Download Germany`s neighbors protested but did nothing

World War II
ERUPTS
I Can:
Describe the circumstances at home & abroad prior to U.S.
involvement in WWII
Identify the significant military & political aspects of WWII
Analyze dimensions of the Holocaust & the Allies’ response
to the Holocaust & war crimes
Evaluate the social, political, & economic impacts of WWII
on the home front
Identify & evaluate the scientific & technological
developments in America during & after WWII
Europe after World War I
• World War I’s effects on Europe
– Millions of deaths
– Destruction of cities and farms
– Economy in ruins
– Many years to recover
• Ended World
War I
• Countries
dissatisfied
Treaty of Versailles
– France—not
harsh enough
on Germany
– Italy—wanted
rewarded
more
territory
– Germany
suffered the
most
TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Effects on Germany
 Forced
to give up land including industrial areas
 Heavy reparation payments
 Humiliated its people & military
 Caused severe inflation in early 1920s
 Inflation—rising
prices
 By 1923 the German Mark was almost worthless
HYPERINFLATION IN
GERMANY
German children playing with currency
WEIMAR REPUBLIC




Germany’s new
democratic government
Not a very strong
government
Faced opposition from
Communists & from the
far right
The German military
was also unhappy with
its reduced state
RISE OF TOTALITARIAN LEADERS

Type of leader emerged in Europe: Demagogue
a person, esp. an orator or political leader, who
gains power and popularity by arousing the
emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.
 Reflected & expressed the people’s bitterness &
anger
 Promised a return to greatness for their nations
 Appealing to people willing to trade basic freedoms
for future glory

BENITO MUSSOLINI—ITALIAN DICTATOR
Founded the National Fascist Party after Treaty
of Versailles
 Fascism—system of government that stressed
the glory of the state
 Became leader of Italy’s govt. in 1922
 Established a dictatorship

 Government
by a leader or group that holds
unchallenged power & authority
BENITO MUSSOLINI
Allowed no other political parties
 Ruthlessly crushed opponents
 His government controlled newspapers,
schools, & businesses
 All power flowed through him
 Italians called him Il Duce (il Doo chay)

 The
leader
ADOLF HITLER
Austrian-born
 Joined German army during World War I
 Anger over Treaty of Versailles led him into
politics
 Joined National Socialists party (Nazis)

 Attracted
many soldiers & others upset with treaty
Discovered he had a talent for speaking
 Arrested in 1923 for an attempted revolt

ADOLF HITLER

While in prison wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
 Outlined
his political ideas
 Nationalism
& devotion to the state
 Uniting all Germans of Europe in a great empire
 Belief in racial superiority of Germanic peoples—Aryans
 Blamed Jews for many of Germany’s problems
After prison he gradually gained support
through speeches
 1933 Nazis most powerful party
 Hitler named Chancellor

ADOLF HITLER
Used political skills & violence to eliminate
opponents
 Became totalitarian dictator
 Continued myth of Aryan greatness & German
empire
 Made himself glorified above all Germans
 Secretly built up German armed forces

OTHER REGIMES

Francisco Franco


Fascist dictator of Spain
Joseph Stalin
Communist dictator of the Soviet Union
 Crushed political opponents
 Created myth of own greatness


Japanese military leaders
Used violence to gain control over the
govt.
 Inspired by nationalistic dreams of
Japanese greatness

JAPAN
1920s wanted to expand for wealth & resources
 1930s became unhappy with Japan’s govt
 1931 Japanese army invaded Manchuria without
govt approval
 Govt ordered them to end the action; army refused
 People supported the army & it gained more power
 League of Nations criticized Japan’s actions;
Japan withdrew from the League

1935 ITALY INVADES ETHIOPIA
Italy had tried to est. a colony there in late 1800s
but was defeated
 Mussolini rekindled bitter feelings towards
Ethiopia


Used border dispute between Ethiopia & Italian colony
as excuse to invade
Ethiopia was unable to resist
 Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the
League of Nations which did nothing
 The US (FDR) protested but unwilling to do more

SPANISH CIVIL WAR
1930s Spain divided between Communists &
Fascists (Nationalists)
 1936 civil war

 Republicans
Franco
vs. Nationalists led by Francisco
 Italy
& Germany helped the Nationalists
 USSR supported Republicans
 Volunteers from US fought for Republicans

Abraham Lincoln Brigade
 Nationalists
won & Spain led by Fascist dictator
Francisco Franco
SPANISH CIVIL WAR
AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS
ARRIVE IN BARCELONA, 1937
Lincoln Brigade volunteers
salute.
HITLER TAKES ACTION

Hitler openly stated plan to re-arm Germany
 Violation
of Treaty of Versailles
 Britain & France tolerated Hitler’s actions
 Hitler

claimed it was to resist spread of communism
1936, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland
 Violation
of Versailles Treaty
 France alarmed, but unwilling to fight
 Britain unwilling to fight Germany as well
 Hitler grew bolder
HITLER OCCUPIES THE RHINELAND
THE ANSCHLUSS

1938 Hitler tried to get Austria to agree to
Anschluss
 Union
with Germany
Austria refused
 Hitler sent troops into Austria

 Violation
of Versailles Treaty
Anschluss popular with Austrian people
 Germany’s neighbors protested but did nothing

CHEERING CROWDS GREET THE GERMANS IN VIENNA
THE SUDETENLAND
Hitler’s success in Austria gave him more
confidence no one would stop him
 Began planning control of German-speaking
portion of Czechoslovakia—Sudetenland

 Encouraged
Germans in Sudetenland to protest
Czech rule
 Then threatened military attack
MUNICH AGREEMENT

British prime minister Neville Chamberlain &
French premier met with Hitler
 Agreed

to allow Hitler to annex Sudetenland
Czechoslovakia had no representatives there
 Protested

the agreement
Chamberlain—we have achieved “peace for our
time”
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CHAMBERLAIN, DALADIER, HITLER, MUSSOLINI, AND
CIANO PICTURED BEFORE SIGNING THE MUNICH AGREEMENT.
HITLER OCCUPIES THE SUDETENLAND
1930S-ERA
SOVIET
POSTER BY
KUKRYNIKSY
SHOWING
WESTERN
POWERS
GIVING
HITLER
CZECHOSLOV
AKIA ON A
DISH.
INSCRIPTION
ON THE
FLAG: "ON
TOWARDS
THE EAST!"
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN HOLDING THE PAPER CONTAINING THE RESOLUTION TO COMMIT TO PEACEFUL
METHODS SIGNED BY BOTH HITLER AND HIMSELF ON HIS RETURN FROM MUNICH. HE IS SHOWING THE PIECE
OF PAPER TO A CROWD AT HESTON AERODROME ON 30 SEPTEMBER 1938.
APPEASEMENT
Giving in to aggressive demands to maintain
peace
 British PM Chamberlain believed using this
policy towards Hitler had prevented a needless
war
 Critics believed Hitler would not keep his
promise of stopping at the Sudetenland

 Winston
Churchill condemned Chamberlain’s
actions as cowardly & would lead to war later
A woman in the
Sudetenland
greets incoming
German troops
with tears and a
Nazi salute.
WINSTON CHURCHILL
Chamberlain With
Mussolini at the Munich
Conference
HITLER’S EARLY MOVES
March 1939 Hitler’s troops captured the rest of
Czechoslovakia
 Hitler then formed alliances

 Pact
with Italy
 Nonaggression pact with the USSR
 Hitler
promised not to attack the USSR if they wouldn’t
interfere with German aggression
 Europeans were shocked; they believed the USSR would
be a check on Hitler’s aggression
Angry Czechs
watch German
troops enter
Prague after
Czechoslovakia
capitulates,
March 15,
1939.
Hitler attacks Poland
 Within days of the Nazi-Soviet agreement—Hitler
was ready to invade Poland
 Disguised a German criminal in a Polish army
uniform & shot him at the border
 September 1, 1939—Germany claimed Poland had
attacked & used the dead criminal as proof
 Germany began massive invasion of Poland
 German “Lightning war”
 Overwhelming combination of air attack and fast-




moving armored strikes to drive deep into enemy
territory
Nazis used it to devastating effect in Poland
Polish army was no match against Nazis
Polish cavalry on horseback
Poland was in German hands by the end of the month
September 3, 1939
 Great Britain & France declared war on Germany
 Became known as the Allies
 Could do little to stop Hitler in Poland
 Allies strategy was to wait for Hitler’s next move
 Hoped that Hitler would attempt to invade France’s
strong defense line

Maginot Line—string of bunkers & fortresses that lined part of
the French-German border
Map of the
principal
fortified section
of the Maginot
line
Pill Box on Maginot Line
Sitzkrieg
 Allied leaders were surprised when Germany did not
attack during the winter of 1939-1940
 Known as the sitzkrieg or phony war
 Hitler was actually making plans to attack France, &
other countries
 April 1940—Operation Weserübung



Hitler invaded Denmark & Norway to improve Germany’s
access to Atlantic Ocean
Surprised Allies could not stop him
Hitler turned to France
The German
landing sites during
the initial phase of
Operation
Weserübung.
France
 May 1940—Hitler invaded France
 Germans avoided the Maginot Line & attacked
through the Ardennes Forest

French believed the forest was too dense for an army to pass
through
 By June hundreds of thousands of Allied forces were
trapped at French port of Dunkirk

Allied ships & civilian boats heroically rescued about 340,000
troops from there & carried them to Britain
British fisherman giving a hand to an Allied soldier while a
Stuka's bomb explodes a few meters ahead.
 By avoiding the Maginot Line, Hitler’s army moved
quickly through France
 By end of June, France surrendered to Germany &
Italy (who had joined the war)
 Vichy France—unoccupied parts of France that were
under the control of French officials who cooperated
with the Nazis


July 1940-August 1944
General Charles de Gaulle & other French leaders fled to Great
Britain

Organized a resistance movement against Vichy France & the
Nazis
Vichy France
Hitler
shakes
hands with
Marshall
Petain the
Prime
Minister of
Vichy
France
Marshall Petain
Adolf Hitler
 Great Britain now stood alone against Germany
 Winston Churchill was now Prime Minister
 “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall
fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing
confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our
Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the
fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall
never surrender…”
 Hitler makes plans to invade Great Britain
Battle of Britain
 1st Phase: Destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF)
 Germans failed
 RAF used radar (new technology) to detect German planes &
inflicted heavy damage on them
 German air force—Luftwaffe then began bombing
London


To terrorize the public & take their will to fight
Thousands died in the raids, but Britain did not surrender
 Americans followed the Battle of Britain
 Radio reports of Edward R. Murrow
 Late 1940, Battle of Britain was over
Battle of Britain
Aircraft
spotter
on the
roof of a
building
in
London
St. Paul's Cathedral is pictured during the great fire
raid of Sunday December 29th." 1940.
Total war knows no bounds. Almshouse bombed Feb. 10,
Newbury, Berks., England." Naccarata, February 11, 1943.
"Children of an eastern suburb of London, who have been made homeless by the
random bombs of the Nazi night raiders, waiting outside the wreckage of what was
their home."
1934-Japan began expanding naval
forces
 1936-Japan signed anticommunism pact
with Germany
 1937-Japan began war against China

› Brutal—200,000 – 300,000 Chinese massacred
at Nanjing

1940 –Japan formed military alliance
with Germany & Italy
› Axis powers

1941-Japan took control of French
Indochina with agreement of Vichy
France
Japan’s takeover of French Indochina
was seen as a threat to US interests in the
region
 FDR placed economic sanctions against
Japan & cut off oil supplies
 Representatives from Japan were
meeting with the US to resolve
differences


Japanese Minister of War Hideki Tojo
› Pushed Japanese government not to
accept compromise
› Strong nationalist
› Willing to go to war to build Japanese
empire

October 1941-Tojo forced Japan’s
government to resign & he took control
of the country
American Isolationism
Americans questioned what involvement
in WWI had actually achieved
 Isolationism—desire to avoid involvement
in foreign wars

◦ Not all isolationists were pacifists
 Pacifists—people who do not believe in the use of
military force

Neutrality Acts, 1935-1939—a series of
laws passed by Congress to keep the US
from being dragged into war in Europe
American Isolationism

Isolationists wanted the US to remain
neutral
◦ Neutral—not sending aid to either side of a
conflict

Charles Lindbergh
◦ Spoke out for isolationism
◦ Believed that helping the Allies would end up
costing Americans many lives



FDR was not isolationist
He could do little because of isolationist
public opinion
1937 after Japan invaded China FDR gave
Quarantine Speech
 Urged US to work with other countries to
quarantine aggressive nations & prevent spread of
war

Hitler’s actions strengthened FDR’s position

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 FDR
got Congress to change Neutrality Act
 Cash and Carry—countries at war were allowed to
purchase American goods as long as they paid
cash & picked up their orders in US ports
▪ FDR hoped it would help Allies
▪ Hitler was not slowed down

FDR traded 50 US warships for 8 British bases



FDR decided to seek a third term as president
He defeated Republican opponent Wendell
Wilkie
First time US president elected for 3rd term
FDR
Wendell
Wilkie



After reelection FDR pushed to aid Allies
more
Wanted the US to be the “arsenal of
democracy”
March 1941, Lend-Lease Act—allowed the US
to send to weapons to Great Britain
regardless of its ability to pay
Atlantic Charter
 August 1941
 FDR & Churchill secretly
met on a ship off the coast
of Canada
 Atlantic Charter—
proclaimed the shared
goals of the US & Britain
in opposing Hitler & the
Axis Powers
FDR & Churchill attend church
services on board the HMS Prince of
Wales
Isolationists oppose FDR
 Spoke out against FDR’s actions
 America First Committee
 Charles Lindbergh
 US was already involved in armed conflict
 German U-boats attacking US ships delivering goods to
Britain


USS Kearny
 11 Americans killed
USS Reuben James
 Over 100 sailors killed
Pearl Harbor
 Fall of 1941-American leaders convinced
there would be war between US & Japan
 How & Where?
 Philippines ?
 US continued to negotiate to prevent war
 Japanese military leaders planned the attack
on Pearl Harbor for months
Captured Japanese photograph taken aboard a Japanese
carrier before the attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Sunday, December 7, 1941
8:00 a.m.
 Japanese aircraft carriers approached Hawaii
from the north
 Japanese planes loaded with bombs &
torpedoes attacked from the carriers
 intention of destroying American ships & planes
 Complete surprise attack
 Few US planes got off of the ground
Pearl Harbor








U. S. Forces
Japanese Forces
9
Battleships
10
3
Carriers
10
13
Heavy Cruisers 18
11
Light Cruisers 17
80
Destroyers
111
55
Submarines
64
Source: Comparative fleet strengths (Pacific
& Asiatic Fleets), December 1, 1941.
Pearl Harbor
 Attack lasted about two hours
 All 8 US battleships were damaged
 Four were sunk
 Nearly 200 aircraft completely destroyed
 2400 Americans were killed
 Japan losses were light
 Fewer than 30 aircraft
 Handful of submarines
 Americans reacted with anger & fear
 Rumors that Japan would invade California
 Barb wire on California beaches
 FDR expected a Japanese attack but with a formal
declaration of war
 Japanese officials delivered the war message after the
attack had begun
“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…Always will we remember the
character of the onslaught against us. No matter how
long it may take us to overcome this..., the American
people in their righteous might will win through to
absolute victory.”
Mobilizing for War
• The US had increased military spending in 1940
– ended the Great Depression
• Draft was also reinstated in 1940
– Millions volunteered
• General George C. Marshall
– Led mobilization effort
– Worked closely with FDR
– Also played important role in developing US strategy
Army Chief of
Staff, General
George C.
Marshall
Women & the Armed Forces
• Not permitted in combat roles
– Filled positions that allowed more men in combat
Women Accepted for Volunteer
Emergency Services (WAVES)
Navy
WAVES
Women Airforce Service Pilots
(WASPs)
• Tested & delivered
aircraft
• Nearly 40 lost their
lives
WASPs
Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
• Largest women’s unit:
150,000 served
• Worked with army
– Repaired equipment,
electricians, etc.
– Led by Oveta Culp
Hobby who was given
rank of colonel
NEW MILITARY BASES
Millions of new soldiers required new bases
 Military preferred rural areas
 California more bases than any state
 Florida good location for training bases

 Camp

Blanding 55,000 soldiers 4th largest city
1.2 million trained in Texas
 Fort
Hood
 Randolph Air Force Base
MOBILIZING INDUSTRY & SCIENCE

American industry converted for mobilization


Henry Ford—Willow Run
US spent tens of billions on weapons & supplies
American ships targeted by German
submarines
 US factories built 5500 ships during war

 Henry
Kaiser built “liberty ships”
Oregon Governor
Charles Sprague,
Henry Kaiser & FDR
attending the
launch of the first
Liberty ship built in
just 10 days.
NEW GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Regulated what products factories produced,
prices, & raw materials
 Office of Production Management

 William
Kaudsen
 Sidney Hillman

War Production Board
 Donald
Nelson
ROSIE THE
RIVETER
ROSIE THE RIVETER

Rosie the Riveter was most closely associated
with a real woman, Rose Will Monroe, who was
born in Pulaski County, Kentucky in 1920 and
moved to Michigan during World War II. She
worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft
Factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan, building B-29
and B-24 bombers for the U.S. Army Air Forces
ROSIE THE RIVETER
Women filled the factory jobs left vacant by
men joining the military
 6.5 million industrial jobs that had never been
open to women before

A REAL-LIFE "ROSIE" WORKING ON THE A-31 VENGEANCE BOMBER IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
(1943)
LABOR IN WORLD WAR II
Millions of jobs created by WWII
 Government concerned strikes might hamper
war effort
 National War Labor Board

 Help

settle labor disputes
Smith-Connally Act
 Gave
president power to take over vital industries in
the event of strikes

Helped reduce labor disputes during the war
MANHATTAN PROJECT

Top secret American program to build an
atomic bomb
 Powerful
weapon that used energy released by the
splitting of atoms
Laboratories in Los Alamos, New Mexico
 Research began in 1939

 Albert
Einstein warned that Hitler was working on
developing an atomic bomb

Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer
NUCLEAR PHYSICIST
ROBERT
OPPENHEIMER, LEFT,
WITH MAJOR
GENERAL LESLIE
GROVES, BY THE
REMAINS OF THE
TOWER FROM WHICH
AN ATOM TEST BOMB
WAS IGNITED.
Hundreds of thousands served
 First black marines
 First black commissioned naval officers
 Discrimination still existed

› Forced to serve in segregated units
› None received Medal of Honor
 7 received it 50 years later
Filled the factory jobs that opened
 Often forced to take the lowest-paying
jobs
 A. Phillip Randolph

› Head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters
› Called for a march on Washington to protest
› FDR ordered discrimination to cease in
government & defense jobs

Bracero Program
› Established in 1942 by US & Mexican
governments
› Because of demand for farm labor
› Gave some Mexican workers the chance to
work temporarily in the US
Increased ethnic tensions
 Zoot suit riots

› June 1943, white sailors fought with Mexican
youths in L.A.
› Lasted about a week
Sailors
with
wooden
clubs
during
the 1943
"zoot suit"
riots in Los
Angeles.