The Early Years of World War II (1939-1944)
Essential Question:
How did the Allies turn the war around?
 The war begins
o Non-aggression Pact of 1939
 Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union
 Agreed to:
 Not go to war with each other
 Divide up Eastern Europe
o Germany invaded Poland in 1939
 Britain and France declared war on Germany 2 days later
 World War II officially began
 Hitler unleashes the blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)
o Battle of France (1940)
 Germany defeated France in 6 weeks
o Battle of Britain (1940)
 The British Royal Air Force (RAF) defeated the German air force
(Luftwaffe)
o Lend-Lease
 U.S. program to give money and supplies to Britain and the other
Allies
o Hitler breaks the Non-aggression Pact and invades the Soviet Union
(1941)
 The Soviet Union joins the Allies
 Pacific Theater
o Pearl Harbor Attack
 Surprise attack on a U.S. base in Hawai’i
 December 7, 1941
 Many ships and planes destroyed
 2,400 Americans were killed
 Why did Japan attack?
 U.S. had cut off Japan’s oil supply
 Wanted to invade Southeast Asia
o Rich source of oil and rubber
 The U.S. declared war on Japan the next day
 FDR: “December 7, 1941—a date which will live in
infamy.”
o
o
o
o
o
o
 Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. on December 11
Japan invaded the Philippines
 Defeated U.S. and Filipino forces
 Bataan Death March
Battle of Midway (June 1942)
 The U.S. crippled the Japanese navy
 The turning point in the Pacific
Island hopping
 Also called “leapfrogging”
 Allies bypassed heavily fortified islands and concentrated on
strategically important islands
Navajo Code Talkers
 The U.S. military used the Navajo language as the basis for its
code in the Pacific in 1942
 The Japanese never broke the code
Bushido
 A Japanese samurai’s code of conduct
Kamikaze
 Translation: “divine wind”
 Suicide attacks by Japanese pilots
 European Theater
 North Africa (1942-1943)
o British and American forces defeated Germany’s Afrika Korps
 Battle of Stalingrad (July 1942-Feb 1943)
o Bloodiest battle in the history of warfare
o Decisive Soviet victory over the Germans
o The turning point in Europe
 Liberation of Italy (1943-1945)
o Allies invaded and forced Italy to surrender
 Atlantic Wall
o System of Nazi fortifications along the western coast of Europe
o Purpose was to prevent an Allied invasion
o D-Day (June 6, 1944)
 Planned by Eisenhower
 Largest amphibious (sea-to-land) operation in history
 Used counter-intelligence
 Allied invasion of Normandy, France
 Intense resistance from German forces
 Toughest fighting at Omaha Beach
 Decisive Allied victory
 Broke through the Atlantic Wall