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World War II,
1941–1945
The Treaty formally ended WWI;
but left many countries feeling as if things were not
settled
January 1919 peace conference met in Paris
The Big Four = Gr Br, Fr., Italy, US
It included
(1) German military cut down
(2) 15 yr. lease of the mineral rich region (AlsaceLorranine) given to the French
(3) Allies were to be paid $33 billion
(4) created the League of Nations
(President Wilson’s contribution)
(5) created new countries out of Austria-Hungary
June 28, 1919 it was signed but US did not; why?
US wanted to be isolated again so did not like the League
As a result the League would be weak and not able to stop
problems
The Treaty caused many problems in Germany
-resented the Allies for punishing them
-created a severe depression
-no jobs, homes destroyed from the war; people were desperate
for help
Totalitarianism- form of government in which one single person
or party controls every aspect of life
(1) Germany & Adolf Hitler
-became involved in the Nationalist Socialists German Worker's
Party (Nazis Party)
-became chancellor in 1933 and then fuherer after President Paul
von Hindenberg’s death
-believed that the German people belonged to a superior Aryan race
destined to rule the world
--established the Gestapo or secret police; Hitler Youth; used scare
tactics to keep people in line
blamed all of Germany's troubles on the Jew
-anti-Semitism- hatred of the Jews
-(1) passed the Nuremberg Laws- deprived the Jews of citizenship;
(2) made them register with the government; (3) wear yellow
Star of David on their clothing; and (4) later he put them in
concentration camps
-first step toward war by sending German troops into the
Rhineland in 1936
- In 1938 he invaded Austria and later the Sudetenland (part of
Czechoslovakia)
(2) Italy
-had almost the same problems as Germany (poor economy)
-Benito Mussolini took over intent to make Italy like it had been
in the ancient times
-Fascism- political party that believed the nation and the
race was more important than the individual person
-frightened people into following him
-he did improve some things
-Italy invaded Ethiopia October 1935-1936
Rome-Berlin Axis established- alliance between Italy
and Germany in 1936
(3) Japan- not nearly as bad a Germany and Italy
-military group came to power and wanted control in Asia
-created militarianism
-Japan wanted to overseas lands:
(a) more resources
(b) more land for it’s growing population
(c) military prestige
-the first area they attacked was Manchuria (northern
China), which alarmed America due to economic trade
-next they attacked Shanghai and Nanjing, killing
10,000’s of people
-1936- they joined Germany and Italy in the Rome-BerlinTokyo Axis
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain used
appeasement hoping to stop another war
-Munich Pact 1938- Britain, France, Italy, and Germany
agreed that Hitler would not take any other lands in
Europe so that he could keep the ones he already had
Hitler feeling as if he had no real opposition, he took
the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939
He then turned his attention to Poland, causing the
Soviets to get worried.
Nazis-Soviet Pact Aug. 23, 1939
-USSR agreed to let Germany invade and take Poland
-Germany agreed not to invade USSR
-September 1, 1939- he invaded Poland
-Great Britain and France agreed to help Poland and
declared war on Germany September 3, 1939
Most Americans did not want to get involved in
another war
-isolationism
-interventionism
U.S. passed the Neutrality Act of 1935, which
prohibited the shipment of arms to countries at war
The Selective Training and Service Act (1940) - first
peacetime draft
-applied to men 21 to 35
Election of 1940- FDR re-elected for the 3rd time
June 22, 1940 France fell
September 1940 until May 1941- constant bombing of
Britain (Battle of Britain) {the blitz}
Spring 1941- U.S. passed the Lend-Lease Act-we would lend / lease military supplies to any allied
nation fighting an aggressor nation
-once the war was over, they would give it back to the
US
While all of this was going on in the Atlantic, relations
with Japan was getting worse
-Japan controlled areas from Pacific to French Indochina
-Japan believed if they could stop the U.S. naval fleet in
the Pacific, they could defeat the entire U.S.
-most Americans believed that an attack would come in
the Philippines
December 7, 1941- Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, a naval base in
Honolulu, Hawaii.
From orders given by Admiral Nagumo the attack, the
-first wave of a two-wave attack, would begin at 7:55 am
this first wave consisted
-183 fighters and torpedo bombers which struck at the fleet in
Pearl Harbor and the airfields in Hickam, Kaneohe, and Ewa.
-The second strike consisted of 167 aircraft, which again struck
at the same targets
Pearl Harbor, (Oahu) Hawaii
December 7, 1941 - A Day of Infamy
THESE PHOTOS ARE FROM A SAILOR WHO
WAS ON THE USS QUAPAW ATF-11O
When it was over, the US lost
-8 American battleships
-400 planes
-10 other ships
-2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA
December 8,1941- U.S.
declared war on Japan and in
doing so, declared war on
Germany and Italy
The Home Front:
The US at War
In order to get the American people behind the war effort
***government created the OCD (Office of Civilian Defense)enlist the help of all Americans in some capacity
-air raid monitors: supposed to watch the skies for a possible aerial
assault (enforced mandatory “black outs” in coastal cities
-victory gardens- personal gardens grown to allow the farmers to
produce more for the military
-People collected and recycled
-newspapers, old tires, bottles, anything that could be used for
weapons
-women donated their nylon stockings
-in order to control prices, started rationing (way of distributing
limited goods fairly) by using ration coupons
(limited how much flour, sugar, gasoline a family could have)
It also prevented people from spending too much of their money
-it created 17 million new jobs
-factories went from producing domestic products to war products
-WWII officially ended the Great Depression
Women became very important to the war effort
-between 1940-1945 6 million women went to work ("Rosie the
Riveter")
-350,000 were in the military (WAC, WAVES)
Not everything was calm
-summer of 1943 – wartime migration led to increased
violence
-Detroit was the worst where African Americans often
clashed with whites over jobs
-Los Angeles also saw violence in June, 1943
-”Zoot Suit” riot was between Mexican Americans and
whites
(zoot suit = long jackets & baggy pants)
The Internment of Japanese Americans
After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. wanted to tighten its
national security
people became bitter towards the Japanese-Americans
Executive Order 9066
- to designate military areas
-areas to hold enemy aliens due to the threat of spying
and sabotage
March 1942- in Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana,
-put them in the internment camps with no attempt to
determine the loyal from the disloyal
-forced them to sell their property and could take with
them only what they could carry (lost over $500
million)
-moved them to areas very isolated and fenced in (in
some cases, used barbed wire)
-small rooms (usu. whole families in one room)
-They did not complain
-some even volunteered to serve in the U.S. military
-Korematsu v. the United States – the process was
constitutional; based not on race but “military urgency”
- 1945 the camps finally closed
-1988- President Reagan signed an act repaying all of the
Japanese-Americans interned in the camps $20,000 tax
free over a 10 year period
Part Seven:
The World at War
Stalingrad, 1942-43
1944
Sicily, July 1943
Tebessa
El Alamein, Oct. 1942
WORLD WAR II BATTLES
-The war was actually fought on 3 different fronts- Europe, North Africa, and
Asia and Pacific Islands
-By wars end, 49 nations were involved
--European Front--After the Battle of Britain, when it became apparent that Br. would not
surrender,
Hitler turned his attention to the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941
-using a tactic called “blitzkrieg” – lightening war- using speed and power to get
deep into enemy territory
-breaking the treaty he had with them
-he was able to push the Russians almost to Moscow
-Stalingrad- Russia turned the tide of the war with Germany
*ended any real plan Hitler had of dominating Europe
-the bitter Russian winter stopped them
-Stalin knew he could not defeat Hitler alone so he asked the
Allies for help
-he got none because the Allies did not want to launch a
campaign from there until Germany was surely weakened
-made him very bitter
-Stalin never forgave the Allies for their
abandonment
-despite this, the Soviets entered the war on the side
of the Allies
US INVOLVMENT (1942)
When the US entered the war, we believed we
should “beat Hitler first” and considered Europe a
priority over Japan
We first centered on Northern Africa as a way to
get into Europe
-Northern Africa provided easy access to the
Mediterranean Sea and then Europe
-November 1942- began fighting in Morocco and
Algeria and then Tunisia forcing the Axis soldiers
to surrender in May 1943 (Battle of El Alamein)
Next, focus on Italy
-August 1, 1943 invaded Italy by going into Sicily and afterwards
pushing toward Rome
-September 9, 1943 Italy gave up and withdrew from the war
(2 years later, Mussolini was killed)
-October 1, 1943 Italy actually declares war on Germany
With Germany weakened, the Allies now planned a huge
invasion- Operation Overlord (the invasion of Normandy)
-under the leadership of General Dwight Eisenhower
D-Day- June 6, 1944 at 2:00 am
-5,000 warships and 120,000 men arrived on shore a 60 mile
stretch of beach
-Germans knew an attack was coming but expected it at Calais
-were successful and able to take Normandy at the cost of 2,245
dead and 1670 wounded
-Germans retreated from France and Paris was set free August 25,
1944
Russians attacking = east while Allies attacking = west;
were trying to get to the German headquarters in Berlin
The Germans launched a bitter attack in December
1944, (the Battle of the Bulge) because they attempted
to break through the weakest area of the Allies but
could not.
After a month, the battle was over as Allies marched
across the Rhine River and the Soviets pushed from the
east.
PEACE TALKS
-Yalta Peace Talks (Feb.1945) between FDR, Churchill, Stalin
-Stalin agreed to fight Japan after Germany was defeated in
exchange for territories in Asia
-agreed to allow soviet influence in eastern Europe (Poland,
Romania, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary)
Hitler fearing defeat decided he would not surrender nor be
captured, so he committed suicide and ordered his body to be
burned.
The Commanding German officer surrendered May 8, 1945 (V
E Day )
FDR died of a brain hemorrhage on April 12, 1945
-he had just been inaugurated for a 4th term
HOLOCAUST
After the Allies freed Germany, they found the
concentration camps rumored to exist
-1st camp was Dachau started in 1933 but after the war
started there were some in Austria, Poland, France
-Auschwitz, Belzec, Sobidor, Treblinka
-at first they were just labor camps to reeducate the
people considered to unworthy (Jews)
-later he also imprisoned homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses,
gypsies, and communists
-Hitler's ultimate goal became known as the "Final Solution"- kill
each and everyone of the Jews on the face of the earth
-he had originally planned to kill 11 million Jews
-was only able to kill 6 million Jews and 5 to 10 million nonJews
Conditions at the camps
-the prisoners were stripped of all belongings
-some were used in medical experiments
-many were tortured just for fun
-prisoners often dug their own graves
-at first they would just shoot them, but that used too many bullets
and took too long so started using carbon monoxide
-they were tricked into going into gas chambers (one chamber
could hold 3,000 people at once)
-too many bodies piled up to be buried, so they began cremating
them
-one such oven could dispose of 2,000 bodies in 12 hours
-used body fat as fuel
Nuremberg Trials- to establish an overall record of what
happened
-tried only those actually responsible
-many said they were just following orders
-22 Nazis leaders were tried
-12 sentenced to die, 3 given life sentences, 4 guilty of lesser
crimes, and 3 were acquitted
War in the Pacific
 Dec 8, 1941 – Japan attacks US
air bases in the Philippines
Japan Takes the Philippines
 US and Filipino forces fight bravely
 Gen. Douglas McArthur evacuated
 Apr 9, 1942 90 – 100,000 US and
Filipinos forced to surrender on Bataan Peninsula
Luzon
 Japan controls islands by May 6,
1942
Corregidor
The Bataan Death March
75,000 POW’s forced 82 miles for
5-6 days to Camp O’Donnell
The Bataan Death March
11,000 Filipino and US POW’s
perished
No H2O, food, torture murder!
Later sent off the islands to work
camps
Murder under the sun!
A US POW being beheaded on Bataan! Atrocities were all to common
by sadistic Japanese officers and soldiers.
The Battle of Coral Sea- a victory for Allies; it stopped the Japanese
advancement on Australia (May 1942)
 June 4-6, 1942 – The Battle of Midway –Adm. Chester Nimitz sunk 4
carriers
 Japan abandoned plans for attacking Fiji, Samoa, and Midway.
 Midway was turning point of Pacific War.
-used "island hopping"- attacking without a set pattern moving from one island
to the next (weapon was surprise) eventually getting to the island of Japan
itself
took Guadalcanal – 1st American offensive was in the Soloman Islands –
August 1942
-1st leg of a strategy to get to Japan by the Southwest Pacific and Central
Pacific
-used both navy, army, and marines
Next, retook Philippines, early 1945
-Battle of Leyte Gulf – kamikazes used for the 1st time
Allies were even able to attack Tokyo itself from March 9-10, 1945 killing
83,000 people
-Battle of Iwo Jima- one of the bloodiest
battles of the war
-fought for 25 days until the Allies were able to win
(March 1945)
-Kentuckian Franklin Sousely was among the soldiers there (from Fleming
County) (helped to raise the flag on top of Mt. Suribachi)
-2 weeks after Iwo Jima, US attacked Okinawa
(only 350 miles from Japan); here the Japanese lost
over 100,000 men but still kept on fighting
Truman realized that Japan would not surrender
easily and plans an invasion for late 1945
Early in the 1930's Albert Einstein’s = energy of
the atom
-work then began on creating a weapon it
J. Robert Oppenheimer was in charge of the
"Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic
bomb
-July 16, 1945- U.S. successfully tested it in
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Truman now had a decision to make: whether to use
the new weapon or not against Japan
-estimates said that a land war in Japan = cost more
than 1 million American lives
-he warned Japan to stop hostilities or face "prompt
and utter destruction"
-Japan did not reply
August 6, 1945 the Enola Gay B-29 bomber bombed
Hiroshima (dropping “Little Boy”)
-2/3 of it were destroyed instantly
-100,000 people killed instantly (due to the heat)
-100,000 wounded
Still not enough to convince Japan to stop
August 9, 1945 a second bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki = 40,000 died
Japan then decided it was time to surrender on August
14,1945; VJ Day = Sept.2, 1945
COST OF THE WAR
-55 million civilians and soldiers killed (20 million of
those were Soviets)
-over 290,000 Americans died
-total cost = over $1 trillion
-6 million Jews killed
-Europe and Japan in rubble; millions left homeless
-USSR now in a position to dominate Eastern Europe
*US & USSR = most powerful in the world