World War II (1931–1945)

Economic depressionWar debt & poverty

Crisis & resentment led to nationalist regimesTotalitarianism under Stalin – Soviet UnionFascism under Mussolini – Italy Nazism under Hitler – Germany Militarism in Japan

THE INTERWAR PERIOD

League of Nations ineffectualManchuria invaded by Japan in 1931Rhineland invaded by Germany in 1936Ethiopia invaded by Italy in 1935Spanish Civil War – Fascist rebels v. Spanish republic

FAILURE OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Isolationism in post-World War I AmericaKellogg-Briand Pact (1928) Nye Committee (1934-36) blamed war on “merchants of death”Good Neighbor Policy reversed actions taken by McKinley & Roosevelt

 FDR expands U.S. diplomacy

Recognized USSR in 1933Reciprocal Trade Agreement (1934) lowered tariffs

UNITED STATES ISOLATIONISM

Steps to war Neutrality Acts (1935-39) passed to keep U.S. out of war“Cash-and-carry” (1939) allowed sales to warring countries if they would pay cash & transport themselvesSelective Training & Service Act (1940) – 1st peacetime draftLend-Lease Act (1940) began loans to warring countriesSelf-defense against German subs to “shoot on sight” (1941)

UNITED STATES NEUTRALITY?

March 1938 – Austria taken in a bloodless “union”

September 1938 – Sudetenland taken from Czechoslovakia, a result of Munich Conference appeasement

March 1939 – The rest of Czechoslovakia conquered

September 1939 – After signing a nonaggression pact with Stalin, Hitler took Poland.

April 1940 – Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg all conquered in an awesome display of blitzkrieg.

June 1940 – France taken via Belgium. Trapped soldiers are rescued from Dunkirk.

Summer 1940 – In the Battle of Britain, German aerial attacks fail against extreme heroism… & radar

June 1941 – Hitler invaded the Soviet Union

GERMAN TERRITORIAL EXPANSION

Between 1939 and 1941, Germany invaded and conquered much of Europe.

Japan’s gradual expansion in Asia led to war with China in 1937.

- Axis -Germany, Italy & Japan sign Tripartite Pact in September 1940

- Allies -Great Britain & France declared war after invasion of Poland in 1939

 

Soviet Union became an ally after Germany invaded in 1941 

Before officially declaring war, U.S. made the Atlantic Charter 

Allies eventually included 26 nations

versus

Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor decimated the Pacific fleetCongress (470-1) declared war on Japan on December 8Germany & Italy declared war on U.S. to support their ally JapanRacism & distrust resulted in internment of Japanese Americas

DECEMBER 7, 1941

Product of Hitler’s anti-Semitic ideasAfter Kristallnacht, Nazis begin removing Jews from societyJews relocated into ghettos, later moved to concentration camps“Final solution” (genocide) – many camps converted to death camps6 million Jews, 5 million others are killed

THE HOLOCAUST

North African Campaign – “Desert Fox” Rommel pushed back by a joint British/U.S. offensiveBattle of Stalingrad – Hitler defeated by Russian winter & fighting on two frontsGen. George S. Patton’s invasion of Sicily led to the removal from office & arrest of Mussolini

TWO-FRONT WAR: EUROPEAN THEATER

FDR’s Chief of Staff George Marshall suggested an invasion of Western Europe

General Eisenhower was supreme commander for the invasion, Operation Overlord

Heavy casualties were suffered, but by late July, nearly 2 million Allied troops were in France

On August 25, 1944, Paris was liberated from German occupation.

D-DAY INVASION (JUNE 6, 1944)

Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944) – German counterattack resulted in largest battle in U.S. Army history

Soviets reached Berlin in April 1945

Hitler committed suicide April 30, & Germany surrendered on May 8

FDR died on April 12, 1945 & Harry Truman became President

V-E DAY

The Yalta Conference (February 1945) – Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met to discuss the shape of the postwar world. The leaders agreed:

1. To split Germany into four zones, each under the control of a major Ally, including France.

2. To split Berlin similarly.

3. That Stalin would allow free elections in the nations of Eastern Europe that Soviets had liberated.

4. That Stalin would enter the war against Japan.

Stalin didn’t keep either promise.

YALTA CONFERENCE

“Island hopping” strategy May 1942 – 76K POWs take Bataan Death

March. 10K died on the march & at least 15K more died in the prison camps.

Battle of Midway (June 1942) – Americans sank 4 Japanese carriers & 250 planes, ending the Japanese offensive in the Pacific.

TWO-FRONT WAR: PACIFIC THEATER

Iwo Jima (Feb. 1945) – More than 100K U.S. troops engaged, of which 25K died.

Battle of Okinawa (April-June 1945) – The costliest battle of the Pacific war (nearly 50K U.S. casualties), this gave U.S. a clear path for invading Japan.

DECISIVE PACIFIC BATTLES

In 1939, FDR organized the Manhattan Project under J. Robert Oppenheimer to develop the atomic bomb.

When the Japanese did not respond to the Potsdam Declaration, Truman gave orders to use this weapon.

MANHATTAN PROJECT

On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped a single atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima – resulting in 80K immediate deaths.

Three days later, a 2nd bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

V-J Day: On August 14, Japan surrendered.

ENDING THE WAR

Navajo “code talkers” developed an unbreakable code.

The Tuskegee Airmen, the 1st African American combat pilot unit, was highly decorated.

American women served in all areas except combat (WACS, WAVES, WASP).

DIVERSITY AIDS THE WAR EFFORT

Factories converted to war production: o Ford Motor Company built B-24 bombers.

o Mass-production techniques were applied to ship building. Liberty ships were large, sturdy merchant ships that carried supplies or troops.

Many goods were rationed, and citizens were involved in the war effort.

Victory gardens produced about 1/3 of the country’s fresh vegetables.

THE WAR AT HOME

Women entered the work force or left low-paying “women’s jobs”.

Rosie the Riveter became the popular symbol for all women working in war-production.

After the war, women were encouraged to leave their jobs & return home.

WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

Dr. Charles Drew developed methods that geared blood plasma collection to mass production.

New weaponry included the atomic bomb & V-1 rockets

Radar & sonar made detecting enemy crafts possible

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

WORLD WAR II CASUALTIES

Axis

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

Allies

France 122,000 470,000 592,000

SOURCE: World War II: A Statistical Survey

Best known was the Trial of the Major War Criminals (November 1945-October 1946), which tried 24 of the most important captured leadersThe indictments were for:

War crimes (Treatment of prisoners, etc.)

Crimes against humanity (The Holocaust)

Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression

NUREMBURG TRIALS