World War II PPT Notes
WWII Erupts
After WWI, strong dictatorships took hold in Germany, Italy, and Japan
•Aggressive leaders began to take over countries near them and formed the alliance known as the Axis Powers
Rise of Dictators
•Benito Mussolini became dictator of Italy
•Fascist leader (dictator having complete power)
•Italy invaded other countries under Mussolini
•Adolf Hitler
•Fascist leader of Germany
•Leader of the Nazi Party
•He promised to strengthen Germany’s military and economy
•He stopped making payments for WWI
•Hideki Tojo
•Leader of Japan
•Japan invaded China
Opposing Sides
•Allied Powers-Great Britain, France, Russia and later the United States
•Axis Powers-Germany, Italy, and Japan
War Begins
- Germany invaded Poland in 1939
•Hitler invaded France and then launched the Battle of Britain in an air campaign
Russia
•Russia led by Joseph Stalin was first on the side of Germany
•Hitler broke the alliance with Russia and invaded Russia
•Russia then switched sides and joined the Allied Powers
United States
•Most citizens favored isolationism and did not want to get involved in the war
•Congress passed the Neutrality Acts to keep U.S. out of war
•Lend-Lease Act of 1941 let Roosevelt lend allies military supplies
•German U-boats sank American supply ships so Roosevelt gave shoot on sight order
Pearl Harbor
•Naval base in Hawaii
•U.S. Pacific fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor
•Base attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941
•2,300 killed and 19 ships destroyed
•United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941
•Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11th
European Campaign
•War was fought on three continents: Europe, Africa, and Asia
•U.S. invaded North Africa in November 1942
•U.S. bombed German positions before land attack
D-Day
•U.S., Great Britain, and other Allied forces attacked Germany on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France
•Over 600 ships, 175,000 soldiers, and 11,000 airplanes were involved
•Over 2, 500, U.S. soldiers died on D-Day
Battle of the Bulge
•Allied forces moved toward Germany
•U.S. and Britain pushed to Germany from the East and Russia pushed from the West
•Germany made one big push back against the U.S. and Britain at the Battle of the Bulge
War ends in Europe
•Adolf Hitler commits suicide on April 30, 1945
•May 8, 1945, Germany surrenders and this day is called V-E day, for Victory in Europe
•Allies free millions in concentration camps where 11 million people, including 6 million Jews were killed. This is known as the Holocaust.
War in the Pacific
•The U.S. strategy for defeating Japan was called “island hopping.” The U.S. would take one island at a time.
•U.S. bombed major cities in Japan
•President Truman authorizes use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
•The reason was so the U.S. would not lose thousands, maybe millions with a land attack of Japan
•Japan surrenders on August 14, 1945. This is known as V-J Day for victory in Japan