I.
Versailles
Peace Treaty and European Instability
A.Under the Versailles Treaty, European governments
and economies faced difficulties
àItaly—rise of Mussolini
(1922)
àCivil War in Spain
àDebts and reparations
B. Europe owes the United
States $11.5 billion ($22 billion with interest) that will take approximately
62 years to pay off.
àGermany owes $32-35 billion
in reparations to European nations
A
lot of talk about disarmament during the 1920s in hopes of avoiding future wars
C. Germany in turmoil
àWeimar Republic government
never received the full support of the German people
àRise of political extremist
groups (Communists, National Socialists aka Nazis)
àHitler and Nazis in control
of Germany by 1933 (their rise to power was completely legal)
D.Nazi Germany
àHitler repudiates the
Versailles Treaty
àGermany begins to rebuild
its military and enters into a military alliance with Italy
àHitler begins taking back
territories it gave up at Versailles…and goes for more
(Ruhr, Austria, Czechoslovakia all fall
to the Nazis)
E. England and France are
isolated, as Germany signs a non-aggression pact with Stalin and the USSR
àDivide and conquer Poland
(this signals the beginning of the official war—August 1939)
à1940—Germany invades France,
conquering it by June
The
United States is an official neutral, but FDR privately supports England. Trade of arms (Lend-Lease program) reveals
American interest in the conflict.
II.
Japanese
Imperialism
A.Japan and the United States competing for control of
the Pacific since end of the Spanish-American War
B. Japan is a small collection
of islands that require the importation of raw materials. They want COLONIES.
à1931—Japan invades Chinese
province of Manchuria, a region rich in industry and resources
*League
of Nations condemns the action.
Japan ignores them. (A sign of things to
come)
C. U.S. attempts to pressure
Japanese withdrawal through diplomatic and economic means
àHalts sale of scrap
metal/iron and enactment of an oil embargo against Japan
àFreezing of Japanese assets
in the U.S.
D.Japan, strapped for resources, expands its invasion
throughout East Asia (Korea, Indochina)
àJapan signs an alliance
treaty with Germany and Italy (The Triple Axis)
àU.S. growing more nervous
àDiplomatic pressure fails
Japan,
desperate for oil, resources, and money, decides to take a big risk. Hoping to drive the American presence from
the Pacific, Pearl Harbor (and other American outposts) will be attacked.
E. Pearl Harbor (December 7,
1941)
ànot a last minute, random
act
àU.S. had broken the Japanese
diplomatic code, but not their military code
àU.S. officials did not
foresee Pearl Harbor as a target (hindsight is 20/20)
àAttack occurred on Sunday
morning at 7:55 AM
à8 American battleships hit
and/or sunk, over 2400 American deaths
The
“sleeping giant” awakens…
F. Declaration of War (December
8, 1941)
àFDR asks for a state of war
from Congress and gets it (only one dissenting vote in both houses)
àBy December 11, both Germany
and Italy have declared war on the United States (the alliance system again!)
III.
Major
Points of the War
EUROPEAN THEATER
Strategy:
Air and land forces
American commander:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
A.U.S. devotes major attention to Europe FIRST
àSummer 1941--Hitler violates
non-aggression pact and invades USSR
àGermany now fighting war on
two fronts—bad idea!
àStalin pleads with U.S. and
England to open up a second front—it won’t happen until 1943
àKey battle: Stalingrad (Summer 1942)
From
this point on, Germany is in retreat
B. Summer 1943—U.S. forces
invade Italy
àBy September, Italy has
surrendered
àGermany is now isolated
C. D-DAY (June 6, 1944)
àMassive Allied landing in
Normandy, France (200,000 men)
àGermany now retreating to
the east…and surrounded (The “Big Squeeze” is on)
D.April 1945—Berlin surrounded
àU.S./British forces moving
in from the west and south—Russian forces moving in from the east
àApril 30, 1945—Hitler
commits suicide
àMay 7, 1945—Germany
surrenders aka V-E Day
PACIFIC
THEATER
Strategy: Air and sea forces with a lot of island
warfare
American
commander: General Douglas MacArthur
A.
Pearl
Harbor, Philippines, and other American holdings attacked on December 7, 1941
àAmerican forces will face
heavy casualties in the Pacific—brutal warfare
B.
Key
battle—Midway (Summer 1942)
àAmerican intelligence breaks
Japanese military code
àJapanese lose bulk of their
fleet in this battle
àIt will take three more
years to force a Japanese surrender
C.
Japan
becomes the real symbol of American hatred during the war
àMilitary/government becoming
nervous about a Japanese spy underground operating in the west
àFebruary 1942—100,000
Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans are relocated into desert internment
camps
*loss
of homes, businesses, etc.
*a
joint government/military decision
*many
internees were American citizens
*some
German and Italian detainees, but not
many
*restitution does not come
until 1988
Japanese
internment remains a black eye on the U.S. war effort to this very day.
D.
April
12, 1945—FDR dies in Warm Springs, Georgia
àHe had just started his
FOURTH term as President
àVice-President Harry S
Truman takes over
*Truman
is in the dark on everything…not a
political insider at all
àTruman forced to make
important decisions on the
spur of the moment as the war is winding down
E.
The
Manhattan Project
à$2 billion spent on the
development of atomic weapons
àprofessors, scientists,
mathematicians (many of the German immigrants)
àTruman is told that an
invasion of Japan would lead to over 1 million American deaths, and could
prolong the war
àThe successful testing of an
a-bomb in New Mexico gives Truman an option, as using such a weapon could help
end the war
àNo one is exactly sure if it
will work in a war setting or what the “fallout” will be
àHiroshima chosen as the
target because of its role as a military outpost
F.
August
6, 1945—first A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay
àover 60,000 killed (these
were the lucky ones)
àradiation and contamination
greeted the survivors
àeffects linger for
generations
Japan
refuses to surrender…so…
G.
August
9, 1945—second A-bomb dropped on
Nagasaki
àeffects similar to those of
the Hiroshima bomb
Japan
finally surrenders on August 14, 1945 aka V-J Day
(1)
United
States emerges as the only economically undamaged combatant nation, paving the
way for an economic boom that will last nearly two decades
(2)
Ended
the Great Depression
(3)
The
establishment of International Law regarding war crimes, due primarily to the
Nazi policies of genocide (the Holocaust…yes…it happened) that murdered between
six and nine million people
(4)
The
creation of the United Nations as an international peacekeeping body (with
military power)
(5)
The
U.N. creation of the nation of Israel (1948), due in part as reparations for
the Holocaust
(6)
Another
redrawing of the boundaries in Europe and the Middle East (sets stage for
future unrest)
(7)
The
“Atomic Age” begins, with atomic/nuclear weapons now part of the war machine
(8)
The
Cold War begins, signaling the beginning of nearly fifty years of tension
between the capitalist West (led by the U.S.) and the communist East (led by
the USSR)
