WORLD WAR II
Chapter 15
Section 1: The Allies Turn the Tide
Axis and Allies Plan Strategy
• The attack on Pearl Harbor brought America into World
War II
• British pilots kept a Nazi invasion from their island and
U.S. Navy halted the Japanese at the Battle of Coral Sea
• Axis Powers did not have a unified effort, Hitler wanted to
dominate Europe, Mussolini dreamed of an Italian empire,
whileTojo wanted to control the Western pacific and Asia
Cont.…
• The Allies shared more unified goals, Roosevelt,
Churchill, and Stalin considered Germany the most
dangerous enemy due to their resources
• The allies adopted a “Europe First” policy giving the
Pacific a secondary front label
Turning the Tide in Europe
• America struck with its “arsenal of democracy.” We
produced millions of tons of guns, tanks, and other
supplies
Allies Battle U-Boats in the Atlantic
• The issue was not production but delivery!
• “Wolf Packs” of German U-boats patrolled the Atlantic and
Caribbean sinking more than 3,500 merchant ships and
killing tens of thousands of Allied seaman
• By 1943, radar, long-range bombers, convoys, and depth
charges began to sink U-boats faster than Germany could
manufacture them
Soviets Turn Back Nazis at Stalingrad
• Germany attacked Russia in June 1941. Leningrad and
Moscow and Stalingrad were their objectives
• The Soviets fought back fiercely and the
Russian winter stopped the German
advancements
• Hitler began to concentrate on the
Caucasus oil fields, but Stalingrad
lay in the way, this was the turning
point for the war in Europe
Allies Drive Germans Out of North Africa
• The British had been fighting the Germans and Italians in
North Africa since 1940
• Stalin wanted the U.S. and Britain to relieve the Soviet
Union by starting a second front
• October 1942 the British won a major victory at El
Alamein in Egypt
Cont.…
• Dwight Eisenhower – know as Ike, commanded the
allied invasion of North Africa
• February 1943, German general Erwin Rommel (Desert
Fox) led his men to break through the American lines to
Algeria, America soldiers fought back and Rommel was
forced to retreat. (supplies)
• George S. Patton, Jr. – an innovative tank
commander, known as Blood and Guts
Increasing the Pressure on Germany
• Germany was now on the defensive, in 1943 Roosevelt
and Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco, they first
agreed to increase bombing of Germany and invade Italy
• Then FDR demanded that Germany must only accept and
unconditional surrender
Allies Invade Italy
• The Allied forces began their invasion of Italy through
Sicily and then drove the Axis troops north.
• The 38 day campaign resulted in the control of western
Mediterranean and the eventual surrender of Italy on
September 3rd 1943
Cont…
• Mussolini was eventually driven to a mountaintop fortress,
where Hitler had to send a small German airborne force to
rescue him
• Hitler later made him a puppet head of state in northern
Italy
Cont…
• The invasion of Italy was a slow because of the terain and
rivers, rain and snow
• Tanks and artillery became useless and mules were used
to carry supplies
Bombers Batter Germany
• Saturation Bombing – inflict maximum damage
• Strategic Bombing – goal to destroy Germany’s capacity
to make war
Cont.…
• Tuskegee Airmen – played a key role in the campaign
escorting bombers over enemy territory in Europe
Turning the Tide in the Pacific
• The “Europe First” strategy did not mean the Pacific
theater was left on checked! Though the Japanese
seemed unstoppable as they swept through American,
British, and Dutch colonies along with the Philippines,
Malaya, Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, Wake Island,
Guam and Burma
Turning Point: Americans Triumph at
Midway
• Admiral Yamamoto, commander of Japanese forces in the
pacific knew the U.S. Navy was wounded in Pearl Harbor
the U.S. carrier fleet was still a threat
Cont…
• Admiral Chester Nimitz – commander of the U.S. Navy in
the Pacific knew of Yamamoto’s plans thanks to Navy
code breakers
• To stop the threat the Japanese posed the U.S. controlled
Hawaiian Islands and Aleutians islands off the coast of
Alaska Nimitz sent an intercept force to stop him at
Midway
Hawaii, Aleutians, and Midway
Cont…
• Battle of Midway – was the turning point of the war in the
Pacific, ending he seemingly unstoppable Japanese
advance, Japan was now on the defensive to end of the
war
The Home Front: Section 2
Why it matters…
• The war effort stirred patriotism and promoted economic
recovery while testing civil liberties, and offering new
opportunities for women and minorities
New Economic Opportunities
• American companies were able to quickly refit to war time
production
• With the male work force exhausted women soon filled
the gaps, eventually make up on third of the workforce
Women Work for Victory
• Wartime pressures created two breaks from women in
traditional workforce jobs
• Heavy Industry, and Marriage ¾ working in wartime
industry were married
African Americans Demand Fair
Employment
• Many African American leaders hoped the war would
change the employment opportunities for blacks in
America, though jobs provided by the government and
military remained segregated
• “Double V” campaign – victory against fascism abroad,
and discrimination at home
• A. Philip Randolph – charismatic labor leader asserted
that African Americans would no longer accept secondclass citizenship
Cont.…
• Executive Order 8802 – assured fair hiring practices in
any job funded with government money and established
the Fair Employment Practices Committee to enforce
these requirements
Workers on the Move
• Wartime needs encouraged migration as people moved in
search of work
• California’s population increased by 2 million residents
while cities such as Detroit, Gary, and Chicago boomed
The Population Starts to Shift
• To lessen the rural population drain, the U.S. partnered
with Mexico to operate the bracero program, bringing
laborers from Mexico, eventually several hundred
thousand migrated to the U.S.
Migration Triggers Conflict
• In 1943 wartime migration led to racial violence, the worst
was in Detroit, Michigan. Riots erupted with 34 deaths.
Housing for blacks was at the root of the eruption.
Cont.…
• Los Angeles also saw rioting in 1943 against the “zooters”
or Mexican American youths dressed in baggy pants and
long jackets. Police arrested the victims and not the
attackers
A Challenge to Civil Liberties
• The Pearl Harbor attack caused fear across the U.S.
• The Federal government drafted policies against those
immigrants for Axis nations, they were fingerprinted and
registered and list affiliations
Aliens Face Restrictions
• German, Italian, and Japanese aliens were subject to
arrest or deportation if deemed dangerous to national
security
• Camps, curfews or travel restriction were place on
Germans and Italians until FDR removed the restrictions
• Japanese aliens and citizens were believe to inherently
disloyal
Cont.…
• With Executive Order 9066 FDR designated areas as war
zones from which anyone might be removed for any
reason
• 100,000 Japanese Americans were evacuated from the
west coast
• Lack of political clout, smaller numbers, and racism
attributed to the main movements
but not in Hawaii were one third
of the population were Japanese
Americans
Japanese Americans Are Interned
• Internment – temporary imprisonment of members of
specific group (Primary Source pg. 477)
• Korematsu v. United States – the Supreme Court upheld
the governments wartime policy (1988) pg. 479
• 422nd Regimental Combat Team – fought in the Italian
campaign and became the most decorated military unit in
American history
Supporting the War Effort
• The war cost $330 billion which was double the amount of
money the U.S. had spent since the founding of the nation
• The national debt went from $42billion to $269billion
• Taxes and war bonds helped to cover some of the costs
?
The Government Manages the Economy
• Increased war production led to a shortages in consumer
products with increase prices
• Rationing – coupon books were issued that limited the
amount of certain goods, such as butter, tires, gas etc.....
Media Boosts Morale
• Office of War Information (OWI) – worked closely with
the media to encourage support of the war effort
Section 3: Victory in Europe and the
Pacific
Why it Matters
• In 1942 and 1943, the Allies turned back the Axis
advances. The U.S. attacked Germany from the west and
east and began to advance across the Pacific
Planning Germany’s Defeat
• Up until 1943 the Soviet troops had taken on the brunt of
the fighting in Europe
• Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin debated the role of whom
would start the second front Churchill recalled the
slaughter of British troops in WWI and wanted to ensure
the troops would be well trained and supplied
Cont…
• FDR sided with Stalin and Churchill reluctantly agreed to
make a cross-channel invasion
• After years of war the Brits and Americans would start
their march to push back Hitler starting in France, six
months later “Operation Overlord” was a reality (Primary
Source pg. 483)
D-Day Invasion of Normandy
• Overlord involved the most experienced Allied officers in
Europe, General Dwight D. Eisenhower served as
Supreme Commandeer while British General Bernard
Montgomery served as commander of the ground forces
Eisenhower Plans the Invasion
• Overlord involved landing 21 American divisions and 26
British, Canadian, and polish divisions along a 50 mile
stretch of beaches in Normandy. The fleet was the largest
ever assembled with more then 4,400 ships and landing
craft
• Patton was put in charge of an elaborate “paper army” to
make the Germans think the Allies would cross the
channel from Calais
Patton’s Paper Army
Heroes Storm the Beaches
• June 6th 1944 is known as D-Day
• 11,000 planes were used destroy German communication
and transportation networks
• Most of the landings were lightly opposed but at Omaha
one of the Americans two beaches the Germans offered
strong defensives
Omaha Beach
Liberation of Europe
• After D-Day, Germany faced a hopeless two-front war
• Little by little Soviet soldiers forced Germany to retreat
back through lands they once overrode, Latvia, Romania,
Slovakia, and Hungary, losing not only land but natural
resources
Allies Advance
• In 1944 the Allies liberated Paris, Hitler had ordered his
generals to destroy the French Capital, but they
disobeyed him
• As a feeling of hopelessness fell over Germany, Rommel
and other leading generals plotted to overthrow Hitler, on
July 20th 1944 a bomb was planted at his headquarters
but Hitler survived
Germany Counterattacks
• In December 1944 Hitler ordered a counter attack at
Ardennes
• The counterattack was known as Battle of the Bulge, the
Allies were caught by surprise and bad weather kept them
from using their air superiority
• At Bastogne a small Belgian town, Americans forces held
despite frostbite and brutal German assaults
Allies Push to Victory
• By January the Soviet Army had reached the Oder River
outside Berlin
• The Allies had advanced through Italy, Mussolini tried to
flee to Switzerland but was captured and executed
• The U.S. and British had crossed the Rhine River into
Germany
Cont…
• Hitler by now was a physical wreck: shaken by tremors,
paranoid from drugs and kept alive by dreams of victory
• On April 30 he and a few of his closest associates
committed suicide
• On May 7th in France Germany surrendered and America
celebrated V-E day, FDR died just weeks before
• Harry S. Truman – would see the nation through to the
end of the war
V-E Day (Victory in Europe)
Advancing in the Pacific
• While the war was still playing out in Europe the American
forces in the Pacific were leaping forward
• Island Hopping – strategy, capturing some Japanese-held
islands and ignoring others in a steady path toward Japan
Japanese Troops Fight to the Death
• Each island the American forces took they meet
unbelievable struggle, Japanese defenders fought to the
last man
• Kamikaze - pilots deliberately crashed their planes into
American ships (3,000 Japanese airman by the end of the
war)
• MacArthur was able to retake the Philippines
American Forces Near Japan
• One of the fiercest battles in the island hopping campaign
took place on Iwo Jima, a 5 mile-long island
• 36 days of fighting with 23,000 marines casualties
Cont…
• On Okinawa 340 miles from Japan it tooke half a million
troops and 1,213 warships and 50,000 casualties
• With this airbase U.S. B-29 bombers could now reach
Japanese factories, military bases and cities
The Atomic Bomb Ends the War
• Advances in technology, made planes faster, bombs
deadlier, and weapons more accurate, along with the
atomic bomb
The Manhattan Project Develops the ABomb
• Albert Einstein – signed a letter that alerted FDR abouth
the need to proceed with atomic development
• Manhattan Project - cost billions of dollars and employed
tens of thousands
• J. Robert Oppenheimer – was responsible
for building facilities, acquiring the materials
and recruiting scientist and providing security
(Hindu poem: “Now I am become Death, the
destroyer of Worlds”)
Truman Makes His Decision
• The decision to use the bomb fell directly on Truman,
there was the ethical issue, civilians… would it save lives?
• Truman’s advisors thought an invasion of Japan might
cost 1,000,000 American lives
Hiroshima and Nagasaki are Destroyed
• On August 6th 1945 the first of two atomic bombs were
dropped on Hiroshima (Primary Source pg. 491)
• Within two minutes 60,000 were dead or missing in
Hiroshima
• On August 9th the Soviets declared war against Japan and
the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing
35,000
• On September 2nd Japan officially surrendered aboard the
USS Missouri
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Section 4: The Holocaust
Roots of the Holocaust
• Holocaust – Nazi attempt to kill all Jews under their
control.
• Anti-Semitism – prejudice and discrimination against
Jewish people
• Nuremberg Laws – denied German citizenship to Jews,
banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews, and
segregated Jews in all aspects of society
• Hitler hinted to the future and the “Final Solution”
Nuremberg Laws
Roots of the Holocaust
Cont…
• Kristallnacht (KRIHS tahl nacht) – “Night of the Broken
Glass,” secret police and military units destroyed more
than 1,500 synagogues and 7,500 Jewish-owned
businesses, killed 200 and injured 600 more
Jewish Refugees Face Obstacles
• Between 1933 and 1937, about 129,000
Jews fled Germany and Nazi-controlled
Austria. Notably Albert Einstein.
• More would have left but most countries did not want
them!
• 1939 ocean liner St. Louis, was turned away with 900
Jews on board 600 later died in concentration camps
Nazis Adopt the “Final Solution”
• Concentration camps – camps used by the Nazis to
imprison “undesirable” members of society
• Labor leaders, Socialists, communists, journalists,
novelists, ministers, priests, Gypsies, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, homosexuals, beggars, drunkards,
conscientious objectors, physically disabled, mentally ill
Millions Are Murdered in Death Camps
• Death Camps – where prisoners were systematically
exterminated
The Allies and the Holocaust
• Early response was weak: immigration policies, Great
Depression, underestimate Hitler's genocidal plans
• American government takes action in 1942 by
acknowledging that Jews were being taken to Poland and
killed
• War Refugee Board – worked with the Red Cross to
save thousands of Eastern European Jews
Allied Soldiers Liberated the Camps
What is this???
Medical Experiments and Dr. Josef
Mengele
Section 5: Effects of War
Allies Set Postwar Goals
• The US was forever changed by WWII, many were
determined to extend the ideals of democracy and we
became a vital player in world affairs.
• The Germans and Japanese fought WWII to the bitter
end.
Allies Make Plans at Yalta
• Yalta Conference – the Big Three – Roosevelt, Churchill,
and Stalin agreed that Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania
would hold free election. Stalin later reneged on this
promise.
Truman Faces Stalin at Potsdam
• While in Potsdam, Germany, Truman learned of the
successful test of the atomic bomb. The Big Three
formalized the decision to divide Germany into four zones,
US, Soviet, British and French. Stalin also agreed to enter
the war against Japan.
A New World Takes Shape
• The differences between the Soviet Union and its former
Allies led to the division of Germany into two countries;
communist East and noncommunist West Germany.
• Civil resumed in China between the Nationalists and
communists
• General Douglas MacArthur supervised the rebuilding of
Japan; new constitution, abolished armed forces except
for defense, women could vote, democratic reforms, and
economic recovery.
Imperialism Goes Into Decline
• The aggressive acquisition of territories by Japan and
Germany underscored the abuses of imperialism. After
WWII Colonialism began to decline
The Balance of Power Shifts
• The US and Soviet Union emerged from the war confident
and strong, they became known as superpowers
because of this strength. The US was clearly stronger
because no major battles had been fought on its land
except for Pearl Harbor.
International Cooperation
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – a
1948 treaty designed to expand world trade by reducing
tariffs.
• United Nations (UN) – an organization that many hoped
would succeed where the League of Nations had failed.
In 1945 delegates from 50 nations met in San Fran to
write a charter and later moved the UN to N.Y.
Cont.
• Universal Declaration of Human Right – 1948 (Primary
Source pg. 501)
War Criminal Go on Trial
• Geneva Convention – an international agreement
governing the humane treatment of wounded soldiers and
prisoners of war.
• Nuremberg Trials – the Allies prosecuted Nazis for war
crimes, showed the glaring evils of the Third Reich.
• “I was following orders”