WW II

War Begins Dictators seized control of their nations by force after WW I and during the Depression. Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Workers Party (Nazi Party) controlled Germany. Benito Mussolini controlled Italy with his Fascist regime. Military leaders controlled Japan. Germany, Italy and Japan signed a pact and became allies called the Axis Powers in 1940.

Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. They took control of Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany. Germany invaded France in the Spring of 1940 and France surrendered In June 1941, Germany launched an attack on the Soviet Union.

United States enters the War The United States remained neutral, but supplied weapons to Britain and the Soviet Union Japanese troops seized Indochina, a French colony. This threatened nearby British colonies. The United States applied economic pressure to stop Japan. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941

3. Congress declared war on Japan in response 3. Congress declared war on Japan in response. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States 4. The Allied Powers ( the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union) fought the Axis Powers.

The war changed American life at home The war changed American life at home. Those who did not go to war had to do all the work Industry expanded, wages increased, and unemployment fell Women served in the military and in the workforce African Americans served in the military and worked in war factories

War continues The Axis powers were winning until late 1942. British and United States troops drove Germans out of North Africa. The Axis powers were defeated again in Eastern Europe in early 1943 Soviet troops freed Leningrad, a Russian city. The German army also surrendered at Stalingrad. The Allies broke through German lines at Anzio, Italy, after four months and freed Rome in June 1944

The Allies launched an air war against Germany The Allies launched an air war against Germany. Cities were destroyed and civilians were killed. Germany kept fighting. General Eisenhower, commander of the allied forces, directed an invasion of France from the West. The Soviets pushed toward Germany from the east. Fierce fighting took place on the beaches of Normandy when thousands of Allied troops came ashore on June 6, 1944– D-Day. The Allies moved on from Normandy and , with the French, freed Paris at the end of August.

The Soviets pushed Germany out of Eastern Europe The Soviets pushed Germany out of Eastern Europe. The British and Americans defeated Germany in the Battle of the Bulge. Serious German resistance ended. In 1945 Soviet troops reached Berlin. British and United States forces moved across western Germany. Hitler committed suicide and Germany surrendered.

Holocaust As the Allies liberated parts of Europe they came across evidence of a major German atrocity. They found Germany’s answer for their Jewish problem, known as the Final Solution. Allied forces found several, Death and Labor, camps where the Germans had murdered over 6 million Jews. This Genocide became known as the Holocaust.

War in Asia Japanese troops landed in the Philippines. Filipino and American troops commanded by Douglas MacArthur fought the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula west of Manila. Allied forces surrendered and were forced to march more than 60 miles to a prison camp. Many sick and starving prisoners died. This was known as the Bataan Death March. In May 1942, Japanese and United States ships fought the Battle of the Coral Sea northeast of Australia. The Americans destroyed much of the Japanese fleet and prevented Japan from reaching Australia.

In June the United States navy destroyed hundreds of Japanese aircraft and four aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway, northeast of Hawaii. The United States adopted a plan of island hopping. It seized control of an island and used it as a base to attack the next island. Americans used air and naval forces to win control of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands after fierce fighting. American forces took control if Guam and launched bombing strikes on Japan in June 1944.

American forces seized the island of Iwo Jima in march 1945 and the island of Okinawa in June. President Truman called for Japan’s surrender. When it refused, Truman ordered the use of the atomic bomb. The bombs were created in secrecy at the suggestion of Albert Einstein.

In August 1945, the first atomic bomb dropped destroyed the city of Hiroshima. The second destroyed the city of Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on August 15 – V-J Day (Victory over Japan), ending WWII Approximately 50 million soldiers and civilians died in WWII. Billions of dollars worth of property was destroyed. It took years for some countries to recover.