1 steps to war · 2016-09-21 · throughout the early 1930s,the nazis gained power by ......

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYOne of George Messersmith’s duties as a U.S.

diplomat in Austria in the 1930s was to watch

events in Central Europe closely. What he saw

happening in Germany worried him. Although

Germany had been devastated after its defeat in

World War I, it was again on the rise. In March 1936,

Messersmith described what he saw.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

The National Socialist [Nazi] regime in Germany isbased on a program of ruthless force, which programhas for its aim, first, the enslavement of the Germanpopulation to a National Socialist social and politicalprogram, and then to use the force of these 67 million people for the extension of German political and economic sovereignty over South-Eastern Europe—thus putting it into a position to dominate Europe completely.

George Messersmith, quoted in The Making of the Second World War

Messersmith’s predictions would soon prove true. In the coming years, Germany

and its allies threw the world into war, as you will read in this section.

The Rise of Dictators and World War II 757

11

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

Steps to WarSteps to War TERMS & NAMESfascism

Adolf Hitler

Nazi Party

Joseph Stalin

Axis

appeasement

Lend-Lease Act

Pearl Harbor

The Rise of DictatorsBy the mid-1930s, dictators, or absolute rulers, had seized control in sev-eral countries—Italy, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union. Their riseto power was due to economic and political factors that dated back to theend of World War I.

The treaties that ended the war had left many nations feeling betrayed.Japan and Italy, for example, had helped to win the war. However, bothwere dissatisfied by the peace treaties. Italy gained less territory than itwanted. Japan felt ignored by the European powers. Of the losing coun-tries, Germany was treated the most severely. The winners strippedGermany of more than 10 percent of its territory and all of its overseascolonies. The winners also forced Germany to disarm. And they madeGermany pay for war damages and accept responsibility for the war.

The rise of dictators in Europe andAsia led to World War II.

Aggressive rulers still threaten peacetoday.

Adolf Hitler greetsa crowd of morethan one millionpeople at a HarvestFestival in 1937.

Meanwhile, World War I had left the economies ofEurope in ruins. Both sides emerged from the warheavily in debt. There was some economic growth inthe 1920s. But the world economic situation collapsedwith the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mass unem-ployment caused widespread unrest. Many Europeansturned to new leaders to solve these problems.

Mussolini, Hitler, and StalinOne new leader was Benito Mussolini of Italy. Shortlyafter World War I, Mussolini began a political move-ment known as fascism (FASH•IZ•uhm). Fascistspreached an extreme form of patriotism and nationalismthat was often linked to racism. They oppressed peoplewho did not share their views. In 1922, Mussolinibecame prime minister of Italy. In 1925, he establisheda dictatorship and took the title Il Duce (eel DOO•chay),or “the Leader.”

In Germany, Adolf Hitler led the fascist NationalSocialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party.Throughout the early 1930s, the Nazis gained power bypreaching German racial superiority. They also prom-ised to avenge the nation’s defeat in World War I. In1933, the Nazis won control of the government. Hitlerthen overthrew the constitution. He called himself derFührer (duhr FYUR•uhr), or “the Leader.”

In the Soviet Union, the Communists tightened theirgrip on power during the 1920s and 1930s. V.I. Lenin,

who led the Communist takeover of Russia in 1917, died in 1924. His suc-cessor was Joseph Stalin. Under Stalin, the government tried to controlevery aspect of life in the nation. It crushed any form of opposition.

Dictators Seek to Expand TerritoryWhile dictators were gaining power in Europe, the military was gainingincreasing power in Japan. By 1931, the Japanese military pushed theisland nation to grab more land and resources. That year, the Japaneseattacked Manchuria, a province in northern China rich in naturalresources. They conquered the region within months.

Both Italy and Germany also sought new territory. In 1935, Italyattacked Ethiopia, one of the few independent African nations. Italiantroops roared in with machine guns, tanks, and airplanes. By the springof 1936, Il Duce had his first conquest.

That same year, Hitler moved troops into the Rhineland, a region ofGermany along the French border. Under the Treaty of Versailles, theRhineland was to remain free of German forces. The French govern-ment was outraged by the treaty violation. However, it took no action.Nor did the League of Nations.

758 CHAPTER 27

GERMAN SCIENTISTS

Many scientists left Germany orgave up their German citizenshipafter the Nazis took power. Themost famous German scientist todo so was the physicist AlbertEinstein (below).

Einstein, a German Jew, wasvisiting the United States whenHitler took control of Germany in1933. Einstein announced hewould not return home. “I shalllive only in a country where civilliberty, tolerance, and equality ofall citizens before the law prevail,”he said. Einstein played a key rolein convincing President Rooseveltto support research that wouldlead to the development ofnuclear weapons.

Vocabularyavenge: to getrevenge

A. Finding MainIdeas What factors led to the rise of dictators afterWorld War I?A. PossibleResponsesUnfavorable termsin the Treaty ofVersailles upsetthe people ofsome nations. TheGreat Depressionalso made peopleturn to dictatorswho promisedrelief.

BackgroundIn theory,Communists andfascists have opposing ideasabout govern-ment and society.Despite these differences,Stalin and Hitlerwere both brutaldictators.

In 1936, Hitler and Mussolini formed an allianceknown as the Rome-Berlin Axis. After this treaty,Germany, Italy, and their allies became known as theAxis. That year, a civil war erupted in Spain. The con-flict pitted Spain’s fascist-style military against thecountry’s elected government. Hitler and Mussolinisupplied the fascist forces with troops, weapons, andaircraft. In April 1939, Spain’s army declared victoryover the government and established a dictatorship.

In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria, home to mostlyGerman-speaking peoples. He insisted that theAustrians wanted to be part of Germany. Many residentsof Austria and Germany welcomed the unification.

Appeasement at MunichAfter taking over Austria, Hitler set his sights on the Sudetenland. Thiswas a region of Czechoslovakia where many people of German descentlived. Czechoslovakia, though, did not want to give up the region.

France and Russia pledged their support to Czechoslovakia if Germanyattacked. Suddenly, Europe teetered on the brink of another war. Britain’sprime minister, Neville Chamberlain, stepped in. He met with Hitler inan attempt to calm the situation. But their talks made little progress.

On September 29, 1938, Hitler and Chamberlain met in Munich,Germany. By the next day, the two sides had made a breakthrough andsigned an agreement. Germany gained control of the Sudetenland. Inreturn, Hitler promised to stop seeking any more territory.

The Munich Agreement was an example of the British and French pol-icy known as appeasement. Under this policy, they met Germany’sdemands in order to avoid war. Chamberlain returned home from Munichand triumphantly announced that he had achieved “peace in our time.”

Others, however, disagreed with appeasement. Winston Churchillreportedly wrote of the agreement: “[Britain and France] had to choosebetween war and shame. They chose shame. They will get war, too.”


BackgroundSome Americanswent to Spain tofight against thefascists. Theywere known asthe AbrahamLincoln Battalion.

B. PossibleResponse TheBritish and Frenchleaders supportedappeasementbecause theywanted to avoidwar. Churchillopposed this pol-icy because hebelieve war wasinevitable.

B. AnalyzingPoints of ViewWhat were thedifferent pointsof view aboutthe policy ofappeasement?

Spanish artist Pablo Picassoexpresses the horrors of war in his painting Guernica(GUAHR•nih•keh), shownabove. Picasso created thiswork after German planesdestroyed much of the Spanishtown of Guernica in April 1937,during the Spanish Civil War.Through Picasso’s painting, thetown became a symbol of thedestructiveness of air warfare.

What characteristics of wardoes the painting bring out?

ICELAND

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Axis nations, 1938Axis-controlled, 1941AlliesNeutral nationsGerman advances

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Germany Starts the WarHitler soon broke the promise he had made in Munich. In March 1939,his troops moved in and conquered the rest of Czechoslovakia. TheFührer then declared his intent to seize territory from Poland. Britainand France warned that an attack on Poland would mean war.

Britain and France assumed they had an ally in Stalin. After all, theSoviet Union and Germany were bitter enemies. However, in August1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact. Init, they agreed not to declare war on each other. On September 1,1939, Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France declaredwar on Germany two days after the invasion of Poland. World War IIhad begun.

The Germans introduced a new method of warfare known asblitzkrieg (“lightning war”). It stressed speed and surprise in the use oftanks, troops, and planes. German forces drove deep into Poland. AsGermany conquered western Poland, the Soviet Union invaded from theeast. In less than a month, Poland fell to the invading armies.

In April 1940, Hitler conquered Denmark and overran Norway. Amonth later, Germany launched a blitzkrieg against Belgium, Luxem-bourg, and the Netherlands. British and French troops could do littleto stop the advancing Germans.

C. Making Inferences Why do you think Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler?C. PossibleResponse Somemight say hefeared theGermans woulddefeat the Soviets.

SkillbuilderAnswers 1. 1940west; 1941 east2. Portugal, Spain, Ireland,Switzerland, andSweden

World War II in Europe, 1939–1941

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDERInterpreting Maps1. Movement In which direction did the

Germans attack in 1940? in 1941?

2. Place Which European nations wereneutral in World War II?

760

Major Axis and Allied Nations

Belgium, Canada, China, France,Great Britain, India, Mexico,

Netherlands, Poland, Soviet Union,United States

ALLIES

AXIS

Germany, Italy, Japan

As each nation surrendered, Britishsoldiers retreated to the French seaportof Dunkirk on the English Channel.Under heavy German bombardment,British vessels evacuated nearly 340,000British, French, and Belgian troops.

In June 1940, the Germans launcheda major offensive against France. In lessthan two weeks, they reached Paris.Days later, France surrendered. Hitlerbelieved that Great Britain would seekpeace after France fell.

Even though France had fallen, theBritish had no intention of quitting.Churchill, the new British prime min-ister, declared, “We shall defend every village, every town, and every city.”Hitler soon made plans to invadeBritain. To do so, however, he neededto destroy Britain’s Royal Air Force,often called the RAF. In the summer of1940, the German air force, or Luft-waffe (LUFT•VAHF•eh), and the RAF fought in the skies over Britain.

German planes also unleashed massive bombing attacks on Londonand other civilian targets. By September, however, the Battle of Britainhad left Hitler frustrated. The RAF was holding off the Luftwaffe. Anddespite constant bombing, the British people did not surrender.

Germany Attacks the Soviet UnionWhile Hitler’s forces conquered Western Europe, Stalin’s troops invadedFinland in November 1939. The Soviets then seized the countries ofEstonia, Latvia, and Lithuania along the Baltic Sea. Despite their part-nership, Hitler and Stalin distrusted each other. Hitler feared Sovietambitions in Europe. He also wanted Soviet wheat and oil fields.

As a result, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Germanforces moved easily through the giant country. They inflicted heavycasualties on Soviet troops. Then Hitler made a major mistake. Hedecided not to concentrate all his forces against Moscow. Instead, hereinforced his armies heading north toward Leningrad and south towardthe Crimean Peninsula. The Germans tried to capture Leningrad fromSeptember 1941 to January 1944. About one million citizens died, manyfrom starvation. But the city never fell to the Germans.

As German troops approached Moscow in December 1941, theyran into the harshest Russian winter in decades. Many German sol-diers suffered frostbite. German tanks and weapons broke down inthe cold. The Nazi advance had ground to a halt, and Soviet forcesdrove the Germans back.


D. PossibleResponses Somestudents mightsay that Hitlerwanted to surprise them.Others might saythat he waited toattack until afterhe had defeatedFrance. He didn’twant to fightboth at the sametime.

D. MakingInferences Whydid Hitler attackthe Soviet Unionjust months aftersigning the non-aggression pact?

British civilianssleep in a subwaystation being used as an air raidshelter during theBattle of Britain in 1940.

The United States Aids the AlliesWhile the Nazis advanced, President Roosevelt tried to help the Alliesby supplying them with arms and other materials. “We must be the greatarsenal of democracy,” he declared. He proposed the Lend-Lease Act to

address this issue. This measure allowed the UnitedStates to lend or lease raw materials, equipment, andweapons to the Allied nations. Congress approved theact in 1941. Under Lend-Lease, the United States sentabout $50 billion worth of war goods to the Allies.

Japan Attacks Pearl HarborIn 1940, Japan joined the alliance with Germany andItaly. In 1941, an even more warlike government cameto power in Japan. Its leader was Hideki Tojo(HEE•deh•kee TOH•JOH), an army general. The Tojogovernment made plans to invade the Dutch EastIndies—a source of oil—and Asian territories.

In the eyes of Japan’s rulers, only one thing stood intheir way—the United States Navy. On December 7,1941, Japanese warplanes bombed the huge Americannaval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Before the daywas over, about 2,400 Americans—both servicemenand civilians—died. Many of the American warplanesand ships were destroyed or damaged.

President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare waron Japan. He called December 7, 1941, “a date whichwill live in infamy.” The nation quickly united behindhim. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared waron the United States. In the next section, you will readabout U.S. participation in the war in Europe.

762 CHAPTER 27

2. Taking NotesUse a diagram to reviewevents that led to Americanparticipation in World War II.

Which of these events do you think was the mostimportant? Why?

3. Main Ideasa. Who were the main Axispowers? Who were the mainAllied powers?

b. Why was Hitler unable toconquer Great Britain?

c. What event prompted U.S.entry into the war?

4. Critical ThinkingAnalyzing Causes Why do you think dictators such asHitler and Mussolini were ableto gain such power in theyears before World War II?

THINK ABOUT• the peace treaties of

World War I• the worldwide depression

1. Terms & NamesExplain the

significance of:• fascism• Adolf Hitler• Nazi Party• Joseph Stalin• Axis• appeasement• Lend-Lease Act• Pearl Harbor

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

LANGUAGE ARTSGEOGRAPHY

Imagine that you are a citizen of one of the countries invaded by Germany. Writea journal entry describing the invasion or draw a map of the invasion route.

1

U.S.S. ARIZONA MEMORIAL

The U.S.S. Arizona sufferedextensive damage during theattack on Pearl Harbor. The shipsank, and 1,177 of its crew died.The nation chose not to raisethe ship. Instead, officials cre-ated a memorial (shown below)that sits above the sunken hull.

The names of all the crewmenwho perished aboard the shipare carved on the memorial. Tocommemorate the 50th anniver-sary of the attack, PresidentGeorge Bush visited the site anddropped flowers in the waterabove the ship.

Event 3 Event 4

Event 2Event 1

E. PossibleResponse accessto raw materials,such as oil

E. AnalyzingCauses Whatwas the mainsource of conflictbetween Japanand the UnitedStates?

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYPrivate First Class Richard Courtney could hardly believe it.

Rumors had been circulating for weeks that his 26th Infantry

Division was heading overseas to fight the Nazis in Europe. Now

it was finally happening. His ship pulled out of New York harbor

on a late summer morning in 1944. As the ship started down the

river and headed out to sea, Courtney, a 19-year-old native of

Altoona, Pennsylvania, described his feelings.


I was eager to see all the ships in the harbor and to look up at theStatue of Liberty, which I had seen two years before on a trip toNew York with my father. . . . For a moment I considered missingMass and staying on deck with the others to see the statue. Thenmy better sense took over, and I headed down the stairs to Mass.As soon as Mass ended, I hurried up the stairs and rushed out ondeck to see water, nothing but water. Well, Old Girl [Statue ofLiberty], I will just have to wait for the return trip to see you again.

Richard Courtney, Normandy to the Bulge

Courtney was just one of millions of soldiers who left American

shores to fight around the world. In this section, you will learn how

American troops, along with those of its allies, defeated Germany and

Italy and freed Europe.


Mobilizing for WarThe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the United States intoWorld War II. Now, there was little time to waste. The nation quicklyhad to build up its armed forces. Millions of Americans volunteered forduty. Millions more were drafted, or selected for military service. Underthe Selective Service Act, all men between the ages of 18 and 38 had toregister for military service.

Those who served represented many of the nation’s ethnic and racialgroups. For example, more than 300,000 Mexican Americans fought inEurope as well as Asia. Nearly one million African Americans served in

U.S. troops stand beside theirtrain as they wait to travel over-seas for duty in World War II.

22


War in Africa and EuropeWar in Africa and Europe

TERMS & NAMESDwight D.

Eisenhower

D-Day

Battle of the Bulge

Yalta Conference

Holocaust

The Allies defeated the Axis powersin Europe and Africa.

During World War II, the UnitedStates assumed a leading role inworld affairs that continues today.

the armed forces. Native Americans and Asian Americans also took partin the struggle. African-American and some Japanese-American sol-diers fought in segregated, or separate, units. For example, the 99thFighter Squadron, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, consisted ofAfrican-American pilots. They served in North Africa and Italy.

More than 300,000 women also served in the U.S. armed forces.Many worked for the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) as mechanics,drivers, and clerks. Others joined the Army and Navy Nurse Corps.Thousands of women also joined the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard,where they performed important noncombat duties.

Battles in Africa and ItalyThe Allies began making plans to invade Europe. The Americanswanted to land in France as soon as possible. Stalin agreed. ButChurchill believed the Allies were not prepared for such an invasion. Heconvinced the Americans that the Allies should first drive the Germansout of North Africa. This action would help the Allies gain control ofthe Mediterranean and open the way to invade Europe through Italy.

Since the summer of 1940, Britain had been battling Axis forces forcontrol of northern Africa—especially Egypt. Without Egypt, theBritish would lose access to the Suez Canal. The canal was the shortestsea route to Asia and the Middle Eastern oil fields.

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El Alamein

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Axis nations, 1938Axis-controlled, 1941AlliesNeutral nationsAllied advances

World War II in Europe and Africa, 1942–1945

SkillbuilderAnswers1. the Soviet Union2. Tunisia

A. AnswerChurchill con-vinced theAmericans that itwould be betterto push the Nazisout of Africa andinvade Europethrough Italy.

A. MakingDecisions Whydid the Alliesdecide to attackthe Nazis inNorth Africabefore invadingFrance?

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDERInterpreting Maps1. Movement Which Allied power captured

Berlin?

2. Place What was the last territory in NorthAfrica held by the Axis?

764

The Tuskegee Airmen were an all-black unit ofpilots that fought in North Africa and Italy.

British troops in northern Africa faced a tough oppo-nent in Germany’s General Erwin Rommel. Rommel’sskills had earned him the nickname “The Desert Fox.”He commanded Germany’s Afrika Korps, includingtwo powerful tank divisions. In June 1942, Rommel’stanks pushed the British lines to the Egyptian town ofEl Alamein. The Desert Fox was just 200 miles fromthe Suez Canal.

He would go no further, however. The Britishstopped the German advance at El Alamein and thenforced them to retreat. A wave of Allied troops, led byAmerican General Dwight D. Eisenhower, landed innorthern Africa in November 1942. They advancedtoward Rommel’s army in Tunisia. In February 1943,the two sides clashed. The inexperienced Americans fellto Rommel’s forces. However, the Allies regrouped andcontinued attacking. In May, the Axis powers in north-ern Africa surrendered. The Allies now could establishbases from which to attack southern Europe.

The invasion of Italy got under way with an attack onthe island of Sicily in July 1943. Allied and Germanforces engaged in a month of bitter fighting. Americannurse June Wandrey recalled trying to help the wounded.


Many wounded soldiers’ faces still haunt my memory. I recallone eighteen year old who had just been brought in fromthe ambulance to the shock ward. I went to himimmediately. He looked up at me trustingly, sighed andasked, “How am I doing, Nurse?” . . . I put my hands aroundhis face, kissed his forehead and said, “You are doing justfine, soldier.” He smiled sweetly and said, “I was justchecking up.” Then he died. Many of us shed tears in private.

June Wandrey, quoted in We’re in This War, Too

The Allies forced the Germans out of Sicily and then swept into Italy.By this time, the Italians had turned on Mussolini. Officials had impris-oned their leader. However, he escaped. The new Italian governmentsurrendered to the Allies in September 1943.

The Allied Advance and D-DayMeanwhile, Germany’s difficulties in the Soviet Union had grown worse.In September 1942, German forces attacked the Russian city ofStalingrad, an important industrial center. A brutal battle took place. TheSoviet army fiercely defended the city. As winter approached, the Germancommander begged Hitler to let him retreat. The Führer refused.

Fighting continued through the winter. The trapped Germans hadno food or supplies. Many thousands of Nazi soldiers froze or starvedto death. In February 1943, the remaining German troops surrendered.


DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

1890–1969

If ever there was a general whocared about his troops, it wasGeneral Dwight Eisenhower. AsAllied forces battled in Italy,Eisenhower learned that he andanother general were scheduledto stay in two large villas. He wasnot happy. He exploded.

That’s not my villa! And that’snot General Spaatz’ villa!None of those will belong toany general as long as I’m Bossaround here. This is supposedto be a rest center—for com-bat men—not a playgroundfor the Brass!

How might Eisenhower’sconcern for the commonsoldier have affected hisstanding with the troops?

B. Answer Theharsh winterweakened theGerman army,and the Sovietsfiercely defendedStalingrad, forc-ing the Germansto give up.

B. SummarizingWhat preventedthe Germansfrom conqueringthe Soviet Union?

Each side had suffered staggering losses.With Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad, itshopes of conquering the Soviet Unionappeared gone.

Hitler soon had other things to worryabout in the West. In June 1944, theAllies’ plan to invade France got under

way. On the morning of June 6, more than 5,000 ships and landing craftcarried more than 130,000 soldiers across the English Channel to aregion in northern France called Normandy. The attackers includedAmerican, British, and Canadian forces. The day of this historic assaultbecame known as D-Day. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history.

The attack surprised the German forces positioned along the beach.Nonetheless, they defended the region fiercely. As Allied troops hit theshore, they endured a hail of gun and mortar fire. More than 10,000Allied soldiers were killed or wounded as they attempted to move inland.By the end of the day, however, the Allies had secured the beaches.

By the end of June 1944, 850,000 Allied troops had poured intoFrance. They moved inland toward Paris, battling German troops alongthe way. On August 25, Allied forces liberated, or freed, the French cap-ital. As they continued fighting to recapture the rest of France from theGermans, numerous American heroes emerged. One of them was AudieMurphy, the most decorated U.S. soldier of World War II. In January1945, German troops attacked Murphy’s unit in France. The 20-year-old Murphy climbed on a burning tank destroyer and used its machinegun to kill about 50 enemy troops. The U.S. government awarded himthe Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award.

As Allied forces advanced through Europe from the west, Soviet troopswere beating back Hitler’s army in the East. In December 1944, theGerman leader launched one final assault. In what became known as theBattle of the Bulge, German troops attacked Allied forces in theArdennes region in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Nazi troops over-whelmed the Allies and pushed them back. U.S. forces regrouped anddefeated the Germans. The Battle of the Bulge was costly. German casu-alties totalled 120,000. Meanwhile, nearly 80,000 Americans were killed,captured, or wounded.

766 CHAPTER 27

E n g l i s h

C h a n n e l

ATLANTICOCEAN

50˚ N

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GREAT BRITAIN

FRANCENormandy

American troopsstorm OmahaBeach inNormandy innorthern Franceon June 6, 1944.

BackgroundThe Germanswere surprisedby the attack at Normandybecause many,including Hitler,thought it wouldoccur at Calais—150 miles away—where theEnglish Channelis narrowest.

Victory in EuropeBy February 1945, the Germans were retreating everywhere. Thatmonth, Allied leaders met in the Soviet resort of Yalta. Attending theYalta Conference were the “Big Three” as they were called—Roosevelt,Churchill, and Stalin. During the conference, these leaders made plansfor the end of the war and the future of Europe.

Stalin promised to declare war on Japan after Germany surrendered.The three leaders also agreed to establish a postwar international peace-keeping organization. In addition,they discussed the type of govern-ments that would be set up in EasternEurope after the war.

By the time of the Yalta Conference,President Roosevelt was in poor health.In April 1945, just months after beingsworn in for a fourth term, the presidentdied. Roosevelt’s vice-president, HarryS. Truman, succeeded him. As thenation mourned Roosevelt’s death, thenew president continued the war effort.

In late April 1945, the Russians reached Berlin. Deep inside his air-raid bunker, Adolf Hitler sensed the end was near. On April 30, the manwho had conquered much of Europe committed suicide.

On May 2, the Soviet Army captured Berlin. Five days later, Germanleaders officially signed an unconditional surrender at GeneralEisenhower’s headquarters in France. The Allies declared the next day,May 8, as V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe wasfinally over.

The Horrors of the HolocaustAs the Allies fought toward Berlin, they made a shocking discovery.Scattered throughout German-occupied Europe were concentrationcamps where Jews and people of other persecuted groups had beenmurdered. The world would soon learn of the horrifying events thattook place behind German lines during the war. In what has becomeknown as the Holocaust, the Nazis killed about 6 million Jewishmen, women, and children—more than two-thirds of the Jews inEurope. The Nazis also killed millions of people of other ethnicgroups, including Gypsies, Russians, and Poles. An estimated 11 mil-lion people were killed in all.

The roots of the Holocaust lay in Adolf Hitler’s intense racism. Hepreached that other groups, particularly the Jews, were inferior toGermans. As he rose to power in the 1930s, Hitler blamed the Jews formany of Germany’s troubles. After becoming leader of Germany, Hitlerenforced anti-Semitism, prejudice against Jews, in numerous ways. Hedenied Jews many of their rights and possessions.


Churchill, Roose-velt, and Stalinmeet during theYalta Conference in 1945.

C. Finding MainIdeas What was the purposeand outcome of the YaltaConference?C. AnswerChurchill, Stalin,and Rooseveltmade plans forthe Soviet Unionto declare war on Japan afterGermany surren-dered. Theyagreed to form an internationalpeacekeepingorganization.

Vocabularyconcentrationcamp: placewhere Germansheld persecutedgroups duringWorld War II

Soon after war broke out, Germany’s anti-Semitic policies took aneven darker turn. In a policy decision labeled “The Final Solution,” Nazileaders set out to murder every Jew under German rule. To accomplishthis evil scheme, the Germans built huge facilities known as concentra-tion camps. Officials crammed Jews into railroad boxcars and sent themto these camps. They forced able-bodied people to work. All others wereslaughtered. The Germans carried out their killings with terrible effi-ciency. For example, they killed hundreds of people at a time in gas cham-bers disguised as showers. They then burned the bodies in large ovens oropen pits. The largest concentration camp was Auschwitz in Poland.More than 1 million people are thought to have been murdered there.

On reaching the camps, the advancing Allies were outraged by whatthey saw. The Allies would battle this type of hate and bias by bringingGerman leaders to trial for what they had done. First, however, theyhad to defeat the Japanese. In the next section, you will read about thewar in the Pacific.

768 CHAPTER 27

2. Taking NotesUse a cluster diagram like theone shown below to identifythe key battles and eventsthat led to the Allies’ victoryin Europe.

3. Main Ideasa. How did the United Statesbuild an army for the war?

b. Why did the Allies tryto conquer North Africabefore attacking southernEurope?

c. Why was the Battle ofStalingrad considered theturning point of the war in the east?

4. Critical ThinkingSupporting Opinions Howmight the war have been dif-ferent if Hitler had decidedto fight alongside the SovietUnion instead of against it?

THINK ABOUT• the difficulties of fighting

a two-front war• the resources of Germany

and the Soviet Union


significance of:• Dwight D.

Eisenhower• D-Day• Battle of the Bulge• Yalta Conference• Holocaust

Section Assessment2

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

GEOGRAPHYTECHNOLOGY

Research the El Alamein battle. Draw a map of the battle or make a databaseshowing the resources, such as the weapons and troops, of each side.

Survivors of theconcentrationcamp at Buchen-wald in centralGermany stand behind a fence in April 1945.

Victory inEurope

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYIn April 1942, more than 70,000 Filipino and American

troops surrendered to the Japanese on the Bataan

Peninsula in the Philippines. From there, the Japanese

marched the starving, exhausted soldiers about 60

miles to a prison camp. Along the way, about 10,000

prisoners lost their lives to shootings, beatings, and

starvation. Sergeant Sidney Stewart was an American

soldier in the Bataan Death March.

A VOICE FROM THE PASTThe sun beat down on my throbbing head. I thought only of bringing

my feet up, putting them down, bringing them up. Along the road thejungle was a misty green haze, swimming before my sweat-filled eyes.

The hours dragged by, and a great many of the prisoners reached theend of their endurance. The drop-outs became more numerous. They fellby the hundreds in the road. . . .

There was a crack of a pistol and the shot rang out across the jungle.There was another shot, and more shots, and I knew that, straggling alongbehind us, was a clean-up squad of Japanese, killing their helpless victimson the white dusty road. . . . The shots continued, goading us on. I grittedmy teeth. “Oh, God, I’ve got to keep going. I can’t stop. I can’t die like that.”

Sidney Stewart, Give Us This Day

Allied and Japanese forces fought for more than three years in the

Pacific. As you will read in this section, the fighting was brutal before

the Allies emerged victorious.

770 CHAPTER 27

33 War in the PacificWar in the Pacific TERMS & NAMESBataan Death

March

Battle of Midway

island hopping

Manhattan Project

Hiroshima

Japan Expands Its EmpireAt the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces launchedattacks throughout the Pacific. By Christmas, Japan controlled HongKong, Thailand, and the U.S. islands of Guam and Wake.

The Japanese also pushed further into Southeast Asia, attackingMalaya and Burma. Great Britain, which ruled these lands and HongKong, fought back. But British forces proved to be no match for theJapanese invaders. Japan conquered the region within a few months.

After early losses, the Allies defeatedthe Japanese in the Pacific.

Since the war, the United States has continued to play a major role in Asia.


Thousands of Americanprisoners endure the BataanDeath March.

A. Answer Itstopped theJapanese advancein the Pacific andwas the first navalbattle when theenemy ships didnot see eachother.

A. EvaluatingWhat was thesignificance ofthe Battle of the Coral Sea?

P A C I F I C O C E A N

FRENCHINDO-CHINA

THAILAND

BURMA

PHILIPPINES

KOREA

INDIA(Br.)

CHINA

MONGOLIASOVIETUNION MANCHURIA

JAPA

N

MALAYA

NEW GUINEA

AUSTRALIA

UNITEDSTATES

DUTCHEAST INDIES

TAIWAN(Formosa)

CANADA

MarianaIslands

GilbertIslands

SolomonIslands

MarshallIslands

Hawaiian Islands (U.S.)

Aleutian Islands

Kurile

Islands

1944

1942

19441944

1943

1943

1945

1945

1945

1942

1943–1944

1943–1944

1945

160°

E

120°

E

80° E

160°

W

40° N

0° Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Tokyo

Nanking

Hong Kong(Br.)

Singapore

Beijing(Peking)

Coral SeaMay 1942 Guadalcanal

Aug. 1942–Feb. 1943

Leyte GulfOct. 1944

SaipanJune–July 1944

Midway I.June 1942Wake I.

Dec. 1941

TarawaNov. 1943

GuamJuly–Aug. 1944

Okinawa, Apr.–June 1945

Nagasaki, Aug. 1945

Iwo Jima, Feb.–Mar. 1945

Pearl Harbor, Dec. 1941

KiskaAug. 1943

HiroshimaAug. 1945

0

0

1,000 Miles

2,000 Kilometers

Japanese empire, 1931Japanese gains by 1942Extent of Japanese expansionAlliesNeutral nationsAllied advancesBattle

But it took Japan longer to conquer the Philippines. They invaded theislands in December 1941 and pushed the Allied forces from the capitalcity of Manila onto the Bataan Peninsula. American and Filipino troops,led by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, then fought the Japanese to a standstill for several months.

As fighting raged in the Philippines, the Allies feared that the Japanesemight invade Australia. President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to with-draw to Australia in March 1942. But MacArthur promised,on reaching Australia, “I shall return.” Shortly after MacArthurleft, the Japanese mounted an offensive. The U.S. troops onBataan surrendered and endured the brutal Bataan Death March. The sit-uation looked bleak for the Allies. But the momentum would soon turn.

The Allies Turn the Tide at MidwayIn the spring of 1942, the Allies began to turn the tide against theJapanese. The push began in April, with a daring air raid on Japanesecities, including Tokyo. Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led 16bombers in the attack. Doolittle’s raid caused little damage. But itshocked Japan’s leaders and boosted the Allies’ morale.

In May, the U.S. Navy clashed with Japanese forces in the Coral Seaoff Australia. For the first time in naval history, enemy ships fought abattle without seeing each other. Instead, war planes launched from air-craft carriers fought the battle. Neither side won a clear victory in theBattle of the Coral Sea. However, the Americans had successfullyblocked Japan’s push toward Australia.

The opposing navies clashed again in June off the island of Midwayin the central Pacific. The U.S. Navy destroyed four Japanese carriersand at least 250 planes. America lost one carrier and about 150 planes.The Battle of Midway, in June 1942, was a turning point in the war.

World War II in the Pacific, 1941–1945

“I shall return.”Gen. Douglas MacArthur

SkillbuilderAnswers1. Okinawa2. about 4,000

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDERInterpreting Maps1. Location Which battle was fought

closest to the Japanese mainland?2. Location How many miles is Hawaii

from Japan?

771

The Allies AdvanceAfter the Battle of Midway, the Allies went on the attack to liberate thelands Japan had conquered. Rather than attempt to retake every Japanese-held island, the Allies decided to invade islands that were not heavilydefended by the Japanese. The Allies could then use the captured islandsto stage further attacks. This strategy was known as island hopping.

The two sides fought an important battle on the island ofGuadalcanal. U.S. Marines marched ashore in August 1942. Six monthsof bitter fighting followed. In February 1943, the Allies finally won.They had gained their first major land victory against the Japanese.

Playing a role in this victory—and many others throughout thePacific—was a group of Navajo Indians.To keep Japanese intelligence frombreaking its codes, the U.S. military had begun using the Navajo languageto transmit important messages. The marines recruited about 400 Navajosto serve as Code Talkers. They accompanied troops into battle and helpedthem communicate safely.

In October 1944, Allied forces invaded the Philippines. The effortincluded a massive naval battle off the Philippine island Leyte (LAY•tee).About 280 ships participated. The Allies won the three-day battle. Japan’snavy was so badly damaged that it was no longer a threat. Allied forcescame ashore. They liberated Manila in March 1945. General MacArthur,three years after leaving the Philippines, had returned.

Although they lost the fight in the Philippines, the Japanese increasedtheir use of a new weapon—the kamikaze (KAH•mih• KAH•zee), or suicide pilot. Kamikazes filled their planes with explosives and crashedthem into Allied warships. Japanese pilots volunteered for these suicidemissions. But they couldn’t stop Allied advances.

Iwo Jima and OkinawaBy early 1945, with Japan’s defenses weakened, the Allies began bomb-ing Japan. To step up the campaign, however, they had to establishbases closer to the mainland. They chose the Japanese-held islands ofIwo Jima and Okinawa.

In February 1945, U.S. marines invaded Iwo Jima. In April, theyinvaded Okinawa. The Japanese defended the islands fiercely. The Allieshad to fight hard for every inch they took. More than 23,000 U.S. sol-diers were killed or wounded during the campaign for Iwo Jima. In late

February, American soldiers planted the U.S. flag at the top of theisland’s Mount Suribachi, signaling their victory, though fighting

continued for several days afterward. In the several months ittook the U.S. Marines to conquer both islands, more than

18,000 U.S. men died. Japanese deaths exceeded 120,000.

U.S. Marines raise a flag atopMount Suribachion Iwo Jima.

B. Finding MainIdeas What was the Allies’strategy in thePacific?B. Answer Theyplanned to islandhop towardsJapan. Theyattacked islandsthat the Japanesedefended weakly,in order to movewithin strikingdistance of Japan.

C. Answer TheAllies met strongresistance. TheAllies took theislands. More than18,000 Americansand 120,000Japanese died in these battles.

C. SummarizingWhat happenedduring the battlesfor Iwo Jima andOkinawa?

Atomic Weapons End the WarIn the summer of 1945, Japan continued to fight. The Allies planned toinvade Japan in November 1945. American military leaders feared thatan invasion of mainland Japan might cost 200,000 American casualties.Therefore, American officials considered the use of an atomic bomb.

Shortly after entering the war, the United States set up theManhattan Project in 1942. This was a top-secret program to build anatomic bomb. Led by American scien-tist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the projectteam worked for three years to con-struct the weapon.

Soon after officials successfully testedthe bomb, Truman told Japan that if itdid not surrender, it faced destruction.The Japanese refused to give in. OnAugust 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber EnolaGay dropped an atomic bomb on thecity of Hiroshima. The explosion killedmore than 70,000 people and turnedfive square miles into a wasteland. Still,the Japanese refused to surrender. OnAugust 9, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki,killing another 40,000. On August 14, Japan surrendered.

On September 2, 1945, Japanese and Allied leaders met aboard theU.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. There, Japanese officials signed anofficial letter of surrender.

The war changed forever the lives of the soldiers who fought in it. Inthe next section, you will learn about how the war affected Americansback home.


2. Taking NotesUse a diagram like the oneshown to list events that ledto the defeat of Japan.

Which event do you think wasmost important, and why?

3. Main Ideasa. Why was the Battle ofMidway considered such an important victory for the Allies?

b. Why did the Allies want to conquer the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa?

c. What event finallyprompted Japan to surrender?

4. Critical ThinkingForming Opinions Whatmight be the arguments forand against using the atomicbomb on Japan?

THINK ABOUT• the consequences of

invading Japan• the bomb’s destructive

power


significance of:• Bataan Death March• Battle of Midway• island hopping• Manhattan Project• Hiroshima

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

LANGUAGE ARTSSCIENCE

Research the Manhattan Project. Write a biography of one of the scientists on the project or draw a diagram explaining how the atomic bomb worked.

3

Event 3

Event 2Event 1

Defeat ofJapan

The Japanese cityof Hiroshima wasleveled by theatomic bomb.

BackgroundBy the end of1945, another70,000 peoplehad died due toinjuries and radia-tion caused bythe atomic bombdropped onHiroshima.

CLASSZONE .COMINTERNET ACTIVITY

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYMargaret “Peggy” Hooper of San Pedro, California,

was 17 years old when the United States entered the

war. Her father went off to fight. Eventually, Hooper

took a job as an “incoming inspector” at an aircraft

plant. Her duties included keeping time sheets and

inspecting materials. She often described her work in

her letters to a friend serving with the Pacific fleet.


Gosh, we have been working hard at work lately. Justrushed to death and never getting through. Ourproduction schedule has been doubled and still we work harder and put out more all the time. . . .

You had better be careful how you talk to me ’cause I have developed a big muscle in my right arm and agood strong one in my left arm, so take it easy, kid.

Margaret Hooper, quoted in Since You Went Away

World War II created jobs for thousands of citizens such as Peggy

Hooper. Americans on the home front worked together to help

achieve an Allied victory, as you will read in this section.

774 CHAPTER 27

44 The Home FrontThe Home Front TERMS & NAMESWar Production

Board

rationing

Rosie the Riveter

A. Philip Randolph

bracero program

Japanese-Americaninternment

Wartime ProductionThe effort to defeat the Axis powers took more than just soldiers.American forces needed planes, tanks, weapons, parachutes, and othersupplies. Under the guidance of the War Production Board (WPB), fac-tories churned out materials around the clock. By 1945, the country hadbuilt about 300,000 aircraft and 75,000 ships. The United States wasproducing 60 percent of all Allied ammunition.

With so many factories in need of workers, jobs became easy to find.In effect, the war ended the Great Depression. Shortly after the warbegan, the nation’s unemployment rate fell. The country’s yearly grossnational product (GNP) rose to new heights during the war. The GNPis the total value of all the goods and services produced by a nation

Americans at home made greatcontributions to the Allied victory.

World War II caused lasting changesin the lives of civilians.


Women factory workers rivetthe interior of an airplaneduring World War II.

during a year. Between 1939 and 1945, the U.S. GNP soared from $90.5billion to nearly $212 billion.

Because the armed forces needed so many materials, some of the itemsAmericans took for granted became scarce. For example, American automakers did not produce any cars between 1942 and 1945. Instead, theybuilt tanks, jeeps, and airplanes. Items such as gasoline, tires, shoes, meat,and sugar were also in short supply. To divide these scarce goods amongits citizens, the government established a system of rationing. Under thissystem, families received a fixed amount of a certain item.

The war was expensive. To help pay the cost, the government raisedincome taxes and sold war bonds. These bonds were loans that the gov-ernment promised to repay with interest. Movie stars urged people tobuy war bonds. Americans bought billions of dollars worth of bonds.

Opportunities for Women and MinoritiesWith so many men fighting overseas, the demand for women workersrose sharply. In 1940, about 14 million women worked—about 25 per-cent of the nation’s labor force. By 1945, that number had climbed tomore than 19 million—roughly 30 percent of the work force. Womenworked in munitions factories, shipyards, and offices.

Much of the nation welcomed the growing numbers of women intothe workplace. The country promoted “Rosie the Riveter”—an imageof a strong woman hard at work at an arms factory—as its cherishedsymbol for its new group of wage earners.

The war also created new job opportunities for minorities. More than1 million African Americans worked in the defense industryduring the war years. Many of these jobs were along theWest Coast and in the North. As a result, more than1 million African Americans migrated from theSouth during the war. Many traveled toCalifornia and such Northern cities as Detroitand Chicago. The inflow of AfricanAmericans often inflamed racial tensions. In1943, a terrible race riot broke out in Detroit.Federal troops had to restore order after 34people were killed.

On paper, at least, African Americansenjoyed equal rights in some workplaces.A. Philip Randolph, an African-American laborleader, had helped achieve these rights in 1941.Randolph had threatened to lead an African-American protest march for better jobs throughWashington, D.C. President Roosevelt sought to avoid such amarch. As a result, he issued Executive Order 8802. It outlawed job dis-crimination in defense industries working for the federal government.

Other minorities lent their hand to the home-front effort. Some46,000 Native Americans left their reservations to work in the nation’s


A. RecognizingEffects How didWorld War IIaffect the U.S.economy?A. Answer Itended the GreatDepression byproviding jobs to millions ofAmericans. But it also causedshortages andrationing of manygoods.

BackgroundA. PhilipRandolph wasthe leader of theBrotherhood ofSleeping CarPorters, a power-ful African-American laborunion.

A. Philip Randolphand EleanorRoosevelt chat at alabor rally in 1946.

Writing to GovernmentOfficials

How Do You Write toGovernment Officials?1. Think about public issues that

are important to you.

2. Choose one issue about whichyou would like the governmentto adopt a certain policy or takea certain action.

3. Gather information about theissue.

4. Refine your position on theissue in terms of a specific policyor action that you would likethe government to follow.

5. Write a letter to yourcongressional representative or senator in which you urgehim or her to take a particularstand on the issue.

See Citizenship Handbook, page 284.

For more about contacting electedofficials . . .

RESEARCH LINKSCLASSZONE .COM

war industries. Tens of thousands of Hispanics—people with ancestorsfrom Spanish-speaking lands—also joined the ranks of the country’swar-related laborers. Included in this group were thousands of Mexicanswho migrated to the United States at the government’s request. Duringthe war years, the nation faced a serious shortage of farm workers. Thegovernment responded by hiring Mexicans to perform the much-neededlabor. This policy was known as the bracero program. By mid-1945,more than 120,000 braceros worked on farms throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Mexican Americans struggled against prejudice andsometimes violence. In Los Angeles, for example, U.S. sailors oftenfought with “zoot suiters.” These were young Mexican-American menwho wore zoot suits—an outfit consisting of a broad-brimmed hat, aknee-length jacket, and baggy-legged pants. In what became known asthe zoot-suit riots, groups of American servicemen attacked MexicanAmericans. Beginning the night of June 3, 1943, the violence lasted 10days before it was brought under control by police.

The Internment of Japanese AmericansIn the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, a growing number of Americans beganto direct their anger toward people of Japanese ancestry. ManyAmericans saw Asian immigrants as a threat to their jobs. Many alsobelieved that Asians could never fit into American society. As a result,

In the late 1970s, Japanese Americans asked the government toredress, or make up for, the injustice of the World War II intern-ment. A letter-writing campaign by Japanese Americans helpedsecure passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This act included a formal apology and authorized payments of $20,000 each toJapanese Americans who were interned. The act also established a public-education program to prevent such discrimination in the future.

B. Answer Bothgroups enjoyednew job opportu-nities but contin-ued to face racialdiscrimination.Both groups facedrace riots withwhites.

B. Comparingand ContrastingWhat did theAfrican-Americanand Hispanic-American experi-ences duringWorld War IIhave in common?

776

PresidentRonald Reagansigns the CivilLiberties Act of 1988.

http://www.classzone.com/books/cas/page_build.cfm?id=links70&ch=27

Congress banned practically all immi-grants from Asia in 1924.

In the days and weeks after PearlHarbor, several newspapers declaredJapanese Americans to be a securitythreat. President Roosevelt eventuallyresponded to the growing anti-Japanesehysteria. In February 1942, he signed anorder that allowed for the removal ofJapanese and Japanese Americans fromthe Pacific Coast. This action came tobe known as the Japanese-Americaninternment. More than 110,000 men,women, and children were rounded up.They had to sell their homes and pos-sessions and leave their jobs.

These citizens were placed in internment camps, areas where theywere kept under guard. In these camps, families lived in single roomswith little privacy. About two-thirds of the people interned were Nisei(NEE•say), Japanese Americans born in the United States.

The nation’s fear of disloyalty from Japanese Americans wasunfounded. Many of the camp internees raised the American flag eachmorning. In addition, thousands of young men in the camps volunteeredto fight for the United States. The all-Nisei units, the 442nd Infantry andthe 100th Infantry, fought in Europe. They were among the most highlydecorated units in the war. One member, Daniel Inouye, showed extremecourage. After being severely wounded, he continued to lead his platoonin an attack in Italy. He lost his right arm, but earned the DistinguishedService Cross. In the next section, you will learn about other effects thatWorld War II had on both the United States and the world.


2. Taking NotesUse a cluster diagram like the one shown to review the ways in which Americansat home contributed to thewar effort.

3. Main Ideasa. How did the war lift the nation out of the GreatDepression?

b. How did the war spur anAfrican-American migrationat home?

c. What action did the U.S.government take againstmany Japanese Americansduring the war?

4. Critical ThinkingComparing andContrasting How were the war years a time of bothopportunity and struggle for American women andminorities?

THINK ABOUT• Rosie the Riveter• African-American migrants• zoot-suit riots


significance of:• War Production

Board• rationing• Rosie the Riveter• A. Philip Randolph• bracero program• Japanese-American

internment

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

LANGUAGE ARTSART

Research the wartime life of one of the groups mentioned in this section. Writea report or design a mural about its members’ experiences during the war.

4

Soldiers stand by as JapaneseAmericans in SanFrancisco board abus to take themto an internmentcamp.

Effort onHome Front

BackgroundDaniel Inouyelater became a U.S. senatorfrom the state of Hawaii.

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYWhen the end of the war came, Elliot Johnson was

excited. He was finally going home. At an army dismissal

parade, however, one of his captains told the troops that

it might not be so easy to put the war behind them.


When it was over, we all threw our hats in the air andscreamed and yelled and cheered. . . . I recall very well oneof the captains standing and looking at us without cheering.“You guys are anxious to get home and put this all behindyou,” he said. “But you don’t understand how big a part ofyour life this has been. “You’ll put it all behind you forabout ten years, and then someday you’ll hear a marchingband. You’ll pick up the beat and it will all come back toyou and you’ll be right back here on the parade groundmarching again.” And he was right.

Elliot Johnson, quoted in The Homefront

From the soldiers who survived it to the families who lost a loved one,

World War II affected millions of Americans. The great struggle also

touched the United States and the world in many other ways, as you

will read in this section.

780 CHAPTER 27

55 The Legacy of the WarThe Legacy of the War TERMS & NAMESMarshall Plan

G.I. Bill of Rights

Nuremberg trials

United Nations

The War’s Human CostNo war has claimed so many lives or caused so much destruction asWorld War II. The human cost on both sides was immense. About 20million soldiers were killed, and millions more were wounded. TheSoviet Union suffered the greatest losses, with at least 7.5 million mili-tary deaths and another 5 million people wounded. More than 400,000American soldiers died and more than 600,000 were wounded.

Civilian casualties also numbered in the millions. Both the Allied andAxis powers had fought a war without boundaries. They bombed cities,destroyed villages, and brought destruction to civilian life. Again, theSoviet Union experienced the worst losses. All told, about 20 million

World War II had deep and lastingeffects on the United States and the world.

As a result of World War II, theUnited States became the dominantpower in the world.


Soldiers celebrate being dischargedfrom the service on May 12, 1945,at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Soviet citizens died in thestruggle. China, which alsoendured years of attack fromJapan in the 1930s, lost about10 million civilians.

The war also created anenormous wave of refugees.They included orphans, pris-oners of war, survivors ofNazi concentration camps,and those who fled advancingarmies. After the war, 21 mil-lion refugees, most starvingand homeless, tried to puttheir lives back together amidthe ruins of Europe and Asia.

Economic Winners and LosersThe war left many of the world’s economies in ruins. Bombing campaignshad destroyed factories, transportation centers, and other important build-ings. Only the United States—where no major battles were fought (exceptfor Pearl Harbor)—came out of the war with a strong economy.The boomin industry during the war had pulled the nation out of the GreatDepression. After the war, the U.S. economy continued to grow.

With the world’s strongest economy, the United States set out to helprebuild the shattered economies of Europe and Japan. U.S. forces occu-pied Japan for several years after the war. During that time, they intro-duced programs that put Japan on the road to recovery. In 1948, Congressapproved the Marshall Plan to help boost the economies of Europe. Theplan was named after the man who came up with it, Secretary of StateGeorge C. Marshall. Under the plan, the United States gave more than$13 billion to help the nations of Europe get back on their feet.

Changes in American SocietyThe nation faced important social changes in the years following thewar. For one thing, the country had to deal with the return of millionsof soldiers. With so many servicemen suddenly back home, the compe-tition for jobs and education was great. The government responded bypassing a law that is commonly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights or G.I.Bill. This measure provided educational and economic help to veterans.The government paid for returning soldiers’ schooling and providedthem with a living allowance. More than 7.8 million World War II vet-erans attended school under the G.I. Bill.

The return of so many fighting men also created a great demand forhousing. The Truman administration took steps to address the country’shousing shortage. However, many Americans had to live in crowdedurban slums or in country shacks.


A. Finding MainIdeas Why didthe United Statesemerge fromWorld War II so strong?A. Answer Nobattles werefought onAmerican territoryso the nation suf-fered no destruc-tion, and the warended the GreatDepression.

DEADNATION

Soviet Union 7,500,000 5,000,000

Germany 3,500,000 7,250,000

China 2,200,000 1,762,000

Japan 1,219,000 295,247

United States 405,399 671,278

Great Britain 329,208 348,403

France 210,671 390,000

Italy 77,494 120,000

WOUNDED

World War II Military Casualties, 1939–1945

SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Charts1. Which two nations suffered the most casualties in World War II?2. Which of the major combatants suffered the fewest casualties?

SkillbuilderAnswers1. Soviet Union and Germany2. Italy

Source: World Book

The U.S. soldiers who returned home found an America that hadchanged. During the war, millions of Americans had moved to find war-related jobs in California and in the cities. Included in this group was alarge number of African Americans. By war’s end, hundreds of thousandsof African Americans had moved from the South to various Northerncities and California. There, they lived in overcrowded ghettos and expe-rienced prejudice. However, many also found economic opportunity.

The Nuremberg TrialsAs the United States dealt with important matters athome, the nation also joined the world in dealing withwar crimes. The international community put together acourt to try Nazi leaders for their role in World War II.

The trial opened in November 1945 in Nuremberg,Germany. The original 24 defendants included some ofHitler’s top officials. The charges against them includedcrimes against humanity. These crimes referred to theNazis’ murder of millions of Jews and others. In hisopening argument, the U.S. chief counsel at Nurembergspelled out why a trial was necessary.


What makes this inquest significant is that these prisonersrepresent sinister influences that will lurk in the worldlong after their bodies have returned to dust. They areliving symbols of racial hatreds, of terrorism and violence,and of the arrogance and cruelty of power.

Robert H. Jackson, The Nürnberg Case

After nearly a year-long trial, 19 of the defendantswere found guilty. Twelve were sentenced to death.About 185 other Nazi leaders were found guilty in latertrials. The Nuremberg trials upheld an important idea:People are responsible for their actions, even in wartime.

Creation of the United NationsThe war helped to establish another principle—nationsmust work together in order to secure world peace. Theoutbreak of World War II demonstrated the weaknessof the League of Nations, the international peacekeep-

ing body created after the First World War. The League was weak inlarge part because the United States had refused to join out of a strongdesire to stay out of foreign affairs. Toward the end of World War II,President Roosevelt urged his fellow Americans not to turn their backson the world again.

The country listened. In April 1945, delegates from 50 nations—including the United States—met in San Francisco to discuss creating anew international peace organization. In June, all 50 nations approved

782 CHAPTER 27

WAR CRIMES

More than 40 years after theNuremberg trials (shownbelow), the world communityonce again brought army offi-cials to trial for war crimes.These crimes were committedduring brutal civil wars in theformer Yugoslavia from 1991 to1999. An international tribunalmet in The Hague in 1996 tobegin trying persons for theirrole in the conflicts.

These civil wars pitted Serbs,Croats, Bosnians, and Albaniansagainst each other. Many peo-ple, especially Serbs, wereaccused of undertaking a policyof “ethnic cleansing”—the sys-tematic attempt to rid a regionof people from certain ethnicgroups, often by killing them.

B. Answer Lackof U.S. participa-tion made theLeague of Nationstoo weak to beeffective. Hewanted the UN to succeed.

B. SolvingProblems Whydid PresidentRoosevelt sup-port U.S. partici-pation in theUnited Nations?

the charter creating the new peacekeepingbody known as the United Nations, or UN.

International TensionsThe horrors of World War II had caused manycountries to work together toward lastingpeace. However, tensions still arose amongnations in the wake of the war. For example, in1948 the United Nations helped found thenation of Israel to create a homeland for theJews in Palestine. Fighting immediately brokeout as neighboring Arab nations attackedIsrael. In addition, colonies around the worldbegan fighting for their independence.

The United States, however, was more con-cerned with the rise of the Soviet Union.Despite suffering so much damage and loss oflife, the Soviet Union emerged from WorldWar II as a great power. It had conquered muchof Eastern Europe.

During the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had beenuneasy partners. After the war, Stalin angered the United States bybreaking a wartime promise to promote democracy in the nations he hadoccupied in Eastern Europe. Instead, Stalin forced the countries to liveunder Communist regimes. The Soviet Union wanted to spread com-munism. The United States wanted to halt it. This led to future conflict.

Finally, the end of the war marked the beginning of the atomic age.The atomic bombs dropped on Japan showed the world a powerful newweapon. In the next chapter, you will learn how atomic weaponsincreased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.


2. Taking NotesUse a cluster diagram like the one shown to review theeffects of World War II.

Which effect seems the mostimportant to you?

3. Main Ideasa. What was the MarshallPlan?

b. How did the G.I. Bill ofRights help World War II veterans?

c. What principles did theNuremberg trials establish?

4. Critical ThinkingAnalyzing Causes Why didthe United States emergefrom the war so much betteroff than other nations?

THINK ABOUT• the geographic location of

the United States• the role of American

industry


significance of:• Marshall Plan• G.I. Bill of Rights• Nuremberg trials• United Nations

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

LANGUAGE ARTSSPEECH

As a reporter, research and write a news article on a defendant at theNuremberg trials or, as a lawyer, deliver a closing speech against a defendant.

5

Effects ofW.W. II

D.R. Fitzpatrickdrew this cartoon,entitled “ . . . ShallNot Have Died inVain.” He hopedthe memory ofU.S. losses wouldpush Americans tosupport the UNand preservepeace.

C. Reading a MapLook at the mapon page R33 tofind out whereIsrael is.

BackgroundAn importantreason for U.S.leaders to dropthe atomic bombson Japan was tomake the Sovietsfear U.S. power.

1 steps to war · 2016-09-21 · throughout the early 1930s,the nazis gained power by ......

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