The Search for Peace (1919-1939)A. The Legacy of the Great War

1. During WWI 8.5 million soldiers were killed.2. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 punished Germany.

a. Germany had to disarm.

b. Germany lost all of it’s colonies.

c. Germany was ordered to pay $33 billion for the war damage.

3. Worldwide depression

a. Germany could not pay it’s war reparations.

b. Great Britain, France and Italy cannot repay their debts to the United States.

5. The United States becomes isolationistisolationist throughout the 20’s and 30’s.

B. Failed efforts to prevent another war.

2. Washington Conference 1922

a. US, England, France, Italy and Japan agree not to build battleships for 10 years.

4. Revolution in Russia at the end of the war creates a communist Soviet Union.

1. League of nations formed in 1920

a. the US never joined

b. unanimous votes were needed to prevent war

4. London Naval Conference

a. extended the Washington Conference to include subs, cruisers and

destroyers

3. Kellogg – Briand Pact (1928)

a. outlawed war: signed by 62 countries, including Germany

The Rise of Fascist Dictatorships

3. Fascism: a political philosophy in which a military dominated government controls all aspects of society. (Totalitarianism)(Totalitarianism)

a. citizens have no personal rights; all opposition is brutally destroyed

b. a dictator is often a major component of Fascism

A. Conditions for Dictatorship

1. Inflation and unemployment during the Depression led to political unrest throughout Europe.

2. Dictators rose to power by promising to end the chaos and depression.

B. Benito Mussolini - Italy

1. Founded the Fascist Party

2. 1922: Occupied Rome and became Prime Minister through force.

3. Called Il Duce which means “the leader”

4. 1935: invaded Ethiopia. It was the first step to becoming an Italian power and recreating the Roman Empire.

C. Adolf Hitler - Germany

C. Adolf Hitler - Germany

1. Failed artist and architect, uneven military career, a drifter who had no friends

2. Found a niche in the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZIS) and quickly became their leader.

3. 1923 - Munich Beer Hall Putz: a failed attempt by the Nazis to forcefully takeover the government.

a. Hitler was put into prison where he wrote Mein Kampf; his plan to restore German power, eliminate Jews from Europe and takeover the world

b. He blames Jews, Communists and intellectuals for Germany’s woes.

4. 1932: The Nazi Party wins 40% of the seats in Parliament. Hitler was elected to Prime Minister.

a. the middle class and the unemployed supported the Nazi Party.

b. The Nazis forced Hindenburg to declare Hitler Chancellor of Germany

1) Hitler now has total power and begins to eliminate all opposition.

2) He came to be called “ Der Fuhrer”

5. Nazi policies:a. The government held tight control of society and

reduced all opposition to the NAZIS.b. Germany was able to rearm and military service

became mandatory.c. Hitler wanted to unite all German speaking people.

d. Anti-Semitism becomes official government policy

1) Jews lost their citizenship

2) The government authorized the destruction of Jewish synagogues.

3)Kristallnacht (1938) Nazi Stormtroopers destroyed Jewish property and burned businesses.

e. Hitler wanted to expand German territory saying they needed more “ Lebensraum”.

1) 1935 – annexation of the Rhineland

2) 1938 – “Anschluss” annexation of Austria

3) 1939 – annexation of Czechoslovakia

Rhineland - 1935

Anschluss - 1938

Czechoslovakia - 1939

This 1938 postcard celebrates the incorporation of Austria into Germany. The caption reads: "One

People, One Empire, One Leader".

D. Militarists in Japan

1. Japan is an island nation and wanted to expand it’s empire.

a. They are seeking a strong navy, industrial resources, and an Asian Empire.

2. 1931 - invasion of Manchuria

3. 1934-1935 - intense military buildup: naval ships and planes

4. 1937 - Full scale war with China

Invasion of Manchuria 1931

War with China 1937

(Above) Oskar Schindler (center) enjoys himself at a dinner party with Nazi officials in Krakow, April 28, 1942. (Right) In 1946, Oskar Schindler (second from the right) poses with a group of Jews he rescued. Among those pictured are: Manci Rosner, Edmund Horowitz, Ludmila Pfefferberg-Page, Halinka Horowitz, and Olek Rosner.

(top right) Amon Goeth, Commandant of Platzow work camp

More than 50 thousand Jews were registered and held inside a 16 square block area.

From the Ghettos, many Jews were moved to Death

Camps like… Auschwitz.

““Work Makes You Free”Work Makes You Free”

At the height of their efficiency, death camps like Auschwitz could kill up to 5,000 people each day!

Response to Fascism

A. Shakeup in international relations

1. 1933: The US formally recognizes the Soviet Union. It is a strategic move in case of war.

2. 1936: Germany and Italy form an Alliance known as the Axis Powers. (it will later include Japan)

B. Attempts to head off war

1. Western nations followed a policy of appeasement throughout German expansion in the 1930s. They fear a new World War with Germany.

2. Munich Conference – 1938 – Hitler and Chamberlain meet.

a. gave Germany control of the Sudetenland.

3. The US passed neutrality laws (1935 – 1939)

a. Roosevelt becomes convinced that we have to prepare for war.

b. Public opinion still favors isolationism.

C. The start of the war.

1. March of 1939: Germany invades all of Czechoslovakia and threatens Poland.

a. August 1939: Great Britain and France call upon the Soviet Union to join them in resisting further German expansion.

2. August 1939: the Soviet Union and Germany sign a non-aggression pact and agree to divide Poland.

3. September of 1939: Germany invades Poland with its’ Blitzkrieg, G.B. and France declare war.

D. The US response to war

1. The election of 1940 was filled with promises to keep the US out of war.

2. Great Britain needs supplies but cannot afford to buy them. FDR proposes a Lend-Lease act.

a. Congress approves it early in 1941

b. $7 billion is appropriated for planes, tanks, ships etc. to non-Axis countries.

1) By the end of the war $50 billion in supplies was given to the Allies (90% to G.B.)

E. Japan

1. The Japanese continue to expand in Asia, angering the US

2. Trade between the US and Japan ends. Japan could no longer purchase US oil, gasoline and steel. Japan was secretly planning an attack on the US.

The War Intensifies

A. The Axis Powers Attack!1. Axis Powers – Germany, Italy, Japan

2. Hitler wanted to defeat France and Great Britain before the US entered the war.

May: Germany attacks France; after three weeks of fighting, France is defeated and remnants of their armed forces escape to Great Britain for the rest of the war.

August: Germany unleashes the “blitzkrieg” on Great Britain.

September: US Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act to send supplies to Great Britain.

April: Germany invades the Soviet Union with it’s Blitzkrieg; throughout the Spring, the US begins arming merchant vessels against German U-boat attacks.

July: Japan invades French Indochina

August: F.D.R. and Winston Churchill(GB) sign the Atlantic Charter.

1. They agree that the US and GB will not keep territory at the end of the war.

2. All countries will choose their own government.

3. Freedom of trade for all countries.

December 7th: “ A date which will live in infamy…”

Early on Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese planes bombed the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

This surprise attack destroyed 8 battleships and 150 US planes. 2,335 soldiers and sailors were killed.

The next day Congress declared war on Japan. The Allied powers created an Alliance of 26 nations led by the United

States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

The Challenge of the United States Homefront

Wartime industry brought the US out of depression.The US became the “Arsenal of Democracy” Factory and farm production saw tremendous growth.

The government knew it would take a united effort to win the war and encouraged people to “do their part” through the use of war posters and slogans.

New taxes and war bonds were created to raise money for the war effort.

Congress enacted the Selective Service Act of 1940; 300,000 women also volunteered. (W. A. C.)

“Rosie the Riveter” – Between 1940 and 1944, 4 million women joined the labor force to replace departing soldiers.

A system of rationing was used to help conserve goods needed in the war effort. Families were given government coupons for goods such as gas, heating fuel, tires, coffee, sugar, meat, butter, canned goods, clothing and shoes.

To boost morale, the government promoted the war through the use of movies, songs, and radio shows with patriotic themes. USO tours brought entertainers and celebrities to the soldiers on the front lines.

German, Italian and Japanese Americans faced anger and prejudice from other citizens. The government officially placed many Japanese Americans in internment camps and seized their property.

By the time the US entered the war, they faced fighting in two theaters, on many fronts, and against German, Italian and

Japanese forces firmly in control!

America fights in WWII

A. The United States fights in two theaters at the same time.

1. European Theater – was divided into two fronts.

a. Western front – Germany attacked France and England.

b. Eastern front – Germany attacked the Soviet Union.

2. The Pacific theater was fought against Japan

B. The European Theater

1. Axis Advances

a. By 1942 Germany and Italy controlled virtually all of Europe and North Africa.

b. German U-boats controlled the Atlantic. In the first half of 1942 they sunk over 500 ships off the East Coast of the US)

c. Soviet forces were under siege at Stalingrad.d. German forces beefed up Italian armies in North

Africa.2. Two battles broke the Axis advance.

a. Battle of El Alamein, a British victory in Egypt.b. Battle of Stalingrad, a Soviet victory. Defensive

fighting and harsh winters destroyed 2/3 of German forces.

3. Allied strategy in 1943

a. Battle of the Atlantic; search and destroy German U-boats

1) sonar, faster ships and the bombing of German shipyards turned the tide for the Allies.

b. Intensified air campaigns on German territory to destroy military production and undermine morale of German citizens by bombing cities.

c. Open a second European front in the Mediterranean (Italy) to relieve pressure on the Soviet Union.

1) By cutting off supply lines from Italy, the Allies defeated the Axis troops in N. Africa by 1943.

2) July 1943: the Allies invade Sicily

3) September 1943: Allies invade southern Italy

4) June 1944: Allies invade Rome and drive North

North Africa 1943Sicily, July 1943

S. Italy, Sept. 1943Rome, June 1944

Soviet Union will begin an offensive

4. Operation Overlord – the long-awaited Allied invasion of German occupied France.

a. General Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded the operation.b. Dummy installations and false clues fooled the Germans.

They expected an invasion at Calais.c. D-Day June 6, 1944 the Allies crossed the English Channel to land on the beaches of Normandy.

1) 5,000 troop transports carried 150,000 American, British and Canadian troops across the Channel.

2) 23,000 Airborne troops dropped behind enemy lines.

3) The Allies penetrated 15 miles in the first week.

4) Paris was liberated by August 25th.

MAPMAP

D-dayD-day

d. In conjunction with the invasion, the Allies moved north from Italy into France and the Soviets pressed

Germany from the East.5. By September of 1944 the Allies crossed the German border.

a. Battle of the Bulge – one last failed German offensive.

C. The end of the war in Europe.1. February of 1945 – the Allied leaders (Roosevelt, Churchill,

Stalin) met for the Yalta ConferenceYalta Conference to plan the post-war peace.

2. Spring of 1945 – the Allies bomb Berlin and drive into the heart of Germany.3. In April, Hitler commits suicide.

4. May 8th, 1945 VE DAY Germany agrees to unconditional surrender.

D. The Pacific Theater

1. In 1942 there were many Japanese victories.

a. The US lost the Philippine Islands

1) 70,000 captured POWs were brutalized during the Bataan Death March. 10,000 Americans died during a forced march to a prison camp.

b. By summer, Japan was ready to strike at India, Australia and Hawaii.

c. Three battles turned the tide in the Allies favor.

1) Battle of Coral Sea: stopped the Japanese advance.

2) Battle of Midway: the Japanese fleet was decimated by American Aircraft Carriers.

3) Guadalcanal: 1st American offensive in the Pacific.

2. Allied Victoriesa. The Allies adopted a strategy of Island HoppingIsland Hopping:

attack and seize only certain held Japanese islands. Bypassed islands would be cut off from supplies and troops.

b. 1943: victories at the Gilbert and Marshall Islands

c. 1944: victories at the Mariani Islands and Saipan the Philippine Sea and at Guam which now meant American bombers could reach Japan.

d. 1945: the Allies returned to the Philippines; two battles took place at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Okinawa was the bloodiest battle in the Pacific – 49,000 US and 100,000 Japanese deaths.

1) Kamikaze (Divine Wind) Pilots

e. FDR dies in April, 1945. Harry Truman becomes President and is faced with the biggest decision of the war.

f. August 1945: Japan is all but defeated yet continue to fight to the last man. Surrender is refused.1) August 6th, The US drops an atomic bomb on

HiroshimaHiroshima.2) August 9th, The US drops an atomic bomb on

NagasakiNagasaki.

September 2, 1945 – VJ DaySeptember 2, 1945 – VJ Day