventually US
cut oil sales to Japan in protest)
II. German Aggression and World War II Begins
A) 1936, Germany (remilitarized) the Rhineland
B) 3/1938, Germany annexed Austria
C) Summer 1938, Hitler demanded the German
populated Sudetenland (part of Czech)
D) 9/1938, GB and France agree Hitler’s demand
for the Sudetenland for peace (Appeasement)
E) 1939, Germany takes all of Czechoslovakia
F) 8/1939, Germany and USSR agreed to a NonAggression Pact
G) Sep 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and GB
and France declare war.
III. American Response (Before Battle of Britain)
A) 1930’s, most Americans favored Isolationism
B) 1930’s, Congress passed Neutrality Acts which
prohibited loans, weapons sales, traveling on
ships of nations at war
C) Sept 21, 1939, Neutrality Acts amended
allowing Cash and Carry plan to any nation
IV. European Front (1940)
A) May 1940, Germans invaded/occupied
Denmark, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands,
Luxembourg and France
B) Fall 1940, Hitler began the Bombing of Britain;
sends aid to Mussolini in North Africa
V.
American Response (after Battle of Britain)
A) Oct 1940, Selective Training and Service Act
was passed (1st peacetime draft in U.S.)
B) Nov 1940, FDR elected to his 3rd term
C) Dec 29, 1940, FDR’s Fireside Chat calls for
American support of the Allies
* Arsenal of Democracy Speech
D) 1/16/41, FDR’s State of the Union Speech aka
Four Freedoms Speech
* Four Freedoms Speech
E) Mar 1941, Lend Lease Act authorized FDR to
“sell, transfer, exchange, lease, or lend any
weapons/supplies in defense of US
VI. The USSR enters the War
A) 6/1941, Germany invaded USSR (defacto Ally)
B) 9/1941, FDR and Churchill agreed to the
Atlantic Charter
VII. The US enters the War
A) Japanese expansion =US protest and embargo
on naval, aviation supplies OIL, iron, steel, etc.
B) Dec 7, 1941 Japan attacked US Naval base at
Pearl Harbor killing 2500
C) Dec 8, 1941, U.S. declared war on Japan,
Germany and Italy declared war on US
VIII. American Mobilizes for World War II
A) Government est. agencies to oversee
production and consumption of goods, to
prevent inflation and “sell” the war
B) Income taxes were raised; payroll deduction
system started
C) Science and technology for war resulted in
civilian uses
D) Depression ended, new jobs available
especially for women
E) Japanese Internment: 110,000 Japanese
Americans (62%) and Japanese immigrants
from the West Coast were interned in guarded
camps
F) Korematsu v. US=supreme court upheld US
government policy
IX. The Allies turn the Tide, 1942-1944 in Europe
A) 1942 German invasion of USSR was defeated;
on to Berlin
B) May 1943, Allied troops invaded North Africa;
defeated Axis
C) Summer 1943, Allies invaded Italy; on to Berlin
D) June 6 1944, Allied invasion of
France/Normandy began (D-DAY); on to Berlin
X.
WWII in the Pacific, 1942-1945
A) June 1942, U.S. defeated Japanese at Battle of
Midway ending expansion of Japanese empire
(turning point)
B) US led by Gen MacArthur used “Island
Hopping” strategy to force Japanese back to
Okinawa (350 m. from Japan) by June 1945
XI. End of the War in Europe
A) Nov. 1944, FDR re-elected to 4th term
B) Feb 1945, FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at
Yalta and agreed to
1) formation of the UN
2) 3 month deadline for USSR to enter Pacific
War
3) “representative” governments in E. Europe
C) April 1945, US and Soviet troops met in
Germany
D) April 12, 1945, FDR died; Harry Truman=
president
E) May 8, 1945, Hitler committed suicide in his
Berlin bunker; Germany surrendered (VE Day)
XII. End of the Pacific War, 1945
A) July to Aug 1945, Truman, Churchill (later
Atlee), and Stalin, met at Potsdam; Truman
learns of the successful A-bomb test
B) Truman opted to use the A-bomb against
Japan (Aug 6=Hiroshima, Aug 8=Nagasaki)
D) Aug 8, as promised the USSR declared war on
Japan
E) Aug 14, 1945, Japan surrendered (VJ Day)
XIII.The Post-World War II World
A) The United Nations was est.
B) Germany and Berlin were divided into 4 zones
occupied by the big 4
C) U.S. and USSR emerged from WWII as
“Superpowers”