World War II:

Dictators in
Europe
7.1
Bellringer 7.1

● How do Dictators rise to power?

Totalitarianism
● Joseph Stalin, (last name means man of steel)
is the leader of the Soviet Union after Lenin dies
in 1924.
● By 1939, Stalin had established a government
that tried to exert complete control over its
citizens.
Fascism

● Benito Mussolini established a totalitarian regime in Italy.

● He established the Fascist party in 1921, which stresses
nationalism and places interests of the state above
individuals.
● Adolf Hitler followed a similar path to Mussolini’s.
● Hitler was a powerful public speaker.
● Hitler dismantled the Weimar Republic and established the
Third Reich.
U.S. hopes to stay neutral

● U.S. Congress passes a series of Neutrality Acts.

● This outlawed the arms sales or loans to nations at war.
● President Roosevelt found a way around the new legislation
when Japan attack China. Japan did not formally declare war
so the U.S. could give China arms.
Appeasement
● Hitler declared that to grow that Germany needed land from its
neighbors.
● Austria was Hitler’s first target. May 12, 1938 German troops
march into Austria unopposed.
● Hitler then turned to Czechoslovakia, there were 3 million
German-speaking in the Sudetenland.
● British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler in
Munich and this would be his last territorial demand.
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmwmuPTa0To
World War II: U.S.
Joins the War

7.2
Building U.S. Defenses

● President Roosevelt starts peacetime draft in 1940.

● Men ages 21 to 35 were registered.
● Roosevelt runs for a third term.
Lend-Lease Act

● Lend-Lease act set up a system that would allow the United

States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed
"vital to the defense of the United States.
● Do you think that the U.S. should be involved in the war or
stay out of it?
Atlantic Charter

● An agreement between President Roosevelt and Prime

Minister Churchill. U.S. and Britain pledge to “collective
security, disarmament, self determination, economic
cooperation, and the freedom of the seas.”
● Churchill wanted a military commitment from the U.S.
● What are some of these philosophies from?
Pearl Harbor
● Early on a Sunday morning, a Japanese dive-bomber swooped
low over Pearl Harbor and was followed by 180 Japanese
warplanes.
● “Air raid on Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill.”
● For 90 minutes, Japanese planes were destroying target by
target barely disturbed by U.S. anti aircraft guns.
● Japanese pilots use tactic, kamikaze or suicide plane attacks.
Homefront

● Women take jobs previously held by men.

● A. Philip Randolph, the most respected African-American
labor leader organizes march in Washington D.C.
● President Roosevelt created the Office of Scientific Research
and Development (OSRD), brings new technologies such as
radar and sonar. This starts the creation of the atomic bomb
with the Manhattan Project.
Bellringer 7.2

● Do you think that the United States should wait to be attacked

before declaring war?
World War II: U.S.
in Europe, North
Africa, and the
Pacific
7.3
Bellringer 7.3

● How does wartime production affect the economy?

War in Europe

● Germany used unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic

Ocean. U.S. responds with convoys protecting their merchant
ships.
● Battle of Stalingrad: Germans had been fighting in the Soviet
Union since June 1941. Germans had control of nine tenths of
Stalingrad and winter set in. Soviet troops surround the
Germans and cut off their supplies. Germans surrender in Jan.
31, 1943.
War in North Africa

● Operation Torch, invasion of Axis controlled North Africa, U.S.

forces commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
● U.S. forces chasing Afrika Korps led by Erwin Rommel, known
as Desert Fox.
● President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met in
Casablanca, agreeing to unconditional surrender of the Axis
powers.
War in Pacific
● General Douglas MacArthur in charge of the forces in the
Pacific.
● Doolittle’s Raid: Colonel James Doolittle led 16 bombers in the
Spring of 1942 and bombed Tokyo.
● Battle of the Coral Sea: May 1942, U.S. forces stop Japan
from driving to Australia.
● Battle of Midway: June 1942, U.S. breaks Japanese Code and
knew Midway was their next target. Admiral Chester Nimitz
moved to defend the Island. This battle was the turning point
for war in the Pacific
World War II:
D-Day
7.4
Bellringer 7.4
● Do you agree with the decision made by Roosevelt and
Churchill to require unconditional surrender by the Axis
powers? Why or Why not?
D-Day
● Code named Operation Overlord, originally set for June 5, but
the weather forced a delay.
● June 6, 1944: Despite heavy casualties, Allied forces held the
beachheads. General Omar Bradley unleashed massive air and
land bombardment, this provided a gap in the German line of
defense for General George Patton and his third army to
advance.
● “The Beast of Omaha”- Heinrich Severloh, inflicted over 2,000
casualties on allied troops during D-day.
Battle of the Bulge

● The Battle of the Bulge was a last offensive effort by the

Germans. Hitler ordered tanks to drive 60 miles into Allied
territory, creating a bulge in the lines.
● Lasted a month, Nazis could do little but retreat after the
battle.
Liberation of Death Camps

● American Soldiers liberate Nazi death camps were horrified by

what they saw.
War in Pacific

● U.S. had used island hopping tactic, going from island to

island all the way to Japan.
● Iwo Jima: (means sulfur island in Japanese), Most defended
island, held 20,700 Japanese troops entrenched and in caves.
6,000 marine casualties.
● Battle for Okinawa: April 1945, U.S. Marines invade Okinawa,
Japan unleashed 1,900 kamikaze during Okinawa campaign.
Fighting ended on June 21, 1945.
Truman Takes over

● President Roosevelt had a stroke on April 12, 1945 and died.

● His Vice President Harry S. Truman became the Nation’s 33rd
President.
World War II:
Atomic Bombs
and Wrap up
7.5
Bellringer 7.5

● Does a nation have the right to attack civilians

(noncombatants, women, children)?
War in Europe wraps up
● V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day.
● Future uncertain about what to do with Germany.
● Tension between U.S. and Soviet Union.
Atomic bombs in Japan

● The Manhattan project, led J. Robert Oppenheimer developed

the atomic bomb.
● Tested July 16, 1945 in New Mexico.
● President Truman Faced with a decision: Should the Allies
uses the bomb to bring an end to the war?
● “Little boy” dropped over Hiroshima on August 6
● “Fat man” dropped over Nagasaki dropped 3 days later.
● September 2, Japan surrenders, VJ Day: Victory in Japan Day.
Rebuilding begins

● Yalta Conference: February 1945 Roosevelt, Churchill, and

Stalin at the Black Sea resort city of Yalta.
● Potsdam Conference: Truman, Churchill, and Stalin. Truman
tells Stalin about Atomic bomb.
● Nuremberg Trials: Trials of the war crimes committed by
Hitler’s most trusted party officials.
● U.S. occupies Japan.
Homefront Part 2

● War years were good ones for working people, War got U.S.
out of Great Depression.
● Tension in LA: Anti-Mexican zoot suit riots. 11 sailors
attacked by Mexican-Americans. Zoot suit was a symbol
rebellion. Riots lasted almost a week.
● Japanese Internment: Japanese-Americans were kept in
internment camps due to fear that they would share intel with
Japan.