HIS 112Chapter 27

Headed for War Again

At the same time FDR was president in the U.S., Adolf Hitler , head of the Nazi Party, became Chancellor of Germany (Prime Minister of the Weimar Republic)

The president of Germany at the time was Paul von Hindenburg

When Hitler became Chancellor, he began working to gain absolute power, especially after the death of Paul von Hindenburg

Hitler despised democracy He worked his way into the hearts and

minds of the German people by playing up their frustrations The Treaty of Versailles Their enemies: Jews, Communists, and

Socialists

New Deal Foreign Policy Cordell Hull was named Secretary of State He was content to follow the foreign policy

guidelines of Hoover and his Secretary of State, Henry Stinson

FDR initiated the Good Neighbor Policy, the role the U.S. was to play in Central and South America

Good Neighbor Policy A less controversial way of maintaining

influence in Latin America The U.S. would be less blatant in its domination

of Latin America Less willing to defend exploitative business

practices Less eager to send in military force American investments in Latin America would

increase

U.S. would train the national guard in various Latin American nations to support their dictators like Trujillo in Dominican Republic, 1930-1961 and Somozas in Nicaragua, 1936-1979

FDR removed marines from Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic who had been sent there by other presidents to restore order and protect American interests

U.S. had large investments in Cuban sugar industry

After a 1933 revolution led by Ramon Grau San Martin, which threatened American interests, U.S. encouraged a coup that brought Batista to power

Batista established a pro-American dictatorship that lasted until 1959

1917, Mexico claimed ownership of its land and raw materials and that threatened American investments

1938, Mexico expropriated property of all foreign owned petroleum companies

1941, the U.S. conceded that Mexico owned its raw materials and then Mexico compensated American companies for their lost property

Roosevelt decided to take Mexico’s offer because he was afraid they would sell their oil to Germany and Japan, and he remembered the Zimmerman Telegram of World War I

At a Pan-American Conference the members agreed to reduce sales of raw materials to Germany, Japan, and Italy and increased sales to the U.S. showing their gratitude for removing soldiers from their countries

New Deal Policy in Asia Followed Hoover’s lead which was to

maintain China’s independence and American trading rights called the Open Door Policy

U.S. tried to do this at the same time Japan was trying to take over China bit by bit

China’s leader at the time was Chiang Kai-shek who was disorganized, inefficient, corrupt, but anti-communist

1931, Japan took over Manchuria and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo

Stimson, Hoover’s Secretary of State, believed the U.S. should retaliate against Japan by imposing economic sanctions; Hoover disagreed

Instead, Hoover announced the U.S. would not recognize the legality of any territory taken by force

This was known as the Stimson Doctrinewhich was curious – Stimson didn’t recommend this

1932, Japan attacked Shanghai and terrorized the people

1937, Japan bombed Shanghai and its civilians

FDR responded with words, not actions; he didn’t want war with Japan

USSR U.S. didn’t recognize the Soviet Union in

the 1920s However, some American did business

with USSR By 1930, USSR was the largest buyer of

American agricultural and industrial equipment

With the depression, businessmen urged the formal recognition of USSR to stimulate American business

FDR granted formal recognition to Soviet Russia in 1933

Within a few years, Soviet-American relations had become embittered

Neutrality Policy of U.S. Neutrality Acts, 1935-1937

Neutrality Act of 1935 – prohibited arms shipments to either side once the president had declared the existence of belligerency

Neutrality Act of 1936- forbade loans to belligerents

Neutrality Act of 1937- introduced cash-and –carry principle for trade with warring nations, and forbade Americans from traveling on belligerent vessels

Worldwide Events Were Heating Up 1935- Hitler introduced universal military

training and Italy invade Ethiopia and took it only with Germany’s help

1936- Francisco Franco, Spanish General, rebelled against an unstable democratic government in Spain; he succeeded after receiving support from Italy and Germany who tested their new weapons there

1937- Japan took over Peiping, the northern capital of China, and then took most of China’s coastal peovinces

March, 1938- the Anschluss: the forced political union of Germany with Austria, increasing Hitler’s resources

September, 1938- Hitler said he wanted to reunite all German-speaking people under one flag, so he demanded the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia be given to Germany – Appeasement

Britain and France let him have it hoping that was all he wanted

March, 1939- Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia

Closer Look at 3 Aggressor Nations Japan

Had few natural resources and little Wanted China for economic reasons Was the U.S.’ 3rd largest customer buying

cotton, copper, scrap iron, and oil American trade was important to Japan

Italy Benito Mussolini was its fascist leader He was described as a strutting buffoon By itself, Italy was no threat to the world Couldn’t take over Ethiopia by itself; needed

Germany’s help to do it

Germany Adolf Hitler was its fascist leader Hitler was head of Nazi Party Serious threat to world peace Wrote down his plans for European domination in Mein

Kampf; not taken seriously at first Hitler knew just what he could get away with in Europe

Re-started arms industry Re-started military training Re-armed Rhineland Took Austria Took Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia

Hitler’s actions broke the Treaty of Versailles

All 3 aggressor nations were anti-democratic

All exalted totalitarianism All had Fascist governments Hirohito – Emperor of Japan Mussolini – Il Duce of Italy Hitler – Fuhrer of Germany

They all put the interests of the state over those of the individual

Nazism, with its racist policies, was criminal Promoted a pure Aryan race Promoted anti-Semitism Felt any non-Aryan was subhuman: Jews and

gypsies, for exampleNazis disposed of, exiled, and silenced German

communists, socialists, democrats, Jews, gypsies, handicapped, and homosexuals

Hitler: Brutalized Jews Stripped them of their citizenship and civil

rights Deported them Put them in concentration camps Worked them to death or Sent them to extermination camps, the Final

Solution

Each time Hitler broke a stipulation of the Treaty of Versailles, he got no resistance from other European nations

By September 1939, Hitler began to encounter some resistance from other European nations

Hitler and Stalin formed the Nazi-Soviet Pact – an agreement to help each other take over Poland in September of 1939

Germany would invade from the west and USSR would invade from the east

1 September 1939, the invasion of Poland began

In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany but weren’t adequately prepared to defend Poland

During the winter of 1939-1940, an uneasy quiet fell over Europe

This was called the Phony War when neither side attacked the other

The French and the British had decided on a defensive war and waited at the Maginot Line, a system of fortifications France had constructed in the 1930s.

It ran along the common border between France and Germany

France and Britain then dropped pamphlets over Poland telling Hitler to go

During the French and British silence, Hitler prepared for his Blitzkrieg, lightning war (fast-moving troops and tanks with air support)

Beginning in 1940, there were massive land, sea, and air attacks against other European countries April 1940- Denmark and Norway were taken May 1940- Luxembourg, Belgium and the

Netherlands fell June 1940- France fell to Hitler

After a 6-week fight, France fell Britain had 300,000 men there and tried to

quickly remove them in all manner of boats

Then Britain awaited Hitler’s attack on them

Germany bombarded England with aerial attacks during the summer of 1940

Italy then joined in the fight with Germany against France

They also faced British and ANZAC forces (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) in Libya, North Africa

Operation Barbarossa USSR was under the impression that it was

an ally of Germany There was that Nazi-Soviet Pact However, that proved to be false as of the

summer of 1941 Hitler remembered World War I and its 2-

front war To avoid that this time, Hitler made a pact

with USSR just until western Europe had been subdued

With western Europe fairly subdued, Hitler turned on USSR

Russians weren’t prepared They lost ground until the fall; they then

began to hold their ground When the Russian winter began, Germans

weren’t prepared for it Hitler lost 750,000 men during his first

year of attack

German troops almost surrounded Leningrad in the north and Moscow to the south

1942, Germans advanced towards Stalingrad, but their campaign stalled

Changes in the American Attitude American attitude about involvement in

the war began to change during the summer of 1940 after The fall of France The resistance of the British

As early as 1938 Roosevelt felt that only a show of force would stop Hitler but would not take definitive action without the backing of the American people

1939, at FDR’s request, Congress repealed the Neutrality Acts, so war materials could be sold on a cash-and-carry basis

FDR’s responses to Hitler’s victories: Ordered the sale of surplus World War I

equipment to Britain and France in May 1940 Traded 50 old American destroyers to Britain

for leases to bases in England in September 1940

Approved Selective Training and Service Act, first peacetime draft in American history

1940, FDR ran for a third term against Wendell Wilkie

FDR won After election, FDR send the Lend-Lease

Bill to Congress in response to a request from Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England

Lend-Lease was approved in March of 1941

Lend-Lease allowed America to act as the “arsenal of democracy” where all sorts of arms could be “loaned” to Britain Sent naval patrols to the Atlantic so they could

protect delivery of weapons Sent troops to Greenland Sent aid to USSRThe total of all this aid was $54 billion. By this

time the U.S. was at war in everything but name

August, 1941, FDR met with Churchill on 2 ships: Prince of Wales, British and the Augusta, American

Met off the coast of Newfoundland Adopted mutual war aims Called the Atlantic Charter

Self-determination of nations after the war Free trade Freedom of the seas Disarmament of aggressor nations United Nations, 1945

Pro-war sentiment was growing, especially after some incidents between American destroyers and German submarines Greer Incident, September 1941 – a German

submarine fires on the Greer; FDR ordered them to fire on submarines on sight

Roosevelt did not tell the public that the Greer had been tailing the submarine for hours and reporting its location to British planes

Kearney & Reuban James, October of 1941 – Germans torpedoed Kearney and sank Reuban James; 100 sailors lost

By autumn 1941, FDR believed he had the support of most Americans to enter the war against Germany

Hitler had to be stopped at any cost The America First Committee opposed this

move; they felt protecting Britain was not a worthy cause

While we debated war with Germany, Japan turned our eyes to the Pacific

Japan FDR had initiated a partial embargo against Japan

in 1940 because it had not given up any Chinese territory

Then in July of 1941, FDR froze Japanese assets and ended trade with Japan

Negotiations were going on to end the embargo Japan wanted a meeting between the Japanese

Prime Minister and FDR U.S. refused until Japan left China and got out of

the Tripartite Pact (an alliance of Japan, Italy, & Germany)

Having broken the Japanese Code, FDR knew Japan was committed to war if oil embargo wasn’t lifted and were preparing forces at the beginning of December 1941

Even so, the U.S. did not know where they would attack and felt Japan would have to fire the first shot so to have the full support of the American people

Pearl Harbor The attack was on Pearl Harbor on 7

December 1941 Surprise attack on Sunday morning Result: sank or badly damaged 8

battleships, 7 other vessels, 188 airplanes and killed or wounded 3,435 servicemen

8 December 1941, FDR went before Congress and described 7 December as “ a day that will live in infamy”

Both Houses, except for Representative Jeannette Rankin, a pacifist, voted for war

By December 1941, more than 1.5 million men were in uniform and most were well-trained

By the end of the war in 1945, 15 million had served

Majority -- drafted

Cost of the war: 1941 - $2 billion / month 1942 - $15 billion/ month 1945 – cost of war was $300 billion

National debt in 1941 - $48 billion 1945 - $247 billion

The size of the federal government grew from 1.1 million civilian employees in 1940 to 3.3 million in 1945

There was waste, inefficiency, and corruption

Senator Harry S. Truman headed a committee to investigate this

This brought him to the attention of FDR and resulted in Truman being FDR’s Vice President during his short 4th term

Factories began making war products 1944, 96,000 airplanes came out of the

factories Unemployment ended in the U.S. during

World War II Factories had trouble finding enough

workers Blacks found security in war industries;

they could not discriminate

Women of all ages and levels of education worked in war industries

“Rosie the Riveter” Independent women did not return to their

homes after the war; they liked getting that paycheck

U.S. Battle with Japan When u.s. declared war on Japan,

Germany declared war on U.S.; in turn, we declared war on Germany

But we had been attacked by Japan After bombing Pearl Harbor, Japanese

under Admiral Yamamoto quickly took Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines Java, Guam, 2 American Aleutian Islands British Singapore, Burma, Dutch East Indies

Japanese were establishing a buffer zone around Japan

When Japanese landed in the Philippines, the U.S. had troops on the island under the direction of Douglas MacArthur

When the island was about to fall to the Japanese, FDR got MacArthur and some troops out

20,000 were left on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor

Battle ended 6 July 1942 with Japanese as victors

Japanese then marched 10,000 U.S. prisoners to a prison camp in the interior, called the Bataan Death March

1,000 died along the way Many more died in the camp Brutal treatment By May 1942, Japanese had also taken

Solomon Islands and most of New Guinea

However, between 3-4 June 1942, the Japanese offensive capacity was smashed 7 months after Pearl Harbor

American planes destroyed 4 Japanese carriers that could not be replaced

Japanese were now on the defensive

Germany U.S. feared Hitler would get a foothold in

Western Hemisphere because of friends in South America

FDR joined in alliance with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin against the Nazis (Stalin was not trusted)

Germany was fighting savagely in USSR and Stalin wanted a second front started to take pressure off USSR

So first, Britain and U.S. bombed Germany from the air – day and night

FDR sent supplies to Stalin Next, Britain and U.S. attacked German and

Italian forces in North Africa Stalin still wanted a second front begun in

Western Europe There was a stalemate in North Africa with British,

American, and ANZAC forces against General Irwin Rommel (Desert Fox) with German and Italian forces

Germans and Italians threatened the Suez Canal British Commander Marshall Montgomery and his

troops with supplies from U.S., defeated them in June

November 1942, Montgomery and Eisenhower moved into French North Africa and fought Rommel’s Afrika Korps Stalemate Hitler recalled Rommel to Berlin Afrika Korps fell Allied victory

USSR 1942, Stalin captured 250,000 German

soldiers at Stalingrad War seemed to be turning against the

Germans Stalin was still calling for another second

front So it was now Italy

U.S., British, & ANZAC forces invaded Sicily in July 1942

Conquered island in 6 weeks

Generals George Patton and Omar Bradley moved troops north into Italy and essentially knocked Italy out of the war

Mussolini was ousted by Italian Field Marshall Pietro Badoglio who didn’t like Italy as Hitler’s pawn

Hitler rescued Mussolini and established him in northern Italy

Operation Overlord – D-Day The second front Stalin wanted was finally

going to happen Slated for 1944 Was an attack against Hitler’s forces in

Europe by crossing the English Channel and entering from France

Was the largest amphibious invasion in history

Commanded by Dwight David Eisenhower, Ike

Eisenhower was an organizer, a natural diplomat, and was aided by Charles De Gaulle, leader of free French in England

D-Day took place on 6 June 1944 with massive troop landings in Normandy in NW France

1 million men landed on the beaches Troops then marched to Paris and then on

to Belgium

Advance on Germany Eisenhower and Montgomery decided to

advance on Germany slowly and on a broad front that extended from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland

Germany was slowly being strangled Along the way they liberated

concentration camps

Battle of the Bulge – December 1944 German troops pushed American and

British troops back into Belgium creating a bulge in the line

Allied troops held until bad weather cleared and bombers could fly in

2 weeks later German defenses began to collapse

Fall of Germany Hitler, fearing defeat and still blaming Jews

for it, retreated to an underground bunker in Berlin

30 April 1945, Hitler committed suicide after marrying Eva Braun and naming Admiral Karl Doenitz as the new Fuhrer

Germany surrendered 8 May 1945 – V-E Day

Final Battles with Japan FDR wanted Stalin’s help fighting the

Japanese To get this help, FDR at Yalta in the

Crimea in 1944, promised USSR they could dominate Eastern Europe after the war

FDR wasn’t giving Stalin any territory he didn’t already occupy

Stalin agreed that Russian forces would attack the Japanese in China

The Pacific U.S. had had 3 strategies after they took

Midway in June 1942 Supplies would go to USSR fighting Japanese in

China U.S. would drive the Japanese out of the

Solomon Islands to ensure the security of Australia and then on to New Guinea and the Philippines

Islands would be captured from which planes could easily reach Japan and bomb it

6 March 1945, a single raid on Tokyo killed 85,000 people and destroyed 250,000 buildings

Then troops began to “island hop” Japanese would not surrender A formidable weapon would be needed

Manhattan Project Code name for the group who built the

atomic bomb Albert Einstein, physicist, pacifist, refugee

from Nazism, and Jewish was one of the group who built the bomb

$2 billion was secretly allotted to the project

It was under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Groups worked in different locations for safety

Bomb was ready for testing in summer of 1945

April 1945, after being reelected for a fourth term, FDR died of a stroke

Harry Truman became President He had to decide whether or not to use the

bomb

Truman only learned about the bomb when he became president

Truman had to decide if there should be a massive invasion of Japan with great American casualties or use the bomb

The bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 killing 100,000; an additional 100,000 died of radiation later

8 August, bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing more

Hirohito surrendered on 14 August 1945 against the advice of the Japanese high command

Was the bomb necessary? Controversial to this day

The war officially ended on the deck of the battleship Missouri on 2 September 1945