Vocabulary
Atomic Bomb
Bond
Conventional
Communism
D-Day
Fascism
Holocaust
 Internment
Camp
 Marshall Plan
 Neutral
 Prohibit
 Totalitarian
 War Crime
Causes of WWII
A.
B.
C.
D.
Treaty of Versailles
1. Harshly punished Germany
The Great Depression
Nationalism
Rise of Dictators
Change in Leadership
A.
Italy – Benito Mussolini over threw the
government in 1922
1.
Became a Dictator
2.
Planned Italian expansion
3.
Based on Fascism
a)
Needs of the nation above
individual rights & freedoms
Link
Change in Leadership
A.
Russia – Communist party formed the USSR
in 1922.
1.
Communism – an economic system
based on the idea that farms and
businesses should be owned by the
workers who do the labor – no bosses.
2.
Joseph Stalin becomes the Dictator.
Stalin in Russia
A.
B.
Communist party controls all aspects
of the government, economy, and
society.
Stalin establishes a totalitarian state.
1.
Totalitarian – a governing system in
which the ruler controls all aspects of
society and maintains power with the
use of terror
Change in Leadership
A.
B.
Germany – Great Depression hit hard
1.
Banks closed
2. Industry production cut in half
3.
Farmers lost their farms
a) Food shortages
Adolf Hitler stirs up Germany
Nationalism
Hitler in Germany
A.
B.
C.
Create a powerful Germany - Link
Expand German territory
Believed that ethnic Germans were
superior to other people
“Master Race”
a)
Denied rights to non-Germans –
especially Jews
1933 – Nazi’s control German Government
1.
D.
Hitler in Germany
A.
Hitler creates a government based on
Fascism
Needs of the nation above individual rights
& freedoms
Hitler establishes a totalitarian state
1.
Totalitarian – a governing system in which
the ruler controls all aspects of society and
maintains power with the use of terror
2.
All other political parties are banned
1.
B.
Change in Leadership
A.
Japan – Military leaders sought to
control the government and expand
Japan’s territories.
1.
Invaded China
a) Gained raw materials for
production
European Expansion
A.
B.
C.
Italy – used military might to invade East
Africa (Ethiopia)
Germany sent troops to the Rhineland (This
was Prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles) Link
1.
Prohibit – forbidden by authority, such as a
law or treaty
Germany takes Austria and Czechoslovakia
Response to German Aggression
A.
B.
C.
D.
France and Great Britain – do not enforce the
Treaty of Versailles
1.
Do not want war
Germany invades Poland – Sept 1, 1939 –
WWII Begins - Link
France and Britain declare war.
United States remained Neutral
1.
Neutral – not supporting either side of war
Timeline – Take it out
The United States Enters the War
The Lend-Lease
Act – The U.S.
would provide
nearly $50 Billion
in war supplies to
Britain, Russia
and other to fight
Germany and
Japan
The United States Enters the War
December 7, 1941
– Japan attacks
Pearl Harbor
The U.S. Declares
War on Japan.
Germany
declares war on
the U.S.
War in Europe
A.
B.
C.
Germany, Italy and Japan formed
the “Axis Powers”
The U.S. focused on Germany at the
start of the war.
Battle of Stalingrad – Russians
defeated the Germans – This was a
turning point in the war.
War in the Pacific
A.
Battle of Midway – 1942, the US
turned away the Japanese fleet. This
was turning point in the Pacific.
War in Europe
A.
D-Day – June 6, 1944 – the Allied
invasion of German occupied friends
Island Hopping in the Pacific
A.
The U.S. begins its offensive in the
Pacific in August 1942 at
Guadalcanal.
The remainder of the War in Europe
Big Three meet in Yalta to divide
Germany
Allies capture Berlin – Germany
Surrenders
Nuremburg Trials – 22 Nazi
leaders on trial for War Crimes
A.
B.
C.
1.
War Crimes – breaking
internationally accepted practices
related to fighting wars
The remainder of the Pacific War
A.
B.
C.
Battle for Iwo Jima
U.S. drops the Atomic Bomb
1.
Atomic Bomb – a
powerful weapon who is
violent energy comes
from splitting and Atom
Japanese leaders on trial for
war crimes against
humanity
The Holocaust
1.The Nazi persecution
and murder of Jews and
other minority groups
1.This is a specific event
The Holocaust
2. State sponsored,
systematic persecution
and annihilation of
European Jewry by Nazi
Germany between 19331945
The Holocaust
Others groups persecuted:
•Handicapped
•Poles
•others
The Holocaust
Why did it happen?
Nazi belief of superiority:
•“inferior races” seen as a
threat that needed to be
exterminated
The Holocaust
Why did it happen (cont…)?
Jews were blamed for:
•The poor economy
•WWI
•Spread of Communism
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
1933 –
•Nuremberg Laws passed
making Jews second class
citizens
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
•Defined Jews not by
religion, but by the
religious affiliation of their
grandparents.
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
Jews could not:
•Attend public school
•Own property
•Marry non-Jews
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
•Germany instituted an
involuntary sterilization
program
•German looking children
were taken and raised by
German parents
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
•Development of
Concentration Camps:
•Work camps
•Death Camps
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
1939 –
•Destroyed Polish Culture
•Killed Polish Leaders
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
1941 –
•Mobile killing units (used
in Russia)–
“Einsatzgruppen”
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
•Following the invasion of
Poland – 400 new Ghettos
were set up for Jews
•3 million Polish Jews
segregated
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
1942-1944
•Elimination of Ghettos
•Creation of extermination
camps (gassing facilities)
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
6 killing sites:
1. Elzec
4.Chelmno
2. Sobibor
5.Majdanek
3. Treblinka
6.AuschwitzBirkenau
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
Killing Centers were run by
the SS (Germany’s Security
Police)
More than 1.25 million killed
at Auschwitz-Birkenau
The Holocaust
How did it happen (cont…)
•Men and women were
separated at arrival
•Jews were led to “the
showers” – gas chambers
•ZyKlon B
How did World War II change the
United States?
Life on the War Front
 More than 5 million volunteered for
military duty (10 million more were
drafted)
 3 months of “basic training” to be
battle-ready GI’s (Government Issue)
 More than half were sent overseas
How did World War II change the
United States?
Life on the War Front cont…
 Soldiers in Combat
 Ate canned and dried foods
 No beds, toilet paper or showers
 Lived outside a lot (cold night/hot
days)
How did World War II change the
United States?
Life on the War Front cont…

Soldiers in Combat (292,000 Americans Died in WWII)

Loud and scary

Death everywhere

Did their job under terrible
circumstances

Motivated by patriotism and buddies
How did World War II change the
United States?
Wartime Government

U.S. Government changed the U.S. into
what President Franklin D. Roosevelt
called the “arsenal of democracy”

War Productions Board

Transformed American factories into
making war supplies

Banned production of “nonessential
goods
How did World War II change the
United States?
Wartime Government

Supporting the war effort

The War cost a lot of money

U.S. government borrowed from
banks, businesses, and individuals

Millions of Americans bought
“War Bonds”

A certificate that pays interest
How did World War II change the
United States?
Wartime Consumers: “Use it up, wear it out, make
it do, or do without”

Rationing system – limiting the amount of
scarce items that any one individual could
buy (Sugar, Meat, Butter, Coffee, Gas) Listen

Meat was used to feed soldiers

Sugarcane was needed to make gunpowder

Coffee from SA was transported on ships
better used in battle
How did World War II change the
United States?
Wartime Consumers: “Use it up, wear it out,
make it do, or do without”

Victory Gardens – backyard gardens
producing one-third of all vegetables in
the U.S.

Pocketless pants – To save fabric for
the war effort, pants were made
without pockets
How did World War II change the
United States?
Women in WWII

6 Million women went to work in factories

Employers worried that women were not
strong enough for factory work.

Women proved they could do most any job.

Women were paid 60% of what men were
paid

Most women were fired when the
war ended
How did World War II change the
United States?
Japanese Americans and the War

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, many
citizens were suspicious of JapaneseAmericans

People worried that Japanese-Americans
might help Japan attack the west coast –CA

FDR ordered the removal of J-A from the
west coast - 1942

120,000 J-A were forced into “Interment
camps” (prison) for three years
How did World War II change the
United States?
Japanese Americans and the War

Japanese-Americans lived in crowed camps

No running water

Barbed wire and armed guards
How did World War II change the
United States?
African Americans and the War

900,000 African Americans served in the
military during WWII

Segregated units - Many assigned
noncombat jobs

Cooks, truck drivers, etc…

In combat

Fighter pilots – Tuskegee Airmen
How did World War II change the
United States?
Mexican Americans and the War

More than 500,000 Latinos (mostly
Mexican Americans) served in the military
in WWII

Did not fight in segregated units
How did World War II change the
United States?

Mexican Americans at home

Many Mexicans farm workers came to
America to grow food

Some moved to the cities

Zoot Suits – New fashion – Long jacket
with baggy pants

Whites associated the Zoot Suits with
gang violence

1943 – Zoot Suiters were attacked in LA
setting off the Zoot Suit Riots
How did World War II change the
United States?

Jewish Americans in the War

The Holocaust

Jewish Americans protested the U.S.
Government’s immigration laws

Marched on Washington

Urged allies to rescue Europe’s Jews

More than 550,000 Jews served in the
military during WWII

52,000 decorations/awards
The End of the War



President Roosevelt did not live to see the end

Died April 12, 1945 of a stroke
Harry S. Truman became President
The Manhattan Project – top secret program
to build an atomic bomb

August 6, 1945 – The U.S. dropped an
atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima
killing 70,000 people. 3 days later Nagasaki
is destroyed

Japan surrendered August 15, 1945