US History Chapter 24

What was the major reason the US did not join the League of Nations after WWI?

Which event in the US reinforced this?

Isolation sentiment

The Great Depression and the Nye Report

Nye Report

found that American arms manufacturers made huge profits during the war, and bankers had loaned Great Britain $2.3 billion

The report stated that bankers had pressured President Wilson to intervene in the war to protect their loans

“First Neutrality Act”

banned arms sales (military equipment) to countries at war and declared that Americans traveling on the ships of countries at war would do so at their own risk

Which WWI historical event was Congress trying to avoid from happening again by passing the “First Neutrality Act"?”

The sinking of the British Passenger ship Lusitania

“Second Neutrality Act”

Banned US financial institutions from lending money to countries at war to prevent banks from pressuring American officials to enter another war to protect their overseas loans

“Third Neutrality Act"“

Required all US trade with countries at war to be conducted on a “cash and carry” basis 

Warring nations were required to send their ships to the US port, pay cash for any purchases, and carry back the cargo to their home country. This way, American transport-cargo ships would not be sunk

FDR was an “internationalist,” meaning…

He believed the US had an important role to play in the world, but isolationist sentiment in the 1930s forced him to restrain his internationalist leanings when it came to Europe and Asia

“Good Neighbor Policy”

The US would pursue trade relations with its neighbors in favor of armed interventions

This happened after the US withdrew military forces from Latin America and abandoned the old Roosevelt Corollary

What were the original intents of each Axis Power? (Japan, Italy, Germany)

Imperial Japan sought to acquire an Asian Empire

Fascist Italy — Wanted to recapture Roman glory

Nazi Germany — Reacquired lands taken from it after WWI

Hyper-nationalism

Inflamed national pride and racial superiority — used by Axis Power nations

Trouble with Japan started in 1931 when…

Japan invaded and colonized the mainland province of China, Manchuria

Why was China an easy target?

Imperialistic nations had carved it up into spheres of influence

Which US actions heightened tensions throughout the 1930s after Japan had invaded Manchuria, China?

1. US imposed an economic embargo prohibiting the export of American scrap metal and oil to Japan

2. The The US froze Japanese bank accounts, preventing access to funds

In 1941, General Hideki Tojo, the leader of Japan’s most aggressive militants, seized power, taking control of the Japanese government. He threatened the…

Threatened the US Pacific territories

Fascists, led in Italy by Benito Mussolini, claimed what about democracy? What did they want instead of democracy?

Proclaimed democracy bred chaos

They claimed that a totalitarian one-party state (total dictatorship) was needed to restore order

Facsists insisted the State must control __________

EVERYTHING

Mussolini conquered which two countries first?

Ethiopia and Albania

Hitler headed which party in Germany (What does Nazi stand for?)

Nationalists Socialist German Workers Party

NAZI for short

What type of government did Mussolini and Hitler establish?

One-party totalitarian dictatorships

How did Hitler rise to power and popularity?

He claimed that Germany had never been conquered in WWI, but that traitorous leaders sold it out

After WWI, German currency became so hyperinflated that…

People burned paper money in place of more expensive wood to keep warm

How did Hitler violate the Treaty of Versailles, and why did it help him rise to power?

Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by initiating a military buildup that included a modern air force with ½ million men, helping create full employment. Considering Germany was going through a worse Great Depression than the US, this made Hitler very popular in Germany.

He rekindled German pride in the “fatherland”

After Hitler pulled Germany out of the League of Nations, he militarily reoccupied the Rhineland…

The Rhineland was a German-speaking region between Germany and France, taken away by the Treaty of Versailles

Hitler boasted of reuniting all German-speaking peoples into a …

Greater Third Reich (German State) that would last “a thousand years”

Why did Great Britain and France adopt a policy of appeasement toward Hitler’s Nazi Germany? What does it mean?

Appeasement means giving in

France and Great Britain did not take action because they had problems of their own dealing with the Great Depression. They adopted a policy of appeasement, hoping Hitler’s latest aggressive act would be his last.

Ever since Hitler broke his promises at a Munich conference and forcibly annexed the rest of Czechoslovakiaslovakia, the word “Munich” has become a synonym for…

Appeasement — the useless giving into a dictator, which only strengthened him and whetted his appetite for further gain

German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Hitler and Stalin (leader of the Soviet Union) signed a treaty in which both parties agreed to take no military action against each other for 10 years

Both parties also secretly agreed to divide up Poland

What event finally led Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany?

1939 Hitler invaded the western half of Poland

“Blitzkrieg”

• A new kind of warfare

• Hitler used this warfare to overwhelm the Polish army in one month

• Coordinated ground and air attacks (lightning war)

• Fast-moving offensive combat that advanced very rapidly, unlike WWI, which was a defensive war

What the German military had failed to do in four years of fighting on the Western Front during WWI, Blitzkrieg accomplished in…

6 weeks

Dunkirk Evacuation

British military and civilian craft rescued the defeated troops that had retreated to Dunkirk, making round trips over eight days while under fire from German aircraft

The Battle of Britain during WWII was the first major battle fought solely in the air, reflecting…

Reflecting the importance of air power in modern warfare

What caused London to become a “miniature Europe”

The quick succession of Axis victories

London hosted exiled governments from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and France

The Blitz

The relentless German bombings with the intent of destroying London from the air

The British people coined the term “keep calm and carry on” as they did not panic because of these constant attacks

During Hitler’s rapid series of victories, his only failure was…

Great Britain

Denied final victory over Great Britain, Hitler then unleashed a 3 million men surprise attack on..

The Soviet Union (1941)

“Lebensraum”

A term used by Nazis to justify the invasion of the Soviet Union — according to Hitler, the lands of the Soviet Union were occupied by inferior Slavs whos peoples needed to be removed to make room for German settlement

“Red Army”

Helped local communists take power from the former Russian Empire during WWI through workers’ councils called soviets.

Who formed the Soviet Union

Vladimir Lenin (1922)

After Vladimir Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin took power. In 1939, per his secret agreement with Hitler, Stalin…

Stalin invaded the eastern portion of Poland

What mistake did Hitler make in WWII that had occured in WWI

Fighting a two-front war in Eastern and Western Europe

If German forces were to capture the Suez Canal…

The island nation of Great Britain would be cut off from its overseas possessions, depriving it of needed supplies and reinforcements, forcing the British out of the war

FDR proclaimed US neutrality in 1939 when war broke out in Europe. Due to the isolationist sentiment in the US, FDR called for preparedness by requesting increased military spending and initiating the first….

Initiating the first peacetime draft in the nation’s history

Fourth Neutrality Act

Repealed the first neutrality act, permitting countries at war to purchase war materials

Why did FDR push the Fourth Neutrality Act?

Because he believed it was in America’s best interest to keep Great Britain in the war

How did Americans feel about the Fourth Neutrality Act and the US agreements with Great Britain during WWII?

American isolationists claimed the action was a blatant breach of US neutrality

America First Committee

isolationists organized this in opposition to providing foreign aid, recruiting thousands of members, including Henry Ford

FDR announced that he would run for a third presidential term  because it was….

Too dangerous for him to leave office

“Lend-Lease Act”

Repealed the Second and Third Neutrality Acts

Gave FDR the authority to lend, lease, or sell military supplies on credit to any nation he deemed vital to the defense of the US

Passed this act after Great Britain could no longer afford war materials

“Arsenal of Democracy”

What date and event marked the beginning of WWII and also permanently ended American isolation and neutrality?

December 7, 1941

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor

Just as Germany would have to fight on two fronts in Europe in WWI, the US would have to…

fight a two-ocean war in the Atlantic and Pacific to conquer Germany and Japan

Axis Powers:

Allied Powers:

Axis Powers: Japan, Germany, and Italy

Allied Powers: China, the Soviet Union, the US, and Great Britain

“Battle of the Atlantic”

German submarines sank over 500 American cargo ships during the first ten months, disabling America’s ability to provide supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union

Who were The Big Three?

Roosevelt of the US

Churchill of Great Britain

Stalin of the Soviet Union

How did Mussolini die?

Enraged Italians captured and executed the fascist dictator

What was decided at the Tehran Conference in Iran?

The Big Three leaders (FDR, Churchill, and Stalin) agreed to cross the English Channel invasion of France, while Stalin agreed to eventually enter the war against Japan once Germany was defeated

June 6, 1944, “D-Day”

The Allied powers launched the largest sea-born invasion in history across the English Channel

The landings took place on the beaches of Normandy, France

The bloodiest fighting of the European war took place on which front?

The Eastern Front

For every two deaths suffered during WWII, one was…

For every two deaths suffered during WWII, one was Soviet

When the Allied forces finally came from east and west to meet in central Germany which lay in ruins….

Hitler committed suicide

“V-E Day”

“Victory in Europe”

The German military surrendered unconditionally 

Who replaced FDR after he died and what burden did he carry as the new president?

Harry Truman replaced FDR

He assumed the burden of bringing the war against Japan to a successful conclusion

What convinced Emperor Hirohito to call for the Japanese to surrender?

The US dropped the first atomic bomb (“Little Boy”), then dropped the second atomic bomb (“Fat Man”)

“V-J Day”

WWII finally came to an end on September 2, 1945

(“Victory over Japan”)

World horror over the Holocaust led to the …

Led to the creation of the state of Israel to provide a homeland for the surviving Jews

Which country was the one major exception to the vast destruction of WWII and prospered after?

The US

Became the richest country in the world

“Gross national product war”

After WWII, US per capita income tripled, meaning…

Lower-class factory workers had risen to the middle class, representing a massive upward shift in their socioeconomic class status

_______ ________ ________ also changed the economies of the country’s southern and western regions

Massive military spending

Executive Order 9066

FDR ordered the expulsion of all persons of Japanese descent from the West Coast; they were placed in “internment camps”

What are some of the changes brought about by WWII that would lead America to never be the same?

• When metals became scarce, plastics were developed to take their place

• Government-sponsored scientific research for the atomic bomb were also used for early computers

• Federal power greatly expanded

• The number of federal employees increased 4x

The Office of War Information (OWI)

Made sure public opinion supported the war

The entire Japanese race was presented as subhuman

During WWII, the federal government moved from “class taxation” to …

“mass taxation” because the government raised taxes to fund the war

In foreign affairs, the US permanently shed isolationism in favor of…

Internationalism 

Led by the US, the victorious allies formed the ______ ______ replacing the old League of Nations

United Nations (UN)

UN members agreed to maintain International security to promote peaceful cooperation among all countries

WWII created a “new world order” meaning…

A historical change in world politics and power left the US and the Soviet Union the only nations still standing; they would soon compete for domination in the Cold War