World War II

1
World War II
2
Causes of World War II

• -Resentment at the harsh peace of World War One
  fuelled the rise of Adolf Hitler. Anxious to
  avoid war, Britain and France chose to appease
  German territorial demands before finally
  'drawing a line in the sand' over Poland.

• Political instability and economic devastation in
  Europe resulting from WWI
• Worldwide depression
• High war debt owed by Germany
• High Inflation
• Massive unemployment

3

• Fascism
• Fascism is a political philosophy in which total
  power is given to a dictator and individual
  freedoms are denied

• Dictator
• A person who rules with total authority, often in
  a cruel manner.

4
Rise of Fascism

• Fascist dictators included
• Adolph Hitler (Germany)

5
Benito Mussolini (Italy)
6
Hideki Tojo (Japan)

• ?These dictators led the countries that became
  known as the Axis Powers

7
Start of World War II

• Germany and the Soviet Union signed a
  nonaggression pact agreeing to never attack
  each other.

8

• Germany invaded Poland September 1, 1939. This
  marks the beginning of WWII.

9

• The Soviet Union also invaded Poland and the
  Baltic nations.

10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
German Advances

• Germany invaded France and captured Paris.

15

• Germany Bombed London in the Battle of Britain.

• The British were able to turn away the Germans
  due to the invention of RADAR

16
Gradual change in American policy from neutrality
to direct involvement

• 1. Isolationism
• The U.S. refuses to join the League of Nations
  after WWI
• The U.S. stays isolated during the Great
  Depression

17
2. Lend-Lease Act

• The United States gave Britain war supplies and
  old naval warships in return for military bases
  in Bermuda and the Caribbean

18
War in the Pacific

• Rising tension developed between the U.S. and
  Japan because of Japanese aggression in East Asia.

19
Pearl Harbor

• On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. at Pearl
  Harbor without warning.

20
3. Direct Involvement in the war

• Japan declared war on the U.S., so the U.S.
  declared war on Japan and Germany.

21
(No Transcript)
22
The Allies

• Democratic nations (The United States, Great
  Britain, Canada) were known as the Allies.
• The Soviet Union joined the Allies after being
  invaded by Germany

• Allied leaders included
• Franklin D. Roosevelt and later Harry S. Truman
  U.S.
• Winston Churchill Great Britain
• Joseph Stalin Soviet Union

23
Turning point in the Pacific

• The Battle of Midway, fought over and near the
  tiny U.S. mid-Pacific base at Midway atoll,
  represents the strategic high water mark of
  Japan's Pacific Ocean war.
• Prior to this action, Japan possessed general
  naval superiority over the United States and
  could usually choose where and when to attack.
  After Midway, the two opposing fleets were
  essentially equals, and the United States soon
  took the offensive.

24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
Turning point in Europe

• In September 1943 a German army entered the city
  of Stalingrad and began fighting for the city.
  The main battle, The Battle of Stalingrad was a
  fierce struggle. Soldiers fought for each city
  block. In November 1942, more Soviet troops
  arrived and surrounded the German army. In late
  January 1943, with supplies running low, the
  remaining German troops in Stalingrad surrendered
  to the Soviet Union.

30
D Day

• American and Allied troops landed in Normandy,
  France, on D-Day to begin the liberation of
  Western Europe.

31
End of War in Europe

• Liberation of France (D-Day)
• Liberation of Western Europe by the U.S., French,
  and British after D-Day
• Death of FDR April 12, 1945
• Liberation of Eastern Europe by the Soviets
• Suicide of Adolph Hitler, April 30, 1945

32
End of War in The Pacific

• Truman takes over as president.
• Truman decides to drop the Atomic bomb on Japan.
• Atomic Bomb will save American soldiers lives,
  but will cost many innocent women and children
  theirs.

33
Hiroshima

• As many know, the atomic bomb has been used only
  twice in warfare. The first was at Hiroshima. A
  uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" (despite
  weighing in at over four and a half tons) was
  dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945.
• The Aioi Bridge, one of 81 bridges connecting the
  seven-branched delta of the Ota River, was the
  target ground zero was set at 1,980 feet. At
  0815 hours, the bomb was dropped from the Enola
  Gay. It missed by only 800 feet. At 0816 hours,
  in an instant, 66,000 people were killed and
  69,000 injured by a 10-kiloton atomic explosion.
• The area of total vaporization from the atomic
  bomb blast measured one half mile in diameter
  total destruction one mile in diameter severe
  blast damage as much as two miles in diameter.
  Within a diameter of two and a half miles,
  everything flammable burned. The remaining area
  of the blast zone was riddled with serious blazes
  that stretched out to the final edge at a little
  over three miles in diameter.

34
Little Boy and Fat Man

• After the Hiroshima bombing, President Truman
  announced, "If they do not now accept our terms,
  they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the
  likes of which has never been seen on this
  earth." Japan still refused to surrender.

35
Nagasaki

• On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki fell to the same
  treatment. This time a Plutonium bomb nicknamed
  "Fat Man" was dropped on the city. Though "Fat
  Man" missed its target by over a mile and a half,
  it still leveled nearly half the city. In a split
  second, Nagasaki's population dropped from
  422,000 to 383,000. Over 25,000 people were
  injured.
• Japan offered to surrender on August 10, 1945,
  ending WWII.
• NOTE Physicists who have studied these two
  atomic explosions estimate that the bombs
  utilized only 1/10th of 1 percent of their
  respective explosive capabilities.

36
Effects of Atomic Bombs
37
(No Transcript)
38
RayBurns
39
WWII on the Home Front

• American involvement in WWII brought an end to
  the Great Depression. Factories and workers were
  needed to produce goods to win the war.

• -Thousands of American women took jobs in
  defense plants during the war (e.g., Rosie the
  Riveter).

40
WWII Propaganda

• What does this poster mean?
• It is asking Americans to save gas by riding
  together.
• Those that ride alone are helping the Germans win
  the war, by wasting fuel.

41

• Why did this woman turn her bumpers into the
  scrap heap?
• So they could be turned into weapons for the war.

42
Rationing

• Americans at home supported the war by conserving
  and rationing resources.

43
http//www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html
44
Racial Barriers

• The need for workers temporarily broke down some
  racial barriers (e.g., hiring in defense plants)
  although discrimination against African Americans
  continued.
• Truman desegregated the Armed Forces

45
Internment Camps

• While many Japanese Americans served in the armed
  forces, others were treated with distrust and
  prejudice, and many were forced into internment
  camps.