Transcript Unit-14-10-Chapter-37pt2-Beginning-of-WWII

WWII Begins
AP US
March 16, 2010
With help from Susan Pojer
The Nazi-Soviet
Non-Aggression Pact, 1939
Foreign Ministers
von Ribbentrop & Molotov
The Fall of Poland
• On September 1, 1939, Germany burst into
Poland with Hitler’s newest military strategy –
the blitzkrieg.
• Blitzkrieg means lightening war - it used fast
tanks and more powerful aircraft to take the
enemy by surprise and quickly crush all
opposition.
• During the attack on Poland, Germany used
newly developed tanks to race across the Polish
countryside. The German air force, the
Luftwaffe, dropped bombs on Polish military
bases, railroads, and cities.
The Invasion of Poland - Map
The Fall of Poland
• Major fighting in Poland was over in 3 weeks
with a German victory.
– Even though Germany controlled Poland, Poland
never surrendered, and many Poles contributed to
the war effort on the Allied side – both with
soldiers and through intelligence.
• Just two days after the German invasion,
England and France declared war on
Germany on September 3, 1939 – World War
II had begun.
German Troops March into Warsaw
The Phony War
• France and England scrambled to organize their
forces. They sat on the Maginot Line waiting for
Germany’s attack.
• The Maginot Line was a line of defense that France
built after WWI to protect themselves against future
invasion by Germany.
• Germany was busy occupying Denmark and
Norway while England and France waited on the
Maginot Line from September 1939-May 1940.
– This time of waiting for Germany to invade was
called the “Phony War.”
The Maginot Line
• Anti tank poles and a machine gun bunker on the
Maginot Line
Cash and Carry
• Once war began in Europe, Roosevelt persuaded
Congress to revise the Neutrality Acts.
• In September of 1939, Congress passed the
Neutrality Act of 1939, which allowed the US to
sell arms to countries that would pay cash and
transport the weapons themselves – this was
known as “cash and carry.”
• Roosevelt maintained that helping England and
France to defeat Hitler would keep America out
of war.
Roosevelt Moves Away From
Neutrality
• Much to America’s dismay, France fell to
Germany by the summer of 1940 and
Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a mutual
defense treaty in September of 1940.
– This was known as the Tripartite Pact and these
three nations became known as the Axis Powers.
• This was a huge problem to America because
if the US became involved in the war, it would
fight in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis:
The Tripartite Pact
September, 1940
Roosevelt Moves Away From
Neutrality
• As Roosevelt wanted to avoid war, especially a
two-front war, he quickly sent 500,000 rifles
and 80,000 machine guns to Britain.
• He also traded 50 old destroyers for leases on
British military bases in the Caribbean and
Newfoundland. (The Destroyer Deal)
• Now that America was thoroughly worried,
Congress boosted defense spending and
instituted the nation’s first peacetime draft.
Election of 1940
• Roosevelt (D) gave up the tradition of
only running for two terms and ran for his
third; he won with 55% of the votes
• Wendell Willkie - Republican
• Same on foreign policy, differed on how
to carry it out
– Willkie opposed FDR’s strong government
methods
Roosevelt Moves Away From
Neutrality
• After his reelection, Roosevelt informed
the people that arming the Allies (those
fighting against Germany and the Axis
Powers) - would be the only way to keep
America from being attacked by the Axis.
• Under this theory, Roosevelt decided to
make America the “great arsenal of
democracy” – we would provide arms to
the Allies.
Lend Lease
• England ran out of money to buy arms by the
end of 1940 though. Roosevelt came up with a
new plan to help: the lend-lease policy.
• Under this plan, America would lend or lease
arms and other supplies to any country whose
defense was vital to the United States.
– Roosevelt explained this to the nation by saying that
anyone would lend a hose to a neighbor whose house
was on fire to prevent their own house from catching
fire.
• This seemed to work as Congress passed the
Lend-Lease Act in March 1941.
Roosevelt Moves Away From
Neutrality
• Great Britain was not the only country to
benefit from the Lend-Lease Agreement
– Hitler had broken his agreement with Stalin
and invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941
(Hitler’s biggest strategic mistake). America
began sending supplies to the USSR as well.
U. S. Lend-Lease Act,
1941
Great Britain.........................$31 billion
Soviet Union.........................$11 billion
France..................................$ 3 billion
China....................................$1.5 billion
Other European.................$500 million
South America...................$400 million
The amount totaled: $48,601,365,000
German Submarines
• One of the largest problems that America had
was actually getting the supplies to the Allies.
The Germans had developed a strategy for
their submarines known as “wolf packs”.
– Groups of approximately 40 submarines would
patrol shipping lines in the North Atlantic and
attack the under-guarded convoys.
– The wolf packs destroyed 350,000 tons of
shipments in a single month.
Roosevelt Moves Away From
Neutrality
• In June 1941, Roosevelt gave the navy
permission for US warships to attack German
U-Boats in self-defense.
• Later in September of 1941, a German
submarine fired on the US Destroyer Greer.
– This caused Roosevelt to order the navy to shoot
German submarines on sight.
• By this point America was engaged in a naval
war with Germany.
• Isn’t this just how WWI began for America???
2-3 Clip 4 Lend Lease
British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill
The Atlantic Charter
• Roosevelt and Churchill
•
•
•
•
sign treaty of friendship in
August 1941.
Solidifies alliance.
Fashioned after Wilson’s 14
Points.
Calls for League of Nations
type organization.
Signed by Stalin later that
year
Lovers and Haters of the
Atlantic Charter
• Many took heart from its message that
people should choose their own leaders
(self-determination)
– Such as the Poles
• Many Americans thought we shouldn’t
be messing around with a war when we
were neutral
– They clearly had not caught on yet…
America and Japan
• After Japan invaded Manchuria, they launched a fullscale invasion of China in July 1937.
– This was done under the leadership of Hideki Tojo, chief of
staff of the army.
• Soon, Japan had plans to invade British, Dutch, and
French colonies in Asia.
• In July of 1941, Japan took over French military bases in
Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos).
• The US protested this act of aggression by cutting off
all trade with Japan. This included not selling any
more oil to Japan – a resource that Japan needed to
continue their militarism.
America and Japan
• America and Japan entered into peace negotiations in
1941, but after cracking the Japanese code, America
knew that Japan was planning to attack the US after
November 5, 1941.
• Roosevelt sent out a “war warning” to American
military commanders in Hawaii, Guam, and the
Philippines.
• The peace talks continued, but on December 6, 1941,
Roosevelt received a decoded message that instructed
Japan’s peace envoy to reject all American peace
proposals. Roosevelt realized that this meant war.
Pearl Harbor
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Pearl Harbor from the Cockpit of a
Japanese Pilot
Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor Time Map
President Roosevelt Signs the US
Declaration of War
USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Memorial
•2,887 Americans Dead!
•All 8 battleships were sunk or damaged
•Only the 3 aircraft carriers were out at sea
After Pearl Harbor
• Italy and Germany declared war on US
on December 11, 1941.
• America was unified for the war because
of Japan’s attack
• Now we must fight for democracy