Mejia's,+Solak,+carrasquillo


 * The Great Depression**

The Great Depression started in 1929 and ended in 1939. It was a very tough time that affected a lot of economies from all around the world. It probably had its greatest affect on the U.S. because it made their stock market crash. A major problem occured on October 24, 1929. The Dow Industrial average dropped about 11 percent and nearly 12.9 million shares were traded. Banks tried to buy shares back to restore the confidence in the markets, but it didn't work because the Dow just fell further and that's when it dropped 11 percent. Many people and investors soon started to panic. This was the beginning of the huge stock market crash (2). Millions of people lost their jobs and lost a lot of money. People became very poor and it remained that way for 10 years. Many businesses failed and banks closed all over; the economy collapsed. Factories weren't able to make things with the speed they once had so production of goods slowed. The U.S. placed high taxes on imported and exported goods so many countries suffered since they depended on the U.S. for exporting goods. All of this would cause world trade to drop 65 percent. Some countries were hit harder than others especially if they depended on America's investments and loans. Some also had to deal with war debts from World War I like Germany and Austria for example. People lost their homes in these countries and their Farms; their banks closed down as well (1).
 * Brief History of Great Depression**

Some countries recovered quicker than others. Like Britain who created a National Government, raised taxes, regulated their currency, and lowered interest rates. All of these things helped Britain recover. People started to get jobs back and their factories started to produce a lot more than it had before all this. Some other countries that recovered faster than the U.S. were the Latin American countries. Some of the socialist countries found a solution too. These countries included Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. They made a lot of job opportunities so they could cut unemployment rates and they taxed people. At this time, in the U.S., Franklin Roosevelt would be elected as president and he would propose the **New Deal**. In this **New Deal,** people would work on projects and job opportunities to keep people employed. He used money from the public for relief programs and he helped businesses and farms to continue running. With all of this, America would slowly recover from this harsh depression (1).
 * Recovery From Great Depression**




 * The Holocaust**

The Holocaust was a terrible period that lasted from 1938 to 1945. It involved the Nazi Germans and the Jews. It was a time when the Nazis persecuted the Jews because the Germans felt that the Jews threatened Aryan superiority. The German Aryan race was what the Germans thought was the "perfect race." Aryans had blonde hair and blue eyes. Hitler wanted everyone to be an aryan and that also meant that people couldn't be disabled mentally or physically. Hitler would kill off anyone who didn't fit this aryan race.
 * Brief History of Holocaust**

Hitler and the Nazis killed off many Jews in different ways. The Nazis would bring the Jews in places called "ghettos." These ghettos are restricted areas of a city, usually the slum areas of the cities. The Nazis would control these areas and treat the Jews very harshly. They would make the Jews work. Sometimes the Nazis would shoot a Jew right there on the street if the Jews disrespected them. The Nazis eventually started to commit genocide which is mass killings of a certain ethnic group which was the Jews. In order to do this, the Nazis lied to the Jews and started to take all the strong Jews of each house and told them that they would take the trains to find better work. The Nazis loaded the Jews on these trains and the trains took these curious Jews to the concentration camps where they were killed off in different ways. Some were killed in gas chambers and some were starved to death.

Typical concentration camps consisted of barbed wire and watchtowers with guards (3). The Jews in the concentration camps slept in barracks and were overcrowded. one of the most famous concentration camps was Auschwitz. It probably had one of the highest death rates of all the concentration camps. The Nazis would kill the Jews in batches. About six million Jews died from the concentration camps (1). Many people from all over with different ethnic backgrounds worked to help the Jews. They tried to hide the Jews and people rescued Jewish refugees. Some U.S. troops managed to find concentration camps accidentally and they too rescued Jews before they would be killed by the Nazis. The Nazis eventually surrendered and they tried to burn and destroy the camps so there would never be any evidence. This very tough time lasted from the start of World War II till the end of World War II. It was a devastating time for the Jewish people. They lost a lot of family and friends. After the Holocaust, some Jews migrated to the U.S., but most moved to form the state of Israel.

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 * U.S. Involvement in World War II**


 * Why the U.S. Got Involved in the War**

The U.S. got involved in the war on December 7, 1941 which was when Japan surprised attacked them and bombed Pearl Harbor. Isoroku Yamamoto was one that was in charge of the attack on Pearl Harbor; he was a great naval strategist. Pearl Harbor is America's main Navy fleet located in Hawaii. Japan wanted to prevent the navy from interfering with the military. Japan gained a major victory against the U.S. The U.S. then declared war on Japan and the allies of Japan, Germany and Italy, then declared war on the U.S. The U.S. grew involved in the whole war and they allied with Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. wanted to stay away from the big mess especially after coming off of World War I. They wanted to stay away from European affairs which is also what they wanted to do when World War I occurred, but they got involved in that too. So after they declared war, America really needed to train their army and gain soldiers. In order to gain soldiers, America implemented a draft. All men ages 18 to 64 had to register for the draft. The soldiers had a hard time adapting to the barracks life which is a lot different that what they were used to. They had to adjust to the military training. America had to gain a lot of materials and weapons and they also had to provide goods and ammunition for its allies; it was tough on America (6).


 * The U.S. Strikes Back**

The U.S. struck back by bombing Tokyo which made them realize that they were vulnerable. The U.S. and Japan would go back and forth in many battles and many lives were lost. The Japanese began sending out kamikazes which are suicide pilots and they would destroy the American ships. The U.S. eventually came up with a plan and called it the Manhattan Project. The reason for this plan was because Albert Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt saying that he thinks Germany might be creating atomic bombs. Franklin Roosevelt responded with Project Manhattan. This was a plan to drop an atomic bomb on Japan to end the war. The U.S. eventually did on August 6, 1945. They dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, they dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. The U.S. was the first country to drop atomic bombs on a country in warfare (1).

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 * Rise of Dictators in Europe-** Dictators rose in a Fascism government which is an extreme for of Nationalism which is great pride for ones country.(1) Fascists were loyal to a leader who guided and brought order to the country. Fascism had a Dictator, one party, no individual rites, the state was supreme and there were social classes.(1) Fascism also includes militarism which is having a strong military that is ready to fight at any moment.(1) Two Fascist countries were Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler and Italy which was lead by Benito Mussolini.(1) Benito Mussolini rose in Italy because of the Paris peace treaty where they gained no territory so this angered Italy.(1) Inflation and unemployment was also a factor for the desire of a leader who would take action.(1)



In Germany Adolf Hitler rose to power because he joined the Nazi group and they were angry about the treaty of Versailles and wanted to overturn it. Nazis had a private militia of Storm troopers.(1) Hitler was able to gain more and more power and Was eventually chosen leader of the Nazis because of his Greta organizational skills and Greta speaking ability.(1) Hitler called Germans "Aryans" which is the most superior race and wanted only Aryans and said that jews and other races were bad and that Germans should have more living space so they would have to conquer parts of Russia and Eastern Europe.(1) The Nazis in 1932 became the largest German political party and the German president appointed Hitler as Chancellor(1). Soon he called for new elections and the Nazis ended up winning(1). He banned all other political parties and made Germany into a totalitarian state(1). Hitler had elite personal soldiers called the Schutzstaffel and they hunted down And killed many opponents of Hitler and the Nazi party(1)22. The Nazis also had a secret police which scared people into loyalty and the government took control of work and made many people work in factories and public projects. (1). Hitler made Germans children go to Nazi youth groups and propaganda was everywhere supporting Nazis




 * Beginning of WWII**- World War II was the most destructive and controversial wars in history. To this day the exact numbers of casualties is unknown. It's said to have started on July 7, 1937 when the Marco Polo Bridge caused China and Japan to fight in a war. As well as, September 1, 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. Which caused France to declare war on the Germans and so forth. So Germany during this time, wanted revenge for World War 1 and all the hardship they went through for many years. Germany, Italy and Japan signed agreements of mutual support, but never developed a comprehensive or coordinated plan of action. (5) While China and Japan were fighting, so was Germany and Europe. The Germans developed a new form of fighting called blitzkrieg or lighting warfare. This tactic was simply attack quickly and move away as fast as possible.



By 1940, the Germans invaded and defeated the Netherlands. In June of that year, France signed an armistice that divided the country. The Germans occupied the north and northwest which exposed three-fifths of the country to the same fate. Italy's Mussolini then declared war on France, on June 20 and attacked the next day. Another benefactor to the war was Germany on July 10, sent an air wave over England. Churchill forced Hitler to stop the invasion and ended the Battle of Britain.




 * Japan Involvement WWII-** After Japan aligned itself with Germany, they attacked most of their Asian neighbors. They made a pact with Nazi Germany and Fascists Italy. Japan accomplished all this with the help of Hirohito, he began to rebuild Japan's military. Japanese officers detonated a bomb in 1931 and blamed it on Chinese bandits. This caused a major rivalry between Japan and China and a war in 1937. Japan had killed 200,000 prisoners and civilians during this war. Ultimately, leading to their involvement in World War II.

On December 7,1941 Hirohito ordered a bombing of the Pearl Harbor. This cost the deaths of 2,500 Americans and war between America and Japan. Japan had control of numerous places in the Pacific and South East Asia over the past 7 months. Although in 1942, in the Battle of Midway Japan saw their fate was sealed. They knew they weren't going to win, but kept fighting. The Allied powers slowly regained their territories and sent tremendous air raids on Japan. (4) As well as invading Okinawa, which was one of the wars bloodiest battles. Finally, on August 15, 1945 Nagasaki and Hiroshima were bombed and then Japan surrendered.


 * Major Battles of WWII**


 * Battle of France**- Hitler planned to invade the lower countries; Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. They did this to avoid a two way war and redeploy to the East. Even though they were outnumbered, their plan worked perfectly. The British moved north to face Germany's front and Germany broke off to the English Channel. Pinning them between Germany and the water. This led to Paris and France being divided, amongst the Axis Powers and British troops were evacuated.(7)


 * Operation Overload**- August 1944, there were 3 million Allied troops in France. Paris was already liberated and the Germans were pushed back. The Germans had to reinforce their troops from the east and west. This led to an allied victory and to the west the Allies were collapsing to the Nazis border. Later on, they would surrender and Russia would lose control of Europe.


 * Battle of Guadalcanal**- August 7, the First Marine Division launched 11,000 troops Guadalcanal. The next day they successfully secured the airfield. In the middle of the night the Japanese launched an attack on Australian and American cruisers. So, the American Navy left and didn't unload the equipment. So, the Marine Division was forced to camp out and wait. They were attacked by thousands of Japanese troops each month. Japan finally withdrew their troops in 1943.


 * Battle of Gulf Moscow**- Hitler always wanted Moscow, then take over the Soviet Union. They planned to do this after 4 months of invading the USRR. By December, the Germans were less then 19 miles from Moscow. Luckily winter helped out the Russians and troops from Siberia. On December 5, 1941 Russia pushed towards a counter attack and Germany was forced to retreat.


 * Battle of Kursk**- Germans waited for new tanks to attack. This gave the Russians time to grab reinforcements and plan counter attacks. Germany attacked with their blitzkrieg formation but were stopped. Russia quickly set up for a counterattack and forced Germany to be on the defense for the rest of the time.


 * The Allied Victory-** the United States and Britain struck first in North Africa and Southern Europe but they still sent supplies to the Russians who had to hold out against the Nazis(1). In the North African campaign Montgomery launched a huge frontal attack against German general Rommal and his troops who were dug in at the Egyptian city of El Alamein. Germans defended for a few days but eventually retreated. When they were retreating operation torch was taking place where 100,000 american soldiers landed in Marocoo and Algeria and they'd sooncaught up to Rommal's troops and defeated them(10.

Hitler sent the 6th army to Russia to take the oil fields of the Caucasus and also the city of Stalingrad which was very important to Joseph Stalin. The battle began with(1). Nightly bombing runs of the Luftwaffe which destroyed much of the city(1). Germans controlled nearly all of the city but when winter set in Russian forces surrounded the city which cut off supplies and they closed in to kill all of the German troops(1). 90,000 Germans surrendered and now Germany was fighting a defensive war(1). The allies first took Sicily and with this happening the king removed Mussolini but Germans put him back in power of Northern Italy(1). Fig thing continued to 1945 and when Mussolini was found he was executed and hung for all to see(1). in 1944 3 million troops and thousands of tanks, planes and ships were deplored on Normandy beach in France. German defenses on the beach were strong but the allied troops managed to fight their way through(1). Thousands of allied troops died during the invasion. From here on the allies liberated countries on their way to Germany and the allies were led by General Paton. Soviet troops surrounded Berlin and american and British troops soon followed and Hitler soon committed suicide(1). After Hitlers death the Nazis surrendered to the allies. May 7 is known as VE-Day which is victory in Europe day(1). In the Pacific Americans won by dropping Atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, with this Japan surrendered(1).


 * Europe and Japan in Ruins-** In WWII about 40 million Europeans died from the war and many cities were rubble because of the constant bombings(8). Another problem was that there were many homeless people who had nothing after the destruction of the war(8). Farming had almost completely vanished because farm land was ruined because of bombs and this caused many people to starve especially during the winter(8). In Japan many cities especially where the atomic bombs were dropped were completely destroyed(8). about 2 million Japanese were killed(8 ).




 * Works Cited**

(1)World History: Patterns of Interaction (2) useconomy.about.com (3) projectaladin.org (4) history.net (5) history.com (6) nationalww2museum.org (7) listverse.com (8)historoda.com