Download World War II

World War II
WWII was titled the “Good War”
because people believed it was a
holy and just war against a clearly
evil enemy
 The primary global reason for
WWII was a worldwide depression
that stretched beyond America
 Military aggression was a way to
save your economic system

Axis Aggression
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GERMANY
Rhineland – 1936
Austria – 1938
Czechoslovakia &
Poland – 1939
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JAPAN
Manchuria - 1931
China - 1937
*** Simultaneous pressure in Europe and
Asia presented difficult political and
military problems for Great Britain,
France, the Soviet Union, and the U.S.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
“Germany First”
- With only 40 U-boats in
combat at a time, Germany
sank 100 ships a month in 1942
- Germany lost only 21 Uboats, which were easily
replaced by the 123
under construction
WWII Mobilization
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Mobilization meant not just moving our
troops to the front, but to get people
thinking about donating to the war effort
instead of buying a new car
Once the country was turned towards war,
FDR thought we could get up to speed
through VOLUNTARISM
War Powers Act of 1942 gave FDR the
right to do whatever he needed to do to
win the war
American Women in WWII
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The key to
mobilization would be
American women
“Rosie the Riveter”
was a popular image
for Americans
As the war effort
wound down, women
began losing jobs
Battle of the Coral Sea
The “Sicilian Campaign”
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The Sicilian campaign (July-August 1943)
began promisingly with the American 7th
Army behind Patton and the British 8th
Army of Montgomery moving ashore
quickly before the Germans could react
The confusion allowed Germany an
opening to get troops deep into Italy’s
“boot” in order to blunt the advance of the
7th and 8th
11 German divisions fought off 14 Allied
divisions
Music of WWII
D-Day & Normandy Beach
Decline of Japanese Power
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Between June-August 1944 the American
5th fleet dealt the Japanese a critical defeat
by capturing Saipan, Taiwan, & Guam
Americans destroyed Japan’s naval aviation
force at the Battle of the Philippine Sea
Japanese introduced the kamikaze, a fleet
of novice pilots
They exploited a system of caves and
bunkers on the islands that made us hunt
underground for them
“Battle of the Bulge”
Little Boy & the End of WWII
Holocaust & Internment Camps
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6 million Jews
from 24 countries
were murdered, &
in addition, 5
million other
people were killed
Executive Order
9066 authorized
locking up
Japanese in
Relocation Centers
Human Cost of WWII
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World War II cost the world 55
million people…21 million Russians,
10 million French, 6 million Chinese,
5 million Polish, 500,000 British, and
300,000 Americans
ALL countries lost sons, fathers,
husbands, and brothers
WWII American Economy
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Federal spending in 1939 was at $9
billion…after WWII it was at $100
billion
GNP before WWII was $91.3
billion…after it was $166 billion
Unemployment level before WWII
was 14.6%...after it was less than
2%