World War II

1939-1945

United States

1941-1945

Leaders for the Axis

Names to know: Adolf Hitler-Der Fuhrer Germany-Herman Goering-

head of the Luftwaffe (Air Force)

<Joseph Goebbels-Propaganda Minister

Rudolph Hess-Secretary to Hitler

Erwin Roemmel-Wehrmacht-German Army

Quotes of Joseph Goebbels

Leaders of the Axis

Japan: Emperor Hirohito <General Hideki Tojo Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Leaders of the Allies

<General Bernard Montgomery-British

King George VI General Charles DeGaulle-

French Georgi Zhukov, Ivan Korev-

USSR

Americans use Lend-Lease

“the great arsenal of Democracy”-Roosevelt’s fireside chat

Britain is almost bankrupt and exhausted-Churchill asks for a lot of aid

Lend Lease Bill (1941)-permits President to lend or lease arms and other goods to friends of the United States

after the war-give back guns and tanks-no payment required

Before it takes effect, British suffer more setbacks

<Destroyers earmarked for Lend Lease to Britain

Soviets are attacked

Hitler invades the USSR June 22, 1940-Operation

Barbarossa Soviets are on the verge of

collapse-Hitler is within 50 miles of Moscow

Soviets apply Scorched Earth Policy

anything that could be used by the Germans is burned

WINTER stops the advance

Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941 “…a day that will live in

infamy...”

Lead up-July 1941-Japan demands control of French Indochina

Threatens-Netherland’s East Indies, British Malaya, American Philippines

Economic Sanctions-cut off from oil, and other war supplies

Japan-either stop expanding or go get these things

<Ho Chi Minh in WWII

Pearl Harbor

October 1941-General Hideki Tojo-US doesn’t lift sanctions, then Japan would declare War

Tojo sends Saburo Kurusu to negotiate with US-Hull-Namura talks

at the same time he is planning an attack on the US and British bases

Americans found out, but did not know which bases

<Hull-Nomura talks

Pearl Harbor

Sunday Morning-December 7, 1941

first wave attacks US fleet at Oahu, Hawaii

other waves follow was a complete surprise-2400

servicemen dead, all the planes on Hawaii are destroyed, 6 Battleships sunk or disabled-heart of the Pacific Fleet

Announcement of Attack and photos of attacks

Roosevelt’s Infamy Speech

Pearl Harbor

December 8, 1941-US declares war on Japan

December 11, 1941-Germany and Italy declare war on the United States

<USS Arizona burning

America Goes to War

Root Causes of World War II 1. Economic times-Haves and the

have nots 2. Role of Nationalism 3. International Anarchy 4. Race to Arms <Gas Rationing in 1942 modern warfare calls for total war-

everyone involved Industry-shift from civilian goods

to wartime January, 1942-War Production

Board

American Industry

Responded with great results 1940-50,000-1942-47,000-1944-96,000 US didn’t suffer any serious shortages 2/3rds are still produced for civilian use the US becomes the supply base for the

allies Work force-armed forces get 1st

choice-15m men and 200,000 women men ages 18-38 women volunteered-nurses, air traffic

controllers, non-combat jobs April, 1942-War Manpower

Commission-best use of all workers <Women in World War II

American Industry

Labor Unions pledge full support National War Labor Board-set wages,

hours, conditions for maintaining membership

some strikes did occur-led to Smith-Connolly Anti-Strike Act

30 day warning, President could seize plant

Blacks migrated north to fill the jobs left by whites to serve

were discriminated against-Roosevelt forbids racial discrimination in 1941

sets up Fair Employment Practices Committee(FEPC)

<Women Workers in World War II

American Industry

Curbing Inflation government controls it Emergency Price Control

Act (1942) rationing-scarce goods-

black market grew war bonds restrict civil liberty <Ration Book during WW

II

New Weapons

June 1941-Office of Scientific Research and Development

organized scientists to develop and perfect weapons

<Radar-British-detected ships, planes, ships, guide shells against enemy aircraft

Atomic Bomb-December 2, 1942-Enrico Fermi and others-under the football stadium at the University of Chicago achieved a nuclear chain reaction

New Weapons

Under the direction of <J. Robert Oppenheimer

5:30 AM, July 16, 1945 at Alamogorado, New Mexico explode the first atomic bomb “I am become death, destroyer

of the world.”

Japanese-American Internment

Some 120,000-2/3rds citizens-are rounded up by the army and FBI

Forced to abandon their homes,shipped to internment camps

remained their until the end of the war-unless enlisted in the army

Korematsu v. United States-Supreme Court upheld the right by “military necessity”

most in Hawaii are left alone

Europe First

US enters the war- Churchill comes to make sure we don’t decide to fight the Japanese first

Roosevelt agrees that Germany is more dangerous

Hitler controlled more people, resources, and had a head start on atomic bombs and guided missiles

Stalin pleads for an invasion US begin in North Africa-face

<Erwin Rommell and the Afrika Corps-US receives heavy losses

North Africa-Operation Torch

Axis forces surrender-250,000 troops, valuable equipment, control of the Mediterranean

Allies take Sicily in 38 days King Victor Emmanuel III decides

war is lost-get rid of Mussolini-new government sues for peace-unconditional surrender September 3, 1943, join allies

Allies enter Rome June 4, 1944 <Mussolini hanging in a square in

Milan-executed the day before-spat and kicked the corpses

More pictures of Mussolini’s death

The American Leaders in the European Theater

<General Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower

General George Marshall

General George Patton General Omar Bradley

The Invasion of France-Operation Overlord

The Beaches of Normandy-June 6, 1944

<D-Day largest amphibious operation in

history 176,000 troops, 4000 landing

craft, 600 warships, 11,000 planes

Germans-250,000 troops protected

7 weeks- American army breaks through-at Saint-Lo-opens road to the heart of Paris

Invasion of France-Operation Overlord

August 15, 1944-Americans and French land in Southern Coast of France

Supply line open 10 days later-Paris fell-Germans

are swept from France Normandy beach invasion Eastern Front-Nazi suffer worse counteroffensive in 1943 by

USSR destroys a German Army- <Stalingrad-Soviet Army on a

sprint west

The War in Europe Ends

Assassination attempt on Hitler-Bomb explodes under an oak table-saves him-crushes generals that attempt it

Battle of the Bulge-Nazis put a bulge in the line-about 50 miles

Americans drop paratroopers behind the Nazis-reestablish the line

Germans bury Americans at the Battle of the Bulge

April 30, 1945-Hitler kills himself next day-Mussolini is caught May 7, 1945-VE day

The Pacific Theater

Different war completely-planes and Naval

US army is in bad shape-British are crippled

Americans and Filipinos hold off Japanese at Bataan and Coreigedor-Bataan Death March

Midway Island-Admiral Yamamoto makes Midway a stepping stone to Hawaii

destroy what is left of US fleet <Admiral Chester Nimitz new of

the attack

Midway Island/ Leyte Gulf

Nimitz gambled-used aircraft carriers-had only 3-<Aircraft Carrier Hornet

uses Midway Island as a carrier Japanese limped away US marines lands on

Guadalcanal-US now the attacker on to Tokyo-Leap Frog-don’t

fight on every island-isolate some-attack others

Leyte Gulf-American Army and Navy took and destroy Japanese Navy

Island Hopping to Victory

Navy gets the Philippines back-Douglas MacArthur states in 1941- “I shall return.”-when he left the Islands

1944-regain Japanese begin Kamikaze raids

after Leyte Asian Mainland held strong-Iwo

Jima-750 miles from Tokyo-fierce fighting to take island

<raising the flag at Iwo Jima Okinawa-starts April 1, 1945-lasts

to June 22, 1945 More about Iwo Jima

The Bomb

Decision to make-Harry S. Truman has a sign on his desk-The Buck Stops Here-

told to invade Japan itself would cost an estimated 2 million American lives

have a new weapon that may just end the war

super weapon-called the Atomic Bomb

August 6, 1945-drop bomb on Hiroshima-< “Little Boy”

August 9, 1945-drop bomb on Nagasaki-<“Fat Man”

Yalta

February 4-11, 1945- 4 main topics-problems in Asia, the

government of Poland and Eastern Europe, future of Germany, new League of Nations

Stalin receives promises that he would get everything back lost in the Russo-Japanese War if he enters against Japan

divide Germany and Berlin into 4 zones-US, Britain, France, USSR

try Nazi Leaders USSR want Germany to pay bill-$20 B

and USSR gets half agree to United Nations <Yalta Conference

Potsdam

FDR dies April 12, 1945 July 2- August 2, 1945 Harry S. Truman meets with

Stalin and Churchill (later Clement Atlee takes over for Churchill)

Japans ultimate surrender Italy and Germany uneasiness- Cold War starts Truman and Stalin at Potsdam

The War Comes to an end

August 14, 1945-Emperor Hirohito decides to surrender unconditionally against the opposition of military leaders

British and American steam into Tokyo Bay

<there on September 2, 1945-V-J day-formal surrender comes on the deck of the battleship Missouri

signed by General Douglas MacArthur

War Crimes Trials

Nuremberg Trials charges against industrialists,

government officials, generals, admirals charges: waging aggressive war and

violating generally accepted rules about how to treat prisoners of war

12 of 22 received death penalties-7 prison terms-3 acquitted

total 500 Nazis found guilty Japan-Tojo and 6 others were executed

and 4000 convicted and had prison terms

<Defendants at the trials Photographs of the Nuremberg Trial