Ch. 16 – World War II Two main reasons U.S. entered World War II in December 1941: – Growth of dictatorships in Europe & Japan (and their invasion of.

Ch. 16 – World War II Two main reasons U.S. entered World War II

in December 1941:– Growth of dictatorships in Europe & Japan

(and their invasion of other countries).– Japanese attack on U.S. naval base at Pearl

Harbor (December 7th 1941).

World War II would be a fight between the:– Allies – United States, Great Britain, Soviet

Union (and France, China)– Axis Powers – Germany, Japan, Italy

Oppressive Governments (Europe & Japan)

• Totalitarian Government• Has complete control of its citizens.

Individuals have no rights & govnt suppresses all opposition.

• Fascism• Stresses nationalism & places interests of the

state above those of individuals.

• Nazism• Based on extreme nationalism & racism.

Rise of Dictators Joseph Stalin

– Became leader of Soviet Union in 1924.

– Wanted to create a model Communist state. Used ruthless methods to force his people to work, millions of Russians died.

– By 1937, Soviet Union world’s second leading industrial power.

– U.S.S.R. a totalitarian state.

Rise of Dictators Benito Mussolini

– Seized power in Italy in 1922 as leader of Fascist Party.

– Mussolini hoped to restore Italy to the glory of the old Roman Empire (territory in Africa & Mediterranean, power, etc.)

– Italy became an totalitarian state.

– 1935 – Mussolini invaded Ethiopia in attempt to build his new Roman empire.

Rise of Dictators Adolf Hitler

– After WWI, German economy terrible. Treaty of Versailles seen as unfair to Germany.

– Germany desperate – Hitler elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

– Hitler leader of Nazi Party. Wanted to unite all German-speaking people in a great German empire.

– Hitler wanted pure “Aryan” race and German expansion.

– Germany became a totalitarian state.

– 1938 – Hitler annexed Austria & Czechoslovakia

Rise of Dictators Hideki Tojo

– Led Japanese military. Believed Japan needed to expand its empire.

– 1931 -1938 - Invaded province of China known as Manchuria (rich in natural resources) and Indochina (now Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos).

– Emperor Hirohito of Japan only a powerless figure head.

WWII Begins Invasion of Poland

– Sept 1, 1939 - Germany invaded and quickly defeated Poland (World War II begins)

– Sept. 3, 1939 - France & Britain declare war on Germany.

Blitzkreig– Germans used new military

strategy called blitzkrieg, or lightening war. Use powerful aircraft first, then quick, mobile armored divisions. Fight one front at at time & quickly crush enemy.

WWII Begins Germans defeat Western

Europe– April – June 1940 –

Germans defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, France.

– Italy entered war on side of Germans. Attacked France from the south.

WWII Begins Battle of Britain (summer – fall 1940)

– Germans attempted to invade Great Britain. Used Luftwaffe (German air force) to bomb British Royal Air Force (RAF) & cities.

– Germans unsuccessful. Hitler called off attacks in Nov. 1940.

– Brits wounded, but not defeated. Gained U.S. sympathy and supplies.

WWII Begins Lend-Lease Plan

– 1941, FDR felt U.S. had to help defeat Axis Powers by turning itself into “great arsenal of democracy”.

– Great Britain had run out of cash to buy war supplies from U.S. Lend-Lease Act allowed FDR to lend or lease supplies to any country whose defense was vital to U.S.

– Aided not only Great Britain, but Soviet Union when Hitler invaded it in 1941.

WWII Begins The Axis Powers

– Sept. 1940 – Germany, Italy, and Japan had signed a mutual defense treaty, the Tripartite Pact.

– Tripartite Pact designed to keep U.S. out of war. If U.S. were to declare war on any one of the Axis Powers, it would face a two ocean war in Atlantic & Pacific.

U.S. Enters WWII Attack on Pearl Harbor

– U.S. cut off trade with Japan. Embargoed goods included oil – essential for Japan’s war machine.

– Either get U.S. to end oil embargo or seize oil fields in Asia. This would mean war.

– Dec. 7, 1941 – Japanese attack began early in the morning on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. Raid nearly devastated U.S. Pacific fleet. Over 3,000 Americans killed or wounded.

– The next day, FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war against Japan. Three days later, Germany & Italy declared war on U.S.

Pearl HarborDec. 7th, 1941

Pearl Harbor Propaganda Posters

U.S. Homefront During WWII War & the Depression

– In the U.S., WWII did what all of the New Deal programs could not - end the Great Depression.

– Defense spending skyrocketed beginning in 1940. Factories came back to life & were retooled to make war products.

– Unemployment roles shrunk as many people went back to work.

U.S. Homefront during WWII United States Office of War Information (OWI)

- Operated from June 1942 - September 1945

– U.S. government agency created during World War II – Coordinated release of war news for domestic use and

created propaganda posters & radio broadcasts to promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, & recruit women into war work

– Impact: WWII led to an increase in patriotism! Majority of Americans “did their part” to help win the war

• Nation saw high levels of military enlistment, volunteerism, the purchase of war bonds, planting of “victory gardens”, etc.

Office of War Information Posters

U.S. Homefront during WWII

Labor’s Contribution during WWII– Millions of men were drafted to

fight in WWII. Nearly all American civilians filled empty jobs by laboring in war industries.

– Over 6 million workers (1/3) in business & industry were women. Govnt urged women to take the place of their husbands & get a war job.

– Propaganda posters made “Rosie the Riveter” female ideal during WWII.

U.S. Homefront during WWII Economic Controls

– U.S. govnt took greater control of nation’s economy during wartime to keep prices stable & ensure U.S. had enough goods to fight the war.

– Office of Price Administration (OPA) froze prices on most goods and set up a system for rationing. Households received a coupon book to buy scarce goods like gasoline, shoes, coffee, sugar, meat.

– War Production Board (WPB) decided which factories would convert from peacetime to wartime production.

WWII Rationing Posters

Discrimination during WWII

Internment of Japanese-Americans– After attack on Pearl Harbor, many

Americans worried Japanese-Americans would try to commit sabotage.

– Feb. 1942 - FDR issued Executive Order 9066 – sent 110,000 Japanese-Americans to remote internment camps across U.S. Many lost their homes, businesses, etc.

– In 1988, Congress officially apologized to Japanese-Americans & awarded each surviving internee $20,000.

– Greatest violation of civil liberties during WWII. No acts of sabotage were ever proven.

Japanese Americans on their way to internment camps

Discrimination during WWII Internment of German-Americans & Italian-

Americans – Approx 15,000 Americans of German & Italian ancestry

were arrested or held in internment centers across the U.S.

– Too many U.S. citizens of German or Italian ancestry to send such massive numbers of people to internment

camps – most were recent immigrants and

sent on a case- by-case basis.- Unlike the

Japanese-Americans, German-Americans and Italian-Americans never received an apology or monetary compensation for their internment by the U.S. government.