Download Close Read – Overview of World War II

Close Read – Overview of World War II
Upset over how they were punished after World War I ended in 1918, Germany went into a
terrible depression. Out of work, frustrated and hungry, the people vowed to become powerful
once again. They needed a charismatic speaker who would soon return them to a position of
power.
Starting in 1933 with his appointment as “Chancellor” of the German Reichstag (government),
Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) came to gain control of
Germany’s future and over the next 5 years, Germany would violate the Treaty of Versailles on
numerous occasions.
By August of 1939, Germany had begun forming an “axis” of power with the countries of Japan,
Italy, and Russia (secretly) to take over Europe and then, the world. The first step to
accomplishing this goal was to take back the land of Poland (which had been taken away after
WWI) and on September 1, 1939, Germany did this and World War II was underway.
ALLIES
VS.
France
United Kingdom
Russia*
US (1941)
China
AXIS POWERS
Germany
Italy
Japan
Axis Powers:
Adolf Hitler
Emperor Hirohito
Leader of Germany from 1933 leader of Japan from 1926
to 1945. Invades Poland in
to 1989. Helps Axis Powers
September 1939 beginning
by attacking China starting
WWII.
In 1937. Joins Hitler in 1940.
Benito Mussolini
leader of Italy from 1922
to 1943. Joins Axis b/c
thought Allies didn’t give
Italy enough after WWI.
Allies:
Winston Churchill
FDR
Harry Truman
Prime Minister of Britain
From 1940 to 1945.
Instrumental in protecting
London during bombings
President of US from 1933
to 1945. Urges Congress to
Allies after bombing of
Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941
Becomes POTUS after FDR
passes in April 1945.
Order bombs on Nagasaki &
Hiroshima, Japan to end WWII
With the invasion of Poland in 1939, the United States starts helping the Allies with weapons
and supplies. This provides a huge boast to the US economy by putting millions of people back
to work and ending the Great Depression which had started with the stock market crash in
1929.
FDR and the Congress were happy to stay out of the fighting, but with the Japanese bombing of
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the US no longer can stay out of the war. FDR will
urge Congress to declare war on Japan on December 8 when he gives his “Day of Infamy”
speech. The United States will soon send troops to Britain in January of 1942 to help the Allies.
There were a number of important events that take place during World War II:
1. FDR signs Executive Order #9066 in February 1942. This is when 125,000 German,
Italian and Japanese Americans are placed in camps around the US.
2. “Deliverance Day” takes place in Normandy, France in June 1944. 150,000 allies with
5,000 boats and 11,000 airplanes land on the beaches of France. They are met by a
highly fortified German force. After suffering serious injuries/casualties, the Allies will
push Germans back toward the capital of Paris.
3. The last “camps” are liberated by the Allies in April 1945. The 20,000 camps used by
Germany are emptied as survivors are freed.
4. Russia reaches Berlin (Germany) in April/May 1945. The Russians take the city, Hitler
commits suicide and Germany surrenders.
5. US drops 2 bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan in August 1945. President Truman
drops bombs on Japan and they surrender shortly after; World War II is over!!
TO DO:
1. In your classwork section, find “5 unfamiliar words” and come up with a definition and
illustration for each.