World War II & the Early Cold War EraSTANDARD 7

World War II Begins7.1

Foreign Aggression

During the 1920s and 1930s, totalitarian dictators (the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary) rose in Europe

In Germany, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party assumed control

Hitler wanted to establish an empire he called the “Third Reich”.

He wanted to conquer other parts of Europe

Foreign Aggression

In 1963, Hitler’s troops invaded Rhineland

A few years later, Germany annexed (seized) Austria

British and French leaders met with Hitler in Munich to express their concerns

Instead of fighting Hitler, the countries chose appeasement (an aggressor nation is allowed to keep regions it has conquered in hopes that it will “pacify” the country's leaders and prevent future violence.

Munich (Germany)

Rhineland

Foreign Aggression Britain and France signed the Munich Pact (an agreement that agreed to let Germany keep the territories it had taken in exchange for a pledge to not invade anymore countries)

Hitler broke the pledge in 1939

He invaded Poland

Foreign Aggression In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin gained control of the Communist Part and became a country leader

He executed many of his enemies and political opponents

He tolerated no opposition and restricted the Soviet’s freedom.

Foreign Aggression Benito Mussolini rose to power in Italy as early as 1922

He was a fascist (form of radical authoritarian)

Mussolini’s government controlled all aspects of business and politics

Mussolini invaded Abyssinia in North Africa (Current day Ethiopia)

The League of Nations condemned Mussolini

Italy removed itself from the League of Nations and became allies with Germany

Foreign Aggression In the 1920s, Japan began expanding its territory.

It used military force to conquer regions in China, Korea, and other parts of Eastern Asia.

In 1941, Hideki Tojo became Japan’s prime minister.

Under Tojo’s leadership, Japan continued to invade more Asian nations.

Foreign Aggression Japan eventually signed an agreement with Germany and Italy.

The three countries became allies

Their alliance was called the Axis Powers.

THE U.S. Remains Neutral

The U.S. remained neutral as the Axis power increased their military

Many in the U.S. still believed in isolationism

Congress passed the Neutrality Act in 1935 (prohibited the sale of weapons to warring nations)

Hitler’s Aggression On September 1, 1939, German invaded Poland starting what we now know as Word War II

In the Spring of 1940, Germany conquered Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and eventually France

On June 14th, Germany entered Paris and made France sign an armistice (settlement) that gave half the country to Hitler

As payback, Hitler made France sign the agreement in the exact train car Germany had to sign the armistice that ended WWI!

Hitler’s Aggression Hitler then launched an air attack on Great Britain

He wanted to destroy Britain’s Air Force so that he could invade the country

Britain and Germany battled from July to October in 1940

The air raids caused many to sleep in subways for cover

Winston Churchill proved to be a great leader who gave the British a sense of pride and hope

The British fought off the Germans and caused Hitler to give up his plans

The U.S. Enters the War In 1940, Franklin D Roosevelt became the only president to be elected to a 3rd term

FDR was convinced that the U.S. could not afford to stay out of the war much longer

In March of 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act (the president could send aid to any nation whose defense was considered vital to the United States’ national security.

If the country had no resources to pay for the aid, the U.S. could send it and defer payment until later

The U.S. Enters the War Roosevelt won public support by comparing it a neighbor's house being on fire

“Suppose my neighbor's home catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him to put out his fire...I don't say to him before that operation, ‘Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15; you have to pay me $15 for it.’... I don't want $15--I want my garden hose back after the fire is over. “- FDR

The U.S. Enters the War The U.S. also had an eye on Japan

Japan was aggressive expanding to fix it’s economical problems

The U.S. imposed an embargo (refusal to ship certain products to a country) on oil and steel

Japan wanted to take over Southeast Asia and the Dutch East Indies

It knew, however, the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii would not let it

The U.S. Enters the War Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto developed a plan to sail 6 aircraft carriers (huge ships that carry war planes) across the Pacific undetected and launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor

The U.S. knew Japan was planning an attack but didn’t know where

On the morning of December 7, 194, Japanese airplanes began the first wave of bombings on Pearl Harbor

The U.S. Enters the War In less than 2 hours, the Japanese forces sank and seriously damaged a dozen naval vessels, 2oo warplanes, and killed or wounded nearly 300 people

Congress approved a declaration of war against Japan later against Germany and Italy as well

The U.S. was not in the middle of WWII.

The Course of the War7.2

Disagreement Among Allies

The Allies= Great Britain, the U.S., and Russia

Disagreements arose between the Soviet Union and its western allies (the U.S. and Great Britain)

The U.S. did not want to invade Western Europe until enemy forces were drove out of North Africa, but Russia did

Eventually the British and Americans succeeded in taking North Africa

They (Great Britain and the U.S.) decided that Italy should be invaded next

While they invaded Italy, Stalin held off the advancement of Germany in the East

D-Day Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for the Tehran Conference in December 1943

Stalin wanted the Allies to invade France and create a second front against Hitler

Everyone finally agreed

On June 6, 1944 the Allies launched the D-Day invasion hitting the beaches at Normandy, France

On August 25, 1944 the Allies fought their way into Paris, freeing the city from 4 years of German occupation

Victory in Europe The Big Three (The Allies) met in February of 1945 in Yalta at the Yalta Conference

Stalin restated his promise to declare war on Japan after the defeat of Germany

Stalin also agreed to allow free elections to establish democratic government in eastern European countries freed from Germany

Victory in Europe Stalin wanted Poland and special rights to certain islands and Chinese lands presently under Japanese control

The Allies agreed that the Soviet Union would receive half of the war reparations from Germany

Germany would be divided into 4 zones to be administered by the Allies after the war

They scheduled a conference in San Francisco for the following April to establish the United Nations as a permanent peace keeping organization

Victory in Europe In the face of certain defeat, Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 as Soviet troops overran Berlin

One week later, Germany surrendered unconditionally and ended the war

FDR died on April 12 and never saw the victory

War in the Pacific After the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese war planes attacked Clark Field in the Philippines

Japan destroyed half of the U.S. airplanes there

Then Japan invaded and eventually took the Philippines

The Battle of Midway in June of 1942 proved to be a turning point in the war against Japan

The U.S attacked Japanese carriers

Island Hopping The U.S. then began the process of island hopping (attack and conquer one group of islands and then move on to the next as they make their way to Japan)

The U.S. Offensive After entering the war, the U.S. began to develop the atomic bomb

The top secret endeavor was called the Manhattan Project

On July 16, 1945, scientists tested the new weapon in the desert of New Mexico

It shattered windows 125 miles away

The U.S. Offensive On August 6, 1945, a B29 bomber called the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima

It killed thousands of civilians and military personnel

Many more died later from radiation released in the blast

Two days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan invaded Manchuria

The U.S. dropped another bomb on August 9 in Nagasaki

The U.S. Offensive Japan finally surrendered on August 14, 1945

The world was shocked by the U.S.’s use of the atomic bomb

Truman defended it that by dropping the bomb, an invasion of Japan had been avoided

The War at Home7.2

Selective Service Most U.S. citizens didn’t experience any fighting in WWII first hand

The war still impacted people in the U.S. In 1940, Congress authorized the first draft in history Selective Service Act- provided a pool from which young men were selected to serve in the armed forces

After Pearl Harbor a great deal of people volunteered

National Support The government realized it needed to maintain public support for the war

The government paid artists to design patriotic war posters and movie theaters also began to play newsreels depicting the U.S. war effort in a positive light

There were also ads in magazines and on radio broadcasts

Economic Impact President Roosevelt establish the War Production Board (WPB). It redirected raw materials and resources from the production of civilian consumer goods to the production of materials needed for waging war against Germany and Japan

The U.S. economy boomed and people’s standards of living increased

Unemployed men became employed as soldiers or in industries producing goods needed for war

Citizen Sacrifice The number of people required to pay income taxes greatly increased during the war years

To make sure taxes were collected, the government introduced withholing income tax (the government required employers to withhold taxes from employees paychecks and give it the government immediately)

Citizen Sacrifice The government also sold war bonds By buying bonds, citizens loaned money to the government in return for interest

War bond drives became popular as advertisements, posers, and movies stars encouraged people to buy bonds as part of their patriotic duty

The government raised more than 60 million dollars

Citizen Sacrifice People started growing victory gardens so that food could be sent to feed the soldiers

The government also started rationing They rationed tires Certain items were assigned point values and once a citizen used up all their points, they could no longer obtain certain items

The Role of Women Women became an important part of the workforce

Men were going off to fight, so women stepped up to take on jobs traditionally held by men

A popular song became Rosie the Riveter

It described a woman who worked in the factory as a riveter while her boyfriend served in the maries

This became a symbol for women who entered the workforce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04VNBM1PqR8

Women in Uniform Women and minorities also served in the U.S. military

Almost 275, 000 women had volunteered to served in the armed forced by the end of the war

The WAC (Women’s Army Corps) was the largest branch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN2oKqa1o04

Birth of the Cold War Era7.5

Conflict in Europe After WWII, tensions were high between western Allies (Great Britain and the U.S.) and the Soviet Union

Neither side trusted the other

Stalin wanted the territories they had conquered in WWII

Stalin set up communist regimes in Germany and Poland

Conflict in Europe

Winston Churchill (former British Prime Minister) said “a shadow has fallen…an iron curtain has descended across the continent”.

The iron curtain was the dividing line between eastern and western Europe

U.S. Post-War Policies in Europe

In 1946, a U.S. diplomat suggested the allies focus on a strategy of containment (they should focus on containing communism to those countries in which it already existed and not let it spread any further)

Truman introduces the Truman Doctrine (the U.S. would not hesitate to intervene and aid nations overseas to resist communism)

U.S. Post-War Policies in Europe

The doctrine featured a financial plan to build up Europe

The Marshall Plan provided nations in war torn Europe with much needed financial support from the U.S.

Secretary Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his efforts

A Divided Germany

When WWII ended, the Allies divided Germany among themselves

Great Britain, the U.S., and France, however all saw these divisions as temporary and wanted Germany to be a unified and independent country

Stalin had no intention of giving up the Soviet’s controlled part

The allies made their territories one nation- the Federal Republic of Germany (became known as West Germany)

The USSR responded by establishing the Germany Democratic Republic (East Germany) and it was under communist control

A Divided Germany

Almost immediately, thousands of people wishing to escape communism escaped to West Germany

Stalin instituted a blockade

Truman authorized the Berlin Airlift (over 15 months, the U.S. and Britain delivered supplies to West Berlin)

In 1949, Stalin gave up, but the bitterness the USSR had led to the Cold War (tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union)

China and Korea

In 1949, China became a communist nation

Mao Tse-tung led the revolution and became the leader

Korea was among the countries liberated from the Japanese during WWII

The allies divided the nation

The northern half became a communist nations (North Korea)

The southern half enacted a pro-U.S. democracy (South Korea)

The Korean War

In June of 1950, the Korean War began when North Korea crossed the borders in South Korea

After 2 years of fighting, both sides signed a truce in 1953

The agreement left the country divided

The Founding of Israel The discovery of the Holocaust during WWII increased the support for the founding of a Jewish homeland

Mass numbers of Jewish refugees from Europe wanted to enter Palestine for this purpose

The state of Israel became an independent Jewish state on May 14, 1948

The Founding of Israel

President Truman showed the U.S. support for the new nation by immediately recognizing it

Arab nations resented the decision to give part of Palestine to the Jews

The U.S. and Israel became allies

The Soviet supported the Arab states

The Eisenhower Doctrine

Dwight Eisenhower was elected President in 1952

He was a WWII war hero

He believed strongly in the domino theory (if one nation fell to communism, then its neighboring nations would fall soon)

Eisenhower Doctrine stated the U.S. would not hesitated to aid any country in the Middle East that asked help resisting communist aggression

A year later he sent troops to Lebanon to help

The Eisenhower Doctrine

Dwight Eisenhower was elected President in 1952

He was a WWII war hero

He believed strongly in the domino theory (if one nation fell to communism, then its neighboring nations would fall soon)

Eisenhower Doctrine stated the U.S. would not hesitated to aid any country in the Middle East that asked help resisting communist aggression

A year later he sent troops to Lebanon to help

The Cold War (cont.) and Aftermath7.6

The U-2 Incident

After Stalin dies in 1953, Nikitra Krhrushchev became the Soviet leader

The new leader met with Eisenhower to improve their relations

But in May of 1960, the U-2 incident occurred and damaged the relations

A U.S. U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union

At first, we denied conducting any such spy mission, but once evidence was shown, we had to own up to our mission but we never apologized.

The Day of Pigs In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and assumed control of the nation.

He killed more than 700 of his opponents and jailed the rest.

He also seized lands belonging to the U.S.

Castro had ties to communism

Eisenhower refused to support Castro and broke off all diplomatic relations

Castro allied himself with the Soviet Union

The Day of Pigs John F. Kennedy became the next president in 1961

He approved an operation to aid anti-Castro Cubans

We invaded land at the Bay of Pigs in 1961

It was a failure and huge embarrassment for the Kennedy administration

Many people then began to doubt the young president

The Berlin Wall

During this time, people were still fleeing from East Germany to West Germany through Berlin

The Soviet Union built a wall that separated the communist East Berlin from the democratic West Berlin

Anyone attempted to cross the Berlin Wall without permission was shot

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Although the Bay of Pigs was a failure, Castro feared we would invade again

Castro allowed the Soviet to put nuclear missiles in Cuba 90 miles off the coast of Florida

When we spotted the missiles (via spy planes) Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of the island

For 13 days, people waited in fear

The Cuban Missile Crisis brought 2 superpowers to the brink of a nuclear war

The Soviet agreed to withdraw the missiles as long as the U.S. did not invade Cuba

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

In 1949, the U.S. signed a treat with several European nations

The North Atlantic Treaty allied these nations with one another and stated that each country would come to the defense of any of the others if they were ever attacked

It formed the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

The Warsaw Compact was the USSR’s answer to NATO

The Rise of the Middle Class

After the war, the nation had the issue of assimilating veterans from the war back into society

To help, Congress passed the G.I. Bill (it provided military veterans with benefits such as job priority, money for furthering their education, training, and loan for purchasing homes and property

The G.I. Bill allowed large numbers of people to buy their own homes

The middle class emerged

The Rise of the Middle Class

The nation also experienced the “baby boom”

These are people born within the first 5 years of WWII

There was a boom in the number of babies born since spouses were reunited and marrying

A New Red Scare

A new wave of fear about communism swept the nation

In the late 40s and 50s, the government harassed and arrested many people due to their alleged connections to the Communist Party

This period became known as the second “Red Scare”.

President Truman signed the National Security Act in 1947 which created the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) to ensure national security

Joseph McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy was a Wisconsin Senator that believed Communists had infiltrated high levels of government and the U.S. military.

He even accused former Army Chief of Staff and Secretary of State

McCarthy and his idea gained popularity

After many hearings on television, the U.S. began to see “McCarthyism” as paranoia and crazy talk and the fear of Communism subsided