Goal 10.01: Elaborate on the causes of World War II and reasons for United States entry into the war.
I.
Rise of Totalitarian States
a. _____________________________________________________________________________
i. Single party dictatorship
ii. Full state control of the economy
iii. Uses police and spies to enforce state policy
iv. Strict censorship of media
v. Requires unquestioning obedience to a single leader or authority
vi. Regulates every aspect of its citizens’ lives
b. In the Soviet Union
i. Josef ___________________________________________ (1878 – 1953)
1. Communist ruler of Soviet Union from 1922 – 1953
2. May have killed as many as 60 million of his own people as part of his campaign to
install a totalitarian regime and rapidly industrialize the Russian economy
c. In Italy
i. __________________________________________________________
1. Extreme nationalism which glorifies militarism and the law and order brought by a
strong dictator
2. Teaches that the state is more important than the rights of the individual
ii. Benito ______________________________________________________ (1883 – 1945)
1. Fascist ruler of Italy from 1922 – 1943, nicknamed “Il Duce” (The Leader)
2. Used his “Blackshirts” to suppress political opposition to his party’s leadership and
created the “Young Fascists” to indoctrinate children into the party’s militaristic beliefs
d. In Japan
i. Japanese _________________________________________________________________
1. Between WWI & WWII, Japan’s military gained increasing influence over the
government, especially after the Manchurian Incident
2. Japanese politicians who objected to imperial militarism started to have “accidents”
leading to fear to voice opposition
ii. ____________________________________________ (1901 – 1989)
1. Emperor of Japan from 1926 - 1989
2. Declared that his reign would be dedicated to Showa (enlightened peace)
3. Historians remain divided on how large a role Hirohito had in the day-to-day running of
Japan in the years before WWII
iii. The ___________________________________________________________ Incident
1. The Chinese province of Manchuria had abundant natural resources which Japan
needed to fuel its imperial ambitions
2. In 1931, the Japanese military faked an attack by Chinese troops on its forces in Korea to
create an excuse for invading Manchuria and seizing these resources
iv. The Rape of ____________________________________________________ (December 1937)
1. Angered by Chinese resistance, Japanese forces were given free rein over the captured
city of Nanjing
2. Japanese soldiers raped, tortured, and killed over 200,000 civilians in one of the worst
war crimes in modern history
v. Hideki ______________________________________ (1884 – 1948)
1. Prime Minister of Japan from 1941 – 1944
2. Army General who was appointed head of Japan’s militarist government by Hirohito and
given the responsibility of carrying out Japan’s war effort
3. Ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor and approved of the mistreatment of prisoners of
war in the Philippines & Burma
e. In Germany
i. The _________________________________________________ Republic
1. After WWI, the new German government was burdened with trying to pay off the war
reparations required by the Treaty of Versailles
2. The US attempted to help by extending Germany loans through the Dawes Plan, but
after the Great Depression struck in 1929 the German economy collapsed once again
3. These economic problems, coupled with German anger over the other unfair conditions
of the Treaty (loss of territory, forced demilitarization) created an opportunity for
extremists to seize power
ii. Adolf ____________________________________________________ (1889 – 1945)
1. Chancellor of Germany from 1933 – 1945
2. Head of the National Socialist German Workers (__________________________) Party
3. Had spent time in prison for treason after attempting to seize power in 1923, but was
elected to the office of Chancellor of Germany in democratic elections in 1933
4. Hitler quickly moved to eliminate all political opposition, cementing the Nazi Party in
power and establishing himself as “Fuhrer” (leader) of the new German empire (or Third
Reich) he intended to build across Europe
iii. Early German Anti-Semitism
1. The _____________________________________________________ Laws
a. 29 laws signed into law in 1935 by Hitler
b. Legally defined Jews as a separate “race”
c. Prohibited marriage or sexual relations between Jews and Germans
d. Denied Jews German citizenship rights
e. Jews could not serve in government, professions such as medicine or teaching
2. The Night of Broken Glass or “Kristallnacht” (Nov. 9 & 10, 1938)
a. Retaliation for the murder of a German embassy official by a Jewish gunman
b. Hitler allowed mob attacks against Jewish neighborhoods to go unpunished
c. 91 Jews killed, 25000+ arrested, over 200 synagogues destroyed
iv. Hitler Violates the Treaty of Versailles
1. Began to rebuild the German military, both by increasing its size and by developing new
weaponry
2. Moved troops back into the demilitarized zone along the Rhine River
3. France & Britain, while disturbed by Hitler’s moves, took no action
v. Creation of the ______________________________________________________ (Sept. 1940)
1. Created with the signing of the Tripartite Pact, formally joining Italy, Germany, and
Japan in a military alliance
2. Each power expected to control its own sphere of interest – Germany would dominate
Northern and Europe and Russia, Italy would dominate the Mediterranean and Africa,
while Japan would have sway in East Asia and the Pacific
vi. German Expansionism
1. In March of 1938, Hitler annexed his homeland of ___________________ __________to
Germany, uniting most Germanic peoples of Europe (this is called the “Anschluss”)
II.
2. His next goal was to add German speaking areas in Poland and Czechoslovakia
3. The _________________________________________________ Conference
a. When Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia return territory (the Sudetenland)
that it had been given as part of the Treaty of Versailles, the Czechs called on
Britain and France for protection
b. Britain arranged for a conference with Germany in fall of 1938 (Czechoslovakia
was not invited to attend) to reach a peaceful resolution to the Sudetenland
crisis
c. Britain and France agreed to allow Hitler to take the Sudetenland from
Czechoslovakia; Hitler, in turn, promised that he would engage in no further
territorial aggression in Europe
d. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned home declaring to the
British public that “I believe it is peace for our time” (it wasn’t!)
vii. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Aug. 1939)
1. Germany and the ___________________________________________________ signed
a non-aggression (agreement not to fight – NOT an alliance)
2. This was shocking to the rest of the world because of Hitler and Stalin’s mutual dislike
and distrust of one another
3. This removed the Soviet Union as a potential ally for Britain and France if a war with
Germany broke out
The US and Isolationism
a. Following WWI, Americans began to overwhelmingly support isolationism, or avoiding involvement in
international disputes by limiting non-trade contact with foreign states
b. The _______________________________________________________________ Pact (1928)
i. International agreement that essentially banned war
ii. Signed by nearly every free nation in the world
iii. Nations agreed to limit the size of their navies & other offensive arms
iv. There was, however, no way to enforce the pact, so it wasn’t effective
c. In 1934, all European nations in Europe (except Finland) who had war debts to the US announced that
they were broke (due to the Great Depression) and would not repay what they owed; this led many
Americans to be reluctant about supporting European allies entering WWII
d. The __________________________________ Committee
i. Congressional committee created in 1934 to investigate the role that arms manufacturers had in
involving US in WWI
ii. The committee’s report implied that certain businesses had profited from the war, leading many
American’s to believe that they had been tricked into getting involved in WWI
e. The ______________________________________________________________ Acts
i. 1935 Act: Made it illegal for the US to sell weapons to any nation at war
ii. 1937 Act: “Cash and Carry” – any non-military supplies sold to nations at war had to be paid for
in cash and carried away on their ships
iii. 1939 Act: After WWII started, policy was amended to allow arms sales to Britain, but still under
“cash & carry” terms
f. Roosevelt’s Support for _____________________________________________________________
i. FDR wasn’t an isolationist
ii. Supported the idea that trade between nations increases prosperity for all and decreases the
chances of war
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
iii. Not supported by the American public
iv. FDR had to be careful not to push the idea too far due to the popularity of isolationism
v. The ___________________________________________________ Speech (Oct. 1937)
1. FDR called for a “quarantine” (political and economic sanctions) against any “aggressor”
nations who disregard international law or attack their neighbors unprovoked
2. Angered many American isolationists because it involved the US in the foreign affairs of
others
US Refuses European Jews
i. 1933 – 39: 350,000 Jews left Germany, most sought to flee Europe altogether
ii. Many applied for visas to emigrate to the US, but were denied due to US immigration quota
laws and rising nativism in US
Destroyers for Bases Deal (1940)
i. FDR agreed to trade 50 surplus US Navy destroyers to Britain (who needed them to protect
shipping) in exchange for allowing the US to build naval bases in British-controlled territories
Isolationism Debate
i. Fight for Freedom Committee: some people wanted the US to take an active role in the war
ii. Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies: some wanted the US to increase aid to the
Allies but not get involved in the fighting
iii. America First Committee: some opposed ANY involvement in the war
FDR’s “______________________________________________________________” Speech (Jan. 1941)
i. Roosevelt argued that the US & Britain were natural allies because they both stood for:
1. Freedom of speech
2. Freedom of worship
3. Freedom from want
4. Freedom from fear
___________________________________________________________ Act (March 1941)
i. US declared that it would lend or lease (since it couldn’t sell due to the Neutrality Acts) weapons
to nations considered “vital to the defense of the US”
ii. US went on to send $40 billion in weapons to Allies over the course of WWII
Hemispheric Defense Zone
i. To help protect British shipping, FDR declared the entire Western Atlantic to be part of the
Western Hemisphere and thereby under the protection of the US per the Monroe Doctrine
ii. FDR then ordered the US Navy to patrol this part of the Atlantic, leading to several deadly
encounters between US destroyers and German U-boats
The ____________________________________________________ Charter (Aug. 1941)
i. FDR met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to lay out a post-war plan for economic
prosperity
ii. Many question whether or not this is where FDR promised Churchill that he would find a way to
get the American people to support the US entering the war
US _______________________________________________________________ of Japan
i. US cut off Japan’s access to critical war materials such as steel and oil (both of which Japan
bought almost entirely from America) to put pressure on Japan to make peace with China and
Britain
ii. Japan considered this an act of war and began to plan an attack on US military facilities in Hawaii
and the Philippines