1. SOL Review Materials for Unit Eight: World War II
American Participation in World War II
SOL Review Materials for Unit Eight: World War II

2. The Rise of Fascist Dictators in Europe Between the Wars
The economic devastation of World War I caused widespread discontent in Europe, especially in Germany. The high reparations they were responsible for caused political instability in the country during the 1920s and 1930s.
A period of worldwide depression worsened the crisis – the Great Depression was not just an American affair.
High inflation in Germany made money almost completely worthless.
Massive unemployment in Germany crippled the nation’s economy.

3. The Rise of Fascism Caused WW II
Fascism is political philosophy in which total power is given to a dictator (totalitarianism and dictatorship are two characteristics.)
All individual rights were given up to the national government – or dictator.
Racism was common – Anti-Semitism , or hatred of Jewish people, in Germany. The Nazis considered “Aryans” – a fictional German identity - a superior race.

4. Fascist Dictatorships
Benito Mussolini of Italy
Adolf Hitler
Of Nazi Germany
Hideki Tojo
of Japan

5. The Aggression of the Axis Powers: Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany used its military power to attack surrounding nations, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.
Nazi Germany acted out in violation of the Treaty of Versailles almost immediately, and began to expand it’s territory and influence. It occupied the Rhineland in violation of the treaty, annexed Austria in the Anschluss, took over the Sudetenland and later the remainder of Czechoslovakia, as well. In the meantime, Nazi Germany used it’s increasingly powerful military to support the fascist dictator Francisco Franco in Spain, and formed an alliance with Benito Mussolini – the original Fascist dictator – in Italy.

6. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and mainland China in 1937
Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and mainland China in In 1941, they bombed and attempted to take over American possessions in the Philippines and Hawaii.
The Aggression of the Axis Powers: Japanese Aggression in Asia and the Pacific
During the early part of the 1900s, Theodore Roosevelt suggested to the Japanese Imperial government that he considered the nation the most powerful, influential, and fit to rule in the region. Japanese expansion into the continent of Asia and the islands of the Pacific had been a goal for some time, then, when the Japanese military made it a major priority starting in the 1930s. Korea was subjugated, and Manchuria was invaded in the early part of the 1930s. China was invaded in 1937, and coordinated attacks upon the islands of the Pacific – including American territories in 1941 – would bring on war.

7. The Allied Powers During WW II
England and the United States – who had promised to defeat the Nazi tyranny by signing the Atlantic Charter in 1941, were the first Allies.
The Soviet Union would join the Allies in 1941, when they were attacked by Nazi Germany. Many other nations, including France, Canada, Australia, and China, played vital roles in supporting the Allied Powers during World War II.

8. The Leaders of the Allied Powers
The Big Three leaders of the Allied Powers during World War II were (from left to right):
Joseph Stalin of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States of American (USA)
Winston Churchill of Great Britain, or England.

9. From Neutrality to War
After World War I, the United States rejected the Treaty of Versailles, refused to join the League of Nations, and adopted a policy of isolationism towards Europe between the wars.
During the 1930s, a series of Neutrality Acts were passed allowing Americans to provide only limited economic and military aid to the Allies.
When the Lend-Lease Act was passed, the United States gave Britain war supplies and old naval warships in return for military bases in Bermuda and the Caribbean.

10. The War Starts in Europe
World War II began in Europe when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, The United States DID NOT enter the war until much later – when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, setting off World War II in Europe. At the same time, the Soviet Union also invaded Poland from the East.
Both England and France immediately declared war on Germany. Neither nation, however, declared war on the Soviet Union.

11. The Nazis Capture Paris, and France Falls
Germany invaded France and captured Paris in the summer of 1940.
It was not until June 6, 1944, - D-Day – when the United States and the Allies opened a second front to fight the Nazis.

12. The Battle of Britain
During 1940 and 1941, Germany began its bombardment of London. Although much of the city was destroyed, the people never surrendered.
Hitler soon turned his attention to the East and invaded the USSR.

13. The United States Goes to War with Japan
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered into World War II.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor without warning.
The following day, FDR declared the attack “a date that will live in infamy” and asked for a declaration of war against the Empire of Japan.

14. Declarations of War The United States declared war on Japan.
Since Japan was a member of the Axis Powers, Germany and Italy both declared war on the United States. The US responded in kind, declaring war on all of the Axis Powers.
Because it was the strongest of the three nations militarily, the US agreed that defeating Germany in the European theatre of war would be priority number one.

15. Fighting World War II at Home
American involvement in World War II brought an end to the Great Depression. Factories and workers were needed to produce goods to win the war. Many factories had to be converted for wartime production, but one thing was for certain – on December 7, 1941, everyone had a job in the United States of America: to defeat the Japanese and the Axis powers who had invaded our nation.

16. Working Women in World War II Thousands of American women took jobs in defense plants during the World War II. Rosie “the Riveter” was the symbol of the American working woman during World War II. Both women and African-Americans who were hired to work in the factories helped to provide both munitions and supplies for the soldiers and sailors abroad.

17. Rationing of Goods Helped to Win the War!
“Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or, do without!” Americans were all asked to make small sacrifices for the good of the soldiers during World War II. Rationed goods included meat, coffee, sugar, tires, shoes, and gasoline, among other things.

18. Overcoming Racial Differences to Work for Victory in WW II
The need for workers temporarily broke down some racial barriers when it came to hiring practices during World War II in the defense industry. As you can see from the last names gathered around the tank in this picture, everyone was welcome to help along the war effort. The cartoon below shows the need to employ African-American workers, too.

19. Japanese Americans were robbed of their liberties and place in relocation camps, or internment camps.

20. The Turning Point In World War II on the Eastern Front was the Battle of Stalingrad.

21. The Turning Point in World War II on the Western Front was the D-Day Invasion.

22. The Turning Point in World War II in the Pacific Theatre was the Battle of Midway Island.

23. “I Am Become Death The Destroyer Of Worlds.”
The Manhattan Project
J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientist who led the Manhattan Project. The goal of the project was to create an atomic bomb, which would be used to help win World War II.

24. The United States Dropped Two Atomic Bombs on Japan to End WW II.
Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945)
The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan August of 1945, forcing Japan to surrender and ending World War II. Almost 250,000 Japanese civilians died when the weapons were used. Harry S Truman felt justified in using the weapons, though, because an invasion of Japan would have killed millions.

25. German Anti-Semitism and Racist Policies Led to Mass Murder During the Holocaust.
Anti-Semitism was at the heart of Nazism.
Jewish people experience segregation and were forbidden from holding certain jobs.
Threats and violent pogroms were used to intimidate Jewish people; Kristallnacht was the worst of these in November of 1938.
Aryan supremacy was the belief that Germans were the master race, and all other races must be subjugated to them.
Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” was a systematic attempt to murder the entire Jewish population of Europe.

26. Jewish people in Europe were imprisoned in concentration camps and systematically murdered during the Holocaust.
Jewish people – and others, including Gypsies, political prisoners, priests, and homosexuals – were imprisoned, worked to exhausted, starved to death, and ultimately murdered by the Nazis during World War II. Most of the men in the picture here – from a concentration camp in Austria – survived.

27. Allied Soldiers – Americans and Soviets – liberated the Death Camps.
Although the death camps of Europe were liberated in the spring of 1945, over 13 Million people had been murdered by the Nazis. Of those, 6 Million were murdered simply because they were Jewish. Anti-Semitism in Germany had taken a murderous toll.