world war ii - tumwater.k12.wa.us war ii...• transforms the american economy • gov’t sets...
TRANSCRIPT
World War II:
An Overview
Sleeping Giant is Awakened• Isolationism – 1920s to the
1930s• 1939 – War breaks out in Europe
(Poland invaded by Germany)• Lend-Lease Act (1940)• Dec. 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor is
attacked• Within a few days, the US is at
war with both Japan and Germany
• War on two fronts
Pacific Theater
Atlantic (European) Theater
Impact of the War (the US)• Transforms the American economy• Gov’t sets production goals for
factories• Focus on the war effort• Manufacturing of planes, tanks,
ships, weapons, etc. • Strict rationing of goods• More opportunities for minority
groups and women• Tax increases and sale of liberty
bonds• Propaganda campaign
Japanese Incarceration• 110,000 Japanese were interned during WWII• Any Japanese American with 1/8th heritage could be
interned and/or was under suspicion• http://www.densho.org/looking-like-the-enemy/• https://www.ted.com/talks/george_takei_why_i_love_
a_country_that_once_betrayed_me?language=en• Despite this many Japanese Americans enlist in the
military to prove their loyalty• 442nd Regiment (all Japanese Americans) becomes the
most decorated unit in the history of the US
Fighting in Europe
• Mainly a land war• Most of the continent is controlled by Nazi
Germany• North Africa also controlled by Nazi Germany• D-Day Invasion – June 6, 1944• Crucial to the success of the allies• By Sept, 1944 – France, Belgium, and
Luxembourg are liberated
East Meets West
VE Day• Victory in Europe Day –
May 8, 1945• People in Europe celebrate• Mass destruction in most
major cities throughout Europe
• Nearly 25 million military casualties
• Roughly 40 – 50 million civilian casualties
Potsdam Conference – Summer 1945
The Holocaust• Genocide – systematic killing of
an ethnic group• 6 million European Jews were
killed by the Nazi’s• They were used as a
“scapegoat” by Hitler• Discovered by Allied forces• After the war, Nazi military and
political leaders brought up on war crimes
• The Nuremberg Trials• “Crimes against humanity”• Zionism – 1948 Israel created
Division of Germany
Europe Post-WWII
Fighting in the Pacific• Navy & Marines• Island Hopping• Brutal combat• Japanese soldiers philosophy =
“fight to the death”• Huge casualties• Big influence on Pres. Truman’s
decision to drop the atomic bomb
• Two bombs dropped• VJ Day = Sept. 2, 1945• Establish a new democratic
gov’t
United Nations
• UN created to resolve international conflicts
• Hope to keep peace around the globe
• Provides a forum for international discussion
• Limited success