Unit 7: A Global War

World War II

Fascism

   1. People under control, one person with absolute power, no freedom, extreme light, lots of propaganda, named after the symbol of power for the Roman empire, violence is an acceptable means of control, fear of ostracism, fear of your country failing
   2. Extreme nationalism
   3. Why would people support fascism?

      1. Promised to help people, fix a crisis, easier to let someone else think for you, racism, fear of communism
   4. Mussolini & Hitler

1. Blackshirts- Mussolini's loyalists

The beginning of WWII in Europe

    1. Beer Hall Putsch- attempt to overthrow the government, Hitler ended up in jail for 8 months
    2. stabbed in the back myth- the German Jews caused them to lose WWI
    3. Hitler’s defiance of Versailles

       1. Built up the army and air force
    4. Mostly Europe did nothing because he had claimed it was for the well-being of the economy and nation
    5. The Anschluss- unification of Germany and Austria

       1. threatened to invade Austria unless they appoint Nazis as government
       2. Europe doesn’t do anything about it
    6. The Munich Crisis 1938

       1. Claimed Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia)
       2. Britain, France, Italy, and Germany decided on an Appeasement policy- give Hitler what he wants if he promises not to take anything else
       3. He built tanks, moved troops to grounds that were off limits, grew air force
    7. After Munich

       1. Hitler invades Czechoslovakia and wants Poland- claiming that they speak German so they should be a part of Germany
       2. Britain and France say they’ll give him war if they take Poland
       3. 1939 Hitler claimed territory in Poland, England & France promised to defend it
    8. The Nazi-Soviet Pact

       1. A secret treaty between Hitler and Stalin to divide Poland between them
       2. SS vs SA- SA civilian paramilitary group and SS loyal to Hitler as a military and fulfilled other government rolls
    9. The War Begins- Sept 1, 1939, Germany invades Poland
   10. Britain and France declared war
   11. Blitzkrieg- lightning war tactics took Poland in a month

       1. combination of airpower, tanks, and marching infantry to conquer quickly
       2. May 1940 Hitler blitzkrieg’s Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg
   12. The Dunkirk Evacuation

       1. British are surrounded by Nazis and France surrenders
       2. British were able to evacuate most of their soldiers across the English channel
   13. The Fall of France

US Involvement before Pearl Harbor

   1. 1930s Hitler’s rise to power
   2. 1937 the invasion of China by Japan
   3. 1939 the invasion of Poland (Europe is involved)
   4. 1941 Pearl Harbor
   5. Isolationism- desire to stay out of world conflicts (standard US policy)

      1. Became popular in the 30s because of the rising of fascist dictators, Europe stopping WWI debt repayment
      2. 1935 Neutrality Act made it illegal for Americans to sell weapons to countries at war
      3. 1936 can’t loan to nations at war
      4. 1937 nations buying anything from the US had to do it “cash-and-carry”

         1. Pay cash and send their own ships to pick it up
      5. Neutrality is tested
      6. 1940 Britain asked the US for destroyers- they were the last nation standing against Hitler

         1. FDR offers destroyers for bases- American use of British bases in the Atlantic
      7. Got more Americans invested in British success
   6. 1940 The Lend-Lease Act- throws out much of the neutrality

      1. Allowed the US to give weapons to any ally vital to the defense of the US
   7. 1941 The Atlantic Charter- FDR + Churchill meet to plan for a post-war world

      1. Unofficial alliance
      2. FDR was looking for an excuse to join the war
   8. December 7, 1941- Pearl Harbor

Main Ideas	Supporting Details
Americans were asked to invest in the war effort	Call for defense and war bondsStamp booksIncentives were made such as attending particular events and getting a kiss from a famous actressPropaganda saying: “even a little can help a lot now. Buy US war stamps and bonds”
Production/ manufacturing was a key component of the American war effort	Sent armaments, raw materials, and food to Britain and our alliesBy 1945 American workers had built 14,000 ships, 88,000 tanks,300,000 airplanes, and millions of gunsMen entered the military while women entered the workforceBrought the US out of the depression and into a growing economyHad propaganda that compared fighting in the war to working in a factory as the same amount of good work being done for your country
Conservation of resources was necessary in order to fight the war	Government shortage of goods, people were given ration cards to limit gasoline and grocery purchasesEncouraged people to plant their own gardens“the defense of freedom depends on individual responsibility, freely chosen.”Propaganda saying: “food is a weapon, don’t waste it”, “grow your own, can your own”More accessible way for common Americans to help in the warCar-sharing clubs were popular to conserve gasoline

The END of WWII

1. 1944 D-Day

       1. Largest amphibious assault in English history
       2. Opened another front against Germany- joint US and British (+Canada) attack
       3. Once the d-day invasion was successful it was just a matter of time
    2. Meanwhile…

       1. Italy rise against Mussolini and switch to Allies front of the war causing Germany to be out of Allies and are surrounded
    3. War ends in Europe
    4. Race to Berlin

       1. Allies in the east and west both want to liberate Berlin because of rising tension between Stalin and the other allies
       2. Russians win half of Berlin
    5. May 8, 1945, V-E Day
    6. Tide turns in the Pacific

       1. 1944 Japanese have overextended
    7. Battle of Midway- Japan loses most of the carriers that support the planes that are bombing
    8. Iwo Jima is captured on Feb 19, 1945

       1. the US begins firebombing Japan
    9. Created firestorms that killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese bombing 50+ cities
   10. The Manhattan Project

       1. Scientific research push to discover using nuclear fission to create a bomb
       2. July 16, 1945 was the Trinity test in New Mexico
   11. The atomic bombing of Japan

       1. August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
       2. the 9th was Nagasaki
   12. August 15th, 1945 Japan surrenders- V-J Day

Etc…

   1. Kamikaze- a member of a Japanese air attack corps assigned to make a suicidal crash on a target
   2. Kristallnacht- Nazi leaders unleashed a series of pogroms against the Jewish population in Germany. This event came to be called Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) because of the shattered glass that littered the streets after the vandalism and destruction of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes.
   3. Nuremberg Laws- laws that began the segregation and dehumanization of Jews in Germany by removing their German citizenship, banned intermarriage between Jews and people of German blood
   4. Rationing- allow each person to have only a fixed amount of (automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, firewood, nylon, silk, and shoes).
   5. War bonds- debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditures in times of war

Propaganda strategies

1. Appeal to authority, bandwagon and inevitable victory (join the crowd), glittering generalities (appeal to emotions), name-calling (arouse prejudices), common man (reflect common sense of people), social disapproval, virtue words, slogans, testimonials, lying, simplification, stereotyping, repetition, fear of change, terrorism