Transcript World War II - Waverly-Shell Rock School District

American History
Unit II- U.S. Foreign Affairs
World War II
Chapter 26- Clouds of War
Section 2- The Battlefield is everywhere
Phoney War
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Germans on one side,
The French behind the Maginot line
The British moving into France.
“Phoney War”.
Only thing happening was the Soviet attack
on Finland, Finns fought bravely but lost.
The New Warfare
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Blitzkrieg- Lightening war. Strike
with lightening speed- planes, tanks,
trucks, even motorcycles. Quickly
overwhelm the enemy.
Airpower made it all possible- striking
at the very heart of defenseless nations,
transformed warfare
April 9, 1940 Hitler ends “phony war”
and invades Denmark and Norway.
One month later her rushes into
Netherlands, Belgium and
Luxembourg, thus bypassing the
Maginot line.
June 14, 1940 German soldiers march
into Paris and France surrenders.
Billy Mitchell advertises air power
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Few took air power seriously, it was too new.
Military ballooning- sport mainly.
Mitchell had been impressed what the airplane could
do in WWI.
Mitchell wanted a entirely new military unit devoted
to the airplane.
Airpower shifts the targets from enemy armies to
“Vital Centers”- industry, supply, and the centers of
the enemies will to resist. Rapid strike.
Public scared of the idea of destruction from above.
Mitchell wrote speeches and articles to alert people.
Mitchell gives a demonstration- He arranged to
have a German battleship, unmanned or the coast of
Virgina (60 miles) sunk by a flight of Mitchell’s
bombers. 20 min. to sink the unsinkable ship.
But Admirals and Generals still refused to grasp the
meaning.
Mitchell went to the newspapers and denounced his
superiors. Branded almost a traitor, he was court
martialed- suspended for five years..
Building the airpower
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May 21, 1927- Lindbergh
makes his historic flight to
Paris..
1935- B-17 long range bomber,
with Norden bombsight went
into the air.
William Moffett, pilot and
aviation entusiast. Head of the
Navy’s branch of airforce.developed aircraft carriers and
using catapult to launch planes
from battleships and carriers.
The United States prepares for war
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U.S. needs to rearm50,000 planes in 1941,
and every year till Nazi’s
are defeated.
Billions were asked for to
build a two ocean navy.
Isolationists still hoped
the Neutrality Acts of
1939 would keep us out of
war.
Battle of Britain- Hitler called it “Sea Lion” (his plan to invade England)
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France had fallen so Great Britain was
standing alone against the Nazi, Winston
Churchill called “their finest hour”.
Hitler sent bombers to bomb British cites
during the summer and fall of 1939- the
idea was to force the British to surrender.
Factors in the British favor
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Ultra- intercepted and decoded Germany
secret messages.
RADAR- Radio, detecting, and rangingThey knew when the Germans are coming
and where they would be. They could move
the small RAF around and intercept the
German bombers.
British still had horrible losses. Even with
Ultra- Conventry was bombed and many
died.
Germans forced to postponed the
invasion.
World affairs and the presidential campaign of 1940
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Wilkie vs. FDR
Wilkie opposed the New Deal,
but also wanted to help Great
Britain and the draft.
Wilkie became reckless in his
attacks and FDR reckless in
his responces about sending
the boys to war.
FDR won easily but not as
large as before.- but 1st
president to be elected to
three terms.
Destroyers for Bases Deal
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To get around the laws on helping
beligerents, FDR approved the
selling of American military
equipment to private companies
the were buying for the British.
Churchill wanted U.S. destroyers
to protect ships at sea and supplies.
President devised the “Destroyers
for bases deal”- we transferred 50
old but useful destroyers to Great
Britain in exchange for the use of 8
British naval bases in the Atlantic.
Britain was to never surrender this
fleet to Hitler.
Helping the British
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England out of cash for Cash
and Carry. With Neutrality
law in place FDR could not
help the English and they
would surely lose the war.
Lend-Lease- clever plan- we
would offer to lease (lend) to
countries whose defense was
considered vital to the
defense of the U.S.
British would not need cash
to get the supplies.
Four Freedoms Speech
freedom of speech
 freedom of
religion
 freedom from
want
 freedom from fear
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Atlantic Charter
Meeting of
Churchill and
FDR off
Newfoundland.
Up-to-date version
of Wilson’s 14
points.