1. CHAPTER 34: The Origins of World War II
Could WWII been prevented?

2. Europe After World War I
World War I caused the deaths of millions and the destruction of numerous cities and farms. The European economy was in ruins.
The Treaty of Versailles left many European nations unhappy.
France thought the treaty was too easy on Germany.
Italy had been on the winning side of the war but was ignored during the peace talks. They had hoped to gain territory.
Germany was most affected by the Treaty of Versailles.
Germany gave up control of some of its land, including some important industrial areas and signed the hated “war guilt clause”
German was forced to pay reparations to other countries, which led to a period of severe inflation.
The Weimar Republic (the German government after World War I) was not a strong government.
It faced opposition from the Communists and others.
The German military was greatly reduced in size and power.

3. Dictators and Militarists Rise to Power
European struggles and dissatisfaction during the postwar years had a major effect on European politics.
Leaders emerged who promised a return to greatness
They reflected the people’s bitterness and anger.
This was very appealing to unhappy Europeans and many were willing to give up basic freedoms in return for future glory.
HEAD FOR THE GATE FOR FREEDOM! FORWARD! OUT OF THE SWAMP! A STRONG HAND AT THE HELM!

4. Josef Stalin in the U.S.S.R.
U.S.S.R. = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (there are 15 of them)
The Communists (led by Lenin) overthrew Czar Nicholas II in 1917
Stalin comes to power in 1924 and establishes a totalitarian dictatorship
Two interrelated economic goals
Increase agricultural production and modernize industry
5 Year Plans forced farmers on to collective farms
Resistance to his plans = prison camps or death
To strengthen control, his secret police rounded up and killed millions (The Great Purge)
Those who remained would be loyal to him and the Communist Party

5. Mussolini Establishes a Fascist Dictatorship in Italy
Fascism based on…
extreme nationalism
opposition to communism and democracy
military values and the use of violence
In 1922, Mussolini and his “Black Shirts” take control and hope to revive the glory of ancient Rome
Il Duce (the Leader) bans labor unions, opposing political parties and censors the press

6. Hitler Leads the Rise of Nazism in Germany
A form of fascism
Belief that the Aryan race was superior to all others and sought to “purify” Germany
Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
Book written while in prison for trying to overthrow the government in Bavaria
Aryan race was locked in a struggle with other inferior races
Germans needed lebensraum or living space by conquering territory and expanding the German empire
Der Fuhrer becomes president and chancellor of Germany in 1933 and establishes the Third Reich
Laws are passed targeting Jews and other “undesirables”
Begins rebuilding Germany’s military

7. Francisco Franco Comes to Power In Spain
The Spanish Civil War( ) was a revolt against the Spanish government (known as Republicans)
The Nationalists (rebels) received aid from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.
The Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union, as well as from the International Brigades, a great number of volunteers who came from other European countries and the United States.
The rebel victory began a dictatorship which lasted until Franco's death in 1975

8. Guernica by Pablo Picasso
In 1937, German planes, aiding Franco in the Spanish Civil War, bombed and destroyed Guernica. The indiscriminate killing of women and children aroused world opinion. The bombing of Guernica became a symbol of fascist brutality.

9. The Military Takes Control of the Government in Japan
Pre World War I, Japan industrializes with the help of a strong military to gain natural resources
After WWI, Japan is a member of the League of Nations and signs the Kellogg-Briand Pact (what did that do, remember?)
Worldwide depression renews militarism
Extreme nationalism and a need for raw materials (like oil) put Japan on the path toward war
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo continued to develop the military

11. Military Aggression is Met with a Weak Response in Asia
FDR announces the “Good Neighbor Policy” to win back support from Latin America
The U.S. would “respect the rights of others”
FDR hoped other nations would, too (they did not)
Japan takes control of Manchuria in northern China
The League ordered Japan to leave (they did not)
Soon Japan occupied all of China’s major cities and withdrew from the weak League of Nations
FDR speaks out against the “epidemic of world lawlessness” in his Quarantine Speech hoping to get Japan to stop expanding (they did not)

12. Military Aggression is Met with a Weak Response in Europe
Hitler begins rebuilding the German military against the orders of the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler reoccupies the Rhineland against the orders of the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler annexes Austria (the anschluss)
Hitler wants to take the Sudetenland which was taken from Germany after WWI
In the Munich Pact, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeases Hitler and gives it to him
Hitler then takes the rest of Czechoslovakia

13. “Peace in our time” (Neville Chamberlain) never came to be

15. Meanwhile… Mussolini was expanding into Ethiopia
The League of Nations imposed weak economic sanctions to get Italy to leave (they did not)
In May, the Rome-Berlin Axis is formed by Hitler and Mussolini in a treaty of friendship
Both help Franco in Spain
In the U.S. it’s all about neutrality
“no arms, ammunition or weapons of war” to nations in conflict
No one wanted to repeat WWI

16. Hitler Plunges Europe into War
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister in Great Britain
Along with France, no more German territorial demands would be tolerated
August, 1939: Hitler signs a Non-Aggression Pact with Stalin
Neither would attack the other
Divide Poland
September, 1939: Hitler invades Poland
Blitzkrieg (lightning war) tactics
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany

18. Hitler turns his attention to the West
France mobilizes along the Maginot Line and in the Low Countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)

19. British forces cross the English Channel to help
The “phony war” begins then ends in April 1940 with German surprise attacks in northern and western Europe
338,000 British troops have to evacuate at Dunkirk
June 1940 Paris falls to the Nazis while Italy declares war on Great Britain and France, too (they form the Axis Powers)
A French “puppet government” is formed in Vichy

20. Britain Stands Alone The Blitz The R.A.F saved the day
Began with the bombing of London for 57 consecutive nights
By the end of May 1941, over 43,000 civilians, half of them in London, had been killed by bombing and more than a million houses were destroyed or damaged in London alone
The R.A.F saved the day
By the Spring of 1941, Hitler realizes he cannot knock out Great Britain

21. Americans Move Away from Isolationism
Japan joins Germany and Italy in an alliance of mutual support
The Tripartite Pact signed in September 1940
Now who would have to fight a two front war?
Selective Service and Training Act (1940)
1st peacetime draft in American history
Lend-Lease to Great Britain (lend, not sell, arms)
Atlantic Charter (FDR and Churchill)
Promise not to use war to expand territory
Reaffirm a belief in self-government
Merchant ships arm themselves and sail to Britain

22. “Yesterday, December 7th, a date which will live in infamy…” - F.D.R.
Japan had tried to establish a “new order in East Asia”
The U.S. responded with aid to Japan’s enemies, blocking exports (oil), freezing Japanese assets in U.S. banks
At Pearl Harbor, 300 Japanese bombers and fighter planes sank or damaged 18 American ships and 300 aircraft
2400 Americans killed, 1200 wounded

25. CHAPTER 35: The Impact of World War II on Americans
What kinds of opportunities and hardships did the war create for Americans at home and abroad?

26. Organizing the American Economy for War
The War Production Board
The goal: make America the “arsenal of democracy” with conversions of industry
Automakers would now make airplanes and tanks
Other workers would retrain workers for wartime tasks
G.D.P. (gross domestic product) rises rapidly
The National War Labor Board mediates disputes between union leaders and business owners
Government spending rises to new levels
Taxes account for 45% (“withholding” is introduced)
War bonds help in financing the war

27. Price controls are needed (Office of Price Administration)
People were back to work earning money
Goods were scarce because of the war effort
Too much money chasing too few goods = inflation
Rationing was necessary
Gasoline, tires, sugar, food
Americans received coupon books to limit consumption
University of North Carolina website
War funding comes from taxes and borrowing (bonds) just like WWI

28. American G.I.’s (government issue) Go To War
1,500,000 troops by Pearl Harbor
Eager volunteers joined the draftees to fight
Immigrants wanted to show they were truly Americans
8 weeks of intense training then combat
Fear, loneliness, homesickness, boredom once deployed
Physical, emotional and mental wounds surface during and after
An appreciation for American ideals after viewing the abuses of the European dictators, pride and loyalty, too

29. The Internment of Japanese-Americans
Were they loyal? Sabotage? Did their spies cause Pearl Harbor?
“Enemy Aliens” (Germans, Italians, Japanese immigrants) had to register with the government and carry identification
The Japanese-Americans did not have political power and were potentially more easily recognized
Executive Order (February 1942) goes into effect and even native born Japanese-Americans are sent to internment camps inland

30. 100,000 were forced to relocate into guarded “barracks”
Korematsu v. U.S.
Fred Korematsu as a native born citizen who disobeyed the law and appealed it all the way to the Supreme Court
The Court upheld the decision on the grounds that a group’s civil rights can be set aside in time of war
100,000 were forced to relocate into guarded “barracks”
442nd Regimental Combat team was an all-Japanese unit

31. Women and World War II (“Rosie the Riveter”)
New opportunities because of the demand for workers
Still faced hostility in male- dominated businesses
Were expected to complete their “domestic” duties
WAC (Women’s Army Corps)
WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service – Navy)

32. African-Americans and WWII
The Double V Campaign: Victory for democracy at home and abroad
Black G.I.’s were segregated and were not permitted in combat (at first)
Tuskegee Airmen
there were many people who thought that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism.
Bomber escorts and direct combat
The only fighter group to never lose a bomber to enemy planes

33. African-Americans and WWII
At the same time Executive Order 9066 inters Japanese-Americans, Executive Order 8802 outlaws discrimination against African-Americans in the defense industry
A.Philip Randolph had threatened a march on Washington if black civil rights were not protected
The Great Migration continued to northern industrial cities
Blacks may have escaped the South but not racism
The National Urban League fought for equal opportunities in housing and employment
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) confronted discrimination with nonviolent resistance

34. Jewish Americans and WWII
Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany began in 1933 as soon as Hitler rose to power
Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass”) occurred in 1938 when mobs burned Jewish synagogues and businesses
90 Jews were killed and 30,000 were sent to concentration camps
The 1924 National Origins Act restricted immigration into the U.S. (remember the nativism and lack of tolerance during the 1920’s?)
Anti-Semitism (anti-Jewish sentiment) led to a lack of support for European Jews
The War Refugee Board was created in 1944 to finally help Jewish refugees

35. Mexican Americans and WWII
Discrimination had barred many Mexicans from better jobs in the United States
During the war, laborers were needed
The bracero program allowed short term work contracts to be filled by Mexicans in the farms and on the railroads
June 1943: Zoot suit riots
Zoot suits were associated with Mexican teenagers (pachucos) and gangs who roamed barrios (neighborhoods) in Los Angeles
Mobs of sailors and marines sought out Mexicans and others wearing a zoot suit and beat them
Another example of racial prejudice and intolerance

36. CHAPTER 36: Fighting World War II
What military strategies did the United States and its allies pursue to defeat the Axis Powers in World War II?

37. The Situation in Europe in December 1941
Europe or the Pacific, first? (“Europe First”)
Germany had attacked the USSR and was pushing toward Moscow and the oil-rich Caucacus Region
Hitler needed oil and needed to keep oil out of Allied hands
Irwin Rommel (“The Desert Fox” of the Afrika Korps) would help him control N. Africa
Military rule by the Nazis was harsh in Europe

38. The Situation in Europe in December 1941
The “final solution” to the “Jewish question” was underway
Jews were crowded into ghettos (small sections of cities) that could be guarded
Starvation and disease killed thousands
Others were sent to concentration camps and executed with poison gas

39. The War in Europe Where to attack first?
In North Africa and move into Italy?
In France and stage forces in Great Britain?
In the USSR and help our new ally, the Soviets?
November 1942 the US invades northern Africa
Led by Generals Bradley and Patton, Axis resistance collapses by May 1943
Italy surrenders in September but Germans there fight fiercely to keep the US out
The USSR fights alone and turns the tide at Stalingrad
200,000 Germans and 1 million Soviets die
Geography, climate and population doom the Nazis

40. The War in Europe
Meanwhile the American pilots rely on precision bombing of Axis targets while the British pilots rely on saturation bombing
The decision was made NOT to bomb Auschwitz (the largest concentration camp) or others
They were afraid of killing Jews being held
June 6, 1944: D-Day
The Allies invade Normandy, France and begin the push east into Germany
Meanwhile the Soviets push west and liberate the camps where the true horrors of the holocaust are discovered.
Genocide = the systematic killing of a racial, political or cultural group

41. The War in Europe Comes to an End
The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944)
Hitler makes one last counteroffensive in Belgium where the line bends but does not break
April, 1945
With the Soviets near Berlin, Hitler commits suicide
FDR dies and Harry Truman becomes president
May 8, 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe)

42. The War in the Pacific
Pearl Harbor destroyed the Pacific fleet and that allowed Japan to further consolidate power in the Pacific
In March 1942, MacArthur and Filipino fighters left the Philippines after defeat by the Japanese (“I shall return!”)
7000 American prisoners die on the 63 mile “Bataan Death March” at the hands of the Japanese
Japan controlled all of the Chinese coast but in the Battle of the Coral Sea the American navy led by Admiral Chester Nimitz defeated the Japanese navy (May 1942) and the Japanese did not expand into Australia
Meanwhile, James Doolittle and the American Air Force were bombing Tokyo

43. The War in the Pacific
The “Europe First” strategy hurt American commanders in the Pacific
The policy of island-hopping (leapfrogging) is adopted
One by one, the American navy and marines would liberate Japanese-held islands moving us closer to mainland Japan
Sometimes an island could be skipped, isolating it from others leading to eventual surrender when supplies ran out
At the Battle of Midway (June 1942) the Japanese went on the offensive to eliminate the American navy and failed
The Japanese never fully recovered and moved to a defensive stand for the rest of the war

45. The War in the Pacific
MacArthur does return to the Philippines in October 1944
Iwo Jima and Okinawa would bring the U.S. even closer to Japan for invasion
Nearly all of Japan’s 22,000 soldiers die defending Iwo Jima and 6800 Americans die in taking the island
At Okinawa, bloody combat claimed the lives of 12,000 Americans and 100,000 Japanese
Kamikaze pilots become a new concern

47. The Manhattan Project
German American scientist Albert Einstein made FDR aware of the destructive power of nuclear bombs
By the summer of 1945, the top secret “Manhattan Project” produced an atomic weapon
Does the U.S. use it or not?
Perhaps 500,000 Americans die if Japan is invaded
Many Japanese civilians would die in the aftermath
The Japanese would not accept unconditional surrender and they showed their determination to fight at Iwo Jima, Okinawa and with kamikaze pilots

48. August 6, 1945
The Enola Gay drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima
80,000 people die
August 9, 1945
A second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki
40,000 people die
It is estimated a total of 250,000 died as a result of the blast or by burns, radiation poisoning or cancer
August 14, 1945: V-J Day