EOC Preparation: WWII and the Early Cold War Era · The United States Enters WWII •FDR reelected (3rd term!) in 1940 –Knows neutrality won’t work for much longer •Lend-Lease

EOC Preparation: WWII and the Early Cold War Era

WWII Begins • Adolf Hitler and Nazi Party

were elected to power and took over the German government

• Hitler held a strict rule over Germany and set his sights on other countries in Europe

• 1936: Hitler invades the Rhineland – Only a few years later:

takes control of Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia

WWII Begins • Instead of using military force to halt Hitler,

British and French leaders used a policy of appeasement – Allowed Hitler to keep the areas he had invaded, in

the hopes to “appease” him and stop any future aggression. • Did not work: Hitler invaded Poland in 1939

Stalin and the Soviet Union

• Joseph Stalin-took over the Communist Party and became the leader of the Soviet Union – Brutal leader:

• murdered rivals and political opponents

• No political opposition

• Little freedom for the people

Mussolini in Italy

• Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922 – Fascist

• His government controlled all aspects of business and politics

• No political opposition allowed under his rule

• 1935: Mussolini invades Abyssinia in North Africa (Ethiopia) – League of Nations

condemned these actions, Italy left League.

– Italy and Germany form an alliance

Tojo in Japan

• Japan began expanding it’s territory in the 1920s – Parts of China, Korea, Eastern Asia

• Hideki Tojo became PM in 1941 – Controlled government despite

emperor rule

– Continued to invade and conquer areas of Asia

– Formed an alliance with Italy and German

Axis Powers

• Germany

• Italy

• Japan

US Actions During Early WWII Years

• Neutral

– Feelings of isolationism persisted among the public

• Neutrality Act (1935)

– Prohibited selling of weapons to warring nations

– Almost passed an amendment to the Constitution that would required a national vote before going to war.

Hitler’s Aggression Continues

• Sept. 1st, 1939: Hitler invades Poland officially starting WWII in Europe

• Spring 1940: conquered Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, and then France

• Hitler forces France to sign an armistice (truce) allowing half of the country to be under German control with the rest to be controlled by French pro-German government (Vichy regime)

Britain’s Resistance

• Hitler’s air force launched attacks against Great Britain

– Meant to destroy British air force so that Hitler could cross English Channel and launch an invasion

– July-Oct. 1940

• Winston Churchill-British leader

• Hitler eventually gives up plan to invade

The United States Enters WWII

• FDR reelected (3rd term!) in 1940

– Knows neutrality won’t work for much longer

• Lend-Lease Act

– 1941

– President can send aid to any nation whose defense was considered vital to US national security

• Foreign countries could pay for aid later

Pearl Harbor • US saw Japanese aggression and

used an embargo (will not ship certain items to a country) to try and stop them – Japan decided they would use

force to take what they needed (specifically oil and steel)

• Dec. 7, 1941 – Japanese airplanes began

bombing fleet at Pearl Harbor, HI

Allies

• Soviet Union

• Great Britain

• United States

The Big Three

• Stalin

• Churchill

• Roosevelt

Issues Among Allies

• Soviet Union wanted to invade Western Europe

– US and Great Britain didn’t want to invade W. Europe until they had control of North Africa and Suez Canal (Egypt)

• After gaining control of North Africa, Churchill and Roosevelt met and decided to invade Italy

Issues Among Allies

• Stalin upset with Allies for being unwilling to attack western front

• Stalin held off the Germans along the eastern front

• Tehran Conference-all Allied leaders met in Dec. 1943 – Stalin pushed for an attack in France

– Great Britain and US agreed: General Dwight D. Eisenhower made the Supreme Allied Commander of Operation Overlord

The Beginning of the End • D-Day Invasion-June 6, 1944

– Invasion of beaches in Normandy, France

– Allied forces were able to fight their way into Paris (Aug. 25, 1944) and liberated the city

Victory in Europe

• Allies met in February at Yalta Conference – 1945

– Made a plan for post-war world • Stalin would declare war on

Japan – Would also allow free

elections and a democratic government in eastern European countries

• Churchill and Roosevelt would allow USSR to keep land in Poland and have control some islands and Chinese land in the East

Victory in Europe

• USSR lost the most people – Half of war reparations from Germany

• Germany divided up into 4 zones – Allies would control each zone

• United Nations would be created as a permanent peace-keeping organization

• Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 – Germany surrendered ending the war

• V-E Day: Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945

War in the Pacific: Battle of Midway • June 1942

• US planes able to attack Japanese carriers

• Japanese had hoped to finish off American fleet in an attempt to win the war

Island Hopping

• After winning the Battle of Midway, US forces began island hopping – Attack and conquer one

group of islands, then move on to the next • Want to end by attacking

and conquering Japan

• US General Douglas MacArthur retook the Philippines from Japanese

• Admiral Nimitz won battles at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa

War in the Pacific

• Atomic bomb

– US began developing this under the name Manhattan Project

• Headed by J. Robert Oppenheimer

– July 16, 1945 weapon tested in New Mexico

War in the Pacific

• Harry S. Truman (new president)

– When discussing politics with allied leaders, policy of “unconditional surrender” was determined

• Truman authorized the bombing of Japan due to Japan not immediately agreeing to surrender

The Atomic Bomb

• August 6, 1945

– B29 Bomber, Enola Gay dropped first A-bomb on Hiroshima

• August 9, 1945

– Second A-bomb dropped on Nagasaki

• Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945

– V-J Day (Victory over Japan)

The War at Home

• FDR created the War Production Board (WPB) to help switch America’s economy from peacetime to wartime industries

• Withholding income tax: government required employers to withhold taxes from paychecks and give it to gov. immediately

• War bond drives- promote the purchase of bonds – These were basically loans to the government

Women and the War • Victory gardens and rationing

– Send food to troops, conserve anything that you can

• Rosie the Riveter

– Women leaving the home and entering workforce while men are at war

Women and the War

• 275,000 women served in the military

• Women’s Army Corps was the largest area where women served

– Did nearly everything except in combat

African Americans and the War • 1 million African

Americans volunteered/drafted

• Originally, not allowed to be in combat roles, eventually this changed

• Tuskegee Airmen-all black squadron of fighter pilots

Native Americans & Mexicans in the War

• Navajo language used to deliver secret messages – Code Talkers

• Mexican soldiers won 17 Congressional Medals of Honor

Japanese Americans and the War

• In 1943 Japanese Americans allowed to join military

– The 442nd was an extremely decorated military unit

• Executive Order 9066

– Feb. 19, 1942 Japanese Americans no longer allowed on/near military facilities

– 100,000 Japanese Americans forced from homes and business and placed in internment camps.

– Supreme Court ruled that this was Constitutional

Nuremberg Trials

• Began in Nov. 1945 following atrocities of Holocaust

• You are responsible for your own actions, not just following orders

The Beginning of the Cold War

• Tensions rose between the Allied countries following WWII

• The new technologies and innovations that were created during WWII led to the nuclear arms race between the US and USSR

– Who can develop the most powerful military