Transcript WWII.ppt

World War II
Germany gets much of the blame for the start of WWII…
Although WWI ended in 1918, many Germans felt the
terms of the treaty of Versailles were unfair.
- Germany was forbidden to have
submarines or an air force
Germany lost territory in Europe
-Germany had to pay reparations
WWI Effects on Germany…
Germany was in an economic downfall between WWI and WWII. The
Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to bear the entire costs of World
War I The Germans had to pay the reparations to France, England and
all of the other allied powers.. This crippled her economy and massive
inflation meant that it was cheaper to burn money than firewood for
cooking….this would all lead to the rise of a new leader in Germany.
Adolf Hitler came to power during
this time. He and his Nazi Party
used propaganda techniques to
give the Germans someone to
blame for the political and
economic troubles.
Adolf Hitler was an
extreme nationalist,
meaning that he thought
his nation
(Austria/Germany) was
the best on the planet and
that all other nations
were inferior.
The Jewish people became scapegoats for all of Germany’s problems.
Hitler and his Nazi party believed in biological racism and antiSemitism…they believed in conspiracy theories that regarded the Jews
as capitalists and materialistic, and claimed that they had deliberately
made Germany lose World War 1 by causing labor strikes and
revolution on the home front. Hitler also claimed that the Jews had
deliberately caused the Great Depression. Worst of all, some of these
conspiracy theories claimed that the Jews were seeking world
domination and were therefore in competition with Germany's bid to
dominate the world. Hitler’s plan to deal with the Jewish people
would become known as his “final solution of the Jewish question…”
Start of WWII in Europe
• September 1, 1939,
Germany invades Poland.
• Hitler (Germany) was trying
to take back land lost to
Poland after WWI.
• France and Great Britain,
who were allies, declare
war on Germany on
September 3, 1939.
• Much like WWI, the U.S.
wants to remain neutral…
Pearl Harbor - 1941
• On December 7, 1941, Japan launches a
surprise attack on the U.S. Naval fleet
anchored at the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
• The attack brought the U.S. into World War
II.
• The following day, December 8, 1941, FDR
declares war on Japan…and six days
later…Germany.
• At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, there
were 96 ships anchored. During the attack, 18
were sunk or seriously damaged, including
eight battleships. There were 2,402 American
men killed and 1,280 injured. Three hundred
and fifty aircraft were destroyed or damaged
The U.S. Declares War on Japan
December 8, 1941
With the declaration of war on Japan, and a few days later, on Germany, the U.S.
would begin the largest manufacturing initiative in human history. This created jobs
and helped pull America out of the Great Depression.
The U.S. manufacturing strength gave the United States and the Allies an upper hand
in the war…
Effects on U.S. and Texas
The industrial boom that followed the official U.S. entry into
the war had several effects…
• Texas economy moved more toward industrialization
• There was an increase in industrial jobs nationwide, and
Texas enjoyed full employment.
• Much oil was required to fuel the allies machinery and
weapons…Texas delivered
Texans also bought war bonds and rationed (cut back) items
such as food, shoes, gas, etc to support American soldiers.
Dorie Miller- died at Pearl
Harbor, first African
American war hero
Oveta Culp Hobbyorganized Women’s
Army Corps
Famous
Texans
who
participated
in WWII
Audie Murphymost decorated
soldier in WWII
Dwight D Eisenhower- Supreme
commander of the allied forces
in Europe. Commander at D-Day
“Rosie the Riveter”
During WWII, women had
to take on non-traditional
roles and jobs to support
the troops overseas as
well as help maintain
working conditions in the
U.S. “Rosie the Riveter”
was a woman who
became a national symbol
of that time.
She represented economic
and social change. From
WWII on, women had a
permanent place in the
workforce in Texas and the
United States.
Women Workers
• The term "Rosie the Riveter" was first used in 1942 in a song that was recorded
by numerous artists and became a national hit. The song portrays "Rosie" as a
tireless assembly line worker, doing her part to help the American war effort.
• Although women took on male dominated trades during World War II, they were
expected to return to their everyday housework once men returned from the
war.
• Government campaigns targeting women were addressed solely at housewives,
One government advertisement asked women "Can you use an electric mixer? If
so, you can learn to operate a drill."
• "Rosie the Riveter" inspired a social movement that increased the number of
working American women from 12 million to 20 million by 1944, By 1944 only
1.7 million unmarried men between the ages of 20 and 34 worked in the defense
industry, while 4.1 million unmarried women between those ages did so.
Allied Powers
• U.S., Great Britain, France, Soviet Union, and China
Other Allies included
Belgium, Brazil,
Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia,
Greece, India (as part of
the British Empire),
Mexico, the Netherlands,
Norway, Canada, and
Yugoslavia.
(Winston Churchill, Great Britain – F.D.R., USA - & Joseph Stalin, Russia)
Axis Powers
• Germany, Japan, Italy
Flags of Germany, Japan, and Italy, in
Berlin (September 1940)
D-Day
• Marked the beginning of the Allied invasion of western Europe.
• Allied forces invaded German occupied France on June 6, 1944,
along the beaches of Normandy in northern France.
• Allied forces commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower
• 156,000 Allied troops from The United States, The United Kingdom,
Canada, Free France and Norway
Allied invasion included:
• 5,000 ships and landing
craft
• 50,000 vehicles
• 11,000 planes
WWII in Europe Ends
The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II as well
as the German surrender to the Western Allies and the Soviet
Union took place in late April and early May 1945.
- “VE Day” or Victory in Europe Day, May 8th 1945.
http://www.militaryeducation.org/10-bloodiest-battles-ofworld-war-ii/
War Continues in the Pacific
Atomic Bomb – Japan, 1945
Hiroshima
• U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb “Little Boy” on August
6, 1945, on the city of Hiroshima in Japan.
• The blast destroyed everything within a 1 mile
radius of the impact point. Radiation poisoning
would follow
• Killed more than 100,000 people over the course of
a few months.
Nagasaki
• U.S. dropped the second nuclear bomb “Fat Man”
on the city of Nagasaki in Japan on August 9, 1945.
• Killed between 60,000-80,000 people.
• Japan surrendered 6 day later to the Allies.
Interesting facts about Hiroshima and Nagasaki
War with Germany was over but war with Japan continued. Japan was losing but had the
mentality of ‘fight til the end.’ At the Potsdam Conference Japan was warned by the U.S.
and China on July 26, 1945 to surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction". Japan
ignored the ultimatum, the U.S. bombed Hiroshima on August 6. Japan still did not surrender
and so Nagasaki was bombed on August 9. Japan then surrendered on August 15th –
describing the weapon as “a new and most cruel bomb."
Afterwards images and depictions of the effects of the bombs were censored by the U.S.
government. A likely reason for the banning was that the images depicting burn victims and
funeral pyres were similar to the widely circulated images taken in liberated Nazi
concentration camps.
The targets were planned well in advance- they were industrial and military centers, but
were also homes to thousands of civilians. The first bomb- “Little Boy” was dropped by the
Enola Gay. It exploded in 43 seconds. It had a total-destruction blast radius of 1 mile, but
effects were felt up to about 5 miles away from the center.
The next bomb, “Fat Man”, was dropped over Nagasaki by the Bockscar in similar fashion.
The target was originally a city called Kokura, but due to weather conditions it was changed
to Nagasaki. The bomb exploded after 43 seconds again, yet this time the blast was greater
due to the bomb containing a plutonium core- making it more powerful than “Little Boy”,
which had a uranium core. The radius of destruction was contained though, due to the
geography of the area; Nagasaki is located in a mountain valley and therefore had natural
protection.
WWII Over
• WWII ended on September 2, 1945, with Japan
signing surrender on the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
– This officially ends WWII
• WWII resulted in the downfall of Europe as a center
of world power and led to the rise of the U.S. and
Russia as super powers. This set up conditions for
both the US-USSR cold war and the nuclear age
WWII Interesting Facts and Statistics
•
There were between 50 and 70 million casualties in WWII. More than 80% came from 4
countries: Russia, China, Germany, and Poland. More than ½ of these were civilians, most of
whom were women and children
•
During WWII, hamburgers in the U.S. were dubbed “Liberty Steaks” to avoid the German-
sounding name
•
William Hitler, a nephew of Adolf Hitler, was in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He changed his
name after the war and also wrote An article called “Why I Hate My Uncle”
•
The Nazis killed millions of Polish people, but they thought that some Polish babies looked
German and kidnapped about 50,000 to be adopted by German parents & become “Germanized
•
Hitler kept a framed photo of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, on his desk.
Henry Ford also kept a framed photo of the Nazi leader on his desk in Dearborn, Michigan.
•
Before Nazi Germany decided to eliminate the Jews by gassing them, it had considered sending
them to the island of Madagascar
•
If it became necessary to drop a third atom bomb on Japan, the next target was Tokyo…
•
In 1938, Hitler was Time magazine’s man of the year
•
More than 650,000 Jeeps were built during WWII. American factories also produced 300,000
military aircraft; 89,000 tanks; 3 million machine guns; and 7 million rifles