Transcript Ch. 17 – World War II

Ch. 16 – World War II
 Two main reasons U.S. entered World War II
in December 1941:
– Growth of dictatorships in Europe & Japan
(and their invasion of other countries).
– Japanese attack on U.S. naval base at Pearl
Harbor (December 7th 1941).
 World War II would be a fight between the:
– Allies – United States, Great Britain, Soviet
Union (and France, China)
– Axis Powers – Germany, Japan, Italy
Oppressive Governments (Europe
& Japan)
• Totalitarian Government
• Has complete control of its citizens.
Individuals have no rights & govnt suppresses
all opposition.
• Fascism
• Stresses nationalism & places interests of the
state above those of individuals.
• Nazism
• Based on extreme nationalism & racism.
Rise of Dictators
 Joseph Stalin
– Became leader of Soviet
Union in 1924.
– Wanted to create a model
Communist state. Used
ruthless methods to force
his people to work,
millions of Russians died.
– By 1937, Soviet Union
world’s second leading
industrial power.
– U.S.S.R. a totalitarian
state.
Rise of Dictators
 Benito Mussolini
– Seized power in Italy in
1922 as leader of Fascist
Party.
– Mussolini hoped to
restore Italy to the glory
of the old Roman Empire
(territory in Africa &
Mediterranean, power,
etc.)
– Italy became an
totalitarian state.
– 1935 – Mussolini
invaded Ethiopia in
attempt to build his new
Roman empire.
Rise of Dictators
 Adolf Hitler
– After WWI, German economy
–
–
–
–
–
terrible. Treaty of Versailles
seen as unfair to Germany.
Germany desperate – Hitler
elected Chancellor of Germany
in 1933.
Hitler leader of Nazi Party.
Wanted to unite all Germanspeaking people in a great
German empire.
Hitler wanted pure “Aryan”
race and German expansion.
Germany became a totalitarian
state.
1938 – Hitler annexed Austria
& Czechoslovakia
Rise of Dictators
 Hideki Tojo
– Led Japanese military.
Believed Japan needed to
expand its empire.
– 1931 -1938 - Invaded
province of China known
as Manchuria (rich in
natural resources) and
Indochina (now Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos).
– Emperor Hirohito of
Japan only a powerless
figure head.
WWII Begins
 Invasion of Poland
– Sept 1, 1939 - Germany
invaded and quickly defeated
Poland (World War II begins)
– Sept. 3, 1939 - France & Britain
declare war on Germany.
 Blitzkreig
– Germans used new military
strategy called blitzkrieg, or
lightening war. Use powerful
aircraft first, then quick, mobile
armored divisions. Fight one
front at at time & quickly crush
enemy.
WWII Begins
 Germans defeat Western
Europe
– April – June 1940 –
Germans defeated
Denmark, Norway,
Belgium, Netherlands,
France.
– Italy entered war on side of
Germans. Attacked France
from the south.
WWII Begins
 Battle of Britain (summer – fall 1940)
– Germans attempted to invade Great Britain.
Used Luftwaffe (German air force) to bomb
British Royal Air Force (RAF) & cities.
– Germans unsuccessful. Hitler called off attacks
in Nov. 1940.
– Brits wounded, but not defeated. Gained U.S.
sympathy and supplies.
WWII Begins
 Lend-Lease Plan
– 1941, FDR felt U.S. had to help
defeat Axis Powers by turning itself
into “great arsenal of democracy”.
– Great Britain had run out of cash to
buy war supplies from U.S. LendLease Act allowed FDR to lend or
lease supplies to any country whose
defense was vital to U.S.
– Aided not only Great Britain, but
Soviet Union when Hitler invaded it
in 1941.
WWII Begins
 The Axis Powers
– Sept. 1940 –
Germany, Italy, and
Japan had signed a
mutual defense treaty,
the Tripartite Pact.
– Tripartite Pact
designed to keep U.S.
out of war. If U.S.
were to declare war
on any one of the
Axis Powers, it would
face a two ocean war
in Atlantic & Pacific.
U.S. Enters WWII
 Attack on Pearl Harbor
– U.S. cut off trade with Japan. Embargoed goods
included oil – essential for Japan’s war machine.
– Either get U.S. to end oil embargo or seize oil
fields in Asia. This would mean war.
– Dec. 7, 1941 – Japanese attack began early in
the morning on the Pearl Harbor naval base in
Hawaii. Raid nearly devastated U.S. Pacific fleet.
Over 3,000 Americans killed or wounded.
– The next day, FDR asked Congress for a
declaration of war against Japan. Three days
later, Germany & Italy declared war on U.S.
Pearl Harbor
Dec. 7th, 1941
Pearl Harbor Propaganda Posters
U.S. Homefront During WWII
 War & the Depression
– In the U.S., WWII did what all of the New Deal
programs could not - end the Great
Depression.
– Defense spending skyrocketed beginning in
1940. Factories came back to life & were
retooled to make war products.
– Unemployment roles shrunk as many people
went back to work.
U.S. Homefront during WWII
 United States Office of War Information (OWI)
- Operated from June 1942 - September 1945
– U.S. government agency created during World War II
– Coordinated release of war news for domestic use and
created propaganda posters & radio broadcasts to
promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, & recruit
women into war work
– Impact: WWII led to an increase in patriotism!
Majority of Americans “did their part” to help win the
war
• Nation saw high levels of military enlistment,
volunteerism, the purchase of war bonds,
planting of “victory gardens”, etc.
Office of War Information Posters
U.S. Homefront during
WWII
 Labor’s Contribution
during WWII
– Millions of men were drafted to
fight in WWII. Nearly all
American civilians filled empty
jobs by laboring in war
industries.
– Over 6 million workers (1/3) in
business & industry were
women. Govnt urged women to
take the place of their husbands
& get a war job.
– Propaganda posters made
“Rosie the Riveter” female
ideal during WWII.
U.S. Homefront during WWII
 Economic Controls
– U.S. govnt took greater control of
nation’s economy during wartime
to keep prices stable & ensure U.S.
had enough goods to fight the war.
– Office of Price Administration
(OPA) froze prices on most goods
and set up a system for rationing.
Households received a coupon book
to buy scarce goods like gasoline,
shoes, coffee, sugar, meat.
– War Production Board (WPB)
decided which factories would
convert from peacetime to wartime
production.
WWII Rationing Posters
Discrimination 
during WWII
Internment of Japanese-Americans
– After attack on Pearl Harbor, many
Americans worried JapaneseAmericans would try to commit
sabotage.
– Feb. 1942 - FDR issued Executive
Order 9066 – sent 110,000
Japanese-Americans to remote
internment camps across U.S.
Many lost their homes, businesses,
etc.
– In 1988, Congress officially
apologized to Japanese-Americans
& awarded each surviving internee
$20,000.
– Greatest violation of civil liberties
during WWII. No acts of sabotage
were ever proven.
Japanese Americans on their way to
internment camps
Discrimination during WWII
 Internment of German-Americans & ItalianAmericans
– Approx 15,000 Americans of German & Italian
ancestry were arrested or held in internment centers
across the U.S.
– Too many U.S. citizens of German or Italian ancestry to
send such massive numbers of people to internment
camps – most were recent
immigrants and sent on a caseby-case basis.
- Unlike the JapaneseAmericans, German-Americans
and Italian-Americans never
received an apology or
monetary compensation for
their internment by the U.S.
government.