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World War II: Main Idea
World War II started in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. At this time the USA did not enter into the fighting.
The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the USA into the war in 1941. President FDR led the USA through the war until his death in 1945. President Harry Truman replaced FDR for the remainder of the war.
The war was fought on two fronts, the Pacific theater against the Japanese and the European theater against Germany and Italy. The Normandy Invasion (D-Day) led to the
liberation of Europe and the end of Germany.
The Atomic bombs dropped on Japan led to the end of the war in 1945. |
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Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the US Naval base
in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The USA was caught off guard. The USA lost over 2400 servicemen
and our naval capability was severely crippled.
President FDR declared that "December 7th was a day that would live in infamy", meaning that it should never be forgotten.
The next day President FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan.
Germany and Italy responded by declaring war on us. |
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Term
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Adolf Hitler: WWII Dictator
Hitler came to power in Germany
and developed the Nazi Party.
Hitler believed in the superiority of the Aryan race;
blonde and blue eyed.
Hitler blamed Germany's problems on the Jewish people. |
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Benito Mussolini: WWII Dictator
Mussolini was the Italian dictator
who started the Fascist Party.
Mussolini was an ally of Hitler's. |
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Hideki Tojo: WWII Dictator
Tojo was the leader of the Japanese Military.
Japan is a nation of small islands that needed more natural resources.
To gain these resources Japan invaded
other Asian nations. |
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Term
Internment of Japanese-Americans
during World War II |
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Definition
Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII
In the 1940s there were over 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living in Hawaii and the Pacific Coast region.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
America became fearful that these Japanese-Americans might join with Japan
in an invasion of the western USA.
To prevent this the US Government violated the civil rights of these American citizens & forced them to move to interment camps in the central part of the USA.
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Term
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Battle of Midway
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USA was unable to stop the advance of the Japanese on the Pacific theater.
At the Battle of Midway the US Navy surprised the Japanese Navy and won a significant battle.
This forced the Japanese to retreat for the first time. |
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The Holocaust
Hitler had blamed all of Germany's problems on the Jewish people. Jews were forced to wear a Star of David to show they were Jewish.
Hitler wanted to rid Germany of all Jewish people by any means needed,
even murder of innocent people. Germany's plan became known as the Final Solution and consisted of mass extermination of the unwanted.
Jews and other undesirables were rounded up and placed in concentration camps
where they were worked to death, starved, or murdered.
Some of the more infamous camps were Dachau, Treblinka, & Auschwitz.
Over 6 million were exterminated. |
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Women at War & Rosie the Riveter |
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Definition
Women at War & Rosie the Riveter
Just like WWI, women stepped up and did the job!
Some women joined the armed services and served in non-combat roles. Other women went to work replacing the men.
Women also became very involved in the war effort. They even build the weapons of war.
Rosie the Riveter became the symbol that encouraged women
to join the war effort. Even though women worked alongside the men,
they often received 40% less pay than a man. |
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Term
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Definition
Normandy Invasion aka D-Day or Operation Overlord
June 6, 1944
The largest land-sea invasion in history.
Allied forces gathered on beaches of England and crossed the English Channel to invade the French beaches of Normandy.
This was the beginning of the liberation of Europe and what would become the defeat of Germany in 1945. |
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Manhattan Project
Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer head a top secret mission to develop the atomic bomb.
In July of 1945 they successfully tested the world's first Atomic bomb in the deserts of New Mexico. |
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Term
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Definition
Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
Dropping the Atom Bomb
The Japanese refused to surrender.
President Truman decided that to save American lives the atom bomb should be used.
The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were selected. A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, but the Japanese wouldn't surrender. Nagasaki was next, and it too was annihilated.
The Japanese surrendered on what became known as VJ-Day (Victory over Japan)
and WWII was over in 1945. |
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