Chapter 24 – The World War II Era (1935-1945)
Vocabulary:
1. Josef Stalin - dictator of the Soviet Union, who turned the
Soviet Union into a totalitarian state (communism)
2. totalitarian state - country where a single party controls the
government and every aspect of people’s lives
3. Benito Mussolini - prime minister of Italy, who turned Italy into the
world’s first fascist state (fascism)
4. fascism - political system that is rooted in militarism,
extreme nationalism, and blind loyalty to the state
5. Adolf Hitler - dictator of Germany, who turned Germany into an
extreme nationalist state (Nazism)
6. aggression - warlike act by one country without just cause
7. appeasement - practice of giving in to aggression in order to avoid
war
8. Winston Churchill - British prime minister during WWII
9. total war - conflict involving not just armies, but entire nations
10. Dwight D. Eisenhower - General who led the first American ground troops in
combat during WWII
11. Douglas MacArthur - General who commanded a Filipino-American force
during WWII
12. rationing - limitations on the amounts of certain goods that
people can buy
13. intern - to temporarily imprison so as to keep from leaving a
country
14. A. Philip Randolph - union leader, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping
Car Porters, who threatened a mass protest unless FDR moved to end discrimination in the armed forces
15. bracero - Mexican laborer who worked in the US during
WWII
16. Harry S. Truman - 33rd President of the US, who was suddenly thrust
into the highest office in the country
17. island hopping - during WWII, Allied strategy of capturing
Japanese-held islands to gain control of the Pacific
Ocean
18. kamikaze - WWII Japanese pilot trained to make a suicidal
crash attack, usually upon a ship
19. genocide - deliberate attempt to kill or destroy an entire nation
or group of people
20. war crimes - wartime act of cruelty and brutality that is judged to be beyond the accepted rules of war and human
behavior
21. Nazis - members of the National Socialist German Workers
Party
22. scapegoat - person/group who is made to bear the blame for
others
23. concentration camp - prison camp for civilians who are considered
enemies of the state
24. Neutrality Acts - series of laws passed by Congress in 1935 that
Banned arms sales or loans to countries at war
25. Good Neighbor Policy - President FDR’s policy intended to strengthen
Friendly relations with Latin America
26. Munich Conference - 1938 meeting of leaders of Britain, France, Italy,
and Germany at which an agreement was signed
giving part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler
27. Nazi-Soviet Pact - agreement signed by Hitler and Stalin in1939 in
which they agreed not to attack each other
28. blitzkrieg - the swift attacks launched by Germany in WWII
29. Axis - WWII military alliance of Germany, Italy, Japan,
and six other nations.
30. Allies - WWII military alliance of Britain, France, the
Soviet Union, China, the US, and 45 other countries
31. Battle of Britain - Germany’s failed attempt to subdue Britain in 1940
in preparation for invasion
32. Lend-Lease Act - during WWII the law that allowed the US to sell
arms and equipment to Britain
33. Atlantic Charter - 1941 program developed by the US and Britain that
Set goals for the postwar world
34. War Production Board - government agency created during WWII to help
Factories shift from making consumer goods to making war materials
35. victory garden - vegetable garden during WWII, planted to combat
food shortages in the US
36. Rosie the Riveter - fictional factory worker who became a symbol of
working women during WWII
37. “Double V” campaign - African American civil rights campaign during
WWII
38. Tuskegee Airmen - African American fighter pilots who trained in
Tuskegee, Alabama during WWII
39. compensation - repayment for losses
40. Battle of Midway - 1942 battle in the Pacific, in which American planes
Sank four Japanese aircraft carriers
41. Operation Overlord - code name for the Allied invasion of Europe (1944)
42. D-Day - June 6, 1944, day of invasion by Allied
Forces of Western Europe
43. Battle of the Bulge - German counter-attack in December 1944 that
temporarily slowed the Allied invasion of Germany
44. Navajo code-talkers - WWII Navajo soldiers who use their own language
to radio vital messages during the island-hopping campaign
45. Potsdam Declaration - message sent by the Allies in July 1945, calling for
Japanese surrender
46. Bataan Death March - long trek across the Philippines that American and
Filipino prisoners of war were forced to make by the Japanese
47. Holocaust - slaughter of Europe’s Jews by the Nazi’s before and
During WWII
48. Nuremberg Trials - Nazi war crime trials held in 1945 and 1946
49. Pearl Harbor - American naval base in Hawaii
50. Yalta Conference - Yalta, USSR – the “big three” meet to make plans
To end the war and for the future of Europe
51. Manhattan Project - 1942 – top-secret program to build an atomic bomb
52. Marshall Plan - 1948 – Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s plan
to help boost the economies of Europe
53. GI Bill of Rights - (GI Bill) provided educational and economic help to
veterans
54. United Nations - 1945 – international peace organization created
Chapter 24 – The World War II Era (1935 – 1945)
Section 1 – Aggression Leads to War
Obj: to describe the kind of dictatorship Stalin set up in the Soviet Union; to explain how authoritarian governments came to power in Germany, Italy, and Japan; to understand why the US adopted a policy of isolationism
· Stalin’s Totalitarian State –
o Lenin had set up communist government of the Soviet Union
o 1924 – After Lenin’s death, Joseph Stalin gained power and ruled as a totalitarian dictator.
o Took brutal measures to modernize Soviet industry and agriculture
o Ordered peasants to hand over their land and animals to government-run farms
o Millions who resisted were executed or sent to labor camps
o Stalin also staged trials and execution of his political enemies
o Many confessed to false charges under torture
· Fascist Italy –
o Unlike Stalin, Italy and Germany’s dictators were fascists (vowed to create new empires through the military, nationalism and extreme blind loyalties to the state)
o Communists drew much of their support from the working class
o Fascists found allies among business leaders and landowners
o 1922 - Benito Mussolini and his Fascist party seized power in Italy
§ Used economic unrest and fears of communist revolution to win support
§ Once in power, outlawed all political parties except his own, controlled the press, and banned criticism of the government.
§ Critics were jailed or simply murdered.
§ School children recited the motto “Mussolini is always right!”
§ 1930s – used foreign conquests to distract Italians from economic problems
· promised to restore the greatness of Ancient Rome – military aggression
§ 1935 – invaded Ethiopia
· Nazi Germany –
o Adolf Hitler – the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazis)
o Like Mussolini, Hitler played on anger about the Versailles Treaty (reparations)
o Assured Germans that they did not lose the war, rather Jews and other traitors had “stabbed Germany in the back”
§ This statement was, of course, false, but the people were looking for a scapegoat (excuse)
o He was a powerful speaker and a skillful politician
o The depression a perfect opportunity for him
o 1933 – he became chancellor or head of the German government
o Ended democratic rule within two years and created a militaristic totalitarian state.
o Government controlled the press, the schools and religion
o 1936 – organized a week-long rally in Nuremberg – superior race
§ Especially Jews, Gypsies and other peoples.
§ Later rounded Jews and sent them to concentration camps
§ He would later release a plan to kill all the Jews in Europe
§ Claimed Germany had the right to expand to the east
o He defied the Treaty of Versailles and began to build up Germany’s armed forces.
§ The League of Nations condemned these actions
§ Predicted that the rest of Europe would not react, just protest and they will always be too late
o 1936 – German troops moved into the Rhineland near the border with France and Belgium
§ France and Britain protested, but took no action
· Military Rule in Japan –
o Japan’s economy suffered terribly in the Great Depression
o Its people grew impatient with their democratic government, so military leaders took power.
o Like Hitler, Japanese leaders also preached racial superiority
o They also believed they were superior and purer than other Asians, as well as non-Asians
o They set their sights on Manchuria, China in an effort to expand
§ Manchuria was rich in coal and iron, two resources scarce in Japan
o They set up a state in Manchuria and called it Manchukuo
o China called on the League of Nations, who condemned Japan but did little else.
o The US also refused to recognize Manchukuo but took no action.
· American Isolationism –
o As war was gathering overseas, the US was determined to keep from becoming involved
§ Neutrality Acts:
§ 1935 – Congress passed the first of a series of Neutrality Acts, which banned arms sales or loans to countries at war.
· Congress also warned Americans not to travel on ships of countries at war
· Us limited economic ties with warring nations
§ The Good Neighbor Policy:
· US tried to improve relations with Latin American nations
· 1930 – President Herbert Hoover rejected the Roosevelt Corollary.
o Claimed that the US no longer had the right to intervene in Latin American affairs
§ FDR also worked to build friendlier relations with Latin America
· His Good Neighbor Policy - withdrew American troops from Nicaragua and Haiti.
· Cancelled the Platt Amendment, which limited the independence of Cuba
Chapter 24 – The World War II Era (1935 – 1945)
Section 2 – The United States at War
Obj: to explain how aggression led to war in Asia and Europe; to describe how the US repsonded to WWI outbreak; and, why the US finally entered the war
· During the 1930s, neither the US nor European nations were prepared to halt aggression in Europe or Asia.
· As the armies of Germany, Italy and Japan conquered more territory, the democracies still hoped to avoid another world war.
· Japan Sparks War in Asia –
o 1937 – Japan began an all-out war with China
o Japanese troops defeat Chinese armies and occupied northern and central China.
o This alarmed American leaders, they felt it undermined the Open Door Policy (promise of equal access to trade in China)
o It also threatened the Philippines (which the US controlled)
o Even though, isolationist feelings remained strong among the American people and kept the US from taking a firm stand against the Japanese
· Germany Brings War to Europe –
o 1938 – Hitler continued his plan for expansion
o Violated the Treaty of Versailles, and annexes Austria
§ Again, Britain and France took no action
o Later, he claimed the western part of Czechoslovakia, stating it contained many German people
o Sept 1938 – Munich, Germany – leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany met at the Munich Conference.
§ Hitler promised that Germany would seek no further territory once it had acquired the western part of Czechoslovakia.
§ To preserve peace, Britain and France agreed – they appeased Germany and Hitler
o Nazi Germany seized the rest of Czechoslovakia the next year and Britain and France realized that they had to take a firm action against the Nazi aggression
o 1939 – Hitler eyed Poland next.
§ Signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Stalin (the two rival dictators agreed not to attack each other)
· Secretly, they also agreed to divide Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe
o Sept 1939 – Hitler launched a blitzkrieg against Poland
§ Poland soon surrendered
o Soviet Union seized eastern Poland
§ Stalin’s forces also invaded Finland and later Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.
· A Second World War –
o Two days after Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany
o WWII had begun
o It was truly a global conflict
o Military forces fought all over the world
o The Axis Powers
§ Germany
§ Italy
§ Japan
§ 6 other nations
o The Allied Power
§ Britain
§ France
§ The Soviet Union
§ China
§ 45 other nations
§ The US
o 1940 – the Fall of France
§ Hitler’s armies marched north and west
· Denmark
· Norway
· Holland
· Belgium
§ Finally pushing their way to France
§ Hitler’s ally, Italy, also attacked France
§ British sent troops to help France, both were quickly overpowered
§ June 22, 1940 – France surrendered to Germany –
§ The Fall of France shocked the world
o The Battle of Britain –
§ Britain now stood alone
§ Germany drops bombs on London and other British cities
§ Britain fights back and after months of bombing, Hitler gives up his planned invasion of Britain
· The US Moves Toward War –
o After invasion of Poland – FDR announced that the US would remain neutral
o US aided Allies
§ Roosevelt’s cash-and-carry plan
§ FDR gave Britain 50 old American destroyers in exchange for a 99-year lease of military bases in Newfoundland and the Caribbean
o US was taking steps to prepare for war
§ Greater spending for the army and navy
§ Set up a military draft
§ FDR runs a third term, breaking the two-term policy set by George Washington