Warmup

• Who was the President that led America through World War II?

• President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Agenda

• Welcome back! • New weekly warmup worksheet • “Between the Wars” Reading and Notes • “Road to WWII” PowerPoint and Notes

Town Shelter

• Event Date: 1920s • Actions Taken: Germany faced an economic

crisis after WWI, which lead to political instability – $1 = 1,000,000,000 DM (deutschmark) – Loaf of bread = 4 million DM – Glass of beer = 2 million DM

• Response: The US insisted on neutrality and that Germany repay its war debt

Benito Mussolini

Fascism in Italy

• Event Date: 1922-1924 • Actions Taken: Benito Mussolini formed

Italy into a fascist state – Fascism: a political system that calls for

extreme nationalism, unity of the state, and militarism

• Response: The US cut off arms sales to Italy and President Roosevelt called for an embargo (boycott)

Adolf Hitler

Rise of Adolf Hitler

• Event Date: 1928-1934 • Actions Taken: Hitler used his public speaking

skills to gain popular support in Germany – Nazi Party became the largest party in Germany – Hitler rebuilt the army in violation of treaties

• Response: The US was stuck in the middle of the Great Depression and FDR concentrated on domestic policy

Why Hitler?

• Rampant homelessness • Unemployment • Hyperinflation • Instability • Chaos • Desperation

– For 15 years

We’ll get back to the show after this

“commercial break”

I Danced for Mussolini

• Great Aunt Sethma Caspers

I Danced for Mussolini

• Her first husband bought a car once made for a Chicago mobster (bullet-proof and armor plated)

• Al Capone owned it in 1930

• In a battle with the cops, the car was shot up with 105 bullet holes

People She Danced For

• The former Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson – The Duke abdicated

the English throne in 1936 to make room for Elizabeth II’s father

People She Danced For

• “Bugsy” Siegel – Notorious nightclub

owner and gangster in Las Vegas

People She Danced For

• In the summer of 1936 she and her future dance party Rudolph “Rudy” Andreossian were booked to dance at the Moulin Rouge

People She Danced For

• King Farouk of Egypt

Bullfight Dance

People She Danced For

• Benito Mussolini – He loved her and

Rudy’s “bullfight” dance so much, he invited them to perform it for his friend and ally

People She Danced For • Adolf Hitler

– She and Rudy were approached by the French Resistance to assassinate Hitler in Berlin for the sum of $100,000 each (1939)

– They would have to take a cyanide pill afterwards

– She panicked and the pair escaped to the US on a ship filled with Jewish refugees

Other notable accomplishments

• She appeared in an episode of “The Three Stooges”

Other notable accomplishments

• She went on a few dates with Howard Hughes – Record-breaking

aviator – Multi-millionaire – Legendary filmmaker

• Mickey Rooney – Actor from 1927 to

2007

Other notable accomplishments

• Toured with the Marx Brothers – Groucho, Harpo and

Chico – Comedy group

And now, back to the show

The Spanish Civil War • Event Date: 1936 - 1939 • Actions Taken: Francisco

Franco (a fascist military general) began a civil war to gain control of Spain – Italy and Germany aided

Franco with weapons • Response: US stayed neutral,

but 3,000 American volunteers fought in a war against Franco – Many around the world

called for intervention in Spain, but the fear was that war would spread

Battle of Guernica • Guernica is a city in Spain • Operation Rügen = the Italian,

German, and Spanish militaries dropped bombs onto Guernica on April 26, 1937

• The militaries deliberately targeted civilians (unsure of the death toll)

• Why? • Because the militaries wanted

to test the volume of bombs it would take to completely obliterate a city

Guernica – Pablo Picasso

Bomb

Japanese soldiers

Rise of Militarism in Japan

• Event Date: 1931-1941 • Actions Taken: Japan was considered a

“second-rate” power; military leaders took over and expanded Japanese control over Asia

• Response: US pledged neutrality, but started an embargo on Japan – No weapons or petroleum sales to Japan

Japanese Expansion

• Why invade? • Japan is tiny

– Very little space and very few natural resources

– About the size of California • Japanese soldiers invaded China and Korea

to gain territory and resources

Japanese Invasion

• China and Korea • The Japanese soldiers

committed horrific acts of atrocity against the Chinese and Korean people – The Rape of Nanking = the

Asian Holocaust

• “Comfort women” • Japan will not apologize

or make reparations

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

Adolf Hitler

Appeasement

• Event Date: 1936-1938 • Actions Taken: Hitler made demands for

the Rhineland, Austria, and the Sudetenland – “Give me those lands or we go to war”

• Response: President Roosevelt asked for a peaceful solution and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain agreed to Hitler’s demands to avoid war

Appeasement

Germany Invaded Czechoslovakia

• Event Date: March 1939 • Actions Taken: Hitler ordered the army to

take over Czechoslovakia (while making a secret non-aggression pact with USSR)

• Response: FDR sent messages to European leaders asking for peace while France and England prepared for war

WWII Begins (Hitler Invaded Poland)

• Event Date: September 1, 1939 • Actions Taken: Hitler used a blitzkrieg to invade

and conquer Poland – Blitzkrieg = an intense military campaign designed to

bring victory quickly • Response: England and France declared war and

the US remained neutral – 80% of Americans opposed going to war, but 70% of

Americans believed Hitler was a danger and should be stopped

Hitler Conquered (almost) All of Europe

• Event Date: 1939-1941 • Actions Taken: Hitler easily took most of

Europe using blitzkrieg • Response: US began the “Lend-Lease”

program which provided military aid to nations whose defense was vital to the US – The US still technically neutral

London Bombings

• The German Luftwaffe (Air Force) blasted London with a series of bombings that lasted from September of 1940 to May of 1941

• London Bombings • Civil Defense Sirens

Germany’s Spread

Operation Barbarossa

• Event Date: June 22, 1941 • Actions Taken: Hitler ignored the non-

aggression pact with Russia and launched an invasion of the Soviet Union

• Response: FDR extended the Lend-Lease Act aid to the USSR

Bombing of Pearl Harbor

• Event Date: December 7, 1941 • Actions Taken: Japan launched a surprise

attack against the US at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii

• Response: US declared war on Japan – Germany and Italy declared war on the US – US declared war on Germany and Italy