Before the War
• Dictators in Europe and Asia became aggressive
• Violating the Treaty of Versailles and acquiring new
land
• What will the Allied Powers do about this
Aggression??
Allies attempt
to avoid war
Great Britain and France
• Appeasement- a policy of granting wishes of
a potential enemy in the hope to maintain
peace
Why?? Damaged by WWI, Also afraid of
U.S.S.R, lack of commitment from United
States
• Munich Pact- Allowed Hitler to have the
Sudetenland in exchange for a promise to not
acquire any more territory
Soviet Union
• The Soviet Union and Germany sign a NonAggression Pact.
– Germany does not want to fight a war on two
fronts
– Russia is playing both sides of the war
– They agree to split Poland
War Breaks out in Europe
• Appeasement does not work
• Hitler continues to advance throughout
Europe adding to his territory
• After Hitler invades Poland, France and
Great Britain declare war
• WWII has begun
The United States
Intervention vs. Isolation
• Majority of Americans favored Isolation
– Damaged by Great Depression
– Believed WWI was a mistake
– Congress passed Neutrality Acts to limit
Americans during times of war
• FDR inches towards Involvement
– Waits until he is safely reelected (3rd term)
United States Moves Towards War
• War has broke out in Europe
• FDR makes “Four Freedoms” Speech to gain
support
• Passes Lend-Lease Act
– The United States would sell, lend, or lease war
supplies to any government fighting for
democracy
– Economic declaration of war
Pearl Harbor
• Japan launches a surprise attack on American
Naval bases at Pearl Harbor
• No longer debate about joining war
• Roosevelt delivers “Day in Infamy” speech
• US declares war on Japan
– Germany and Italy declare war on US (alliances)
• United States will fight a war on two fronts
EUROPE & PACIFIC
– Europe first strategy
WAR IN EUROPE
• By the time US joined the • Allies try to create a “two
war Hitler had conquered
front war” putting
much of Europe
pressure on Germany
from multiple fronts
– France was concurred
– Great Britain was barely
hanging on!
• United States industry
changes the game!
– Turned out enough
supplies to keep Allies
fighting for years!
– Through North Africa and
Italy
– Through Russia
– Through the air (bombing
campaigns)
– Not ready to go through
France
Holocaust
• Hitler Targets the Jewish People
– Anti-Semitism existed for centuries in Europe
– Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s problems and
the German population accepted his idea
– Jews were gradually stripped of their rights
• Were identified by the Star of David
– Many tried to leave Germany, but immigration was
restricted in many countries
• After the Holocaust was revealed, the U.S.
relaxed on it’s immigration policy for Jews
Holocaust, cont’d
• The “Final Solution”
– The Nazis turned to genocide to eliminate Jews
– Hitler condemned all non-Aryans to slavery/death
• Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, freemasons, homosexuals,
and the handicapped
– Concentration Camps were built to handle Hitler’s “enemies of
the state”
• Those who could work preformed slave labor
• Those who could not work were executed
– Death camps were built to expedite the process
• Prisoners were shot, injected, gassed, or hanged
• Bodies were buried in mass graves, later were burned
– The extent of the Holocaust was not known until the end of the
war.
Nuremberg Trials
• Trials held after WWII,
that prosecuted
prominent members of
the political, military,
and economic
leadership of Nazi
Germany; first time in
history held people
responsible for crimes
against humanity
War in Europe: End
• D-Day: Major turning point, finally opening
up a second front through France
– Massive invasion
– Planned by General Eisenhower
– Stormed the beaches of Normandy France
• Allies slowly advance and close in on
Germany
• Hitler runs out of supplies and strategies
– Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders!
Home Front
• American factories and industries focus all of
attention on war supplies
– No country can keep up with American industry
– Women and minorities work in factories
• New opportunities
• American people support the war effort
– Rationing
– War bonds
• Japanese Internment is taking place on West
Coast
• In 1940, before joining the war, Congress passed
the first peacetime draft
War in Pacific: History
Japan was building it’s Empire, “reign of Terror
and Lawlessness”
United States placed an embargo on trade with
Japan
Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor
United States declares war on Japan
Japan: wants to expand territory and control
U.S.: wants to avenge Pearl Harbor and stop them
from gaining territory
Beginning Battles
• Japan quickly advanced through the Pacific
and Indian Ocean
• Japan invaded and took over the Philippines
with little resistance from American forces
• By summer of 1942 Japan dominated the
Central Pacific
• Seemed like nothing could stop them
Middle Battles
• Battle at Midway: Japan was planning a
HUGE take over of America’s main naval
base in the Pacific.
– American intelligence intercepted plans
– America was able to defend Midway and stop
Japan’s advance through the Pacific
– America is now on the OFFENSIVE!
Middle Battles
• As America forces planned their advance to
Japan they used an Island Hoping strategy.
– Picking and choosing different islands to attack
– Fighting got more and more difficult the closer
they got to Japan
• MacArthur retakes the Philippines
• Iwo Jima and Okinawa
– Two of the deadliest battles in the Pacific
The End
• America had to decided if they wanted to
invade Japan or use new technology to bomb
Japan
• Atomic Bomb: developed by the Manhattan
Project was complete and ready for use
• President Truman decided to drop the first
Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and the second
on Nagasaki
• Japan surrendered August 15, 1945
Costs of WWII
• Lives Lost
– Estimates of 60,000,000
– Over 11 million in the Holocaust
– Soviets (25.5 million) & China (11.3 million) were hit
the hardest in combined casualties
• Dollars Spent
– Estimates of over $1,000,000,000,000
• Dollars per life lost
– $16,666.67/life lost
Effects of WWII
• Yalta Conference (Big Three)
– Discussed final strategy concerning postwar Europe and
Asia
– Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria would hold “free
elections” – Stalin later reneged
– U.S. needed Russia’s help in finishing the defeat of Japan
• Potsdam Conference (Big Three)
– Germany was divided into four occupation zones
– Recognized the Soviets right to claim reparations from
the Germans for war damage
Effects of WWII, cont’d
• Changing of World Map
– Majority of Eastern Europe under Soviet control
– Chinese “civil war” continued after Japanese occupation ended
– Douglas MacArthur oversaw the writing of a new Japanese
constitution
• Decline of Imperialism
– Western Europe’s domination of the world ended
– Asian and African colonies began to gain independence
• Shifting of the Balance of Power
– The U.S. and Russia became the new “superpowers”
– Both had played the most decisive role in defeating the Axis
powers
Effects of WWII, cont’d
• International Cooperation
– Geneva Convention and Nuremberg Trials
– GATT (1948) reduced tariffs and created financial and
economic security globally
– UN (1945) set up on cooperation of Great Powers, not on
equality of all nations
• Gave the Jewish people “Israel”
• New American Identity
– U.S. assumes global leadership – abandoned the policy of
isolationism
– Growth of a commitment to Civil Rights movements
– Postwar economy created increased economic growth