Transcript The World in Flames

The World in Flames
C. Simmons
American History (B)
The Rise of Dictators
• Italy was first – Benito Mussolini and Fascism
(aggressive nationalism)
• Fascism – nation was more important than
individual.
• Russia – Vladimir Lenin and communism and
Joseph Stalin
• Germany – Nazi and Hitler, nationalistic and
anti-communist, belief in the Aryan Race, antiSemitism, in 1933 Hitler was appointed Prime
Minister
• Japanese invasion of Manchuria
America Turns to Neutrality
• Refusal to repayment of war debts, rise of
dictatorships, all contributed to American
Isolationism (avoiding international
commitments)
• Neutrality Act of 1935 – illegal to sell arms to any
country at war
• Roosevelt believed in internationalism – free
trade creates prosperity
• Japan joins the Axis Powers – Germany, Italy,
and Japan
• After 1937 Japanese attack on China U.S.
stated Neutrality Act did not apply and sold
weapons to China
Discussion
• Why did dictatorships evolve in Europe
after WWI?
• Why did America support Isolationism?
“Peace in our Time”
• The Anschluss (1938)– unification of Germany
and Austria
• German claims to the Sudetenland in an area of
Czechoslovakia – large German population
• France, Britain, and Soviet Union threatened to
declare war if Germany attacked – appeasement
at Munich Conference
• May 1939 invasion of Poland
• August 1939 Germany and USSR signed
nonaggression treaty, secret agreement to divide
Poland
War Begins
• September 1, 1939, Germany and Soviet
Union invaded Poland led to Britain and
France declaring war on Germany
• Blitzkrieg – lightening war, fast attack and
overwhelming military power
• French built the Maginot Line, Germany
went around through Belgium,
Netherlands, and Luxembourg
• On June 22, 1940 France surrendered to
Germany, installed a puppet government
Britain Remains Defiant
• Hitler thought Britain would negotiate
peace after French defeat, bravery of
Winston Churchill during 1940 speech
• Battle of Britain – all-out attack by
Luftwaffe on British Royal Air Force
• Radar stations proved important
• Bombing of London and Berlin
Discussion
• Why would France and Britain agree to
terms with Germany over Sudetenland?
• How did France fall so fast to Germans?
• How did British Forces stop Germany?
Nazi Persecution of the Jews
• Nazi’s killed around 6-15 million Jews and other
“undesirables”
• Persecuted anyone who opposed them: gypsies,
homosexuals, and Slovic peoples
• The Nuremburg Laws (1935) took citizenship
away from Jews
• Kristallnacht – “night of broken glass”, antiSemitic violence
• B/t 1933-1939, about 350,000 Jews escaped
Germany, but many were trapped in Nazidominated Europe
The Final Solution
• Nazi leaders meet at Wannseee Conference to
decide the “final solution to Jewish problem.”
• Concentration or extermination camps –
detention centers to be held in until executed,
healthy worked as slaves, elderly, children, and
sick were sent to gas chambers
• Camps were built throughout Europe but
majority in Poland – thousands killed everyday
• In a few short years Jewish culture had been
obliterated
Discussion
• What factors limited Jewish migration?
• What factors lead to the Holocaust?
FDR Supports England
• FDR declared U.S. neutral, only 2 days
after Britain and France declared war on
Germany.
• Neutrality Act of 1939 – allowed cash and
carry system of selling arms
• FDR used loophole in NA and sent 50
American destroyers to Britain in return for
right to build American bases on
Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Caribbean
Islands.
Isolationist Debate
• American public opinion started to change
• The American First Committee opposed
any American intervention or aid
• FDR runs for 3rd term in 1940. Platform of
American neutrality but assistance to the
allied forces.
Edging Toward War
• Lend-Lease Act – U.S. could lend or lease arms
to any country that was vital to defense of the
U.S.
• In June 1941 after violation of Nazi-Soviet Pact,
Hitler invaded Soviet Union
• FDR and the hemispheric defense zone –
Western Atlantic was neutral
• FDR and Churchill agreed to the Atlantic Charter
– postwar agreement
• German u-boats and the Greer – led to “shoot
on sight” policy
Japan Attacks the United States
• FDR’s primary goal was to help Britain and its
allies defeat Germany.
• Export Control Act (1940) – restricted sale of
strategic materials – war materials
• Japanese decides to attack British and Dutch
colonies in SE Asia, Philippines, and Pearl
Harbor.
• 12/07/41, Pearl Harbor Attack sank or damaged
21 ships of U.S. Pacific Fleet, killing around
2,403 Americans
• 12/08/41, U.S. declared war on Japan
• 12/11/41, Germany and Italy declare war on U.S.