The Second World War

1921 - 1945

Mussolini Harry Truman

Winston Churchill Joseph StalinFDR

Key Themes & Concepts

• Foreign Policy – US goes from isolationism to global involvement, Good Neighbors in Latin America

• Isolationist Congress v. FDR’s global involvement

• Presidential Decisions & Actions – How did FDR & Truman influenced events of WWII

• Diversity – Women, African Americans & Japanese Americans

What were our Foreign Policies during the 20s and 30s?

• 1921 & 1924 US restricts immigration• 1922 & 1930 US raises tariffs• 1934 – No more loans to countries who

defaulted• 3 disarmament acts in the 1920s• Kellogg – Briand Pact – pledge to

“outlaw” war, involved 30+ countries

The US & Latin America• US companies had

billions invested in coffee, sugar, copper and oil

• The Good Neighbor Policy (FDR 1933)

• Nonmilitary intervention, reducing tariffs

• “No Nation has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another”

• Policies increased US exports to the region almost immediately

• Good Neighbors make good trading partners

Why an isolationist policy?• US was reluctant to enter WWI• Because of loses in WWI the US began to look

into the reason for involvement• It was determined that the US entered WWI to

make profits (Nye Committee) = a return to isolationism

• Congress’s Neutrality Acts • 1935 – trade embargo would be placed on all countries

in a state of war. US arms shipments would cease.• 1936 – Prohibits US loans to countries at war• FDR – signs them into law reluctantly

EVENTS LEADING TO WWII

The Road to War!!

War Debts & Reparations

• Weakened efforts to maintain peace• Allied countries owed the US $10 billion • German reparations were set at $32

billion• In the end most war debts go unpaid

The Rise of Totalitarian Governments

• One political party has TOTAL control over the govt. & bans all other parties

• Rely on terror to suppress individual rights & silence opposition

• Adolf Hitler (Nazi Party) elected into power in Germany 1933

• Josef Stalin assumes power in the Soviet Union in 1924 “The Man of Steel”

• Benito Mussolini seizes power in Italy 1922 “Il Duce”

• Japanese expansion into China begins

The Rising Nazi Menace• Hitler violates Versailles

• Expansion of Nazi empire• 1936 annexation of Austria• Seizes Sudentenland, German speaking region of

Czechoslovakia• Rearms the country

• “The buildup or armed forces is the most important precondition for ….. Political power”

• 1938 Munich Agreement – Great Britain & France allow Hitler to expand without consequence, he agrees to cease expansion

• 6 months later Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia

Nazi – Soviet Pact of 1939 Nazi – Soviet Pact (1939), German and

Soviet “nonaggression” pact

War is Imminent!

What was occurring in Europe “between the wars” that was drawing those nations closer to war? Does the Treaty of Versailles seem to be more of a problem than a solution at this point? Why?

Why Appeasement???

• To yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.)

1. France was demoralized 2. Britain did not want to confront Germany3. Many thought Communism was the bigger threat4. Great Depression “sapped” energy of western

democracies5. US neutrality acts; to avoid involvement in

another European war

War in Europe: Now What?• War begins in September 1939 when British and

French declare war on Germans for invading Poland• By end of 9/1939 Germans and Soviets divide Poland• Blitzkrieg – or lightening war; heavy plane bombing

followed by ground troops• Poland and France surrender to Germany & Italy,

leaving England as the sole country in the battle vs. Germany

• Germans bombed London for 57 nights, called the “London Blitz”

• 1941 Germans attempt to conquer the USSR, Hitler unexpectedly invades despite pact

Leading up to Pearl Harbor

• According to the reading why did the Japanese strike US Naval Forces at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941?

Modifying Isolationism - FDR Battles with Congress

• 1939 “Cash and Carry”• You want it…..come and get it!

• 1941 Lend Lease Act• Allowed the US to sell or lend war materials to “any

country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the US”

• 1941 Atlantic Charter – FDR & Churchill agree on war aims & post war actions

• FDR’s way around isolationism• FDR – said the US would be the “arsenal of

democracy”

FDR’s Four Freedoms

State of the Union, January 6th, 1941

• FDR explains why it is important to ensure allied victory in Europe

• Speech and Expression

• Freedom of worship• Freedom from want• Freedom from fear

Japanese Expansion, 1931 - 1941

• Japan felt expansion was necessary to compete w/ other countries

• Began invading Chinese territory 1931 where the US was enjoying favorable trade conditions, “Open Door” policy

• “Rape of Nanking” 12/1937• Japan relied on the US for 80% of its fuel

imports and other war materials• US placed trade embargo on all “war

materials” to Japan.

A NEED To Expand

“Not only do we posses no oil supplies but this is true of very many other materials without which today a nation is helpless in wartime. To secure raw materials has become a problem of great increased importance. The very life of Japan as a first-class power is dependent on this question”

Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor

• December 7th, 1941 – Japanese war planes attacked a US Navy Fleet at Pearl Harbor Hawaii (2 hours)

• 20 warships & 200 aircraft were destroyed; 2400 Americans were killed (1,103 in the USS Arizona)

• FDR says it is a day that will “live in infamy”• Shattered the American belief the Atlantic & Pacific

Oceans would safely isolate the US from foreign attack

• Fueled American nationalism & patriotism• The day after the attack FDR requested that Congress

declare war on Japan

“A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”…..

• According to Roosevelt’s address, which date will live in infamy?

• According to Roosevelt, what was the state of negotiations b/w the US & Japan before the attack?

• FDR says that the attack was planned and deliberate. Why?

• What is the ultimate purpose of this address?

AFTER THE ATTACK“I was 16 years old, employed….at Pearl Harbor Navy

Yard. On December 7th 1941, oh, around 8:00am, my grandmother awoke me. She informed me that the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor. I was asked to go into the water and get sailors out that had been blown off ships. Some were unconscious, some were dead. I brought out I don’t know how many bodies….I tried to get into the military, but they refused….Finally I wrote a letter to President Roosevelt. I told him I was angry at the Japanese bombing and had lost some friends. He okayed that I be accepted”

- US Sailor

Mobilizing for War!!!

The Shift from Peacetime to Wartime in America

Major Powers of WWII

• 26 Allied Nations v. 8 Axis Powers• Major Allied Powers – Great Britain,

Soviet Union & the US• Major Axis Powers – Germany, Italy &

Japan• The war was fought in 2 major regions:

Europe/North Africa & The Pacific

Strengths and Weaknesses

Axis advantages• Germany and Japan

had firm control over areas they invaded

• Germany and Japan were better prepared for war

Allied Advantages• Axis forces were

spread out over a large area

• The British and Soviets had not surrendered, therefore the Axis had to maintain troops on both fronts

Government Expansion

• 1942 – War Production Board (WPB) – directed the conversion of factories to wartime production

• 1943 - Office of War Mobilization (OWM) coordinated the production and distribution of consumer goods i.e. regulated clothing to save fabric

Life at home during the WAR

BRAINSTORMING:

Once the USA joined the fight in WWII, how do you think life for Americans at home changed? Create a word web that includes all of the “changes” that you can think of. (The center “bubble” should read WWII @ Home)

A Production Boom

• 1940 22,000 workers were producing ammunition – 1943 486,000

• Built 300,000 aircraft and suspended car production

• Massive production created an economic boom & ended the Depression

• Unemployment 14.6% – 1.2%• Earnings doubled from 1939 - 1945

Directing the Economy

• Increased the number of Americans who had to pay income tax; everyone became a taxpayer

• War Bonds ($150 Billion!!)• Office of Price Administration (OPA) set

maximum prices on goods, began rationing scarce items in 12/1941

• Gasoline, tires, coffee, sugar, meat, butter & canned goods were rationed (mandatory)

Raising an Army

• Selective Training & Service Act; September 1940

• 1st peacetime draft• Men 21 – 35 became 18 – 37• Deferred for family, religious or health• 2/3 of WWII soldiers were draftees the rest

were volunteers• 300,000 women volunteered – office work,

nurses, drove vehicles etc.

Life During Wartime

• Victory gardens were planted again• West Coast cities practiced nighttime

blackouts, feared lit cities would be an easy Japanese target

• “God Bless America” became the unofficial anthem (Irving Berlin)

• “White Christmas”• Paperback books appeared first in 1939,

quickly surpassed hardcover books

Wartown: Questions• The clip was shown as a morale booster in

movie houses

1. What is shown in the video that would boost morale in the US? Explain.

2. How were US factories changed for war production? What challenges did they face?

3. What was the impact of this production on the US economy?

4. The video describes the “Rosie the Riveters” as heroines. Explain what this means

Rationing & Recycling: Questions

1. Develop a list of some major items that were rationed or recycled.

2. How were these items used in the war effort?

3. Why do you think Americans didn’t continue to recycle items after the war?

4. Do you think Americans today would ration to contribute to the war effort?

Promoting the War• Blue star = loved one in service, Gold star = death in

combat (in windows)• Moviemakers, songwriters & radio stations participated in

keeping up moral• Office of War Information controlled the flow of news at

home• Bureau of Motion Pictures (BMP)- reviewed every film

made during the war. i.e. Casablanca • Office of Censorship – subjects that contained information

of value to the enemy and which, therefore, should not be published or broadcast in the United States without authorization by a qualified government source

• Propaganda

Rosie the Riveter

• Shows the importance of female workers during WWII

• 1940 – 1944 female workers increased by 6 million

Rockwell’s Rosie

Analyzing Propaganda

Choose 3 posters from the packet

1. What is the goal(s) of the poster?

2. What images are shown in the poster?

3. How does the poster try to convince the viewer?

4. Does the poster exaggerate the truth? How?

Internment of Japanese Americans

• 100,000 Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and placed in “War Relocation Camps”

• “Military areas” • Executive Order 9066 2/19/1942• 60% US citizens 1/3 under 19, 1/16th

Japanese blood• Had to sell their property & businesses at a

great loss• 3 year period• Neither German or Italian Americans faced

harsh treatment at home. Why not?

Internment Info• Why? Pearl Harbor, Bataan

Death March• Nisei – citizens• “A Jap’s a Jap”• Korematsu v. U.S. –

internment is “appropriate” for security of the nation

• 1988 US government granted $20,000 to those “war prisoners” who were still alive (more added in 1992)

• “grave injustice”

“Made Into an Enemy”

1. Why do you think only the Japanese Americans on the West Coast were affected by Executive Order 9066?

2. What was the social and personal impact of the internment for those sent to camps and those left behind?

3. Was the government justified in doing this? Why/why not? What other options did they have?

4. Could a government mandated act such as the internment happen today? Why/why not?

Defeat of the Axis Powers

D – Day – “The Day of Days”• Operation “Overlord” attack on German

“impregnable” forts along French coast• Allied attack to free France• 50 – 50 chance of success• Attack was planned 200 miles south of where

the Germans were expecting• June 6th, 1944 5,000 troop transports, landing

craft and warships; 150,000 American, British & Canadian soldiers; 23,000 airborne troops, paratroopers

• “Stormed the beaches of Normandy”

D – Day & After

• Very nearly failed, first units lost almost 90% of troops

• By nightfall 5000 allied troops were dead• German losses were worse, Hitler refused to

quit, assassination attempt failed• 2 weeks later: 1 million troops, 556,000 tons

of supplies & 170,000 vehicles• Seized 60 mile wide beach • By August 1944 Paris was liberated

The End is Near

• Yalta Conference – 2/1945. FDR, Churchill & Stalin meet to draw up peace post Nazi surrender

• V.E. Day 5/7/45 The Germans surrender

Roosevelt’s Report to Congress on Yalta

1. According to Roosevelt, what was the purpose of the Yalta Conference? What conclusions did they reach? List and explain the agreements.

2. Roosevelt says that the “world is smaller” what does he mean by this? What is the “responsibility of the U.S.?

3. Do you agree with the conclusions reached at Yalta? Explain your decision.

Victory In Asia

Pacific Offensives

• Island Hopping – US troops would attack & seize only certain strategic Japanese – held islands 11/1943

• Battle of Leyte Gulf -7/1944 – Allied offensive to take back Philippines. Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers, two battle ships, and several cruisers. “I shall return” – Douglas MacArthur

The Battle of Iwo Jima• 2/1945• 750 miles from Tokyo• 6 weeks• Thousands of marines and

20,000 Japanese• Planted a US flag on the top

of Mount Suribachi as a sign of Victory

• Photo won Pulitzer Prize• Johnny Cash’s Ballad of Ira

Hayes

Okinawa – The Bloodiest Yet

• April 1st 1945, 350 miles from Japan

• Japanese retreated to southern tip of island, attacked 5 days later

• 350 Kamikaze planes, cave battles

• 49,000 US killed or wounded, 100,000 Japanese dead

• April 12th 1945 FDR dies, Harry Truman is President

The Manhattan Project• Effort of a group of scientists who had been

working on an atomic bomb since 1942• Basement of Columbia University• Enrico Fermi creates an atomic chain reaction• Los Alamos New Mexico – Director J. Robert

Oppenheimer leads a team constructing the first atomic bomb

• How did the US know that building this weapon was possible?

Leading up to the Bomb

• July 16th, 1945 successful test NM• Truman meets with Allied leaders at

Potsdam near Berlin• July 26th Allies demand unconditional

Japanese surrender• A full scale invasion of Japan would cost 1

million US casualties, the A Bomb would end the war quickly

• Scientists who created the bomb were against it but we spent $2 million to create it

Fat-man and Little Boy

• 8/6/1945 & 8/9/1945• Enola Gay B - 29• Hiroshima• Famous Mushroom

cloud• 75,000 dead• Nagasaki – vaporizes

everything in 1/8 of a mile

• Death toll = 200,000

Little Boy and Hiroshima

Nagasaki – before & after

Costs of the War

• High casualties on both sides• The discovery of Hitler’s holocaust plans• Nazi government was destroyed and Japan’s

military warlords were overthrown• Towns, cities and forests were destroyed • Millions lacked heat, running water, adequate

food and the means to travel from one place to another

Military Dead Military Wounded Civilian Dead

Britain 373,000 475,000 93,000

France 213,000 400,000 108,000

Soviet Union 11 million 14 million 7 million

USA 292,000 671,000

Germany 3.5 Million 5 million 780,000

Italy 242,000 66,000 153,000

Japan 1.3 million 4 million 672,000