World War II
European Theater of Operations
Building the Alliance
The Tripartite Pact
27 September 1940
Berlin, Germany
Saburo Kurusu of Imperial Japan
Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany
Galeazzo Ciano foreign minister of Fascist Italy
Also signed by:
Hungary
Rumania
Bulgaria
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Atlantic Conference
14 August 1941
Issued the Atlantic Charter
Great Britain – Winston Churchill
United States – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Unanimously approved at the Inter-Allied meeting
in London, September 1941
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No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom.
Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned.
All peoples had a right to self-determination.
Trade barriers were to be lowered.
There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare.
Freedom from want and fear;
Freedom of the seas;
Disarmament of aggressor nations, postwar common disarmament
Height of Axis Power Expansion
Operation Barbarossa
Germany invades USSR
July 1941
“So long as Russia is
preoccupying Hitler … we should
and will do everything in our
power to aid Britain …”
November 1941
Roosevelt proclaims the survival
of the Soviet Union vital to the
defense of the United States and
orders Lend Lease extended to the
Soviets
America’s Entry into the War
Isolationism
America had shown remarkably little interest, prior to
1941, in how the rest of the world was governed.
Repressive regimes elsewhere might be regrettable, but
they could hardly harm the United States.
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor immediately and
irrevocably shattered the illusion that distance ensured
safety – the nation’s security was now at risk and since
others might follow the example of Japan, the US had to
assume global responsibilities.
Day of Infamy
Forming a New Alliance
Although tensions between the so-called “Big Three” (Roosevelt,
Churchill and Stalin) continued throughout the war the tensions never
became greater to any of the “three” than the overall pursuit of victory.
The tension existed largely because of ideological differences between
the US and the USSR – one capitalist, the other communist; one
authoritarian, the other republican.
The Soviets never forgot the US armed intervention in the Russian
Civil War (1917-1923) and the US refusal to recognize the Soviet state
until 1933.
Finally, future tensions would arise as Stalin continually demanded the
Great Britain and the United States open a second, Western Front,
once the US entered the war.
The Grand Alliance
Joseph Stalin Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston Churchill
The Allies’ Strategic Dilemma
How to Coordinate the efforts of the Allies?
Stalin demanding a “second front” since July, 1941
Roosevelt wanted to invade Europe in 1942
Churchill wanted to avoid an invasion of Europe
The American public demanded immediate reprisals
against Japan
Components of the War in Europe
The Naval War
The Air War
The Ground War