Download 9B-Chapter 24 PowerPoint-World War II Looms

World War II:
World War Looms
Chapter 24
World War Looms:
Dictators Threaten World Peace
Chapter 24, Section 1
Causes of World War II
Militarism—build up of army
Alliances
Italy, Germany, Japan unite to control the world around their Axis
Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. become the Allies
Imperialism—expanding empires
Ex. Mussolini wants to recreate the Roman empire
Nationalism—belief that your Nation is supreme and should take control of
surrounding territories
Appeasement—Britain and France allow Hitler to Treaty of Versailles to hoping
that he would not attack surrounding territories
World Depression—economic crisis opened doors for dictators to take control in
Europe
Ex. Hitler, Mussolini
League of Nations—did not have the force to stop Japan and Hitler
Treaty of Versailles—unfair terms create resentment from Germany
Treaty of Versailles: Failures of the World War I Peace Settlement
Treaty of Versailles causes anger, resentment
in Europe
Germany resents:
blame for war
loss of colonies and border territories
outrageous reparations that they had difficulty
repaying
• Dawes Plan—U.S. loaned Germany money to pay
reparations and set up a reasonable repayment
schedule
Russia resents loss of lands used to create
other nations
New democracies had little experience, little
tradition, and were weak
flounder under social and economic problems
Dictators rise; driven by nationalism, desire for
more territory
Joseph Stalin transforms the Soviet Union
1922 V. I. Lenin established Soviet Union after civil
war
1924 Joseph Stalin took over:
created a great industrial power (second in
the world) by using the “five-year plan”
replaced private farms with collectives—large government
owned farms
Millions died in famines caused by the restructuring
Stalin used the army and other police forces to crush all
opposition
• Great Purge (1930s)—arrested or killed anyone who threatened
his power; 8–13 million killed
Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state
(a country where the government has complete
control)
Totalitarian
Totalitarian government exerts almost
complete control over nearly every aspect of
public and private behavior
Totalitarian state, individuals have no rights, and
the government suppresses all opposition
They maintain themselves in power by means of
secret police, propaganda disseminated through
the state-controlled mass media, regulation and
restriction of free discussion and criticism, and
widespread use of terror tactics
Joseph Stalin
The Rise of Fascism in Italy
Unemployment and inflation led to bitter strikes—some were
communist-led
Middle and upper classes wanted stronger leaders
Benito Mussolini played on fears of economic collapse and
communism
Supported by government officials, police, army
1922 Mussolini led an army of his followers, whose black uniforms
gave them the name Blackshirts, in a march on Rome
• Italian king appointed Mussolini prime minister and granted him
dictatorial powers
He called himself Il Duce (the leader), he crushed all opposition with
the Blackshirts
He wanted to restore the Roman Empire
Fascism, a military-dominated government that controls all aspects of
society—stresses nationalism and the needs of state above individual
Benito Mussolini
The Nazis Take Over Germany
Adolf Hitler leader of National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party)
He wanted to emulate Mussolini’s march on Rome, his attempt failed and he was
sent to jail
While in jail he wrote Mein Kampf—which outlined the basic beliefs of
Nazism, based on extreme nationalism
Wanted to unite German-speaking people, enforce racial “purification”
By 1932, 6 million unemployed—they bought into Hitler’s message; many
men joined Hitler’s private army
Nazis became strongest political party; Hitler named chancellor (“Keep your
friends close and your enemies closer”)
Dismantled democratic Weimar Republic; established Third Reich (the Third
Empire) and claimed dictatorial powers
Hitler prohibited Jews and non-Nazis from holding government positions,
outlawed strikes, and made military service mandatory
Nazi storm troopers, known as Brownshirts because of the color of their
uniforms, crushed all political opposition
Adolf Hitler
U.S. Cautious after Peace Agreements Broken
Washington Conference—an international conference
that the United States held—led to three important
treaties (Japan broke by invading Manchuria)
Four-Power Treaty—an agreement among US, Great Britain,
France, and JAPAN to respect one another’s Pacific holdings
Five-Power Treaty—US, Great Britain, JAPAN, France, ITALY
agreed to freeze their navies at 1921 levels and thus avoid the
financial strain of further naval buildups
Nine-Power Treaty—signed by US, France, Great Britain,
JAPAN, ITALY, Belgium, China, the Netherlands, and Portugal;
it put the “Open Door” China policies of John Hay into a treaty
Kellogg-Briand Pact—treaty signed by 62 countries
(including the United States, Great Britain, Japan,
France, and Italy) that renounced war as a national
policy
Militarists Gain Control in Japan
1931, Nationalist military
leaders seized Manchurian
northeastern China
They did this because
Manchuria was mineral-rich
and contained an abundance of
factories
League of Nations condemned
action; Japan quits League
Militarists took control of
Japanese government
Wanted to lessen Japan’s
reliance on foreign imports and
reduce the influence of
Western countries in Asia
Aggression in Europe and Africa
Hitler and Germany
1933, he quit League of Nations
1935, he began military buildup
• sent troops into Rhineland—German region bordering
France and Belgium
• League did nothing to stop him
Mussolini and Italy
1935, he invaded Ethiopia
• The League’s economic boycott failed to stop Mussolini’s
invasion of Ethiopia
Civil War Breaks Out in Spain
1936, General Francisco Franco rebelled
against Spanish republic—Spanish Civil War
began
Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco
Stalin aided opposition
Western democracies remained neutral
War led to Rome-Berlin Axis—alliance
between Italy and Germany
1939, Franco won the war—became fascist
dictator
Americans Cling to Isolationism
Americans became isolationists— avoid entangling alliances with other nations
and avoid all wars not related to direct territorial self-defense
Girl Scouts of American actually change uniforms from khaki to green to appear less
militaristic
FDR backed away from foreign policy
“Good Neighbor” Policy—nonintervention in Latin America and removal of troops already
stationed in Latin American countries
Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act of 1934 allowed the state Department to make
treaties with other countries to mutually lower import duties
within six years, the United States had reached such agreements with more than a
dozen nations
US formally recognized Soviet Union
hoped that the Soviets would help eliminate the military threat of the Japanese
expansion
Public was outraged at profits of banks and arms dealers during WW I
America, fueled by the Nye committee, called them “merchants of death”
1935 Neutrality Acts tried to keep U.S. out of future wars
outlawed the transportation or sale of arms to warring nations and banned loans to
nations at war outside the Western Hemisphere
Neutrality Breaks Down
1937 Japan launched new attack on
China
FDR sent aid to China—got around the
Neutrality Acts because Japan had not
actually declared war on China
FDR wanted to isolate aggressor nations
to stop war—U.S. public and newspapers
exploded in protest on FDR accusing him
of leading the nation into war
World War Looms:
War in Europe
Chapter 24, Section 2
Union with Austria
Post WW I division of Austria-Hungary
created fairly small Austria
Majority of Austrians are German and
favored unification with Germany
1938, German troops marched into
Austria unopposed and the union was
completed
U.S. and the rest of world did nothing to
stop Germany
Bargaining for the Sudetenland
Hitler next wanted to control the Sudetenland, a Germanspeaking region of Czechoslovakia (3 million Germanspeakers)
Hitler claimed Czechs abused Sudetenland Germans and
massed troops on border
1938, Prime Ministers Daladier (France), Neville
Chamberlain (Great Britain) met with Hitler—Munich
Conference
The leaders signed the Munich Agreement (Conference) which
gave Germany control of the Sudetenland if in return Hitler
promised to make no further territorial demands—
APPEASEMENT.
The European leaders had adopted a policy of appeasement,
or giving in to demands in an attempt to avoid a larger
conflict.
Winston Churchill, Chamberlain’s political rival in Britain,
condemned appeasement policy and warned war would follow
The Soviet Union Declares Neutrality
March 1939, German troops occupied rest of
Czechoslovakia
In an attempt to gain the German speaking lands
of Poland, Hitler charged Poles mistreated the
Germans in Poland
Many thought he was bluffing since invading Poland would
bring two-front war (USSR in the East and France-Great
Britain in the West)
Stalin, Hitler signed nonaggression pact—would not
attack each other
This shocked the world but the rest of the world did not
know that there was a secret clause that the two nations
agreed to divide Poland between them
Blitzkrieg in Poland
September 1, 1939—World War II begins
Hitler overran Poland in blitzkrieg: lightning war—
using excessive force, quick tanks and powerful
aircraft, to surprise and quickly overtake enemy before
they can mobilize formal defense
The German Luftwaffe, German air force, began dropping
bombs on strategic Polish sites
The tank units rolled in and the major fighting was over within
a matter of 3 weeks
Germany annexed western Poland
U.S.S.R. attacked and annexed eastern Poland
France and Britain declared war on Germany—World
War II began
The Phony War
French and British soldiers
waited on the Maginot Line—a
system of fortifications built
along France’s eastern border
German troops waited on the
other side waiting for orders—
became known as sitzkrieg—
”sitting war”
While France and Britain
waited—Germany invaded
Denmark, Norway and then
Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxemburg
Stalin annexed Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania; defeated Finland
The Fall of France
German army bypassed the Maginot Line (French and British) by going
through the Ardennes—a region of wooded ravines thought to be
impassable
British and French retreated and became trapped on Dunkirk
From May 26 to June 4, 1940, Operation Dynamo was put into action; 887 ships
(mostly private—fishing trawlers, tugboats, river barges, etc.) crossed the
English Channel to rescued 338,226 men
Allied forces were battered, but they were in tact enough to fight another day
www.rania.co.uk/dunkirk/html/images.htm
Few days later, Italy invaded France from the south
French defeated and signed an armistice at Compeigne on June22 in
the same railway car that Germany sign its humiliating armistice to
end World War I
Hitler set up a Nazi puppet government in the southern French city of
Vichy
General Charles de Gaulle set up government-in-exile in England
www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/wwtwo_map_fall_
france/index.shtml
The reality of Dunkirk: vehicles
abandoned to the Nazis. The British
army left behind 2,500 guns, 84,500
vehicles, 77,000 tons of ammunition,
416,000 tons of supplies and 165,000
tons of petrol. 68,000 soldiers were
killed or taken prisoner.
The Battle of Britain
Summer 1940, Germany prepares fleet to invade Britain
Battle of Britain—German planes bomb British targets
From September, 1940 to June 1941, the German air force, or
Luftwaffe, dropped bombs on London and the other major cities
of Great Britain in a plan to overwhelm the city, Operation Sea
Lion
• London and other cities had blackouts at night—cities would
turnout their lights because they did not want the lights of the
cities to create a target
Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) fought back brilliantly
German aircraft were eventually detected by early forms of
RADAR
Over 30,000 Londoners died, but Germany lost over 1,700
aircraft
Hitler calls off invasion of Britain
Germans, British continue to bomb each other’s cities
Fighter Vapor trails through London sky
World War Looms:
The Holocaust
Chapter 24, Section 3
The Holocaust
Jews Targeted
Holocaust—an attempt to “rid Europe of Jews”,
Hitler put in place his “Final Solution”—slavery,
genocide of “inferior” groups in order to
preserve his idea of a “master race”
murder of 12 million people, more than half were
Jews
Europe had a long history of anti-Semitism
Germans believed Hitler’s claims and blamed
Jews for many of Germany’s problems
Nuremberg Race Laws
Nazis took away citizenship, jobs, and property
Required Jews to wear a bright yellow Star of David
Nuremberg Race Laws
Nuremberg Race Laws
white figures
represent Aryans
black figures
represent Jews
shaded figures
represent Mischlinge
Mischlinge—term used
to denote persons
deemed to have partial
Jewish ancestry
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht—Night of Broken
Glass—November 9, 1938
All over Germany, Austria and other
Nazi controlled areas, Jewish homes,
businesses, synagogues had their
windows smashed and contents
destroyed
The attack came after a Jewish boy
shot and killed a member of the
German Embassy staff in retaliation
for the poor treatment of his father
and his family suffered at the hands
of the Nazis in Germany
About 100 Jews killed, hundreds
injured, 30,000 arrested
A Flood of Jewish Refugees
1938, Nazis tried to speed up Jewish emigration
France had 40,000 refugees
Britain had 80,000 refugees
both refused more
U.S. took 100,000, many “persons of exceptional merit”—
scientists (Albert Einstein), architects (Walter Gropius), authors
(Thomas Mann), etc.
Americans feared:
refugees would deny U.S. citizens jobs during the depression thus
further straining economy
enemy agents
the already wide spread anti-Semitism would increase
The Plight of the St. Louis
Coast Guard prevented
passengers on St. Louis
from disembarking
despite the majority
having U.S. immigration
papers
Ship forced to return to
Europe
Most of the 943
passengers were later
killed in Holocaust
The Condemned
In an attempt to rid Europe of Jews, Hitler put in place his “Final
Solution”—slavery, genocide of “inferior” groups in order to
preserve his idea of a “master race”
Genocide—deliberate, systematic killing of an entire population
Targeted:
Jews—blamed as the cause of Germany’s economic and social failures
Gypsies—believed to be “an inferior race”
Freemasons—believed to be supporters of the “Jewish conspiracy” to
rule the world
Jehovah’s Witnesses—because they refused to join the army or salute
Hitler
Unfit Germans—homosexuals, mentally deficient, the mentally ill, the
physically
Nazi death squads (SS) rounded up Jews and shot them on the
spot
Forced Relocation
Jews forced into ghettos
segregated areas in certain cities (mostly in
Poland) sealed off with barbed wire and walls
Factories were built alongside ghettos
where people were forced to work
Some form resistance movements; others
maintain Jewish culture
Resistance in the ghettos
Between 1941 and 1943,
underground resistance
movements formed in about
100 Jewish groups
The most famous attempt by
Jews to resist the Germans in
armed fighting occurred in the
Warsaw ghetto
In the summer of 1942, about
300,000 Jews were deported
from Warsaw to Treblinka
When reports of mass murder
in the killing center leaked back
to the Warsaw ghetto, a group
called the Z.O.B. (Jewish
Fighting Organization) began
to form
Warsaw Rebellion
On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began
after German troops and police entered the ghetto to
deport its surviving inhabitants
Seven hundred and fifty fighters fought the heavily
armed and well-trained Germans
The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a
month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended
The Germans had slowly crushed the resistance
Of the more than 56,000 Jews captured, about 7,000
were shot, and the remainder were deported to
killing centers or concentration camps
Concentration Camps
Many Jews taken to concentration camps—
forced labor camps
families often separated
Camps were originally prisons given to the SS
to warehouse “undesirables”
Prisoners crammed into wooden barracks and given
little food
Prisoners work from dawn to dusk, 7 days a week
Those too weak to work were killed
"The brute Schmidt was our guard; he beat and
kicked us if he thought we were not working
fast enough. He ordered his victims to lie down
and gave them 25 lashes with a whip, ordering
them to count out loud. If the victim made a
mistake, he was given 50 lashes. . . . Thirty or
40 of us were shot every day. A doctor usually
prepared a daily list of the weakest men. During
the lunch break they were taken to a nearby
grave and shot. They were replaced the
following morning by new arrivals from the
transport of the day. . . . It was a miracle if
anyone survived for five or six months in
Belzec."—RUDOLF REDER quoted in The Holocaust
Mass Exterminations
Germans built death camps with gas chambers
to kill thousands
On arrival, SS doctors separated those who could
work and those who couldn’t
Those who couldn’t work were immediately killed in
the gas chambers
At first, bodies were buried in pits but later they
were cremated to cover up evidence
Some prisoners were shot, hung, poisoned, or
died from experiments performed on them
Auschwitz
A German concentration camp in Poland. The
camp was a major element in the perpetration
of the Holocaust. The camp was actually
subdivided into three camps:
Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp which
served as the administrative centre for the whole
complex, and was the site of the deaths of roughly
70,000 Poles, gay men and Soviet Prisoners of War
Auschwitz II (Birkenau), an extermination camp
and the site of the deaths of roughly 1 million
Jews, 75,000 Poles, gay men and some 19,000
Romamian
Auschwitz III (Monowitz), which served as a labor
camp for the IG Farben company
The Survivors
About 6 million Jews were killed in death
camps and massacres
Some escaped, many with help from ordinary
people
Some survive concentration camps
survivors were forever changed by experience
•
Elie Wiesel
–
A Holocaust survivor, a world–renowned author, and a
political activist
–
He is the author of over 40 books, the most famous of which,
Night, serves as a testimony to his experiences during the
Holocaust
" Never shall I forget that night, the first night
in the camp, which has turned my life into one
long night. . . . Never shall I forget the little
faces of the children, whose bodies I saw
turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent
blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames
which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I
forget that nocturnal silence which deprived
me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never
shall I forget those moments which murdered
my God and my soul and turned my dreams to
dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I
am condemned to live as long as God Himself.
Never." —ELIE WIESEL from Night
Life in a Concentration Camp
A prisoner in Dachau is
forced to stand without
moving for endless hours
as a punishment. He is
wearing a triangle patch
identification on his chest.
A chart of prisoner
triangle identification
markings used in Nazi
concentration camps
which allowed the guards
to easily see which type of
prisoner any individual
was.
A view of Majdanek, which served as a concentration camp and also
as a killing center for Jews.
At Belzec death camp, SS Guards stand in formation outside the
kommandant's house.
Nazis sift through the enormous pile of clothing left behind by the victims of a
massacre. (1941)
Soviet POWs at forced labor in 1943 exhuming bodies in the ravine at Babi
Yar, where the Nazis had murdered over 33,000 Jews in September of 1941.
Survivors in Mauthausen open one of the crematoria ovens for American
troops who are inspecting the camp.
A warehouse full of shoes and clothing confiscated from the prisoners and deportees
gassed upon their arrival. The Nazis shipped these goods to Germany.
A mass grave in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Young survivors behind a
barbed wire fence in
Buchenwald.
Country
Initial Jewish
Population
Estimated %
Killed
Estimated
Killed
POLAND
3,300,000
91%
3,000,000
300,000
USSR
3,020,000
36%
1,100,000
1,920,000
HUNGARY
800,000
74%
596,000
204,000
GERMANY
566,000
36%
200,000
366,000
FRANCE
350,000
22%
77,320
272,680
ROMANIA
342,000
84%
287,000
55,000
AUSTRIA
185,000
35%
65,000
120,000
LITHUANIA
168,000
85%
143,000
25,000
NETHERLANDS
140,000
71%
100,000
40,000
MORAVIA
118,310
60%
71,150
47,160
LATVIA
95,000
84%
80,000
15,000
SLOVAKIA
88,950
80%
71,000
17,950
YUGOSLAVIA
78,000
81%
63,300
14,700
GREECE
77,380
87%
67,000
10,380
BELGIUM
65,700
45%
28,900
36,800
ITALY
44,500
17%
7,680
36,820
ESTONIA
4,500
44%
2,000
2,500
LUXEMBOURG
3,500
55%
1,950
1,550
Statistics of the Holocaust
Number of
Survivors
BOHEMIA
World War Looms:
America Moves Toward War
Chapter 24, Section 4
Dr. Seuss political cartoon-1941
Moving Cautiously Away from Neutrality
1939, FDR persuaded Congress to
pass Neutrality Act of 1939—contained
“cash-and-carry” provision
allowed allies to buy munitions with
payment up front and required them to
provide their own transportation
U.S. hoped to retain neutrality while
helping to defeat Germany
The Axis Threat
1940, FDR tried to provide Britain “all
aid short of war”
Germany, Japan, Italy signed Tripartite
Pact, mutual defense treaty
became known as Axis Powers
Also included Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary,
and Finland
Pact aimed at keeping U.S. out of war
by forcing fight on two oceans
This cartoon shows the Axis powers' obsession with global domination.
Building U.S. Defenses
Nazi victories in 1940 lead to increased U.S. defense
spending
U.S. new it needed to be ready for possible war
because:
After the Germans captured France the U.S. realized that the
Atlantic Ocean would become a lot smaller if Hitler and
Mussolini added both the British and French fleets to their
arsenal
The U.S. military was at a low and needed to train new troops)
and thus passes the Selective Service Act
Selective Training and Service Act—First peacetime
draft
It required all men between 21 and 35 (later 18 to 45) to
register for the draft
Draftees to serve for 1 year in Western Hemisphere only
Roosevelt Runs for a Third Term
FDR broke two-term
tradition and ran for
reelection
Republican candidate
was Wendell Willkie
Willkie’s biggest
campaign idea was
urging people not to
vote for FDR because
he argued it would lead
to the U.S. entering the
war
FDR reelected with
55% of votes
The Lend-Lease Plan
FDR tells nation if Britain falls,
Axis powers free to conquer
world
U.S. must become “arsenal of
democracy”
By late 1940, Britain has no
more cash to buy U.S. arms
1941 Lend-Lease Act—U.S. to
lend or lease supplies for Allied
defense
These goods could be returned
or replaced after the war, thus
avoiding the prospect of huge
new war debts
By the end of the war, the total
value of American aid to Allied
countries was about $50 billion
Supporting Stalin
1941, Hitler breaks pact with Stalin, invades
Soviet Union
Germany broke the treaty because:
it wanted the agricultural capabilities of Western
Russia
the Germans feared that the Red Army was preparing
to attack them, and their own assault was thus
presented as a preemptive war
www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_fi.php?ModuleId=100
05164&MediaId=250
Roosevelt sends lend-lease supplies to Soviet
Union
“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”
German Wolf Packs
To prevent delivery of lend-lease shipments,
Hitler deployed U-boats to attack supply
convoys
Wolf packs—groups of up to 40 submarines
patrolled the North Atlantic
sink supply ships
FDR allowed navy to attack German U-boats
in self-defense
German Wolf Packs
Aerial views of a convoy escorted by a battleship during the Battle of the
Atlantic in April 1941. The ships stretch as far as the eye can see.
The Atlantic Charter
FDR’s proposal to extend the term of draftees (passes House by 1
vote)
FDR and Churchill held a secret meeting in Newfoundland
Result was the Atlantic Charter—joint declaration of war aims
The agreement said:
that the United States and Britain would not pursue territorial
expansion
affirmed their belief that every nation has the right to choose its own
form of government
called for freedom of international trade and equal access for all
countries to raw materials
once the war was over—all aggressor states should be disarmed
Charter is basis of “A Declaration of the United Nations” or Allies
Allies—nations that fight Axis powers; 26 nations sign Declaration
• Including GREAT BRITAIN, U.S., USSR—France, China, India, Poland,
Canada, Australia, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Union of South Africa, Norway, and Denmark
Shoot on Sight
Germans fired on U.S. ship, FDR
ordered navy to shoot U-boats on
sight
U-boat attacks led Senate to repeal
ban on arming merchant ships
Japan’s Ambitions in the Pacific
Hideki Tojo—prime minister of Japan ordered invasion of China
Japan then seized French bases in Indochina (now Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Laos)
In an effort to discourage Japan's war efforts in China, the United
States, Britain, and the Dutch government in exile (still in control
of the oil-rich Dutch East Indies) stopped selling oil and steel to
Japan—put an embargo on them
Embargo— restriction of trade on another country (not trading
with and in some cases denying the trade of others)
Japan saw this as an act of aggression, as without these
resources Japan's military machine would grind to a halt
Japan needs oil from U.S. or must take Dutch East Indies oil
fields
Peace Talks are Questioned
1941 U.S. broke Japanese codes
learns Japan planning to attack U.S.
issued warning to military commanders in
Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines
Peace talks with Japan lasted about 1
month
December 6, Japanese envoy instructed
to reject all U.S. proposals and to
destroy key documents as well as
decoding machines
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
On the morning of December 7, 1941, planes
and midget submarines of the Imperial
Japanese Navy issued a surprise attack on the
U.S. at Pearl Harbor—largest U.S. naval base in
the Pacific
At 6:00 a.m. on December 7th the six Japanese
carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes
composed of torpedo bombers, dive-bombers,
horizontal bombers and fighters
The Japanese hit American ships and military
installations at 7:53 a.m.. They attacked
military airfields at the same time they hit the
fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor
Attack Especially Devastating
Attack on U.S. soil—moral damaging
Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet and
more than 300 aircraft were damaged or destroyed
2,403 Americans killed; 1,178 wounded
U.S. did not anticipate an aerial attack
Pearl Harbor was too shallow for conventional torpedoes to be
dropped (they would bottom out); however, Japanese modified
the tail to allow them to be dropped into shallower water
Because the U.S. did not fear an aerial attack, they
focused on sabotage
To guard planes and ships against sabotage, the U.S. put all of
their planes and ships together so it would be easier to guard
them
Deciphering the Clues
Clues about the forthcoming attack on Pearl Harbor
Missing Japanese’s fleet
The overflow of Japanese communications (this usually
meant a country was up to something and they did it to
delay the interpretations/translations of the real messages
because the enemy had to sort through all the false
messages)
The Radar station picking up the Japanese aircraft but were
dismissed as US B-17 Bombers flying in from the mainland
The Japanese Embassy closing up and destroying all
confidential documents including their decoding machine
Pearl Harbor Invasion
U.S. Ships at Pearl Harbor
USS Arizona
The USS Arizona ablaze after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
USS Arizona Memorial, dedicated in
1962, spans the sunken hull of the
battleship without touching it
B-17 Bomber after the
attack on Hickam Field
A navy photographer
snapped this photograph
of the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on
December 7, 1941, just as
the USS Shaw exploded.
USS Utah took a torpedo hit
and capsized early in the
battle.
USS Pennsylvania, behind the
wreckage of the USS Downes
and the USS Cassin
" It was a mess. I was working on the U.S.S.
Shaw. It was on a floating dry dock. It was in
flames. I started to go down into the pipe
fitter's shop to get my toolbox when another
wave of Japanese came in. I got under a set
of concrete steps at the dry dock where the
battleship Pennsylvania was. An officer came
by and asked me to go into the Pennsylvania
and try to get the fires out. A bomb had
penetrated the marine deck, and . . . three
decks below. Under that was the magazines:
ammunition, powder, shells. I said “There
ain't no way I'm gonna go down there.” It
could blow up any minute. I was young and
16, not stupid. " —JOHN GARCIA quoted in The
Good War
Reaction to Pearl Harbor
“Yesterday, December 7,
1941--a date which will live
in infamy--the United States
of America was suddenly
and deliberately attacked by
naval and air forces of the
Empire of Japan”
Congress approved FDR’s
request for declaration of
war against Japan
Germany and Italy declared
war on U.S.
U.S. was unprepared to
fight a two-front war (both
Atlantic and Pacific)