World War II By Kevin Kelly, Conor Murphy, Gerard Soriano
World War II Map The Great Depression
Many countries set up democratic governments after the first World War. Those countries were not prepared for democracy, and their governments were very weak. In Germany, the Weimar Republic had to deal with very high reparations fees from the Treaty of Versailles. Their solution was to print more money, which rapidly inflated the value of the German mark. By 1923, a loaf of bread cost around 200 billion marks. To amend this, Germany got loans from American banks to stabilize their currency and economy (1).
The world depended on the prosperity of the United States's economy. However, it had many problems. In the 1920's, factories equipped with modern technology were able to create many goods, leading to enormous profits. Unfortunately, the profits weren't evenly distributed. Most families were too poor to afford many goods, so factories started producing less and laying off workers. This created a vicious cycle, because people that lost their jobs could afford to buy less and less. That caused more layoffs. Similarly, new equipment made farming easier, and there was a worldwide surplus of food, making prices drop, and farmers couldn't [[#|pay off]] their debts (1).
The [[#|stock market]] showed the optimism about the economy of the U.S. Prices of stocks grew and grew. Everybody wanted to buy stocks. People that couldn't afford to pay for them would get loans to [[#|buy stock]] that they could then sell to pay off [[#|[[#|the loans]]]] later. They wouldn't be able to pay off the loans, however, if the price of the stocks they bought fell. Starting in the fall of 1929, investors realized that [[#|stock prices]] were too high. They started to sell their stocks to avoid losing money, because they believed the prices would start to fall. Prices lowered because of this, and they started to completely drop by October 24th. People stopped [[#|buying stocks]], and everyone wanted to sell theirs, which caused the prices to fall drastically. On October 29th, sixteen million stocks were sold (1).
The [[#|stock market]] crash was followed by the Great Depression, a long period of time where the economy was very weak. People that had taken out loans to [[#|buy stock]] couldn't pay them back because the prices were so low. Production of goods, prices, and wages all fell. Many businesses and banks closed. Close to nine million people lost their savings from banks that ended up closing. Farmers lost their farms, and a quarter of Americans were unemployed by the year 1933. European countries that depended on American loans, especially Germany and Austria, were hit very hard as well. Worldwide, similar effects occurred. Banks fell, the value of exports was halved,and unemployment rose (1).
In Great Britain, a special government was set up that lowered interest, raised taxes, and passed high tariffs. They slowly recovered, and cut unemployment by half by the year 1937. Socialist governments in Scandinavia sponsored public works projects, raised benefits by taxing, and kept their democracy intact. [[#|Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] was elected in America and began a reform [[#|called]] the New Deal. He started public works projects and gave government support to farmers and businesses. Welfare and relief programs got a lot of money. New rules were put in place to prevent another crash. As a result, the American economic system was reformed and Roosevelt was established as a leader of democracy worldwide (1).
A "Fireside Chat," given by [[#|President Roosevelt]] during the Great Depression over the radio to citizens of the United States.
The Rise of Dictators in Europe
Fascism was a political movement that emphasized loyalty to the country and its leader. The main ideas that make up fascism are having extreme nationalism and an authoritarian ruler that brings order to the country. Similar to communism, fascism involved a dictator and one political party. There was no democracy, and individual rights were denied. The main difference between fascism and communism was that fascism believed in a class society, where each class has its own place, and fascists were loyal to their own country, while communism hoped to unite workers all over the world. Prior to the start of World War Two, fascist governments rose in Germany and Italy (1).
In Italy, inflation and unemployment were rising due to the Great Depression, and the people were disappointed because of the failure to gain more territory at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. To the people of Italy, their democratic government seemed unable to resolve their problems. Benito Mussolini, a politician and newspaper editor, promised to bring strong leadership to Italy. He said that he would revive its economy and armed forces. He gained more followers the worse conditions in Italy got. He started to criticize the government of Italy, and the fascists started to attack Communists and Socialists (1).
Fascists marched on Rome in October of 1922 and demanded that Mussolini be in charge. The king decided to give power to Mussolini in order to keep the peace and in the hopes that his dynasty would survive. Mussolini was called Il Duce, meaning "the leader." He outlawed democracy and political parties besides the fascists. Media outlets could only put out fascist material. Opponents of Mussolini would be thrown into jail. Strikes were outlawed; Mussolini wanted to control the economy. However, he never got the level of Control that Joseph Stalin or Adolf Hitler had (1).
Adolf Hitler was a soldier for the German army in World War I. He returned home and joined the national Socialist German Worker's Party, also known as the Nazi Party. The party wanted to combat communism and overturn the Treaty of Versailles. They also set up a private militia. Hitler was quickly chosen to be the leader of the party, and they attempted to seize power in 1923, similarly to the Italian fascists. Hitler was put in jail for the attempt, which was where he wrote Mein Kampf. In the book, he said that Germans, which he called "Aryans," were a master race. He also wanted to regain Germany's lands lost due to the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler revived the Nazi Party after he got out of jail, and after America's loans stopped coming in during the Great Depression, he was looked to for strong leadership (1).
German political leaders thought that they could control Hitler for their goals, so they asked the president to make him chancellor. When Hitler became chancellor, he called for elections that could give the Nazis a majority in Parliament. In the days leading up to the elections, a fire destroyed the parliament building, which Hitler blamed on the Communists. The Nazis were able to win a majority that they used to turn Germany into a totalitarian country. Hitler banned other political parties, and the SS, an elite police squad, arrested and murdered his enemies. Other actions took included banning strikes, unions, and led to the government having control over all business. Germans were forced to work building factories and highways, manufacturing, and serving in the military. Hitler also got rid of all media that didn't glorify him. Books were burned, churches couldn't speak out against him, and kids had to join the Hitler Youth or League of German Girls. Additionally, the Nazis blamed Germany's struggles on the Jews, a minority that was less than 1 percent of the population. Many Germans developed anti-Semitic feelings, and new laws deprived them of most of their rights. On November 9, 1938, mobs of Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses. The violence, known as Kristallnacht, meaning "Night of the Broken Glass," was the beginning of the Nazis eliminating Jews from society (1).
The Beginning of World War II
Japan had signed a treaty to respect China's borders in 1922. They formed a more democratic government but their prime minister and cabinet were very weak. Additionally, the leaders of the armed forces were only controlled by the emperor. The civilian government was blamed for the struggles that hit Japan during the Great Depression. The military leaders won control of the country. They set it up so that the emperor was a figurehead, and the military leaders had control of the government. They were extreme nationalists, and believed that the problems their country faced would be solved by forming a Pacific empire (1).
The first step Japan took was to invade Manchuria, a province of China, in 1931. They did this in direct defiance of the League of Nations, but Japan ignored their protests and left the League in 1933. In 1937, the Japanese invaded China after a border dispute. The Japanese swept through the country, taking cities such as Beijing, and the capital at the time, Nanjing. The Chinese were forced to retreat to the west (1).
The failure of the League of Nations to stop Japan inspired Benito Mussolini to build his own empire in Africa, like the ones that Britain and France had. In October of 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, one of only three independent nations in Africa. The emperor of Ethiopia asked the League of Nations for help, but the members preferred to avoid provoking aggression with Italy in Europe (1).
Hitler had promised to disregard the Treaty of Versailles, and he announced that Germany would not obey restrictions on their armed forces, to little response from the League of Nations. Next, he moved troops into the Rhineland, which was a buffer between Germany and France that Germany was forbidden to put troops in. France gave in to avoid war. The position of the Rhineland allowed Hitler to attack France and Belgium. Mussolini and Hitler agreed to an alliance in October 1936, known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. Japan joined soon after, and the three came to be known as the Axis Powers (1).
In Spain, fascist rebels started a revolt that led to a three-year civil war. Both Germany and Italy sent aid to the fascists, who were fighting against the elected government. Democracies remained neutral in this fight, and Francisco Franco became the dictator of Spain in 1939. Britain and France avoided conflict with Fascist aggressors. The United States followed a policy of isolationism, and banned loans and selling arms to nations that were at war. Meanwhile, Hitler annexed Austria, despite the prohibition of that set by the Treaty of Versailles. He demanded that the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with many Germans in it, be given to Germany (1).
The Czechs refused, and asked France and Britain to help them. However, they were convinced to preserve peace and give in to Hitler at the Munich Conference, when Hitler pledged to respect Czechoslovakia's new borders. Shortly after the conference, Hitler took over Czechoslovakia. Mussolini invaded Albania, and Hitler demanded the port of Danzig be returned to them from Poland. He knew that France or Britain wouldn't risk war when Poland asked for help. Britain and France asked the Soviet Union to help them stop Germany, but Hitler and Joseph Stalin agreed to never attack each other in 1939. War loomed on the horizon towards the end of the 1930's (1).
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was a period of time where 11 million people were killed by Nazis. About six of nine million Jews were slaughtered. The rest were the disabled, elderly, children, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehova's Witnesses, and others thought to be "unfit" for the master race of Germany. The people were taken from their homes, banned from society, and forced to live in ghettos. Many were either forced to do labor, were imprisoned, or died from exposure, disease, and starvation. Nazis also shot and rounded up victims of the Holocaust in gas chambers. Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz were some of the biggest concentration camps. Before being liberated, Nazis tried hiding their war crimes. Nazis were either captured and tried for their war crimes or were never caught at all. Survivors of the Holocaust were freed, but forever scarred for life (2).
Allied Victory
The Allied leaders planned to open up a second front in the West to relieve Stalin's Army of pressure in the East. The plan was to spread Germany out and weaken them on two sides before delivering the final blow on Germany. Britain and the U.S. went south into North Africa and Southern Europe to deal with the Germans there. Meanwhile, Russia had to hold out until the Allies could open up a second front in France. (1)
The African Campaign-The British military fought to take Northern Africa from the Germans. Starting in October of 1942, General Bernard Montgomery "Monty" led the charge in taking over the territories. The Germans had dug themselves in tight in a town west of Alexandria called El Alamein. Montgomery decided that the best way to get to them was a massive frontal assault. The Germans were surprised by the British attack and held out for four days until they were forced to retreat west. As the German forces retreated Operation Torch was initiated. A huge force of nearly 100,000 American troops (1) went into Morocco and Algeria led by Dwight D Eisenhower. The Germans retreating found themselves trapped between two armies and were destroyed by May 1943. (1)
The Battle of Stalingrad-The battle of Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942 when the Luftwaffe started bombing the City of Stalingrad in Russia at night. The city was all but reduced to rubble when Stalin told his military to defend Stalingrad to the death. The Germans controlled roughly 90% of the city and things were looking grim for the Russians. Towards the end of 1942, the cold Russian winter started to set in. On November 19th, the Russians set up a counterattack around the city. With the Germans now trapped and starved of supplies inside the city, they surrendered to the Soviets. (1)
The Invasion of Italy-The U.S. and Britain decided the best course of action was to invade Italy before France. In July of 1943, the two armies invaded Sicily and started the campaign that would bring the downfall of Benito Mussolini. The Allies worked their way up Italy towards Northern Italy where the Germans were stationed. Overwhelmed by the Allies power, the Germans retreated to the North, leaving the Allies mostly victorious. The conflicts in Italy continued until May of 1945, however, when Italian resistance ambushed a group of trucks, one of which contained the disguised Benito Mussolini. They executed Mussolini in Milan and hung his corpse downtown for the people to see. (1)
War Production at Home-With the war raging on overseas, the United States had to keep up and produce supplies. To accommodate for the huge need for war supplies, most factories virtually stopped production on consumer goods and started making war products instead. Many car companies started producing tanks, companies that made typewriters started making ammunition. With many women now at work in factories and the factories producing war supplies, the United States was able to churn out more materials for the military than ever before. (1)
Europe and Japan in Ruins
Europe was devastated by the end of the war. With roughly 40 million Europeans dead, and about two thirds of them civilians (1), the continent was in a state of disrepair. Constant bombings of cities all over Europe reduced much of the continent to rubble. Although many large cities in Europe such as Rome and Paris were left mostly undamaged, other large cities like London and Warsaw were left with immense amounts of damage. This destruction caused a lot of trouble for Europeans. Many people were left homeless and wandering around Europe looking for shelter. Due to a lack of fast transportation, farmers' harvests had trouble going where they needed to. (1)
After the war, many people were hopeless. Communists in Europe spread news of change and promised things would be better, and many of these people listened to them. In initial postwar elections, communist candidates were elected far more often than before. With the Communists now in a good position, they wanted to quicken and ensure their power through a series of violent attacks. With many people now alarmed of the Communists taking power, Communism's popularity died out quickly. (1)
Japan suffered a similar destruction in postwar times as the country's major cities had been destroyed by bombings. Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima were all but destroyed. Japan was no longer the powerful empire it once was. The United States military was stationed in Japan at the time. General Douglas MacArthur, who was in charge of the postwar occupation of Japan, was trying to be peaceful and fair in carrying out the occupation. He started demilitarizing Japan and disbanding its military. MacArthur also tried to democratize Japan and bring its government into a democracy. Though the numerous reforms were helpful to Japan, it had to adjust to the extreme changes coming its way. (1)
One of the largest changes MacArthur's reforms brought was the new Japanese constitution. In traditional Japanese society, the emperor was in complete control and was seen as divine. This new constitution severely limited his power and he was obligated to denounce his supposed divinity. The emperor in Japan was made largely into a figurehead, leaving the real power of the country to its citizens. The government was now run by the Diet, a two-house parliament that would elect a prime minister as its leader. All adults over 20 were now allowed to vote. All of these changes made to Japan made it a lot more like other Western countries, ending a lot of traditional Japanese ideas and values to make room for Western ones. (1)
The United States did not initially enter the war. It took more than two years and tensions to rise to get the U.S. officially into the conflict. Towards the beginning, most Americans thought that the United States should stay out of the war. It wasn't until tensions started to rise and the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor that the country and its people got heavily involved. (1)
In 1941, the government passed the Lend-Lease Act. This Act stated that the U.S. could now lend or lease weapons to any country that is an asset to the U.S. and is involved in the war. This led to deals between countries like Britain for U.S. arms. Eventually, United States Navy ships started escorting British ships carrying United States armament. These actions by the United States and Britain rose tensions with Germany. After hearing of these deals over arms, Hitler ordered all German submarines to sink any cargo ships they came across. (1)
United States Involvement
Tensions further rose between the United states and Germany as the year progressed. In September of 1941, a German U-Boat attacked a U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic Ocean. In response to this attack, President Roosevelt ordered all U.S. Naval ships to shoot any German U-Boats on sight. With this, the United States had an undeclared naval conflict with Germany that would last until the U.S. officially entered the war in December.
The conflict that would officially bring the United States into the war was the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. The attack was mostly a complete surprise in that an coded message was received saying there would be an attack from Japan, but it did not say where or when. In two short hours, the Japanese aerial attack left 19 ships sunk or damaged, and roughly 2,300 Americans dead (1). Soon after, America officially declared war on Japan.
The United States heavily contributed efforts to the war in different battles. One of the most decisive battles that the United States was heavily involved in was D-Day. The massive attack on the coast of France had many American troops involved. It was the largest air, land, and sea invasion in history. The bloody battle left 2,700 American troops dead. Although there were heavy losses from the battle, the Allies gained the territory on the beachheads and were in a good position to go deeper into France. In the coming months, the Allies successfully took back France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. (1)
Japan's Involvement In September 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. When Japan sent troops to occupy French Indochina, the United States refused to supply Japan with economic sanctions, such as oil and steel. In response, Japanese planes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. War was then declared on them by the U.S. Japan also occupied the Dutch East Indies, British Singapore, New Guinea, the Philippines and a number of other locations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. When the U.S. won the Battle of Midway against them, the U.S. was able to gain an advantage, changing from a defensive position to an offensive one. The fighting continued until two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered. Many Japanese officers were charged with several war crimes. These included the Rape of Nanjing and the brutal murders of prisoners and civilians (3).
Major Battles 1.) On September 1, 1939, Hitler's invasion of Poland began. Hitler's goal was to create more living space for his people. He also intended to enslave native Slavs in concentration camps. About 1.5 million Germans met around 1 million soldiers from Poland. Hitler was able to obtain a quick victory. To stop Soviet Union from interfering, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact. They ended up splitting up Polish territory, but after a while, Hitler broke the pact by taking the rest of the Polish territory from the Soviet Union. Not only did Germany have Poland and the Soviet Union as enemies, but they also had Britain and France declare war on them. This was the official start of WWII (3).
2.) July 10, 1940 marked a turning point in the war. After France left Britain to fight the Germans alone, Germany knew they had to take over Britain's air defense system. Under the leadership of Churchill, the Britain pilots were able to stop the German Luftwaffe from taking over Britain and advancing to other nations (3). 3.) During mid 1941, Hitler tried to take over the Soviet capital, Moscow. He believed that cutting it off from the rest of the nation would make it collapse. Stalin was still able to rally his troops to slow down the advancing German army. Along with fresh reinforcements of men, tanks, and other supplies, the harsh winter gave the Soviets an advantage. Eventually, the Soviets were able to push back the Germans away from the city. Even though they suffered many casualties , they prevented the capture of an important city (4).
4.) December 7, 1941 is a date no American can forget. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Within two hours, 20 naval vessels and 200 airplanes were destroyed. More than 2000 Americans were dead and 1000 more were wounded. With the help of Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. The U.S. had finally joined the war (3). 5.) On June 4, 1942, the U.S. won a decisive battle against the Japanese. The Japanese planned on taking the U.S. Army by surprise. They waited until the U.S. would start a counterattack and ambush them. Fortunately, the U.S. were able to intercept these plans and ambushed the Japanese. With the aid of bombers and battleships, the U.S. decimated the Japanese aircrafts and fleet carries. They now had a straight path towards Tokyo (3).
6.) Another decisive victory was won on August 21, 1942. Hitler wanted to take a key Soviet city, Stalingrad. He was hoping for a quick victory, but Stalin had different plans. Stalin was able to build up a very good defense against the Germans with reinforcements on the way. Within time, Soviets troops surrounded the German army. Hitler's forces could have fought their way out, but he insisted they hold their ground. With the Soviets constantly attacking them and troops freezing and starving, the Germans surrendered. This victory not only humiliated Hitler, but also turned the tides for the Allies (3).
7.) On June 6, 1944, 156,000 Americans, British, and Canadians stormed France's Normandy coast. Under heavy fire of the Germans, the Allied forces were able to overcome the shore and takeover the area. Around late August, all of northern France was liberated. This is considered to be the beginning of the end of the war in Europe (3).
8.) April 16, 1945 was the last battle for Hitler. Soviets began bombing Berlin and surrounded the city. Hitler was trying to defend the city with everything he had, but eventually supplies ran out. Hitler then admitted defeat and committed suicide. Many other Germans either escaped or were captured by the Soviets. After an unconditional surrender took place, the war in Europe had ended (5).
9.) Japan surrendered due to two very important dates. On August 6, 1945, the world’s first deployed atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which wiped out 90 percent of the city and killed 80,000 people with tens of thousands more dying of radiation exposure. On August 9, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. This brought a new era of nuclear war (3). The Night of the Long Knives
In 1934, Hitler was Chancellor in Germany. He held a lot of power at the time through the Enabling Acts, acts stating that, as Chancellor, Hitler had the ability to enact laws without the official approval of the Reichstag (Parliament). Although the Enabling Acts gave Hitler a lot of power in Germany, he was worried other leaders within the Nazi Party would attempt to take power before he could. One such leader was Ernst Röhm, the leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA), a powerful paramilitary group and zealous ally of Hitler and the Nazi party. Ernst and the SA had long stood by Hitler as an aggressive and powerful ally, but they became less useful to Hitler because he no longer needed powerful aggressors, but the support of the German military in order to gain political influence with industrIes. This threat of political competition and Hitler's need for the support of the German military set the stage for the Night of the Long Knives. This political purge would effectively leave Hitler as the unquestionable leader of Germany and its armed forces. (6,7) Ernst Röhm
By 1934, Ernst Röhm had made some enemies within the Nazi party, and Heinrich Himmler was one of them. He, along with Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goering, was angry due to the fact that Röhm had gained a significant amount of power within the Nazi party. They feared that Röhm's zeal would lead to him attempting to overtake Hitler as leader of Germany and the Nazis. Hitler, himself fearing Röhm and trusting his allies' judgement, grew wary. This fear further grew as the SA's forces grew to roughly 2 million troops and Röhm spoke about absorbing the smaller German military into the SA (6,7). By summer of 1934, Hitler decided that something needed to be done about the SA. His plan was to eliminate Röhm along with the rest of the SA's leadership through arrests and executions. He would then have the leaderless SA be absorbed by the German army, under the condition that they would swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. The deal was made and the plan was set. (6,7)
On the nights of June 29th and 30th, Hitler sent squads of SS to arrest the SA's leadership and other figures that posed political opposition. After days of making arrests and executing political opponents, the SS are said to have arrested or killed anywhere from 200 to 1000 individuals (6,7). It is estimated that less than half of those killed or arrested were actually affiliated with the SA. On July 13th 1934, Hitler spoke about the killings to the Reichstag. He justified the mass killings in saying that he had to take necessary and violent action in order to preserve Germany and its people. He also stated that this made him the "supreme judge of the German people". From that point on, Hitler was undoubtedly the supreme ruler over Germany. His deal with the German military not only strengthened the army, it also gave him complete control over it due to the oath of loyalty they swore. "The Night of the Long Knives" as it was known, was the event that cemented Hitler's position as the indisputable ruler of Germany. (6,7)
World War Two Propaganda Gallery "Rosie the Riveter" is the most famous image of a working woman from World War II. She came to symbolize the new feminine ideal and represented the patriotic woman. Posters often depicted muscular men in order to represent national confidence. Powerful men and machines showed how America could use its strength in the war effort. Many posters showed atrocities committed by the Nazis in order to turn favor against them. This one represented the massacre at Lidice, Czechoslovakia.Goods that could be used for the war effort were rationed. Posters such as this helped remind people that they had less because it was going to help the troops, as well as convince them to take part in conservation. This poster was made to encourage people to forget their own suffering in order to help the troops. People were reminded that their suffering was nowhere near as difficult as that of the soldiers.It was determined that the most effective posters were those that played on people's emotions. Images of women and children in danger were the best for getting a response (8). Sources
By Kevin Kelly, Conor Murphy, Gerard Soriano
World War II Map
The Great Depression
Many countries set up democratic governments after the first World War. Those countries were not prepared for democracy, and their governments were very weak. In Germany, the Weimar Republic had to deal with very high reparations fees from the Treaty of Versailles. Their solution was to print more money, which rapidly inflated the value of the German mark. By 1923, a loaf of bread cost around 200 billion marks. To amend this, Germany got loans from American banks to stabilize their currency and economy (1).
The world depended on the prosperity of the United States's economy. However, it had many problems. In the 1920's, factories equipped with modern technology were able to create many goods, leading to enormous profits. Unfortunately, the profits weren't evenly distributed. Most families were too poor to afford many goods, so factories started producing less and laying off workers. This created a vicious cycle, because people that lost their jobs could afford to buy less and less. That caused more layoffs. Similarly, new equipment made farming easier, and there was a worldwide surplus of food, making prices drop, and farmers couldn't [[#|pay off]] their debts (1).
The [[#|stock market]] showed the optimism about the economy of the U.S. Prices of stocks grew and grew. Everybody wanted to buy stocks. People that couldn't afford to pay for them would get loans to [[#|buy stock]] that they could then sell to pay off [[#|[[#|the loans]]]] later. They wouldn't be able to pay off the loans, however, if the price of the stocks they bought fell. Starting in the fall of 1929, investors realized that [[#|stock prices]] were too high. They started to sell their stocks to avoid losing money, because they believed the prices would start to fall. Prices lowered because of this, and they started to completely drop by October 24th. People stopped [[#|buying stocks]], and everyone wanted to sell theirs, which caused the prices to fall drastically. On October 29th, sixteen million stocks were sold (1).
The [[#|stock market]] crash was followed by the Great Depression, a long period of time where the economy was very weak. People that had taken out loans to [[#|buy stock]] couldn't pay them back because the prices were so low. Production of goods, prices, and wages all fell. Many businesses and banks closed. Close to nine million people lost their savings from banks that ended up closing. Farmers lost their farms, and a quarter of Americans were unemployed by the year 1933. European countries that depended on American loans, especially Germany and Austria, were hit very hard as well. Worldwide, similar effects occurred. Banks fell, the value of exports was halved,and unemployment rose (1).
In Great Britain, a special government was set up that lowered interest, raised taxes, and passed high tariffs. They slowly recovered, and cut unemployment by half by the year 1937. Socialist governments in Scandinavia sponsored public works projects, raised benefits by taxing, and kept their democracy intact. [[#|Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] was elected in America and began a reform [[#|called]] the New Deal. He started public works projects and gave government support to farmers and businesses. Welfare and relief programs got a lot of money. New rules were put in place to prevent another crash. As a result, the American economic system was reformed and Roosevelt was established as a leader of democracy worldwide (1).
A "Fireside Chat," given by [[#|President Roosevelt]] during the Great Depression over the radio to citizens of the United States.
The Rise of Dictators in Europe
Fascism was a political movement that emphasized loyalty to the country and its leader. The main ideas that make up fascism are having extreme nationalism and an authoritarian ruler that brings order to the country. Similar to communism, fascism involved a dictator and one political party. There was no democracy, and individual rights were denied. The main difference between fascism and communism was that fascism believed in a class society, where each class has its own place, and fascists were loyal to their own country, while communism hoped to unite workers all over the world. Prior to the start of World War Two, fascist governments rose in Germany and Italy (1).
In Italy, inflation and unemployment were rising due to the Great Depression, and the people were disappointed because of the failure to gain more territory at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. To the people of Italy, their democratic government seemed unable to resolve their problems. Benito Mussolini, a politician and newspaper editor, promised to bring strong leadership to Italy. He said that he would revive its economy and armed forces. He gained more followers the worse conditions in Italy got. He started to criticize the government of Italy, and the fascists started to attack Communists and Socialists (1).
Fascists marched on Rome in October of 1922 and demanded that Mussolini be in charge. The king decided to give power to Mussolini in order to keep the peace and in the hopes that his dynasty would survive. Mussolini was called Il Duce, meaning "the leader." He outlawed democracy and political parties besides the fascists. Media outlets could only put out fascist material. Opponents of Mussolini would be thrown into jail. Strikes were outlawed; Mussolini wanted to control the economy. However, he never got the level of Control that Joseph Stalin or Adolf Hitler had (1).
Adolf Hitler was a soldier for the German army in World War I. He returned home and joined the national Socialist German Worker's Party, also known as the Nazi Party. The party wanted to combat communism and overturn the Treaty of Versailles. They also set up a private militia. Hitler was quickly chosen to be the leader of the party, and they attempted to seize power in 1923, similarly to the Italian fascists. Hitler was put in jail for the attempt, which was where he wrote Mein Kampf. In the book, he said that Germans, which he called "Aryans," were a master race. He also wanted to regain Germany's lands lost due to the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler revived the Nazi Party after he got out of jail, and after America's loans stopped coming in during the Great Depression, he was looked to for strong leadership (1).
German political leaders thought that they could control Hitler for their goals, so they asked the president to make him chancellor. When Hitler became chancellor, he called for elections that could give the Nazis a majority in Parliament. In the days leading up to the elections, a fire destroyed the parliament building, which Hitler blamed on the Communists. The Nazis were able to win a majority that they used to turn Germany into a totalitarian country. Hitler banned other political parties, and the SS, an elite police squad, arrested and murdered his enemies. Other actions took included banning strikes, unions, and led to the government having control over all business. Germans were forced to work building factories and highways, manufacturing, and serving in the military. Hitler also got rid of all media that didn't glorify him. Books were burned, churches couldn't speak out against him, and kids had to join the Hitler Youth or League of German Girls. Additionally, the Nazis blamed Germany's struggles on the Jews, a minority that was less than 1 percent of the population. Many Germans developed anti-Semitic feelings, and new laws deprived them of most of their rights. On November 9, 1938, mobs of Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses. The violence, known as Kristallnacht, meaning "Night of the Broken Glass," was the beginning of the Nazis eliminating Jews from society (1).
The Beginning of World War II
Japan had signed a treaty to respect China's borders in 1922. They formed a more democratic government but their prime minister and cabinet were very weak. Additionally, the leaders of the armed forces were only controlled by the emperor. The civilian government was blamed for the struggles that hit Japan during the Great Depression. The military leaders won control of the country. They set it up so that the emperor was a figurehead, and the military leaders had control of the government. They were extreme nationalists, and believed that the problems their country faced would be solved by forming a Pacific empire (1).
The first step Japan took was to invade Manchuria, a province of China, in 1931. They did this in direct defiance of the League of Nations, but Japan ignored their protests and left the League in 1933. In 1937, the Japanese invaded China after a border dispute. The Japanese swept through the country, taking cities such as Beijing, and the capital at the time, Nanjing. The Chinese were forced to retreat to the west (1).
The failure of the League of Nations to stop Japan inspired Benito Mussolini to build his own empire in Africa, like the ones that Britain and France had. In October of 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, one of only three independent nations in Africa. The emperor of Ethiopia asked the League of Nations for help, but the members preferred to avoid provoking aggression with Italy in Europe (1).
Hitler had promised to disregard the Treaty of Versailles, and he announced that Germany would not obey restrictions on their armed forces, to little response from the League of Nations. Next, he moved troops into the Rhineland, which was a buffer between Germany and France that Germany was forbidden to put troops in. France gave in to avoid war. The position of the Rhineland allowed Hitler to attack France and Belgium. Mussolini and Hitler agreed to an alliance in October 1936, known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. Japan joined soon after, and the three came to be known as the Axis Powers (1).
In Spain, fascist rebels started a revolt that led to a three-year civil war. Both Germany and Italy sent aid to the fascists, who were fighting against the elected government. Democracies remained neutral in this fight, and Francisco Franco became the dictator of Spain in 1939. Britain and France avoided conflict with Fascist aggressors. The United States followed a policy of isolationism, and banned loans and selling arms to nations that were at war. Meanwhile, Hitler annexed Austria, despite the prohibition of that set by the Treaty of Versailles. He demanded that the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with many Germans in it, be given to Germany (1).
The Czechs refused, and asked France and Britain to help them. However, they were convinced to preserve peace and give in to Hitler at the Munich Conference, when Hitler pledged to respect Czechoslovakia's new borders. Shortly after the conference, Hitler took over Czechoslovakia. Mussolini invaded Albania, and Hitler demanded the port of Danzig be returned to them from Poland. He knew that France or Britain wouldn't risk war when Poland asked for help. Britain and France asked the Soviet Union to help them stop Germany, but Hitler and Joseph Stalin agreed to never attack each other in 1939. War loomed on the horizon towards the end of the 1930's (1).
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was a period of time where 11 million people were killed by Nazis. About six of nine million Jews were slaughtered. The rest were the disabled, elderly, children, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehova's Witnesses, and others thought to be "unfit" for the master race of Germany. The people were taken from their homes, banned from society, and forced to live in ghettos. Many were either forced to do labor, were imprisoned, or died from exposure, disease, and starvation. Nazis also shot and rounded up victims of the Holocaust in gas chambers. Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz were some of the biggest concentration camps. Before being liberated, Nazis tried hiding their war crimes. Nazis were either captured and tried for their war crimes or were never caught at all. Survivors of the Holocaust were freed, but forever scarred for life (2).
Allied Victory
The Allied leaders planned to open up a second front in the West to relieve Stalin's Army of pressure in the East. The plan was to spread Germany out and weaken them on two sides before delivering the final blow on Germany. Britain and the U.S. went south into North Africa and Southern Europe to deal with the Germans there. Meanwhile, Russia had to hold out until the Allies could open up a second front in France. (1)
The African Campaign-The British military fought to take Northern Africa from the Germans. Starting in October of 1942, General Bernard Montgomery "Monty" led the charge in taking over the territories. The Germans had dug themselves in tight in a town west of Alexandria called El Alamein. Montgomery decided that the best way to get to them was a massive frontal assault. The Germans were surprised by the British attack and held out for four days until they were forced to retreat west. As the German forces retreated Operation Torch was initiated. A huge force of nearly 100,000 American troops (1) went into Morocco and Algeria led by Dwight D Eisenhower. The Germans retreating found themselves trapped between two armies and were destroyed by May 1943. (1)
The Battle of Stalingrad-The battle of Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942 when the Luftwaffe started bombing the City of Stalingrad in Russia at night. The city was all but reduced to rubble when Stalin told his military to defend Stalingrad to the death. The Germans controlled roughly 90% of the city and things were looking grim for the Russians. Towards the end of 1942, the cold Russian winter started to set in. On November 19th, the Russians set up a counterattack around the city. With the Germans now trapped and starved of supplies inside the city, they surrendered to the Soviets. (1)
The Invasion of Italy-The U.S. and Britain decided the best course of action was to invade Italy before France. In July of 1943, the two armies invaded Sicily and started the campaign that would bring the downfall of Benito Mussolini. The Allies worked their way up Italy towards Northern Italy where the Germans were stationed. Overwhelmed by the Allies power, the Germans retreated to the North, leaving the Allies mostly victorious. The conflicts in Italy continued until May of 1945, however, when Italian resistance ambushed a group of trucks, one of which contained the disguised Benito Mussolini. They executed Mussolini in Milan and hung his corpse downtown for the people to see. (1)
War Production at Home-With the war raging on overseas, the United States had to keep up and produce supplies. To accommodate for the huge need for war supplies, most factories virtually stopped production on consumer goods and started making war products instead. Many car companies started producing tanks, companies that made typewriters started making ammunition. With many women now at work in factories and the factories producing war supplies, the United States was able to churn out more materials for the military than ever before. (1)
Europe and Japan in Ruins
Europe was devastated by the end of the war. With roughly 40 million Europeans dead, and about two thirds of them civilians (1), the continent was in a state of disrepair. Constant bombings of cities all over Europe reduced much of the continent to rubble. Although many large cities in Europe such as Rome and Paris were left mostly undamaged, other large cities like London and Warsaw were left with immense amounts of damage. This destruction caused a lot of trouble for Europeans. Many people were left homeless and wandering around Europe looking for shelter. Due to a lack of fast transportation, farmers' harvests had trouble going where they needed to. (1)
After the war, many people were hopeless. Communists in Europe spread news of change and promised things would be better, and many of these people listened to them. In initial postwar elections, communist candidates were elected far more often than before. With the Communists now in a good position, they wanted to quicken and ensure their power through a series of violent attacks. With many people now alarmed of the Communists taking power, Communism's popularity died out quickly. (1)
Japan suffered a similar destruction in postwar times as the country's major cities had been destroyed by bombings. Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima were all but destroyed. Japan was no longer the powerful empire it once was. The United States military was stationed in Japan at the time. General Douglas MacArthur, who was in charge of the postwar occupation of Japan, was trying to be peaceful and fair in carrying out the occupation. He started demilitarizing Japan and disbanding its military. MacArthur also tried to democratize Japan and bring its government into a democracy. Though the numerous reforms were helpful to Japan, it had to adjust to the extreme changes coming its way. (1)
One of the largest changes MacArthur's reforms brought was the new Japanese constitution. In traditional Japanese society, the emperor was in complete control and was seen as divine. This new constitution severely limited his power and he was obligated to denounce his supposed divinity. The emperor in Japan was made largely into a figurehead, leaving the real power of the country to its citizens. The government was now run by the Diet, a two-house parliament that would elect a prime minister as its leader. All adults over 20 were now allowed to vote. All of these changes made to Japan made it a lot more like other Western countries, ending a lot of traditional Japanese ideas and values to make room for Western ones. (1)
The United States did not initially enter the war. It took more than two years and tensions to rise to get the U.S. officially into the conflict. Towards the beginning, most Americans thought that the United States should stay out of the war. It wasn't until tensions started to rise and the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor that the country and its people got heavily involved. (1)
In 1941, the government passed the Lend-Lease Act. This Act stated that the U.S. could now lend or lease weapons to any country that is an asset to the U.S. and is involved in the war. This led to deals between countries like Britain for U.S. arms. Eventually, United States Navy ships started escorting British ships carrying United States armament. These actions by the United States and Britain rose tensions with Germany. After hearing of these deals over arms, Hitler ordered all German submarines to sink any cargo ships they came across. (1)
United States Involvement
Tensions further rose between the United states and Germany as the year progressed. In September of 1941, a German U-Boat attacked a U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic Ocean. In response to this attack, President Roosevelt ordered all U.S. Naval ships to shoot any German U-Boats on sight. With this, the United States had an undeclared naval conflict with Germany that would last until the U.S. officially entered the war in December.
The conflict that would officially bring the United States into the war was the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. The attack was mostly a complete surprise in that an coded message was received saying there would be an attack from Japan, but it did not say where or when. In two short hours, the Japanese aerial attack left 19 ships sunk or damaged, and roughly 2,300 Americans dead (1). Soon after, America officially declared war on Japan.
The United States heavily contributed efforts to the war in different battles. One of the most decisive battles that the United States was heavily involved in was D-Day. The massive attack on the coast of France had many American troops involved. It was the largest air, land, and sea invasion in history. The bloody battle left 2,700 American troops dead. Although there were heavy losses from the battle, the Allies gained the territory on the beachheads and were in a good position to go deeper into France. In the coming months, the Allies successfully took back France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. (1)
Japan's Involvement
In September 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. When Japan sent troops to occupy French Indochina, the United States refused to supply Japan with economic sanctions, such as oil and steel. In response, Japanese planes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. War was then declared on them by the U.S. Japan also occupied the Dutch East Indies, British Singapore, New Guinea, the Philippines and a number of other locations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. When the U.S. won the Battle of Midway against them, the U.S. was able to gain an advantage, changing from a defensive position to an offensive one. The fighting continued until two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered. Many Japanese officers were charged with several war crimes. These included the Rape of Nanjing and the brutal murders of prisoners and civilians (3).
Major Battles
1.) On September 1, 1939, Hitler's invasion of Poland began. Hitler's goal was to create more living space for his people. He also intended to enslave native Slavs in concentration camps. About 1.5 million Germans met around 1 million soldiers from Poland. Hitler was able to obtain a quick victory. To stop Soviet Union from interfering, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact. They ended up splitting up Polish territory, but after a while, Hitler broke the pact by taking the rest of the Polish territory from the Soviet Union. Not only did Germany have Poland and the Soviet Union as enemies, but they also had Britain and France declare war on them. This was the official start of WWII (3).
2.) July 10, 1940 marked a turning point in the war. After France left Britain to fight the Germans alone, Germany knew they had to take over Britain's air defense system. Under the leadership of Churchill, the Britain pilots were able to stop the German Luftwaffe from taking over Britain and advancing to other nations (3).
3.) During mid 1941, Hitler tried to take over the Soviet capital, Moscow. He believed that cutting it off from the rest of the nation would make it collapse. Stalin was still able to rally his troops to slow down the advancing German army. Along with fresh reinforcements of men, tanks, and other supplies, the harsh winter gave the Soviets an advantage. Eventually, the Soviets were able to push back the Germans away from the city. Even though they suffered many casualties , they prevented the capture of an important city (4).
4.) December 7, 1941 is a date no American can forget. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Within two hours, 20 naval vessels and 200 airplanes were destroyed. More than 2000 Americans were dead and 1000 more were wounded. With the help of Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. The U.S. had finally joined the war (3).
5.) On June 4, 1942, the U.S. won a decisive battle against the Japanese. The Japanese planned on taking the U.S. Army by surprise. They waited until the U.S. would start a counterattack and ambush them. Fortunately, the U.S. were able to intercept these plans and ambushed the Japanese. With the aid of bombers and battleships, the U.S. decimated the Japanese aircrafts and fleet carries. They now had a straight path towards Tokyo (3).
6.) Another decisive victory was won on August 21, 1942. Hitler wanted to take a key Soviet city, Stalingrad. He was hoping for a quick victory, but Stalin had different plans. Stalin was able to build up a very good defense against the Germans with reinforcements on the way. Within time, Soviets troops surrounded the German army. Hitler's forces could have fought their way out, but he insisted they hold their ground. With the Soviets constantly attacking them and troops freezing and starving, the Germans surrendered. This victory not only humiliated Hitler, but also turned the tides for the Allies (3).
7.) On June 6, 1944, 156,000 Americans, British, and Canadians stormed France's Normandy coast. Under heavy fire of the Germans, the Allied forces were able to overcome the shore and takeover the area. Around late August, all of northern France was liberated. This is considered to be the beginning of the end of the war in Europe (3).
8.) April 16, 1945 was the last battle for Hitler. Soviets began bombing Berlin and surrounded the city. Hitler was trying to defend the city with everything he had, but eventually supplies ran out. Hitler then admitted defeat and committed suicide. Many other Germans either escaped or were captured by the Soviets. After an unconditional surrender took place, the war in Europe had ended (5).
9.) Japan surrendered due to two very important dates. On August 6, 1945, the world’s first deployed atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which wiped out 90 percent of the city and killed 80,000 people with tens of thousands more dying of radiation exposure. On August 9, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. This brought a new era of nuclear war (3).
The Night of the Long Knives
In 1934, Hitler was Chancellor in Germany. He held a lot of power at the time through the Enabling Acts, acts stating that, as Chancellor, Hitler had the ability to enact laws without the official approval of the Reichstag (Parliament). Although the Enabling Acts gave Hitler a lot of power in Germany, he was worried other leaders within the Nazi Party would attempt to take power before he could. One such leader was Ernst Röhm, the leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA), a powerful paramilitary group and zealous ally of Hitler and the Nazi party. Ernst and the SA had long stood by Hitler as an aggressive and powerful ally, but they became less useful to Hitler because he no longer needed powerful aggressors, but the support of the German military in order to gain political influence with industrIes. This threat of political competition and Hitler's need for the support of the German military set the stage for the Night of the Long Knives. This political purge would effectively leave Hitler as the unquestionable leader of Germany and its armed forces. (6,7)
Ernst Röhm
By 1934, Ernst Röhm had made some enemies within the Nazi party, and Heinrich Himmler was one of them. He, along with Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goering, was angry due to the fact that Röhm had gained a significant amount of power within the Nazi party. They feared that Röhm's zeal would lead to him attempting to overtake Hitler as leader of Germany and the Nazis. Hitler, himself fearing Röhm and trusting his allies' judgement, grew wary. This fear further grew as the SA's forces grew to roughly 2 million troops and Röhm spoke about absorbing the smaller German military into the SA (6,7). By summer of 1934, Hitler decided that something needed to be done about the SA. His plan was to eliminate Röhm along with the rest of the SA's leadership through arrests and executions. He would then have the leaderless SA be absorbed by the German army, under the condition that they would swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. The deal was made and the plan was set. (6,7)
On the nights of June 29th and 30th, Hitler sent squads of SS to arrest the SA's leadership and other figures that posed political opposition. After days of making arrests and executing political opponents, the SS are said to have arrested or killed anywhere from 200 to 1000 individuals (6,7). It is estimated that less than half of those killed or arrested were actually affiliated with the SA. On July 13th 1934, Hitler spoke about the killings to the Reichstag. He justified the mass killings in saying that he had to take necessary and violent action in order to preserve Germany and its people. He also stated that this made him the "supreme judge of the German people". From that point on, Hitler was undoubtedly the supreme ruler over Germany. His deal with the German military not only strengthened the army, it also gave him complete control over it due to the oath of loyalty they swore. "The Night of the Long Knives" as it was known, was the event that cemented Hitler's position as the indisputable ruler of Germany. (6,7)
World War Two Propaganda Gallery
"Rosie the Riveter" is the most famous image of a working woman from World War II. She came to symbolize the new feminine ideal and represented the patriotic woman.
Posters often depicted muscular men in order to represent national confidence. Powerful men and machines showed how America could use its strength in the war effort.
Many posters showed atrocities committed by the Nazis in order to turn favor against them. This one represented the massacre at Lidice, Czechoslovakia.
This poster was made to encourage people to forget their own suffering in order to help the troops. People were reminded that their suffering was nowhere near as difficult as that of the soldiers.
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