Download The Road to War

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The Road to War
The play in our Sept. 6, 2010, issue is set during
World War II. (See “We Are Americans Too!” pp. 16-19.)
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December
1941, people of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. were
seen as security risks. U.S. military leaders urged
President Franklin D. Roosevelt to take action. On
February 19, 1942, the President signed Executive
Order 9066. This led to the removal of an estimated
115,000 Japanese-Americans from their homes. They
were forced to live in one of 10 desolate internment
camps for the duration of the war.
How did World War II begin? The war partly had its
roots in the Great Depression, a worldwide economic
downturn that began in 1929. The Depression hit Germany and Japan hard. Poverty and unrest in both countries caused democratic governments to fall. They were
replaced by dictatorships bent on conquest.
Starting in 1931, military leaders gradually took control of Japan’s government. When Japan invaded China
in 1937, Roosevelt denounced the Japanese as aggressors. U.S. relations with Japan soon deteriorated.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party seized control of Germany. Germany attacked Poland in September 1939, starting World War II in Europe. A year later,
Germany, Japan, and Italy—another dictatorship—
formed an alliance.
After studying the chronology, answer the questions.
questions
skills reproducible
READING A CHRONOLOGY
CHRONOLOGY
July 7, 1937: Fighting breaks out between China and
Japan near Beijing, the Chinese capital. Japanese
troops soon occupy much of the country. The U.S.
supports China against Japan.
Dec. 12, 1937: Japanese planes sink the USS Panay, a
U.S. gunboat patrolling China’s Yangtze River (now Chang
Jiang) under an international treaty.
Sept. 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on
Germany in response to the German invasion of Poland.
The U.S. proclaims neutrality.
June 22, 1940: Overrun by German troops, France
surrenders to Hitler. Britain fights on.
Dec. 29, 1940: Roosevelt promises to help Britain by
making America the “arsenal of democracy.”
June 1941: Germany invades the Soviet Union.
July 24, 1941: Japanese troops occupy French
Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). Roosevelt
freezes all Japanese assets in the U.S. and stops the
sale of oil to Japan. Japan’s military calls for war.
Oct. 31, 1941: The destroyer USS Reuben James is
sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic.
Nov. 17, 1941: U.S. and Japanese diplomats start talks
to head off war between the two countries.
Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. The next
day, President Roosevelt asks Congress to declare war
on Japan.
Dec. 11, 1941: Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy,
declare war on the U.S.
Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
1. When did World War II begin?
2.Why is the Great Depression seen as one of the
causes of World War II?
3. Which three countries formed the Axis alliance?
4. Who led the Nazi party in Germany?
5.Which U.S. warship did the Germans sink on Halloween day in 1941?
6.What did U.S. President Roosevelt do the day after
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor?
7.Which two countries started unsuccessful
negotiations to head off war in November 1941?
8.What did the U.S. do in response to Japan’s
invasion of French Indochina?
9.What event in 1941 prompted the U.S. to relocate
Americans of Japanese ancestry?
10.Do you think that President Roosevelt was
justified in issuing Executive Order 9066? Give
reasons to support your answer.
september 6, 2010 • JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC online reproducible