world war ii. communist dictator of the u.s.s.r. played for time until the soviet army could become...
TRANSCRIPT
World War
II
World War
IIWar
Begins
Josef Stalin Communist Dictator
of the U.S.S.R.
Played for time until the Soviet army could become strong enough to defeat Germany.
Aggression Turns to War• Hitler signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Stalin and
the Soviet Union (they agree to not make war on each other)
• Immediately after – Germany invaded Poland (France & Britain declare war on Germany) WWII officially begins
• Three-Power Pact Between Germany, Italy, and Japan, Signed at Berlin, September 27, 1940
Phony War – “Sitzkrieg”1939-40
British & French waited for Germany to attack
1940 – Germany invades France and the Netherlands
Blitzkrieg“Lightening War”
Germany used Blitzkrieg tactics to invade France and the Netherlands.
British troops were forced to retreat to the beaches of Dunkirk in northern France.
British miraculously rescued 338,000 troops from Dunkirk
Lost all their equipment.
By June 1940, France had surrendered to the Germans
September 1940-May 1941: “the Blitz”“Battle of Britain”
The German air force (Luftwaffe) launched repeated bombing raids on British towns and cities. Lasted nine months,This was known as the BLITZ or the Battle of Britain An attempt to bomb Britain into submission.
Winston Churchill Leader of British Empire during
World War II “Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Refused to consider defeat, surrender, or a compromise which inspired British resistance.
Charles de GaulleLeader of Free French Forces
“The Arsenal of Democracy”
America “officially neutral” as European war began
FDR increased military production and skirted Neutrality Acts after Nazi victories
FDR ran for third termCash and Carry PolicyLend-Lease Act passedU.S. embargoed oil and
scrap-iron sales to Japan
Battle of the AtlanticGerman submarines (U-boats) sank millions of tons of allied ships ammunition, equipment, and supplies.
The Election of 1940
In this map of electoral results, FDR is indicated in green, Willkie in red
• FDR won unprecedented third term
• Defeated Willkie• Both candidates
considered “internationalists”
Selective Service Act of 1940• First peacetime draft in U.S. • All men aged 21–35
required to register; later 18–65
• Required men picked for duty to serve 12 months
• Service in the U.S. or its possessions
The America First Committee• Formed in 1940
• An estimated 800,000 members at its height
• Most prominent member was Charles Lindbergh
• Advocated building up U.S. defenses and staying out of Europe’s problems
• Dissolved four days after Pearl Harbor
Charles Lindbergh speaking at anAmerica First rally
FDR’s “Four Freedoms”
An excerpt from the speech
• FDR’s 1941 State of the Union address
• Early in his third term• Equated aid to Britain
with protecting universal freedoms
From the “Four Freedoms” Speech“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look
forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.”