Chapter 34 and 35: World War II

Yalta Meeting

(February 4-11, 1945) -- FDR, Stalin and Churchill -- Stalin agrees to go into the Pacific War within 3 months of Germany's surrender. Stalin agrees to free elections (**with encouragement**) in Eastern Europe. First meeting of United Nations on April 25, 1945 with Russia getting three votes. German Occupation Zones (US, Britain, France and USSR) USSR breaks off to be alone, the other three join together.

Potsdam Meeting

(July 17-August 12, 1945) -- Truman, Stalin and Atlee -- War Alliance starts to fall apart as this conference disagreed on most issues. Truman orders atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan. Council of Foreign Ministers established to create peace treaties for the Balkans. War Crimes and demilitarization and denazification of Germany. War Reparations.

Tehran Meeting

(November 28 - December 1, 1943) -- FDR, Stalin and Churchill -- *USSR wants Eastern Europe. US wants to free government in Eastern Europe *Planning for D-Day. *Soviet agree to help in Japan Note: During this conference, FDR was more of a moderator.

Johnson Debt Default Act

1934 preventing debt-dodging nations from borrowing further from the United States.

London Economic Conference

66 nations (1933) The delegates hoped to coordinate an international response to the global depression. They wanted to stabilize currencies and the rates at which they could be exchanged; opposed by Roosevelt; fell apart

Abraham Lincoln Brigade

A small group of American volunteers fought for the Spanish Loyalists.

Great Britain at start of WW2

After France fell to Germany, Hitler launched air attacks against Britain in August 1940 (Battle of Britain). During the Battle of Britain, radio broadcasts brought the drama from London air raids directly into America homes. Sympathy for Britain grew, but it was not yet sufficient to push the United States into war.

War Mobilization

After Pearl Harbor, five million men volunteered for military service but more were needed to fight a total war. The *Selective Service System* expanded the draft, and ten million more men joined the ranks of the American Armed Forces. So great was the need of the military, a Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was formed to fill noncombat positions otherwise filled by men, freeing up the men for frontline duty.

Development of the atomic bomb

Allied leaders planning the war against Japan knew that once they had defeated the Japanese Navy in the Pacific Ocean they would still have to invade Japan itself to end the war. President Truman decided there was only one way to avoid an invasion of Japan and still defeat them. He would use a brand new weapon that no one had ever seen before, the atomic bomb. The bombs were dropped on Japan in early August 1945. On September 2, 1945, the Japanese surrendered, and World War II was finally over.

Good Neighbor policy

America would not intervene or interfere with Latin American countries. All marines left Haiti in 1934. America also released some control over Cuba and Panama; tested by when the Mexican government seized American oil properties in 1938, President Roosevelt held to his unarmed intervention policy and a settlement was eventually worked out in 1941.

Nazi ideology

As outlined in Adolf Hitler's semi-autobiographical work Mein Kampf (My Struggle), the Nazi party believed in German superiority - economically, militarily, socially, and racially. In order to re-assert Germany's role in the world, Hitler and his party created a right-wing authoritarian regime that influenced nearly every corner of the country.

Attacking Italy

At Casablanca, President Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill in January 1943. The two agreed to step up the war in the Pacific, invade Sicily, increase pressure on Italy, and insist upon "unconditional surrender" of the enemy.Allied forces captured Sicily in August 1943, and in September 1943, Italy surrendered unconditionally and Mussolini was overthrown. Although Italy surrendered, the Germans continued to fight for control of Italy. Rome was taken on June 4, 1944. On May 2, 1945 , thousands of Axis troops in Italy surrendered and became prisoners of war.

American boat situation

Because Germany kept sinking arms shipments, FDR decided to have American warships escort supplies to Britain (July 1941). After a series of American boats were sunk by German U-boats, Congress voted in November 1941 to repeal the Neutrality Act of 1939. This enabled merchant ships to be legally armed and enter combat zones with munitions for Britain.

Impact of Allied negotiations on Eastern Europe

Because of the Soviet Union's key role in defeating Germany, the Allies were unable to completely ignore Stalin's demands for what became a ―sphere of influencein many Eastern European countries.

Women in arms groups

Best known were the WACs (Women's Army Corps army), WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service-navy), and SPARs (U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve). Although millions of women took jobs in factories, most women continued in their traditional household roles.

Neutrality Act of 1939

Britain and France needed war materials from America, so Congress passed the act. This new act let the European democracies buy American war materials as long as they transported the goods on their own ships and paid in cash. This allowed America to avoid loans, war debts, and the sinking of American ships.

D-Day

D-Day was the codename for the first day of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, on June 6, 1944. It remains the largest seaborne invasion in history with over 156,000 men crossing the English Channel. The German troops occupying France were caught almost completely by surprise and, although the Allies met heavy resistance in small areas, the invasion went almost exactly according to plan. From the French beaches, American and British forces pushed east to Germany. This marked the beginning of victory for the Allies in Europe. It is a turning point since Germany began to retreat, no longer offensive; the plan was designed by Dwight Eisenhower.

Long term causes of WWII

Discontentment about Treaty of Versailles, Worldwide economic depression, Rise of totalitarian governments, Expansionism of Germany, Italy, & Japan, Failure of appeasement policy (Britain/France)

Braceros Program

Even with some industrial and agricultural workers being exempt from the draft, the draft left the nation's farms and factories short of personnel. In 1942, thousands of Mexican agricultural workers were brought to America to harvest the farms of the West.

Internment of Japanese-Americans

Fears of spies and sabotage led to prejudice and sometimes violence against Japanese Americans. In the name of national security, Roosevelt ordered (Executive Order 9066) all people of Japanese ancestry be moved from California and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona to rural prison camps.

MacArthur and Japan

General Douglas MacArthur was appointed as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan following WWII. During the four years following WWII, he worked with the Japanese government to draft a constitution, institute democratic reforms, reduce the size of the Japanese military, and privatize companies formerly run by the government.

Japan Dies Hard

General MacArthur returned to the Philippines with 600 ships and 250,000 troops. In Leyte Gulf, Japan lost a series of 3 battles took place from October 23-26, 1944; this marked the end of Japan's sea power. MacArthur then landed on the main Philippine island of Luzon in January 1945, capturing Manila in March 1945. Iwo Jima, needed as an airport for damaged American bombers returning from Japan, was captured in March 1945. The Americans captured the island of Okinawa after fighting from April to June of 1945. The American navy sustained heavy losses from the "kamikaze" (suicide) Japanese pilots.

Hitler attacked the Soviet Union

He hoped to take the oil and other resources of the Soviet Union and then concentrate on Britain. President Roosevelt sent military supplies to the USSR.

Start of WW2

Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Britain and France, honoring their commitments to Poland, declared war on Germany

Hitler's Invasion of Europe

In 1935, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles when he introduced mandatory military service in Germany. In 1936, he again violated the treaty when he took over the demilitarized German Rhineland.In March 1938, Hitler invaded Austria. At a conference in Munich, Germany in September 1938, the Western European democracies allowed Germany to keep Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia). They hoped that this would stop Hitler from taking over other countries. It did not. In March 1939, Hitler took over all of Czechoslovakia.

Rome-Berlin Axis.

In 1936, Nazi Hitler and Fascist Mussolini allied themselves

Japanese Appeasement

In 1937, the Japanese invaded China. President Roosevelt refused to call this invasion a "war", so the neutrality legislation did not take effect. If he had called it a war, he would have cut off munition sales to the Chinese. A consequence of this, though, was that the Japanese could still buy war supplies from the United States. In 1937, Japanese planes sunk an American ship, the Panay. Tokyo quickly apologized and the United States accepted.

Mechanical Cotton Picker

In 1944, the invention of the mechanical cotton picker made the Cotton South's need for cheap labor disappear. As a result of this, millions of blacks moved north.

End of WW2

In April 1945, General Eisenhower's troops continued into Germany and discovered the concentration camps where the Nazis had murdered over 6 million Jews. All of the atrocities of the Holocaust were not discovered until the war ended. The Soviets captured Berlin in April 1945. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died suddenly from a brain hemorrhage. Harry S Truman took over the presidency. On May 7, 1945, the German government surrendered unconditionally. May 8 was proclaimed V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.

Atlantic Charter

In August 1941, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met and came up with the eight-point plan at the Atlantic Conference. It discussed the goals of the war. Among other things, it promised that there would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants; it affirmed the right of a people to choose their own form of government, and it declared for disarmament of the aggressors

Battle of the Coral Sea

In May 1942, a crucial naval battle was fought in the Coral Sea between an American carrier task force, with Australian support, and a Japanese carrier task force. Although it suffered losses, the U.S. stopped the Japanese advancement. This was the first battle in which all the fighting was done by carrier-based aircraft.

Wartime Conversion

In order to meet the supply needs of the US military, many factories were converted from civilian to military purposes. This conversion lasted till war's end, and allowed American manufacturing might to support the war effort.

Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (or War Labor Disputes Act)

It authorized the federal government to operate industries that were under strike, like coal mines and railroads.

Japan Trade Situation

Japan's war effort was dependent on trade with America. In late 1940, though, Washington imposed the first of its trade embargoes on Japan. The U.S. offered to lift the embargo if Japan ended its war with China. Japan did not agree to America's terms, and it continued to fight.

Japan and the Philippines

Japanese launched attacks on various Far Eastern strongholds, including the American outposts of Guam, Wake, and the Philippines.In the Philippines, American forces, led by General MacArthur, held out against the invading Japanese force for 5 months. The America troops eventually surrendered on April 9, 1942. They were treated with vicious cruelty in the 80-mile Bataan Death March to prisoner-of-war camps. The island fortress of Corregidor held out until it surrendered on May 6, 1942, giving the Japanese complete control of the Philippines.

Strategy to attack Germany in WWII

Many Americans, including President Roosevelt, wanted to begin a diversionary invasion of France in 1942 or 1943. They feared that the Soviets, who were unable to hold out forever against Germany, might make a separate peace deal as they had in 1918 and leave the Western Allies to face Germany alone.British military planners preferred to attack Hitler through the "soft underbelly" of the Mediterranean. The Americans eventually agreed.American general, Dwight D. Eisenhower led an assault on French-held North Africa in November 1942. The invasion was the mightiest waterborne effort up to that time in history. The German-Italy army surrendered in Tunisia in May 1943.

Cause-Lend-Lease

March, 11, 1941, nine months before Pearl Harbor, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act and amended the Neutrality Acts so the United States could lend military equipment and supplies to any nation the president said was vital to the defense of the United States. It created new jobs and ended the GD.

Pearl Harbor

On "Black Sunday" December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,348 people. Most of America's battleships were significantly damaged, but its 3 Pacific-fleet aircraft carriers were spared because they were out of the harbor.

Surrender of Japan

On August 10, 1945, Tokyo surrendered under the condition that emperor Hirohito be allowed to keep his title as emperor. The Allies accepted this condition on August 14, 1945. The formal end to the war came on September 2, 1945, which was proclaimed as V-J (Victory in Japan) Day.

Hitler-Stalin Pact

On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression treaty with Hitler. It meant that Germany could make war on Poland and the Western democracies without fear of retaliation from the Soviet Union.

US declares war

On December 8, the U.S. declared war on Japan. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. The U.S. followed suit by declaring war on them.

Battle of Midway

On June 3-6, 1942, a naval battle was fought near Midway. If the Japanese took Midway, they would be able to directly launch attacks against Pearl Harbor. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz directed a smaller carrier force, under Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, against the powerful invading Japanese fleet. The Japanese retreated after losing 4 carriers. Midway was a turning point in the Pacific war. Combined with the Battle of Coral Sea, the U.S. success at Midway halted the Japanese.

Kristallnact

On November 9, 1938, mobs of Germans attacked German Jews ( "night of broken glass"). Following these attacks, thousands of Jews were sent to concentration camps.

US violates own nuetrality

On September 2, 1940, President Roosevelt transferred 50 destroyers left over from WWI to Britain. In return, Britain gave to the United States 8 valuable defensive base sites in the Western Hemisphere. This transfer of warships was a flagrant violation of America's neutrality obligations.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the navy of the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Over 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 more were wounded, 21 ships were damaged, and 300 aircraft were destroyed. The Japanese attack took the United States officially into WWII.

Rationing

One way Americans conserved on the home front was through the mandatory government rationing system. Under this system, each household received a "c book" with coupons to be used when buying scarce items such as meat, sugar, and coffee. Gas rationing was also used to help save gasoline for military use.

Holocaust

Planned interment, enslavement, and murder of Jews and other religious and ethnic minorities perpetrated by Hitler's Nazi party. By the end of WWII approximately 10 million people had been killed. The killing was unknown by the Allies.

Los Alamos

The American government had developed two atomic bombs in a secret laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Turning Points in 1942

The Battle of the Atlantic was fought between the German's modern fleet of submarine U-Boats and Allied shipping, which was protected by Allied navies. The introduction of air patrols and radar eventually helped the Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic.The turning point in the land-air war against Hitler came in late 1942. At the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, British general Bernard Montgomery defeated the Germans, who were led by Marshal Erwin Rommel.In September 1942, the Soviets repelled Hitler's attack on Stalingrad, capturing thousands of German soldiers. (This was the turning point in the war in the Soviet Union.)

Marshall Plan

The European Recovery Program, better known as the Marshall Plan for Secretary of State George Marshall, was America's main program for rebuilding Western Europe and opposing communism after World War II. The plan was put into action in July 1947 and operated for four years. During that time, the United States spent thirteen billion dollars on economic and technical assistance for the war-torn democratic European countries that had been nearly destroyed during World War II. The Marshall Plan offered the same aid to the Soviet Union and its allies if they would make political reforms and accept certain outside controls; however, the Soviets rejected this proposal.

Election of 1940

The Republicans chose Wendell L. Willkie to run in the election of 1940; FDR runs for 3rd term; voters generally felt that if war came, the experience of FDR was needed.

Korematsu v. U.S

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the concentration camps

leapfrogging

The U.S. Navy "leapfrogged" several Japanese-held islands in the Pacific. So, rather than fighting for every island, the strategy was to take nearby islands and then lay siege to the surrounded islands. Admiral Chester Nimitz successfully coordinated naval, air, and ground assaults in the Pacific.Saipan Island, Tinian Island, and the major islands of the Marianas fell to U.S. attackers in July and August 1944. From the Marianas, the United States' new B-29 superbombers were able to carryout round-trip bombing raids on Japan's home islands.

Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937

The acts stated that when the president proclaimed the existence of a foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect. In regards to countries that were involved in a war (victim or aggressor), no American could legally sail on one of their ships, sell or transport munitions to them, or give them loans.

Executive Order No. 9066

The exception to this was when 110,000 Japanese-Americans on the Pacific Coast forced into concentration camps. This was authorized by Washington feared that they might act as saboteurs for Japan in case of invasion.

Rubber Crisis

The government imposed a national speed limit and gasoline rationing after America's supply of natural rubber from British Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies was broken.

Phony War

The months after the fall of Poland were known as the "phony war" because France and the U.K.

Support for War Conflict

The most powerful group of those who supported aid for Britain was the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Isolationists organized the America First Committee, contending that America should concentrate what strength it had to defend its own shores.

Fall of France

The phony war ended in April-May 1940 when Hitler took over Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium. France fell in June 1940.When France surrendered, Americans realized that England was all that stood in the way of Hitler controlling all of Europe. FDR and Congress quickly set out to build large airfleets and a two-ocean navy. On September 6, 1940, Congress passed a conscription law; under this measure, America's first peacetime draft was initiated.

Code Talkers

Thousands of Native Americans served in the armed forces. Comanches in Europe and Navajos in the Pacific made valuable contributions as they transmitted radio messages in their native languages (incomprehensible to the Axis powers).

Role of women in war industries

To equip the troops, the whole of American industry was dedicated to supplying the military. More than six million workers in these plants, factories, and shipyards were women. Women volunteered for this work even though they were only paid on average 60% as much as men doing the same jobs. It marked the beginning of the acceptability of women in the workplace.

Atomic Bomb Dropped

With the Japanese still refusing to surrender, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing 180,000 people. On August 8, Stalin invaded the Japanese defenses of Manchuria and Korea. After the Japanese still refused to surrender, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, killing 80,000 people.

Nye Commission

a commission whose report revealed unwholesome activities by the Am. arms manu.- they had lobbied for war, bribed foreign officials and supplied fascist govt with arms

Korematsu v. US

a group of individuals who were interned sued the US saying that heir due process was violated; SC said civil liberties can be restricted in time of war

Congress of Radical Equality (CORE)

a militant organization committed to nonviolent "direct action"

War Refugee Board

created by FDR after learning of the Nazi genocide. It was created to help victims of the Nazis and other Axis powers.

The Office of Price Administration (OPA)

eventually brought the down prices and curbed inflation due to scarcity of consumer goods.

A. Phillip Randolph

head of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; threatened a Negro March on Washington to ask for equal opportunities in war jobs and armed forces.

The War Labor Board (WLB)

imposed ceilings on wage increases

Lend-Lease Act

in 1941, under the pretense of defending America. It allowed America to lease arms to the democracies of the world that needed them. (Europeans didn't have the cash to buy the arms; cash was required by the Neutrality Act of 1939.). The bill marked the abandonment of any pretense of neutrality.Hitler saw the Lend-Lease Bill as an unofficial declaration of war. Until then, Germany had avoided attacking U.S. ships, but on May 21, 1941, the Robin Moor, an unarmed American merchantman, was destroyed by a German submarine in the South Atlantic, outside the war zone.

Manhattan Project

in Alamongordo, New Mexico developed the atomic bomb. Germany was the initial intended target for the atomic bomb while it was being developed.On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated as a test in Alamongordo, New Mexico.

Potsdam conference

in July 1945, President Truman met with Stalin and the British leader. They issued an ultimatum to Japan- surrender or be destroyed. They organize a peace treaty for the Baltics and take about the denazification, war reparations, war crimes with Germany

"Island Hopping"

is the phrase given to the strategy by the United States to gain military bases and secure the many small islands in the Pacific. The attack was lead by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. They took control of those islands, and quickly constructed landing strips and small military bases. Then they proceeded to attack other islands from the bases they had established, slowly adavncing to Japan. Though costly, the island hopping campaign was successful. It allowed the US to gain control over sufficient islands in the Pacific to get close enough to Japan to launch a mainland invasion.

War Production Board (WPB)

oversaw U.S. war production, American factories produced an enormous amount of weaponry, such as guns and planes. The WPB stopped the manufacture of nonessential items, such as passenger cars.

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act

passed in 1934, which was designed to lower the tariff. This act allowed the President to lower tariffs with a country if that country also lowered their tariffs. Secretary of State Hull succeeded in negotiating pacts with 21 countries by the end of 1939. The trade agreements dramatically increased U.S. foreign trade.The act paved the way for the American-led free-trade international economic system that took shape after WWII.

Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1934

provided independence to the Philippines by 1946. The nation did not want to have to support the Philippines if Japan attacked it.

Quarantine Speech

speech by FDR in 1937, in which he proposed economic embargos against the aggressive dictators. The public opposed this, so FDR did not follow through with his plan.

Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939

started when Spanish rebels, led by fascist General Francisco Franco, rose against the left-wing republican government in Madrid. Aided by Mussolini and Hitler, Franco overthrew the Loyalist regime, which was supported by the Soviet Union. This war was a "dress rehearsal" for World War II because it involved many of the same countries.The United States wanted to stay out of war, so Congress amended the neutrality legislation to apply an arms embargo to both the Loyalists and rebels.

Election of 1944

the Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey for the presidency and isolationist Senator, John W. Bricker for the vice presidency.The Democrats nominated Roosevelt for the presidency and Senator Harry S Truman for the vice presidency.Roosevelt won a sweeping majority of the votes in the Electoral College and was reelected. He won primarily because the war was going well.

In 1933, Roosevelt formally recognized

the Soviet Union, opening up trade and fostering a friendship to counter-balance the threat of German power in Europe and Japanese power in Asia.

At the Havana Conference of 1940

the United States agreed to protect Latin America from German aggression (extension of the Monroe Doctrine); all 20 countries had responsibility of Monroe Doctrine

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, 2 events marked the course of WWII

the fall of France in June 1940, and Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)

to monitor compliance with his executive order that forbade discrimination in defense industries.

ABC-1 agreement

with the British. It stated that if the U.S. entered the war, then it would focus its efforts first on Germany. After Germany was defeated, the Allies would focus on Japan.