World War II

1
World War II

• Chapters 16 17

2
World War II

• Few believed that World War I had made the world
  safe for democracy
• The people noticed chaos in the government after
  the war
• The people feared the newly founded Communist
  government in Russia
• These fears led the U.S. to adopt the idea of
  isolationism or withdrawal from world affairs in
  20s and 30s
• This led the U.S. to stay out of world
  organizations like the League of Nations and the
  World Court

3
World War II

• American peace organizations pushed for global
  disarmament
• In Nov. 1921 the U.S. hosted the Washington
  conference, which focused on naval disarmament
  and Pacific Security
• 62 countries signed the Kellogg-Brand Pact which
  outlawed war as an instrument of national
  policy but allowed countries to go to war in
  self-defense
• The treaty lacked provisions for enforcement
• Japan violated treaty by its invasion of
  Manchuria in Sept. of 1931
• Because of Japanese war in Manchuria and world
  wide depression, the 1932 League of Nations World
  Disarmament conference ended with no reduction in
  weapons.

4
War Debts and Reparations

• Britain, France, and Italy owed the U.S. billions
  in war debt.
• The only way to pay the U.S. back was to collect
  reparations or damages from the defeated Germans.
• The reparations were to total 132 billion gold
  marks, or 32,000,000,000
• Germany went under and printed paper money which
  made inflation go up and made the value of the
  German Mark go down.
• Hitler believed that politicians, not the German
  army, were to blame for the German defeat. He
  tried to overthrow the government in 1923, but
  failed and was imprisoned where he continued to
  plot revenge on those he thought had wronged
  Germany.

5
Benito Mussolini

• Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in
  1921 in Italy.
• Fascism- a military dominated government should
  control all aspects of society
• Followers of Mussolini- Blackshirts because of
  the black uniforms they wore
• Mussolini wanted Italy to be a Imperial power
  which led him to occupy Ethiopia in 1935.
• The U.S. was swift to sever ties with both sides
  with a weapons ban with both of them.

6
Joseph Stalin

• Vladmir Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, died in
  1924.
• After his death, there was a power struggle in
  the communist party with Joseph Stalin being the
  victor.
• Stalin even resorted to assassinating his rivals
• Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a
  totalitarian state, where the government had
  complete control
• He crushed all opposition through the Red Army
• It is estimated that as many as 30 million people
  died as the results of Stalins policies

7
Adolf Hitler

• In 1932 Hitlers party, the Nazi party, won
  nearly 40 of the vote in the national elections
• Hitler became chancellor of Germany the next year
• While in prison, he had written Mein Kampf (My
  Struggle) which outlined his plans to restore
  German power
• Hitlers government was called The Third Reich
  (The Third Empire) and claimed dictatorial power.
• They prohibited Jews from holding government
  positions, outlawed strikes, and made military
  service mandatory
• Nazi storm troopers- brownshirts- because of the
  color of their uniforms, crushed all political
  opposition.
• Hitler rearmed the German military which was a
  violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

8
Adolf Hitler, Cont.

• Anti-Semitism- Hatred of Jews- official German
  policy.
• 1935- Hitler-Nuremberg Laws- stripped Jews of
  their German citizenship.
• Kristallnacht- night of broken glass- Nazis
  burned down synagogues and destroyed Jewish
  businesses

9
Japan

• Japanese- pushing to expand
• They wanted to lessen the western influence in
  Asia and increase that of Japans
• Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931
• Japan began to build up a navy which violated
  their Washington Conference pledge
• League of Nations and U. S. told Japan no, no,
  no.

10
War on the Brink

• 1936- Italy and Germany formed the Axis Powers-
  Japan later joined
• Hitler, Mussolini, Neville Chamberlain of Great
  Britain, and Edouard Daladier of France- Munich
  Conference- signed a pact giving Germany control
  of Sudetenland
• European leaders adopted the policy of
  appeasement, giving in to small demands in order
  to avoid a war.

11
War

• March 1939- German armies occupy all of
  Czechoslovakia
• April 7, 1939, Italy invades Albania
• August 23, 1939 Stalin signs a Non-aggression
  pact with Hitler
• September 1, 1939 German bombers and armored
  divisions move into Poland
• U.S. is still out
• December 7, 1941- Pearl Harbor pulls the U.S.
  into war

12
Early Problems

• Axis powers of Japan and Germany already had firm
  hold in the areas that they were invading
• Japan and Germany were both ready for war and had
  already changed their economy to wartime
  production
• One great advantage- the axis powers were spread
  out over a great distance

13
Mobilizing for war

• Employment goes sky high
• Workers agree not to strike during the war
• Planes, tanks, jeeps, and guns
• 88,000 landing craft, 215 submarines, 147
  aircraft carriers, 952 other warships, and 5,200
  merchant ships came from U.S. shipyards
• Roosevelt created the War Production Board to
  increase military production

14
War Effort

• Office of War Mobilization- coordinated all
  government agencies involved in the war effort
• Income taxes were taken from people who hadnt
  had to pay them before
• War bond sales to help finance war
• Selective Training and Service Act- all men age
  18 to 45 had to register

15
War in the Pacific

• Commander of the U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz
• The Battle of Coral Sea- Allies stop the Japanese
  advance to New Guinea
• The Battle of Midway- Allies cripple the Japanese
  Navy by intercepting Japanese plans
• Guadalcanal- Battle that turned the tides of the
  war with the U.S. outlasting the Japanese

16
War!

• Stalingrad- Germans finally surrounded by
  Russians. Less than ½ of the original German
  force of 200,000 survived
• Battle of the Atlantic- U-boats vs. allied Navy
  and air assault, sonar helped to turn the tide
• Battle of the Bulge- Allies defeated the final
  German offensive 200,000 vs. 80,000
• Yalta Conference- Churchill, Stalin, and
  Roosevelt meet to discuss peace

17
Pacific War

• Island Hopping- take only strategic islands
• Used to take Makin, Tarawa, Saipan Islands
• Battle of Leyte Gulf- Last, largest, and most
  decisive naval engagement in the Pacific during
  World War II
• Battle of Iwo Jima- Six week struggle for control
  of a key Pacific island that resulted in allied
  victory
• Battle of Okinawa-Bloodiest battle of the Pacific
  war U.S.- 49,200 Japanese 110,070

18
Surrender

• On April 30, 1945 Hitler committed suicide in his
  bunker
• Germany surrendered May 7, 1945
• Japan Surrendered September 2, 1945
• Even though we demanded an unconditional
  surrender, Hirohito was left in power because of
  the divine status of the Emperor in Japan
• Everywhere there was war was destroyed