Professional Documents
Culture Documents
World War II Notes
World War II Notes
Philippine Independence
- Tydings- McDuffie Act (1934)- promised the Philippines
complete independence within a decade
Totalitarian aggression
- Totalitarian: Centralized control by an autocratic
authority
- The political concept that the citizen should be totally
subject to an absolute state authority. (ex. Germany, Russia,
Italy, Japan)
Japanese in China
- 1931- Seized Manchuria
- 1937- Attacked China; Rape of Nanking. Estimated 300,000
killed (in 1 month; about 75% were citizens)
- 20,000 women raped/murdered
- December 12th, 1937: US gunboat Panay- sunk by Japanese
bombs on Yangtze River- 3 dead, 43 injured
Italians in Africa
- 1935: Italy invaded Ethiopia
- Dreamed of another Italian Empire
- Leader- Benito Mussolini (AKA II Duce)
- 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
- September 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
- September 1st, 1939- Germany invaded Poland; WWII begins.
- Germany and USSR sign non-aggression pact
- September 3rd, 1939- Great Britain and France declare war on
Germany
Neutrality Legislation
- Neutrality Act- 1935: Authorized the President to bear arms
sales to warning nations
- 1936: extended neutrality legislation- put limits on sale of
arms to belligerents
- Cash and Carry: a country had to pay cash for goods before
the left our shores. The country at war had to carry the goods
on its own ships
Lend- Lease
- US would lend or lease whatever war supplies we could
make
- Supplies sent to any nation president 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
- Real reason for the meeting: Churchill wanted American
troops to join- FDR said no
Effects of the War on 1940 election
- Republican Nominee: Wendell L. Willke
- Opposed the New Deal
- Democratic Nominee: FDR
- Both wanted to help G.B
- FDR won
- 1st person elected President for a third term
America at war
Minorities
- About 1 million African Americans served in WWII
- African Americans served in segregated units in the early
stages of WWII
- Many African Americans migrated to industrial areas (cities)
for jobs
- Over 500,000 Latino- American served and were not
segregated
American Strategy
- Get Hitler first- if Germany won in Europe, US would face
aggressor nations alone
- Second Front
o Russians wanted a second front in Europe
o Wanted allies to invade lands held by Axis powers
o Instead, July 1942, Allies decided to invade North
America
Invasion of Italy
- July 10, 1943- 250,000 US and British troops land on Sicilian
coastlines
- Germans- escaped to the Italian mainland
- Italians- sick of war; Mussolini forced to resign
(eventually shot and killed)
- Allied troops- tied up thousands of German troops;
weakened them elsewhere
Re-conquest of Europe
- By the end of July, 1944 the allies controlled 1500 square
miles of France
- Paris- liberated on August 25th, 1944
- By mid- sept, all of France had been cleared of Germans
- Destruction in Caen. France
o July 1944
- Hedgerows made The Breakout difficult; this was
unexpected
- FDR- elected to a fourth term
- WWII- taking its roll on FDRs health
Battle of Germany
- December 16th, 1944: Battle of the Bulge- Germany final bid
to
break the allies
- Germans penetrated 60 miles creating a bulge in the allied
lines
- Foul weather aided the Germans
o American planes grounded, brutally cold temperatures
- Patton and Montgomery stopped the advancing Germans
- By the end of January, 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
- President Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta to
discuss the Nazi surrender
- Slain- 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 on April 12th, 1945 while resting in
warm springs, GA
- The nation grieved
Collapse of Germany
- March 1945: Allies were closing in; US and Great Britain from
West and Russia from the 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 25th, 1945
- Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin Bunker
- May 8th, 1945- Germany surrendered; celebrated as V-E day
Island hopping
- General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz- commanders of
Allied forces in the Pacific
- The Allies invaded strategic islands and bypassed others
- May 3-8th, 1942- Battle of Coral Sea
o Result: draw
o First naval battle where the opposing ships never saw
one another
- June 4th, 1942- Battle of Midway
o US Victory
o Japans first great naval defeat; a big turning point in
the war
- August 7th, 1942: Battle for Guadalcanal
o US Victory
o Our troops first exposure to land battle with the
Japanese
o Fighting was fierce and brutal- Japanese would not
surrender
- October 20th, 1944: re-conquest of the Philippines begins
- Led by MacArthur, the US crushes the Japanese and knocks
their navy out of the war
- February- March 1945: Iwo Jima (650 miles from Tokyo)
o US victory: operation detachment
o Goal: secure airfield
o Heavy losses: 6821 US deaths
o Flag raised: Mount Suribachi
- March 9-10: Tokyo firebombing- operation Meeting house
o Targeted industrial sites but was a very populated area
o Utilized 334 B-29 super fortress airplanes
o 10,000 died in the attack, 1 million were homeless
- April- June, 1945: Okinawa
o US victory
o Brutal fighting: Japan considered it a home island
12,513 Americans died
- Within striking distance of Japan: victory is in sight
Victory
- V-J day: August 14th, 1945