World War II

Date:1939-1945Coach CoppMr. Sommer

World War II BeginsBlitzkrieg in Poland• Sept. 1, 1939, Hitler overruns Poland in blitzkrieg,

lightning war• Germany annexes western Poland; U.S.S.R. attacks,

annexes east• France, Britain declare war on Germany;

World War II begins

US and NeutralityNeutrality Act• Limit international involvement by US

Moving Cautiously Away from Neutrality

1939 = FDR persuades Congress to pass “Cash-and-Carry” provision.

• -allows nation to buy American arms as long as its’ in cash and carried on the nations ships.

Argues will help France, Britain defeat Hitler, keep U.S. out of war• Italy, Germany, Japan sign Tripartite Pact aimed to force US out of war for fear of two-front war

War and the Homefront

Labor’s Contribution• Nearly 18 million workers in war industries.• 6 million are women.• Over 2 million minorities hired; face strong

discrimination at first.•A. Philip Randolph•Organizes march on D.C. because of

discrimination in war industries; March canceled after FDR executive order forbids discrimination

Rationing

• Citizens asked to ration goods and donate as much as possible to the war effort.

• http://www.worldology.com/Europe/world_war_2_imap.htm

• http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5406.htm

Wartime Conversion

• Factories convert from civilian to war production

• Shipyards, defense plants expand, new ones built

• Produce ships, arms rapidly• - use prefabricated parts• - people work at record speeds

Women in the War• Women work in wartime industries (Rosie the Riveter)• After war, women expected to leave war jobs and

return home.

Great Arsenal of DemocracyThe Lend-Lease Plan• FDR tells nation if Britain falls, Axis powers free to

conquer world- U.S. must become “arsenal of democracy”

• By late 1940, Britain has no more cash to buy U.S. arms

• 1941 Lend-Lease Act—U.S. to lend or lease supplies for defense

Great Britain.........................$31 billionSoviet Union..........................$11 billionFrance..................................$3 billionChina..................................$1.5 billionOther European......................$500 millionSouth America.......................$400 million

The amount totaled: $48,601,365,000

U. S. Lend-Lease Act,1941

Lend-Lease

Pearl Harbor

Date: December 7, 1941 = Japanese attack Pearl Harbor

Results• 2,403 Americans killed; 1,178 wounded.

• Over 300 aircraft, 21 ships destroyed or damaged

• Significance: US enters World War II

Pearl Harbor

• Remembering Pearl Harbor @ nationalgeographic.com

A Date that will Live in Infamy

• American Rhetoric: Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation (12-08-41)

World War II IssuesJapanese Americans Placed in Internment Camps• Hawaii governor forced to order internment

(confinement) of Japanese • 1942 FDR signs removal of Japanese Americans

in four states• U.S. Army forces 110,000 Japanese Americans

into prison camps• 1944 Korematsu v. United States—Court rules in

favor of internment• After war, Japanese American Citizens League

pushes for compensation• 1988, Congress grants $20,000 to everyone sent to

relocation camp

• http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5380.htm

*The North African Front (Operation Torch 1942-1943)

• General Dwight D. Eisenhower commands invasion of

North Africa.

• *Eisenhower would later be Supreme Commander of the Allies

Result of Operation Torch: German Afrika Korps,led General Erwin Rommel,

surrenders May1943

The Italian CampaignThe Italian Campaign

• Allies decide will accept only unconditional surrender from Axis

Summer 1943 = capture Sicily; Mussolini forced to

resign

May 1944 = Allies win “Bloody Anzio”; Germans continue strong resistance

The Story of Babe

Operation Overlord (D-Day)June 6, 1944

Significance: 1) Plan to take Europe from Hitler’s Germany

2) Largest amphibious invasion in history.

Military Involved: 156,000 troops, 4,000 landing craft, 600 warships, and 11,000 planes

Leader: Gen. Eisenhower directs Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944.

• Allies set up phantom army, send fake radio messages to fool Germans

D-Day Casualties

• There is no "official" casualty figure for D-Day. Under the circumstances, accurate record keeping was very difficult. For example, some troops who were listed as missing may actually have landed in the wrong place, and have rejoined their parent unit only later.

US D-Day Figures

• The Allied casualties figures for D-Day have generally been estimated at 10,000, including 2500 dead. Broken down by nationality, the usual D-Day casualty figures are approximately 2700 British, 946 Canadians, and 6603 Americans

“Lafayette, We are Here!”

Battle of the Bulge

Roosevelt’s Death

•FDR dies April 12,1945

•Vice President Harry S. Truman become president

The Fall of BerlinMay of 1945Significance: The Soviets take Berlin and end war in Europe

Strategy = Island HoppingBattle = Battle of Midway

Battle of the Coral Sea (May 7, 1942)• May 1942 = U.S., Australian soldiers stop Japanese

drive to Australia• *For first time since Pearl Harbor, Japanese invasion

turned back

The Allied Offensive• August 1942 = Allied offensive begins in

Guadalcanal.• October 1944 = Allies converge on Leyte

Island in Philippines- *return of MacArthur to Phillipines

Strategy = Island HoppingBattle = Battle of Midway

• The Battle of Midway Date: (June 4-7, 1942)• Admiral Chester Nimitz commands U.S.

naval forces in Pacific

Significance: • Allies win Battle of Midway, stop Japan

and gain island as airplane landing strip• Allies advance island by island to Japan

The Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference• February 1945, FDR, Churchill, Stalin meet in Yalta

- discuss post-war world• FDR, Churchill concession: temporarily divide

Germany into 4 parts• Stalin promises free elections in Eastern Europe; will

fight Japan• FDR gets support for conference to establish United

Nations.

The Final BattlesThe Japanese Defense• Japan uses kamikaze attack—pilots crash bomb-laden planes into ships

Iwo Jima (Feb. 19-Mar.17, 1945)

Significance

• Iwo Jima critical as base from which planes can reach Japan

• 6,000 marines die taking island; of 20,700 Japanese, 200 survive

The Battle for Okinawa (Apr. 1 –June 21, 1945)• April 1945 U.S. Marines invade Okinawa• April–June: 7,600 U.S. troops, 110,000 Japanese

dieSignificance

• Allies fear invasion of Japan may mean 1.5 million Allied casualties

Truman and the Decision

• It was estimated that an invasion of Japan would cost over 1 million American soldiers’ lives.

• The Atom Bomb was ready for use and proved successful in testing.

• Would send message to Japan regarding the issue of surrender.

The Manhattan Project (Name for Atomic Bomb

Project)

• J. Robert Oppenheimer is research director of Manhattan Project.

• Los Alamos is laboratory where atom bomb is developed. Creates jobs and scientific breakthroughs.

• July 1945, atomic bomb tested in New Mexico desert

• President Truman orders military to drop 2 atomic bombs on Japan

The Atomic Age Begins• Hiroshima • August 6, 1945, Hiroshima,

major military center, destroyed by bomb

Nagasaki

• 3 days later, bomb dropped on city of Nagasaki

• September 2, 1945 Japan surrenders bringing WORLD WAR II to and END!

Estimated World War II Deaths

Country Military Deaths Civilian Deaths Total Deaths

Axis

Germany 3,250,000 2,350,000 5,600,000

Italy 226,900 60,000 286,900

Japan 1,740,000 393,400 2,133,400

Allies

France 122,000 470,000 592,000

Great Britain 305,800 60,600 366,400

United States 405,400 --------- 405,400

Soviet Union 11,000,000 6,700,000 17,700,000

China 1,400,000 8,000,000 9,400,000

War and the HomefrontRecruiting and Discrimination• Minority groups are denied basic citizenship rights• Question whether they should fight for democracy in other countries

Dramatic Contributions• 300,000 Mexican Americans join armed forces• *1 million African Americans serve; live, work in

segregated units• 13,000 Chinese Americans and 33,000 Japanese Americans serve.• 25,000 Native Americans enlist