World War WII
A BASIC SUMMARY
Michael Quinones
www.socialstudiesguy.com
Benito Mussolini
 Italy was led by Benito
Mussolini [president] for
about 22 years.
 Leader of Italy’s Fascist party.
 Main ideas of his
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government:
Extreme nationalism
Strong military
Use violence when necessary to
suppress dissent
Against personal freedom
Against big business
Adolf Hitler
 Germany was lead by Adolf
Hitler [Fuehrer] for about 12
years.
 Leader of Germany’s Nazi party.
 Main ideas of his
government:
 white supremacy
 Strong military
 Control of Central Europe
 Elimination of Jews
The Third Reich
 The 12 year period from 1933-
1945 was called the 3rd Reich
during Hitler’s leadership.
 The Nazi Party attempted to
pattern itself after the great
episodes in German history.
 The government was
responsible the invasion and
destruction of Europe and the
mass murder of millions of Jews
in Eastern Europe.
Countries and their leaders
 Japan was led by Emperor
Hirohito for about 20 years.
 Absolute Monarch of Japan.
 Main ideas of his
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government:
Modern version of ancient
Japan.
Held absolute control over
people’s lives.
Viciously loyal military.
Wanted control over fellow
oriental Asians [China and
Korea].
Munich Pact [Munich Agreement]
 European countries became nervous over Germany’s invasions.
 England’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain [before Churchill]
met with Hitler to gauge his intentions.
 What did Hitler tell him?
 Czechoslovakia was all he wanted and no one else had to be
worried.
 Chamberlain assured Hitler that if he was telling the truth the
allies understood his position.
Josef Stalin
 The Soviet Union was led by
Josef Stalin [Communist
party leader] for about 30 years.
 Leader of the Communist
party.
 Main ideas of his
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government:
Control every portion of
people’s lives.
Strong military.
Have equality among regular
people.
No private businesses for profit.
Winston Churchill
 Great Britain was led by
Winston Churchill
[Prime Minister] for about
10 years.
 Prime Minister of England.
 Main ideas of his
government:
 England must be a strong
leader in the world.
 Government must help
people succeed.
 England must cooperate
with its fellow countries.
Kellogg-Briand Pact

In 1928 the United States and France [England, Japan, Italy and Germany also
joined the pact] initiated a peace agreement to renounce [reject or avoid]
aggression. Frank B. Kellogg was the U.S. Secretary of State and Aristide
Briand was the French foreign minister.

Despite the agreement to not engage in unprovoked warfare Germany, Italy
and Japan all violated the agreement and invaded other countries.

Violations of this “pact” was the source of future prosecutions for war crimes
after World War II ended.
Neutrality Acts

The United States, led by F.D.R., decided it was best to remain
isolationist as much as possible.
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However, the U.S. did provide opportunities for foreign nations to trade
with it. The U.S. passed so-called Neutrality Acts in 1935, 1936, 1937
and 1939.

Weapons and supplies were sold to European nations friendly to the
United States.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s Quarantine’s Speech

F.D.R. believed it was in the United
States’ best interest to avoid nations
that were involved in aggression
towards other nations.
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F.D.R. did not mention specific
nations but it was obvious he was
talking about Italy, Japan and
Germany who had attacked other
nations in Asia and Europe.
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The speech raised tension between
the U.S. and the aggressor nations.
Non-Aggression Pact [Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

This was a pledge [promise] by
Germany and the Soviet Union
to remain neutral if either country
was attacked by another country.
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The pact was signed on August
23, 1939 but was violated by
Germany on June 22, 1941 after
it invaded the Soviet Union.
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Unfortunately due to very harsh
weather the German invasion
ended in disaster with heavy
casualties and surrenders.
Four Freedoms

F.D.R. delivered a State of the Union
Address [Youtube speech] on January 6,
1941 about what he called the Four
Freedoms.
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Roosevelt told Congress that he looked
forward to a word founded on:
[1] Freedom of speech and expression
[2] Freedom of worship [religion]
[3] Freedom from want [basic standard of
living is met]
[4] Freedom from fear based on reduced
military armaments
Lend-Lease Act of 1941
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In order to avoid conflict and remain a non-combatant F.D.R. tried to comply
with the Neutrality Acts he decided to limit involvement to lending military
equipment and lending money to foreign nations.
The legislation raised German suspicions toward the U.S. and it stepped up
U-boat attacks on Allied ships.
After the war the U.S. received returned equipment and discounted by 90%
money it lent to foreign nations.
Rosie the Riveter
During World War II with most men overseas fighting
the Axis Powers many women worked industrial
factory jobs to produce war supplies.
 The manual labor that women performed was much
different than the stereotypical domestic and clerical
work many women were accustomed to.
 There contributions to the war effort was essential to
the U.S. victory. “Rosie the Riveter” became an
iconic image used as propaganda to motivate
women to perform non-traditional factory jobs.
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W.A.C.s [Women’s Army Corps]

Beginning in 1942 an all female
U.S. army unit called the
Women’s Army Corps was
formed and given full active
status in 1943.

The unit performed support role
such as air traffic control for the
U.S. Army Air Corps [forerunner
of the Air Force].

There was significant opposition
to the female service personnel
by traditionalists therefore a
female draft was never begun.

General McArthur called the
WACs his best soldiers because
they were worked harder,
complained less, and had more
discipline than men.
Japan’s Aggression at Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941 Japan
attacked the U.S. Naval base
at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The attack was done using war
planes.

Attack was a near total
surprise but killed over 2,000
U.S. servicemen.

F.D.R. called the day one “that
would live in infamy.”

The United States declared
war against the Axis powers
days after.
Korematsu vs. United States:1944 [Opposition to Japanese Internment]
Facts of the Case:
Supreme Court’s Ruling:
President Franklin Roosevelt issued an
Executive Order excluding/removing all
Japanese-Americans from the West Coast
of the United States. After the 1941
Japanese attack on the U.S.
Japanese-Americans were forced to sell
their homes and businesses. They were
then relocated to “internment camps” in
Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Many Japanese-Americans had been in the
U.S. for several generations and almost all
were natural born citizens.
Many sued to be released but all failed in
their appeals. Fred Korematsu sued for his
release and was granted appeal in 1944.
Constitutional Issue:
Was the executive order issued by the
President allowable and within his
power?
Were Japanese-Americans treated
unfairly during a time of war?
The opinion determined that as Commander in Chief
the president had the duty, power and responsibility to
use his judgment to determine how to handle war time
emergencies so the “temporary” relocation was not
considered a violation of Korematsu’s rights.
Manhattan Project

In 1941 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started a top secret
program to create a weapon of mass destruction.

The program was code named Manhattan.

Scientists from countries such as Italy, Germany, Austria and the
U.S. were able to enrich uranium and plutonium.
The process was based on atomic chain reactions which massive
amounts of energy to release.

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The weapon became known as the atomic bomb.
The United States Strikes Back!
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Within three days of each other
the United States dropped two
atomic bombs.
Code names were Fat man
and Little Boy
First one on Hiroshima, Japan.
Second one on Nagasaki,
Japan.
At least 80,000 killed instantly.
Many more died due to
radiation poison later on.
The Destruction of Fat man and Little Boy
The End of World War II

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Germany was defeated by the Allies by May of 1945 called VE
Day [Victory over Europe day].
Japan surrendered to the United States on in September 1945
called VJ Day [Victory over Japan day].
Image Sources
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