WORLD WAR II

Rise of Dictators• World-wide economic

depression during the 30s

• Isolationism (not taking part in the affairs of other nations) of leading nations such as the US

• Dictators (those who rule their nations through military might) rose in Germany, Italy and Japan; the Soviet Union became a totalitarian state in 1917

Aggressive Actions in the 1930s• Japan invaded Manchuria, China

to create an Asia dominated by Japan. Also, needed the oil found in Manchuria

• Mussolini invaded Ethiopia (1935) & Albania (1939); attempted to revive the “glories of Ancient Roman Empire”

• Hitler invaded: – Austria (1938) to unite the

German speaking people of Europe

– Sudetenland (1939) to restore lands lost after WWI

Response to HitlerAustria: Austrians did not

oppose annexation; Europe and US ignored

Sudetenland: different story• Czechs appealed to Britain &

France• Munich Conference held to

avoid war as Hitler threatens an all-out invasion

• Hitler promises no more annexing of territory in exchange for Sudetenland. This is an example of appeasement (giving into an aggressor to avoid war)

The Non-Aggression Pact

• Hitler and Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in August of 1939

• Publically both agree not to attack the other

• Privately they agree on how to divide up

Poland in Sept 1939

WAR!!!• Hitler seized the rest of

Czechoslovakia in 3/1939• Britain and France warn

Hitler they will not allow him to take more territory

• Hitler invades Poland on Sept 1, 1939; Britain & France declare war on Germany on Sept 3rd and WWII began

1939-1940• Phony War: period after

invasion of Poland & the start of the war in western Europe

• Soviets take ½ of Poland plus Latvia, Lithuania & Estonia

• April/May 1940: Hitler invades Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg & France. All surrender by June

• Only Britain still free & fighting

NAZI OCCUPIED EUROPE

The U.S. Chooses Sides• The US public did not

want to join the war• FDR decides to support

Britain against Hitler’s aggression

• Convinces Congress to pass Lend-Lease Act: allowed British to get war materials from the US in return for 99 yr leases on military bases around the world.

“A Day That Will Live In Infamy”• US enters WWII

on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attack our forces at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii

• The US joined the Allies (Britain, Soviet Union and France) to defeat Germany, Italy and Japan (Axis Powers)

The War in Europe• US decides to focus on

defeating Hitler first• Britain & US defeat Nazi

forces in North Africa in 1943

• Invade Sicily & Italy in 1943

• D-Day (Operation Overlord) is the invasion of France on June 6, 1944;

• All planned by Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower

D-Day—The Invasion of Normandy

Minorities in WWII• African Americans serve in

segregated units; Tuskegee Airmen - valued and highly decorated bomber escort group

• Women served as nurses and in support groups called WACs & WASPs

• Native Americans - special service as intelligence personnel, using their native language (Navajo) as a secret communication code in the Pacific—known as the Code Talkers

• All Asian units fought in Europe; 442nd regiment became the most decorated unit of the war with 21 Medal of Honor winners

The Home Front• Civilians rationed (limited

consumption) gas, meats, dairy products, rubber, clothing and other important materials for the war effort

• Kept Victory Gardens (personal vegetable gardens kept so more farm produce went to the military)

• Women took many jobs in the defense industry—Rosie the Riveter became famous

• Bought war bonds to help fund the war

War in the Pacific• Japan captured territory throughout

the Pacific after bombing Pearl Harbor• US Navy defeats the Japanese in the

turning point Battle of Midway in June 1942

• After Midway, Japanese were on defensive with US in island hopping campaign across the Pacific, heading north to Japan.

• Navy used carrier & plane warfare; then landed Marines on island after island to recapture them from the Japanese

• Fighting was intense & bloody as Japanese followed the bushido code which meant they could not surrender.

Georgia’s Role in WWII• Major boost to the economy• More industry introduced

– Bell Bomber plant in Marietta—produced B-29 bombers

– Brunswick & Savannah shipyards built Liberty Ships

• Major military installations for training troops at Benning, Stewart, Gordon, Gillem & Warner Robbins

• Fort McPherson in Atlanta served as an Army induction center for new volunteer and draftee soldiers

• Housed POWs in camps at military bases around the state—but always in rural areas

• Carl Vinson became known as the Father of the Two Ocean Navy and helped pass a law easing labor restrictions in the shipbuilding industry, allowing faster construction of navy ships.

Loss of FDR• FDR died at his

vacation home, the Little White House in Warm Springs, GA on April 12, 1945.

• Benefitted GA with the REA & laws creating better working conditions in textile mills

• Vice President Harry S Truman became president

Victory in Europe• After D-Day the Allies move east, liberating France

& Belgium, pushing into Germany in Jan. 1945• Soviets win the decisive Battle of Stalingrad in Feb.

1943; then begin pushing the Germans westward out of the USSR back through Poland, finally entering Germany in Jan 1945

• Soviets capture Berlin in April 1945• Hitler commits suicide on Apr 30, 1945 • Soviet & US troops link up at the Elbe River in

eastern Germany which forces the Germans to surrender on May 8, 1945 (VE Day)

Germany is Defeated

Victory over Japan• 1942-1945: Allies advance north & east across the Pacific,

recapturing territory from Japan • Summer 1945: daily bombing on Japan• Late July 1945, Allies demand Japan “surrender unconditionally

or face utter destruction.”• No response leads Truman to approve use of atomic bomb • 1st dropped on Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945 (carried by the Enola

Gay)• Still no response; 2nd bomb dropped on Nagasaki on Aug 9, 1945

(carried by the Box Car)• Japan surrenders on Aug 14, 1945 (VJ Day), finally ending World

War II

Japan is Defeated

The Holocaust• Name given to the systematic killing of 6 million Jews by the

Nazis during WWII; additional 6-7 million “undesirables” were also murdered

• Nazis called their program to exterminate the Jews of Europe “The Final Solution”

• Used a system of prison camps throughout Europe to hold Jews, use them for slave labor &/or murder them outright. Concentration camps were for multiple purposes; killing centers were known as death camps

• Developed gas chambers & crematoriums to “efficiently” murder and dispose of the victims

The Holocaust

Internment• After Pearl Harbor the US

gov’t passed a law requiring all people of Japanese origin to be moved to “relocation” camps.

• All 110,000 Japanese Americans were moved to these camps for the duration of the war

• In 1988, the US formerly apologized for interning Japanese Americans and paid $20,000 to every camp survivor who could prove they had been interned

Being Interned