Download Preview Sheet World War II

Preview Sheet World War II
1. Describe the following governments at the time of World War II:
a. Totalitarian State in the Soviet Union
b. Fascism in Italy
c. The Nazi Party in Germany.
2. Name the leader of the each of the following countries during World War II: Germany, Italy, Japan,
England, France, and the Soviet Union.
3. What were Hitler’s ideas for Germany in his book Mein Kampf?
4. How did Hitler violate the Versailles Treaty once he took power?
5. What nations made up the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers?
6. How did the events of World War II in Europe change US foreign policy from isolationist to a commitment
to global involvement?
7. How did European leaders use appeasement towards Hitler’s actions prior to 1939?
8. What did FDR mean about creating an “arsenal for democracy” and how did it relate to the passage of the
Lend-Lease Act.
9. What is the difference between isolation and neutrality?
10. What event finally caused England and France to declare war on the Germany?
11. What actions showed Japan’s aggression and led the US to move ships to Hawaii?
12. What event caused the US to enter World War II?
13. Describe these attempts at wartime diplomacy during World War II: Atlantic Charter meeting (‘41),
Casablanca (’43), Cairo (’43), Tehran Conference (’43), Yalta (’45), and Potsdam (’45).
14. Describe Robert Oppenheimer’s role and purpose of the Manhattan Project.
15. How were the civil rights / liberties violated for both African Americans and Japanese Americans during
World War II?
16. Describe the events of each of the three fronts that World War II was fought on (European, Asian, and
African fronts)
17. What comparisons could be made of Plessy v. Ferguson, Dred Scott v. Sanford, and Korematsu v. United
States?
18. What considerations did President Harry S. Truman take before dropping the atomic bomb on both
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
19. Describe the actions that Hitler took to meet his “Final Solution” and the significance the events had on the
world.
20. What purpose did the Nuremberg Trials serve and legal precedent was set?
21. What effect did World War II have on the average American citizen on the home front?
22. What trend emerged after World War II in regard to women’s participation in the labor force?
23. How did Truman support some of ideas of FDR with his “Fair Deal?”
24. Describe the D-Day operation? What resulted from the event?
25. What factors served as reasons for the US to become a world superpower at the conclusion of World War
II?
People to know
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Benito Mussolini
Douglas MacArthur
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry S. Truman
Winston Churchill
Emperor Hirohito
Josef Stalin
Adolf Hitler
Charles de Gaulle
Albert Einstein
Tojo Hideki
Francisco Franco
Vocabulary Unit 7
Harry S. Truman
Congress of Racial Equality
V-E Day
Charles de Gaulle
Holocaust
Adolf Hitler
Executive Order 9066
Benito Mussolini
Rationing
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Deficit spending
Josef Stalin
Rosie the Riveter
Chiang Kai-shek
War Bonds
Hidecki Tojo
Double V Campaign
Francisco Franco
Korematsu v. US
Winston Churchill
Nisei Soldiers
Lend-Lease Act
V-J Day
Atlantic Charter
Manhattan Project
Munich Conference
Totalitarian state
Fascism
Yalta
Potsdam
Neutrality Act of 1939
Appeasement
Liberty Ships
Office of Price Administration
Nissei
Bataan Death March
Zoot Suit Riots
Victory Gardens
Nuremberg Trials
World War II (1939-1945)
In the 1930’s, changes were occurring in Europe while many Americans remained focused on the Great
Depression. Totalitarian governments were in power in Germany, Italy, and Japan. Each of these nations
threatened world peace through their aggressive actions. It wasn’t until 1939 when Europe reacted to Hitler’s
invasion of Poland beginning the Second World War. The United States would remain neutral until Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor in late 1941. World War II would make the US as a global leader and the US would
accept that role in its foreign policy.
Totalitarian States (gov’t that has only one political party & oppose individual rights)
1. Italy – led by Benito Mussolini since 1922 led the Fascist Party.
2. Germany- led by Adolf Hitler since 1933 led the Nazi Party.
**Both Hitler and Mussolini support the idea of fascism where the importance of the nation
comes before any aspect of human rights.
3. Spain led by Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War in 1938.
4. Japan – led by Emperor Hirohito and Military Dictator Hidecki Tojo
Acts of Aggression
Italy - invades Ethiopia (1935).
Japan – occupies Manchuria (1930), seize Shanghai (1932), invades China (1937), sink an American
gunboat in Chinese waters (1937), troops move toward Marshall Islands and Guam (1941) controlling
the ocean around that area.
Germany- occupies the Rhineland (1936), annexes Austria (1938).
* Germany’s actions violated the Versailles Treaty (no one challenged Hitler.)
Appeasement at Munich
 In 1938, Hitler demanded the Sudetenland (western Czechoslovakia).
 Munich Conference (1938) England and France agreed to allow Hitler to take the Sudetenland as a last
territory (later called the “Munich Mistake”)
- Appeasement – policy of agreeing to the demands of a potential enemy in order to keep the
peace.
Other Agreements
Rome-Berlin Axis (1936) – Germany & Italy team up militarily.
Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact (1939) Hitler and Stalin agree not to fight each other.
The Last Straw
 In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland (immediate cause of WWII).
 Blitzkrieg or lightening war was used to describe Hitler’s attacks.
 England and France declare war on Germany to form the Allied Powers.
Sides for World War II
Allied Powers = England (Great Britain), France, Soviet Union (USSR), the United States (after Pearl Harbor
1941) and over 20 others.
Axis Powers = Germany, Italy, and Japan (1940) and five others.
► the war would be fought on three fronts (Europe, Northern Africa, and the Pacific)
► By 1940, Germany would defeat Denmark, Norway, Belgium and France.
► Battle of Britain – Germany attacks Britain in a violent air war over London (England’s RAF Royal
Air Force vs. Germany’s Luftwaffe)
► By1940, Great Britain stood alone against the Axis until the USSR and US join the war
Allied Leaders
Winston Churchill – Prime Minister of Great Britain
Charles de Gaulle – Leader of free France
Josef Stalin – leader of the Soviet Union
Franklin D. Roosevelt – President of the United States (until death in 1945).
Harry S. Truman – President from 1945 to 1953
Chiang Kai-shek- leader of China
The United States Before Pearl Harbor
 Many Americans remained focused on the Depression and did not want to get involved in World War II.
 Some felt that the US did enough for Europe in WWI and that it did not solve “their” problems.
 These views called for an American isolationist foreign policy (America’s interests would be best
served by staying out of the world’s affairs).
 In the mid 1930’s, the Neutrality Acts prohibited called for no trade with nations at war.
 By 1939, the Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed the US to trade weapons with the England & France only
if the items were paid in cash and picked up (cash & carry)
 By 1940, some Americans became nervous about Hitler’s progressed which allowed FDR to have the
nation expand its involvement.
 In 1940, FDR won a 3rd term as President; he convinced Congress pass the Lend-Lease Act in March of
1941 that gave Britain weapons and supplies without any payments in return (said to provide an “arsenal
for democracy” by FDR).
 Although some wanted the US to remain isolationist it was clear that we were neutral.
What’s the difference? Isolated nations do not involve themselves with other nations in any way.
Neutral nations deliberately do not take sided and are referred to as nonaligned. Neutral nations
place no limits on trade.
December 7 1941: “A date which will live in infamy” FDR
 Japanese planes attacked US military base at Pearl Harbor Hawaii.
 The US Congress quickly voted to declare war on Japan.
 Germany and Italy declared war on the US.
 The United States was now involved in World War II.
 The US would fight Japan in the Pacific (Gen. Douglas MacArthur) and Hitler in Africa & Europe (Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower & Gen. George S. Patton)
Wartime Diplomacy
Atlantic Charter - (1941) Before Pearl Harbor, FDR and Churchill met in on a battleship in the Atlantic Ocean
and agree on
1. No territory will be gained to the victors of the war.
2. People will have the right to choose their governments
3. A stronger world security organization is needed than the League (sets the stage for the formation of
the United Nations).
Casablanca - (1943) FDR and Churchill agreed losers have “unconditional surrenders”
Cairo - (1943) FDR, Churchill and Chain Kai-shek plan Normandy invasion (D-Day)
Tehran Conference - (1943) FDR, Churchill and Stalin met to discuss strategy and postwar plans.
Yalta - (1945) FDR, Churchill, and Stalin to outline the postwar division of Germany into “spheres of
influence” and plan to prosecute Nazi war criminals.
Potsdam - (1945) President Truman (FDR died), Churchill, and Stalin to warn Japan to surrender or face mass
destruction.
World War II at Home
At the start of World War II, the US economy began to improve due to the boost it received by producing goods
for the Allied Powers. Once the US entered the war in 1941, the American economy focused mainly on the war
effort and overwhelmingly so did the American people.
Government Efforts to Mobilize the Economy
 Office of Price Administration (OPA) set limits on prices and rents to prevent inflation. Later it
oversaw rationing efforts.
 War Production Board (WPB) set up to convert industries to make less consumer goods and more
wartime goods.
 Office of War Mobilization- headed by James F. Byrnes eventually oversaw all government efforts in
the wartime economy.
*** The US soon became an “arsenal for democracy” as FDR encouraged increases of materials
needed for the war (planes, tanks, ships, rifles, ammo, etc.)
 Liberty Ships were produced by Henry Kaiser using mass production to create war ships at rapid paces.
 War bonds – government savings bonds to help finance the war.
*** The government also borrowed money and raised taxes.
*** School children would buy war stamps to eventually purchase bonds.
*** The wealthy and celebrities were urged to buy bonds.
 Deficit Spending – (spending borrowed money) help the government pull the US economy out of the
slump of the Depression.
 Rationing – limited consumption of goods such as butter, sugar, gasoline, wheat, meat, cheese for the
war effort. Stamps were required to purchase goods.
 Victory gardens – Americans were encouraged to grow their own foods so that farms could send their
goods to the soldiers.
*World War II at home consisted of Americans making sacrifices and efforts that pulled
the country together for the sake of winning the war. Men, women, and even children did
their parts to help the country take necessary steps to win the war.
Women’s Role Change
 Because many of the men were enlisted in the military, women began working in the factories to
produce war materials.
 Rosie the Riveter – fictional character that served as a sign of strength for women working in
traditional “men’s factory jobs” toward the good the war
 Women were paid much better than the traditional lower paying jobs before the war.
 Many were able to pay off their depression debts.
 This served as a liberating time for women as they produced did the jobs that were held by men for the
good of the nation at war.
 The All-American Girls’ Baseball League was formed to fill in the shortages of men for sports
entertainment on “America’s past time” (A League of Their Own).
*** After the war, women were encouraged to leave the workplace to provide employment for
the men returning from the war.
Issues of Civil Liberties during World War II
African Americans - Jim Crow Laws were still in effect in the US. Even with less segregation in the North,
northern whites faced discrimination in housing, employment and education. The US military remained
segregated throughout World War II.
 Double V campaign: designed for two victories:
1. Over the Axis powers.
2. over racial discrimination in the US
 Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) – founded in 1943 to promote nonviolent protests
for to end racism.
Mexican Americans – faced discrimination during wartime. The US gov’t imported Mexican labor to work the
farm to fill the shortage.
 Zoot Suit Riots: Young Mexican men in styled “zoot suits” and duck-tailed haircuts fought with navy
soldiers which turned to riots in 1943.
Japanese Americans- faced the worst discrimination during the war (Pearl Harbor)
 Nissei: US born Japanese Americans
 Executive Order 9066: signed by FDR in 1942 to remove “people” from the West Coast military zones
(Japanese Americans).
 Internment camps: Japanese were relocated to camps so quickly that many had no time to secure their
belongings, businesses or property and lost it as a result.
 Korematsu v. United States (1942): Fred Korematsu challenged the gov’ts actions in Executive Order
9066. The court sided with the gov’t because of the severity of wartime
*** In 1988, Congress offered surviving camp internees a payment of $20,000.
 Nissei Soldiers – Japanese Americans that made up the 42nd Regimental Combat Team (a volunteer
group that fought in France and Germany).
Civil Liberty Violations Outside the United States
 Bataan Death March: After the Philippine Islands fell to Japan in 1942, American and
Filipino soldiers were forced to march 60 miles to Japanese war prisons. Many were executed along the
way totaling about 10,000 deaths. The US did not find out about the march until 3 years after when
escaped US soldiers told of the march.
 The Holocaust: Hitler’s Nazi concentration / death camps that killed approximately 6.8 million people
(mostly Jews, but included gypsies and handicapped). Camps were in Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka,
and Maidanek.
 U.S. and Allied soldiers liberated the camps in 1945.
 Nuremberg Trials (1945) sentenced 12 Nazis to death and thousands to prison
 FDR’s death – April 12, 1945 FDR dies / Vice Pres. Harry S. Truman takes over.
 D-Day (June 6, 1944): Allied invasion of Normandy, France.
 V-E Day (May 8, 1945): After Hitler’s suicide in late April 1945, the war in Europe officially ends.
U.S. and allies celebrate victory.
 Manhattan Project: started in 1943 in Los Alamos, New Mexico to create the first atomic bomb. The
research was led by Robert Oppenheimer and complete in 1945.
 Hiroshima and Nagasaki: After Japan does not surrender unconditionally; the US drops two atomic
bombs on Hiroshima (8/6/45) and Nagasaki (8/9/45) killing over 100,000 instantly. Truman’s decision is
made to save American lives. Some historians believe that the bombs were also dropped to scare Stalin
and the USSR.
 V-J Day (Aug. 14, 1945) Japan surrenders ending World War II.
***The Post WWII Era begins as a turning point for the US in the atomic/nuclear age