Transcript World War II 1941-1945

That means 2
World War II
1941-1945
Chapter 25
Why War?
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Dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy seized control
of their respective countries after promising to vanquish the effects of the world
depression from their nations and instituted fascist policies.
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German citizens were angered over the harsh reparations and limitations put on
Germany under the Versailles Treaty which ended WWI.
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Hitler invaded Austria, and the war-scared Britain and France appeased Hitler and
agreed that he could occupy it as long as he stopped invading. This was known as
the Munich Mistake.
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Japanese control of Manchuria (1931) and Northern China (1937) gave control of
almost the entire Pacific to the imperialistic Japanese.
Early US Involvement
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American’s had a strong isolationist
sentiment – Pres. Washington warned of
Permanent Alliances.
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Congress passed three Neutrality Acts
(’35,’36’,’37) which allowed the president to
stop sales of weapons to any warring nation,
and avoid another World War I situation.
which might be involved in war.
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The Selective Service Act of 1940 enlisted
1.4 million men to training, for “hemispheric
defense”, not European intervention.
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The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 (March)
ensured aid would go to the United
Kingdom, such that the U.S. could "sell,
exchange, lease, lend, any war materials “–
temporarily keeping the U.S. out of the War.
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A day that will live in world history
Sunday, December 7th, 1941 – Japanese fighters launched
an aerial sneak attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
After 2 waves of attack, 12 ships, 200 aircraft, and 2403
Americans were destroyed and killed. The Japanese lost 29
of 441 planes.
The principle targets of the attack, the three American aircraft
carriers, were on missions elsewhere, and were saved from
the attack.
The attack ignited the American want to enter WWII, and on
December 8th, President Roosevelt gave his famous speech
and signed a Declaration of War against Japan.
War with Germany and Italy was realized on December 11th,
with Hitler calling the U.S. “Half Judaized and Half Negrified”
After Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans, were interned at
remote prison camps, mainly on the west coast.
In the Supreme Court Case Korematsu v. US 1944 - it was
established that it was legal for the U.S. internment of
Japanese Americans to continue because it was based on
the grounds of national security. (Shenck?)
The War Hits Home
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Full Employment
Men go off to War
Rationing
Women, African
American and Mexicans
fill the workforce
• Civil Liberties –
Korematsu (like Sacco
and Vanzetti) are violated
• New Wartime powers
An OSS plot to
plant these
stamps in
Germany to
undermine
German morale.
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War Boards
After Pearl Harbor, many special wartime agencies were established:
– The Office of Price Administration checked inflation due to massive government
spending.
– The National War Labor Board mediated labor disputes and strikes.
– The War Manpower Commission directed mobilization of civilian forces
– The Office of War Information coordinated propaganda to “sell” the American
people.
– The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a precursor to today's NSA and CIA;
it oversaw espionage and other intelligence activities.
The conservation of materials such as metal, food, and most importantly rubber, was
vital to the survival of the troops on the front.
New Workers & Strikes
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Because previously employed men were
fighting overseas, other Americans had to fill
their empty spots in the workforce.
– Women, symbolized by “Rosie the
Riveter”, grew to have over 50% to
19.5 million jobs in 1945.
– Over 200,000 Mexicans entered the
U.S. illegally in order to help harvest
crops.
– African Americans gained 900,000 jobs
(to 3.8 million) by 1945.
New job titles were offered to women –
mining, machinists, heavy machinery
operators, electrical workers, and other jobs
in which they received record wages.
There were strikes, some organized by the
new United Auto Workers (UAW), while
others organized massive, illegal “wildcat”
strikes. In 1943 John L. Lewis led a strike of
half a million coal miners. In response,
Congress passed a federal antistrike bill,
giving the president power to penalize
strikers, even draft them!
Military Mobilization
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October 16th, 1940 was National
Registration Day, in which all men were
legally obligated to register for military
service. (yay…hmm…no)
Only the Marines were ready for the war.
The Army\AF and Navy were unprepared to
enter war.
African Americans enlisted 60% more than
other Americans. Racism and segregation
led to miserable existence in the beginning
of the war.
Many women joined the Women’s Army
Corps, the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots,
and were often more educated than the
common GI.
The U.S. War Goals
• Stop Totalitarian
Aggression
• Defeat Germany,
Italy, Japan
• Europe First
• Win a Two Front
War
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Technology in the War
Fighters and Bombers – Air power was now a
dominant force in war, and fighters and
bombers were an important asset to both sides
of the war.
Aircraft Carriers – Floating airports, they were
able to carry planes and bombers to remote
locations (a.k.a. Japanese mainland – Dewey’s
raid on Tokyo).
Liberty Ships – These were ships mass
produced by America in order to keep supplies
running to Europe.
Submarines – German “U-Boats” and Allied
submarines in the Pacific sank hundreds of
thousands of tons of
Radar – The development of radar by the
British gave them an advantage over the
numerically superior Luftwaffe (German Air
force)
Jet Engine – The first German jet fighter was
developed in 1943, but Hitler felt it would be
more suited as a bomber
The Manhattan Project – The Top Secret
American project to develop the Atomic Bomb,
War in Europe
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June 6th, 1944 – “Operation Overlord”, the
invasion of Europe with the largest invasion
force in history (175,000+ men) and 5,000
ships at Normandy, France.
The allies made a slow but unstoppable
push to Paris, then to the Rhine River, and
finally to Berlin, the Capital of Germany.
German superiority on both the ground and
in the air had been devastated by the
relentlessness of the British Royal Air Force
(RAF) in the Battle of Britain and the
determination of the Russians and the cold
weather in Hitler’s invasion of Russia.
In the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last
attempt at stopping the Allies, a surprise
attack in Belgium against the Allies, drove
them back 50 miles before they recovered
and counterattacked.
The Germans no longer had the ability to
counterattack, and Hitler committed suicide
before he could be captured.
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Pacific Campaign
U.S. Pacific command was split between
two rivals – General Douglas MacArthur and
Admiral Chester Nimitz.
A system of “Island hopping” enabled the
Americans to slowly creep up on the
Japanese home islands
The Japanese, who were fearless fighters,
fought to the death on many of the islands,
including Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
and in the Philippine Islands. As a result of
this, extremely heavy losses were sustained
as Marines invaded beaches and launched
amphibious assaults, and towards the end of
the war, Japanese kamikaze's slammed
their planes into American ships in a last
ditch effort to stop the Americans.
Japan’s navy was decimated at the Battle of
Coral Sea, Battle of Leyte Gulf and at the
Battle of Midway, the later which caused the
destruction of three of Japan’s mighty
aircraft carriers, which spelled the coming of
war’s end.
There was an internal disagreement
between the civil emperor (Hirohito) and the
commanding military authority. The honor of
the Japanese could not be ruined by
surrendering, which was finally brought
about by a new type of weapon…
War’s End
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Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945, with
the death of Hitler and the occupation of Berlin
by Allied forces from both directions (US\UK
and Russian).
In February 1945, President Roosevelt held a
meeting (his last) with Winston Churchill and
Stalin at Yalta, located on the Black Sea. They
discussed what would happen to the German
and Japanese after they had fallen to the
Allies, and how their territories would be
brought back to “civilized world society”
FDR died of a stroke on April 12, 1945, after
winning his 4th term in office as President of
the United States, (defeating Thomas E.
Dewey 432 to 99). His sucessor, Harry S.
Truman, lacked the political experience that
FDR had.
At the Potsdam Conference (July-August
1945), held outside of Berlin, it was agreed
that Japan’s unconditional surrender was to
be demanded, and that Nazi war criminals
were to be prosecuted (which they were at the
Nuremburg Trials).
The dropping of two atomic bombs by the
Americans at Nagasaki and Hiroshima
instigated the Japanese to an unconditional
surrender, made formal on September 2nd,
1945 (VJ day)
BFFL
Results of World War II
• The U.S. economy
continued preparing
for the next war
• Post War Baby Boom
• New Consumer
Goods
• United Nations
• Super Power