unit 7 hush

World War II


Aftermath of WWI 

  • Lots of issues remaining from WWI. Many saw the Versailles Treaty as unfair. The German economy was in terrible shape, bc they had to pay the French and what not. Much of Europe was in debt, we had supplied them with so much and they had to pay the U.S. back. Millions of people were physically and psychologically scarred. New nations unstable and in conflict over boundaries. Many felt cheated by WWI, like what they had done was useless and for no reason. The League of Nations had no muscle. After WWI people saw WWII coming, they predicted it and it didn’t really catch them off guard. 

Europe

  • In Europe, numerous nations saw a proliferation of “radical” movements, taking advantage of people's anger, fear, and PTSD.

Italy 

  • “Fascism” looks at an enemy it calls a nation (not the whole country could be just a certain group of people) but the nation that is seen as good and welfare is the higher power. Try to prove that their nation is so amazingly good and that everyone should support it. Benito Mussolini, he was an angry war vet and didn't have good job prospects. Early 1920’s he formed the “Black Shirts” group, a group of military people. Young, unemployed people who were veterans. He becomes anti communist so that wealthy people like him and they back him up. October of 1922 the March on Rome. Mussolini was named Prime Minister on October 30th, 1922. On Jan 3rd of 1925 he named himself dictator. 

Japan

  • They wanted to Westernize the country. Many grew angry upon getting very little from the Versailles treaty. Over the 1920’s, the emperor became a figurehead. Country came to be ruled by Cadre of Military officers. They were anxious to build an empire. September 18, 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, north of Korea. Had a lot of mineral resources. This invasion was unprovoked, who was supposed to step in when things like this happened? League of Nations. They protested but that's all. 

The Road to War

  • Germany: 1920’s very fragile democracy. Under threat by various radical groups. 1919: Hitler joins the German workers party in Munich and by 1921 he took control of it. Eventually renamed the National socialist workers party (“Nazis”). Forms “Brown Shirts” and in 11/8/1923 Beer Hall Putsch, attempt to overthrow the government of Buick. Fails. Hitler is arrested. He then goes on house arrest for 5 years but only spends 1 year before he gets parole. He wrote Meinkampf and by 1928, Nazi Party had around 100K members. The Great Depression hit Germany hard and by 1932 around 43 percent unemployment. Elections in late 1932. Nazis = 2nd largest party in Reichstag. 1/30/1933 Hitler named Chancellor and claims dictatorial powers. Communist and private labor unions were banned. Free speech is restricted, many books banned. Creates S.S. as a personal elite military force and creates Hilter Youth. Turn kids into nazis. Secret police: Gestapo. But the economy began to recover and the number of unemployed dropped from 6M to 1M in just 3 years. October 1933: withdraws Germany from the League of Nations and declares his decision to rearm GER. March 1935: Declares Treaty of Versailles null. Institute draft. 

War Is Approaching…

  • Reaction in the U.S. after WWI was full of much unhappiness with the war itself and how it ended. There was a big shift back to isolationism. In 1933 FDR instituted “Good Neighbor Policy”, he also renounced the Roosevelt corollary. He says the U.S. would avoid intervening in Latin America. But the U.S. would keep the Panama Canal. In 1935 the Nye Committee was created to investigate WWI. In August of 1935 Neutrality Acts. - Prohibited arms sales and loans to ANY nations at war. - Non-military trade with warring nations on “cash-and-carry” basis only. FDR personally opposed these but reluctantly signed them as part of trade for New Deal legislation. October 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia. March 7th, 1936 Germany sends military forces into Rhineland. July 7th, 1937 Japan invades China. FDR wanted to aid China, but his hands were tied. In February 1938 Germany, Japan and Italy formed an alliance known as Axis. March 12, 1938 Ger invades Aus. Sept 1938 GER demands that Czechoslovakia give GER the Sudetenland. 9/19/1938: Munich Conference GBR+FRA decide on policy of “appeasement”. In March of 1939 GER invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. August 23rd of 1939 Molotov- Ribbentrop pact (GER+USSR). 9/1/1939: GER invades Poland ``Blitzkrieg” their new formation to win wars quickly. 9/3/1939 GBR+FRA declare war on GER ``Phony war”. 4/9/1940 GER invades Norway and Denmark. U.S> response? LAte 1939 FDR asked congress to repeal neutrality acts, congress refused. 

The War Continues…

  • 5/10/1940 GER invades FRA. 6/4/1940: Paris falls. Congress allows arms sales but only on a “cash-and-carry” basis. September 1940 the battle of Britain. - The British win. Selective Service Act of 1940 - re-institutes draft registration, 1st peacetime draft in U.S. history. The British needed destroyers but they had very little cash. FDR makes the “Destroyers for Bases” deal.

WAR!

  • December 7th of 1941 at 7:55 am the war began. The Japanese target the largest naval base for the fight of oil, Pearl Harbor, HI. Their goal was to destroy everything and take the ships. Radar was introduced late in the war by the British. Over 2,400 people were killed. The day that Pearl Harbor was hit (December 8th 1941), FDR signed a declaration of war against GEER + JAP + ITA. This is the last time that the U.S. declares war. This brought the U.S. into an alliance with GBR + USSR, they became an ally with a communist country that wanted to overthrow the American government.

Mobilizing for War…

  • A draft in place, but many voluntary enlistments. There was a massive increase in industrial production. The U.S. produced twice the total of GER + JAP combined since our resource manufacturers aren't being targeted unlike in other countries. Jobs = plentiful. Unemployment down to almost zero, great depression over, yay! Wages become high. Because of scarcity of workers, many factories are now willing to hire people for jobs that they wouldn’t have previously hired such people for. Big increase in the number of women working. More minorities as well. Paying for the war: About half came from higher income tax rates, About ½ came from borrowing. Total federal spending: 9B in 1940 and 98B in 1944. More government control over the money. 

“Relocation”

  • For years before the war there was much prejudice against people of Japanese ancestry especially in CA. Californians were who mostly voted for the Chinese exclusion act earlier. Feb of 1942 FDR signed an order requiring ‘relocation'' of Americans with Japanese ancestry. They were put to live in camps for the time remaining of the war. Their things (houses, land) were auctioned off while they were in the camps even though they were told it would be kept safe. So when they returned they didn’t have anything. They were put on train stations and sent away to different housings. These families tried to make their lives as normal as possible. They were in bad conditions, food supply was insufficient. A prisoner in fact did sue and it went to the supreme court. Last camp didn’t close until March of 1946. The U.S. did not do anything to compensate the survivors.

America in the War

  • In 1942 there was not a great situation for the Allies at the start of the year. May 8th of 1942 = U.S. forces retreat from the Philippines. Alaska threatened, it could be next. June of 1942: The Battle of Midway which was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. wins and this becomes a “turning point” in the Pacific. GER begins a North African offensive in hopes of capturing the Suez Canal. The U.S. sees first action against GER

1943

  • Jan of 1943: FDR + Churchill meet at casablanca. They decided upon unconditional surrender. They also decided to open a second front against GER. By early 1943, the GER African offensive stopped. Jan 1943- Battle of Stalingrad, was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. Soviets cut supply off the Russians + GER? Around 170K German soldiers die and around 120K surrender. This became a turning point in Europe.  July 7th of 1943: Allied invasion of sicily. July 25th of 1943- Mussolini is overthrown! In response to this, GER invades Italy, Mussolini reinstalled as “puppet” ruler. 11/1943 Teheran Conference FDR, churchill + stalin. Stalin calls for a new second front. 

1944

  • “Operation overlord”, Normandy


1945 

  • February 1945- Yalta Conference Question: Eastern Europe. Stalin promised elections after the war… but also said the USSR would not tolerate “hostile” regimes on its borders. FDR accepts that promise. 4/12/1945- FDR dies. Harry Truman becomes president and on 4/30/1945 Hitler commits suicide. 5/7/1945 known as “V-E Day” German surrender. “Victory in Europe”.

Holocaust

  • Prison camps, extermination camps. Massive facility to execute and incinerate massive amounts of people. Majority of camps were all over the world. Poland had it the worst. Total death toll was around 10M (around 6M were jewish). But Japan is still at war. 7/7/1945 Potsdam Conference. Plans made to divide Germany into occupation zones. The USSR promised to join the fight against Japan. Truman also informed the USSR that the U.S. had a new weapon. 

Manhattan Project

  • Very quickly build an entire research city. Los Alamos, NM. J Robert Oppenheimer in White Sands, NM. Trinity explosion on July 16th of 1945. Plan to throw bombs from planes on Hiroshima Japan on August 8 6th of 1945. Around 150K people were killed from the explosion. On August 9th of 1945 Nagasaki around 64K were killed and on August 15th of 1945 Japan surrendered. From WWII 400K U.S. soldiers were killed. And 670K were injured. U.S. now a military + economic superpower. Isolationism = gone but peace… not yet… 

Generation

  • “G.I. Generation” Born 1905-1927. They’re a civic generation. They Grew up in the depression and supplied most of those who fought in WWII. Come out of war with a strong sense of Generational identity and accomplishment. Many grew up disgusted by their parents' behavior. They grow up much more “conservative” and straight-laced than their parents. They are responsible for traditionalism in the 1950’s. After the war, emphasis on hard work and building a career and family. Later accepted civil rights reform but often only reluctantly. Not a generation that was big on living extravagantly. Believed in saving money. They are looked at for leadership, produce 7 presidents. Kenedy, fdr, older bush








7a

  1. Fascism is an idea where they look at a “nation” which isnt really a whole country just a certain group of people and they see it as being better than other nations and welfare is the higher power of it. And they try to prove everyone else that their nation is so amazing so that people will support it. Basically the government controls everything.

  2. Nazism is the political and social beliefs held by nazis. It included anti - semitism, a belief in a superior race, and also a blood and soil ideology.

  3. Isolationism is a belief that a nation should stay out of all foreign affairs and only act in things that effect them personally. There was a very large shift back to this ideal after WWI. Its a belief where the nation should stay out of all affairs that arent theirs. 

  4. The Kellogg-Briand Treaty  stated that war would no longer be a instrument of national policy. Which meant there was an agreement to outlaw war. Signed august 27th 1928 it said that war shouldnt be used to solve conflicts .

  5. The Good Neighbor Policy was instituted by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 in which he would then denounce the Roosevelt corollary. He said that they would not intervene with Latin America but would still decide to keep the Panama Canal in his possession. 

  6. In 1935 The Nye Committee was sent to investigate WWI. They ultimately failed to achieve their goal but in the end congress had passed the Neutrality acts.

  7. The Munich Conference happened on 9/19/1938 which was a conference with Great Britain and France. In this conference they were to decide on a policy of appeasement after Germany demanded that Czechoslovakia was to give Germany to Sudentland. After the conference Germany ended up invaidng the rest Czech.

  8. The Lend Lease program was originally made as a way to promote defense in America. During this program washington had sent out supplies to Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union. 

  9. The Atlantic Charter made it clear that the U.S would support Great Britain during the war. It was issued August 14th 1941 that explained America and Britains goals after the war. Japan also had seen this agreement as a sign of potential alliance against them.

  10. December 7 of 1931 7:55 am war had begun and the Japanese targetted the biggest naval base in order to fight for oil. This occurred on Pearl Harbor, HI. The goal of the Japanese was to destroy everything and take all the ships for themselves. 2,400 people had died on Dec 8th 1941. This led FDR to sign a decleration of war against Japan italy and germany.

  11. The Casablanca Conference was a meeting between FDR and the Prime Minister of Britain at Casablanca. This happened in Jan 1943 and had said they were going to unconditionally surrender. They also opened a second front against Germany and by 1943 Germanies African offensive stopped.

  12. The Battle of Midway was a very major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It took place on the 4th of June to the 7th in 1942. It happened six months after Japans attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S won this battle and it was known as the turning point for them in the Pacific.

  13. The Battle of Stalingrad was also a very major battle which happened on the Eastern front of World WarII. Nazi Germany lost this battle against the Soviet Union for control over the city of Stalingrad which was in Southern Russia. The Soviets cut off supply to the Russians and Germany. ~170k German soldiers had died and ~120k surrendered. This was the turning point for Europe.

  14. The Relocation Program was created due to the ongoing prejudice against Japanese and Chinese people especially in California. On February 1942 Fdr signed a order that made it so Americans with Japanese ancestry had to relocate to camps for the remaining time of the war. While they were in jail their hard earned property was being auctioned off after they were told it would be kept safe. None of the survivors were compensated and this was extremely tragic. They got put into trains and sent off to different houses after.

  15. The Teheran Conference on 11/1943 FDR churchill and stalin had a conference. Stalin called the need for a new second front. This happened after Germany invaded italy and mussolini was reinstalled as the puppet ruler.

  16. D-Day happened on June 6th 1944 where five naval assault divisions were sent to the beaches of Normandy in france. This was an attack with the UK, Canada and the U.S. ~133k troops landed on the beach from the U.S. It was an attack where both air and water troops were sent.

  17. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest and bloodiest battle that was ever fought duringworld war II by fought by the United States. It was the last major German offensive battle. America was accompanied by the allies and ended up winning the battle. 75000 total casualties from all sides.

  18. The Yalta Conference happened in February of 1945 where the topic of discussion was about Eastern Europe. Stalin had promised elections after the war but also stated that the USSR wouldnt allow hostile regimes to be around their borders. 4/30/1945 Hitler finally committed suicide.

  19. The Postdam Conference was a conference where Joseph Stalin, Churchill, and Truman all met in Potsdam Germany. July 17th1945 all the way to august 7th they were negotiating the way they should end World War II. It said that Germany would be divided and reparations would be given out. The nazi party was banned.

  20. The Manhattan Project took place in a research city called Los Alamos in NM. Oppenheimer was in the White Sands, NM. The trinity explosionhappened on July 16th 1945. There was a plan to throw bombs from planes on top of Hiroshima on August 6th1945 killing 150k people. August 9th 1945 on Nagasaki 64k were killed and August15th 1945 Japan had surrendered.


  1. America had gone back to isolationism for reasons like already being tired from wwI. The loss of American lives and the devastating impacts the war had created a great opposal to further involving themselves into other affairs. The great depression brought a lot of economic challenges which made people want to fix their own issues before making foreign affairs into their own. The neutrality acts alos enforce amrs embargoes and also restricted American involvement in foreign conflicts. This was nota new thing for America because even before WWI the monroe doctrine was still in act which said the Western Hemisphere should be free from Euopean colonization and interference. And they generally had the same views and wanted to stay out of affairs before.

  2. California became a major state for military instilations and producing things for defense. The state had many military bases, navy, and defense industries. There was a lot of population growth for California as well since there wasa large need for labor a lot of people came to California in hopes of finding a job. One major affect was the prejudice against American citizens with Japanese descent where they made them relocate to camps and ending up selling their property while they were gone. The prejudice against Japanese people skyrocketed durin this time.

  3. During the war there was a large need for labor whichled to a surge in women entering the work force and taking on roles that traditionally a man would have been doing. They took on jobs like working in factories and ships. This is when Rosie the Riveter became a thing which was an iconic image of a girl symbolizing the work that women have been doing with their jobs. This effected African Americans because they were in the army and worked in segregated units in the military. This contributed to the demand for civil rights and gave African Americans respect for their valiant efforts during the war. FDR passed the Executive Order 8802 which prohibited racial discrimination in the defense industry.