World War II

War breaks out in Europe

• Jan. 1933 Hitler PM in Germany & est. the 3rd Reich

• Needs living space- lebensraum • March 1938 marches into Austria and

takes it (eagerly want to be part of G)• German speaking pop. Here in & Czech.

http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/ww2/before/fascism.htm

Hitler keeps moving…

• Now wants the western part of Czechoslovakia (Sudetenland)

• GB & France vow to protect C.• 3 leaders meet in Munich- (M.

Conference)– Hitler promises this will be the LAST – GB & France give him- appease Hitler to avoid

war

• Chamberlain- “peace in Europe achieved”http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/ww2/before/fascism.htm

Poland!

• German & Russian speaking pop.• GB & F vow to protect these areas• A German invasion might bring in the

Soviets too• August 1939- Stalin & Hitler sign a

non-aggression pact– No war– Split Poland into 2

Invasion of Poland

• Sept. 1, 1939 German invasion of Poland

• Blitzkrieg– Poland falls by

the end of the month

• Sept. 3rd France & GB declare war on Germany

Early stages of war

• Maginot Line- fortifications to keep G. out• B & F wait for army-> “phony war”• Soviets take Eastern Poland & other

Baltic states– Invades Finland too

• Hitler– Invades Norway & Denmark (April 1940)– Better position to attack GB– May- Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg

fall

Hitler’s success

• France falls easily June 1940 • France’s fate (3)

– Germany controls N. France– Vichy gov’t in Southern France est.- a

Nazi puppet gov’t– Charles de Gaulle refuses to accept this-

sets up exile gov’t in GB

Battle of Britain

• Air raid on London- wear down the morale of the people

• Hitler carries on for months (1940)

• Attempting to destroy the RAF• RAF uses radar to detect

German planes• Hitler finally ends attack• Churchill’s rally

http://history.sandiego.edu/cdr2/WW2Pics2/81930bg.JPG

Holocaust

WWII & America

• Congress allows US to sell goods to F & GB• Sept. 1940- Axis powers est.

– France gone & GB attacked by Hitler’s air raids

• 1940 Congress approves $$ for defense• Pass a peace time draft in ’40 • 1940 FDR warns America of trouble if GB

falls and that the US has to help defeat the Axis powers

FDR draws closer to war

• Lend-Lease Plan March 1941 • USSR relations

– Lend-lease program extended to USSR when Hitler invades there

• German U-Boats in Atlantic to sink US ships carrying supplies to Europe– 1941 US Navy has permission to attack

U-Boats in self-defense

Even closer…

• Churchill & FDR secretly meet on USS Augusta– C- wants US involvement

• Final result- Atlantic Charter• Joint declaration of war aims

– Collective security– Disarmament– Self-determination– Economic cooperation– Freedom of seas

• **basis of the United Nations• FDR waiting to go to war http://www.ssa.gov/history/pics/

acharter1.jpg

Japan & the Pacific

• Japanese:– Already controlling Manchuria– Invaded China– Taking E. colonial land (ex. Vietnam) – Wanted to control East Asia

• US Response: cut off trade with Japan (need oil!!) and attempt peace talks

• Americans aware of imminent Japanese attack (code breakers) – Didn’t know the potential location– Waiting for Japan to make the 1st step towards

war– Dec. 6th all peace talks end

http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/ww2/images/before/japan.jpg

Pearl Harbor

• Dec. 7, 1941 Japan attacks Hawaii• 2 hours-

– 2, 403 killed– 1, 178 wounded

• 8 battleships gone (luckily 3 aircraft carriers were out)

• Dec. 7th FDR addresses Congress & asks for declaration of war– “a date which will live in infamy”

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/g40000/g40056.jpg

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-oa.htm

US prepares for war

• 2 wars- Europe & Pacific• 5 million volunteer, but still need the draft• Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC)

– Female volunteers in non-combat jobs – Nurses, ambulance drivers, pilots, etc.

• Minorities?– Should they fight??– 300K M-A– 1 Million A-A– 13k C-A– 33K J-A– 25K N-A

http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/l/S/wwiip24.jpg

Japanese Americans

• Fear of another Japanese attack

• 1942 evacuate J. from HI

• 1942- FDR orders that all J-A in CA, WA, OR, &AZ to “relocation centers”– 2/3rd Nisei

• No evidence ever found, but FDR thought it was a security matter

http://gainesjunction.tamu.edu/issues/vol3num1/mjones/images/clip_image004.jpg

 

http://education.nebrwesleyan.edu/eisenhower/partsites/northeastpage/safarik/internmentpage.html

. . . Victims of war time hysteria, these people, two-thirds of whom were United States citizens, lived a bleak and humiliating life in tar paper barracks behind barbed wire and under armed guard . . .-Sign at the Minidoka Relocation Center

American Workforce

• Car industry focuses on war production (1942) and others follow

• Many Americans working in these fields including women & minorities

• Scientists organized under the OSRD– Focus on new technology– Pesticide, penicillin, radar, etc. – Manhattan Project

War time!

• Worries about prices increasing• Office of Price Administration (OPA)

– Keep prices reasonable

• War bonds– Org. drives to collect goods that could be

recycled into war products

• Rationing – Coupon books for scarce products for

each family

Time to fight!

• Churchill & FDR meet for 3 weeks (Dec. 1941) to devise war strategy– Believe Germany & Italy posed a greater

threat….focus on Japan after crippling Europe

• Hitler tries to blockade GB- Starve them to death – Allied response- convoy system- very

successful

Battles

• Stalingrad- Stalin urges Allies to create a 2nd front in Western Europe to relieve the Soviets– Allies not ready for

that- go to Africa instead

• Leningrad

• North Africa • Operation Torch-

Eisenhower • Desert Fox • Successful by ’43• FDR & Churchill

meet in Africa to devise next stage– Italy!– Unconditional

surrender

VE Day!

• D-Day June 6th, 1944 Operation Overlord • Battle of the Bulge • April 25th, 1945

– Soviets in Berlin– April 30th Hitler commits suicide – Week later the 3rd Reich surrenders to

Eisenhower – May 8th- VE day!

– April 12th FDR dies of a stroke in GA– Harry S. Truman new president

Eisenhower

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/dday.htm

Utah Beach

War in the Pacific

• Douglas MacArthur • Japanese control Hong Kong, French

Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Thailand & most of China

• March 1942 American forces leave Philippines and promise to return

• April 1942 air raid on Tokyo- Doolittle’s Raid

Pacific Battles

• Coral Sea• Midway- turning

point• Guadalcanal• Iwo Jima• Okinawa

Manhattan Project

• Invasion on Japan- too costly • Head of project- Leslie Groves &

Robert Oppenheimer – Practice test- July 16, 1945 (NM)

• Late July- Truman warns Japan to surrender (refuse!)– August 6th- Hiroshima– August 9th- Nagasaki

• Sept. 2nd official surrender by the emperor

Meetings of the Mind

• Casablanca- FDR & Churchill– Jan. 1943– Invade Sicily– Want unconditional surrender

• Tehran- FDR, C & S– Nov. 1943– B & A invade France & S invade

Germany and eventually join Pacific war

Meetings of the Mind Part II

• Yalta- FDR, C, & S– Feb. 1945– Germany divided in occupation zones– Free elections in E. Europe (S- controlled)– S. enter Pacific War – Est. of United Nations

• Potsdam- S, Truman, & Attlee– July- Aug. 1945– Warn Japan to surrender– Hold trials for Nazi leaders

After the War

• America– 300 K died, 800K wounded– $320 billion (10X greater than WWI)

• Congress accepts the UN- Proposed by US, USSR, GB, & China

• US one of the few to leave the war without substantial damage to cities

• Prosperous & Powerful