Transcript Chapter 17 Section 4

Chapter 17
Section 4
War
Breaks
Out
The Response to Fascism
• Fearing the spread of Fascism, Maksim Litvinov of the Soviet
Union mended diplomatic ties with the U.S. After years of
hostility, the U.S. formally recognized the Soviet Union in
November 1933
• The fascist powers also formalized their ties when in 1936,
{Germany and Italy bonded together in the alliance known as
the Axis Powers. Japan later joined the alliance}
• In September 1938, Roosevelt called for a conference with
European leaders to reach an agreement of peace to be held in
Munich
• At the {Munich Conference the leaders signed a pact giving
Germany control of the Sudetenland}
• By doing this the European leaders adopted a policy of
{appeasement- giving in to demands to avoid a larger conflict}
Continued….
• Politician Winston Churchill of Great Britain was
afraid that appeasement would encourage Hitler to go
after additional territories
• Britain and many other European countries began
rearmament.
• U.S. Congress passed a series of neutrality laws that
prohibited the shipment of munitions to warring
nations and required warring nations that bought
goods from the U.S. to transport the goods on their
own ships
• In December 1937, Japanese planes attacked the
U.S. gunboat Panay and three American oil tankers in
China’s Chang River
• Despite this a majority of Americans thought the U.S.
should reduce their role in China rather than risk
becoming involved in the war
WAR!!! Fighting Begins
• Britain and France declared they would go to war if
Germany attacked Poland
• They called on the Soviet Union to join them, but
instead {Joseph Stalin signed a {nonaggression
pact with Hitler} in which both men agreed not to
attack each other}
• The reason was because Hitler agreed to divide
Poland with the Soviet Union
• {On September 1, 1939, Germany moved into Poland.
• Two days later {Britain and France, the Allied
Powers}, declared war on Germany}
• Meanwhile the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the
U.S. Response
• Shortly after the attack on Poland, Roosevelt asked
Congress to lift the neutrality act to allow us to send
supplies to the Allies
• Roosevelt won the 1940 election with promises to do
all in his power to keep out of the war, but he knew
despite his promises of un-involvement in Europe was
unavoidable
• By the end of 1940 a variety of war materials flowed
from the U.S. to Britain, but the British had little money
to purchase them
• Congress passed the {Lend-Lease Act in March 1941
which gave $7 billion for ships, planes and tanks to all
non-axis countries}
Meanwhile…
• While Hitler carried on his {Blitzkrieg, “lightning war”}
against Poland, the French mobilized
• In May 1940 German troops attacked the {Maginot
Line, a line of defense between France and Germany}
• The Germans occupied Belgium, Denmark, northern
France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway
• Hundreds of thousands of troops became trapped
along the French coast. Only an evacuation across the
English Channel prevented their capture.
• Germany then set up a pseudo-government in Vichy,
France
• With the fall of France, Britain was alone against the
Axis powers
• In June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France
• In August, Hitler unleashed his bombers on Britain
T
N
H
O
E
N
W
Tensions Mount
• As German attacks increased, so did U.S. aid to the Allies
• In September, Roosevelt issued “shoot-on-sight” orders to
warships in the Atlantic
• In Aug. 1941 {Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill secretly met off the coast of Newfoundland.
• The two leaders agreed to the {Atlantic Charter}, a joint
pledge to not peruse territorial expansion from the war.} It also
stated that after the war the aggressors would be disarmed and
all nations should work together to rid the world of fear and
poverty
• {Meanwhile in June of 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union}
• Caught off guard by the violation of the nonaggression pact,
Soviet troops did not fare well against German troops.
Hitler’s invasion
of the Soviet
Union
Japan Attacks
• Japan continued its expansion in Asia. In July 1941 Japanese
troops occupied French Indochina
• In response, the Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the
U.S. and placed an embargo on all shipments to Japan.
• Japan responded by doing the same
• In October Hideki Tojo became prime minister of Japan
• Even as the Japanese went to Washington D.C. on a peace
mission they were plotting a secret attack on the United States.
• All the while Japan was demanding that America unfreeze
Japan’s assets, the U.S. had broken the secret code to send
messages between Tokyo and the Japanese embassy in
Washington.
• They knew the Japanese planned an attack, they just did not
know where
{“The Day that Will Live in Infamy”
• Just before 8:00am on December 7, 1941,} the
{Japanese launched their attack on the U.S. naval
base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands}
• The core of the Pacific fleet was stationed there at the
time
• Almost 20 U.S. warships and nearly 200 aircrafts were
destroyed
• Some 2,400 Americans were killed, including 1,103
sailors on the USS Arizona when the battleship sank
• The bombing shocked and united America
• Roosevelt called on Congress to pass a declaration of
war against Japan.
• Congress quickly approved the call for war
The USS Arizona Today