Chapter 26: World War II
The Rise of the Dictators
1. Adolph Hitler in Germany
2. Benito Mussolini in Italy
3. Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union
4. The people of Europe are suffering from
the effects of the world wide depression.
5. Germans also are paying back war debt
from WWI.
6. Europeans easily accept new
leadership that promises hope for the
future.
7. Mussolini takes power and bans all
opposing parties except his Fascist
Party.
8. Mussolini sends boys and girls to
military institutions to teach them to be
loyal to the government.
9. Hitler’s Nazi Party takes power in
Germany
10. Fascists and Nazis are nationalistic
and racist, especially toward Jews
11. Racism toward Jews is called antiSemitism.
12. In Japan, military leaders take over.
13. Italy invades Ethiopia. Germany
invades the Rhineland, and Japan
invades China in hopes of expanding
their territory.
14. Japan, Italy, and Germany sign a
pact of alliance in 1940 known as the
Axis.
15. Stalin demanded complete obedience
from his people and used force to get it.
16. These European dictators
established Totalitarian states, areas
where one man or party control all
aspects of life.
17. Stalin forced millions of his people
onto government owned farms.
18. America, still suffering from WWI
involvement and the Depression, passes the
Neutrality Acts, a series of laws created to
keep America out of future wars.
19. After invading the Rhineland, Germany
invades Austria, the Sudetenland in
Czechoslovakia
20. To avoid another world war, Britain
and France agree to give Sudetenland to
Germany in a policy known as
appeasement.
21. Later that year Hitler invades the rest
of Czechoslovakia
22. Hitler signs a Non-Aggression pact
with Stalin, basically a promise that the
two have no plans to attack each other.
23. Hitler then invades Poland.
Section 2: War Begins
24. In 1939, with the German invasion of
Poland, France and Great Britain declare
war on Germany
25. The rapid German attack was known
as blitzkrieg, or lightning war.
26. As a result of the Soviet-German
pact, Stalin and Hitler divided Poland.
27. The Soviets, although not part of the Axis
powers, then forced Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,
and Finland under Soviet control.
28. Germany then invaded Denmark,
Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, all
crushed under the German military.
29. Allied troops retreated to the port of
Dunkirk on the English Channel.
30. Germans then completed their march
by capturing Paris and accepting the
French surrender.
31. Hitler
attacked
Britain by
bombing
the
shipyards,
industry,
and cities.
32. Hitler asked British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill to surrender but
Churchill held out.
33. Germany could not gain control of
the skies over Britain so Hitler ended his
air attacks.
34. Frustrated over Britain, Hitler
launched an attack against Stalin in
1941, bringing the Soviets into the war
on the side of the Allies.
35. Although neutral, Americans
prepared for war.
36. Roosevelt strengthened the navy and
enacted the first peace-time draft in
American history.
37. Franklin Roosevelt also broke the
tradition set by George Washington by
running for a third term as President.
38. FDR won by promising that American
Boys would not be sent into foreign wars.
39. America passed the Lend-Lease Act,
allowing the U.S. to sell, lend, or lease
war supplies to any nation considered
vital to American defense.
40. American
ships began
escorting these
shipments as
German subs
started sinking
them.
41. America remained neutral and called
for disarmament – giving up military
weapons.
42. When Germany defeated France,
Japan took over the French colony of
Indochina and planned to take the Dutch
East Indies, Malaya, and the American
territory of the Philippines.
43. America responded by freezing all
Japanese assets in the United States.
44. Japan negotiated in Washington
while secretly planning to go to war with
America.
45. At 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, December 7,
1941, Japanese planes attacked the U.S.
naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
46. On December 11, Germany and Italy
declared war on America and America
responded by declaring war on the Axis
powers.
Section 3: America Joins the War
47. Nearly 15 million Americans join the
war effort as draftees and volunteers.
48. 250,000
women joined the
service as WACs,
Women’s Air
Corps. Although
they did not fight in
combat they served
vital roles.
49. America paid for the war by raising
taxes and selling war bonds.
50. Industry for the war effort soared in
America, bringing America back to
prosperity after years of depression.
51. Women at home entered the
factories as welders and riveters making
tanks and planes, although they were
paid less than the men.
52. African Americans served at first in
segregated units and were gradually
integrated with white units in non-combat
roles.
53. African Americans were eventually
able to fight.
54. The 332nd
Fighter
Group, known
as the
Tuskegee
Airmen, shot
down more
than 200
enemy planes
55. African Americans left the rural south
to find war-time factory jobs in the north,
although racial discrimination was still
evident in the north.
56. Native Americans served the military
and even created a code using the
Navajo language that the Japanese
could not break.
57. 12 Hispanic Americans were
awarded the Medal of Honor, the nations
highest military medal.
58. Thousands of Hispanics were
recruited into America as war-time labor
needs increased.
59. More than 100,000 Japanese
Americans were relocated to detention
centers as few Americans thought they
could be trusted.
Section 4: War in Europe and Africa
First
60. America and the other allies decided
to concentrate on defeating Hitler first.
61. A direct assault on Europe would
have been too difficult so they started
with Africa.
62. In Africa, the Axis forces were
commanded by German general Erwin
Rommel.
63. American
generals Dwight
D. Eisenhower
and George
Patton teamed
up to defeat
Rommel and
drove the Axis
powers out of
Africa.
64. By the Summer of 1943, Americans
had secured Africa , taken back the
island of Sicily, and landed on the
mainland of Italy.
65. Italians, tired
of the war,
overthrew
Mussolini and
surrendered to
the Allies.
66. The Allies still faced stiff opposition
from German forces in Italy and were
only able to liberate Rome in June of
1944.
67. American bombers concentrated on
Germany during the day while British
bombers flew over at night.
68. German forces made it deep into
Soviet territory but were unable to finish
off the Soviets.
69. Food and supplies ran short for
German forces and the cold weather
took a toll.
70. A massive counter offensive by the
Soviets pushed the Germans back 100s
of miles.
71. Finally, in the summer of 1943, the
Germans lost a major battle at Stalingrad
that marked a turning point in the war.
72. As the Soviets marched toward
Germany, the rest of the Allies launched
Operation Overlord, a major offensive
landing troops on the beaches of
Normandy, France.
73. The Landing occurred on June 6,
1944, D-Day.
74. Germany was now fighting for
survival on two fronts.
75. By mid April 1945, the Soviets had
surrounded Berlin, the capital of Germany.
76. President Franklin Roosevelt died on
April 12, 1945 and his Vice President,
Harry Truman became President.
77. Hitler committed suicide and on May
7, Germany surrendered. The following
day was known as V-E day, victory in
Europe.
78. As the Allies liberated areas under
German control they found “death
camps” meant to exterminate Jews and
undesirables.
79. The extermination of a race is called
genocide.
80. As many as 6 million Jews died at the
hands of the Germans in what is to
become known as the Holocaust.
Section 5: War in the Pacific
81. Days after the attack on Pearl
Harbor, the Japanese had invaded much
of the Pacific islands and the Asian
mainland.
82. General Douglas MacArthur,
commander of the troops in Manila had
to retreat.
83. With Japans quick victories American
moral was low.
84. Japans first major loss was at he
Battle of Midway, a naval battle.
85. Americans began concentrating on
going from island to island.
86. Though victorious in securing several
islands, Americans lost thousands of
lives.
87. Desperate to keep the Americans out
of Japan, the Japanese began using
kamikazes, suicide pilots who flew into
ships. These pilots managed to sink
many American ships.
88. These new tactics forced America to
use the Atomic Bomb.
89. German born physicist Albert
Einstein had warned Roosevelt early in
the war that Hitler was developing the
atomic bomb. As a result Roosevelt
started the Manhattan Project, a top
secret operation to create our version of
the Atomic bomb.
90. Now, President Truman gave orders
for the American B-29 bomber to launch
an Atomic attack on the city of
Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later
another was dropped on Nagasaki,
Japan.
91. In total, over 120,000 Japanese died
of the blast, and years later thousands
more died over radiation poisoning.
92. The Japanese surrendered August
15, 1945
93. Over 40 million people died as a
result of World War 2.