World War II : The World at

War

Neutral United States

• 1920s-1930s U.S. practiced isolationism (kept out of international affairs)

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939 declaring its wish to isolate itself from overseas conflicts

Lend-Lease

• Despite its neutrality, U.S. helped Britain hold off Hitler’s forces– Cash and Carry policy : U.S. offered to sell arms if

Britain paid cash AND transported weapons in their own ships

– Lend-Lease Act of 1941 : authorized prez to lend or lease goods to any country if they were helping to defend the U.S.

Anti-Japanese trade ban

• Japanese aggression against China, French Indochina, & the Dutch East Indies led to strong protests in U.S.

• 1940 : President FDR banned all export of materials vital (necessary) to Japanese industry– ban included petroleum (gas) & scrap metal

Blitzkrieg

• 1940 - Hitler uses Blitzkrieg (lightning war) tactics = crushed opposing forces with speed and mobility– Troops & artillery in vehicles aided by planes and

tanks

• April 1940 – Germany conquers Norway & Denmark, then Belgium & Holland in May

Invasion of France

• June 1940 - French surrendered & Italy enters war • Germany splits France into 2 parts:– Occupied France & Vichy France

• Occupied France = controlled by German forces• Vichy France = French fascist paramilitary

organization, The Milice

Britain stands alone

• United States remains neutral, but sent food and arms to British

• Britain aided by its colonies and former colonies

Battle of Britain

• August 1940 – Germans begin bombing British cities, industrial areas, seaports, & military installations

• Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspired British people

• British Royal Air Force destroyed large numbers of German planes

• June 1941 – aid raids eased off

Eastern Front

• Late 1940 – Hungary and Rumania joined Axis Powers, Bulgaria in 1941

• Yugoslavia & Greece defeated; Germans control all of the Balkans

Soviet Union

• June 1941 – Hitler invades Soviet Union– Germans wanted farmlands and oil

• Britain & U.S. aided the Soviets w/ food & arms– December – Soviet army counterattacks = winter

weather halts Germans

Pearl Harbor

• U.S. ban = Japan’s oil supplies drop = Japan gets desperate

• December 7, 1941 – Japanese planes bombed U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii– Most of U.S. fleet destroyed or severely damaged

• President Roosevelt requests declaration of war on Japan = Congress agrees December 8, 1941– 3 days later : Germany & Italy declared war on U.S.

Allied Strategy in Europe

• Jan. 1942 : U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, & 23 nations sign Declaration of United Nations– Strategy : concentrate on Europe first, then Pacific

• North Africa– 1942-1943 : Allied Powers fight Germans to win back

whole of North Africa by May

• Eastern Front– 1943 : Germans suffer defeat at Stalingrad– Russians pushed Germany west all the way to Berlin,

Germany in April 1945

Italian Campaign

• July 1943 - Allies invade Sicily – Mussolini forced out of office & imprisoned by Italian

King (later shot & dragged through streets)

• Italians join Allies, but Germans continue to fight– 1944 : Rome fell to Allies– 1945 : German loses Northern Italy

D-Day

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wUjZpPNsxI• June 6, 1944 – U.S. General Eisenhower led Allied

troops across English Channel to shores of Normandy, France

• Americans pushed Germans out of France, Belgium, and Holland– Dec 1944 : Germany’s last offense in Battle of the Bulge

in Belgium, but quickly pushed back into Germany

Fall of Hitler

• March 1945 : Allies move into Germany from west as Soviets move into Berlin from east– Hitler committed suicide

• May 7 : German leaders surrender– Next day : V-E Day (Victory in Europe) declared