Transcript world war ii - Virginia Beach City Public Schools

World War II – Important Facts
1939 - 1945
Causes of World War II
•Worldwide economic depression in the
1930’s added frustration and fear with
anger.
•Massive unemployment and high inflation
fueled the anger of the people seeking
change.
•Germany was also plagued by high war debt.
•Japan, an island nation believed that by
expanding their power in Asia, they would
solve their need for resources.
The allied leaders of the Munich
Conference (1938) agreed to allow
Germany to occupy the Sudetenland (part
of Czechoslovakia) if Hitler would not
expand his territory any further.
The invasion of Poland in 1939 was the
deciding factor for most nations to enter
WWII. Hitler’s blitzkrieg, or “Lightning
war” in Poland lasted only a few days.
WORLD WAR II
•What is a dictator?
•What is fascism?
~ a ruler who rules
~ a political
with total authority,
system, headed
often in a cruel and by a dictator, that
brutal manner.
calls for extreme
nationalism and
racism and no
tolerance of
opposition.
World dictators in the 1920’s and 1930’s
• Hideki Tojo ~ Japan
• Benito Mussolini~ Italy
• Adolf Hitler~ Germany
Major Countries Involved in
World War II
Axis Powers
Allied Powers
Germany
United States
Italy
France
Japan
Great Britain
Soviet Union
*after 1941
Canada
Opposition to the entry of the United States
into World War II
* Isolationists are people who believe that there should
be a national policy that avoids involvement in world
affairs.
• Isolationists who believed that the United States
should keep its nose out of the European theater
banded together to form the American First
Committee.
~members included “Spirit of St. Louis” pilot,
Charles Lindbergh, and
automaker Henry Ford.
* A pacifist is any person opposed to the use of war or
violence to settle disputes.
American response to WWII between 1939-1941
•A national policy of
avoiding involvement in
world affairs is called
isolationism.
•The position of not
taking sides on an
issue is called
neutrality.
•The Lend-lease act of 1941 allowed the
U.S. to sell, lend or lease arms or other
war supplies to nations considered
“vital to the defense of the United
States.
•Between 1935-1937 congress agreed
to allow the U.S to sell weapons on a
“cash and carry basis”.
• Japanese aggression in Asia was a result of their
need for oil and rubber.
• The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor
inflicted over 2,400 deaths and devastated the
U.S Naval fleet. 8 battleships and 3 cruisers were
among the losses.
• December 7, 1941 –”a date which will live in
infamy”.
• Today, the U.S.S Arizona stands as a memorial.
Key Individuals of WWII
•Franklin D. RooseveltPresident of U.S from 19331945. Polio victim who died
in office. Adored president
whose New Deal programs
gave people jobs.
•Dwight D. Eisenhower- he was
the first 5 star general to
become president. During
WWII, Ike was the supreme
Allied commander.
•Harry S. Truman- he
was the first president
to take office during
war time and also the
first and only president
to use the atomic bomb
on another country.
Known for his feisty
persona, Truman kept a
sign on his desk that
said, “the Buck Stops
Here”.
•Douglas MacArthurgeneral in command
of American forces in
the Pacific. He was a
controversial figure.
Quoted as saying, “I
shall return” upon
leaving the Philippines
when the Japanese
invaded. He did!
•
Neville Chamberlain-Prime
Minister of England before
1940. He supported a policy
of appeasement, allowing
Hitler to take Czechoslovakia,
to avoid war. Died in 1940.
•Winston Churchill- Prime
Minister of England after
1940. He was a brilliant
statesman. He is considered
to be the architect for victory
during WWII.
•Josef Stalin- communist
dictator of the Soviet
Union. He industrialized
Russia in order to compete
with the rest of the world.
He built gulags where
Russians who did not meet
his goals or who disagreed
with his ideology were
then imprisoned. Millions
died or were executed
during his reign of power.
The Effects of WWII on Women and Minorities within the U.S.
• The term: Rosie the Riviter was
a catch phrase that influenced
many women to take on factory
jobs.
• For many women this was their
first job outside of the home.
• After Pearl Harbor, many
Americans resented JapaneseAmericans (Nisei). This was a
question of loyalty. Nisei were
sent to internment camps that
were very crowded and harsh.
"Richmond Welders"
Courtesy of the Family
of Margaret Fong
•African-Americans still faced continued
discrimination.
•Nearly 700,000 men served in the armed
forces with segregated units in low-level
jobs.
•Many African-American civilians began
moving North/West out of the south to find
jobs.
•In 1942 the army allowed white/black
soldiers to train together. A colored fighter
group known as the Tuskagee Airmen shot
down more than 200 enemy planes.
A class of twin-engine pilots in front in flight caps
and single engine pilots in rear in helmets and goggles, Dec. 1943.
Efforts to Support the
War Effort at Home
• Many Americans at home did their part by
conserving resources and goods needed for the
war effort.
• Americans rationed items such as shoes,
gasoline, tires, sugar and meat, and for the
most part accepted these inconveniences as
part of the war effort.
Americans were allowed 16 points per
month to spend on rationed foods.
• Due to the short supply of
vegetables, many planted
“victory gardens”
• American coastal cities
enforced blackouts so enemy
pilots could not use lights as
beacons.
• The conversion of American
industries to the production of
war goods such as trucks,
tanks, and airplanes, led to
the end of America’s Great
Depression.
Key Dates of World War II
•1939~
Hitler’s
blitzkrieg invades Poland.
Great Britain/France
declare war on Germany.
This is the beginning of
WWII.
•December 7, 1941~
Japanese sneak attack
on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
“A date which will
live in infamy”. A
sleeping giant is
awakened.
•June 6, 1944~
The
Allied invasion of Europe
begins. Allies storm the
beaches of Normandy,
France in a surprise attack.
“Operation Overlord” is a
dashing success!
•1945~ End of WWII is
achieved after V-E day and
the dropping of two atomic
bombs over Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Japan soon
surrendered ending WWII.
The Holocaust
•A concentration
camp is a prison
camp for civilians.
•The deliberate
destruction of a
racial, political or
cultural group is
known as genocide.
•Germany blamed the Jewish people for
the destruction of Europe after WWI and
this immense hatred led to the Nazi
development known as “the final
solution”.
•The Nazis exterminated almost 2 million
Jews in Auschwitz- a concentration
camp in Poland.
•As many as 6 million Jews lost their
lives during the holocaust and another
4 million gypsies, soviet prisoners, and
the disabled fell victim to these horrible
crimes.
•Germans who believed the
concept of Aryan
Supremacy strived for a full
blooded German (Aryan)
population that would have
typical features such as
blue eyes and blonde hair.
•Anti-Semitism is antiJewish behavior or racism
against Jewish people.
•Hitler’s final solution began with a
boycott of Jewish stores followed by
their segregation from the rest of the
German people.
•Jews were forced to wear armbands,
known as the “Star of David”, that
alienated them from others.
•The allied forces
saw firsthand the
horrors that the
Jewish people felt
as they liberated
the concentration
camps while they
advanced through
Germany.
Major reasons for victory in World War II
• American industrial production ~The U.S. went
from having one of the world’s smaller armies to
one of the largest.
• The atomic bomb (Manhattan Project) caused
unimaginable damage to Japan that forced them
to realize they were defeated.
• The surprise attack on D-Day in Normandy paved
the way for the Allies to liberate Europe.
Significance of the
Atomic Bomb
• The Japanese are a very
proud people that did not
know when they were
defeated. In fact the word
“surrender” does not have a
Japanese translation.
• August 6, 1945 the American
bomber Enola Gay dropped
the first atomic bomb over
Hiroshima, Japan. Three
days later, another bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki.
• The two atomic bombs
collectively killed over
100,000 Japanese citizens.
Many more died after the
blast due to radiation
poisoning.
• The atomic bomb proved to
be too much for the
Japanese who agreed to
surrender. This day is
known as V-J Day (victory in
Japan)
• Japan signed the formal
unconditional surrender on
September 2, 1945, on the
battleship U.S.S Missouri.
International Effects of World War II
• In the years following the war, Nazi and Japanese
leaders were put on trial. These “war criminals”
were to be tried for crimes against humanity in
Nuremberg, Germany.
• The Nuremberg trials eventually convicted and
executed 24 Nazi and 7 Japanese for their crimes
and hundreds more were imprisoned.
Defendant Julius Streicher, Editor-in-Chief of the
venomous antisemitic paper, Der Stürmer, on the stand
during the Nuremberg Trials. Streicher was sentenced
to death by hanging.
•After WWII, many states broke
free of colonial rule and tried to
establish their independence. In the
Middle East, Jews and Arabs both
lay claim to the region of Palestine.
In 1947 the United Nations divided
Palestine into independent Jewish
and Arab states. This led to the
formation of Israel. The displaced
Jews accepted the plan, but the
Arabs did not. Six wars have since
followed.
• With the end of World War II, the Soviet Union
promised to allow free elections in Soviet
controlled Eastern Europe.
• Instead of these “free elections”, Stalin set up
Communist governments and Soviet forces stayed
in the region creating Soviet “satellites”
influencing Eastern Europe for more than 40
years.
• The Soviet Union and Western nations never had
a very good relationship due to ideological
differences.