Transcript World War II

World War II
December 2, 2013
World War II begins in Europe
World War II started in 1939 when
Germany invaded Poland
 Adolf Hitler was trying to unite all
countries with Germans living in them
under his Nazi government
 There were 2 groups fighting each other
during the war
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– The Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and
Japan
– The Allied Powers were Great Britain, France,
and the Soviet Union
The U.S. in WWII
Just like with WWI, the U.S. remained
neutral at the start of World War II
 However, President Franklin Roosevelt
wanted to help our ally, Great Britain
 There were laws, however, stating that
the U.S. could not sell any weapons to any
warring nations
 In 1939, Roosevelt asked for and received
a new law that allowed Allied Powers to
buy weapons if they paid cash and carried
them on their own ships
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Lend-Lease
 In
1941, the British ran out of cash
to buy American supplies.
 In response, the U.S. began lending
or leasing weapons to them
 Also in 1941, Roosevelt gave lendlease aid to the Soviet Union
American-Japanese Relations
 To
protest Japanese expansion in the
Pacific Ocean, Roosevelt stopped
exporting aviation supplies, including
fuel, to Japan
 Roosevelt also seized all property
owned by Japanese in the U.S.
 In retaliation, Japan decided to strike
at the U.S. Navy stationed at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii
Pearl Harbor
 Around
8 am, on December 7, 1941,
sailors stationed at Pearl Harbor
began hearing machine gun fire and
low-level bombing
 Japanese war planes were flying in,
dropping bombs, and flying out again
 The attack lasted less than 2 hours,
but the damage was incredible to the
U.S Navy’s Pacific fleet
Damage at Pearl Harbor
There were 8 battleships in port at the
time, and all were destroyed or severely
damaged
 More than 180 planes were destroyed
 Over 2000 people were killed and over
1000 were wounded
 Almost half of the U.S. casualties were on
board the U.S.S. Arizona, which sank with
most of the crew on board
 Today, a national monument is in place
over the site of the Arizona’s sinking
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The U.S. enters World War II
On December 8, 1941, the U.S. declared
war on Japan
 A few days later, Germany and Italy
declared war on the U.S.
 The U.S. joined the Allied Powers
 This meant they had to fight on two fronts

– They faced Germany and Italy in Europe and
North Africa
– They faced Japan in the Pacific
World War II ends the Great
Depression
In order to fight a war, weapons and other
supplies are needed
 When the U.S. began spending heavily in
1941 for defense, new plants and factories
were opened
 Jobs were created, helping many who
were still unemployed find a job
 Others joined the military
 This allowed for business recovery and
unemployment numbers to go down and
the economy recovered

Georgia in WWII
 Georgia
played a large role in WWII
 Not only did Georgia have military
bases that played a part, but new
factories were opened in Georgia to
build military supplies
 Georgia also had respected leaders,
both in state government as well as
federal government
Bell Aircraft
When the federal government decided to
build more B-29 bomber airplanes, new
plants were needed
 One of these was built in Marietta
 When the plant first opened, only 1200
people were employed
 By 1945, 27,000 employees built 60-65
planes a month
 The plant closed after the war, but was
reopened in 1950 by the Lockheed Martin
Corporation and is still open today

Military Bases in Georgia
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Major military bases in Georgia played a role in
WWII
Fort Benning trained new infantry soldiers
Fort McPherson received new draftees from all
over the country
Airmen from Glynco Naval Air Station, on the
coast, patrolled for German submarines
A military hospital operated in Atlanta, Fort
Gillem was used for storage, and prisoners of war
were held at Fort Benning, as well as others
around the state
Savannah and Brunswick
Shipyards
 Cargo
ships, called “Liberty ships” for
WWII were built at the shipyards at
Savannah and Brunswick, on the
Georgia coast
 The first was launched in 1942 – the
U.S.S. James Oglethorpe
 All together, both shipyards had
produced 187 ships by the end of the
war
Richard B. Russell
Russell became Georgia’s governor in
1931
 He tried to run the state as a successful
business, which helped ease some of the
problems brought on by the Depression
 In 1932, he was elected to the U.S.
Senate, where he supported strong
national defense during WWII
 He went on to become an advisor to 6
future presidents

Carl Vinson
Carl Vinson served 25 consecutive terms
in the U.S. House of Representatives from
1914 to 1965
 Vinson represented Georgia’s interest in
the military during WWI and WWII
 He helped promote a strong national
defense, both during WWII and after
 He retired to his farm in Milledgeville in
1965
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The Holocaust

Meanwhile, in Europe, Hitler believed that the
German people were superior to everyone else
– He wanted to destroy others who he believed to be
inferior

He particularly hated people of the Jewish race
– In 1942, Hitler ordered the destruction of Europe’s
entire population of Jews

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Jews were captured and put into concentration
camps, like Auschwitz and Dachau
The Holocaust is the mass murder of millions of
Jews and other people by the Nazis during WWII
Georgia Remembers the Holocaust
 In
1986, the Georgia Commission on
the Holocaust was established
 The Commission tries to foster
tolerance, good citizenship, and
character development in young
Georgians
 It hopes to lead a new generation
beyond racism
Franklin Roosevelt’s Connection to
Georgia
Roosevelt suffered from polio, which is a
disease that damages the nervous system
and can cause paralysis
 In 1924, Roosevelt began visiting Warm
Springs, GA as treatment for his polio
 When he became president, his Warm
Springs house became known as the Little
White House
 On April 24, 1945, Roosevelt died while at
the Little White House after suffering a
stroke

The End of WWII
Roosevelt’s vice-president, Harry Truman,
became president after Roosevelt’s death
 He guided the U.S. through the end of the
war in Europe, with the death of Hitler and
Germany’s surrender in May 1945
 He also made the decision to drop the
atomic bombs on Japan, ending the war in
the Pacific in September 1945.

Questions…
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1) Who were the 2 sides in WWII?
2) Who were Axis Powers in WWII?
3) Who were Allied Powers in WWII?
4) How was the U.S. helping the Allied Powers before
entering the war?
5) Describe the Lend-Lease program.
6) Why did the Japanese decide to attack Pearl Harbor?
7) When was the attack at Pearl Harbor?
8) Describe the damage after the Japanese attack at Pearl
Harbor.
9) Which side did the U.S. fight on in WWII?
10) How did WWII end the Great Depression?
11) What type of plant was built in Marietta and what
specifically did it build?
More Questions…
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12) How were different military bases used in Georgia? Be
specific!
13) What was built at the Savannah and Brunswick
shipyards during WWII?
14) How did Richard Russell ease the Depression while he
was governor?
15) What did Russell support while he was in the U.S.
Senate?
16) What interest did Carl Vinson represent for Georgia
during the WWI and WWII?
17) What is the Holocaust?
18) How does Georgia remember the Holocaust?
19) Where did Roosevelt go in Georgia to ease his polio
symptoms?