1. Unit 12: WWII

2. Goals of this Unit:
To realize that in the early and mid-1930s, the United States attempted to isolate itself from foreign involvements and wars. But by the end of the decade, the spread of totalitarianism and war in Europe forced Roosevelt to provide more and more assistance to desperate Britain, despite strong isolationist opposition.
To understand that America, unified by Pearl Harbor, effectively carried out a war mobilization effort that produced vast social and economic changes within American society.
To be able to explain that by following its get Hitler first strategy, the United States and its Allies invaded and liberated conquered Europe from Fascist rule.
To grasp that the slower strategy of island-hopping against Japan also proceeded successfully, but it was the atomic bomb that brought a sudden end to World War II.

3. FDR’s Foreign Affairs
London Conference (1933) set up to create international solutions to the Great Depression
Europe tries to enforce currency stabilization
Economic policy that causes deflation, deters spending
Policy is counter to FDR’s plan of “confidence” in spending and trust
FDR angrily pulls U.S. out of London Conference
Solidifies U.S. isolationism
Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934) guarantees independence for bothersome Philippines by 1946
“Good Neighbor Policy” denounces TR’s “Big Stick Policy” of Latin America – heavily reduces involvement in Latin America and promises no use of military force
Very successful in bettering Latin American relations

4. Dangerous Leaders Rise
Post WWI political and economic chaos, Great Depression lead to rise of totalitarian and/or fascist regimes:
Joseph Stalin (USSR)
Francisco Franco (Spain)
Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Hirohito (Japan)
Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Totalitarianism focuses all efforts on empowering the state

5. Trouble Overseas 1931 – Japan invades and occupies Manchuria (China)
1935 – Italy attacks and defeats Ethiopia
1936 – Rome-Berlin Axis: allies Germany and Italy
League of Nations does nothing to stop these events
Display of weakness allows sets dangerous precedent
America remains isolated
Does not want to get involved in foreign problems and conflicts
Congress passes:
Neutrality Acts – series of acts to put preventive restrictions on foreign relations with countries at war
Johnson Debt Default Act – forbids loans to countries that still owe money to U.S.

6. Isolationism Put to Test
Spanish Civil War breaks out ( )
Fascist government vs. republican government
America rooting for republican government, but must remain isolated and uninvolved
Germany and Italy help fellow fascist General Franco
Franco and Spanish Fascists win control
Franco’s 40 year dictatorship begins
Democracy falls in another European country, America unhappy

7. Appeasement Appeasement – giving into demands to avoid conflict
League of Nation’s policy of appeasement, past negligence, and U.S. isolationism all lead to further conflict
Japan conducts mass invasion of China (1937)
Second Sino-Japanese War
“Rape of Nanking” – Japanese army murders 300,000 unarmed Chinese civilians

8. Appeasement Hitler breaks Treaty of Versailles:
Builds up German military
Remilitarization of the Rhineland region (1936)
Persecutes Jews
Annexes Austria (1938)
Hitler convinced European leaders each step of expansion would be his last
League of Nations appeased every demand of his
Appeasement

9. Appeasement
Hitler demands annexation of Sudetenland (small bordering region of Czechoslovakia)
Munich Conference called to discuss (Sept. 1938)
Tense talks lead to appeasement of Hitler’s demand
English Prime Minister Chamberlain: “I have returned from Germany with peace in our time.”
All of Czechoslovakia annexed months later

10. Appeasement Ends, War Starts
Russo-German Nonaggression Pact signed (1939)
Stalin and Hitler promise no military aggression against each other
This ensures Hitler will not fight a two-front war like WWI and also allows for an easier invasion of Poland
Hitler’s motives clear – France & Britain finally takes a stand
Warns Hitler an invasion of Poland would merit war declaration
Hitler attacks Poland one week later (Sep 1, 1939)
War declarations ensue – WWII starts

11. Allies: Britain, France, Poland
Battle Lines Drawn
Belligerents as of 1940:
Allies: Britain, France, Poland
VS.
Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan

12. Isolationist America
America committed to neutrality, but was rooting for Britain and France…
Neutrality Acts amended and put in effect:
U.S. will sell war materials on a “cash-and-carry” basis
No credit, no U.S. ships involved
Ensures isolationism, helps economy
Utilized exclusively by Allies, as intended

13. Lightening Strikes Sept 1939 – Germany defeats Poland
Months of inactivity – some suspected a “phony war”
Hitler amasses & consolidates military
April 1940 – Hitler suddenly launches “blitzkrieg” attack
“Lighting warfare” using tanks, planes, infantry simultaneously – very effective
Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium all defeated instantly

14. Lightening Strikes France invaded and surrenders by June 1940
Italy joins and invades weakened France before surrender
Britain is last of the Allies left standing in Europe
America shocked – FDR begins immediate military built up
Conscription law passed – first ever peacetime draft
Havana Conference called to ensure U.S. and Latin America would work together to defend Monroe Doctrine
Lightening Strikes

15. Helping Britain Hitler begins bombing Britain with planes
All-air “Battle of Britain” ensues
Britain temporarily fights off Germany
Americans split on whether to help or stay isolated
FDR makes compromise between the two sides:
Destroyer Deal (1940) trades 50 old WWI destroyers for 8 naval bases
By 1941, Britain needed money for war effort
FDR hesitant after WWI debt crisis
Solution was to loan weaponry, not money…

16. Lend-Lease Act Lend-Lease Bill passed
U.S. now “arsenal of democracy”
Until 1945, $50 billion worth of ships, tanks, weaponry, ammunition supplies to be “borrowed”
Effects of Neutrality Act, Destroyer Deal, and Lend-Lease?
American isolationism and neutrality fading fast
Axis powers avoided U.S. prior to this, not anymore

17. Election of 1940 FDR announces a run for third term
Strong leadership during uncertain times more important than the two-term tradition
Reps nominate Wendell Willkie
Criticized FDR’s New Deal – but not the issue anymore…
Threat of war was
FDR easily wins third election
FDR (1940)
FDR (1932)

18. Hitler Invades Soviet Union (Notes are on next slide in your note packet)
June 1941 – Paranoid Hitler breaks pact with Russia and attacks Moscow
FDR sends $1 billion to help Russia
Germany’s quick invasion fails by December due to harsh winter

19. Atlantic Charter
August 1941 – Atlantic Conference called as meeting between Winston Churchill and FDR (and absent Stalin)
Atlantic Charter created to discuss aid to Soviets & layout plans for postwar
Main points similar to Wilson’s 14 Points:
Self-determination
Disarmament
New peace-keeping organization
U.S. again rapidly moving away from isolationism and neutrality

20. End of U.S. Neutrality
Convoys of U.S. destroyers escorted merchant ships to Britain often clashed with German U-Boats in North Atlantic
November 1941 – Congress repealed Neutrality Act of 1939 and allowed for arming of merchant ships
Japan beating China badly in since 1937
Numerous massacres of Chinese civilians and sinking of USS Panay angered Americans
July 1941 – In protest, U.S. puts embargo on Japan who heavily relied on U.S. oil
Japan’s solution was to attack
American code breakers suspect possible Japanese activity in the Pacific – Philippines? British Malaysia? Australia?

21. Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941 – Japan launches all-out sneak attack on U.S. naval bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
3,000 Americans killed, Pacific fleet of U.S. Navy almost entirely wiped out
America’s only aircraft carriers on Pacific were out at sea
America was now at war…

22. America Declares War War declarations ensue:
Dec 7: Japan declares war on U.S. and Britain
Dec 8: U.S. declares war on Japan
“Infamy Speech” given by FDR
Dec 11: Germany & Italy declare war on U.S.
Dec 11: U.S. declares war on Germany and Italy

23. Effects of Pearl Harbor
Effects of Pearl Harbor on Americans?
Go from wanting isolationism, to wanting revenge
National unity strong
West coast goes into panic
Fears of invasion in California
Japanese-Americans greatly affected

24. Internment FDR authorizes Executive Order 9066:
Japanese-Americans rounded up and detained in internment camps
Non-citizen Italians detained as well
Official reasoning was to protect them
Hidden motive was to protect America from them
Wrongfully accused of being spies loyal to Japan spies
Lost businesses, houses, possessions
Jailed without due process of law?
Supreme Court upheld the internment camps

25. America Prepares for War
Americans wants immediate revenge on Japan
FDR’s plan: “get Germany first” – why?
Hitler a more urgent problem
Do not let Britain or Russia fall, hold of Japan until Germany defeated
Problem: America greatly unprepared
Isolationism and depression weakened U.S. military
America’s task:
All industry and workforce to support war effort
Means New Deal organizations end
Organize massive military
Ship weapons, supplies, soldiers in two directions
Feed the Allies

26. The War Effort War Production Board takes control of industry
Controls what’s produced and how much of it
Manufacturing and agriculture boom
Rationing instituted
Food, metals, gasoline, rubber
Japanese had control of rubber fields in British Malaysia
Office of Price Administration regulated prices
War Labor Board enforced low wages to ensure low prices
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act kept strikes minimal
Gives government power to take over industries crippled by strikes

27. The War Effort 15 million men in the military creates need for labor
Women fill vacant industrial jobs
“Rosie the Riveter” works as propaganda
Helps women gain respect and new roles in society
But 2/3 of women return to maternal roles after war
Post-war “Baby boom”
“Bracero Program” brings in seasonal workers from Mexico to help harvest crops

28. Second Great Migration
Many African-Americans leave South to move to Northern and Western cities
Reasons why:
War industry created jobs
New agricultural innovations and machinery in South
FDR banned discrimination in defense industries
Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)
Helps with movement for equality
Slogan: “Double V”
Victory overseas vs. dictators and victory at home vs. racism
125,000 serve in segregated units in military
50,000 Native Americans also helped fight in WWII
“Code talkers”

29. Races Clash Newly diversified cities experience some backlash
“Zoot Suit” Riots in LA (1943)
Detroit Race Riots (1943)

30. War Effort’s Economic Effects
U.S. enters WWII in economic despair
New Deal helped, but war production pulls U.S. out of Great Depression
$330 billion war cost
WWI had cost $33 billion
Paid for mostly on credit
National debt quintuples
U.S. ends war extremely prosperous
GNP, business profits, disposable incomes all had doubled

31. War in Pacific
Dec 7, 1941 – Japan launches series of attacks on American and British islands in Pacific:
Guam, Wake Island, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, coastal China, etc
By March 1942, all islands except the Philippines had fallen to overpowering Japan
Japan beats General Douglas MacArthur in Battle of the Philippines
75,000 American and Filipino POWs subjected to “Bataan Death March”
Embarrassed MacArthur escapes – “I shall return”
Japan seemed unstoppable

32. Doolittle Raid
April 1942 – Lt. Colonel James Doolittle leads bombing raid
American bombers hit mainland Japan
Not overly successful, but big morale boost
“The Japanese people had been told they were invulnerable ... An attack on the Japanese homeland would cause confusion in the minds of the Japanese people and sow doubt about the reliability of their leaders. There was a second, and equally important, psychological reason for this attack ... Americans badly needed a morale boost.”
-James Doolittle

33. Japanese Expansion Halted
May 1942 – Battle of Coral Sea
First major “naval” battle of war in Pacific
Fought entirely with aircrafts via carriers
Heavy losses on both sides
Tactical victory for Japanese
Sunk more ships
Strategic victory for Allies
Japanese expansion stopped
Two Japanese carriers damaged & rendered useless
Would hurt Japanese in next major battle…

34. Battle of Midway
Japanese want to further defense perimeter after Doolittle Raid and damage of Battle of Coral Sea
Code breakers intercept messages of surprise attack on Midway Island
Admiral Chester Nimitz and Admiral Raymond Spruance send huge U.S. fleet to defend island
Japanese diversion:
June 3, 1942 – Japan invades islands in Aleutian chain of Alaska
Not significant strategically, but greatly upset Americans
Not phased, U.S. fleet waiting for Japan at Midway…

35. Battle of Midway June 7, 1942 – Battle ensues
Japan’s surprise attack spoiled, ambushed by waiting U.S. fleet
U.S. routs Japan:
3,000 Japanese killed vs. 300 Americans killed
4 Japanese carriers sunk vs. 1 American carrier
250 Japanese aircrafts shot down vs. 150 American aircrafts
Midway was the turning point of war in the Pacific
Japan’s fleet virtually wiped out
“The most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare” –Military historian John Keegan

36. War in Pacific
America’s new plan in Pacific: “island hopping” AKA “leapfrogging”
Do not attack mainland Japan yet
Attack the weaker islands around the Pacific one by one
Build airbases on each island
Cut off resources to Japan
Main islands of Japan would then be bombed into submission

37. Island Hopping
U.S. Marines storm beaches while sailors and bombers shell the island
Gen. MacArthur in south Pacific
Aug 1942 – Victory at Guadalcanal
Followed by Solomon Islands
Reaches New Guinea by 1944
MacArthur closing in on the Philippines
Admiral Nimitz in central Pacific
Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Marianas Islands
“Marianas Turkey Shoot” (1944) – American “Hellcat” fighters shoot down 250 Japanese planes
U.S. now close enough for B-29 bombers to reach Japan
Progress was being made, but slowly and at great costs

38. War in Europe 1940-1942: German dominance
Germany occupying most of Europe
Britain trying to hold off Hitler
Controlling the seas with deadly u-boat “wolf packs”
1942: turning point of war in Europe (and Pacific)
Germany’s “enigma code” broken
Prowling u-boat wolf packs can now be located
Allies begin to win Battle of the Atlantic
Supplies can now easily be shipped to Britain & France

39. Hitler Halted Britain bombs Germans in Cologne, France
Americans bomb Germany
Sept 1942 – Battle of Stalingrad
Russians stop German offensive at Stalingrad, begin successful counteroffensive

40. Hitler Halted Oct 1942 – Battle of El Alamein
German Gen. Erwin Rommel dominating North Africa
Nicknamed the “Desert Fox”
Stopped by the British from gaining control of Suez Canal
Germany stopped in both campaigns
Endures heavy losses, retreat ensues

41. The “Soft Underbelly”
Burdened Soviet Union urges Allies to open second front
FDR wants to invade through France
Churchill wants to invade through Northern Africa and Italy
“Soft underbelly”
“Soft underbelly” approach chosen to lure war away from Britain

42. The “Soft Underbelly”
Nov 1942 – Gen. Dwight Eisenhower leads successful campaign in North Africa
Jan 1943 – Casablanca Conference
FDR & Churchill agree to seek “unconditional surrender” of Germany
Germans pushed out of Africa by May 1943
Sept 1943 – Allies invade south Italy
Mussolini overthrown, Italy surrenders
German soldiers keep fighting invading Allies
Invasion slow and bloody
Allies finally take Rome by June 1944
Campaign soon becomes just a diversion…

43. D-Day Invasion Nov-Dec 1943 – Tehran Conference
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet to coordinate
Plans of a new invasion of France made
Gen. Eisenhower chosen to lead the operation
June 6, 1944 – D-Day Invasion
Over 150,000 Allied soldiers successfully invade beaches of Normandy region on French coast
Largest amphibious assault in history
Invading Allies spread through France into different campaigns

44. Effects of D-Day Invasion
Paris liberated by 1945
Huge morale boost for Allies
Germany in full-on retreat
End was nearing for Hitler and German army
1944 – FDR wins 4th election
Reps nominate Thomas Dewey
Success of war leads to easy victory for FDR
Dems choose VP Harry Truman
Important choice with FDR’s declining health
FDR dies by April 1945, Truman becomes president

45. War in Europe Nazis make one last centralized push at Ardenne Forest…
Dec 1944 – Battle of the Bulge
Surprised Americans pushed back
Creating a “bulge” in the battle line
Largest and bloodiest battle for American Army
Americans hold on to key city of Bastogne until Allied reinforcements arrive
Germans eventually defeated, resume retreat
Both America and Russia converging towards Berlin

46. Holocaust Discovered
Holocaust had been just an rumor and thought to be embellished at most
Retreating Germans accelerate “final solution”
Advancing Allies shocked as they begin to discover Nazi concentration camps
German civilians forced to march through camps

47. Germany Surrenders April 1945 – Russia reaches Germany
Hitler kills himself
May 8, 1945 – Germany officials surrender
V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

48. War in the Pacific By 1945, U.S. weakening Japan:
U.S. subs destroying Japanese merchant ships
U.S. bombers devastating Japanese cities with firebomb campaigns
Mar 1945 – Two day fire-bomb raid on Tokyo
1/4 of city demolished and 80,000 deal

49. War in the Pacific Series of costly, hard-fought, U.S. victories:
Mar 1945 – Battle of Leyte Gulf
Gen. MacArthur recaptures the Philippines
Mar 1945 – Battle of Iwo Jima
U.S. takes small, but strategic island
June 1945 – Battle of Okinawa
Last island before Japanese mainland
American victory
But with 50,000 American casualties

50. The Atomic Bomb Japan refusing to surrender
Seen as dishonorable to give up
“Kamikaze” suicide missions increase
Must protect their godlike emperor
U.S. leaders know invasion of Japan would be grueling and deadly
Manhattan Project – Since 1940, U.S. secretly began developing world’s first atomic bomb
Mostly worked on by ex-German scientists
1945 – Tested in New Mexico and ready for use
July 1945 – Potsdam Conference
American, British and Russian officials meet to give Japan final ultimatum: “Surrender or be destroyed”

51. Japan Surrenders Japan refuses to surrender, continue hostility
American aircrafts drop leaflets warning of atomic bomb, urging evacuation of targeted cities
Aug 6, 1945 – Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
70,000 die instantly, 200,000 casualties overall
Aug 8, 1945 – Russia declares war on Japan
Invades Manchuria
Japan still refuses to answer Potsdam Declaration,
Aug 9, 1945 – Second bomb dropped on Nagasaki
80,000 killed

52. War Ends Aug 19, 1945 – Japan officially surrenders – WWII ends
V-J Day

53. Effects of WWII America able to succeed in WWII because of:
Great political, military, and civilian leaders
FDR, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, etc.
Astonishing industrial production and resources
A “total war” effort by whole country
America comes out of war stronger-than-ever
One million American casualties
Relatively small compared to other nations
America homeland virtually untouched
Other nations in ruins
U.S. becomes the world superpower