World War IIUS Involvement: Beginning to

Peace

Events Leading to WWII

• 1918 – Germany surrenders ending WWI

• 1919 – Treaty of Versailles

• 1922 – Mussolini becomes Italy’s dictator

• 1923 - Hitler writes Mein Kampf

• 1924 – Stalin rises to power

Events Leading to WWII

• 1929 – World Wide Depression leads to rise of dictators

• 1930 – Japan invades Manchuria

• 1932 – Japan invades Shanghai– US condemns (Open

Door Policy) but stays isolated

Events Leading to WWII

• 1933 – Hitler gains power in Germany

• Begins operation of Dachau

• 1935 – Italy invades Ethiopia > US passes 1st Neutrality Act

• Hitler rearms the Rhineland – Axis Powers formed

(Germany / Italy)– 2nd Neutrality Act passed

by the US

Events Leading to WWII

• 1937 – Japan invades China > US issues 3rd Neutrality Act

• 1938 – Germany annexes Austria > Munich Pact is signed (appeasement towards Hitler)

• Neville Chamberlain: 'Peace for Europe' - CBC Archives

Events Leading to WWII

• 1939 – Hitler invades Poland – start of WWII

• 1940 – Japan joins Axis powers> US starts draft

• 1941 – Japan attacks Pearl Harbor > US enters war

Allies

Allied Leaders

• US : FDR / Truman / MacArthur / Eisenhower

• Great Britain: Winston Churchill

• USSR: Josef Stalin

• France: Charles de Gaulle

Axis Powers

Axis Powers Leaders

• Germany: Hitler

• Italy: Mussolini

• Japan: Emperor Hirohito / General Tojo

Major Events in Europe

• 1939: Germany invades Poland with blitzkrieg

• 1940: France falls to Nazis. Battle of Britain – air raids known as the blitz

• 1941: Germany invades the Soviet Union – breaks the non-aggression pact

Major Events in Europe

• 1942-43: Battle of Stalingrad – turning point because Russian soldiers start marching west

• 1943: Allied troops defeat Axis armies in North Africa (Called Operation Torch)

• July 1943: Italy invaded by Allies

Events in Europe

• June 6, 1944: Allied invasion of Normandy France . The largest such invasion in history– Over 150,000 soldiers– Designed by General

Eisenhower– Known as D-Day– Over 11,000 casualties– August , 1944 Paris was

liberated and Allies begin their push towards Germany

D-Day (Operation Overlord)

Events in Europe

• December 1944: Last German offensive called Battle of the Bulge

• April 12, 1945: FDR dies• April 1945: Allied troops

meet at the Elbe River in Germany – Hitler commits suicide

• May 8, 1945: V-E Day– Victory in Europe

Problems with Japan

• The U.S. and Japan had been competing for trading rights and resources in the South Pacific.

• Japan imported much of its steel and

oil from the U.S.

• The US cut these supplies off(Embargo) to Japan as a protest to the Japanese invasion of China- also sinking of USS Panay

Events in the Pacific

• December 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor

• Dec 8, 1941: US declares war on Japan and enters WWII

• FDR describes it as “A day that will live in infamy.”

Pearl Harbor

Events in the Pacific

• 1941-42: Japan seizes the Philippines

• MacArthur vows “I shall return”

• 1942: Battle of Midway

• 1944-1945: Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Events in the Pacific

• US Island Hopping to main island of Japan• Truman told there would be a possiblity the US

would lose 1 million troops with a land invasion of Japan

• Aug 6, 1945: US drops bomb on Hiroshima (Enola Gay : Little Boy) – estimated 100,000 killed instantly

• Aug 9, 1945: Bombed dropped on Nagasaki (Fat Man) – estimated 80,000 killed instantly

Little Boy

Distance from Ground Zero (km) Killed Injured Population

0 - 1.0 88% 6% 30,900

1.0 - 2.5 34% 29% 27,700

2.5 - 5.0 11% 10% 115,200

Total 22% 12% 173,800

Fat Man

Distance from Ground Zero (km) Killed Injured Population

0 -1.0 86% 10% 31,200

1.0 - 2.5 27% 37% 144,800

2.5 - 5.0 2% 25% 80,300

Total 27% 30% 256,300

Atomic Bomb

• Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Reenactment - Video

World War II Diplomacy

• Atlantic Charter: (1941) peace after the war (Churchill and FDR)

• Casablanca: (1942) “victory on all fronts”> only unconditional surrender (Churchill and FDR)

• Cairo: (1943) planning Normandy• Teheran Conference: (1943) FDR, Churchill,

Stalin >invasion of Germany• Yalta: (1945) FDR, Churchill, Stalin > division of

Germany• Potsdam: (1945) warning Japan to surrender to

prevent utter destruction

Home front During WWII

• US was an “arsenal of democracy”

• Blackout drills/rations– Were afraid of attacks

on the US – US was trying to

adjust to a war time economy

– Needed supplies for the war

Home front During WWII

• War Bonds > people would support the war by giving the gov’t loans

• In return you got a certificate and a promise to from gov’t to pay back loan with interest

Home front During WWII

• War Production Board / War Labor Board > gov’t agencies to keep production going

• Women– Found jobs > not forced to

return to the home after the war

– “Rosie the Riveter”– Women chose to return

home after the war (Baby Boom Era)

Home front During WWII

• Also found jobs in the workforce > need to keep production high for the war effort

• Faced discrimination in both the North and South

Home front During WWII

• Seen as spies• Executive Order

9066>100,000 moved to internment camps

• Korematsu vs. United States– SC ruled FDR had the right

to contain Japanese-Americans due to national emergency of WWII and to protect national security

Results of the War• US and USSR become world

powers = Cold War• Atomic Age > threat to world

peace• Nuremberg Trails

– 1945 & 1946– 25 high level Nazis for “crimes

against humanity (Holocaust)– 3 acquitted and 12 executed

• UN– Peace keeping / human rights

protection– NYC– Security Council / General

Assembly– US does join

US After WWII

• WW II brought the US out of the Great Depression– Several works stoppages after WW II >had to adjust

to soldiers coming home and a peace time economy– As a way to help these veterans adjust to civilian

life the government created the GI Bill of Rights- buying homes/$$$ college

– Taft – Hartley Act > US gov’t could get a court injunction to delay a strike for 80 days if it endangered health or safety of the public

US After WW II

• Election of 1948– Truman (Democrat) vs.

Thomas E. Dewey (Republican)

– Truman wins in an upset– Truman’s “Fair Deal” and

“New Society”• Extension of the New Deal

• Established low-income housing, raised minimum wage, increased the # of people under the Social Security Act

Extension of Civil Rights and Truman

• National Security Act of 1947– Form an Air Force– Increased dept of Defenses’ power– Joint Chief of Staff– CIA

• Segregation and discrimination throughout the US and WWII > Jim Crow laws in the South and de facto segregation in the North

• Change was coming:– Jackie Robinson, 1947 > 1st African

American to play Major League Baseball

– President’s Commission on Civil Rights > informs the public

– Executive Order banning segregation in the military

– Investigated businesses with contracts with the gov’t that practice segregation

Objectives of US After WWII

• Protect US interests abroad• Avoid nuclear war• Help other nations (social and

economic)• Promote democracy• Stop communist expansion

(Containment)• NATO

– April, 1949 > 12 nations– “an attack on one would be

considered an attack on all”– Member nations would act

together in common defense– Anti-communism

Policies created as part of Containment

• Truman Doctrine- USA will aid any nation in Europe to stop the spread of communism.

• Marshall Plan USA gives $13B aid to Western Europe to rebuild after war, to stop the spread of communism.

• Central Intelligence Agency- collects intelligence / information about other nations-Spying

US After WWII

• Warsaw Pact• Communist Answer to

NATO• 8 nations• 1955

Warsaw PactCommunist answer to NATO8 nations1955

Churchill claims people in Eastern Europe are forced to live

behind an Iron Curtain

War Department becomes Defense Department

US Foreign Policy During Cold War

1946-1991

•Containment-

•Stopping the spread of Communism

First Hot Spot of Cold War

• Berlin 1948- USSR closes rail and roads into Berlin.

• The U.S. airlifts supplies for 321 days the USSR ends the blockade in 1949.

• This would not be the last time Berlin would be a hot spot during the Cold War.

Looking for Commie Spies

Executing Spies

The Korean War 1950-1953

• Korea was divided at the 38th Parallel after WW2- North Communist- South Democratic

• June 1950- North invades South• As part of its Containment Policy the U.S.

and United Nations troops attempt to Stop the spread of communism.

• The goal was to keep the nation divided at the 38th parallel, and not to involve the Chinese or Russians.

Truman Fires MacArthur

• U.S./U.N. troops push North Korean troops across the 38th and close in on the Chinese border, causing the Chinese to attack.

• Chinese troops push U.S./U.N. troops back across 38th and for 3 years fighting occurs around 38th.

• A truce is signed in 1953 ending the war• Communism was Contained.

Eisenhower’s Election

• Elected as 1st republican since 1928 > Nixon was his VP

Domestic Policies

• Growth of Suburbs• TV Becomes popular source of entertainment• “under God” added to the pledge > importance

of religion• Ending Segregtaion

– Attacking “separate but equal”– Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

• Brown denied admission to an all white school> violation of 14th admendment

• Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” had no place in public education

• Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson

School Integration

• Governor of Arkansas uses National Guard to stop integration at Little Rock High School

• Eisenhower took over the National Guard (Commander-in-Chief) and allowed 9 students into high school

School Integration

More Civil Rights Events

• Dec 1955 > Rosa Parks = bus integration– Martin Luther King, Jr

> civil disobedience– Montgomery Bus

Boycott

The Warren Court

Appointed by Eisenhower, Chief Justice Earl Warren was in power during many landmark(very important) decisions in the 50’s and 60’s:

Brown v. Board of EdMiranda v. ArizonaGideon v. Wainwright Escobedo v. IllinoisTinker v. Des Moines

Foreign Policy

• Continues the policy of Containment- and added the:

• Eisenhower Doctrine- pledge to aid nations fighting communism in the Middle East.

• Domino Theory - if one nation “fell” to communism all the nations around it would “fall”-especially in South East Asia/Vietnam

Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

• New aggressive policies/threats begin:

• Brinkmanship- U.S. was willing to go to the brink/edge of nuclear war to show its strength

• Massive Retaliation- U.S. would use all its nuclear weapons at once if attacked w/just one.

• Arms Race this led to both sides building up large nuclear arsenals-

• Mutually Assured Destruction-both sides had enough of these weapons to destroy each other, hoping the other wouldn’t use them-Deterrent

New Weapons

• Hydrogen Bomb- over 1,500x’s more powerful than the bomb’s used on Japan.

• Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles –Nuclear weapons that travel across continents

Cold War continues

1957- Soviets Launch Sputnik- a satellite that orbited the earth-This led to a new emphasis on math and science in American schools.

- Us puts Explorer I in orbit in Jan 1958The U.S. and U.S.S.R. realized how dangerous the

situation had become, there was an easing of tensions/Thaw-1958-1960-both sides agreed to stop testing nuclear weapons.

U-2 Incident-the thaw ended when a U.S. spy plane was shot down over the U.S.S.R.

The Cold War was back!

U-2 Incident

U-2 Incident-the thaw ended when a U.S. spy plane was shot down over the U.S.S.R.

The Cold War was back!

Election of 1960

• Nixon (Rep) vs. Kennedy (Dem)

• Close popular vote > electoral 303 to 219

• Kennedy became youngest and 1st Catholic to be elected President