President Wilson had proposed a program he called Fourteen Points. The proposal outlined what he believed the Allies should work toward in developing international relations. His program was refused by other Allied forces. In January 1919 representatives from the Central Powers and the Allies met in Paris for a peace conference to decide how to move forward. Angry and bitter, the European Allies were not willing to work with the Central Powers but instead dictated the terms of the peace agree- ment. They wanted their enemies punished. Five treaties were developed, one for each Central Power. Each treaty outlined its own terms applica- ble to that particular country. Every country who formed the Central Powers lost some of its territories and land holdings. The most significant treaty was called the Treaty of Versailles. Leaders of Germany were invited to sign the peace treaty, but they ini- tially refused because it required them to admit they were guilty of start- ing a war and to make reparations (repayment) to the countries devastated by the war. Despite the leaders’ protestations, they were in no position to refuse. Germany was required to pay $5 billion within two years to European Allies. Two years later, another $28 billion was added to the bill. Germany lost territory as well and was forbidden to build a military or manufacture weapons and war supplies. The treaty also estab- lished the League of Nations. Aftermath Historians have criticized the treaty as being one based on vengeance, not peace. Its terms forced Germany—which was unable to rebuild itself due to its wartime debt—into further resentment and hatred toward the Allies. Historians generally agree that these feelings ultimately led to World War II (1939–45). World War II World War II started in September 1939 when German troops invaded Poland. It evolved into an international conflict involving sixty-one countries. Over 100 million people were mobilized for military service in four geographic regions across the globe: Europe, Asia, Africa, and the South Pacific. The war left 55 million people dead (30 million civilians World War II 1720 U•X•L Encyclopedia of U.S. History
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President Wilson had proposed a program he called Fourteen Points.The proposal outlined what he believed the Allies should work toward indeveloping international relations. His program was refused by otherAllied forces. In January 1919 representatives from the Central Powersand the Allies met in Paris for a peace conference to decide how to moveforward.
Angry and bitter, the European Allies were not willing to work withthe Central Powers but instead dictated the terms of the peace agree-ment. They wanted their enemies punished. Five treaties were developed,one for each Central Power. Each treaty outlined its own terms applica-ble to that particular country. Every country who formed the CentralPowers lost some of its territories and land holdings.
The most significant treaty was called the Treaty of Versailles.Leaders of Germany were invited to sign the peace treaty, but they ini-tially refused because it required them to admit they were guilty of start-ing a war and to make reparations (repayment) to the countriesdevastated by the war. Despite the leaders’ protestations, they were in noposition to refuse. Germany was required to pay $5 billion within twoyears to European Allies. Two years later, another $28 billion was addedto the bill. Germany lost territory as well and was forbidden to build amilitary or manufacture weapons and war supplies. The treaty also estab-lished the League of Nations.
AftermathHistorians have criticized the treaty as being one based on vengeance,not peace. Its terms forced Germany—which was unable to rebuild itselfdue to its wartime debt—into further resentment and hatred toward theAllies. Historians generally agree that these feelings ultimately led toWorld War II (1939–45).
World War IIWorld War II started in September 1939 when German troops invadedPoland. It evolved into an international conflict involving sixty-onecountries. Over 100 million people were mobilized for military servicein four geographic regions across the globe: Europe, Asia, Africa, and theSouth Pacific. The war left 55 million people dead (30 million civilians
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and 25 million soldiers), cost over one trillion dollars, and resulted inmore material destruction than any other armed conflict in history.
Although the war was fought across the world in many countries, afew powers led efforts on both sides. Those who joined, or were forcedto join, Germany became known as the Axis Powers. They were led byGerman dictator Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), Italian dictator BenitoMussolini (1883–1945), and Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo(1884–1948). The Axis Powers also included Hungary, Bulgaria,Romania, and others.
The opposing countries became known as the Allied Powers, orAllies. They were led primarily by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt(1882–1945; served 1933–45), British prime minister WinstonChurchill (1874–1965), and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin (1873–1953).Among many others, Canada, Australia, France, and China joined theefforts of the Allies.
In the years following World War I (1914–18), the United Stateshad become increasingly isolated from the activities of European nationsand other countries. Despite Americans’ desire to remain uninvolved inworld currents, the United States was drawn into World War II in 1941.The war posed great challenges for the nation even as it brought eco-nomic benefits and increased international power.
Evolution of a world warThe world conflict evolved throughout the 1930s as countries across theglobe took various aggressive steps. In 1931, the Japanese invaded andoccupied Manchuria, China, to obtain raw materials needed to supporttheir industrial economy. In 1937 Japan launched efforts to control theentire Chinese mainland.
Mussolini had come to power in Italy in 1922 with extreme ambi-tions. Hoping to restore the Roman Empire, he invaded Ethiopia in1935.
In Germany, the National Socialists (Nazis) came to power in 1933under Hitler. He promised that he would restore the country to its posi-tion of leadership in Europe, a position it had lost after its defeat inWorld War I. Hitler’s forces reoccupied the Rhineland (area along theRhine River, which since Germany’s defeat in 1918 had been a demilita-rized area) in March 1936; annexed (forced a union with) Austria in
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March 1938; and then seized Czechoslovakia, one portion in October1938 and the rest in March 1939.
The world stood by without taking military action until 1939, whenGermany invaded Poland. Both Britain and France had made promisesto maintain Polish independence, so they declared war against Germany.The United States, however, would refrain from direct support of anycountry until Japan’s attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii, in 1941.
From isolationism to involvementWith the memory of World War I still fresh, Americans preferred a pol-icy of total noninvolvement and neutrality in world affairs. The resultwas the passage of several laws designed to avoid U.S. involvement in anyconflict. The laws also limited America’s ability to assist nations facingacts of aggression.
The Johnson Debt Default Act of 1934, for example, prohibitedloans to any country that had not yet repaid debts to the United Statesfrom World War I (which meant to any country except Finland).Congress enacted the Neutrality Act in 1935 when Italy invadedEthiopia. Originally this law only prohibited arms shipments to warringnations and travel by U.S. citizens on belligerent vessels. In 1936Congress added a provision forbidding loans or credit to nations at war.As tensions increased and war began in September 1939, the UnitedStates was not in a position to lend public support, even if the public hadwanted to do so.
Eventually Roosevelt persuaded Congress to make some changes inpolicy. The Neutrality Act of 1939 authorized the sale of arms to thosenations who could pay cash and were able to transport the goods by theirown means. By 1940, after Germany invaded France, Congress had in-creased taxes and the national debt limit to enable greater defense spend-ing. Officially the United States was not yet at war, but the country waspreparing for it.
Another piece of legislation that Roosevelt pushed for was the Lend-Lease Act, passed in March 1941. It enabled the U.S. to “lend” resources(specifically arms) to another country with the expectation that these re-sources would be “returned” at a later date. Though originally intendedto assist Britain, which was under siege, the aid would soon be extendedto thirty-eight nations. Through this indirect means, the United States
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managed to avoid entering the war yet still made an important contribu-tion to the Allied cause.
Then the war came home. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese at-tacked and severely crippled the American naval fleet in Pearl Harbor,Hawaii. Americans were immediately drawn into the war, and Congressdeclared war on Japan on December 8. Italy and Germany then declaredwar on the United States on December 11.
With military confrontations in both Europe and Asia, the UnitedStates needed to expand and reorganize its military rapidly. Most citizensbecame involved in the war effort to assure that enough supplies for the
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U.S. involvement in World War II began in 1941 after Japanese forces attacked the American naval fleet, including the U.S.S.West Virginia, shown here. FOX PHOTOS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
troops were produced as quickly as possible. President Roosevelt, alongwith Churchill and Stalin, worked to develop strategies to end the ag-gressions of the Axis nations.
The war in EuropeIn the spring of 1940, Germany swept through Europe. Norway,Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands all fell toGermany. By June, France was overtaken and Hitler was attempting tooverrun Britain with attacks by both sea and air.
Though Britain managed to hand Germany its first significant de-feat, Hitler merely changed course. His troops invaded Russia in June1941, taking the Russians by surprise. Given the desperate situation inEurope when America entered the war, Roosevelt agreed to focus atten-tion first on Germany and Italy. Japan could be taken care of whenEurope was safe.
Amidst the fighting, Hitler had begun a program of ethnic cleans-ing, known as the Holocaust, that targeted Jews, primarily, and othergroups. Five to six million people were forced from their homes, impris-oned in labor, or concentration, camps, and then murdered. Hitlersought Aryan, or non-Jewish Caucasian, domination.
American forces joined the Allied troops first in Africa, where theybegan with a string of victories under General Dwight D. Eisenhower(1890–1969). The Allied strategy was to chase the Axis armies out ofAfrica, remove them from the Italian island of Sicily, and slowly pushthem out of the Italian mainland. In 1943 Mussolini was removed fromoffice by the King of Italy, who surrendered to the Allies that September.
The Germans, who were trying to take Russia in 1941, were severelycrippled by the Russian winter. Many troops retreated or were captured,and from 1942 to 1943 Hitler attempted to reinvigorate his campaignthere. The Russians, however, managed to drive the German forces backacross Poland by the end of 1943.
The most aggressive and costly Allied offensive was made in June1944. General Eisenhower led Operation Overlord, the largest amphibi-ous assault in history. The Allies took more than a year to plan it.
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, a day now called D-Day, 5,000ships, 10,000 planes, and 176,000 soldiers crossed the English Channeland landed in Normandy, on the northwest coast of France. The intense
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fighting in the Battle of Normandy opened Europe to the Allies, whobrought a million troops over the next month through the beaches ofNormandy. Over the course of that summer, the Allies pushed theGermans back across France and Belgium.
The Battle of the Bulge took place in December 1944, at theGerman border, where the Allies pushed on and crossed into Germany.With the Allied offensive pushing the Germans back on three fronts, theGerman army finally collapsed. An unconditional surrender came fromGermany on May 7, 1945. A month before, on April 12, PresidentRoosevelt had died, and his vice president, Harry S. Truman(1884–1972; served 1945–53), had become president.
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American infantrymen armed with rifles and bazookas in Belgium near the end of the war. Germany surrendered on May 7,1945. AP IMAGES
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The Pacific theaterThe Japanese aggressively invaded the islands ofthe Pacific, taking hostile action against U.S.forces stationed there. The United States, how-ever, was focusing on Europe, so it initially didnot launch attacks in the Pacific. GeneralDouglas MacArthur (1880–1964) was insteadordered to retreat from the Philippines toAustralia to protect it from invasion.
With only a limited number of troops,MacArthur skillfully defended Australia.Although he was commanded merely to containthe situation, MacArthur decided to push theJapanese back through islands it had taken. By1944 he added air and sea power to assist hisground troops. By March 1945 MacArthur hadmanaged to push the Japanese back far enough
to clear an invasion of Japan itself.
After Germany surrendered in 1945, MacArthur received the long-awaited support of U.S. forces, and attacks on Japan were devastating.Japan, however, refused to surrender. On August 6, 1945, PresidentTruman authorized the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,killing 75,000 people. When Japan still refused to surrender, the UnitedStates dropped another atomic bomb, on August 9, this time onNagasaki, killing 39,000 people. On August 14, 1945, Japan agreed tosurrender.
VictoryThe United States played an essential role in the outcome of World WarII. Its sustained production of supplies for the Allied armies enabled thetroops to continue fighting in situations in which the enemies lackedsupport. The U.S. military leaders displayed extraordinary skills andstrategies, while the troops they led fought with courage and determi-nation. The willingness of Americans at home to work and sacrifice togive the troops all they needed also contributed to victory. With victorycame a booming U.S. economy and the nation’s new status as a world superpower.
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Participation on the Home Front
With so many American men drafted andserving overseas, life in the United Stateschanged dramatically. All citizens were ex-pected to do their part to support the war ef-fort. Manufacturing and military supply needscreated a demand for workers that was filledby unprecedented numbers of women andminorities. Rations were imposed on every-thing from sugar to rubber to gasoline.Hollywood made movies that encouraged thewar effort. Families had to pull togetherthrough food shortages, increased taxes, andlong lines at the gas station to support familymembers and friends at war.
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