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United States History
Chapter 26:
The Road to War
Legacy of World War I
 Officially, World War II began on September 1, 1939
 However, you can also say that the beginning of WWII dates
back to November 11, 1918
 The United States, fearing another conflict, refused to join
the League of Nations, isolating the nation from world affairs
 Reparations were forced upon Germany, devastating the
European economy
 Other nations struggled to pay their debt payments
 The US lowered interest rates, but did not cancel debts
 Sanctions were placed on Germany, preventing
development of a military
 Problems in Germany led to the rise of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
 Served in German military
during WWI, surviving a gas
attack
 Formed National Socialist
Workers’ Party (Nazi)
 Imprisoned for trying to
overthrow German gov’t in
1923
 Wrote autobiography, Mein
Kampf in prison
 Book outlined his political
aspirations and blamed
Germany’s problems on
Jews
Latin America
 The worldwide economic depression also had a negative
effect on the nations of Latin America
 Dictators came to power in Nicaragua, Dominican Republic,
Cuba, and Honduras
 FDR proposed the Good Neighbor Policy, promising to
respect the nation’s neighbors in regards to their economy
and land
 The policy was tested in 1938 with Mexico
 Many American oil companies drilled in Mexico
 Mexico’s gov’t nationalized the oil industry
 In regards to the policy, the US would respect Mexico’s
decision, but at the expense of the companies
 Luckily, the US and Mexico made a deal to compensate
companies for lost property
Italy
 Led by Benito Mussolini
 Founded the Fascist Party in
1921
 Fascists believe in a strict
military control of all aspects
of society
 Suppressed basic rights and
invaded several areas of
Africa in a quest for an Italian
empire
 Used an army of followers
known as Blackshirts to
enforce his power
 Principle ally of Germany
before and during World War
II
Soviet Union
 Already a Communist nation
 Josef Stalin came to power
in 1924 after Lenin’s death
 Took away basic rights and
took property under gov’t
control, causing decreased
production and famine
 All opposition was crushed
by the Red Army
 Estimated 30 million Soviets
killed as a result of Stalin’s
policies
Germany
 Hitler’s Nazi Party gained popularity, especially during
the early days of the Depression
 In 1932, the Nazis won 40% of the vote in German
elections
 Hitler became Chancellor, or der Fuhrer, in 1933
 Using his SS stormtroopers, or Brownshirts, Hitler
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suppressed all opposition
Jews and non-Nazis were denied gov’t jobs
Military services was made mandatory
Breaking the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler set out to rebuild
the nation’s military
As a result, unemployment decreased and Germany’s
economy improved
Germany
 Hitler wanted to expand Germany’s Lebensraum (“living
space”)
 Rhineland invaded in 1936
 Austria annexed in 1938
 Sudetenland in 1938
 The problems of Germany, according to Hitler, were caused
by the Jews
 Passed the Nuremburg Laws in 1935, making Anti-Semitism
official government policy
 Stripped Jews of citizenship
 Destroyed Jewish property
 Kristalnacht (night of broken glass) on November 9, 1938
 Many Jews tried to escape, but had no place to go because of
strict immigration laws
Spain
 Just as in Italy and Germany, a fascist dictator came to
power in Spain
 A civil war broke out between fascists and loyalists
 Eventually, after a 3 year war, in 1936, General Francisco
Franco came to power with the help of German and Italian
military aid
 The Soviets supported the Loyalists
 The United States did not send direct aid, fearing getting
involved in another international conflict
 However, 3,000 Americans did fight in the conflict with the
loyalist cause
 Ernest Hemingway glorified the war in his novel For Whom the
Bell Tolls (1940)
 Much of Europe now fell under fascist control
Japan
 In a need and desire to rely less on foreign resources,
Japan sought to expand their empire throughout Asia
and the Pacific
 Japan rapidly expanded their army and navy
 In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered Chinese
controlled Manchuria
 By 1937, a full scale war between Japan and China
broke out
 The United States and the League of Nations
condemned Japan’s actions, but were not successful in
stopping them
Fascist Reaction
 Scared of Japanese action against them, the Soviet Union mended
relations with the US in 1933
 France and Great Britain also joined the United States and USSR in
opposing fascist aggression
 Germany, Italy and Japan signed a formal agreement of friendship
 These nations are known as the Axis Powers
 To avoid conflict, Britain, France, Germany and Italy met in Munich in
September 1938
 A policy of appeasement was adopted
 Germany gained the Sudetenland, promising not to invade other lands

The United States adopted neutrality laws
 Prevented shipments of weapons
 Required any goods bought from the US to be shipped by their own
ships
Europe 1939
The War Begins…
 Britain and France, knowing the inevitable, threatened war if
Germany attacked Poland, an area Hitler expressed desire
for
 Asked USSR to join, but the Soviets signed a nonaggression
pact with Germany
 Also agreed to split Poland with Germany
 September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland
 USSR followed suit, also occupying Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
and part of Finland
 France and Britain declared war on Germany two days later
 The US continued to stay neutral
 However, sold weapons to warring nations if they were carried
on foreign ships
 Established the Lend-Lease Act with the Allies to provide
military equipment
The War Begins…
 Hitler employed a tactic called Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”) against
Poland
 It took less than a month to conquer Poland
 His next move was to eliminate France
 Moved around the Maginot Line defenses into Luxembourg,
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway
 In the process, trapped thousands of French, British, and Belgian
troops at the French town of Dunkirk
 Only a bold evacuation across the English Channel saved the troops
from surrender or annihilation in 1940
 Germany established a puppet gov’t in Vichy, France
 The French Resistance, led by Charles de Gaulle, continued to
oppose the Germans for the remainder of the war
 In June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France
 Germany sent bombers over Britain, but the British were able to
hold off the German Luftwaffe
The US’ Secret Meetings
 FDR met with British PM Winston Churchill secretly in
August 1941
 They discussed how the United States was practically
already at war
 They also drafted the Atlantic Charter
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Agreed not to pursue territorial gains
Right of nations to choose their government
Disarming of aggressor nations
All nations needed to work to eliminate war and poverty
 Situation became worse when Hitler invaded the Soviet
Union in June 1941
 Broke the nonaggression agreement with USSR
 Were knocking on Moscow’s door by Fall 1941
Japan and America’s Entry
into World War II
 Meanwhile, Japan continued to expand in Asia and the Pacific
 The United States cut diplomatic ties with Japan and froze all assets
 Japan and the US met several times over the summer of 1941 to
reach a peace
 Secretly, PM Hideki Tojo was planning an attack on the United States
at Pearl Harbor
 The US broke codes and knew an attack was coming, but did not know
where
 On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor
 Over 2400 dead
 Much of the Pacific fleet damaged or sunk
 FDR asked for a war declaration the next day, bringing the US into World
War II
Hideki Tojo
Winston Churchill
Flags of World War II