THE UNITED STATES IN IN WORLD WAR II

World War II Beginnings

World War II officially started in September of 1939 when Nazi Germany

invaded Poland. Prior to the invasion, a lot of factors were starting to

come together, which eventually led to the invasion. Some of these factors

include the global economy, the rise of totalitarianism and facism, and the

isolationism of the United States. We will explore these factors in depth

to gain a better understanding of how all of these factors led to World

War II and what roles the United States played.

The Global Economy

Following World War I, many nations experienced financial struggles.

The victors of World War I decided that the losing nations must pay for

damages caused. Germany suffered most of burden of paying for the war.

Do to this heavy burden placed on Germany, the nation began to build a

grudge against the victorious nations. This war debt also helped Adolf

Hitler rise to power.

Rise of Totalitarianism and Fascism

Totalitarianism

A totalitarian state is run by the government in the form of a sin-

gle-party dictatorship that controls every aspect of it’s citizens lives. To

the state, the people have no individual rights. Citizens are also ex-

pected to obey the government without question. Those who speak up

are quickly silenced. Totalitarian states also favor extreme national-

ism; everything done must benefit the state. Propaganda is used heavi-

ly to force ideals upon the people. Censorship and terror also play an

important part in maintaining the ideals of totalitarianism.

Russia

When Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin

outmaneuvered his political rivals to gain con-

trol of the government. Stalin’s main goal was

to transform the Soviet Union into a powerful

industrial state. In 1928, Stalin introduced a

five-year plan that would help the Soviet Un-

ion achieve that goal. There were two main

goals of the five-year plan, the rapid growth of

industry and to increase farm production

through the collectivization of agriculture. Through many of these five-

year plans, several of the nation’s resources were used to build steel

Fascism in Italy

Following World War I, Italy fell victim to economic and political prob-

lems. Many workers went on strikes and in the countryside, peasants

revolted, seizing the land of their wealthy landlords. With such turmoil

occurring in the country, the middle class feared a socialist revolution.

Using the distress to his advantage, Benito Mussolini gained power in

Italy. Shortly after coming to power, Benito. Founded the Fascists party.

The Fascists focused on glorifying the state, supporting aggressive na-

tionalism, and disapproved of democracy. They felt that if rival political

parties existed, the state would become divided. In 1922 Mussolini

was appointed prime minister of Italy and increased his power by ap-

pointing Fascists to top positions in the government, censoring the

press, and organizing a secret police.

Japan and Militarism

After World War I, Japan went through a period of economic prosperity

and a democratic government was on the rise. Shortly following this pe-

riod, the United States entered the Great Depression and this effected

Japan greatly. Japan’s economy suffered greatly because the country re-

lied on foreign trade. Unable to solve it’s economic issues, the people of

Japan looked to the military instead of the government for help. Taking

matters into their own hands, military leaders began to set up a military

dictatorship. Japan’s system was different from that of other countries.

Instead of having a single leader, a small group of military leaders con-

trolled the government. This military dictatorship resembled a totali-

tarian state. The government arrested critics , imposed censorship, and

created a secret police to hunt down “enemies” of the state.. In order to

strengthen itself, Japan felt that an empire must be established . With

this in mind, Japan invaded Manchuria, a province in northeastern Chi-

na. China protested to the League of Nations when this occurred. The

League of Nations condemned the invasion but did not take any further

action.

Hideki Tojo

One of Japan’s military leaders.

The Rise of Nazi Germany

Germany suffered the most following World War I. The German people

faced many problems and looked for someone to blame them on. Extrem-

ists on both the right and left threatened to revolt. Inflation also plagued

Germany in the 1920s and slowly the people began to have little faith in

their government. A man by the name of Adolf Hitler gained control of the

Nazi Party in the 1920s. The Nazi Party was described as being a national-

istic, anti-communist, and anti-Semitic organization. He used hatred for

the Jewish people to his advantage. He blamed them for Germany’s defeat

in World War I and for the economic problems that followed. Hitler con-

vinced the German people that they belonged to a superior “Aryan” race

that was destined for world domination. Similar to the United States and

Japan, Germany was affected by the Great Depression, and this caused

people to find hope in the Nazi Party. Rising to power in 1933, Hitler set

up a fascist state in Germany. He utilized the strategies similar to those of

Stalin and Mussolini to build upon a totalitarian state. The Nazi party used

propaganda to call the German citizens into a need for hard work, sacri-

fice, and service to the state. The secret police, or Gestapo, arrested any-

one who was suspected of opposing the Nazi Rule. Like Stalin, Hilter

launched massive building programs. He also placed strict regulations on

wages and prices. Lastly, Hitler began to build up the German military. At

this point, Hitler was starting to see his dream of German expansion.

The United States and World War II

The United states did not officially join World War II until December

7th, 1941 when the Japanese attacked the United States naval fleet in

Hawaii. Prior to this, the United States maintained a sense of isolation-

ism, only providing supplies to their allies, Great Britain and France. Af-

ter this attack, everyday life for citizens was drastically changed. Some

of these changes included rationing and drives for various resources.

Winning the War on the Home front

The citizens of the United states realized that

they must be ready to make sacrifices for the

nation should they be called upon. In the

Spring of 1942, the government began a ra-

tioning program to set the limits of various

goods such as gas, food, and clothing. As part

of this rationing program, families were is-

sued ration stamps that were used to buy everything they needed. A

popular slogan used during this ration period was “Do with less, so

they’ll have enough” with “they” being in reference to American troops

overseas. In addition to rationing, “victory gardens” were planted by

many to grow their own food. Citizens also worked to collect scrap met-

al, aluminum cans, and rubbers. These resources were recycled and

used to produce war goods. Bonds were also sold to help pay for the

cost of the war.

The American Worker

When the United States entered the war, many armaments were

going to be produced, so the American worker played a vital role in the

production of these war-related materials. With many of the men going

This was kind of unusual because prior to the war, those positions were

held by men. One of the most famous examples of women in the workforce

was “Rosie the Riveter”.

The United States Overseas

There were several key battles and military campaigns that the Unit-

ed States executed during World War II. These include the North African

campaign, “island hopping”, and the European Theater. The North African

campaign took place in the North African desert from 1940 to 1943. In

strategic terms, this campaign was important because the Mediterranean

and British African Empire were at risk to be attacked by Italian and Ger-

man forces. The Battle of Tunisia was one of the decisive battles of the cam-

paign. The battle was fought between German and Italian forces and the Al-

lied forces, mainly the United States and Britain. At the end of the fight,

more than 275,000 Axis prisoners were taken. Fighting for control of Libya

and parts of Egypt, British forces were able to push the Axis back. Since the

Axis forces were so dispersed, the Allies were able to gain the upper hand

in North Africa.

In the European Theater, one of those

most famous battles was that of Norman-

dy. This battle was fought between Ameri-

can, British, and Canadian forces invading

Western Europe. Dwight D. Eisenhower

was named supreme commander of the

Allied Expeditionary Force. The Allies set

up a planning staff to plan an invasion,

which many people know as “D-Day”. On

June 6th, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops and

30,000 vehicles landed on a 50-mile

stretch of fortified French coastline. D-Day is the largest seaborne invasion

to this date.

In the Pacific Theater, the United

States utilized an “island hop-

ping” campaign in which essen-

tially the United States went

from island to island, defeating

Japanese forces. Some key battles

include the Battle of Midway and

Iwo Jima.

The Battle of Midway was a two

day long struggle between the

United States Pacific Fleet and

the Japanese fleet. In a decisive

victory, the United States de-

stroyed four Japanese carriers

and good portion of their air

strength. The victory ended the

Japanese threat to Hawaii and al-

so stopped the expansion of the

Japanese Empire in the Pacific. At

the Battle of Iwo Jima, United

States forces fought for and cap-

tured the island of Iwo Jima from

the Japanese as part of the island

hopping campaign. The battle has

since been immortalized by the

photograph of five U.S. Marines

raising the American flag atop

Mount Suribachi.

Conclusion

Fighting with the German forces was concluded on May 7th, after Germany

signed an unconditional surrender. Adolf Hitler resorted to suicide. Japan

followed suit on September 2nd. World War II changed the lives of many,

altering their everyday routines. From the American home front to the

multiple war theaters in Europe and the Pacific, World War II was an his-

toric period of time that should be studied for ages to come.

Resources

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1661.html

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/examining-the-beginnings-of-world-war-ii.html

http://www.history.com/topics/us-home-front-during-world-war-ii

http://fresno.k12.ca.us/divdept/sscience/history/totalitarianism.htm