AMERICA ENTERS WWII
WHY IT MATTERS• WORLD WAR II, THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE WAR IN
HISTORY, RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF MORE THAN 40 MILLION PEOPLE.
• MORE THAN HALF OF THE DEATHS WERE CIVILIANS, INCLUDING ABOUT 6 MILLION JEWS AND MANY OTHERS THAT WERE KILLED IN THE HOLOCAUST.
• AT THE END OF THE WAR, THE US EMERGED AS THE STRONGEST NATION IN THE WORLD AND THE POSSESSOR OF A POWERFUL WEAPON, THE ATOMIC BOMB.
THE IMPACT TODAY
• WORLD WAR II MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE NATION’S ROLES AS A SUPERPOWER.
• THE WAR ALSO TRANSFORMED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY INTO AN ENORMOUSLY PRODUCTIVE AND ENDURINGLY PROSPEROUS ECONOMY.
KEY PLAYERS IN WORLD WAR IIAXIS POWERS
• GERMANY ALLIES WITH ITALY (ROME/BERLIN)
• GERMANY ALLIES WITH JAPAN (ANTI-COMINTERN)
HITLER, MUSSOLINI AND TOJO… BEGIN THEIR TAKE
OVER
BLITZKRIEG
LIGHTNING WAR!!!
A BLITZKRIEG, TROOPS IN VEHICLES, SUCH AS TANKS, MADE
QUICK SURPRISE STRIKES WITH SUPPORT FROM AIRPLANES.
THESE TACTICS RESULTED IN THE SWIFT GERMAN CONQUEST OF
FRANCE IN 1940
BY THIS TIME… GERMANY HAD USED THEIR BLITZKRIEG TACTICS TO
TAKE OVER MUCH OF EUROPE.
AMERICA GOES TO WAR
• AFTER WWI… AMERICA WANTED TO ISOLATE THEMSELVES (OCEAN OF
SEPARATION)
• KELLOG-BRIAND PACT SIGNED BY 62 NATIONS RENOUNCING USE OF WAR!!
• TRYING TO RECOVER FROM GREAT DEPRESSION…MAINTAINED NEUTRALITY.
AVOIDING WAR
• TENSIONS AND AGGRESSION RISING IN EUROPE WITH RISE OF DICTATORS
• CONGRESS PASSES LAWS TO AVOID ISSUES THAT BROUGHT US IN TO WORLD WAR I
• NEUTRALITY ACTS 1935-1937—PROHIBITED AMERICANS FROM TRAVELING ON SHIPS TO
COUNTRIES AT WAR. THEY ALSO COULD NOT SELL ARMS TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
• CASH AND CARRY POLICY- ONLY SELL NON-MILITARY GOODS TO OTHER NATIONS OPPOSED
TO AGGRESSION.
JAPANESE AGGRESSION
• JAPAN’S AGGRESSION LED TO WAR IN
ASIA
• JAPAN WAS ATTEMPTING TO REPLACE
EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN ASIA
• “QUARANTINE” SPEECH 1937—GIVEN BY FDR WITH JAPAN INVADED
CHINA…PEACEFUL NATIONS SHOULD
BAN TOGETHER TO QUARANTINE
(ISOLATE) AGGRESSIVE NATIONS
• ENCOURAGED BOYCOTTING
AMERICA STILL REMAINED OUT OF WAR… BUT SAW POSSIBILITY OF WAR AND BEGIN INCREASING
MILITARY.
• ROOSEVELT RAN FOR 3RD TERM (1ST AND LAST PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!)
• PEACETIME DRAFT
• INCREASED MILITARY SPENDING
• BEGAN SUPPLYING BRITAIN AND OTHER ALLIED POWERS WITH MILITARY SUPPLIES
AMERICAN RELATIONS WITH ALLIES (1941)
• LEND-LEASE ACT—SELL, LEASE,
OR LEND WAR MATERIALS THAT
THE PRESIDENT DEEMS VITAL
FOR THE DEFENSE OF US.
• AMERICAN BATTLESHIPS BEGAN
PROTECTING BRITISH SHIPS
ESCALATING TENSIONS: JAPAN
• JULY, 1940 – EXPORT CONTROL ACT
• FDR HAS THE POWER TO RESTRICT THE SALE OF
STRATEGIC MATERIALS TO OTHER NATIONS
• IMMEDIATELY BLOCKED THE SALE OF AIRPLANE FUEL AND SCRAP IRON TO JAPAN
• 1941
• FDR BEGAN SENDING LEND-LEASE AID TO CHINA IN AN
EFFORT TO ASSIST THE CHINESE IN PREVENTING THE
JAPANESE FROM ATTACKING ELSEWHERE
• DID NOT WORK: JAPANESE SENT TROOPS INTO INDOCHINA
FLYING TIGERS
VOLUNTEER PILOTS TO SEND SUPPLIES
TO CHINA AND ENGAGE IN COMBAT
WITH JAPANESE PILOTS…DESTROYED
300 JAPANESE AIRCRAFTS.
FOUR FREEDOMSFDR’S SPEECH…WORLD BASED ON…
1. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND
EXPRESSION
2. FREEDOM FROM RELIGION
3. FREEDOM FROM WANT
4. FREEDOM FROM FEAR
ATLANTIC CHARTER
• LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR
THE UNITED NATIONS (A NEW
LEAGUE OF NATIONS…)
• ANNOUNCED THAT THEIR
COUNTRIES SOUGHT:
• NO TERRITORIAL GAIN
• FREEDOM OF SEAS
• END TO THE WAR
ESCALATING TENSIONS: GERMANY
• SEPTEMBER, 1941
• GERMAN U-BOAT FIRED ON AMERICAN SHIP RADIOING THE U-BOAT’S
POSITIONS TO THE BRITISH
• FDR RESPONDED: SHOOT ON SIGHT POLICY TOWARD GERMAN SUBS
• OCTOBER, 1941
• GERMANS TARGET TWO AMERICAN DESTROYERS
ESCALATING TENSIONS
FDR responds
froze all Japanese assets in the US; reduced the amount of oil being shipped
to Japan; sent General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines to build up
American defenses there
Japanese respond
War in China now in jeopardy because of a lack of oil and other resources;
Plans to attack the resource-rich British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia; Decide to seize the Philippines and to
attack the American fleet at Pearl Harbor
JAPAN PREPARES SURPRISE ATTACK
• JAPAN WANTED INDONESIAN OIL BUT KNEW THAT WOULD BRING THE US INTO
THE WAR, SO THEY PLANNED A SURPRISE ATTACK TO ELIMINATE US NAVAL
POWER FROM THE PACIFIC.
• DECEMBER 7, 1941—TWO WAVES OF JAPANESE AIRPLANES ATTACHED THE US
PACIFIC FLEET STATIONED AT PEARL HARBOR, HI.
• SANK AND SEVERELY DAMAGED 18 US SHIPS, 260 AIRPLANES AND
KILLED/INJURED 6,000 AMERICANS.
Pearl Harbor
Overview
Before the
bombing
Pearl Harbor during
the Bombing
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of Japan… I believe I interpret the will of Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but shall never endanger us again… No matter how long it may take us… the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
~ FDR
“The Day that will live in Infamy”
FDR Speechhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8gYGg0dkE
4 DAYS LATER…
• GERMANY AND ITALY, ALLIES OF JAPAN (AXIS POWERS) DECLARED WAR ON THE UNITED
STATES
• AMERICANS WERE NOW ENGAGED IN A TWO FRONT WAR…
THE ATLANTIC AND THE PACIFIC
PEARL HARBOR…AMERICA THE STORY OF US
HTTP://WWW.HISTORY.COM/SHOWS/AMERI
CA-THE-STORY-OF-US/VIDEOS/AMERICA-THE-
STORY-OF-US-WWII