Introduction to WWII

US History

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Why? (underlying causes of WWII)

1. Treaty of VersaillesA. Germany lost land to

surrounding nations

B. War Reparations

1) Allies collect $ to pay back war debts to U.S.

2) Germany must pay $57 trillion (modern equivalent)

3) Bankrupted the German economy & embarrassed GermansLloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson

during negotiations for the Treaty

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Why? (underlying causes of WWII)

2. World-wide DepressionA. The Depression

made Germany’s debt even worse

B. Desperate people turn to desperate leaders

1) Hitler seemed to provide solutions to Germany’s problems

1923 - Wallpapering with German Deutchmarks

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Why? (underlying causes of WWII)

2. World-wide Depression

2) Hitler provided scapegoats for Germany’s problems (foreigners, Jews, communists, Roma (Gypsies), mentally ill, homosexuals)

3) Kristallnacht - vandalism & destruction of Jewish property & synagogues

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Why?3. Rise of Totalitarian Regimes

A. In a Totalitarian country, individual rights are not viewed as important as the needs of the nation

Totalitarianism

Communist Dictatorship

(USSR)

Fascist Dictatorship

(Germany, Italy)

Military Dictatorship

(Japan)

Fascism: military government with

based on racism & nationalism with strong support

from the business community

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Why?4. Isolationism of Major Powers

A. Why was the U.S. Isolationist?

1. Great Depression (problems at home)

2. Perceptions of WWIa. WWI did not seem to solve much

b. People began to think that we’d got into WWI for the wrong reasons (greedy American businessmen!)

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Why?4. Isolationism of Major Powers

3. Opposition to war (Pacifism)

a. Washington Conference - Limits on size of country's navies

b. Kellogg-Briand pact - condemned war as a way to solving conflicts

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Why?4. Isolationism of Major Powers

B. This led to policies of “Appeasement” 1. Appeasement: give dictators what they want and hope that they won’t want anything else

2. Begins with Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and continues with Hitler . . .

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So What Was Hitler Asking For?Return of German Speaking Lands - “Lebensraum”

•Austria - Peacefully Annexed in 1938

German Troops Parade in Streets of Czechoslovakian Town, ca. 1939

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So What Was Hitler Asking For?Return of German Speaking Lands - “Lebensraum”

•Sudentenland - (now part of Czech Republic)

•Munich Conference - Great Britain & France give to Hitler in return for peace

•Hitler then invades the rest of Czechoslovakia

German Troops Parade in Streets of Czechoslovakian Town, ca. 1939

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So What Was Hitler Asking For?Return of German Speaking Lands

•Nonaggression Pact Russia stays out of the war in return for 1/2 of Poland

Hitler's triumphal entry into Danzig, Poland 1939

•Great Britain & France finally declare war on Germany

World War II in the Soviet Union

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When?

1939

Sept.1 - Germany invades Poland (official start to the war)

Sept. 3 -Britain &

France declare war on

Germany

Dec. 7 – Japan

bombs Pearl Harbor; US enters the

War

1941

May - Germans Surrende

r

Sept. - Atomic

Bombing of

Hiroshima &

Nagasaki,

Japanese Surrende

r

1945

•1939-1945

•US involvement 1941-1945

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Who?

Allies Axis

Great Britain

France(note: France surrendered to

Germany in 1940 (after 6 weeks of fighting)

United States

Russia

GermanyItaly

Japan

(major powers)

(major powers)

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Major Leaders

Adolf HitlerNazi Germany

Benito MussoliniItaly

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Major Leaders

Franklin Delano RooseveltUS President

Joseph StalinRussian Leader

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Major Leaders

Hideki TojoJapanese Prime Minister

Winston ChurchillBritish Prime Minister

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How Did Hitler Make War?Blitzkrieg “Lightning War”

In the next year, Hitler invades:

•Denmark

•Norway

• The Netherlands,

•France

Hitler in Paris

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US Assistance

Roosevelt provided aid to the Allies:

Lend-Lease - 1939

•US “lent” war materials to cash-strapped Great Britain

London Firefighter Tackles an Air Raid Blaze

Atlantic Charter

•US secretly meets with England to commit to defeating Germany

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Meanwhile … in the Pacific

Pearl Harbor: “a date which will live in infamy”

USS Arizona Sinking in Pearl Harbor

What?

•Surprise attack by the Japanese on American forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Effect? •US declares war on

Japan & other Axis powers

World War II in the Soviet Union

The Germans attacked Stalingrad in August 1942.

The Soviets refused to let Stalingrad fall, and Hitler suffered a stunning defeat in early 1943.

Stalingrad marked the beginning of Germany’s collapse in the Soviet Union.

Soviet forces pushed Germany out of Russia, but lost 12 million soldiers and millions of civilians.

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American Forces in North Africa and ItalyWhy was North Africa

important?

By controlling North Africa, the British could protect shipping on the Mediterranean Sea. They needed the ability to ship oil from the Middle East through the Suez Canal.

What was the result of fighting in North Africa?

Italy could not drive the British from Egypt. Hitler sent troops under the direction of Erwin Rommel – nicknamed the Desert Fox. After a back-and-forth battle for North Africa, the Allied forces handed the Germans a major defeat at the battle of El Alamein.

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American Forces in North Africa and Italy

What happened in Italy?British and American forces invaded Italy in 1943. The Italian people forced Mussolini from power, but Hitler rushed into Italy to stop the Allies.

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D-Day: The Invasion of FranceOperation Overlord

Planned invasion of France from the beaches of Normandy

General Omar Bradley led the American troops.

Good planning and speed were vital.

Americans were concerned about the V1 flying bomb and the V2 rocket.

D-Day

June 6, 1944

Allied force of 3.5 million soldiers

Germans were slow to respond

Estimated 10,000 Allied casualties, including 6,600 Americans

The Allies landed almost 1 million soldiers and 180,000 vehicles.

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The PhilippinesJapan invaded the American-controlled islands of the Philippines in December 1941.

General Douglas MacArthur led the defense of the islands.

MacArthur’s troops were no match for the Japanese and he retreated to the Bataan Peninsula. Although he called for reinforcements, war planners decided sending ships was too risky.

In April 1942, the 10,000 American and 60,000 Filipino troops on Bataan surrendered.

Thousands of these captured soldiers died when the Japanese forced them to march through the steaming forests of Bataan. This became known as the Bataan Death March.

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Fortunes Shift in the PacificBattle of Midway

• Japan tried to lure the Americans into a large sea battle around Midway Island.

• Naval officers had broken a Japanese code and learned of the plan.

• Nimitz devised a plan to thwart the attack and placed his 3 aircraft carriers carefully.

• The Americans destroyed 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers and won a major victory.

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Allied Progress in the Pacific1. Gained control of territory in the Solomon Islands to protect Australia.

2. Used powerful combination of land, sea, and air forces to capture key islands.

3. Captured locations in the Gilbert, Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana islands.

4. Took advantage of American industrial power by replacing ships and aircrafts, which Japan was unable to do.

5. European successes allowed more resources to be made available in the Pacific.

6. Recaptured the Philippines

7. Captured strategic Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

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Iwo Jima and OkinawaIwo Jima

In February 1945 American forces set out to capture Iwo Jima.

The island would provide a good base to launch raids against major Japanese cities.

For the first time, Japanese soldiers were fighting for and on Japanese land.

The Japanese fought ferociously and refused to surrender.

The Allies eventually won.

Okinawa

• Allied troops invaded on April 1, 1945.

• The island was to be the launching pad for the final invasion of Japan.

• It was a bloody battle; more than 12,000 American died at the Battle of Okinawa.

• Like Iwo Jima, the Japanese refused to surrender and lost a staggering 110,000 troops.

• Allies gained control of the island in June 1945.

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Iwo Jima

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Winning the War in EuropeCrossing the Rhine

Hitler ordered his troops to make a stand at the Rhine River.

Despite the fact that the Germans blew up many of the bridges across the Rhine to slow the Allies, they managed to cross at Remagen.

The decision to defend the river turned out to be one of Hitler’s military mistakes.

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The Yalta Conference•Allied leaders Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin (the so-called Big Three) met in the resort town of Yalta in the Soviet Union to discuss the end of the war and the peace that was to follow.•A key goal was to determine what to do with Germany. The leaders agreed to divide the country into four sectors. The Americans, Soviets, British, and French would each occupy one of these sectors. Berlin was also divided into four sectors.•Stalin agreed to hold free elections. He never lived up to those promises.

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Hitler’s Death and V-E Day•On April 30, 1945, Hitler realized that all hope for a German victory was lost. He committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.•Berlin surrendered on May 2, 1945. Karl Dönitz, who had taken over as Germany’s leader, agreed to a surrender on May 7, which would take place the following day.•In the United States, May 8 was proclaimed V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day.

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Winning the War in the Pacific The cost of capturing Okinawa were high.

High rates of battle-related psychological casualties

Thousands suffered from battle fatigue and other disorders.

Many dreaded the possibility of invading the major islands of Japan.

General Macarthur and Admiral Nimitz developed plans for a massive invasion of Japan.

A new bombing tactic was used on Japanese cities, one designed to produce tremendous firestorms in the bombed area.

Some Japanese leaders began to see the need for peace and began to contact the Soviet Union.

President Harry S Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb on Japan.

Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.

Harry S Truman became president when Roosevelt died. He had to decide whether the United States should use the Manhattan Project’s atomic bomb.

After consulting with his advisors, Truman decided to drop the bomb on a Japanese city. There would be no warning.

On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped its atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.

Despite the horror caused by the bomb, the Japanese did not surrender.

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The Atomic Bomb

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Photo of a deadly burnt victim taken in Hiroshima on August 7th, 1945, this young man was located at the moment of the explosion on an island 3000 meters from the hypocenter.

on on an island 3000 meters from the hypocenter.

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•On August 9, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Even this did not bring an end to the war.•Finally, on August 15 – known from then on as V-J Day—the Japanese emperor Hirohito announced the end of the war.

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Challenges after the War

Rebuilding

Macarthur led efforts to help Japan rebuild its government and economy.

Seven Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

Rebuilding Europe caused tensions between the U.S and the Soviet Union.

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Challenges after the WarUnited Nations

Representatives from 50 countries met to form a new organization, the United Nations.

The UN was meant to encourage cooperation among nations and to prevent wars.

Potsdam Conference

Allied leaders met in the German city of Potsdam to discuss the spread of communism and Soviet influence in the postwar world.

Truman hoped to get Stalin to live up to his promises from Yalta.

Stalin did not do this.40

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Quick Facts (write 2-3)

A. War Costs1. US Debt 1940 - $9 billion

US Debt 1945 - $98 billion

• The war cost $330 billion -- 10 times the cost of WWI & as much as all previous federal spending since 1776

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Quick Facts (write 2-3)

B. Human Costs1. 50 million people died

(compared to 15 million in WWI)

• 21.3 million Russians (7.7 million civilians)

• 11 million died as a result of the HOLOCAUST(6 million Jews + 5 million others)

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Quick Facts (write 2-3)

B. Human Costs