WWII
American Studies
World War II Outline
Background
WWI (1914-1918), Treaty of Versailles (1919), Great Depression (1930s)
Isolation and Neutrality
Causes of disillusion and pacifism
Neutrality Acts of 1935-37
Spanish Civil War: Testing war technology and ideology
Francisco Franco
FDR's “quarantine” speech (1937)
Rise of Aggression in Europe and the Pacific, 1932-1940:
Fascism in Italy
Benito Mussolini, 1922
Fascist Aggression: Italy invades Ethiopia (1935)
German-Italian Axis formed (1936)
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Francisco Franco
Fascism in Germany
Nazism, National Socialism, Nazional-Sozialiste Deutsche Arbeiters Partei (NSDAP)
Adolf Hitler assumes power, 1933
Nazi Germany starts first concentration camp at Dachau, 1933 (Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen…)
Nazi Aggression
Hitler re-arms the Rhineland
1938 the Anschluss: Germany annexes Austria
Munich Pact, grants Sudetenland (in Czechoslovakia) to Hitler
Neville Chamberlain, appeasement, umbrella
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Sept. 1, 1939 Hitler invades Poland (beginning of WWII)
Blitzkrieg
Japan
Emperor Hirohito
Hideki Tojo, General and Prime Minister
Japanese Expansion
Japan occupies Manchuria
1933 Japan leaves League of Nations
1937 Japan invades China
1940 Japan joins Axis powers
1941 Dec. 7, Japan attacks US at Pearl Harbor; US enters WWII
Gradual US involvement
Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1937
Neutrality Act of 1939 (“cash and carry”)
Lend-Lease Act
The Atlantic Charter (August 1941)
United States involvement in WWII
Europe:
June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France
December 1944 Battle of the Bulge
April 1945 Allied troops meet at Elbe River, Germany
May 8, 1945 V-E Day, end of war in Europe
The Pacific:
“Island Hopping,” Leapfrogging
1942 Battle of Midway
1944-45 Leyte, Iwo Jima, Okinawa
August 6, 1945 US drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima
August 9, 1945 US drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki
August 15, 1945 V-J Day, end of war in the Pacific
September 2, 1945 Japan formally surrenders
The Holocaust
Anti-Semitism
genocide
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
The “Final Solution”
Wannsee Conference
Dissenters, Gypsies, Homosexuals, mentally and physically handicapped, Protestant
ministers, Catholic priests, Jews, Communists
Concentration Camps: Dachau, Treblinka, Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen
Six Million Jews, four million others.
Response of US and other nations
The St. Louis, 1939
Nuremberg Trials, 1945-46
Adolf Eichmann, Klaus Barbie
Wartime Diplomacy
Atlantic Charter, 1941
Yalta Conference, 1945: FDR, Churchill and Stalin
Occupation Zones
Potsdam, 1945: Truman, Churchill and Stalin
The Human Dimension of the War
“Arsenal of democracy”
Women: WACs, Rosie the Riveter; employment, child care, choice.
Mobilization: the draft
Financing the War: war bonds, Hollywood goes to war
Rationing
Experience of men and women in the military service
Art and culture
Swing music
“Degenerate art” (Entartete Kunst)
African Americans: foundations for civil rights movements of 50s and 60s
Discrimination and inequalities persist
Northern cities, employment in factories, voting blocs, two-front fight
Japanese Americans: hardship and economic losses
Nisei - Americans citizens born in US, of Japanese descent
Executive Order 9066
Internment camps: Tule Lake
WRA
Korematsu v. United States, 1944
Japanese Americans in armed forces in Europe; medals for bravery
Demobilization
Inflation and strikes
Taft-Hartley Act, 1947
The GI Bill; education, homes
Truman's Fair Deal
Baby Boom
Election of 1948; “Dewey Defeats Truman”
Truman and Civil Rights
Additional Terms and People
Totalitarianism
Dictatorship
Communism
The Manhattan Project
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Douglas MacArthur
Winston Churchill
Charles de Gaulle
Joseph Stalin
Guiding Questions
To what extent did the isolationist policies of the 1930s reflect a desire to avoid a
repeat of the conditions that had drawn the US into WWI?
How might dissatisfaction with the outcome of WWI have contributed to the rise of
dictatorships in Germany and Italy?
How might economic depression have contributed to the rise of dictatorships in
Germany and Italy?
What is the relationship between fascism and totalitarianism?
In what ways was the US “involved” in WWII before the Pearl Harbor attack and
the Congressional declaration of war in 1941?
How did the Lend-Lease policy lead to greater US involvement in the war?
How did advances in aviation technology contribute to changes in American
isolationist sentiments?
List the three major Allied Powers and the three major Axis Powers.
What role did the US play in the development of the war in the Pacific? In Europe?
How did the leadership and decision-making structure of the combatant nations influence
the outcome of the war?
- To what extent did the totalitarian governments of the Axis Powers
undermine their ability to make effective decisions and win the war?
To what extent did the “democratic” leadership of the United States, England and France contribute to Allied success?
How did the need to wage “total war” alter the nature of American society?
Compare and contrast the domestic policies of the US during WWII with those during WWI.
Compare and contrast the role of the US in WWI and WWII in terms of
the arsenal of democracy
US military leadership and strategy
Role of the president in planning for peace
Economic, social and political issues after the wars
(inflation, strikes, Presidential policies, political control of Congress, ways of dealing with Communist threats, immigration policies, opportunities for veterans).
What limits were placed on American civil liberties during WWII?
What social and moral issues arise when considering US domestic and foreign policy during
WWII? Consider:
Rights of Japanese Americans
Integration of African Americans
US reactions to the Nazi Holocaust
Morality of nuclear warfare (Should the US have dropped the atomic bomb?)
Treatment of war criminals
What role did the US play in securing the peace after WWII?
The Nazi Holocaust was an example of genocide. What are some more current examples?
The Nuremberg trials established the concept of “crimes against humanity.”
What are some more current examples of crimes against humanity?
What were the justifications or motives for dropping an atomic bomb on Japan?
Why was an atomic bomb dropped on Japan, but not Germany?
Why were two bombs dropped?
How did Japan and Germany go from being the enemies of the U.S. to friends?
How did Japan and Germany become economic powerhouses? Why do we drive
Japanese and German cars?
What role did the Soviet Union play in the situations asked about in this section above?
How might the experiences of African Americans during WWII have contributed to the
rise of the civil rights movement during the 1950s?
How did Truman enhance the civil rights of African Americans? Why did he use
executive power rather than Congressional legislation?
How did the agreements made at Yalta set the stage for the Cold War?
How did the specific events that closed World War II set the stage for the Cold War?
