Transcript World War II Begins - Martin Luther Church

World War II Begins
Section 2
Japan Sparks War in Asia
 1937 – Japan starts all out war with
China
 Bombed major cities
 Thousands killed
 Nanjing – 300,000 civilians and POWS were
murdered
 Japan took control of Northern and Central
China
 U.S. continued to hold to their Isolationism
Germany Brings War to
Europe
 1938 – Hitler annexed Austria
 1938 – claimed Sudetenland – western part of
Czechkoslovakia
 Munich Conference
 Hitler promised Britian and France he would not
take any more land
 Appeasement – practice of giving in to aggression
to avoid war
 1939 – Germany seized the rest of Czechkoslovakia
Invasion of Poland
 August 1939 – Nazi-Soviet Pact
 Stalin and Hitler agreed not to attack each
other
 September 1939 – blitzkrieg – lightning
war
 German army invaded Poland
 Polish army was overwhelmed
 Stalin invaded eastern Poland, Finland,
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia
A Second World War
 September 1939
 Britian and France
declare war on
Germany
 Axis
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Germany
Italy
Japan
6 others, including
Romania
 Allies
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Britain
France
Soviet Union
United States
China
45 other countries,
including Canada
Fall of France
 Spring 1940 – Germany invaded Denmark,
Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France
 Italy joined the attack on France
 British sent troops to help French, but were forced
to retreat – Miracle at Dunkirk
 In nine days, 331,226 soldiers — 192,226 British and
139,000 French — were rescued by a hastily assembled
fleet of 860 boats
 June 22, 1940 – France surrendered
Battle of Britain
 Britain was left as the only country in Europe
opposing the Axis powers
 Winston Churchill – Prime Minister of Great Britain
“We will never surrender”
 Hitler hoped to invade Britain
 Fighters and bombers attacked for several months,
destroying cities and towns throughout London
 British RAF shot down 2,000 Luftwaffe planes,
convincing Hitler to give up his plan for an invasion
 Many American pilots went to England to fly with the
RAF against the Germans
United States Moves
Towards War
 Aid to the Allies
 “Cash and carry plan” – U.S. would sell supplies to
Allies, but they had to come get them
 U.S. gave British 50 old destroyers to assist in
protecting against U-boat attacks
 Prepared for War
 Increased spending for the military
 Established a military draft – first ever during
peacetime
Cont.
 A Third Term for FDR
 Both FDR and his opponent promised to keep U.S.
out of war
 Many people were against FDR running for third
term, but won easily
 Lend-Lease Act
 1941 – allowed sales and loans of war material to
“any country whose defense the President deems
vital to the defense of the United States.”
 Sent tanks, planes, guns, and ammunition to Britain
 Extended to Soviet Union when they were attacked
by Germany
Atlantic Charter
 Roosevelt and Churchill established war
goals
 Agreed to seek no new territory
 Pledged to support “the right of all
peoples to choose the form of
government under which they live”
 Also called for a new “League of Nations”