Clouds of War

1. Clouds of War

2. Section 1: Foreign Affairs, 1933-1939

3. Foreign Affairs, 1933-1939 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), shown right, came into office in march of 1933, when the outlook of civilization looked darker than ever. Adolf Hitler of Austria, shown left, was a failed artist who served Germany and was wounded in WWI. His quest for complete power of Germany was fueled by a deep hatred of the Jewish people- whom he blamed for Germany’s defeat. In prison, he wrote his 800 page Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which became the bible for the Nazi Party.

4. Rise of Hitler Hitler believed that the Germans were the ultimate race and that democracy was fraud and the only good government was a dictatorship. His plans for the “Third Reich” were so crazy that people weren't taking it seriously until millions inside of Germany began to join his National Socialist (Nazi) Party The German economy took a hard hit after the Nazi party began to rise

5. Hitler Comes to Power The Democratic Government was weak after WWI and Hitler offered the government a scapegoat, the Jews. He spread the hate through the radio and other forms of communication. The German people revered Hitler as a god, greeting each other with “Heil Hitler!” The main new institution was concentration camps, in which gas chambers killed huge amounts of Jews. Camps like Auschwitz killed millions.

6. The Good Neighbor Policy It was obvious to all that another world war was soon coming. Roosevelt came into office saying the US would be “the good neighbor” in world affairs and not meddle, He showed this by withdrawing marines from Haiti and reassuring Latin American countries. This policy was tested when Mexico tried to take over oil stations but instead of sending troops, the Administration negotiated and everyone was happy.

7. FDR and Neutrality The President warned that if aggression continued in Asia, Africa, and Europe, the whole world would be engulfed in war. If the democracies of Europe were conquered by the Nazi party, America would be next. The country was torn between whether they should fight another world war or stay out of it. The country tried very hard to remain neutral by passing several acts and bills; 75% of Americans favored an amendment to the constitution that would prevent Congress from declaring war, but even this could not stop the nation’s drift towards war.

8. Hitler on the March One of Hitler’s goals was to bring all people of German blood into the Third Reich. With the help of his close counsel, Benito Mussolini (shown right), this brought him to invade Austria and Czechoslovakia; in his invasion of these countries, other powers like Britain and the US began to take part by assisting those who were attacked by these invasions. These attacks brought citizens to fear and they wanted to repeal or modify the arms embargo which stopped the US from fighting back, but it wasn’t until January of 1940 that any change of the sort took place.

9. War Comes to Europe Hitler rose to power saying that Communist Russia was the enemy, but surprised all when he signed a nonaggression pact with Stalin in 1939. Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and two days later, England and France officially declared war on Germany. Stalin’s armies also began to move into Poland and the poor country became divided between the two tyrants within a matterof weeks.

10. The United States Reacts In September of 1939, FDR called congress into special session, asking them to remove certain embargos and acts so the US could find ways to help the allies against Hitler. This was greatly debated by isolationists who wanted to remain completely out of it, but still had an effect.

11. Section 2: The Battlefield is Everywhere

12. The New Warfare Blitskrieg (lightning war) was Adolf Hitler’s secret weapon; This form of attack usually consisted of planes moving quickly, hitting hard, and getting out. With this new form of attack, the Nazi forces struck many countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and even France, among others, using planes such as the Stuka dive bomber (shown) Winston Churchill took over in Britain and the battlefield had truly become everywhere, as it consumed most of Europe.

13. Billy Mitchell Advertises Air Power Air power was not taken seriously by the US for a long time; it wasn’t until Billy Mitchell (shown) started showing all the great advantages that people realized how great of a tool it could be. Mitchell believed that air power should be its own branch of the military that focused on taking out vital centers for the enemy.

14. Mitchell Gives a Demonstration • At around noon on July 21, 1921, Mitchell showed his grand demonstration by putting an “unsinkable” German battle ship at the bottom of the ocean in about 20 minutes. • Still officers would not consider it and eventually Mitchell tried speaking bad of the armed forces and was hit with a five year suspension from active duty.

15. Building Air Power The idea was still refuted until on May 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew nonstop from New York to Paris and many saw the tool they were missing. The Americans sent out the B-17 bomber, or flying fortress, in 1935 for the first time. William A. Moffett (shown), a pilot and aviation enthusiast, became head of the Navy’s new Bureau of Aeronautics in 1921 and made huge steps toward air supremacy.

16. The Battle of Britain With the US still torn about joining the fight, Britain stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini. Churchill warned of the evil that would come if Britain were to fall, and in 1940, Hitler sent many planes to rain down death upon Britain, knowing that they must surrender before a re-armed America joined the fight. A huge key to surviving was that the British found a way to decode the German secret messages and move just in time; this was called Ultra. One of the hardest hit places was Coventry, which on November 14, 1940, was heavily bombed.

17. World Affairs and the Presidential Election of 1940 The Republican nominee for the election was Wendell L. Willkie (shown below), a sharp contrast to FDR; although Willkie opposed the New Deal, he agreed with FDR that aid must be given to Britain. FDR was the first in history to run for a third term.

18. The Destroyer Deal FDR tried as hard as he could to aid Britain, but both the law and German submarines, made it very difficult. The president devised a “Destroyers for Bases” deal; this deal gave Britain 50 old but useful destroyer ships in exchange for use of 8 of Britain’s naval bases.

19. Helping the British After destroying Willkie in the election of 1940, FDR was faced with a dilemma: the Brits were quickly running out of supplies and if the US did not revoke or change the Neutrality law soon, Britain would fall to the Nazis. Roosevelt came up with a “Lend-lease” plan in which the US would lend or lease to any country whose defense was considered vital. In his annual message to congress in January of 1941, the President proclaimed four freedoms, which can be seen once you hit the next button.

20. Section 3: War Comes to The United States

21. The War Spreads The US had begun to station in places in Iceland and Greenland and even seized 92 German ships. On June 22, 1941, Hitler made a great blunder and with too much confidence, he invaded Russia; the only problem was that the extreme cold of the country stopped the Germans in their tracks (Russian winter shown here). The US had also begun to shoot German subs on sight and before they knew it, the US was in an unexpected war in the Atlantic

22. Trouble in the Pacific Japan had gradually been becoming more and more of a problem as they attempted to take control of nearly all of the far East. Japan was set on invading a weak China and eventually, the US responded with an embargo on oil trade with Japan. Later, a war-like government took power in Japan; the US was expecting an attack somewhere, they just never thought it‘d be on Pearl Harbor

23. The Attack on Pearl Harbor On December 7, 1941, a fleet of 191 Japanese warplanes attacked American airfields and ships at Pearl Harbor; an hour later, a second fleet of 170 planes followed and brought more damage. This surprise attack took more than 2300 lives and destroyed some of the US’s most valuable pieces of machinery. President Roosevelt spoke to Congress the next day and said what will appear on the screen once you click. The United States was officially a part of World War II.

24. Timeline of Events This timeline sums up the major events of WWII

25. Credits Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed the presentation. Here is the link to a song which I believe sums up this time period, among others, very well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50p-XScreM Once again thanks for putting up with the long presentation and I hope you liked it -Andres Nazario