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