Download World War II

World War I Document Analysis: American Entry into the War
Read the following excerpt from the Zimmermann telegram and answer the questions that
follow.
We intend to begin on the first of February [1917] unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall
endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this
not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war
together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part
that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The
settlement in detail is left to you. … Please call [your] President's attention to the fact that
the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England
in a few months to make peace.
Signed, ZIMMERMANN
– In the above excerpt, two what country is Mr. Zimmermann speaking?
– What is Zimmermann suggesting that this country do?
– In addition to this, name two (2) other reasons America entered the war.
WWII
Causes of WWII
• 1) Great Depression: Worldwide economic crisis
puts too much stress on many countries
• 2) Treaty of Versailles: Unfair treaty after WWI
punished Germany too severely
• 3) Failure of the League of Nations: League was
too weak to stop Japanese, Italian, & German
aggression
• 4) Japanese Aggression: Japanese military takes
over Manchuria (part of China; 1931)
Causes of WWII
• 5) Italian Aggression: Italy attacks Ethiopia;
1935
• 6) German Aggression: After taking Austria
and Czechoslovakia, Hitler invades Poland
The World in the 1930’s
• The Soviet Union
• Ruled by dictator Joseph Stalin
• Totalitarian government: the
government and every aspect
of the peoples’ lives is
controlled by one party
• 5 year plans forced USSR to
modernize
• Execution & torture of political
enemies
• Fascist dictator Benito
Mussolini in power
• Fascism = militarism,
extreme nationalism
(my country is always
right) and total loyalty
to the leader “Il Duce”
• Invaded and took over
Ethiopia; 1935
Italy
Germany
• Germany kept taking more and
more land from its neighbors
while the League of Nations did
nothing. Rhineland,
Sudetenland, Austria
• Adolph Hitler &
Nazi Party came
to power by
blaming Jews for
Treaty of
Versailles along
with most of
Germany's
problems
• Fascist
Government
• German invasion
of Poland caused
WWII in Europe
Japan
• Depression hurt
Japanese economy
• Military took over
• Emperor Hirohito
• Superior Japanese
would conquer all of
Asia
• Invaded Manchuria,
China; 1931




USA
President: FDR
Foreign policy of isolationism
(WWI)
Focused on Western
Hemisphere
Good Neighbor policy in Latin
America
WWII Begins
• 1937; Asia:
• Japan begins
total war with
China
• The Rape of
Nanking:
300,000
civilians &
POW’s killed in
6 weeks
• Hitler kept taking
more and more
land
• UK & France
thought he
would stop
• Agreed to give
Czechoslovakia
to Germany
• Appeasement at
Munich
Europe
Peace in
our time.
Sucker
!
War in Europe
• Summer, 1939: Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression
Pact
• September, 1939: -Blitzkrieg- Germany
Invades Poland.– England & France declare
war on Germany & its allies; Italy & Japan.
• 1940 Germany Invades France successfully
using Manstein Plan (like Schleiffen Plan)
• Nazi-Soviet
NonAggression
Pact
German Invasion of Poland
Germany Conquers France
using Manstein Plan
Axis vs. Allies
Axis
Germany
Allies
England
Italy
France
Japan
USSR
USA
US Moves Toward War
• 1) Cash & Carry, Old Destroyers to UK.
• 2) More $ for the military, 1st peace-time draft
declared
• 3) June 1941: Hitler launches surprise attack on
Soviet Union breaking non-aggression pact
• 4) Lend-Lease Act: March 1941, allowed US to
sell or lease military supplies to the Allies
including U.S.S.R.
–Is this isolationism?
On December 7th 1941 the Japanese Navy
attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor,
Hawai’i
The U.S.S. Arizona continues to leak oil in
this 2004 photograph
WHY did the Japanese attack the
United States?
Because
• 1) The U.S, was conducting an embargo which
kept the Japanese from acquiring the raw
materials and petroleum they needed to keep
their war machine going
• 2) The Japanese knew that war with the U.S.
was inevitable, so they hoped to destroy our
navy before the war started.
Results of the Attack
2,388 people were killed
and another 1,178 were
wounded.
Though the U.S. Navy lost
several ships and many
planes, the damages
were not critical.
Did not damage aircraft
carriers. The US will
use those carriers to
defeat Japan in a few
years
Reactions to the attack
Reactions to the attack
• US
citizens
want
revenge
Reactions to the attack
• Congress
declares
war on
Japan
• Germany
and Italy
declare
war on US
The United States Goes to War
• Training: Army, Navy, & Air Force bases
constructed all over the country to train
combat troops.
• Women joined armed forces, not
allowed in combat, many female pilots
used for cargo flights
Production
• Government takes
control of economy
during the war
• War Production Board:
government agency in
charge of the economy.
Helped factories convert
to making military goods
• Unemployment went
way down, production
went way up, Depression
over
Rationing
• Most factories were producing military
goods, so consumer goods became
scarce.
• The government limited amount of
goods people could buy. Americans had
to use coupons to buy many products.
No coupons = no products
• Victory Gardens: Americans encouraged
to grow their own food
• Government paid for the war by raising
taxes and selling bonds
Women & the Economy
• Similar to WWI, many
women worked in
factories producing
military goods.
• Over 5 million women
worked
• Many won better wages
& hours
• War work made women
more confident in
themselves
African Americans
• Many African Americans joined the segregated
military
• Similar to WWI, many African Americans moved to
northern cities for factory work
• Double “V” Campaign: Victory in war & victory
against discrimination at home. Reduced job
discrimination
• African Americans served in all branches of armed
forces
• Tuskegee Airmen: group of very successful, heroic
African American fighter pilots
Japanese Internment
Because Pearl Harbor was a “sneak attack” Americans
began to distrust Americans of Japanese or even
Chinese descent.
There were rumors that Japanese-American citizens
would spy for Japan or sabotage the war effort.
The U.S.
government
decided to
lock up any
JapaneseAmericans
for the
duration of
the war.
Internment camps were set-up in isolated
areas of the country
Japanese-Americans were rounded and sent by
train to their new “homes”
120,000 Japanese-Americans were placed in camps
for the duration of the war.
More Discrimination
• German & Italian Americans
also faced discrimination
• Curfews, job discrimination
• 11,000 Germans & several
hundred Italian-Americans
locked up for the war
Mexican Americans & the Bracero Program
 US didn’t have enough
workers
 1942 treaty with Mexico:
allowed businesses to
bring in Mexican
laborers; The Bracero
Program
 Led to racial tension &
fights between Mexicans
& Anglos in the
Southwest
 Many Mexican-Americans
served in military
Major Battles & Turning Points
Stalingrad
• Siege of
Stalingrad:
Nazis running
out of oil.
Need to get
oil in Caspian
Sea. Can’t
conquer
Stalingrad.
900 day siege,
Nazis fail. 1
million
Soviets die.
Stalingrad
• Important because
the Soviets did not
allow the Nazis to
get the oil that
their war machine
needed.
• Tide of war began
turning in favor of
the Allies
The Japanese in the Pacific
• By 1942 the
Japanese
controlled
much of the
Pacific
• US Navy
(aircraft
carriers)
started to turn
the tide at the
Battle of Wake
Island
Battle of El Alamein
• British defeat
Germans in
Africa
• Beat German
General Erwin
Rommel
• Saved supply
route
• Cut Nazis off
from oil
Allied Supplies
Invasion of Italy, 1943
• Combined
British &
American
invasion of
Italy didn’t
go very well,
but it
stretched the
German
army very
thin
Invasion of Normandy (D-Day), 1944
• Allies invade
France to free it
from German
control
• Created 2 Front
war for
Germany
• Germany will
soon be
overpowered
by Allies
Allies Win, FDR Dies
• 1944: British, Americans,
Soviets all close in on Berlin
• Hitler commits suicide in
bunker, Germans
surrender.
• FDR wins re-election in
1944, dies in 1945. Harry S
Truman becomes President
War in the Pacific
• A. US Goals:
– i. Regain the
Philippines
– ii. Invade the
Japanese
Islands
War in the Pacific…
• B. Island Hopping: invade Japan by capturing islands in
the Pacific along the way
Island Hopping
• i. Navajo codetalkers help US
forces
communicate
without
Japanese
interception
Island Hopping
• ii. Gen.
MacArthur
leads US
forces to
victory in
Philippines,
Iwo Jima, &
Okinawa
II. Surrender of Japan
a. Potsdam Declaration: Allies demand
unconditional surrender or Japan will face,
“prompt and utter destruction.”
b. Enola Gay drops 1st atomic bomb on
Hiroshima, Japan; 70,000 people killed
instantly. 3 days later another a-bomb
dropped on Nagasaki. 40,000 people killed
instantly. Many more people die later from
radiation poisoning.
The Atomic
Bomb
• 6 million Jews, 5
million Gypsies,
communists,
homosexuals,
mentally &
physically
disabled, POW’s,
etc.
• Over 11 million
people
systematically
murdered by the
Nazi regime of
Germany
The Holocaust
The Nuremberg Trials
• War crimes trials
• 1945-1946: The
Allies put Nazi
leaders on trial for
the atrocities of the
Holocaust
• “I was just following
orders” not an
excuse
• 12 Nazi leaders
hanged for their
crimes