Chapter 24World War II

Aggression Leads to War

• The conditions for the Great Depression helped to set the stage for a new world war

• Several nations came to believe that democratic governments were too weak to solve problems.– They turned to dictators in hopes of having their

problems solved.

Aggression Leads to War

• The Rise of Dictators – Soviet Communism• Josef Stalin had become sole dictator of the Soviet

Union by 1929– Turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state

• Stalin took brutal measures to control and modernize industry and agriculture– Famers had to give crops, animals, and land to government

run farms– If anyone was seen as being disloyal they would be killed

Aggression Leads to War

• Fascism in Italy– Benito Mussolini promised to restore order to Italy

Aggression Leads to War

– Mussolini was appointed prime minister in October of 1922• Italy was turned into a Fascist state• Ended freedom of the press and banned all political

parties (except his own)• Critics of him were jailed or murdered• Schools had children recite the motto “Mussolini is

always right”

Aggression Leads to War

• Nazi Germany– Many Germans were angry with the outcome of

WWI and the punishments they received

Aggression Leads to War

• Adolf Hitler– Created the National Socialist Party (Nazi)– Hitler and Nazi party believed Germans were a

“master race.”– Anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews) was a major part of

Nazi beliefs.

"The American Patriotic Salute," which is considered "the first known organized flag salute designed for use in American public schools." In the salute "students touched first their foreheads, then their hearts, reciting together 'We give our Heads! -- and our Hearts! -- to God! and our Country!' Then... with their right arms outstretched and slightly elevated, palm down, in the direction of the flag, they completed the salute: 'One Country! One Language! One Flag!'

Aggression Leads to War

• Hitler gained popularity during the Great Depression and became chancellor (leader of German parliament) in 1933– He quickly created a totalitarian state and

outlawed all political parties (except Nazi party)– Jews were also banned from public schools and

from certain professions

Aggression Leads to War

• Militarism in Japan– The Great Depression ruined democratic rule in

Japan as well– Military leaders took control of Japan by 1936 and

started to expand (imperialism)

Aggression Leads to War

• Military Aggression– Germany, Italy, and Japan had policies of

aggression

Aggression Leads to War

• Japan attacked and took over parts of China through the 1930s

• Italy attacked and conquered Ethiopia

Aggression Leads to War

• German Aggression– Hitler wanted an empire that united all German-

speaking people– He began to rebuild German military– Germany sent troops and occupied Austria and

part of the Rhineland– European democracies did nothing to stop Hitler

(appeasement)

Answer These Questions

• Why were countries getting rid of their democratic governments leading up to WWII?

• What type of governments were replacing democratic governments?

• Who were the dictators of the Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy?

Aggression Leads to War

• Munich Pact– Hitler wanted part of Czechoslovakia– France and Britain wanted to appease Hitler by

allowing him to have the peace of Czechoslovakia and be able to avoid war.

Aggression Leads to War

• War Begins in Europe– Nazi-Soviet Pact• Pact signed between Hitler and Stalin that promised

neither country would attack the other.

– September 1, 1939 Nazi German invades Poland• Two days after the invasion Britain and France declare

war on Germany

Aggression Leads to War

• Germany was unstoppable in the early days of the war– In April and May of 1940 they conquered• Netherlands• Luxembourg• Belgium• Denmark• Norway

Aggression Leads to War

• Germany invaded France in May of 1940– British and French troops tried to resist the assault

but were overpowered– British sent every available ship and boat across

the English Channel to rescue the trapped soldiers– June 22, 1940 France surrendered to Hitler

Aggression Leads to War

• Battle of Britain– Winston Churchill expressed hope in Britain being

able to fend off German advancements– Hitler ordered an air assault on Britain– Britain was able to defend against all air attacks

and force Hitler to give up on his plan to invade.

Aggression Leads to War

• Invasion of the Soviet Union– June 22, 1941, Hitler broke pact with Stalin and

invade the Soviet Union– Soviet Union and Britain joined forces to defeat a

common enemy.

The United States at War

• America remained neutral in the beginning of the war

• However, Roosevelt sided with Britain and the other Allies (France and Soviet Union)

The United States at War

• Lend Lease Act– Britain was poor and could not afford to buy

supplies from the U.S.– Roosevelt did not want Britain to fall to Hitler– Lend Lease allowed for U.S. to lend or lease

supplies to Britain

The United States at War

• U.S. started to build up their military in 1940 to try to prepare in case the U.S. would be drawn into the war.– FDR created the first African American Army Air

Corps in 1940 known as the Tuskegee Airmen

The United States at War

• Pearl Harbor– December 7, 1941, Japanese Bombers launched a

surprise attack on the American naval, air, and ground forces at Pearl Harbor.• Half of the military aircrafts and 8 battleships were

damaged (two beyond repair)• 2,400 Americans were killed

– December 8, 1941 the U.S. declared war on Japan and within 3 days were at war with Germany and Italy

A Global Conflict

• WWII was a Total War• Axis powers : Germany, Italy, Japan• Allied Powers: Britain, France, Soviet Union,

United States

• Soviets resist– Stalingrad

Japan Sweeps Through the Pacific

• Following Pearl Harbor, Japan was able to conquer much of the Pacific

• U.S. managed to turn the tide during the battle of Midway– Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers, 322 planes, and many

highly trained pilots

The War at Home

• The United States needed to build its armed forces, and resources for the war– More than 15 million Americans would serve in

the armed forces during WWII• This included hundreds of thousands of woman

(noncombat)

The War at Home

• Factories reopened and started to create military goods

• The war quickly ended the Great Depression• Every American was expected to play a role in

winning the war– Buying war bonds, planting victory gardens,

rationing food (coffee, sugar, meat) shoes, gasoline, tires, and other goods

The War at Home

• Millions of women started working to support the war– Jobs in the factory, welded in shipyards, ran

cranes, became police officers

Japanese Internment

• Many Americans feared that Japanese Americans were spies

• Led to President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066 in February of 1942– 110,000 Japanese were put into internment

camps for the duration of the war

Toward Victory

• Victory in Europe– Italy Surrendered to Allied Forces in September of

1943• King of Italy dismissed Mussolini from office and the

new government surrendered

Toward Victory

• D-Day– June 6, 1944– Allied forces crossed the English Channel and

invaded five beaches at Normandy (France)

Toward Victory

• Allied forces were able to quickly take four of the beaches

• Americans were met with fierce defense on Omaha Beach– 2,500 American soldiers were killed

• D-Day was successful– August of 1944, Allied troops pushed Germany out

of France

Toward Victory

• Battle of the Bulge– Germans tried to counterattack in Belgium in

December, 1944– Allied forces were able to fend off the attack– Battle showed that Germany was weakening

• Low on fuel, men, and other critical supplies

– 20,876 Allied soldiers were killed, while another 42,893 were wounded and 23,554 captured/missing. German losses numbered 15,652 killed, 41,600 wounded, and 27,582 captured/missing.

Toward Victory

• April 12, 1945 President Franklin Roosevelt dies from a stroke

• Harry S. Truman becomes president

Toward Victory

• Victory in Europe– April 30, 1945 Hitler committed suicide– May 8, 1945 Germany’s armed forces surrendered

Toward Victory

• Victory in the Pacific– Island Hopping

Toward Victory

• Japan was losing the war but refused to surrender– Iwo Jima---Only 1 percent of Japanese armed

forces surrender– Okinawa----Japanese soldiers jumped off cliffs

rather than surrender or be captured

Toward Victory

• The Atomic Bomb– President Harry Truman had his military advisors

draw plans to invade Japan for the autumn of 1945• An invasion would have cost about 500,000 American

lives

– In July of 1945 in the New Mexico desert the atomic bomb was successfully tested• One bomb could destroy an entire city

Toward Victory

• On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima– More than 130,000 died instantly– Japan refused to surrender

• On August 9, 1945 a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki– 35,000 people died instantly

• August 14,1945 the emperor of Japan surrendered ending WWII

Toward Victory

• WWII was the bloodiest war in history– 60 million lives were lost

COUNTRY CASUALTIES

Soviet Union 23,954,000

China 15,000,000

Germany 7,728,000

Poland 5,720,000

Japan 2,700,000

India 2,087,000

Yugoslavia 1,027,000

Rumania 833,000

Hungary 580,000

France 567,600

Greece 560,000

Italy 456,000

Great Britain 449,800

United States 418,500

Czechoslovakia 345,000

Netherlands 301,000

Austria 123,700

Finland 97,000

Belgium 86,100

Canada 45,300

Australia 40,500

Bulgaria 25,000

New Zealand 11,900

South Africa 11,900

Norway 9,500

Spain 4,500

Denmark 3,200

The Holocaust

• Hitler attempted to kill all the Jews (Genocide) in what he called the “final solution to the Jewish Problem”

• 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazis• Nazis also murdered millions of Poles, Slavs,

Gypsies, communists, and people with physical or mental disabilities.

The Holocaust

• Death Camps– The Nazis developed an efficient system of mass

murder– Millions of men, women, and children were

transported to death camps in railway cattle cars– Hundreds were killed at a time in gas chambers– Some were subjected to torture or medical

experiments.

Extermination Camp Estimate of number killed

Auschwitz-Birkenau 1 million

Treblinka 870,000

Belzec 600,000

Majdanek 79,000 – 235,000

Chełmno 320,000

Sobibor 250,000

The Holocaust

• War Crimes Trials– For the first time in history victors in a war

prosecuted leaders of the losing side for war crimes

– Nuremberg trials• Prominent Nazis were tried for war crimes• 12 defendants were sentenced to death by hanging in

1946