WORLD WAR II1931-1945

Nancy Pace, 5th Grade Teacher

Berry Shoals Intermediate School

2004

World War II“The Big One”

• Causes of World War II

• Friends and Enemies

• United States Gets Involved

• End of the War

• Gains and Losses

Causes of World War II

• Germany blamed for causing World War I (WWI)– Continued developing war weapons after WWI

– Economy destroyed after WWI

– Discrimination of ethnic groups, especially Jewish and Polish.

• The rise of dictators as a result of WWI• Imperialism and the search of raw materials

Germany

• Germany’s economy was devastated after WWI.• Germany was held completely accountable for

WWI.• The Germans resented the blame and grew weary

of the depressed economy.• Germany welcomed a person who developed

strong patriotism and provided it with someone to blame for all its troubles – Hitler.

The Rise of Dictators

• RUSSIA: Joseph Stalin

• SPAIN: Francisco Franco

• ITALY: Benito Mussolini

• JAPAN: Emperor Hirohito

• GERMANY: Adolf Hitler

• Three of these men joined to rule the world!

BLITZ KRIEG

• Germany took over neighboring countries: Czechoslovakia and Austria, 1938.

• Germany attacked Poland, in 1939, hoping that the world would not come to its rescue.

• As the world watched, in a matter of days, Germany conquered the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and most of France.

The Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan

• Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito formed an alliance to conquer the world.

• Germany continued to consume Europe.

• Mussolini led Italian forces to take over Africa.

• Hirohito led Japanese forces to overcome Asia.

The Allied Forces:Great Britain, France, USA, and Soviet Union

• The world could no longer ignore the danger.• Great Britain, lead by Prime Minister William

Chamberlain, joined the war to help France.• The United States, led by Franklin Delano

Roosevelt, pledged supplies and support for the Allies but worked to stay out of the war.

• The Soviet Union agreed to stay out of the war as long as Germany left them alone.

Big Mistakes…HUGE!• Germany agreed with the Soviet Union to not

attack. Hitler broke his agreement and attacked the Soviet Union. He now fought a war on two fronts, East and West. The Soviet Union joined the Allied Forces.

• Japan declared war on the United States with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.

• Japan’s General Yamamoto said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

The Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Yanks are Coming…

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on the Axis Powers and entered the war on three fronts.

• Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941 to be “…a day that will live in infamy.”

President Roosevelt SignsDeclaration of War

General Dwight D. EisenhowerLed Troops in Europe

General Douglas MacArthur Led Troops in Asia

General George Patton Led Troops in Africa

End of WWII

• Germany no longer sustained strength fighting a war on two fronts.

• German troops froze to death in the Soviet Union and lacked the supplies and willpower to continue.

• The Allied Forces planned an amazing attack in Northern France: D-Day.

End of WWII• Mussolini lost power over Italy as starving Italians

marched in the streets and took over the country.• Mussolini was captured and publicly hung upside

down in the town square.• The Axis Powers in Europe surrendered May 8,

1945. • Hitler, hiding in an underground bunker, took his

own life. To avoid being disgraced, he asked his few remaining loyal guardsmen to burn his body.

End of WWII• Upon the death of President Franklin

Roosevelt, President Harry S. Truman led a mournful nation to the end of the war in Asia.

• President Truman decided to use the most powerful weapon known to man, the Atomic Bomb (A-Bomb).

• Japan was asked to surrender, but it chose to ignore the warning.

August 6, 1945…Hiroshima

August 9, 1945…Nagasaki

• When Japan refused to surrender, the United States dropped another A-Bomb, this time on the industrial city of Nagasaki.

• With the destruction of two major industrial cities, Japan was hopeless.

• Japan surrendered, bringing the end to WWII on all fronts.

Gains and Losses• Germany was divided into two countries, losing

its colonies around the world.• Japan was denied its right to a military: army or

navy. To this day, it may only maintain a coast guard to provide coastal protection for itself.

• Italy lost its colonies around the world.• The Soviet Union took over neighboring

countries, forming a wide and comprehensive national boundary to protect itself from future attacks.

Gains and Losses, (cont.)

• The United States (USA) took on the role of rebuilding Europe.

• The USA refused to share the technology of the atomic weapons, creating distrust and a Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA.

• A new form of government developed worldwide: Communism.

…and the world goes on!

• It will take years (40) before the after-effects of WWII are resolved.

• Under President Ronald Reagan (1980-1988), communism fell, and the world was ready for democracy to flourish.

Credits

• Boehm, R.G. ed. United States in Modern Times. Harcourt Brace & Company, 2000.

• Photos Courtesy of the Library of Congress:http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi