The Road to WWII

The Road to World War II

Japan’s Growing Military Power

• Japan fought w/ Allies in WWI

• Gained possessions, & accessed new markets; economy prospered post-war

• Joined League of Nations & signed Kellogg-Briand Pact– Promoted peace

until…

Democracy in Crisis• Recessions rocked Japan in 1920s &

1930s• Foreign trade dropped off• Layoffs, strikes, political discontent• Nationalist groups arose, hoped to

have military take over of the government– Also promoted a return a traditional

ways & the shunning of Western-style institutions

The Manchurian Incident• Population of Japan was increasing quickly (1

million/year)• B/c of this Manchuria was eyed as a prize

possession• Incident started when Japanese army detonated

explosives near a railway & then blamed the event on Chinese dissidents

• By 1932 the Japanese army took all of Manchuria from China, not approved by gov’t officials

• Shocked other countries, isolated Japan• Event was labeled as the “Manchurian Incident”

The Manchurian Incident• Japan est. a puppet state called

Manchukuo– Puppet state=A supposedly independent

country under the control of a powerful neighbor

• Japanese moved to Manchuria in large numbers, became a colony– Sent 1 million+

• League of Nations told Japan to leave Manchuria, but they refused to do so

Military Gains Power• Naval officials assassinated the prime minister in

1932• Several gov’t officials were murdered by the military

in 1936• The Japanese military received greater power, but

never officially took control of the government; gov’t officials feared for their lives

• “The military are like an untamed horse left to run wild. If you try head-on to stop it, you’ll get kicked to death. The only hope is to jump on from the side and try to get it under control while still allowing it to have it’s head to a certain extent.”—Hirota Koki

War Against China• War broke about between China &

Japan in 1937• Japan’s superior weaponry overcame

China’s advantage in manpower– Warplanes bombed cities– “Rape of Nanjing”

• Japanese killed or brutalized at least 100K Chinese civilians (up to 300K), roughly 20K women were raped

War Against China• Japan’s actions were condemned by

U.S. & others• Congress passed Neutrality Acts

preventing U.S. from becoming involved in foreign wars

• Britain & the Soviet Union sent supplies to China

• War reached a stalemate by 1939, thanks to guerilla tactics by Chinese

Looking Beyond China• Japan’s prime minister announced

the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in 1940

• Japan declared it would liberate east Asia from European powers

• In reality Japan needed the supplies from the region to continue its war with China

• Japan allied w/ Germany & Italy in 1940 via Tripartite Pact

Looking Beyond China• Next Japan moved troops into French

Indochina (Vietnam) & the Dutch East Indies

• In 1941 Japan signed a neutrality act with the Soviet Union

Germany/Hitler/NazisHitler rises to power in 1934

Remilitarizes the Rhineland in 1936

Creates alliance w/ Italy in 1936 (Rome-Berlin Axis)

Nazis move into Austria in 1938, “Anschluss”

Hitler acquires Sudetenland in 1938

Mussolini/ItalyFascist Party formed in 1919

Mussolini becomes prime minister in 1922

Italy invades Ethiopia in 1935

Italy joins alliance w/ Germany

Britain/FranceFollowed a plan of appeasement (giving

in to Hitler’s demands)Continued policy of appeasement at

Munich Conference in 1938; Germany allowed to keep Sudeteneland

Had to choose between “war and dishonor,”

Winston Churchill said “They chose dishonor. They will have war.”

Increased InvasionHitler takes western half of CzechoslovakiaItaly invades AlbaniaAbove actions prompted Britain & France to

end policy of appeasementTold Hitler that further invasions would create war

Hitler’s Pact w/ Stalin• Germany feared

a two-front war• Hitler & Stalin

signed a non-aggression pact in August, 1939; plan was to last ten years

• Agreed to split up eastern Europe

Click icon to add picture

Invasion of Poland• Hitler invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939• New invasion unveiled in

Poland=“blitzkrieg” or lightning warFast, concentrated air attackThen tanks & mobile artilleryThen infantry

• Polish army of 700K was not ready• Britain & France declared war on

Germany on Sept. 3, 1939

Invasion of Poland

• Germany had complete control of Poland w/in a month; split country w/ Soviet Union

• Britain & France were unable to react quick enough

• German laws implemented & Jews were murdered or imprisoned

Wielun, Poland on Sept. 1, 1939

Nazi troops in Warsaw, Sept. 1939

War in the West• After Poland fell, the war entered a quiet

period– American press called it the “phony war”

• French forces waited at the heavily fortified Maginot Line– Underground rails, air conditioning, thick

concrete walls, extra-heavy artillery• But didn’t protect French from a German

attack through Belgium• Guns were pointed east toward Germany

Germany Attacks• April 9, 1940—Starts an attack on Denmark

& Norway• May 10, 1940—Hitler launches a blitzkrieg

on the Netherlands, Luxembourg, & Belgium– All three were conquered in less than 3 weeks

• From Belgium Hitler attacked France – The Germans split the Brit/French troops into

two– The group in the north retreated to the coastal

city of Dunkirk

Germany Attacks• In late May/early

June one of the greatest rescues in history took place

• A makeshift fleet of tugboats, yachts & other private boats carried some 340K soldiers across the English Channel to Great Britain

• Saved Brit/French forces from certain capture

Fall of France• June 10, 1940—French

gov’t fled Paris• Italy then declared war

on France & Britain• June 14, 1940—

German troops entered Paris

• June 22, 1940—France & its 1.5 million troops surrendered

• Germany now occupied the northern 3/5 of France & the entire Atlantic Coast southward to Spain

• The French gov’t supervised the unoccupied south of France

• Now as Vichy France• Adopted a policy of close

cooperation w/ Germany, known as collaboration

Fall of France• Free France, gov’t-

in-exile, operated from London

• Supported underground Resistance movement in France– Anti-German

propaganda & sabotaging German operations

• Hitler had experienced nothing but success

• German armies had taken almost all of Western Europe

• At the time Great Britain stood alone

The Battle of Britain• Churchill refused to

surrender:• “We shall fight on

the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

• Appointed Prime Minister in May of 1940

The Battle of Britain• Difficult for

Germans to reach British land:– English Channel– Powerful British

navy• Hitler instead used

an aerial assault w/ his “Luftwaffe”– Day after day, up

1,000 planes bombed Britain

• By September of 1940 Hitler was bombing cities/civilians– Included “fire-

bombs,” chemicals aimed at starting fires

• British responded by bombing Berlin

Battle of Britain• The RAF was able to

hold its own against the Luftwaffe despite being outnumbered

• “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed to so few.”—Churchill praising the RAF

• Despite huge losses, Brits continued to fight

• 20K Londoners were killed & 70K were injured

• Brits ability to hold out was tied to fact that they had cracked German codes & could anticipate attacks

American Neutrality

• Focus on domestic concerns• Great Depression, unemployment, New Deal

programs• FDR seeking re-election in 1940• Bitter taste left from WWI• History of isolationism

Neutrality Acts

• 1935—Banned U.S. from providing weapons to belligerent nations

• 1936—Banned loans to belligerent nations• 1937—Permitted trade w/ belligerent nations,

but Cash & Carry only

• Didn’t help countries fighting aggression• U.S. was part of the appeasement problem

Europe in 1940

Some action!• Built military bases on British possessions in

the Atlantic– In exchange for 50 destroyers given to Brits– Ended neutrality by doing this!

• Congress increased defense spending and had a peacetime draft– Selective Service & Training Act—Sept. 1940

• 1st ever peacetime draft• Ages 21-35; later 18-45• U.S. had 2.2 million sailors & soldiers by Dec. 1941• Roughly 10 million inducted via draft during WWII

Election of 1940

• FDR ran for an unprecedented 3rd term– Not a constitutional amendment yet (22nd/1947)

• Wendell Willkie, lawyer & industrialist, no political experience, darkhorse candidate, flip-flopped on American intervention in WWII, very critical of FDR’s New Deal & his attempt at a 3rd term

• WWII was central issue• FDR did esp. well in large urban areas

Election of 1940

Lend-Lease Act

• After winning election of 1940• President had power to lease, lend, or

otherwise dispose of arms and other equipment whose defense was considered vital to the security of the US

• When Germany invaded the Soviets in 1941, they expanded the program to them

Four Freedoms Speech

• FDR’s State of the Union speech; Jan. 1941• Four fundamental freedoms that people

everywhere should enjoy– Freedom of speech– Freedom of worship– Freedom from want– Freedom from fear

• Became a basis for war aims• An attempt to gain public support

Atlantic Charter

• FDR and Churchill• Ideological foundation of the Western

cause• Similar to Fourteen Points in that it:• Called for economic collaboration• Guarantees of political stability• Free trade, national self-determination,

collective security

Opposition to War

• America First Committee– 800 K members in 1940– Hoped to block further aid to Britain– Charles Lindbergh=spokesperson

Japan/Pearl Harbor

• In July of 1940 FDR limited sale of supplies to Japan– Steel, iron

• Hoped to limit Japanese aggression; didn’t work

• Later cut off all oil shipments• War seemed inevitable

Japan/Pearl Harbor

• Hideki Tojo, militant army officer, rose to power in Japan in October of 1941

Japan/Pearl Harbor

• Thanks to code-breaking the U.S. knew Japan was planning an attack…but didn’t know when

• Japan hoped to cripple America’s Pacific Fleet & achieve goals before U.S. Navy could recover

Japan/Pearl Harbor

• Attacked at 7 AM on December 7, 1941

• A Sunday• Japanese airplanes

were detected on radar, but ignored

• W/in an hour 180 planes had arrived

• ½ of the Pacific Fleet was located there

• Attack was over by 9:45 AM

• 2,400 Americans killed• 200 warplanes

damaged/destroyed• 18 warships

sunk/damaged• Japan lost only 29 planes

Japan/Pearl Harbor

• FDR declared war on Japan the next day.

• “A date which will live in infamy.”

• Germany & Italy declared war on the U.S. on December 11, 1941