The Second World War

Recognition of the Soviet Union

1933 Granted diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union.
U.S. Desired foreign trade.

Philippine Independence
Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934) Promised the Philippines complete independence within
a decade.

The Good Neighbor Policy

US Would be the neighbor who respects himself and the rights of others.
Became the label for his Latin American Policy.

Totalitarian aggression
Totalitarian:
Centralized control by an autocratic authority.
The political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state
authority.
Japanese in China
1931 Seized Manchuria
1937 Attacked China; Rape of Nanking
o Est. 300,000 killed
o 20,000 women raped/murdered
December 12, 1937: US gunboat Panay Sunk by Japanese bombs on Yangtze River.
o 3 dead, 43 injured
Italians in Africa
1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia
Dreamed of another Italian empire.
Leader Benito Mussolini A.K.A. Il Duce (Il Doo-chay)
Abolished democracy, destroyed liberty all on the promise of jobs and glory
German Expansion
Germany Building an enormous new army, making weapons at a frightening speed, and
menacing neighbors.
March 1936 - Militarization of Rhineland.
March 1938 Seized Austria.
Sept. 1938 Munich Pact An attempt to appease Hitler: Dismember Czech. and give a
piece to Germany (Sudetenland).
 March 1939 Hitler seized the rest of Czech.; appeasement was a failure.
Sept. 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland
WWII begins!
Germany & USSR sign non-aggression pact.
Sept. 3, 1939 G.B. and France declare war on Germany
Rise of Isolationism in the United States
Most govt. officials and citizens in the 1920s were isolationists.
Felt US should avoid alliances and agreements with other nations.
Nye Committee Investigated US entry into WWI.
o Findings:
International bankers drew US into WWI.
Munitions indus. Pressed for Am. entry into war.
Isolation dominated US foreign policy in 1930s.
Neutrality Legislation
Neutrality Act, 1935 Authorized the Pres. to bar arms sales to warring nations.
1936 Extended neutrality legislation Put limits on sale of arms to belligerents.
Cash & Carry A country had to pay cash for goods before they left our shores.
o The country at war had to carry the goods on its own ships.
Destroyer-Base Deal
FDR Traded 50 old destroyers for the use of 8 British naval bases.
Legally tried to help allies secure supplies.
Lend-Lease
US would lend or lease whatever war supplies we could make.
Supplies sent to any nation Pres. considered vital to defense of the US.
Atlantic Charter
FDR and Churchill met Wanted a better future for the world.
US and G.B. Were seeking no territorial gain.
o Real reason for the meeting Churchill wanted American troops to join. FDRs
answer is no.
Effects of the war on 1940 election
Republican nominee Wendell L. Willkie.
Opposed the New Deal.
Democratic nominee FDR.
Both wanted to aid G.B.
FDR won.
First person elected President for a third term.
The battlefield is everywhere
New Warfare: Blitzkrieg lightning war Adolf Hitlers new strategy.
 Depended heavily on air power; Struck like lightning from the sky.
Used the fastest new vehicles.
Airplanes, tanks, trucks, motorcycles.
Struck quickly at the heart of enemy territory, overwhelming them.
1940 In England Winston Churchill became Prime Minister.

US Prepares for war.

FDR warned the US to rearm.
Wanted billions of dollars to create a two-ocean navy.
Also, size of the air force greatly increased.

Japanese-American Relations
1931-1940 Jap. military aggression was militarily unopposed by the US.
1940 Japan became a partner of Germany and Italy.
Japan attacked and expanded through China July 1941
US Response: Embargo on all trade with Japan.
US and Japan Met; Sticking Point: China.
Japan Wanted US to cut off aid to Chinese.
US Demanded Jap. withdraw from China.
Japan had a choice: Give up dream of an empire or go to war, they chose war.
America at War
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Sunday Dec. 7, 1941: Japan attacked the airfield and naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Surprise attack 180 Am. warplanes destroyed (120 crippled), 18 naval vessels were
sunk or heavily damaged.
More than 70 civilians and 2403 servicemen were killed.
o 1177 crewmen of the USS Arizona died in the attack.
Next day FDR Japans Day of Infamy plunged the US into war.
War on the Home Front
Selective Service
o Draft was started in 1940.
o By Pearl Harbor 1.6 million in army.
o Millions more volunteered as a result of the attack.
Internment of Japanese Americans.
March 1942 Close to 120,000 Jap. Americans were rounded up and confined to camps.
Were placed in camps because of the threat of possible acts of espionage and sabotage.
Wartime Agencies
1940 Industry: Just emerging from depression.
 1942 American production: Equal to Ger., It., and Jap. Combined.
1944 Production was double of Ger., It., and Jap. combined.
During WWII, the govt. regulated industry and controlled the econ. to achieve maximum
production and efficiency.
Full employment Inflation occurred.

Role of women and minorities.

Women
1945 258,000 women were serving in the armed forces.
18 Million were part of the American workforce.
Women were needed as workers.
Took a wide variety of jobs in industry.
Examples: Shipyards, Airplane factories, Ammunition factories, Rail yards, Truck
drivers, etc.
Minorities
About 1 million African-Americans served in WWII.
African-Am. Served in segregated units in the early stages of WWII.
Many African-Am. migrated to industrial areas (cities) for jobs.
Over 500,000 Latino-American served and were not segregated.
Conservation and Rationing
Rationing was used to assure availability of scarce items to all citizens.
Individuals received coupons for a share of the rationed items.
The US and allies needed everything the US could produce.
American Strategy
Get Hitler First
If Germany won in Europe, US would face aggressor nations alone.
Second Front
Russians wanted a second front in Europe.
Wanted allies to invade lands held by Axis powers.
Instead, July 1942, Allies decided to invade North Africa
Invasion of North Africa
Germany Led by Desert Fox General Erwin Rommel.
British Led by Gen. Bernard Montgomery.
Montgomerys army broke through Rommels Africa Korps: Nov. 4 1942
Invasion of Italy
July 10, 1943 250,000 US & British troops land on Sicilian coastlines
Germans Escaped to the Italian mainland.
Italians Sick of war; Mussolini Forced to resign (Eventually shot & killed)
 Allied troops Tied up thousands of German troops; weakened them elsewhere.
Battle of the Atlantic.
German submarine wolf packs sunk tons of allied supplies.
o Main years: 1942-1943
Subs had to be beaten, and soon.
Radar and sonar were invented; both could destroy subs.
Control of the air
British & US forces heavily bombed Germany, but used different strategies.
British Saturation Bombing Bombed whole areas.
US Pinpoint bombing Attacked in daylight; could focus bombs on crucial factories.
Attack on the European Continent
D-Day:
US & Great Britains invasion of France.
o Objective: 2nd Front in Europe.
Directed by American Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of
Allied Forces in Western Europe.
June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion began.
Conditions needed: low tide, half moon, good weather, morning invasion.
Allies - Achieved a tactical surprise; landings were a success.
Generals Montgomery (Britain) & Eisenhower lead Allied forces through Europe towards
Germany.
Re-conquest of France
By the end of July, 1944 the Allies controlled 1500 Sq. mi. of France.
Paris Liberated on Aug. 25, 1944.
By mid-Sept. all of France had been cleared of Germans.
FDR Elected to a fourth term.
WWII Taking its toll on FDRs health.
Foul weather aided the Germans.
Patton and Montgomery stopped the advancing Germans
By the end of Jan. the Bulge was pinched off.
German losses 120,000 of their best remaining men.
It was also the single most costly American battle of the war.
Yalta Conference
Pres. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta to discuss the Nazi surrender.
Stalin Tough and clever bargainer.
o Most of Stalins promises were lies.
Western democracies Needed Stalins armies.
Death of FDR
 Worn down by wartime burdens, health continued to decline.
Died April 12, 1945 while resting in Warm Springs, Georgia.
The nation grieved.
Collapse of Germany
March 1945 Allies were closing in - US & GB from west, Russia from east.
Churchill Shake hands with the Russians as far east as possible.
Concerned with Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.
Russia and US troops met at the Elbe River April 25, 1945.
Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.
May 8, 1945 Germans surrendered ; Celebrated as V-E Day.
The War in the Pacific
Extent of Japanese Conquests:
Controlled a 4500 mile area of the Pacific.
Allied policy in Pacific Active defense.
Island hopping
General MacArthur & Admiral Nimitz Commanders of Allied forces in the Pacific.
The Allies invaded strategic islands, and bypassed others.
May 3-8, 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea - Result: Draw.
First Naval battle where the opposing ships never saw one another.
June 1942Battle of Midway-US Victory
Japans first great naval defeat; a big turning point.
Aug. 7, 1942 Battle for Guadalcanal US Victory.
Our troops first exposure to land battle with the Japanese.
The fighting was fierce and brutal the Japanese would not surrender.
October 20, 1944 Re-conquest of the Philippines begins.
Led by MacArthur, the US crushes the Japanese and knocks their navy out of the war.
Feb.-Mar. 1945 Iwo Jima (650 Miles from Tokyo) US Victory Operation
Detachment
Goal Secure airfield
Heavy losses: 6821 US deaths
Flag raised: Mt. Suribachi
April-June, 1945 Okinawa US Victory
Brutal fighting Japan considered it a home island.
12,513 Americans died
The Atomic Bomb
Developed after Germans and Italians surrendered; Manhattan Project.
Potsdam Declaration (Ultimatum) Allies warned the Japanese: the alternative to
surrender is prompt and utter destruction.
 August 6, 1945 A-bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.
August 9, 1945 A-bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
V-J Day August 14, 1945.