Transcript Diapositiva 1

HOW DID THE SECOND
WORLD WAR BECOME
A WORLD WAR?
A.Rotolo
I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• In the early years, the Second World War
in Europe could not have been more
different from the First World War.
Germany quickly conquered Poland, but
there was no fighting in western Europe
for the first nine months.
• When Hitler finally invaded France in May
1940 he swept through Holland and
Belgium and conquered most of France.
• In June 1941 Hitler invaded the USSR.
A.Rotolo
I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• Meanwhile, on the other side of the
world, a separate conflict was developing.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
PEARL HARBOR
• On 7 December 1941, a Sunday, a band
was rehearsing on the deck of a warship
in the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii.
• A few minutes later, the bandsmen were
diving for cover or running to their
stations as the first wave of Japanese
fighter planes dropped their bombs and
torpedoes.
A.Rotolo
I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
A.Rotolo
I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• By the afternoon
of 7 December
Pearl Harbor lay in
ruins and the US
fleet was a mass
of twisted metal.
• Japan had made
its play for
domination in the
Pacific.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
THE RIVALRY BEGINS
• Rivalry between Japan and the USA
had begun in the 1920s. While the
European powers fought out the
First World War, Japan was able to
take over much of their trading
activity in the Far East.
• By 1921 the rise of Japan was
beginning to worry the USA that
also wished to dominate trade in
the Pacific.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• Japan was pressured by the USA
into a series of treaties which
limited its influence over China and
reduced the size of the Japanese
navy. The USA and western
European countries also placed
tariffs on Japanese goods.
• In response powerful businessmen
and military leaders such General
Tojo increasingly called for Japan to
build its own empire on the
mainland of Asia.
A.Rotolo
I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
Profile: General Tojo
• Born in 1884.
• Graduated with
distinction from
military college.
• Rose quickly to the
rank of general.
• He was a leading
figure among the
nationalists.
• In 1940 he became
War Minister.
• In 1941 he became
Prime Minister.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
AMERICA’S CONCERNS
GROW
• When the world
trade depression
on the 1930s
began to hit
Japan, these
empire builders
took their chance
and invaded
Manchuria in
1931. In 1937
Japan launched a
war with China.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• These developments were watched with
concern in America. Roosevelt was
especially worried when Germany and
Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in
1936. Italy signed in 1937, bringing three
aggressive regimes together into one
alliance. In that same year Japan
launched a full-scale invasion of China.
• Roosevelt did not want war, but he began
to prepare the American people for the
possibility of a war.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• By 1941, however,
there was a definite
shift in the opinions of
American politicians
and military leaders.
• The fall of France in
1940 and the
devastating
effectiveness of the
German army as it
swept through
western Europe had
jolted Americans.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• American spies
also informed
Roosevelt that
there had been
top-level meetings
among German,
Italian and
Japanese
politicians.
• On 27 September
1940 these three
governments
signed a Tripartite
Pact.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• Although the USA
was supposedly
neutral, it was clear
that Roosevelt
supported Britain.
• The USA was doing
all it could to help
the British in the
war in Europe except for fighting
with them.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
JAPAN’S DILEMMA
• Japan’s invasion of China was a
spectacular success, but even bigger
prizes beckoned once war in Europe
broke out. Britain, France and Holland
had large territories in the Far East which
they could not possibly defend while they
were at war with Germany. President
Roosevelt was worried about American
interests in China and in the Pacific,
particularly in the Philippines.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• Roosevelt restricted the supply of
important materials to Japan from 1940.
• This was Japan’s dilemma: it wanted to
carve out an empire in the Far East which
would make it self-sufficient in vital
materials such as rice, oil, coal and
rubber. However, not only the USA
worried Japan, also the USSR. In June
1941 Hitler solved Japan’s second
problem when he invaded the USSR.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
• In July 1941 Japan took control of French Indo-China
and it seemed that Japan had made up its mind to
challenge the USA: on 7 December 1941 some 300
planes took off from aircraft carriers to launch their
attack on Pearl Harbor.
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine
FOCUS TASK
After reading Source 1, 2 e 3, write a short speech for Roosevelt to give in one of his fireside
chats, explaining to the American people why they are now involved in the war.
SOURCE 1
Some of our people like to believe that wars in Europe and Asia are no concern of ours. But it
is a matter of most vital concern to us that European and Asiatic war-makers should not gain
control of the oceans which lead to this hemisphere. If great Britain goes down, the Axis
powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the high seas. All of
us would be living at the point of a gun.
From one of Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats”,
broadcast in 1940. Roosevelt was the first
political leader to use radio regularly to
talk directly to his people
SOURCE 2
America is a decayed country. I like An Englishman a thousand times better than an American
… Everything about the behavior of America society reveals that it is half Jew and the other
half negro. How can one expect a state like that to hold together – a country where
everything is built on the dollar.
Hitler writing about the USA before the war began
SOURCE 3
We can have no choice but to follow the letter of the law in the three-power treaty and
declare war on the United States.
From a speech by Joseph Goebbels
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GLOSSARY
To sweep, swept, swept through: infuriare
To rehearse: provare, ripassare
Torpedo: siluro
To launch: lanciare
To jolt: scuotere
To beckon: chiamare, allettare
To carve out: ritagliarsi
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I.T.I. Malignani - Udine