World War II (WWII)

1939-1945

The United States WWII Presidents

• FDR was President of the United States throughout the war until his death on April 12, 1945

• FDR’s successor was Vice President Harry Truman

• As President, Truman authorized the use of the Atomic bombs to end the war with Japan

USA Declares War

• December 8th, 1941, The United States declares war on Japan

• December 11th, 1941, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States

WWII for the United States has now begun!!

Japanese American Internment

• There was a heightened Anti-Japanese fear in the United States as a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor

War time prejudice• Even though many Japanese Americans served in

the armed forces, many others were treated with distrust and prejudice

Executive Order 9066• As a result of this distrust, President FDR

signed Executive Order 9066, directing the Army to relocate over 120,000 Japanese Americans to relocation camps.

WWII ends in the Pacific

• The United States dropped two atomic bombs (Manhattan Project) on Japan in 1945, forcing Japan to surrender and ending WWII:

• #12) August 6, 1945, The bombing of Hiroshima took the lives of 70,000 people that day and another 70,000 from radiation exposure within 5 years

• #13) August 9, 1945, The bombing of Nagasaki Took the lives of 80,000 within a year

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t19kvUiHvAE&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

WWII impact on the American Home front

World War II affected every aspect of American life

Supporting the War• American involvement in World War II brought an end

to the Great Depression since factories and workers were in high demand to produce goods for the war

“Rosie the Riveter”• Thousands of

American women took jobs in defense plants during the war• The “Rosie the

Riveter” image was used to empower women to work in traditionally male jobs

Supporting the war from The homefront (3 ways)

Americans at home supported the war effort in 3 ways!

1. First was by conserving and rationing resources

2. Second was by planting victory gardens

3. Third was to buy War Bonds.

Fighting Discrimination

The need for workers temporarily broke down some racial barriers (in defense plants for example) although discrimination against African Americans continued

Tuskegee Airmen

• Were the first African American aviators in the United States

• They were officially the 332nd Army Air Corp fighter division based in Tuskegee, Alabama

• http://tuskegeeairmennationalmuseum.org/

• They were given the nickname “The Red Tails” after they painted the tails of their aircraft Red in 1944.

http://viewpure.com/BpA6TC0T_Lw

Tuskegee Airmen play

The Holocaust

• Definition – The name given to the mass murder of the Jewish (and other groups of people) during WWII.

• Hitler referred to this extermination as “The final Solution”

The Holocaust Roots

• The Holocaust was based on 2 beliefs:•Anti- Semitism – hostility and

discrimination towards Jewish people•Aryan supremacy – Belief that

Caucasian, non-Jewish people were superior to everyone else

Nazi Holocaust tactics

• Wanted to systematically rid Europe of all Jewish people by:• A boycott of Jewish stores• Threats • Segregation• Imprisonment and murder of millions of

Jews and other people in Concentration camps and Death camps

The End of Nazi Terror

After the war, Allied troops moved throughout Nazi occupied Europe to Liberate (free) the Jewish prisoners and any other Concentration Camp survivorshttp://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/timeline/rescue.htm

Post WWII Europe

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

- George Santayana

We learned from our mistake and realized that we couldn’t end WWII in the same way that we ended WWI. There had to be major changes to prevent a WWIII.

This time the United States did not choose to isolate itself from Europe as they rebuilt.

Post WWI1. - Germany was humiliated

by the Harsh policies of the Treaty of Versailles

2. - Germany forced to pay massive reparations to Allies which led to German hyperinflation

3. -Germany left with no stable government, money or military

Post WWII1. Allies stay in Germany to

rebuild2. Germany’s government is

dismantled and the Allies Partition (divide)the country into 4 separate districts

3. There were no reparations or punishments on the citizens, except those convicted of war crimes (The Holocaust).