Download World War II When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and Britain

World War II
When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and Britain and France declared war against it, the United
States, as it had in World War I, stood poised to remain neutral but supply Britain and France with
weapons and other material. This would create jobs for American workers and profits for American
companies, bringing an end to the Great Depression. And again, this involvement would lead us into
war with Germany.
1) What were the effects of U.S. companies providing supplies to Britain and France?
In a number of ways, the Depression was also a cause of World
War II. It was only after the Depression had begun that Hitler's
Nazi party started to gain any real popularity. The Depression
had caused America and Europe to cut back on its trade with
Japan. This need for raw materials such as steel, oil, wood and
food drove the Japanese government to turn to military
seizures of materials no longer available through trade.
Invasions of Manchuria, China, French Indochina, the
Philippines, many other places. The surprise attack on Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii brought the United States fully into World War
II against Japan. Hitler, now allied with Japan, declared war on
the United States.
Adolf Hitler was the head of the Nazi
Party, which controlled Germany during
WWII.
2) How was the Great Depression one of the causes of WWII?
3) What event brought the U.S. into WWII?
Coming into World War II, in late 1941, the United States allied with Britain and the Soviet Union, a
strange alliance of a democracy, a parliamentary monarchy and a communist dictatorship. The
three were united by opposition to a common enemy, Nazi Germany. Britain was also at war with
Japan over seizure of British colonies in Asia and the Pacific. The leaders of the three major allies
decided to focus their attention on defeating Hitler first, with the war in the Pacific considered
secondary.
Allied leaders Winston Churchill,
Joseph Stalin and Roosevelt agreed
on a plan to weaken Germany by
campaigns in North Africa, Italy
and Greece and then a crosschannel invasion of France and
push into Germany. Soviet forces
concentrated on pushing out
German invaders who had invaded
Russia in the spring of 1941. They
then counterattacked Germany
from the east.
Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union), Franklin D. Roosevelt (U.S.), and Winston
Churchill (Britian).
4) What united Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union?
5) In your own words, describe the Allies’ war plan.
In Europe, the once dominant Nazis began to lose ground in 1943. The Allies took North Africa and
then invaded Italy. Meanwhile, the Soviets had halted the German invasion and were pushing the
Nazis back towards Germany. On June 6, 1944 (D-Day), American, British, and Canadian forces
crossed the English Channel and landed in France. The Allies then began pushing the Germans back
from the east and the west. By May of 1945, the Germans surrendered.
As the tide turned in Europe against Germany, American and British forces began making progress
against the overextended Japanese forces in the Pacific. Japan had miscalculated the ability of the
Americans to fight a war in Europe and bounce back from defeat at Pearl Harbor as quickly as they
did. Still Japanese resistance was strong. More and more, Americans relied on massive bombing
raids to break Japanese resolve.
Hiroshima after the atomic bomb.
The mushroom cloud above Hiroshima
As an invasion of the Japanese home islands was being considered, Americans completed
development of atomic bombs. The new president, Harry Truman, ordered them used against two
Japanese cities as an alternative to sending in a mass ground force of Allied troops. Within days,
Japan surrendered.
6) What event caused the Japanese to surrender?
Victory in World War II brought the United States the distinction of being the only country to ever
use nuclear weapons against enemy cities. Another result of World War II was the emergence of the
United States and the Soviet Union as the new superpowers, and the break-up of the Allied alliance
itself into a Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union that would go on for the next
forty-five years.
7) What happened to the U.S. and the Soviet Union as a result of WWII?