Friday, March 7, 2008

Chapter 27 World War Two

Chapter 27: The Rise of Dictators and World War II, 1931-1945
Section 1: Steps to War
Main Idea: The rise of dictators in Europe and Asia led to World War II.
After the Great Depression, many Europeans turned to new leaders to solve their problems. By the mid 1930s, dictators had seized control in several countries, including
Italy, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union. Benito Mussolini began a political movement in Italy known as fascism. Fascists preached an extreme form of nationalism and, often, racism. In Germany, Adolf Hitler led the fascist National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party. Meanwhile, Joseph Stalin led the Communist government that ruled the Soviet Union. A military dictatorship also came to power in Japan. In 1936, Italy conquered the African nation of Ethiopia. That same year, Hitler moved troops to a region near the French border. In 1936, Hitler and Mussolini formed an alliance. These nations and their allies became the Axis powers. In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria. Neville Chamberlain, Britain’s prime minister, agreed to allow Germany to gain control of part of Czechoslovakia. In return, Hitler promised not to seek more territory. Chamerblain’s policy of giving in to Hitler came to be known as appeasement. Hitler soon broke his promise and conquered the rest of Czechoslovakia. In 1939, he invaded Poland. Great Britain and France then declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. Poland quickly fell. In June 1940, German troops invaded France. France soon surrendered. Then Germany attacked Great Britain. The British faced constant bombing, but under the leadership of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, it refused to surrender. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. By the time German troops reached Moscow, they ran into a terrible winter. The German attack stalled. The Soviets turned the Germans back.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii. Many Americans died. Numerous planes and ships were destroyed. In response,
the United States declared war on Japan. In turn, Germany and Italy declared war on the
United States.
Section 2: War in Africa and Europe
Main Idea: The Allies defeated the Axis powers in Europe and Africa.
Millions of Americans volunteered for duty. Millions more were drafted. Those who
served included large numbers of Mexican Americans and African Americans. Native
Americans and Asian Americans also served. More than 300,000 women served as drivers, mechanics, clerks, and nurses in the U.S. armed forces. First, the Allies sought to defeat the Axis powers in North Africa and Italy. Under the leadership of American general Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied troops landed in northern Africa in November 1942. They were soon victorious. In the summer of 1943, the Allies invaded Italy. The Italian government surrendered in September. In February 1943, German troops in Stalingrad surrendered to Russian forces. Each side had suffered huge losses. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded France. More than 5,000 ships, carrying more than 130,000 soldiers, crossed the English Channel and landed in Normandy, a region in northern France. The day of this historic attack became known as D-Day. By the end of June 1944, 850,000 Allied troops moved toward Paris, battling German troops. On August 25, Allied forces liberated the French capital. Meanwhile, Soviet forces were beating back Hitler’s army in the East. In December 1944, German forces attacked American troops in the Ardennes region in Belgium and Luxembourg. This became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans gained some territory, but the Allies soon pushed them back.
By February 1945, the Germans were retreating everywhere. The Allied leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at the city of Yalta in the Soviet Union to make plans for the end of the war. Shortly afterwards, President Roosevelt died. Vice president Harry S. Truman became president and continued the war effort. In April 1945, the Russians reached Berlin. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide. The Soviet Army captured Berlin on May 2nd. Five days later, Germany surrendered. The war in Europe was over. As the Allies fought toward Berlin, they discovered camps where Jews and other groups had been murdered. In what became known as the Holocaust, the Nazis killed about 11 million people, including 6 million Jewish people and millions of Gypsies, Russians, and Poles. The roots of the Holocaust lay in Hitler’s intense racism. He preached that other groups, particularly the Jews, were inferior to Germans. Nazi leaders set out to murder every Jew under German rule.
Section 3: War in the Pacific
Main Idea: After early losses, the Allies defeated the Japanese in the Pacific. By Christmas of 1941, Japan controlled Hong Kong, Thailand, and the U.S. islands of Guam and Wake. Japanese forces invaded the Philippines in December 1941. They pushed Allied forces from the capital city of Manila into the Bataan Peninsula. Allied
troops led by U.S. general Douglas MacArthur fought the Japanese to a standstill. Then the Allied troops on the Bataan Peninsula were forced to surrender. The Japanese
marched them 60 miles to a prison camp. Along the way about 10,000 men died in what is known as the Bataan Death March. In the spring of 1942, the Americans blocked Japan’s push toward Australia. The opposing navies clashed again in June off the island of Midway in the central Pacific. The Battle of Midway severely weakened the Japanese navy and was a turning point in the war. In October 1944, Allied forces invaded the Philippines. In a massive naval battle, the Allies almost destroyed Japan’s navy. They liberated Manila in March 1945. In early 1945, the Allies began bombing Japan. To establish closer bases, they attacked the Japanese-held islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Allies took the islands, but not before many soldiers died on both sides. The Allies planned to invade Japan in November 1945. However, American military leaders feared that an invasion would result in large numbers of casualties. Since 1942, scientists with the top-secret Manhattan Project had been working to build an atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, killing more than 70,000 people and turning five square miles into a wasteland. After the
United States dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. World War II was
over.
Section 4: The Home Front
Main Idea: Americans at home made great contributions to the Allied victory.
The Allied effort to win World War II required planes, tanks, weapons, and other supplies. As a result, the government set up the War Production Board. Factories produced war materials around the clock. Jobs became easy to find. The nation’s economy grew rapidly, finally bringing the Great Depression to an end. Some items such as tired, gasoline, and shoes were in short supply. To divide these scarce goods among its citizens, the government established a rationing system. To help pay for the war, the government raised income taxes. Citizens also bought war
bonds—loans that the government promised to repay with interest.
Millions of women joined the workforce. More than one million African Americans
migrated from the South to work in the defense industry. A. Philip Randolph, an African-
American labor leader, worked to help blacks achieve equality in the workplace. Some 46,000 Native Americans also worked in the nation’s war industries. Tens of thousands of Hispanics worked in war-related jobs. Through the bracero program, the government hired Mexicans to work on American farms. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese feelings grew. In February 1942, President Roosevelt called for the removal of Japanese and Japanese Americans from the Pacific Coast. More than 100,000 Japanese citizens were placed in camps during the Japanese- American internment. Fears of disloyalty from Japanese Americans were unfounded. Thousands of young men in the camps volunteered to fight for the United States. In fact, two of the most-decorated units during the war were all-Nisei, meaning that they were made up of Japanese- Americans born in the United States.
Section 5: The Legacy of the War
Main Idea: World War II had deep and lasting effects on the United States and the world. About 20 million soldiers were killed in World War II, including one million Americans. Millions more were wounded. Civilian casualties around the world numbered in the tens of millions. The war also created a wave of refugees. The war left most of the world’s economies in ruins. In 1948, the United States—through the Marshall Plan—gave more than $13 billion to help European nations get back on their feet. When millions of soldiers returned to the United States, the government passed the G. I. Bill of Rights, which provided educational and economic help to veterans. The international community set up a court to try Nazi leaders for war crimes. These proceedings were known as the Nuremberg trials. The Nazi defendants were charged with the murder of millions of Jews, Gypsies, Russians, and Poles. Nineteen defendants were found guilty. Twelve were sentenced to death. The war convinced many people that nations must work together to keep the peace. In April 1945, 50 nations, including the United States, created a new international peace organization known as the United Nations. However, tensions still arose. When the United Nations decided to establish a homeland for Jews in Palestine, Arabs and Palestinians were opposed. Fighting broke out immediately. Meanwhile, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union grew increasingly tense.