FSOT: World War II

Axis V. Allies

The three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy, and Japan and the original Allies were Great Britain and France, but France surrendered to Germany in June 1940.

Later, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union began fighting Germany due to its invasions in Europe and allyship to Japan. The United States and Britain were at war with Japan after its attacks on American and British possessions including Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor

A surprise aerial attack in 1941 on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese to stem the US’s entry into World War II but this consequently led to the US declaring war.

D-Day

In 1944, the Allies launched the D-Day operation, which saw to reclaim Nazi-occupied France Western Front to relieve Soviet pressure against Germany.

It saw a combination of American, British and Canadian troops cross the English Channel and landed on France’s Normandy beach. Despite heavy casualties, Allied troops were able to launch further inland towards Germany. It was the first step in the final defeat of the Germans.

Holocaust

Nazi Germany’s deliberate, organized, state-sponsored persecution and genocide of European Jews; led to the extermination of millions of European Jews.

Atomic Bombs

Used in order to avoid a boot-on-the ground invasion of mainland Japan due to fears of heavy American casualties. After Japan refused President Harry Truman’s terms for surrender, he authorized the dropping of two atomic bombs: one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki.

The first (and only) use of atomic bombs. Later sparked morality debates about whether the US needed to use such weapons.

Creation of the United Nations

Created in 1945; An international peacekeeping organization that replaced the League of Nations. The US held one of 5 permanent seats of its security council alongside with the Soviet Union, China, the UK, and France, which allows them to have absolute veto power.

Significance of Potsdam Conference

It was where mistrust grew between the US and USSR due to the US’s insistence of democratic elections in eastern European states that Stalin wanted control of to create a buffer zone against future German aggression.

Stalin was also upset of the US’s decision to use atomic bombs in Japan as they were kept a secret.

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed the U.S. to “borrow” military aid to its allies like Great Britain during World War II while still remaining officially neutral in the conflict.

Interwar Period

The period in between the US’s involvement in either World War; includes a foreign policy that promoted world order while maintaining isolationism.

FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech

Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear; in order for Americans to enjoy these freedoms is for democracy to flourish worldwide.

Island Hopping Campaign

In the Pacific theater, American General Douglas MacArthur led US troops to capture lightly defended Japanese islands and skipped the better defended ones. This allowed the US to establish bases to launch a major assault on mainland Japan.

The role of women during World War II

The Code Girls were STEM-educated women who worked as cryptographers to break German/Japanese codes; led to the sinking of Japanese ships. They also provided false information about D-Day operations to German.

Provided proof that women were just as capable as men in high stakes, highly analytical jobs

The role of African Americans men

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of black pilots trained at Tuskegee University in Alabama who were known to destroyed Axis enemies in the air and on the ground.

Yalta Conference

The first postwar peace meeting following WWII, where the Big Three (the US, Great Britain, USSR) decided that Germany would be jointly occupied by the Soviets, US, UK, and French.

They also pushed for Eastern European nations would choose leaders through free elections.

Emergence of US and USSR as superpowers

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became the only nations with the combined economic, military, technological, and political power to project influence worldwide, creating a bipolar world order

The US was unscathed by war unlike European powers. It avoided direct combat on its own soil, preserving its industrial base and infrastructure.

The USSR defeated Nazi Germany and secured control over Eastern Europe, creating a buffer zone and a communist bloc.

However, both nations had ideological differences (democracy v communism) leading into the Cold War.