The United States Enters WWII

1. The U.S. Enters WWII
“Yesterday, December 7,
1941—a date which will live
in infamy—the United States
of America was suddenly
and deliberately attacked by
naval and air forces of the
Empire of Japan.”
-FDR

2. Dictators Threaten The World
•Nationalism-loyalty to one’s
country above all else- led to
the rise of powerful dictators
•Fascism stressed nationalism
and placed the interests of
the state above those of
individuals
•Totalitarian government
exerted complete control
over its citizens

3. Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union
•Joseph Stalin transformed the
communist state into an agricultural and
industrial power
•All private ownership of farms was
abolished and replaced with collectives-
large government owned farms
•The “Five Year Plan” outlined an
industrial transformation that cost many
Russian lives (estimates range between
8 to 20 million)
•However, by 1937, the Soviet Union
became the second largest industrial
power

4. Rise of Fascism in Italy
•In October of 1922, Mussolini
marched on Rome with thousands
of followers known as the “black
shirts”
•Benito Mussolini established a
totalitarian regime in Italy
•With the support of the military,
police, and government officials
Mussolini was appointed “Il Duce”-
the leader

5. The Nazis Take Over Germany
•Adolf Hitler rose to power
during the early 1920s
•Hitler set forth his beliefs of the
Nazi Party in his book Mein
Kampf (My Struggle)
•Hitler and the Nazi Party were
guided by three beliefs; Uniting
the German people creating a
German Empire, Racial
purification, national expansion

6. Civil War in Spain
•Germany and Italy lent
support to the Nationalist
insurrection led by general
Francisco Franco in Spain.
•Spanish Civil war ensued
•Franco’s forces eventually
won in 1939 establishing
Franco as Spain’s fascist
dictator

7. Militarists Gain Control in Japan
•Success in Manchuria put the
militarists firmly in control of Japan’s
government
•In July 1937, Japan captured the
former Chinese imperial capital of
Beijing
•The Nanking Massacre or Rape of
Nanking, was a mass murder,
genocide and war rape that occurred
during the six-week period following
the Japanese capture of the city of
Nanjing (Nanking)

8. The Axis Powers Form
•On September 27, 1940, Imperial
Japan signed the Tripartite Pact
with Nazi Germany and Fascist
Italy.
•Their objectives were to
"establish and maintain a new
order of things" in their
respective world regions and
spheres of influence
•Nazi Germany in Europe,
Imperial Japan in Asia, and
Fascist Italy in North Africa. The
signatories of this alliance
become known as the Axis
Powers.

9. The Holocaust
•The Holocaust was the genocide of
approximately six million European Jews and
millions of others during World War II, a
program of systematic state-sponsored
murder by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler,
throughout Nazi-occupied territory.
•The Nuremberg Laws (1935) stripped Jews of
their German citizenship, jobs, and property
•Kristallnacht or “night of broken glass” (Nazi
storm troops attack Jewish homes,
businesses, and synagogues across Germany)
•Jewish Ghettos, Concentration camps or labor
camps housed millions of Jews as a part of the
genocide that would take place throughout
the late 1930s and into the 1940s
•The Final Solution (1942)-Death Camps
established to kill and dispose of bodies

10. The United States Moves Cautiously
Away From Neutrality
•September 1939- Roosevelt and Congress pass
a “cash-and-carry” policy
•Selective Service Act (draft) passed (1940)
•Congress boosted defense spending
•Roosevelt is elected to a third term breaking
the tradition of two-term presidents
established by Washington
•March 1941 Congress passed the Lend Lease
Act “America the arsenal of Democracy”

11. FDR Plans for War
•The Atlantic Charter was negotiated at the
Atlantic Conference by British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and US President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, and was issued as a joint
declaration on 14 August 1941.
•Both countries pledged the following:
collective security, disarmament, self-
determination, economic cooperation, and
freedom of the seas
•The charter became the basis of a new
document called “A Declaration of the
United Nations”
•The term United Nations was suggested by
FDR to express the common purpose of the
Allies

12. Japan Attacks the United States
•The U.S. knew an attack
was coming – they were
not sure where.
•The “where” would be the
American base at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
•December 7, 1941- “a date
that will live in infamy”

13. Reaction to Pearl Harbor
•Blame for being unprepared should not
fall on the military commanders in
Hawaii or on FDR.
•The military lacked sufficient airplanes
to protect the area adequately.
Intelligence was slow and unsure of
exact location for a Japanese attack.
•Ultimately, responsibility lies with the
American people for their reluctance to
spend money on necessary defenses.
•The United States of America declared
war on Japan the next day after the
attack and three days later on Germany
and Italy after the two Axis powers
declared war on the United States