World War II
(1939-1945)
Unit 12
I. America and the World
A. Rise of Dictators
 The Treaty of Versailles and the
economic depression that followed WWI
contributed to the rise of dictatorships in
Europe and Asia
I. America and the World
1) Benito Mussolini
 Founded the Fascist Party in 1919
I. America and the World
 Fascism: a kind of aggressive nationalism characteristics…
1) The nation is more important than the
individual
2) Strong dictator is needed to impose order
on society
3) Nation becomes great by expanding its
territory and building up its military
4) Strongly anti-communist
I. America and the World
 Promised to restore Italy to the glories of
the Roman Empire
 Backed by the militia, known as the
Blackshirts, Mussolini became the premier
of Italy and set up a dictatorship in 1922
I. America and the World
 Strikes, riots, and economic struggles allowed
Mussolini to gain the support of most Italians,
including the Roman Catholic Church
 Mussolini took the title Il Duce, or “the leader”
 1935: Invaded Ethiopia for resources (oil)
-League of Nations condemned the invasion
-Italy withdraws from the League of Nations and
allies itself with Germany
I. America and the World
2) Joseph Stalin
 1922: Russia renamed the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)
 1926: Stalin became the new Soviet
dictator
 Executed many of his rivals and political
opponents
I. America and the World
 8-10 million peasants who resisted the
Communist policies were killed
 Strictly limited the Soviet peoples’ freedom
 Began a massive effort to industrialize his
country
I. America and the World
3) Hideki Tojo
 The Depression after WWI devastated
the Japanese economy
 Many of Japan’s military leaders blamed
the country’s problems on corrupt
politicians
 Many believed democracy was “unJapanese” and bad for the country
I. America and the World
 Military leaders argued that Japan needed
to seize territory for resources
 1920s: Japan began to expand its territory
-Conquered regions in China, Korea, and other
parts of Eastern Asia
 Sept. 1931: the military invaded the
resource-rich northern Chinese province of
Manchuria without the gov’ts permission
I. America and the World
-The prime minister was assassinated after he
tried to end the war – from that point on the
military was in control
 1941: a military officer named Hideki Tojo
became Japan’s prime minister
I. America and the World
4) Adolf Hitler
 Born in Austria (April 20, 1889)
 Had an unhappy childhood – beaten by
his father – but, loved his mother
 Mother died from breast cancer – her
doctor was Jewish
I. America and the World
 Moved to Vienna, Austria (very antiSemitic) to become an artist, but failed
 Fled Vienna in May 1913 to escape
military service – moved to Munich,
Bavaria (German province)
 Arrested by the Austrian gov’t for fleeing –
failed his military physical – found
“unfit…too weak…and unable to bear
arms”
I. America and the World
 Joined Bavarian Army (German) when
WWI started and served as a “runner”
(delivered messages)
 An excellent soldier – earned 2 Iron
Crosses for bravery
 Wounded twice during the war…in the
hospital when the war ended (blinded by
mustard gas)
I. America and the World
 Recruited by a military intelligence unit to
keep tabs on the German Workers Party
(hated Jews, Treaty of Versailles, Weimar
Republic, communist)
 Eventually joined the party and became
it’s leader – party later called Nazi Party
I. America and the World
 1923: Led a revolt against the democratic
gov’t – it failed – sentenced to 5 years in
prison (served only 9 months)
 Wrote Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”) while in
prison – blamed Germany’s loss in WWI
on Jews and communists
I. America and the World
-called for the uniting of all Germans under one
gov’t
-claimed that Germans (specifically blond, blueeyed) belonged to a “master race” called Aryans
-argued Germans needed more lebenscraum,
living space (Polish, Russian territory)
I. America and the World
 After prison: changed tactic from taking
power by force to getting Nazis elected to
the Reichstag, lower house of German
Parliament
 Helped build up the Nazi Party during the
Depression (desperate Germans turned to
radical parties)
 Nazis promised food, jobs, and a strong
military
 The swastika became the symbol of the
Nazi Party
I. America and the World
 Jan. 1933: named Chancellor (2nd in
command) by Pres. Hindenburg
 Became the sole leader, the “fuhrer”, in
1934 after Hindenburg’s death
 SA Brownshirts: military group that
supported Hitler during his rise to power led by Ernst Rohm
I. America and the World
 SS: a new elite group hand-picked from
the SA
-led by Heinrich Himmler
-followed the army during invasions (captured
Jews, communists, gypsies, “sub-humans”)
I. America and the World
 “Night of the Long Knives”: 1934 - Rohm
arrested for being disloyal to Hitler executed along with 200 other Brownshirts
 Hitler Youth: students who helped roundup “un-German” books to be burned
I. America and the World
 Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan
I. America and the World
B. America Turns to Neutrality
 The rise of dictatorships and militarism after
WWI discouraged many Americans
 Sacrifices they made during WWI seemed
pointless
 Once again, Americans began to support
isolationism (avoid all foreign entanglements)
I. America and the World
 Many Americans supported isolationism
because of two reasons…
1) European countries refused to pay war debts to
the US following WWI
2) 1934 Nye Committee findings: Senate
committee said huge profits were made by arms
factories
-gave the impression that businesses influenced
the US to go to war
I. America and the World
 Neutrality Act of 1935: made it illegal to
sells arms to any country at war
 Neutrality Act of 1937: continued the ban
of selling arms to countries at war
-now required warring countries to buy nonmilitary goods from the U.S. on a “cash and
carry” basis (pay in cash…come and get it)
 1937: Japan attacked China - FDR
authorized sale of weapons to China,
saying neither had actually declared war
II. World War II Begins
A. “Peace in Our Time”
The Austrian Anschluss
 Feb. 1938: Hitler threatened to invade
Poland
 March 1938: Hitler announced the
Anschluss, or unification, of Austria and
Germany
II. World War II Begins
The Munich Crisis and Appeasement
 Hitler claimed the Sudetenland in Czech.
because of a large German-speaking
population
 France, USSR, England threatened to
fight Germany if they attacked Czech.
II. World War II Begins
 Munich Conference: Sept. 1938 – Britain
and France agreed to Hitler’s demands
(appeased him) and let him have the
Sudetenland - Why? trying to avoid war
-appeasement: policy of giving concessions in
exchange for peace
-British P.M. Neville Chamberlain promised his
people… “a peace with honor…peace in our
time”
II. World War II Begins
 March 1939: Hitler invaded the rest of
Czech. violating the Munich agreement
II. World War II Begins
Danzig and the Polish Corridor
 Oct. 1939: Hitler demands the return of
Danzig to German control
-given to Poland following WWI (access to sea)
 Hitler requested land in northern Poland
(Polish Corridor) for a highway and rail line
to connect Germany to East Prussia
II. World War II Begins
 Appeasement had failed!
 March 31, 1939: Poland refuses Hitler’s
demands after Britain and France promise
to help Poland if Germany attacked
II. World War II Begins
Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
 Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact: Aug.
1939 – USSR and Germany agreed not to
attack each other
-removed the threat of a two-front war for
Germany
-a shock to Britain and France
-Soviets and Germans also secretly agreed to
divide Poland between them
II. World War II Begins
B. The War Begins
 Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland
from the west and USSR invaded Poland
from the east (WWII begins!)
II. World War II Begins
Blitzkrieg in Poland
 Germans used blitzkrieg, or lightning war,
to attack Poland (defeated in a month)
 Sept. 3, 1939: Britain and France declare
war on Germany
II. World War II Begins
Fall of France
 Things were quiet in western Europe early
on…
-Germans called it the sitzkrieg, or sitting war
-British called it the “Bore War”
-American newspapers nicknamed it the “Phony
War”
II. World War II Begins
 After WWI: French built a line of concrete
bunkers and forts called the Maginot Line
along the German border
-French and British troops waited behind the line
for the German attack
-Gave Germany time to concentrate on Poland
first
II. World War II Begins
 April-May 1940: Hitler invades and
defeats Norway and Denmark to protect
northern flank
 Hitler had planned to go around the
Maginot Line to attack France (he does)
-attacks the Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxembourg
II. World War II Begins
 British and French troops race northward
into Belgium to meet the German army
(big mistake!)
-opened the door for the main German force to
roll through Luxembourg and all the way to the
English Channel
-British and French troops were now trapped in
Belgium
II. World War II Begins
The Miracle at Dunkirk: June 1939
 Germans began to drive the trapped Allied
forces in Belgium toward the English
Channel
 The only hope for the French and British
troops was to escape by sea, but the
Germans had captured every port except
one, Dunkirk
II. World War II Begins
 Hitler surprisingly ordered his troops to
stop before reaching Dunkirk (no one
knows why)
 Over the next 3 days British ships
evacuated 338,000 British and French
troops
 Problem: 90,000 rifles, 7,000 tons of
ammo, 120,000 vehicles were left at
Dunkirk
-it would have been impossible for the British to
defend their island if Hitler chose to attack
II. World War II Begins
 June 22, 1940: Hitler accepted the French
surrender and occupied much of northern
France and the entire Atlantic coast
 Hitler set up a “puppet gov’t” in southern
France at the town of Vichy to govern the
rest of France (Vichy France)
II. World War II Begins
C. Britain Remains Defiant
 Hitler thought Britain would negotiate
peace after France surrendered
 He did not anticipate the bravery of the
British people and their new prime
minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
“The British Bulldog”
II. World War II Begins
 June 4, 1939: Churchill delivered a defiant
speech that rallied the British people and
urged the US to join the fight against
Germany
“Even though large tracts of Europe have fallen…we
shall not flag or fail…We shall defend our island,
whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we
shall fight in the fields and the streets, we shall fight
in the hills; we shall never surrender!”
II. World War II Begins
 Hitler prepared to invade Britain but
crossing the choppy waters of the English
Channel was a major challenge
-to invade, they would have to first defeat the
British air force
 June 1940: the German Luftwaffe (air
force) began to attack British shipping in
the Channel
II. World War II Begins
 August 1940: Luftwaffe launched an allout air battle to destroy the British Royal
Air Force
-the battle lasted into the fall of 1940 and is
called the Battle of Britain
 August 23, 1940: Germany accidentally
bombed London, the British capital
-the attack on civilians enraged the British and
they bombed Berlin the following night
-Hitler reacted by bombing London again and
again instead of military targets
II. World War II Begins
 Hitler’s goal now was to terrorize the
British people into surrendering through
constant bombing raids on London (they
did not!)
 Britain had a big advantage despite being
vastly outnumbered in terms of
airplanes…a new tech. called…radar
II. World War II Begins
 The skill of a few hundred pilots save
Britain from invasion
-Churchill said, “Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed by so many to so
few.”
 Oct. 12, 1940: Hitler cancelled the
invasion of Britain
III. The Holocaust
A. Nazi Persecution of the Jews
 The Nazis killed nearly 6 million Jews
and millions of other people during the
Holocaust
-Shoah: Hebrew word for the Holocaust
III. The Holocaust
Nazi Ideology
 Once in power, Hitler began to implement
the policies he outlined in Mein Kampf
 The Nazis persecuted anyone who
opposed them, as well as the disabled,
Gypsies, and homosexuals
-their strongest hatred was aimed at all Jews
III. The Holocaust
Nuremberg Laws
 Sept. 1935: Nuremberg Laws took
citizenship away from Jewish Germans
and banned marriage between Jews and
other Germans
 German Jews were deprived of many
rights that citizens of Germany had long
held (voting, holding public offices, etc.)
“Star of David”
III. The Holocaust
 Passports of Jews marked with a red “J” to
clearly identify them as Jewish
 By 1936: at least half of Germany’s Jews
were jobless (could not work as farmers,
teachers, actors, journalists)
 Many Jews felt the conditions would
improve eventually and remained in
Germany
III. The Holocaust
Kristallnacht
 Nov. 7, 1938: a Jewish refugee, Herschel
Grynszpan, shot and killed a German
diplomat in Paris
-Hitler was furious and ordered his Minister of
Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to stage attacks
against the Jews (would appear to be
spontaneous)
III. The Holocaust
 Nov. 9, 1938: Kristallnacht or “night of
broken glass” began
-Anti-Jewish violence erupted across Germany
and Austria
-90 Jews died – hundreds injured – thousands of
Jewish businesses destroyed – 180 synagogues
wrecked
-The Gestapo, secret police, arrested at least
20,000 wealthy Jews (would release them if they
gave up their possessions)
III. The Holocaust
 The next week, Nazi Interior Minister
Hermann Goering ordered the Jewish
community to pay for the damage
III. The Holocaust
Jewish Refugees Try to Flee
 After Kristallnacht many Jews fled to the
U.S. and other countries
 1933-1939: about 350,000 Jews escaped
Nazi-controlled Germany
-ex: Albert Einstein fled to U.S. and Otto Frank
(father of Anne) fled to the Netherlands
-millions remained trapped in Nazi-dominated
Europe unable to get visas
III. The Holocaust
 Evian Conference: July 1938 - 29
countries met to discuss the growing
number of Jewish refugees
-only one (Dominican Rep.) eased it’s
immigration laws
-Hitler used this to his advantage…See, no one
wants them!
III. The Holocaust
B. The Final Solution
 Wannsee Conference: Jan. 20, 1942 –
Nazi leaders met to decide the “final
solution” of the Jews and other
“undesirables”
-The plan was to round-up Jews and others from
Nazi-controlled Europe and take them to
concentration camps (detention centers where
healthy individuals work as slave laborers)
-the elderly, the sick, and young children were
sent to extermination camps to be killed in large
gas chambers
III. The Holocaust
 After WWII began, Nazis built
concentration camps throughout Europe
-extermination camps were built in many
concentration camps, mostly in Poland
-thousands killed everyday in these camps
III. The Holocaust
 In only a few years, Jewish culture had
been virtually eliminated by the Nazis in
the lands they conquered
 Auschwitz: the most infamous
extermination camp – 1.6 million killed
there
IV. Americans Enters the War
A. FDR Supports Britain
 Two days after Britain and France
declared war with Germany, FDR
declared the U.S. neutral
-But, he was determined to help them any way
he could
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Neutrality Act of 1939: allowed warring
countries to buy weapons from U.S. on a
“cash and carry” basis
 Spring 1940: Churchill asked FDR to send
old destroyers (ships) to Britain
 Sept. 1940: FDR sent 50 old destroyers to
Britain in exchange for land to build naval
bases on
-How? No “sale” was made so the Neutrality Act
did not apply
IV. Americans Enters the War
B. The Isolationist Debate
 American public opinion about the war
changed after the German invasion of
France
-many supported limited aid to the Allies
 American First Committee: isolationists
who opposed American intervention or
aid to the Allies (ex: Charles Lindbergh)
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Election of 1940: FDR decided to run for a
third term
-Why? Not a good time to change leadership
-defeated Wendell Willkie
IV. Americans Enters the War
C. Edging Toward War
 After the election: FDR expanded U.S.
role in the war - Britain was fighting for
democracy and the U.S. had to help
-FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech: freedom of
speech, freedom of worship, freedom from
want, freedom from fear
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Lend-Lease Act (Dec. 1940): U.S. could
lend or lease arms to any country
considered “vital to the defense of the
United States”
 July 1941: Hitler attacked the USSR
violating the Nazi-Soviet Pact
-Lend-Lease extended to Stalin and USSR
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Atlantic Charter (Aug. 1941): FDR and
Churchill met to discuss how to win the
war and to plan for the post-war world
(U.N. discussed for the first time)
 Sept. 1941: German sub attacked the
U.S.S. Greer
-FDR ordered American ships to follow a “shooton-sight” policy toward German subs
 Oct. 1941: Germans sank the U.S.S.
Rueben James (115 died)
IV. Americans Enters the War
D. Japan Attacks the U.S.
America Embargos Japan
 FDR’s primary goal was to help Britain
against Germany
-Britain had to move ships from the Pacific to
the Atlantic to fight German subs
-left them vulnerable to a Japanese attack
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Export Control Act (July 1940): gave FDR
power to restrict the sale of strategic
materials (iron, steel, oil, etc.) to other
nations
 FDR began to block the sale of airplane
fuel and iron to Japan – made them
furious – they joined Germany and Italy
IV. Americans Enters the War
 By July 1941: Japanese aircraft posed a
direct threat to the British Empire
-FDR reduced the amount of oil shipped to
Japan
-FDR sent Gen. Douglas MacArthur to the
Philippines to build up forces there
 Because of the lack of resources, Japan
attacked British and Dutch colonies in SE
Asia, the Philippines, and Pearl Harbor
IV. Americans Enters the War
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
 Pearl Harbor: America’s largest naval
base – in Hawaii – 4,000 miles from Japan
-6 aircraft carriers and 20 other ships moved
towards Hawaii carrying 400 bomber and
torpedo planes
IV. Americans Enters the War
 U.S. had broken the Japanese codes and
knew an attack was coming but didn’t
know exactly where (Philippines??)
 Date and Time: Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941,
7:55 AM
 Planes picked up on radar but ignored
IV. Americans Enters the War
 U.S. losses (less than 2 hours): 21 ships
sunk or destroyed, 188 airplanes
destroyed, 2,403 Americans killed, 1,178
wounded
 Japan lost 29 planes
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Dec. 8: FDR said…“Yesterday, December 7,
1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the
United States was suddenly and deliberately
attacked by the naval and air forces of
Japan…No matter how long it takes us…the
American people in their righteous might will win
through to absolute victory.”
 Following the speech, Congress declared
war on Japan (82-0 in Senate, 388-1 in
House)
U.S.S. Arizona Memorial
IV. Americans Enters the War
Germany Declares War
 Hitler did not have to declare war on the
U.S., but he was frustrated with American
attacks on German subs
IV. Americans Enters the War
 Hitler underestimated the strength of the
U.S. and he expected Japan to easily
defeat the U.S. in the Pacific
-He hoped by helping Japan now they would
help him against the Soviets
 Dec. 11, 1941: Germany and Italy
declared war on the U.S.
V. Mobilizing for War
A. Converting the Economy
 U.S. industry turned the tide of the war in
favor of the Allies
-2 times more productive than Germany and 5
times more than Japan
 Even before the attack on Pearl Harbor,
FDR had mobilized the economy to
produce war goods
V. Mobilizing for War
 Reconstruction Finance Corp. (RFC)
made loans to companies to help them
cover the cost of converting to war
production
V. Mobilizing for War
B. American Industry Gets the Job Done
 By Fall 1941: much had already been
done to prepare the economy for war, but
it still was only partially mobilized
-most companies still preferred to make
consumer goods
V. Mobilizing for War
 Pearl Harbor changed everything
-Summer 1942: almost all major industries and
some 200,000 companies had converted to war
production
V. Mobilizing for War
Tanks Replace Cars
 Automobile factories began to produce
trucks, jeeps, and tanks – also built
artillery, rifles, mines, helmets, cooking
pots, etc.
 Henry Ford created an assembly line for
B-24 bombers and produced 8,000 aircraft
by the end of the war
Henry Ford’s B-24 “Liberator Bomber”
V. Mobilizing for War
Building Liberty Ships
 Henry Kaiser’s shipyard built many ships
but were best known for the Liberty ship, a
basic cargo ship used during the war
(cheap, easy to build)
V. Mobilizing for War
War Production Board
 War Production Board: set priorities and
production goals and controlled the
distribution of raw materials and supplies
-often clashed with the military as military
agencies continued to sign contracts without
consulting the WPB
 Office of War Mobilization: settled
arguments between the different agencies
 By the middle of 1945, the U.S. had
produced (in rounded numbers):
-300,000 airplanes
-80,000 landing crafts (like those used on DDay)
-100,000 tanks and armored cars
-5,600 merchant ships
-6 million rifles and machine guns
-41 billion rounds of ammunition
V. Mobilizing for War
C. Building an Army
Creating an Army
 Converting factories to war production
was only part of the mobilization process
-the U.S. had to build up its armed forces to
win the war
V. Mobilizing for War
 Sept. 1940: Congress approved the
Selective Service and Training Act
-the first peacetime draft in U.S. history
-Congress was reluctant to pass it until Germany
defeated France
V. Mobilizing for War
“You’re in the Army Now”
 At first the number of draftees
overwhelmed the army’s training facilities
-equipment shortages, carried sticks for guns,
threw rocks for grenades
 Draftees given physical exams and
vaccines for smallpox and typhoid
V. Mobilizing for War
 Draftees issued uniforms, boots, and
equipment
-clothing had a label…“G.I.” (“Government
Issued”) – became the nickname of U.S. soldiers
 Sent to basic training for 8 weeks and
taught only the basics (sometimes not very
well)
V. Mobilizing for War
A Segregated Army
 U.S. military was completely segregated at
the start of the war
-African Americans were organized into their
own units, with white officers leading them
-different barracks, latrines, mess halls, etc.
V. Mobilizing for War
Pushing for “Double V”
 African Americans were disfranchised,
meaning they were often denied the right
to vote
V. Mobilizing for War
 “Double V” campaign: started by the
Pittsburgh Courier, an African American
newspaper
-stated that African Americans should join the
war because a win would be a double victory
over racism abroad and at home
V. Mobilizing for War
African Americans in Combat
 FDR ordered the military to recruit and
send African Americans into combat (had
helped him get elected)
 Tuskegee Airman: army air force 99th
Pursuit Squadron, an African American
unit
-played an important role in the Battle of Anzio in
Italy
 1943: military bases integrated but the
military was not fully integrated until 1948
(Pres. Truman)
V. Mobilizing for War
Women Join the Armed Forces
 Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC):
formed in May 1942
-the first time women were allowed in the military
-the army, Coast Guard, navy, and marines all
set up their own women’s units
-another 68,000 women served as nurses
V. Mobilizing for War
Americans Go to War
 1941: American troops were untrained
and had little military experience
-But, they performed well in battle – suffered the
fewest casualties of all major powers involved in
the war
VI. Early Battles
A. Holding the Line Against Japan
Fall of the Philippines
 After the Pearl Harbor attack: Japan
attacked U.S. airfields in the Philippines
and invaded the islands
VI. Early Battles
 Gen. Douglas MacArthur decided to
withdraw his troops to the Bataan Peninsula
-FDR ordered him to escape to Australia
-MacArthur vowed, “…I shall return.”
 U.S. forces surrendered at Bataan and
thousands died on the Bataan Death March
to a Japanese prison camp
VI. Early Battles
The Doolittle Raid
 Early 1942: B-25 bombers had replaced
short-range bombers because they could
attack from further away
-April 18: James Doolittle led a mission that
bombed Japan for the first time
VI. Early Battles
 Doolittle’s attack on Japan made the
Japanese change their strategy
-an attack on Midway Island was planned to lure
the American fleet into battle
-U.S. code breakers discovered Japan’s plan and it
failed
VI. Early Battles
Battle of Midway
 The turning point in the Pacific
 U.S. shot down 38 Japanese planes and
destroyed 4 aircraft carriers
 This stopped the Japanese advance in the
Pacific (just 6 months after Pearl Harbor)
VI. Early Battles
B. Turning Back the German Army
 Stalin urged FDR to open a second front
in Europe by attacking Germany from the
west
-this would take the pressure off the USSR
(Germany would have to send more troops
from the east to the west)
VI. Early Battles
 Churchill didn’t believe they were ready to
do that…he wanted to attack the
periphery, or edges, of the German empire
first
VI. Early Battles
Struggle for North Africa
 FDR decided to invade Morocco and
Algeria in North Africa for two reasons:
1) would give the army experience without
requiring a lot of troops
2) once in North Africa the U.S. could help the
British fighting the Germans in Egypt
VI. Early Battles
 Afrika Korps: German army in North
Africa; led by Gen. Erwin Rommel the
“Desert Fox”
 The British forced Rommel to retreat out of
Egypt and towards the west after the
Battle of El Alamein
 Nov. 8, 1942: U.S. invaded North Africa
under the command of Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower
VI. Early Battles
 The plan was to trap Rommel between the
U.S. and British forces
 George Patton led the U.S. forces in
Morocco and captured the city of
Casablanca
 Americans faced the Germans for the first
time at the Battle of Kasserine Pass in
Tunisia
-U.S. suffered huge losses (7,000 casualties)
and the general in charge was fired and
replaced by Patton
VI. Early Battles
 Eventually trapped Rommel and the
German army in Tunisia – Hitler ordered
Rommel to escape
 May 13, 1943: the last German forces in
North Africa finally surrendered
VI. Early Battles
Battle of the Atlantic
 After Germany declared was on the U.S.,
German subs began sinking Am. cargo
ships along the American East Coast
VI. Early Battles
 The loss of so many ships convinced the
Navy to set up a convoy system – cargo
ships escorted by armed naval ships
-greatly reduced the number of ships sunk by
German subs
 Spring 1942: the high point of the German
submarine campaign
-1.2 million tons of shipping sunk from May to
June
VI. Early Battles
 From July 1942 onward: U.S. produced
more ships than Germans managed to
sink
 New tech. also help the U.S.: radar,
sonar, depth charges
-slowly helped turned the Battle of the Atlantic in
favor of the Allies
VI. Early Battles
Battle of Stalingrad
 Spring 1942: Hitler confident he would win
the war
-Germany winning Battle of the Atlantic and
pushing British back in Egypt
 Hitler believed they were ready to knock
the Soviets out of the war for good
VI. Early Battles
 Hitler convinced the only way to defeat the
Soviets was to destroy its economy
-captured oil fields, factories, and farmlands in
southern Russia
 Tried to capture Stalingrad (on Volga River
and major railroad depot) – would cut off
resources the Soviets needed to stay in
the war
VI. Early Battles
 Sept. 1942: German army entered
Stalingrad and Stalin ordered his troops to
hold the city at all cost (retreat was
forbidden)
 Nov. 1942: Soviet reinforcements arrived
and surrounded Stalingrad, trapping
250,000 Germans
VI. Early Battles
 Feb. 1943: battle ended and 91,000
Germans surrendered (only 5,000
survived the Soviet prison camps and
returned home)
 The Battle of Stalingrad was a major
turning point in the war: Germans were
now on the defensive
VII. Life on the Homefront
A. Women and Minorities Gain Ground
Women in the Defense Plants
 WWII had a positive effect on American
society
-It ended the Great Depression by creating 19
million new jobs
-It doubled the income of most American
families
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Labor shortages forced factories to hire
women in positions that were traditionally
considered “men’s work”
-“Rosie the Riveter” became a symbol for the
campaign to hire women
-2.5 million women entered the manufacturing
workforce
VII. Life on the Homefront
African Americans Demand War Work
 Factories still resisted hiring African
Americans for the most part
VII. Life on the Homefront
 A. Philip Randolph: head of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a
major union for African American railroad
workers
-decided to take action by informing FDR that he
would organize a march in Wash. DC to demand
jobs for African Americans
VII. Life on the Homefront
 June 1941: FDR issued Executive Order
8802 …declared no discrimination in the
employment of workers in defense
industries or government
VII. Life on the Homefront
Mexican Farm workers
 Bracero Program: 1942 – arranged for
Mexican farm workers to come to the U.S.
to help harvest fruits and vegetables
-200,000+ came to help with the harvest and to
build and maintain railroads
VII. Life on the Homefront
B. A Nation on the Move
 15 million moved west and south during
the war to be closer to the new jobs
-growth of CA and the expansion of cities in
the Deep South created a new industrial region
called the Sunbelt
VII. Life on the Homefront
The Housing Crisis
 Problem: where to put the thousands of
new workers
-many forced to live in tents and tiny trailers
 Solution: federal gov’t allocated $1.2
billion to build public housing, schools, and
community centers
VII. Life on the Homefront
Racism Explodes Into Violence
 “Great Migration”: movement of African
Americans from the South to the North
(jobs)
-began during WWI, continued throughout the
1920s, slowed during the Depression
-resumed during WWII
VII. Life on the Homefront
 African Americans often met with
resistance and sometimes violence in the
crowded cities
-EX: Belle Isle, a park in Detroit…fight between
gangs of white and African American teenage
girls – led to a full-scaled riot across the city (34
killed)
VII. Life on the Homefront
The Zoot Suit Riots
 Crimes committed by young people rose
across the country
 In Los Angeles, racism against Mexican
Americans began because of the zoot suit,
baggy pants and an overstuffed, kneelength jacket
-appeared unpatriotic to many who were saving
fabric for the war
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Zoot suiters were rumored to have
attacked several sailors
-So…2,500 soldiers and sailors stormed into
Mexican American neighborhoods in LA
-cut their hair and tore off their zoot suits
-police did nothing
VII. Life on the Homefront
 The racial hostility did not deter Mexican
Americans from joining the war effort
-400,000 served in the armed forces and 17 won
the Medal of Honor
VII. Life on the Homefront
Japanese American Relocation
 After Pearl Harbor, many West Coast
Americans turned their anger on
Japanese-Americans
-attacked businesses, homes, grocers refused to
sell them food, etc.
 Newspapers printed rumors of Japanese
spies
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Politicians and business leaders wanted
them removed from the West Coast
-didn’t think they would remain loyal to the U.S.
 Feb. 1942: War Dept. declared most of
the West Coast a military zone and
ordered all Japanese-Americans to
internment camps (FDR supported)
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Korenmatsu v. the United States (1944):
relocation was constitutional because it
was based not on race, but on “military
urgency”
 Court later ruled that loyal American
citizens couldn’t be held against their will
(gov’t began to release them)
VII. Life on the Homefront
 No Japanese-Americans were ever tried
for espionage or sabotage
 Many served as translators during the war
in the Pacific
 Japanese American Citizens League
(JACL): after the war helped those who
lost property during relocation
VII. Life on the Homefront
 1988: President Reagan apologized to
Japanese-Americans on behalf of the U.S.
gov’t
-also granted $20,000 to each surviving
Japanese-American who had been interned
1988: Ronald Reagan signing Japanese Reparations Bill
VII. Life on the Homefront
C. Daily Life in Wartime America
Wage and Price Controls
 Wages and prices rose quickly during the
war because of the high demand for
workers and raw materials
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Office of Price Adm. (OPA): regulated all
prices except the price of farm products
(price ceilings)
 War Labor Board: tried to prevent strikes
that could endanger the war effort
-served as a mediator between unions and
owners
VII. Life on the Homefront
Blue Points, Red Points:
 The demand for raw materials and
supplies created shortages
 OPA began rationing, or limiting the
availability of, many products
-made sure enough products were available for
the military
-meat, sugar, milk, gasoline, rubber, etc. all
rationed
-speed limit set at 35 mph
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Every month each family would pick up a
book of ration coupons
 Blue coupons, called blue points,
controlled processed foods
 Red coupons, called red points, controlled
meats, fats, and oils
 Other coupons controlled coffee and sugar
VII. Life on the Homefront
Victory Gardens and Scrap Drives
 The gov’t encouraged victory gardens –
backyards, schoolyards, city parks, and
empty lots plowed up to grow food
VII. Life on the Homefront
 Gov’t also organized scrap drives –
collected spare rubber, tin, aluminum,
steel (pots, tires, tin cans, car bumpers,
bicycles, etc.)
 WPB set up fat-collecting stations – bacon
grease and meat drippings exchanged for
extra ration coupons
VII. Life on the Homefront
Paying for the War
 Gov’t spent more than $300 billion during
WWII
-more money that was spent from Washington’s
adm. through FDR’s second term!
 Higher taxes paid for 45% of the war
 War bonds paid for the rest
-E-Bond: sold for $18.75…redeemed for $25.00
after 10 years
VII. Life on the Homefront
“V” for Victory
 Despite the hardships, the vast majority of
Americans supported the war
 Most Americans remained united behind
one goal…winning the war
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
A. Striking Back at the Third Reich
 Allies had to land their troops in Europe
and on Pacific Islands to win the war
-it was risky…no cover on a beach, no place to
hide, no way to turn back
 Nov. 1942: Allies attack in North Africa
showed a successful large-scale
invasion from the sea was possible
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Casablanca Conference: Jan. 1943 –
FDR and Churchill agreed to step up the
bombings of Germany
-the goal…“the progressive destruction of the
German military, industrial, and economic
system, and the undermining of the morale of
the German people.”
-Allies also agreed to attack the island of Sicily
(Churchill: “soft underbelly” of Europe)
 Allies convinced that Italy would
surrendered if their homeland was invaded
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
Strategic Bombing
 Jan. 1943-May 1945: U.S. and Britain
dropped approx. 53,000 tons of bombs on
Germany each month
 Did not destroy Germany’s economy or
their morale liked the Allies hoped
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Did cause a severe oil shortage, wrecked
the railroad system, and destroyed aircraft
factories (couldn’t replace combat losses)
 By 1944: Allies had total control of the air
(very important on D-Day)
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
Striking the Soft Underbelly
 Eisenhower put in command of the overall
invasion of Sicily
 Patton and Gen. Bernard Montgomery
(British) put in charge of ground forces
 July 1943: Mussolini placed under arrest
by the king of Italy and the new gov’t
began secret negotiations with the Allies
for Italy’s surrender
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Aug. 1943: Germans had surrendered the
island of Sicily
 Sept. 1943: Italy officially surrendered
 Hitler sent German troops to seize control
of Italy and put Mussolini back in power
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 After winning the Battle of Anzio (May
1944), the Germans were forced to retreat
 Allies captured Rome two weeks later but
fighting continued until May 1945
 The Italian campaign was one of the
bloodiest in the war…300,000 Allied
casualties
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
FDR Meets Stalin at Tehran
 FDR wanted to meet with Stalin before the
Allies invaded German-occupied France
 Late 1943: FDR, Churchill, Stalin meet in
Tehran, Iran
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Several agreements were made:
1) Soviets would attack Germany when the
Allies invaded France in 1944
2) Stalin agreed to break up Germany after the
war so it would never again threaten world
peace
3) Soviets would help U.S. defeat Japan once
Germany was defeated
4) Stalin agreed to a new international peace
keeping organization (later U.N.)
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
B. Landing in France
Planning Operation Overlord
 Operation Overlord was the code name
for the planned invasion of Germanoccupied France by the Allies across the
English Channel
-Eisenhower was chosen to command the
invasion
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Allies had the advantage of surprise
-Germans did not know when or where they
would strike
-thought it would be at Calais in N. France
-the real target was Normandy
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Spring 1944: Everything was ready…1.5
million U.S. soldiers, 12,000 airplanes, 5
million tons of equipment had been sent to
Britain
 Needed Conditions: invasion had to begin at
night to hide the troops crossing the Channel,
had to arrive at low tide so they could see the
beach obstacles, needed a moonlit night, and
the weather had to be good
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 June 5, 1944: heavy cloud cover, strong
winds, and high waves made it impossible
to attack
-the weather improved the next day, but the sea
was still rough – Eisenhower’s advisors were
split on what to do
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 D-Day: the date for the invasion
 June 6, 1944: just after midnight,
Eisenhower gave the final order…“OK,
we’ll go.”
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
“The Longest Day”
 7,000 ships carrying 100,000 soldiers set
sail for the coast of Normandy, France
 23,000 paratroopers were dropped behind
the beaches at the same time
 Bombers raced up and down the coast,
hitting bridges, bunkers, and radar sites
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 As dawn broke, warships let loose with a
heavy barrage of fire
-1000s of shells rained down on the beaches,
code-named “Utah,” “Omaha,” “Gold,” “Sword,”
and “Juno”
 U.S. troops at Utah Beach suffered less
than 200 casualties and moved inland
easily
 British and Canadian troops took Gold,
Sword, and Juno beaches rather easily
and moved inland
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Omaha Beach was a different story
-Gen. Omar Bradley considered withdrawing
-slowly the American troops began to knock out
German defenses
-nearly 2,500 Americans were killed or wounded
at Omaha but the beach was secured by the end
of the day
 The invasion had succeeded and the Allies
pushed inland toward Paris
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
C. Driving the Japanese Back
 While the invasion of France was being
planned, the U.S. was also developing a
plan to defeat Japan
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
Island-Hopping in the Pacific
 Pacific Fleet, commanded by Adm.
Chester Nimitz, would get closer and
closer to Japan by hopping from one
island to the next
 Amphtracs, boats with tank tracks, helped
the U.S. cross the reefs and get troops to
shore
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 U.S. captured several Japanese-held
islands over the next 2-3 years on their
way to Japan (Gilbert Islands, Marshall
Islands, Mariana Islands, etc.)
 Aug. 1944: U.S. was close enough to
Japan to begin bombing raids
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
MacArthur Returns to the Philippines
 As Nimitz hopped across the Central
Pacific, MacArthur’s troops began their
own campaign in the South Pacific
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Aug. 1942: invaded Guadalcanal in the
Solomon Islands
-first taste of jungle warfare
-Japanese withdrew Feb. 1943
 Oct. 1944: 700 ships carrying over
160,000 troops sailed for Leyte Gulf in the
Philippines
VIII. Pushing the Axis Back
 Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval
battle in history and the first time Japan
used kamikaze (suicide mission) attacks to
damage U.S. ships
-MacArthur…“People of the Philippines, I have
returned!”
-Japan retreated but Manila (capital) not secured
until March 1945
-80,000 Japanese killed; less than 1,000
surrendered
-100,000 Filipino civilian deaths
IX. The War Ends
A. The Third Reich Collapses
 1943: Allies aware of the Holocaust and
declared they would punish Germany
after the war
 FDR believed the best way to end the
Holocaust was to destroy the Nazi
regime
 Although D-Day was successful, it was
only the beginning
IX. The War Ends
 Germany defended their positions in
Normandy by using hedgerows – dirt walls
covered in shrubbery
-July 1944: the battle of the hedgerows ended
when American bombers blew a hole in the
German lines…enabled tanks to race through
the gap
IX. The War Ends
 Aug. 25, 1944: Paris liberated by the
Allies
-3 weeks later, they were just 20 miles from
German border
IX. The War Ends
Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944 - Jan. 1945)
 The last German offensive
 Germans caught the Americans by surprise
and as they raced west, the American lines
“bulged” outward
IX. The War Ends
 Germans began to withdraw on Jan. 8 and
had suffered 100,000 casualties
 Germans couldn’t stop the Allies from
invading Germany
IX. The War Ends
V-E Day
 American and British forces liberated France
and the Soviets moved into Germany from
the east
 Feb. 1945: Soviets only 35 miles from Berlin
IX. The War Ends
 Americans crossed the Rhine River, raced
eastward, and got within 70 miles of Berlin
 In his Berlin bunker, Hitler knew the end was
near
-April 30, 1945: Hitler committed suicide and his
men burned his body
 May 8, 1945: Germany surrendered – V-E
Day, victory in Europe
IX. The War Ends
B. Japan is Defeated
 FDR did not live to see the defeat of
Germany – he died on April 12, 1945 from a
stroke
 Harry S. Truman becomes the new
President of the U.S.
-Truman told reporters… “Boys, if you ever pray,
pray for me now…When they told me yesterday
what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars,
and all the planets had fallen on me.”
IX. The War Ends
 Truman was forced to make some of the
most difficult decisions of the war during
his first 6 months in office
IX. The War Ends
“Uncommon Valor” on Iwo Jima
 Nov. 1944: bombs fell on Japan for the
first time since the Doolittle raid
 U.S. decided to invade Iwo Jima to get
closer to Japan (easier to bomb from
there)
IX. The War Ends
 Terrain was rugged, with rocky cliffs,
jagged ravines, and dozens of caves –
volcanic ash covered the landscape
-Japan used the caves as tunnels…protected by
concrete bunkers
IX. The War Ends
 Feb. 1945: 60,000 U.S. Marines landed
on Iwo Jima…sank up to their ankles in
the soft ash
-Japan pounded the invaders with artillery
-Reporter Robert Sherrod…“[The marines] died
with the greatest possible violence. Nowhere in
the Pacific have I seen such badly mangled
bodies. Many were cut squarely in half. Legs
and arms lay 50 feet away from any body.”
IX. The War Ends
 Inch by inch, the marines crawled inland,
using flamethrowers and explosives to
attack the Japanese bunkers
 More than 6,800 marines killed before the
island was captured
 Nimitz later wrote that on Iwo Jima,
“uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
IX. The War Ends
Firebombing Devastates Japan
 The help B-29s hit their targets in Japan,
the U.S. used bombs filled with napalm, a
kind of jellied gasoline
-the bombs exploded and also started fires
IX. The War Ends
 March 1945: B-29s attacked Tokyo killing
over 80,000 and destroying 250,000
buildings
 June 1945: Japan’s 6 most important
industrial cities had been firebombed
 By the end of the war: B-29s had
firebombed 67 Japanese cities
IX. The War Ends
Invasion of Okinawa
 Many American officials believed Japan
wouldn’t surrender until it had been
invaded
 The island of Okinawa (350 miles south of
Japan) was chosen to be a home-base for
a potential invasion of Japan
 June 1945: Am. troops secured the island
IX. The War Ends
Terms for Surrender
 After Okinawa: Japanese emperor urged
his gov’t to find a way to end the war
 The biggest problem was that the U.S.
demanded “unconditional surrender”
-Japanese leaders were ready to surrender if
their emperor was allowed to stay in power
-Not an option according to the U.S.
IX. The War Ends
 The Am. public wanted the emperor
removed so Truman went with public opinion
-Also, a new weapon was ready to be tested that
would make Japan surrender unconditionally
IX. The War Ends
The Manhattan Project
 1939: Physicists Leo Szilard learned that
German scientists had split the uranium
atom
-He was the first to suggest that splitting the atom
might release enormous energy
 Szilard convinced Albert Einstein to sign a
letter written by him to FDR
-“extremely powerful bombs of a new type
may…be constructed.”
IX. The War Ends
 FDR set up a scientific committee to study
the issue
-Committee remained skeptical until 1941 when
they met with British scientists who were already
working on the atomic bomb
-They were impressed and convinced FDR to
begin an atomic bomb program
IX. The War Ends
 Manhattan Project: code-name for the
American atomic bomb program
-Led by Gen. Leslie Groves
 1942: Szilard and Enrico Fermi built the
world’s first nuclear reactor at the U. of
Chicago
IX. The War Ends
 Groves organized a team of engineers and
scientists to build an atomic bomb at a
secret laboratory in Los Alamos, NM
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (the “father of the
atomic bomb”) led the team
IX. The War Ends
 July 16, 1945: the first test was held at
Trinity Site outside of Los Alamos
-explosion equaled 20,000 tons of TNT
-Oppenheimer said, “I have become death, the
destroyer of worlds.”
IX. The War Ends
The Decision to Drop the Bomb
 As soon as Truman found out about the test,
he demanded the Japanese to surrender or
face “prompt and utter devastation”
IX. The War Ends
 Truman had two choices:
1) use the bombs
2) invade Japan
 Some argued in favor of using the bombs
saying they would…
1) end the war faster
2) save American lives
3) intimidate the Soviet Union
IX. The War Ends
 Some argued against using the bombs
saying…
1) 1000s of innocent people would die
2) the war would be over soon anyway after the
Soviets joined
 Truman justified using the atomic bombs
because he said it would “save lives” in the
long run (invading Japan was the
alternative)
IX. The War Ends
 Aug. 6, 1945: 8:15 AM – the Enola Gay
dropped the first bomb (“Little Boy”) on the
city of Hiroshima
-4 square mile area completely incinerated
-Between 80,000 and 120,000 died instantly
-30,000 more died within a week – those that
survived suffered radiation sickness
-temperature: 100 million degrees at the
core…5,400 degrees at the surface
-Co-pilot said, “My God, what have we done.”
IX. The War Ends
 Aug. 9, 1945: Soviets declare war on Japan
and the U.S. drops the second atomic bomb
(“Fat Man”) on Nagasaki
-killed 35,000-74,000
 Sept. 2, 1945: V-J Day…Japan officially
surrenders aboard the U.S.S. Missouri and
Americans celebrated
IX. The War Ends
 The U.S. and it’s allies had freed Europe
from Nazi tyranny and put an end to
Japanese aggression in Asia
IX. The War Ends
C. Building a New World
Creating the United Nations
 FDR believed a new international political
organization could prevent another world
war
 1944: 39 countries met in Wash. D.C. to
discuss the new organization, which was to
be called the United Nations (UN)
IX. The War Ends
 UN would have a General Assembly, where
every member nation would have one vote
 UN would also have a Security Council with
11 members
-5 countries would be permanent: Britain, France,
China, USSR, U.S. (the five big powers that
defeated the Axis)
-these 5 would have veto power
IX. The War Ends
 April 25, 1945: representatives from 50
nations met in San Francisco to officially
recognize the UN and design its charter, or
constitution
 General Assembly powers: vote on
resolutions, choose non-permanent
members of the Security Council, vote on
the UN budget
IX. The War Ends
 Security Council powers: responsible for
international peace and security (could ask
members to use military force to uphold a
UN resolution)
IX. The War Ends
Putting the Enemy on Trial
 Aug. 1945: U.S., Britain, France, and
USSR created the International Military
Tribunal (IMT)
IX. The War Ends
 At the Nuremberg Trials in Germany, the
IMT tried German leaders suspected of
committing war crimes
-22 Nazi leaders were prosecuted and 3 were
acquitted
-7 given prison sentences, 12 were sentenced to
death by hanging
IX. The War Ends
 Trials for lower-ranking Nazis continued
until April 1949…24 more executed, 107
given prison sentences
 25 Japanese leaders prosecuted but not
the emperor (feared a Japanese uprising)
-18 sentenced to prison, 7 sentenced to death
IX. The War Ends
 The war crimes trials punished many of
the people responsible for WWII and the
Holocaust, but more importantly, served as
a warning to future leaders and military
personnel
-No longer was “I was just following orders” an
acceptable defense