Goal 10: WWII and the Beginning of the Cold War (1930-1963)

1. Goal 10: WWII and the Beginning of the Cold War (1930-1963) The learner will analyze the U.S. involvement in WWII and the war’s influence on international affairs in the following decades.

2. The Coming of War (Ch. 19) Dictators & War • A Bitter Peace Unravels • “A war to end all wars” left many nations angered and resentful after the Treaty of Versailles. • Britain, France, U.S. made most of the decisions • Germany and Russia were not present • Italy and Japan (allies) had expected more land for their sacrifices. • Totalitarianism- a theory of government in which a single party or leader controls the economic, social, and cultural lives of its people.

3. Repression in the Soviet Union & Italy • In Russia- Lenin created the beginnings of a totalitarian system of control to maintain power. His programs resulted in civil war, starvation, famine, and death of millions of Russians. • Joseph Stalin replaces Lenin (1924) • Stalin’s efforts to transform the Soviet Union into an industrial power resulted in the deaths of 10 million people. • The Great Terror- Stalin purged the Russia of real or suspected traitors, which resulted in 1 million deaths or imprisonments

4. In Italy- Benito Mussolini became the head of the fascist party. Mussolini outlawed political parties, took over the press, created a secret police, and organized youth groups to indoctrinate the young. • Fascism –Believe in a strong sense of nationalism and the idea of making Italy great once again. • Black Shirts- followers

5. Aggressive Leader in Germany • Adolf Hitler was the son of an Austrian civil servant, a failed artist, a wounded & decorated WWI soldier, after the war he joined the Nazi Party. • A failed attempt to overthrow the government resulted in Hitler being imprisoned, where he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle). • Nazi bible and a German best seller. Hitler’s ideology of extreme nationalism, racism, and anti-Semitism. • Hitler believed that Jews were inferior and that Germans belonged to a superior master race of Aryans, or light-skinned northern Europeans.

6. In Jan. 1933 he was appointed Chancellor of Germany, later becoming president. • Secret police to control opposition, state controlled press and educational system to indoctrinate the young. • Late 1930s, Hitler’s economic policies, including rearmament and massive public works projects and ended the depression in Germany. • The majority of Germans loved the Nazi rule.

7. Dictators Turn to Aggression • In 1931, Japan attacks Manchuria and the U.N. did not respond, which gave dictators around the world confidence that there would be no repercussions for their actions. • With a stronger military, in 1936 Hitler ordered troops to occupy the demilitarized Rhineland, a region the Treaty of Versailles forbade German troops from entering. Yet again, the League of Nations took no action. • Italy had dreams of an empire. Mussolini used his modern military to conquer Ethiopia in 1935. • Ethiopia appealed to the League of Nations for help, but by 1936 Mussolini fully controlled Ethiopia.

8. Aggression Goes Unchecked • Appeasement – Giving in to an aggressor’s demands in hopes of keeping the peace. • Britain and France were weak, which encouraged Hitler to continue to break the Treaty of Versailles. • U.S.- Isolationists • 1938 Germany brought Austria into his Reich, called Anschluss, and Sudetenland, a portion of Czechoslovakia Munich Pact

9. From Isolation to Involvement Roosevelt opposes Aggression • Americans were still favoring a policy of isolation during this time period, but FDR warned that no part of the world was truly isolated from the rest of the world in his “Quarantine” speech. • FDR was widely criticized for his views on isolation and backed away from his stance on intervention in Europe.

10. War Erupts in Europe • March 12, 1938 – Germany takes the rest of Czechoslovakia. • The US and world do nothing. • Germany wants to invade Poland • Britain and France vow not to let Germany take any more countries. • Hitler was concerned more with the Soviet Union than Britain or France. • Signs a Non-Aggression Pact with Soviets. • In 1939 Germany and the USSR conquered and divided Poland. • Blitzkreig- “lightning war,” it was a sudden attack that hit Poland from 3 directions, • Britain and France declared war on Germany but defensively waited for Hitler to attack.

11. Allied Powers: France and Great Britain, later Soviet Union, United States, and China • Axis Powers: Germany and Japan • Hitler conquered Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. • For protection France relied on the Ardennes forest and a string of defenses called the Maginot Line. The French thought the Germans would avoid these defenses and invade through Belgium, as they did in WWI. • Hitler surprised the French by cutting through the Ardennes with his panzers, pinning the Allies to the sea, and pushing them off mainland Europe. • In less than a month the French were defeated. • Hitler then plan to invade Britain, but first he needed to control the skies. • Hitler conducted days of continuous bombing, but the British held on. • Hitler decided to postpone the invasion of Britain. • First loss suffered by Hitler and his war machine.

12. Americans Debate Involvement • Congress passed the Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937; which were developed to ensure that the US did not become entangled in European affairs. • FDR slowly getting his way because in 1939 the US adopts a “Cash & Carry” policy. • US could sell goods to other nations as long as they carried them on their ships. • Policy does not work, so FDR just sends the goods directly to the Allies. • Tripartite Pact- Germany, Italy, Japan signed & became allies. • Many Americans are convinced that they at least need to be ready to defend themselves. • The U.S. had the first peacetime draft.

13. American takes steps toward war • Britain ran out of money to continue with “Cash and Carry,” so Congress approved the Lend - Lease Act. FDR was now authorized to lend and lease “defense articles” to those necessary in the interest of the defense of the U.S. • Atlantic Charter- FDR and Winston Churchill met on a battleship to agree on certain principles for building a lasting peace and establishing free governments in the world. Germany fired on US ships transporting “goods” to Britain. • FDR orders the navy to attack German U-boats on sight. In June 1941, Germany had gone to war against the Soviet Union.

14. America Enters the War Japan Attacks the U.S. • As Japan began to move into Indochina, in July 1940- U.S. placed embargo on important naval and aviation supplies to Japan. (oil, iron ore, fuel steel, and rubber.) • Embargo was not very effective, Japan obtained such resources from land that had been taken over. • General • Nov. 1941 the U.S. intercepts the Hull Notes saying Japan will attack. • On Dec. 7th, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. • U.S. fleet caught unprepared. • 2,400 sailors died, 1,200 wounded, 18 ships sunk, 160 aircraft damaged, 200 destroyed. • Only the aircraft carriers and seven heavy cruiser survived because they were out to sea at the time of the attack. • On Dec. 8th 1941 the U.S. declares war on Japan. • In return, Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. because of the Tripartite Pact. • With the Japanese attack on the U.S., WWII became a global war.