Chapter 25
World War Two
(1939-1945)
Rise of Dictators
• Democracies weak after WW1 (huge
war debts, unemployment, hunger,
homelessness)
• 1920’s - 1930’s dictators rise to power
in both Europe and Asia
• All believe in totalitarian governments
(absolute control over its citizens)
Faces of Totalitarianism
• Benito Mussolini
• Believed in Fascism
• 1922 Il Duce: “the
chief” of Italy
• Goal: control the
Mediterranean Sea
and Middle East
Faces of Totalitarianism
• German soldier
WW1
• Believed in Nazism,
a type of Fascism
• Published his beliefs
in Mein Kampf
• Goal: form a master
race of “Aryans” to
rule the world
Faces of Totalitarianism
• Joseph Stalin
• “man of steel”
• Succeeded Lenin as
the Premier of the
Communist Soviet
Union 1924-1953
• Goal: spread worldwide communism
Faces of Totalitarianism
• General Francisco
Franco
• 1939 Fascist leader
of Spain
• Goal: restore Spain
to prominence in
Europe
Faces of Totalitarianism
• Hideki Tojo
• Prime Minister of
Japan 1941
• Totalitarian gov’t.
• Goal: to control the
Far East and Pacific
Axis Powers Formed
• 1935: Hitler violated the Treaty of
Versailles and forms a military alliance
with Italy (Rome-Berlin Axis Pact)
• 1940: Japan joins the Axis Powers
(Rome-Berlin-Tokeyo Axis Pact)
• League of Nations did nothing to stop
the aggression (Isolationism)
Axis Powers
• Which flag
represents which
country?
• Which country was
first to show signs of
aggression?
Dictators become aggressive
• 1931 Japan invades Manchuria (why?)
• 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia (why?)
• 1936 Germany reoccupies the
Rhineland (western Germany) (why?)
• 1937 Japan attacks China (why?)
• 1938 Germany invades Austria
• 1938 Germany invades the
Sudetenland (western Czech.)
Italy invades Ethiopia
Rhineland
World War Two: 1939-1945
Isolationism
• No one willing to challenge the
aggressors. Why?
• U.S. deep in their own domestic issues:
Economic depression
• Neutrality Laws passed by Congress
(1935-1937). Designed to keep U.S.
out of war.
Isolationism
• 1935 1st Neutrality Act: unlawful to sell
weapons to countries at war
• 1936 2nd Neutrality Act: unlawful to
give loans or credit to countries at war
• 1937 3rd Neutrality Act: unlawful to sell
weapons to countries involved in civil
wars (Spain)
Munich Pact 1939
• Following Hitler’s invasion of the
Sudetenland, four world leaders met to
discuss German aggression
• Neville Chamberlain (Great Britain)
• Edward Daladier (France)
• Benito Mussolini (Italy)
• Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Munich Pact
• Hitler promised “no more aggression” if
he could keep the land already
occupied
• Allies saw the policy as a victory for
peace
• Known as the Policy of Appeasement
(does not work--must meet aggression
head on)
Russian-German Alliance
• Aug. 1939: Non-Aggression Pact signed
between Germany and USSR.
– Will not fight each other
– Will jointly invade Poland and divide it between the
two countries
• Why did Hitler sign this pact?
• Why did Stalin sign this pact?
Non-Aggression Pact
• Germany will eventually break the pact
on June 22, 1941 and invade the USSR
• 3 million German soldiers will invade
USSR
• Does Germany succeed in taking over
USSR?
World War II Begins
• Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invades
Poland
• Sept. 3, 1939: GB and France declare
war on Germany and WW2 begins
Introduction of Blitzkrieg
• Lightning warfare
• Dive bombers (stukas) used in first
wave of attacks
• Armored divisions (panzers) consisting
of highly mobilized, mechanized tanks
and mounted artillery used in second
wave of attacks
Blitzkrieg
• What are the benefits of blitzkrieg?
• What are the draw backs of blitzkrieg?
• This is how warfare begins, even to this
day.
“Cash and Carry”
• Nov. 1939, US reaction to the invasion
of Poland was to pass 4th Neutrality Act
called “Cash and Carry”.
• Required the nations at war to pay cash
and carry the goods themselves (on US
shores)
German Aggression continues
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Following the invasion of Poland:
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
France
The Battle of Britain
• Aug. 1940 Winston Churchill becomes
new Prime Minister of G.B.
• G.B. was last major country in Europe
to conquer
• Hitler’s first defeat
• Royal Air Force, introduction of radar by
British scientists save G.B
FDR and the Lend-Lease Act
• Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act in
March, 1941. (G.B. out of cash)
• FDR given unlimited authority to direct
material aid to any country defending itself
against the Axis Powers
• rifles, machine guns, field guns, ammunition,
destroyers, tanks, planes, trucks, food
• 50 billion in all
Lend-Lease
• Initially intended for Great Britain
• Expanded to include Soviet Union and
China.
• Intensely debated by Congress. Gave
the president the power to decide what
could be lent out and who could receive
it
US Prepares for War
• Summer 1941: Selective Training and
Service Act. Began the draft of men 2135.
• First peacetime military draft
• 16 million men drafted
Election of 1940
• FDR broke the two term tradition set by
George Washington
• Ran against Republican Wendell Willkie
• Both candidates promised to keep Am.
Out of war
• Very little difference between the two
candidates
Moving Towards War
• Fireside Chat: U.S. had to help defeat
the Axis threat by turning itself into “the
great arsenal of democracy”
• U.S. Navy ordered to protect lend-lease
shipments.
• FDR and Winston Churchill met secretly
aboard a warship and signed The
Atlantic Charter (war aims)
Troubles with Japan
• Japan’s goal was to dominate the
Pacific
• Colonial powers controlled the parts of
the Pacific (GB, Fr., U.S.)
• G.B. and France locked in a war in
Europe
• Only country in Japan’s way: U.S.
U.S. reacts to Japan
• 1939: U.S. began trade embargo with
Japan
• July 1941: U.S. cut off all trade with
Japan. (crude oil, scrap iron, steel,
cotton
• Aug. 1941: U.S. froze all Japanese
assets in U.S.
War Inevitable
• Nov. 5, 1941: Special “peace” envoy
flew to Washington for talks
• Same day Tojo ordered the Japanese
navy to prepare for attack on U.S.
• U.S. broke the Japanese secret military
code and knew an attack was coming
• Where would it be? Philippines, Guam?
War Inevitable
• Peace talks went on for a month
• Dec. 6 decoded message instructed
Japan’s peace envoy to reject all
proposals.
• “this means war”
• Read page 563-564
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Nov. 25, 1941: 6 aircraft carriers, 2
battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 11
destroyers left Japan. 423 planes on
board carriers
• Destination: U.S. Pacific fleet
headquarters--Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• First Attack: 7:55 AM, Dec. 7, 1941
• “A day which will live in infamy”
• “Air raid on Pearl Harbor. This is not a
drill”
• Second Attack: 8:45 AM
• 2400 died, 1178 wounded
• Stunning blow to U.S. fleet
Pearl Harbor
• Sunk 3 U.S. battleships (Arizona, Utah,
W.Va)
• One battleship capsized (Oklohoma)
• 4 badly damaged
• 350 planes destroyed/damaged
• Japanese lost 29 planes
• Japan struck Wake, Philippines, Guam,
Midway, Hong Kong, Malay Peninsula
U.S. goes to War
• December 8, 1941: Congress declares
war on Japan
• Dec. 11, 1941: Germany and Italy
declare war on the U.S.