Download World War II (1931–1945)

World War II
(1931–1945)
THE INTERWAR PERIOD
Economic depression
War debt & poverty
Crisis & resentment led to nationalist regimes
Totalitarianism under Stalin – Soviet Union
Fascism under Mussolini – Italy
Nazism under Hitler – Germany
Militarism in Japan
FAILURE OF THE LEAGUE OF
NATIONS
League of Nations ineffectual
Manchuria invaded by Japan in 1931
Rhineland invaded by Germany in 1936
Ethiopia invaded by Italy in 1935
Spanish Civil War – Fascist rebels v. Spanish republic
UNITED STATES ISOLATIONISM
Isolationism in post-World War I America
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
Nye Committee (1934-36) blamed war on “merchants of
death”
Good Neighbor Policy reversed actions taken by McKinley
& Roosevelt
FDR expands U.S. diplomacy
Recognized USSR in 1933
Reciprocal Trade Agreement (1934) lowered tariffs
UNITED STATES NEUTRALITY?
Steps to war
Neutrality Acts (1935-39) passed to keep U.S. out of war
“Cash-and-carry” (1939) allowed sales to warring countries if
they would pay cash & transport themselves
Selective Training & Service Act (1940) – 1st peacetime draft
Lend-Lease Act (1940) began loans to warring countries
Self-defense against German subs to “shoot on sight” (1941)
GERMAN TERRITORIAL
EXPANSION
March 1938 – Austria taken in a bloodless “union”
September 1938 – Sudetenland taken from Czechoslovakia, a result
of Munich Conference appeasement
March 1939 – The rest of Czechoslovakia conquered
September 1939 – After signing a nonaggression pact with Stalin,
Hitler took Poland.
April 1940 – Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium &
Luxembourg all conquered in an awesome display of blitzkrieg.
June 1940 – France taken via Belgium. Trapped soldiers are
rescued from Dunkirk.
Summer 1940 – In the Battle of Britain, German aerial attacks fail
against extreme heroism… & radar
June 1941 – Hitler invaded the Soviet Union
Between 1939 and 1941, Germany invaded and conquered much of Europe.
Japan’s gradual expansion in Asia led to war with China in 1937.
- Axis Germany, Italy & Japan sign Tripartite Pact in September 1940
versus
- Allies Great Britain & France declared war after invasion of Poland in 1939
Soviet Union became an ally after Germany invaded in 1941
Before officially declaring war, U.S. made the Atlantic Charter
Allies eventually included 26 nations
DECEMBER 7, 1941
Japanese
surprise attack at Pearl Harbor decimated the Pacific
fleet
Congress (470-1) declared war on Japan on December 8
Germany & Italy declared war on U.S. to support their ally
Japan
Racism & distrust resulted in internment of Japanese Americas
THE HOLOCAUST
Product
of Hitler’s anti-Semitic ideas
After Kristallnacht , Nazis begin removing Jews from society
Jews relocated into ghettos, later moved to concentration
camps
“Final solution” (genocide) – many camps converted to death
camps
6 million Jews, 5 million others are killed
TWO-FRONT WAR:
EUROPEAN THEATER
North
African Campaign – “Desert Fox” Rommel pushed back
by a joint British/U.S. offensive
Battle of Stalingrad – Hitler defeated by Russian winter &
fighting on two fronts
Gen. George S. Patton’s invasion of Sicily led to the removal
from office & arrest of Mussolini
D-DAY INVASION
(JUNE 6, 1944)

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FDR’s Chief of Staff George Marshall suggested an invasion
of Western Europe
General Eisenhower was supreme commander for the
invasion, Operation Overlord
Heavy casualties were suffered, but by late July, nearly 2
million Allied troops were in France
On August 25, 1944, Paris was liberated from German
occupation.
V-E DAY


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Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944) – German
counterattack resulted in largest battle in
U.S. Army history
Soviets reached Berlin in April 1945
Hitler committed suicide April 30, &
Germany surrendered on May 8
FDR died on April 12, 1945 & Harry
Truman became President
YALTA CONFERENCE
The Yalta Conference (February 1945) – Roosevelt, Churchill,
and Stalin met to discuss the shape of the postwar world. The
leaders agreed:
1.
To split Germany into four zones, each under the control of a major Ally,
including France.
2.
To split Berlin similarly.
3.
That Stalin would allow free elections in the nations of Eastern Europe that
Soviets had liberated.
4.
That Stalin would enter the war against Japan.
Stalin didn’t keep either promise.
TWO-FRONT WAR:
PACIFIC THEATER
“Island hopping” strategy
 May 1942 – 76K POWs take Bataan Death March. 10K died
on the march & at least 15K more died in the prison camps.
 Battle of Midway (June 1942) – Americans sank 4 Japanese
carriers & 250 planes, ending the Japanese offensive in the
Pacific.

DECISIVE PACIFIC BATTLES


Iwo Jima (Feb. 1945) – More than 100K
U.S. troops engaged, of which 25K died.
Battle of Okinawa (April-June 1945) –
The costliest battle of the Pacific war
(nearly 50K U.S. casualties), this gave
U.S. a clear path for invading Japan.
MANHATTAN PROJECT


In 1939, FDR organized the
Manhattan Project under J.
Robert Oppenheimer to develop
the atomic bomb.
When the Japanese did not
respond to the Potsdam
Declaration, Truman gave orders
to use this weapon.
ENDING THE WAR


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On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay
dropped a single atomic bomb on the
city of Hiroshima – resulting in 80K
immediate deaths.
Three days later, a 2nd bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki.
V-J Day: On August 14, Japan
surrendered.
DIVERSITY AIDS THE WAR
EFFORT
Navajo “code talkers” developed an unbreakable code.
 The Tuskegee Airmen, the 1st African American combat pilot
unit, was highly decorated.
 American women served in all areas except combat (WACS,
WAVES, WASP).

THE WAR AT HOME



Factories converted to war production:
o
Ford Motor Company built B-24 bombers.
o
Mass-production techniques were applied to ship building. Liberty ships
were large, sturdy merchant ships that carried supplies or troops.
Many goods were rationed, and citizens were involved in the
war effort.
Victory gardens produced about 1/3 of the country’s fresh
vegetables.
WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

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Women entered the work force or left low-paying “women’s
jobs”.
Rosie the Riveter became the popular symbol for all women
working in war-production.
After the war, women were encouraged to leave their jobs &
return home.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES

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Dr. Charles Drew developed methods that geared blood
plasma collection to mass production.
New weaponry included the atomic bomb & V-1 rockets
Radar & sonar made detecting enemy crafts possible
WORLD WAR II CASUALTIES
Country
Military Deaths
Civilian Deaths
Total Deaths
Germany
3,250,000
2,350,000
5,600,000
Italy
226,900
60,000
286,900
Japan
1,740,000
393,400
2,133,400
France
122,000
470,000
592,000
Great Britain
305,800
60,600
366,400
United States
405,400
---------
405,400
Soviet Union
11,000,000
6,700,000
17,700,000
China
1,400,000
8,000,000
9,400,000
Axis
Allies
SOURCE: World War II: A Statistical Survey
NUREMBURG TRIALS
Best
known was the Trial of the Major War Criminals
(November 1945-October 1946), which tried 24 of the most
important captured leaders
The indictments were for:
War crimes (Treatment of prisoners, etc.)
Crimes against humanity (The Holocaust)
Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression