Chapter 16. World War II Pg. 167 April 23, 2014

Before the War By the 1930´s the Great Depression had hurt all the countries of Europe. At that time Adolf Hitler became leader of Germany. Adolf Hitler was the leader of a group called the Nazis. After Germany lost World War I, he promised to make Germany strong again. Hitler made many promises and got a lot of power.

Dictator: is someone who has complete control of a country. No one is allowed to speak or act against a dictator.

The Holocaust Adolf Hitler arrested many Jews. The Jews had done nothing wrong, they had a different religion than most Germans. Hitler blamed them for Germany´s problems. The Jews and other people Hitler hated were put in prisons. These prisons were called concentration camps. Some Jews escaped Europe before they were put in the camps. Six million Jews were murdered in the camps. This terrible events is called the Holocaust, which means a total destruction.

Getting Ready for War To make Germany stronger, Hitler made the German army bigger. He had factories start making guns and other weapons. Benito Mussolini had become the dictator of Italy in the early 1920´s. Germany, Italy, and Japan all wanted more land. Germany began to take over countries in Europe. Italy went to war with Africa, and Japan took large parts of China. The 3 countries agreed to help each other, they became known as the Axis Powers,

World War II Begins In March 1939, Hitler demanded that Poland give Germany some land. Germany had lost this land in WWI. Poland was afraid of Hitler, it asked Great Britain to help if Germany attacked. In September, Hitler sent the German Army into Poland. The army moved very quickly and soon took control of Poland. Great Britain and France then announced that they were at war with Germany. World War II begun.

The Germans continued to attack other countries. First they took over Denmark and Norway, then they captured the Netherlands and Belgium. The German Army soon controlled most of France. By 1941, Hitler had captured many European countries. Most Americans did not want to join the war, all that President Roosevelt could do was lend ships and guns to Great Britain.

Americans Join the War On December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes attacked the Amerian Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese were trying to keep the United States out of the war. The Japanes tried to destory enough ships to keep away the USA navy from fighting. After the attack of Pearl Harbor, many Americans feared that Japaneses Americans might help Japan attack the United States. Japanes Americans were forced to move to places called internment camps. They lost their homes and businesses.

Pearl Harbor

The United States joined the Allies in the war. The Allies were Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and other countries that were fighting the Axis Powers. American factories began making more tanks, guns, and other weapons. Women went to work in the factories, families grew vegetables in their backyards so that farm foods could be sent to the soldiers.

War in Europe The Allies fought first in North Africa, not Europe. They won back the countries that Germany and Italy had taken. The hardest battle of the war was fought on the beaches of France. The battle is called D-Day. The Allies won. The war was not over yet, the Allied troops won many battles, but the Germans continued to fight. It was almost a year before the Allies finally reached Berlin, the German capital. When they did, Hitler killed himself.

War in the Pacific After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States quickly rebuilt its navy. The United States sent ships and planes to the Pacific Ocean to fight the Japanese. While the Americans were fighting in the Pacific, British, Chinese, Australians, and others were fighting in the region east of India and south of China.

The Atomic Bomb In April 1945, President Roosevelt died. In July 1945, the United States tested an atomic bomb. An atomic bomb is many times more powerful than an ordinary bomb. On August 6, 1945, an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Almost 100,000 people were killed. Three days later another American bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki. World War II was finally over.

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