Transcript Chapter 27—Part II

The Road from
Peace to War
(1920-1941)
Chapter 27—Part II
Why Did the
U.S. Go to
War?
The Course and
Consequences
of World War
II
The Road to War
• In 1940, Japan sought to incorporate its
possessions into a greater East Asia co-prosperity
sphere
• Nature of the conflict—U.S. wanted Japan to
evacuate China
• Japan wanted a free hand in China
• The “Rome-to-Tokyo Axis (September 1940) fused
the conflicts in Europe and Asia turning the
struggle into global war”
• Fearing a two front conflict, and hoping to
postpone war with Japan, the U.S. “engaged in a
kind of diplomatic shadow boxing”
War Guilt
• Most of the responsibility lies at Germany’s door,
specifically charged to Adolph Hitler (whose whole policy
had been war-oriented)
– A peace of more than 25 years would do great harm to
Germany. . . “in eternal peace, mankind perishes”
– Social Darwinism—war ridded mankind of unfit
species—the primal law of life and death and gaining at
the expense of others
– To his generation, who were products of World War I,
the idea of peace seemed unpleasant. . . There was a
fascination with hostility
• The Western Allies were also to blame to a lesser extent,
especially France and Britain
• Russia—her Non-Aggression Pact with Germany made the
war well-nigh inevitable
The Alliance
Structure
• The Allies
–Great Britain
–France
–Soviet Union
• The Axis
Powers
–Germany
–Italy
–Japan
The three
totalitarian
nations that
signed the
AntiComintern
pact formed
the so-called
Berlin-RomeTokyo “Axis”
FDR
declared
that the
security
and peace
of 90% of
the world
is being
jeopardize
d by the
remaining
10%
Why the U.S. Finally
Entered the War 27I
The bombing of
Pearl Harbor by the
Japanese galvanized
pro-war sentiment
in the U.S.
The Major Players
and Places 28B & C
Douglas
MacArthur—
commander of
American forces
in the Pacific
Theater
Dwight D.
Eisenhower
“Ike” as he was
known was
commander of
the Allied
forces in
Europe
Erwin Rommel
Rommel, aka, the “Desert
Fox,” led the German
Afrika Korps in North
Africa—particularly
Tunisia. He was known
for his bold and clever
strikes against the Allies.
Rommel finally left
Africa in march 1943
giving the Allies their
first breakthrough
George S. Patton
American General
Patton took on
Rommel in North
Africa. In 1970, he
became the subject
of a popular movie
starring George C.
Scott.
Areas of the World in
Which Most of the
Fighting Occurred
The European Theater 28B
The Pacific Theater 28C
Military
Operations
• The Strategy of “Operation Torch” 28B
– Invasion of North Africa followed by. . .
– Advances in the Mediterranean area
• Why the Allied victory in North Africa was significant 28B
– It opened the Mediterranean Sea to Allied shipping
– It made invasion of Southern Europe possible
• Other victories helping the Allied cause 28C
– Coral Sea
– Midway
– Guadalcanal
The War at Home
28 A
“With incredible
swiftness, the nation
mobilized its military
and industrial
strength.. . The
nation’s factories
were sending a vast
stream of war
supplies to more than
twenty countries.”
The Players at
Home
• Office of war Mobilization—cleared bottlenecks
that slowed the functioning of various federal
agencies 28A-1
• Office of Price Administration—set price ceilings
on most items
• War Manpower Commission—determined which
industries needed employees the most 28 A-1
• National War Labor Board—helped settle labor
disputes quickly and encouraged the growth of
unions by supporting the Wagner Act 28 A-1
Philip Randolph
Randolph was head of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters. He threatened to
lead a march on
Washington, D. C. in protest
of prejudice of AfricanAmerican workers.
Executive Order
8802
This landmark order
banned
discrimination in all
government agencies,
in job training
programs, and in all
companies doing
business with the
federal government.
27 H-4
Changes in
Wartime America
28A
Examples of how industry
converted to wartime
production:
• Shirt factories produced mosquito
netting
• Auto factories manufactured tanks,
trucks, personnel carriers, and
aircraft
Reasons for U.S.
Economic Growth During
the War
• Workers Wages increased
• Unemployment dropped as a result of wartime
production
How Americans
Supported the War Effort
•
•
•
•
Growing “victory gardens”
Wages “scrap” rubber and “scrap” iron drives
Used ration coupons
Woman joined civilian work force in record
numbers
Economic Gains made by
Woman & Minorities
During the War Years
•
•
•
•
•
Women piloted airplanes
Repaired airplanes and vehicles
Drove trucks
Operated radios
Did clerical work and technical work of
various types
• Found employment in war industries
“Rosie the Riveter” became the national symbol
for the women who entered the work force in
huge numbers. These female laborers replaced
the thousands of young men who enlisted or
were drafted during the war years. These
women often assumed traditionally male
occupations. RQ26
Many Americans expressed their patriotism
through the purchase of war bonds. Promotional
campaigns proved quite successful in helping to
generate funding to pay for the war effort.
Meanwhile, the unemployment of the Depression
years greatly diminished.
Economic Gains
Made by AfricanAmericans During
the War Years 26 A
• Employment opportunities increased
• Enjoyed increased social acceptance
• Made economic gains in both the North
and the South
Geography of the
War
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sicily
Anzio
Stalingrad
English Channel
Normandy
New Guinea
Philippine
Islands
German military leadership enjoyed conspicuous success
in the early war years. Herman Goering’s Luftwaffe, along
with the panzer unites of the Wehrmacht rolled over
virtually all opposition. The latter war years proved more
challenging for Germany. When Hitler failed to bomb
Britain into submission in 1940 (the celebrated “Battle of
Britain”), he made the same fatal error that Napoleon
Bonaparte that made a century and a quarter earlier:
invade Russia. Disregarding his earlier alliances with
Joseph Stalin, Hitler sent his army east in search of
lebensraum—living space—that the German people could
enjoy over future generations of the anticipated
“Thousand Year Reich.” If German division were
successful in their early intrusions onto Russian soil. They
met with the same fate as Napoleon’s Grand Armee. The
rapid German advance bogged down. At the Battle for
Stalingrad, the Germans foundered.
The Players,
Plays, and Terms
28B
Premier of the Soviet
Union—he wanted
massive supplies,
territorial concessions in
Eastern Europe and a 2nd
front in Western Europe
Joseph Stalin
Operation
Overlord
The Code name for the Allied invasion of Western Europe
D-Day—June 6,
1944
At 6:30 a.m., the largest amphibious invasion in history
began. It became the beginning of the end for Hitler’s
dream of a Thousand Year German Reich.
Supreme command of the Allied
armies went to Dwight
Eisenhower. Before D-Day, he
encouraged American G.I.’s as
they prepared to participate in
the “Normandy Invasion.”
The Allied invasion force
successfully stormed the
Normandy beaches and set in
motion a train of military events
that would lead to the liberation
of France and her the ultimate
surrender of Hitler’s Third Riech.
What Was
Necessary for
Success on June 6,
1944?
• Huge reserve of
supplies
• Secrecy
• Clear weather
Chester Nimitz
Admiral Nimitz
was the U.S.
naval
commander in
the Pacific
Theater.
Amphibious
Landing
A landing made by sea
Leap-Frogging
Taking only the strategic Japaneseheld islands and by-passing other
more strongly fortified ones
Why Did
Mussolini Fail?
The Allied
invasion of Sicily
and later the
Italian mainland
led to
Mussolini’s
demise.
Allied Diplomacy and
American Politics 28
D-2
The Big
Three
• Winston Churchill,
U.K.
• Franklin Roosevelt,
U.S.
• Joseph Stalin,
U.S.S.R.
Chiang
Kai-Shek—
leader of
Nationalist
China
Mao Tsetung—
leader of
Communis
t China
United Nations—An
International PeaceKeeping Organization
28
In the summer of 1945,
representatives from
around the world
gathered in San
Francisco, California
to lay the foundation
for the United Nations.
The hope was that this lineal
descendant of the League of
Nations would have greater
success than its predecessor.
Election of 1944
The election of
1944 brought FDR
back to the White
House. Winning an
unprecedented
fourth straight
presidential
election, Americans
were reluctant to
change
administrations
with the war so
near an end.
Sadly, FDR would live only a few
months into his 4th term leaving the
presidency to a most unlikely person.
Harry S.
Truman
Truman was
the
Democrat
Vicepresident
under FDR
Promises Among
the Allies
• U.S. and U.K. promised to open a
Western Front
• The U.S.S.R. promised to open a
campaign in the coming spring
• The U.S.S.R. promised to enter war in
the Pacific Theater
The Yalta Postwar
Settlement Plan
28 D
• Acceptance of Stalin’s demands
• Eastern Europe occupied by Germany to
have free elections
• Germany to have four zones of occupation
• Conference of United Nations to meet April
1945
“While neither a sellout or a betrayal, as some critics have
charged, Yalta was a significant diplomatic victory of the
Soviets—one that reflected Russia’s major contribution to a
victory in Europe.”
Kamikaze
Kamikazes were Japanese suicide pilots who dove into
U.S. ships in a plane loaded with explosives. This
represented a last ditch effort by Japan to stave off the
irresistible tide of the U.S. offensive against its Asian
adversary.
Victory in Europe
and Asia 28D
The
Holocaust
—Hitler’s
“Final
Solution”
The Manhattan
Project 28C
Numerous individuals
contributed to the development
of America’s atomic weapons
program, including J. Robert
Oppenheimer (right) and
naturalized U.S. citizen Albert
Einstein who emigrated from
Germany before the organized
persecution of Jews began in
that country.
Einstein, who had
developed the
celebrated theory
of relativity—E =
mc2—in the early
20th century,
wrote FDR a two
page letter on
August 2, 1939.
The physicist
advised the
president that
nuclear research
might have
practical
application in the
construction of an
atomic bomb.
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki—sites of the
first two atomic
bombings
The Manhattan Project
produced the atomic
bomb carried by the
“Enola Gay”, a B-29 that
dropped the weapon that
reduced the city of
Hiroshima to rubble.
The Importance of
the Atomic Bomb
to the War Effort
It ended the war against
Japan quickly and without
great loss of Allied lives.
Japan’s unconditional
surrender
The Iwo Jima Memorial (left) commemorating one of
many U.S. military victories in its “island-hopping
campaign on the advance toward the Japanese
archipeligo.
Likewise,
Germany had
unconditionally
surrendered in
May 1945 some
four months
prior to the
surrender of
Japan.
“World War II had a greater impact than the
Great Depression on the future of American life. . .
. The nation underwent sweeping social and
economic changes at home. . . . When victory
came in 1945, the United States was by far the
most powerful nation in the world. But instead of
the enduring peace that might have permitted a
return to a less active foreign policy, the onset of
the Cold War with the Soviet Union brought on a
new era of tension and conflict. This time the
United States could not retreat from
responsibility. World War II was the coming of
age for American foreign policy.”
Impact of the War
•
•
•
•
The U.S. reached its military potential
It had a monopoly of the atomic bomb
It had no choice but to be involved in world affairs
The war brought industrial recovery and
unparalleled prosperity
• Completely unregulated free enterprise was a
thing of the past
• Big government with huge deficits became the
norm