Unit 9 -- World War II
VUS.10 -11, 12a
WWII Vocabulary
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Adolf Hitler
Lend-Lease Act
Destroyers for bases deal
Manchuria
United Nations
Midway
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Tuskegee Airmen
Battle of Britain
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Dec. 7, 1941
island hopping
El Alamein
Stalingrad
D-Day
Nisei regiments
Bataan Death March
genocide
Final Solution
Nuremburg Trials
rationing
war bonds
Marshall Plan
Selective service
Internment camp
Geneva Convention
World War II : the beginning
(Europe)
World
War II officially began
with Hitler’s invasion of Poland
from the west in Sept.1939.
Shortly
after, the Soviet Union
invaded Poland from the east, and
the Baltic States.
During
the first two years, the US
stayed officially neutral as
Germany overran France, most of
Europe, and pounded Britain from
the air (The Battle of Britain)
In mid-1941, Hitler turned on his
former partner and invaded the
Soviet Union
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Despite
strong isolationist
sentiment at home, the US
increasingly helped Britain. It
gave war supplies (Lend-Lease)
and old warships (Destroyers for
bases) to Britain in exchange for
military bases in the Caribbean
and Bermuda.
FDR
compared it to
–“ lending a garden
hose to a next-door
neighbor whose house
is on fire”
During
the 1930s a militaristic
Japan invaded and brutalized
Manchuria and China as it sought
military and economic domination
over Asia
The US refused to recognize
Japanese conquests in Asia and
imposed an embargo on oil and
steel to Japan. TENSIONS
The
US and Japan negotiated to
avoid war.
While negotiating with the US,
Japan carried out an air attack on
the US naval base at Pearl Harbor,
on DEC. 7TH, 1941
The
attack killed several
thousand Americans and
destroyed much of the
American Pacific fleet.
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FDR
called it:
–“a date that will live in
infamy”
He
will ask Congress to declare
war on Japan.
Hitler will honor a pact with
Japan and declare war on the US.
The
debate over isolationism in
the US was over. World War II
was truly a world war now and
the US was fully involved.
Allied Strategy
America
and its Allies (Great
Britain and the Soviet Union)
followed a “Defeat Hitler
First” strategy.
Most American military resources
were targeted for Europe.
In
the Pacific, American military
strategy called for an “Island
Hopping” campaign.
The US would seize islands closer
and closer to Japan and use them
for air raids on Japan.
We
would also cut off Japanese
supplies by using submarine
warfare against Japanese
shipping
Germany’s strategy
Germany
hoped to defeat the
Soviet Union quickly and gain
control of their oil fields.
Also hoped to force Britain out of
the war with a bombing campaign
and submarine warfare.
Hoped
to end it before
American industrial and
military strength could turn
the tide
Japan’s strategy
Japan
invaded the Philippines and
Indonesia after Pearl Harbor.
They planned to invade Australia
and Hawaii.
Japan’s
leaders hoped America
would accept Japanese
predominance in South Asia and
the Pacific rather than commit to a
bloody costly war to reverse their
gains
Major Battles and Turning Points
North
Africa
–El Alamein--German forces
threatened to seize Egypt and
the Suez Canal. The Germans
were stopped by the British.
**This
prevented Germany
from gaining access to
Middle Eastern oil and
possibly attacking the
Soviets from the south
Europe
–Stalingrad--Hundreds of
thousands of German soldiers
were killed or captured in a
month long siege of the Russian
city
.**This
prevented
Germany from capturing
Soviet oil fields and
turned the tide against
Germany in the east
–Normandy--(D-Day) American
and Allied troops led by Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in
German occupied France on
June 6, 1944.
Despite
heavy German opposition
and heavy American casualties,
the landings were successful and
the liberation of western Europe
from Hitler had begun
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Holocaust
Genocide--the
systematic and
purposeful destruction of a racial,
political, religious or cultural
group
Final
Solution--Germany’s
decision to exterminate all Jews
Affected
Groups
–Jews
Poles
–Slavs
Gypsies
–Undesirables (homosexuals,
mentally ill, political dissidents)
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Significance--In
the Nuremberg
Trials, Nazi leaders and others
were convicted of war crimes.
The Nuremberg trials emphasized
individual responsibility for
actions during a war, regardless of
orders received.
The
trials led to an increased
demand for a Jewish homeland
(Israel)
A new Jewish country will be
founded in 1948
Asia
–Midway--In the “Miracle of
Midway” American naval forces
defeated a much larger Japanese
naval force. A Japanese victory
would have allowed the
Japanese to invade Hawaii.
The
American victory ended
the Japanese threat to Hawaii
and began a series of
victories in the island
hopping campaign.
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Iwo
Jima and Okinawa-American victories on the two
island brought the US even closer
to Japan but at the cost of
thousands of American lives and
even more Japanese lives.
Japanese
soldiers fought fiercely
over every square inch of the
islands and Japanese soldiers and
civilians committed suicide
rather than surrender
Hiroshima
and Nagasaki--because
we faced terrible casualties of
both the Americans and Japanese
if we had to invade the Japanese
home islands, President Truman
ordered the use of the atomic
bomb on both cities.
**Tens
of thousands of people
were killed in both cities, but it
convinced the Japanese leaders
to surrender.
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Geneva Convention
Attempted to ensure the humane
treatment of prisoners of war. It
established rules to be followed
by all nations
It
still exists today.
The
treatment of prisoners in the
Pacific often reflected the savagery
of the fighting there.
In the Bataan Death March-American POWs suffered brutal
treatment by the Japanese after their
surrender in the Philippines
Japanese
soldiers often
committed suicide rather than
surrender
The
treatment of prisoners in
Europe more closely followed
the ideas of the Geneva
Convention
Japanese
Americans were
relocated to internment camps
Internment affected Japanese
American populations along the
West Coast. The Supreme Court
upheld the government’s right to
act against Japanese Americans
living on the West Coast of the
US.
Reasons
for internment
1. Strong anti-Japanese
prejudice on the West Coast
2.
False belief that Japanese
Americans were aiding the
enemy
A
public apology was
eventually issued by the US
government. Financial payment
was made to survivors.
War at HOME
Success
in the war required the
total commitment of the nation’s
resources. On the home front,
public education and the mass
media promoted nationalism
Economic
Resources--The US
government and industry forged a
close working relationship to
allocate resources effectively
1. Rationing was used to
maintain the supply of products
essential to the war effort
2.
War bonds and the income tax
were used to finance the war.
3. Businesses retooled from
peacetime to wartime production
(ex.--car manufacturing to tank
manufacturing)
Human
resources
1. More women and minorities
entered the labor force as men
entered the armed forces
2.
Citizens volunteered in support
of the war effort.
Military
Resources
The draft/selective service was
used to provide personnel for the
military
Minority participation
African-Americans
generally
served in segregated military units
and were assigned to non-combat
roles.
They
demanded the right to serve
in combat rather than support
roles
There
were two all- minority units
in particular--Tuskegee Airmen
and Nisei regiments
Tuskegee
Airmen--AfricanAmerican pilots who served with
distinction in Europe
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Nisei
Regiments--AsianAmericans earned high
number of decorations earned
in fighting in Europe
Communication
codes of the
Navajo Indians were used as code.
It was an oral, not written,
language
*It was impossible for the
Japanese to break
Mexican-Americans fought but in
non-segregated
Minority
units suffered high
casualties and won numerous
unit citations and individual
medals for bravery in action
Contributions
to a war effort
come from all segments of a
society. Women entered into
previously male job roles as
African Americans and others
struggled to obtain desegregation
in the armed forces and end
discriminatory hiring practices.
Women
increasingly participated
in the work force to replace men
serving in the military (ex.--Rosie
the Riveter)
They typically participated in the
military in non-combat roles
(WAACS and WAVES, and
nurses)
African
Americans migrated to
cities in search of jobs in the war
plants
They
campaigned for victory in
war and equality at home
The
US government maintained
strict censorship of reporting the
war.
Public
morale and ad campaigns
kept Americans focused on the
war effort
The
entertainment industry
produced movies, plays, and
shows that boosted morale and
patriotic support for the war
effort as well as portrayed the
enemy in stereotypical ways.
WW II aftermath
 The
Soviet Union occupied most of
Eastern and Central Europe, eastern
Germany and North Korea
 German was divided (partitioned)
into four zones. The US, Great
Britain, France and the Soviet Union
each controlled a zone
 The
US, GB, and FR will combine
their zones into a democratic selfgoverning country called West
Germany
 East Germany will be created and
dominated by the SU for the next
40+ years. It will be communistic
 Japan
will also be occupied by the
US. It will also adopt a democratic
government based on the US model.
It becomes a strong ally of the US in
the region.
Marshall Plan
 Because
Europe lay in ruins, the US
will launch an economic aid program
called the Marshall Plan.
 We provided massive amounts of
financial aid to rebuild Europe.
 We did this to prevent the spread of
communism.
United Nations
 A new world peace organization was
formed near the end of WWII.
 It was to prevent future global wars.
 The US will play a prominent role in
the UN.
 The UN’s headquarters are located in
New York City.