World War Two
Causes
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| Here is a picture of Adolf Hitler at a rally in Germany. Powerful and supported by many, Adolf had Germany in his hands. Many did not argue as he invaded other countries. |
After the WWI the treaty of Versailles left German weak, powerless, and crippled. It was designed to rip apart Germany by seizing land, food, and ruining what was left of their economy. A vengeful, young WWI veteran took part in politics and fueled the fire to the Germans rebirth. Adolf Hitler gave the German people answers and solutions they wanted to hear; ways for German to rise back to the top and punish those responsible for crippling the German race. In 1933 Hitler became the Reich chancellor and the Nazis became the main political party of the country. Hitler was self named the Fuhrer and became the head power in Germany. In 1938 Hitler sent troops to stay in Austria which was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. He formed allies with Japan and Italy who agreed to help aid him in war against the U.S. and many other European powers. On September 1st 1939, the war was unofficially started when he invaded his neighboring country, Poland. England and France declared war on September 3rd, officially started WWII.
At the beginning of the war the U.S. was determined to stay out of Europe and avoid being involved. Learning from the previous failures in World War I the U.S. passed the Neutrality Acts between 1935 and 1939. As the war thickened in Europe protesters in U.S. claimed we needed to start getting involved before this is a larger problem for the U.S. Theodore Giesel (Dr. Suess) was a political activist and created many political cartoons criticizing the U.S. not being involved with WWII. Even though we claimed to be neutral, Roosevelt helped give aid to Britian and other allies with the Cash and Carry act. In 1937 this act said that the Allies could purchase arms from the U.S. if they paid in cash and met us in our territory. Contrary to WWI, this system worked because countries paid for weapons upfront and close to home. Even though we were not directly involved with the war, we started manufacturing war equipment and posted a draft. The lend-lease act deepened our involvement and relations with Britain by leasing them older weapons, tanks, planes, etc. from World War I. Roosevelt and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, met many times to discuss involvement and aid. The Atlantic Charter was a secret meeting held outside of the Netherlands where Churchill and Roosevelt talked over goals and tactics of the war. Japan-American relations tensed up due to that the U.S. cut off over 80% of their oil resources. Moving our naval base to Hawaii was also a obvious move that prepared the U.S. to attack Japan if necessary. Early morning December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, therefor launching the U.S. into war.
Since there were no fights on American Soil, with the exception of Pearl Harbor, troops were sent to battle in Europe and Asia. Unlike WWI, trench warfare was not used as the main fighting tactic, and was not used as much. With the development of a tanks and advances in planes, fight's were more spread out over a region. The Axis powers were 3 nations, Germany, Italy, and Japan. While the Allies were mainly France, Britain, Russia, and the United States. Hitler sent his troops to take over Poland and Eastern Russia. Russia suffered an overwhelming loss of men, by the end of the war over 20 million soldiers died. Late into the war Russia was able to fight off German soldiers because of the harsh climates. Britain was being attacked by Germany from the South and North. The Netherlands and France was under Nazi control so they were constantly air-raided from both ends. The war tactic was called "Blitzkreig", and it didn't just target soldiers, but British towns and citizens. Japan controlled the Philippines and other small island chains close to Asia. The U.S. closed in and used island hopping. Island hopping was going from one island to another, securing the location and then moving on with the goal being to make it to Japan. As the size of the island grew bigger and proximity to Japan grew, so did the number of casualties on each side. Japanese soldiers used Kammikazi to attack U.S. ships and soldiers. They would take planes, themselves, and boats and ram them into American vessels and sacrificed themselves to impact damage. It was nothing American soldiers have seen before.
U.S. Involvement in WWII
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| Giesels cartoons often criticized our absence in World War II. In this cartoon he points out since the other countries being invaded are not American, it should not be our problem. He protested that the U.S. should help countries being terrorized by the Axis in any way. |
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| One of the larger battleships sunk during Pearl Harbor was the USS Arizona. 2,500 people died because of the attacks, more than 1000 were wounded. Almost half of the deaths were on the USS Arizona. |
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| Rosie the Riveter was one of the more famous propaganda posters to come out of WWII. She represented women strength and encouraged them to join the work force. This was heavily effective because women took jobs while men were away fighting. |
Home Front
After the attacks on Pearl Harbor many Americans realized how serious the war is and how much we are now involved in it. The U.S. government began to stress the idea of conservation of food, metals, and clothing to help our soldiers over seas. Propaganda posters popped up in local markets, people's jobs, and in the newspapers telling them different ways to help aid American troops. War bonds also contributed to the war funds. These bonds were very popular, especially with children. They asked their parents to buy them war bonds for holidays and birthdays. The role of women also significantly increased because of the loss of jobs. Since the draft took men out of work and over seas, women had to take the role of these jobs while they were away. It opened up a new day for women into the work force and they were able to have higher paying, more respected jobs. Japanese-Americans were heavily segregated after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. FDR passed executive order 9066, which removed anyone of Japanese descent from communities They were sent way to rehabilitation camps to stay until the war was over because they were feared of being Japanese spies.Setting
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| American troops operating a cannon in Saipan. Civilians that lived on the island would commit suicide and jump off cliffs because of the horrors told to them by Japanese officials. Over 30,000 Japanese troops and citizens died during the battle. |
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| A American solider looks down at a fallen Japanese soldier. It was dishonorable in their culture for them to come back from a war so most committed suicide in the face of defeat. Only 200 Japanese troops were taken prisoner. |
The End of World War II
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| As Germany was defeated troops were sent in and found Nazi concentration camps. The camps were specifically eradicating Jews, people with special needs, and other ethnic groups. Over 6 million Jews were put to death in these camps. |
On June 6th, 1944, the war changed enormously. "D-Day" was an allied attack on the axis powers where over 200,000 troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. Hitler was defeated and Germany surrendered March 8th. When word that the Axis army was beaten on both Western and Eastern fronts, Hitler committed suicide. Even though the war with Europe was over, the U.S. was still focused on defeating Japan. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 6th, leveling the entire city. Shortly following the Soviet Union declared War on Japan. The next day another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by the American army, leaving the city in total devastation. Japan had no choice but to give up, on August 15th, Emperor Hirohito announced the countries surrender. President Truman, Winston Churchill, and Stalin met at the Potsdam Conference to discuss post war negotiations. Germany would be divided up between France, The United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain.
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| One of the most popular and well known pictures to come from the celebration of the end of the war. Americans celebrated the victory and partied in the streets of cities. War veterans were able to come home from the bloodiest war in history. Dropping the atomic bomb was one of the most relieving feelings to those American troops who were fighting their way to Japan."That was the smartest thing we ever did" (Robert S. Appel). Today many question the action as they see the later side effects. Many of the troops felt isolated from the rest of the world."When you're 300,000 miles away from home and have no friends, no family, you get pretty lonely"(Robert S Appel). The troops dealt with a heavy amount of grief form being so far away from home. Hitler was a fierce leader and almost completely dominated Europe. "You only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down" (Hitler). He was speaking in reference of invading the Soviet Union. Roosevelt collaborated with the allied nations leaders which included Joseph Stalin, communist dictator of Soviet Russia. "The Soviet Union, as everybody who has the courage to fact the fact knows, is run by a dictatorship as absolute as any other dictatorship in this world"(FDR). Even though they were fighting on the same side, Roosevelt did not approve of communist leadership. The Treaty of Versailles is arguably the biggest reason Germany went to war. "As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, there will always be war" (Albert Einstein). Germany held deep hatred for all the nations that handicapped their country after WWI, and wanted revenge. |
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