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World War II
1935-1945
Chapter 27
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Gathering Storm
World War II Begins
Americans in Wartime
Allies Turn the Tide
End of the War
After the Bomb
The Gathering Storm
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What kind of dictatorship did Stalin set up
in the Soviet Union?
How did authoritarian governments come
to power in Italy, Germany, and Japan?
Why did the United States adopt a policy
of isolationism?
Stalin’s Dictatorship in the
Soviet Union
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Lenin had set up a communist government in the
Soviet Union.
After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin gained
power. He ruled as a totalitarian dictator. In a
totalitarian state, a single party controls the
government and people’s lives.
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Citizens do not ask questions.
Criticism is punished.
Stalin modernized industry and agriculture, but his
methods were brutal.
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Peasants had to hand over land and animals to
government-run farms. Millions who resisted were
executed or sent to labor camps.
Stalin staged trials and executed his political enemies.
Russian Leaders
Lenin liked
Stalin and
appointed him
in the
government.
After his death,
Stalin takes
over.
Stalin was
a brutal
dictator.
Many
suffered
under him.
Fascism in Italy
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Benito Mussolini and his Fascist party seized power in
1922. Fascism combined militarism, extreme nationalism,
and blind loyalty to the state.
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Fascists were supported by business leaders and landowners.
Mussolini played on Italian anger over the Versailles Treaty,
which hadn’t given Italy all the territory it wanted after World
War I.
He also used economic unrest and fears of communist
revolution.
Mussolini outlawed all political parties except his own.
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He controlled the press and banned criticism.
Critics were jailed or murdered.
Fascism in Italy
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Mussolini promised to restore the greatness of
ancient Rome.
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He began a program of military aggression.
Aggression is a warlike act by one country against
another without just cause.
In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia. The Ethiopian
emperor Haile Selassie asked the League of Nations
for help, but the League responded weakly. Ethiopia
fell.
Mussolini
Nazism in Germany
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Adolf Hitler brought the National Socialist
German Workers’ Party, or Nazis, to power in
Germany.
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Hitler also played on anger about the Versailles
Treaty, which blamed Germany for World War I and
made them pay heavy war costs.
Hitler blamed Jews and other traitors. Hitler was
using Jews and others as scapegoats—a person or
group on whom to blame one’s problems.
Nazism in Germany
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In 1933, Hitler became head of the German
government.
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He ended democratic rule and created a militaristic
totalitarian state.
The government controlled the press, schools, and
religion.
Nazism in Germany
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Hitler preached that Germans belonged to a
superior race.
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The Nazis singled out Jews for special persecution.
The Jews were deprived of citizenship, forbidden to
use public facilities, and driven out of their jobs.
Later, Jews were sent to concentration camps—prison
camps for civilians who are considered enemies of the
state.
In time, Hitler would unleash his plan to kill all
European Jews.
Nazism in Germany
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Hitler claimed that Germany had a right to expand to the
east. The Treaty of Versailles took this land.
He began to rebuild Germany’s military. The TOV said
no!
In 1936, German troops moved into the Rhineland, near
the borders of France and Belgium.
Adolf Hitler
Military Rule in Japan
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Japan suffered in the Great Depression. People grew impatient with
their democratic government, and military leaders took power.
Like Hitler, these leaders preached racial superiority.
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Military rulers set out to expand into Asia.
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In 1931, Japanese forces seized Manchuria in northeastern China.
Manchuria was rich in coal and iron.
The Japanese set up a state in Manchuria called Manchukuo.
China called on the League of Nations for help.
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The League condemned Japanese aggression but did little else.
The United States refused to recognize Manchukuo but took no action.
American Isolationism
In the United States, the isolationist mood of the 1920s continued. Americans
were determined to keep from becoming involved.
Neutrality
Acts
• In 1935, Congress passed the first of a series of Neutrality Acts,
which banned arms sales and loans to countries at war.
• Congress also warned Americans not to travel on ships of
countries at war.
Good
Neighbor
Policy
• In 1930, President Hoover had rejected the Roosevelt Corollary. He
said that the United States no longer claimed the right to intervene
in Latin American affairs.
• Franklin Roosevelt moved toward building friendlier relations with
Latin America. Under his Good Neighbor Policy, American troops
withdrew from Nicaragua and Haiti.
• The United States also canceled the Platt Amendment, which had
limited Cuban independence.
World War II Begins
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How did aggression lead to war in Asia
and Europe?
How did the United States respond to the
outbreak of World War II?
Why did the United States finally enter the
war?
Aggression in Asia
In 1937, Japan began an all-out war against
China.
 Japanese planes bombed China’s major cities.
 Japanese troops occupied northern and central
China.
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On September 18th, in
violation of all its treaty
obligations, Japan
occupied Manchuria in
northeast China. It was
to be the first step on
the path to World War
II. American reaction to
the aggression came in
the form of the
Stimson Doctrine. This
document stated that
the United States
would not recognize
any treaty that
impinged on the
sovereignty of China.
Aggression in Asia
The Japanese advance into China alarmed
American leaders.
 They thought it would undermine the Open Door
Policy, which promised equal access to trade in
China.
 It threatened the nearby Philippines.
 However, isolationist feelings kept the United
States from taking a firm stand.
Cost of Japanese Aggression
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Chinese Casualties
The Kuomintang fought in 22 major engagements, most of which involved more
than 100,000 troops on both sides, 1,171 minor engagements most of which
involved more than 50,000 troops on both sides, and 38,931 skirmishes.
The CCP mostly fought guerilla attacks in rural area in North China. It would later
give them credence to win them support in the Chinese Civil War.
The Chinese lost approximately 3.22 million soldiers. 9.13 million civilians died in
the crossfire, and another 8.4 million as non-military casualties.
Property loss of the Chinese valued up to 383,301.3 million US dollars according to
the currency exchange rate in July 1937, roughly 50 times of the GDP of Japan at
that time (7,700 million US dollars). In addition, the war created ninety-five million
refugees.
Japanese Casualties
The Japanese recorded around 1.1 million military casualties, killed, wounded and
missing.
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Shanghai 1937: One
of the earlier images
of the war to come
out from China, this
iconic photo appeared
in LIFE magazine
The conflict lasted for
97 months and 3 days
(measured from 1937
to 1945).
Aggression in Europe
In 1938, Germany annexed Austria.
This action violated the Treaty of Versailles.
 Britain and France took no action.
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Later in 1938, Hitler claimed the Sudetenland, the
western part of Czechoslovakia. He said that many
people of German heritage lived there.
Britain and France had signed treaties to protect
Czechoslovakia but did not want to go to war.
 In September, leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Germany
met in Munich. At this Munich Conference, Hitler promised that
Germany would take no further territory once it had the
Sudetenland.
 Britain and France agreed. This practice of giving in to
aggression in order to avoid war is known as appeasement.
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Appeasment
Aggression in Europe
In August 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed the NaziSoviet Pact.
 The two rivals agreed not to attack each other.
 Secretly, they agreed to divide Poland and other
parts of Eastern Europe.
 In September 1939, Hitler launched a blitzkrieg, or
lightning war, against Poland. The Poles soon
surrendered.
 The Soviet Union seized eastern Poland. It also
invaded Finland and later annexed Estonia,
Lithuania, and Latvia.
Germans Invade Poland
Results of the Blitzkrieg
Aggression in Europe
The Outbreak of the Second
World War
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Two days after Hitler’s invasion of Poland,
Britain and France declared war on Germany.
World War II had begun.
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Germany, Italy, Japan, and six other nations formed
the Axis powers.
Eventually Britain, France, the United States, the
Soviet Union, China, and 45 other countries would
make up the Allies.
The Outbreak of the Second
World War
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In the spring of 1940, German armies smashed through Denmark and
Norway. In May they overran Holland and Belgium and pushed into France.
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Britain went to aid France, but by May, the Germans forced them to retreat to
Dunkirk, a French port on the English Channel. The British sent every available
ship to rescue the trapped soldiers.
German armies marched to Paris. France surrendered on June 22, 1940.
At the time, Britain stood alone against Germany.
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In the Battle of Britain, German planes bombed London and other British cities.
British fighter pilots fought back.
After months of bombing, Hitler gave up his plan to invade Britain.
How The United States Reacted to
the Outbreak of War
Most Americans favored the Allies but did not want to go to war. Isolationists opposed
Roosevelt’s measures to help Britain and prepare the nation for war.
Aid to the
Allies
• FDR asked Congress to repeal the law that banned the sale of arms to
warring nations. Isolationists objected. FDR won a compromise. The
United States could sell arms to the Allies under a “cash-and-carry” plan,
that is, the Allies had to pay cash and carry away the arms in their own
ships.
• German submarines sunk many British ships. Roosevelt agreed to give
Britain 50 old American destroyers. In return, Britain gave the United
States 99-year leases on military bases in Newfoundland and the
Caribbean.
Preparing
for war
• Congress approved greater spending for the army and navy.
• Congress set up a military draft, the first peacetime draft.
FDR’s Third
Term
• The threat of war persuaded Roosevelt to run for a third term. He was
the first President to do so.
How The United States Reacted to
the Outbreak of War
Lend-Lease
• Roosevelt suggested lending supplies to Britain.
• Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, allowing sales or loans of war
goods to “any country whose defense the President deems vital to the
defense of the United States.”
• Airplanes, tanks, guns, and ammunition were transported to Britain by
British merchant ships.
• When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Roosevelt
extended Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
The Atlantic
Charter
• In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter,
which set goals for the postwar world.
• The leaders agreed to seek no territory from the war.
• They supported “the right of all peoples to choose the form of
government under which they will live.”
• The charter called for a “permanent system of general security”
similar to the League of Nations.
Why the United States Finally
Entered the War
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Americans were alarmed by Japanese
aggression in Asia. After Germany defeated
France, Japan took control of French
colonies in Southeast Asia. In September
1940, Japan signed an alliance with
Germany and Italy.
Why the United States Finally
Entered the War
The United States tried to stop Japanese
aggression by refusing to sell oil and scrap
metal to Japan. This embargo angered the
Japanese.
 Japanese and American officials met in
November 1941. Japan asked the United
States to lift the embargo. The United
States asked Japan to withdraw its armies
from China and Southeast Asia. Neither
side would compromise
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Why the United States Finally
Entered the War
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On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Japanese
planes attacked the American Pacific fleet anchored at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
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The Japanese thought the attack would force the United
States to beg for peace immediately.
American aircraft carriers survived the attack because they
were at sea at the time.
The Japanese did not bomb the fuel oil tanks in Hawaii. The
fuel oil was a valuable resource in the war that followed.
Why the United States Finally
Entered the War
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On December 8, 1941, Congress declared war
on Japan.
Germany and Italy then declared war on the
United States.
Americans in Wartime
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How did Americans mobilize the economy
in World War II?
What impact did the war have on African
Americans?
Why did Japanese Americans and other
groups face special problems during the
war?
The United States Mobilized for
War
The first task was to train forces for combat.
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Army, navy, and air bases were built all over the country.
Recruits were trained to fight in jungles, deserts, towns, and farmlands.
Women joined all the armed services—although they were not allowed in
combat.
The United States Mobilized for
War
The government controlled the economy during the war. Government
agencies set prices, negotiated with labor unions, and decided what to
produce.
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The War Production Board helped factories shift from producing consumer
goods to producing war materials.
As consumer goods became scarcer, the government imposed rationing or
limitations on the amounts of certain goods that people could buy.
To combat food shortages, many Americans planted victory gardens.
To pay for the war, the government raised taxes and borrowed money from
citizens by selling war bonds.
The war ended the Great Depression.
The United States Mobilized for
War
Almost five million women entered the work
force.
 They replaced the men who joined the
armed services.
 Rosie the Riveter, a fictional factory worker,
became a symbol of American women’s
contributon to the war effort.
Rosie
The United States Mobilized for
War
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War work gave women better pay and
working conditions than before.
The war changed women’s fashions. Many
women began to dress for work in trousers
and overalls.
Women gained a new sense of confidence.
The War’s Impact on African
Americans
African Americans decided to pursue a “Double V” campaign—victory
over the enemy abroad and victory over discrimination at home.
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As industry geared for war, some factories put up “Help Wanted,
White” signs.
To gain equality for African Americans, A. Philip Randolph, head of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called for a protest march on
Washington.
After meeting with Randolph, FDR ordered employers that did business
with the government to end discrimination in hiring.
Racial tension increased. Competition for scarce housing led to race
riots.
FDR refused to end segregation of the races in the military.
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Nearly a million African Americans enlisted or were drafted.
They had to serve in all-black units with white officers.
The Tuskegee Airmen were African American fighter pilots who trained
at Tuskegee, Alabama. By the end of the war, the Tuskegee airmen
had destroyed or damaged about 400 enemy aircraft.
The War’s Impact on Japanese
Americans
The war brought suffering to Japanese Americans.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, some people questioned the loyalty of
Japanese Americans, although there was no evidence of disloyalty. Yet,
President Roosevelt signed an order allowing the army to move
Japanese Americans from their homes to “relocation camps.”
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Even people who were American citizens by birth were relocated.
Japanese Americans were forced to sell property and businesses at a loss.
Japanese Americans lived in crowded barracks behind barbed wire.
Despite unfair treatment, thousands of Japanese American men served in
the armed forces.
The War’s Impact on Japanese
Americans
The 442nd Nisei Regimental Combat Team became the most highly
decorated military unit in United States history.
In 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese Americans who had been
driven from their homes. Congress approved compensation, or
repayment for losses, in the amount of $20,000 to every survivor of
the camps.
Problems for Other Groups
About 11,000 German Americans and several hundred
Italian Americans were also held in government camps.
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Other German and Italian Americans faced curfews or travel
restrictions.
Problems for Other Groups
Mexican Americans also faced problems.
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The United States signed a treaty with Mexico in 1942 establishing
the bracero program, in which recruiters found Mexican laborers to
work in the United States. Many Mexicans moved north to work on
farms and railroads.
In 1943, a group of sailors attacked some Mexican Americans in Los
Angeles. The incident led to several days of rioting. Newspapers
blamed the Mexican Americans. In her newspaper column, Eleanor
Roosevelt argued that the riots were caused by discrimination
against Mexicans.
Still, many Mexican Americans served in the military.
The Allies Turn the Tide
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What defeats did the Allies suffer during
the bleak days of 1942?
How did D-Day and the opening of the
“Second Front” help to turn the tide of
battle in Europe?
How did the war in Europe come to an
end?
Allied Defeats of 1942
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In 1942, German armies occupied most of Europe and much of North Africa.
Japan was sweeping across Asia and the Pacific. German submarines were
sinking ships faster than the Allies could replace them.
German armies were closing in on Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad.
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The Soviets resisted by burning their crops and destroying farm equipment so
the Germans could not use them.
The German attack caused terrible hardships.
Japanese forces were on the move in the Pacific.
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Japan seized Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
General Douglas MacArthur directed American and Filipino troops in defense of
the Philippines and the island of Bataan. In the end, MacArthur was forced to
withdraw.
Japan captured Malaya, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies.
The Japanese advance was a threat to India, Australia, and New Zealand.
General Douglas MacArthur
Bataan Death March
The Tide of War Begins to
Turn
The Allies had agreed that they must defeat Germany and Italy
first. Then, they would send their combined forces to fight Japan.
However, Americans won some victories in the war in the Pacific.
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American forces met a Japanese fleet in the Coral Sea near Java in May
1942. After a three-day battle, the Japanese fleet was turned back. It was
the first naval battle in history in which airplanes did all the damage. The
planes were from the aircraft carriers.
One month later, the United States Navy won a stunning victory at the
Battle of Midway. The victory hampered the Japanese offensive and kept
Japan from attacking Hawaii again.
Allied forces began to push back the Germans in North Africa.
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In October 1942, the British drove German forces under Erwin Rommel from
El Alamein, Egypt, toward Tunisia.
In May 1943, Rommel’s army had to surrender.
Battle of Midway
Rommel “Desert Fox”
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Dubbed the "Desert Fox" for the skillful military campaigns he waged on behalf of the
German military in North Africa, Erwin Rommel earned the grudging respect of even
his adversaries.
At the start of World War II, Rommel was largely responsible for Adolf Hitler's
personal safety as he sought to expand his Nazi empire. Despite the tactical brilliance
Rommel displayed in North Africa, German advances there were halted in 1943. In
January 1944, Rommel was made commander in chief of all German armies from the
Netherlands to the Loire River.
In France, Rommel sought to fortify Nazi territory and prevent an Allied invasion. He
was not successful. On June 6, 1944, while Rommel was in Germany celebrating his
wife's birthday, the Allies landed at Normandy. Soon after, Rommel was seriously
wounded when Allied aircraft strafed his motorcar. As a result, he was forced to
return to Germany to recover.
While he was hospitalized, a failed attempt on Hitler's life was made. Rommel, a
recent critic of Hitler's leadership, was implicated in the plot. Shortly thereafter, two
German soldiers visited Rommel's sickbed. They offered him the unpleasant choice of
committing suicide by ingesting poison pills or standing trial in what would most likely
be a rigged and losing effort. Rommel chose the poison.
The Tide of War Begins to
Turn
From North Africa, the Allies organized an invasion of
Italy.
 First, the Allies captured the island of Sicily, then
crossed from Sicily into Italy.
 By then, the Italian people had overthrown Mussolini.
 However, the Germans still occupied much of Italy.
 In a series of bloody battles, the Allies fought their
way through Italy. On June 4, 1944, they freed Rome
from Nazi control.
Meanwhile, the Soviet army had defeated the
Germans at Leningrad and Stalingrad. Soviet troops
The Second Front Helps to Turn
the Tide
For years, Stalin had urged Britain and the United States to send armies across
the English Channel into France. Such an attack would create a second front in
Western Europe and ease pressure in the East.
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The allies were not prepared for such an invasion until 1944.
Years of planning went into Operation Overlord, the code name for the invasion of
Europe.
General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed commander of Allied forces in Europe.
The Germans knew the attack was coming, but not when or where.
On June 6, 1944—D-Day, as it was known—a fleet of 4,000 Allied ships carried
the invasion force to France.
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The troops scrambled ashore at Normandy.
Despite intense German resistance, the Allies pushed on.
The Allies reached Paris on August 25, 1944. Within a month, France was free.
D-Day invasion
Turning Points
The War in Europe Comes to an
End
By September, the Allies were advancing toward Germany. On
December 16, 1944, German forces began a fierce counterattack.
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In one area, the Germans pushed the Allies back, creating a bulge in the
front lines. This Battle of the Bulge, as it was later called, slowed the Allies
down, but it did not stop them.
While troops were fighting on the ground, British and American airmen were
dropping bombs on German cities, factories, and oil refineries.
In 1944, President Roosevelt ran for a fourth term.
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The Republican opponent was Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York.
Roosevelt and his running mate, Senator Harry S Truman of Missouri, won
more than 54 percent of the vote.
A short time later, in April 1945, Roosevelt died.
Roosevelt and Truman
The War in Europe Comes to an
End
By April 1945, Germany was collapsing. American
troops were closing in:
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from the west. Soviet troops were advancing from the east.
On April 25, American and Soviet troops met at Torgau, 60
miles south of Berlin.
Soon after, Hitler committed suicide.
On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered. On May 8, the Allies
celebrated V-E Day—Victory in Europe.
V-E Day
Hitler’s Suicide
End of the War
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How did American forces advance in the
Pacific?
Why did Japan finally surrender?
What made World War II the deadliest
war in history?
American Forces Advance in the
Pacific
While war raged in Europe, the Allies kept up pressure on
Japan. The United States had two goals: to regain the
Philippines and to invade Japan.
American Forces Advance in the
Pacific
To gain control of the Pacific Ocean, American forces used
the strategy of island-hopping—capturing some Japaneseheld islands and going around others. Each island that was
won became a steppingstone to Japan.
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First, American ships shelled an island. Next, troops waded ashore
under heavy gunfire. Then, Americans overcame fierce Japanese
resistance in hand-to-hand fighting.
Navajo soldiers radioed messages from island to island in a code
based on the Navajo language. The Japanese intercepted the
messages but could not understand these Navajo code-talkers.
In October 1944, American forces under General MacArthur
returned to the Philippines.
Navajo Code Talkers
American Forces Advance in the
Pacific
Americans then captured the islands of Iwo Jima
and Okinawa.
 Japanese
leaders stressed an ancient code—the Way of
the Warrior. To surrender was to be dishonored. In suicide
missions, kamikaze pilots loaded old planes with bombs
and crashed them into Allied ships.
By 1945, American forces had begun to launch
attacks against Japanese cities and factories. The
United States made plans to invade Japan the
following autumn.
Iwo Jima
World War II in the Pacific
Japan Surrenders
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President Truman, Winston Churchill of Great
Britain, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union met in
Potsdam, Germany, in July 1945. While there,
Truman received word that American scientists had
successfully tested the atomic bomb.
The Allied leaders sent a message warning Japan to
surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.”
Not knowing about the atomic bomb, Japanese
leaders ignored this Potsdam Declaration.
Japan Surrenders
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
On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped an
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The blast killed 70,000
people and injured an equal number. Many people died later
from the effects of atomic radiation.
On August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
On August 14, 1945, the emperor of Japan announced that the
nation would surrender. The formal surrender took place on
September 2 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. V-J Day—
Victory in Japan—sparked wild celebrations across the United
States.
Bombing of H and N
The Deadliest War in History
World War II was the deadliest war in history.
Casualties
• The exact number of casualties will probably never be known.
• Historians estimate that between 30 million and 60 million people were
killed
Property
• Bombers destroyed houses, factories, and farms.
• By 1945, millions were homeless and had no way to earn a living.
Bataan
Death
March
After the war, Americans learned about the brutal mistreatment of
prisoners of war. The Japanese had forced about 75,000 American and
Filipino prisoners to march 65 miles with little food or water. About 10,000
died or were killed.
The Deadliest War in History
Holocaust
• In the last months of the war, Allied forces discovered the
extent of the Holocaust, the slaughter of Europe’s Jews by
the Nazis. More than 6 million Jews were tortured and
murdered in the Nazi death camps.
• Nearly 6 million Poles, Slavs, and Gypsies were also victims
of the death camps.
• Nazis killed many prisoners of war, as well as people with
physical or mental disabilities.
• As a reaction to the Holocaust, the Allies tried Nazi leaders
at war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany. As a result of
the Nuremberg Trials, 12 Nazi leaders were sentenced to
death. Thousands of others were imprisoned. The Allies
also tried and executed some Japanese leaders for war
crimes
Holocaust and Nuremburg trials