World War II Begins

Chapter 27

Lesson 2

War in Europe

• FDR assured Americans, “We are determined to keep out of war.”
• Saw danger posed by Germany, Japan, and Italy
• Sept. 1, 1939 Hitler sent armies into Poland
• Britain and France declared war on Germany
• World War II had begun

War in Europe (Cont.)

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• Germans used blitzkrieg attack
• Swift and fierce “lightning war”
• Britain and France could do nothing to help Poland
• Poland fell within weeks
• Hitler and Stalin divided Poland
• Stalin forced Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia to allow military bases
• Finland refused, war broke out
• Surrendered in 1940

The Spread of War

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• France and Britain waited for attack
• Maginot line
• Germany attacked in April 1940
• Denmark, Norway, Netherlands
• Germany attacked Belgium in May
• Fought courageously, but overwhelmed
• Allied troops retreated to French port of Dunkirk - trapped
• 800 private British ships made trips across the channel, 300,000 saved

The Spread of War (Cont.)

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• France could not be saved
• June 1940, Germans crossed the Somme River and swept into France
• Italy joined war on German side
• Attacked France from south
• German, Italy, Japan formed the Axis Powers
• June 14th, 1940 - Germany marched in Paris
• France surrendered one week later

Britain Battles for Survival

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• By summer 1940, Britain was all that stood between Hitler’s control of Western Europe
• August 1940, Hitler began bombing Britain in advance of planned invasion
• Hitler wanted to break British resolve to fight
• British people did not give up
• Prime Minister, Winston Churchill refused Hitler’s demands to surrender

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Winston Churchill

Britain Battles for Survival (Cont.)

• Battle of Britain continued until October
• British Royal Air Force battled heroically
• Germans suffered huge losses
• Hitler gave up on his invasion plans

“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” ~ Winston Churchill to the British House of Commons

Germany Turns on Stalin

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• After defeat in Britain, Hitler decided he needed Soviet resources
• June 1941, broke agreement with Stalin
• Captured 500,000 Soviet soldiers
• Soviets used scorched earth policy

The United States and the War

• Most Americans sided with Allies
• But did not want war
• FDR vowed neutrality
• Increased size of navy
• Revised neutrality acts
• 1940 - gave Britain 50 destroyers
• Selective Service Act-draft

The 1940 Election

• FDR decided to run for

3rd term

• Said world was in crisis, needed steady leadership
• “Your boys will not be sent into any foreign wars”
• Roosevelt wins

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The United States’ Involvement Grows

• 1941 - Passed Lend-Lease Act
• Sell, lend, lease weapons to any country vital to defence of the United States
• Isolationists opposed
• FDR ordered navy to protect British ships
• After Germans fired on U.S. ships, ordered navy to fire upon German and italian ships

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The Atlantic Charter

• FDR worked with Churchill to draw up goals for world “after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny”
• Urged disarmament
• Creation of a “permanent system” for preserving peace

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The Japanese Threat

• Japan continued its expansion in the Far East
• Japan seized French Indochina
• Planned on taking Dutch East Indies, British Malaya, and Philippines

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The United States Responds

• U.S applied economic pressure on Japan
• Froze Japanese assets in

U.S. banks

• Stopped selling gas and oil
• Angered Japan
• Japan’s prime minister schedule negotiations with U.S.
• General Tojo planned attack was either Pearl Harbor or Panama Canal, Guam or the Philippines.

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Events Leading to Pearl Harbor

• U.S. demands Japan withdraw from all conquered territory & withdraw from pact with Axis powers
• Dec. 7: radar operator reports planes headed his way: “Don’t worry about it”
• Less than an hour, attack begins: 2 hours, 2,400 Americans dead, 300 warplanes damaged or destroyed, 18 warships sunk or damaged (including 9 battleships)

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Attack on Pearl Harbor

• December 7th, 1941, 7:55a.m.
• Japan attacks U.S. base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• FDR - “a day that will live in infamy” asks for war and Congress declares war on Dec 8.
• Germany and Italy declared war on U.S.
• U.S. then declared war
• Joined the Allies

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USS Arizona Memorial

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