Chapter 26: World War II - Sandwich Community Unit School...

Chapter Themes■ Section 1, Continuity and Change■ Section 2, Global Connections■ Section 3, Economic Factors■ Section 4, Geography and History■ Section 5, Individual Action

Why It’s ImportantWorld War II, the most destructive war in history, resulted

in the deaths of more than 40 million people. More than halfof them were civilians, including about 6 million Jews andmany others killed in the Holocaust. At the end of the war,the United States emerged as the strongest nation in theworld and the sole possessor of a powerful weapon—theatomic bomb. This marked the beginning of the nation’s roleas a superpower. It brought the United States new responsi-bilities in almost every area of the world.

World War II

Chapter 26Chapter 26

Embarkation, San Francisco, California by Barse Miller WorldWar II American soldiers believed they were fighting for what

President Roosevelt called the Four Freedoms: freedom of speech and expression,freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

HISTORYAND ART

1939–1945

740

See pages 986–987 for primary source readings to accompany Chapter 26

PRIMARY SOURCESPRIMARY SOURCES

LibraryLibrary

Chapter 26 World War II 741

In the late 1920s, Adolf Hitler achieved widepopularity in Germany. In his book MeinKampf (My Struggle), Hitler set forth his polit-

ical views.

“He who wants to live must fight, and hewho does not want to fight in thisworld, where eternal struggle is the lawof life, has no right to exist.”

When Hitler became the leader of Germany,he put his strong words into action.

The Rise of DictatorsA number of ruthless men—such as AdolfHitler—rose to power in the 1920s and

1930s by taking advantage of people’s anger andsuffering. Some Europeans resented the terms ofthe Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, whichended World War I. When a worldwide depres-sion hit in the 1930s, frustration and fear added tothis anger.

Hitler and other leaders promised a betterlife. They described a glorious future to peoplehumiliated by losing a war. Once they gained po-litical power, these men became dictators, leaderswho control their nations by force.

Italy

Benito Mussolini rose to power by appeal-ing to the resentment of many Italians who feltthey had not won enough in the Versailles treaty.

1930 1935 1940

Japan invadesManchuria

Italian forcesinvade Ethiopia

Germany seizesCzechoslovakia

1931 1935Hitler becomeschancellor ofGermany

1933 1939

Road to WarREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ why dictators came to power around

the world.■ what foreign policy the United States

pursued in the 1930s.■ what actions led to the outbreak of

World War II.

TERMS TO LEARNdictator totalitarianfascism appeasementanti-Semitism

Many people underestimated AdolfHitler’s influence, but not American journalistWilliam Shirer. He described a rally for Hitler at Nuremberg in September 1934: “Like aRoman emperor Hitler rode into this medievaltown. . . . The streets, hardly wider than alleys,are a sea of brown and black uniforms. . . .[W]hen Hitler finally appeared on the balconyfor a moment . . . [people] looked up at himas if he were a Messiah,their faces transformedinto something positivelyinhuman.” The passion ofthe Nazis shocked Shirer,and soon it would shockthe rest of the world.

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Section 1Section 1

Hitler’s Mein Kampf

742 Chapter 26 World War II

Mussolini made fascism—extreme nationalismand racism—popular in Italy. By 1922 his FascistParty had gained enough strength to force theking of Italy to declare Mussolini the head of thegovernment. Within a few years, Mussolini hadbanned all political parties except his Fascist Party.

Known as Il Duce—the leader—Mussoliniquickly put an end to democratic rule in Italy. Civilliberties and the free press ceased to exist. Boysand girls of all ages were enrolled in military or-ganizations that taught them loyalty to the regime.Mussolini built up Italy’s military and vowed torecapture the glory of the ancient Romans.

In 1935 Mussolini sent Italian forces to invadethe African nation of Ethiopia, which it annexed—took over as its own territory. Ethiopian emperorHaile Selassie appealed to the League of Nationsfor help: “God and history will remember yourjudgment. It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.”The League responded by banning trade inweapons and certain other materials with Italy,but it lacked the power to enforce the ban. Italywithdrew from the League and continued its ag-gressive policies, attacking and annexing itsneighbor Albania in 1939.

Germany

The Great Depression had hit Germany ex-tremely hard. Millions of people had lost their jobs,and its economy teetered on the edge of collapse.Germans rallied around Adolf Hitler, a shrewd

politician and a spellbinding speaker. Hitlergained popularity by exploiting people’s concernabout unchecked inflation and severe unemploy-ment. Hitler also played upon bitterness over theVersailles treaty. The treaty had forced Germany togive up some of its territory and to make heavypayments to the victors for war damages.

In 1921 Hitler became chairman of the Na-tional Socialist German Workers’ Party, or theNazi Party. Openly racist, Hitler and the Nazisportrayed the German people as superior to allothers. They directed much of their anger againstJews, whom Hitler blamed for Germany’s prob-lems. His extreme anti-Semitism—hatred of theJews—would later lead to unspeakable horrors.

Soon after he became chancellor, or chief min-ister, of Germany in 1933, Hitler ended all democ-racy and established totalitarian rule. In atotalitarian state, a single party and its leadersuppress all opposition and control all aspects ofpeople’s lives.

Hitler claimed that Germany had a right toexpand its territory. The country needed leben-sraum—living space—he said. Germany’s neigh-bors watched uneasily as he rebuilt Germany’smilitary strength in defiance of the Versaillestreaty. To gain support in his expansion plans,Hitler formed an alliance with Italy in 1936.

Hitler salutes German troops at a Nazi rally in 1938. What group

especially suffered from the Nazis?

PicturingHISTORY

American cartoon of Mussolini


Japan

During the Depression many Japanese grewfrustrated with their government’s failure tosolve economic problems. As a result, militaryleaders rose to power in the early 1930s. Theseleaders thought they would solve Japan’s prob-lems by expanding Japanese power in Asia.

In September 1931, Japan launched an attackon the province of Manchuria in northeasternChina. Henry Stimson, the American secretary ofstate, and the League of Nations condemned theattack—but took no action to halt the aggression.

Left unchallenged, Japan set up a governmentin Manchuria. In 1937 Japan took further steps toexpand its power, invading northern China andmoving southward until it occupied most of thecountry. Three years later Japan signed a pact ofalliance, known as the “Axis,” with Germany andItaly.

Soviet Union

In the late 1920s, Joseph Stalin rose to poweras the Communist leader of the Soviet Union.Stalin demanded complete obedience from thepeople he ruled and got it through the use offorce. Stalin executed his rivals, ordered the deathof thousands suspected of supporting his rivals,and sent millions of Russians to labor camps. Healso reorganized the nation’s economy, forcingmillions onto government-owned farms.

American NeutralityWhile dramatic changes were taking placein the world in the 1920s and the 1930s,

most Americans wanted to avoid involvement ininternational crises and conflicts. To keep the na-tion out of future wars, Congress passed a series ofNeutrality Acts between 1935 and 1937 thatbanned the sale of weapons to nations at war. Thelaws also restricted trade to nations that could paycash for goods and transport the goods in theirown ships. Many American loans to Europeancountries from World War I remained unpaid,and Congress wanted to prevent more debts.

Germany on the MarchIn Germany, Hitler began moving forwardwith his plans for expansion. In March

1936, he ordered troops into the Rhineland. TheTreaty of Versailles had declared the Rhineland, aGerman territory west of the Rhine River, a neu-tral zone and had prohibited German soldiers inthe area. France and Britain protested the Germanaction—but did little else.

Hitler’s next victim was Austria. Hitler insist-ed that Germany should be unified with Austria,a German-speaking nation. In March 1938, hesent troops into Austria and annexed it.

Hitler turned next to the Sudetenland, anarea of Czechoslovakia where many German-speaking people lived. Falsely claiming that thesepeople were being persecuted, Hitler announcedGermany’s right to annex the Sudetenland.

Czechoslovakia was prepared to fight to keepthe Sudetenland. Britain and France, fearing a full-fledged war in the region, sought a peaceful solu-tion to the crisis. In September 1938, the leaders ofGermany, Italy, France, and Great Britain met inMunich, Germany, to discuss the Sudetenland.

Victorious Japanese soldiers celebrate their capture of the

Chinese port of Hankou in October 1938. Whydid military leaders rise to power in Japanduring the 1930s?

PicturingHISTORY


The Munich Pact

Britain and France thought that they couldavoid war by accepting Germany’s demands—apolicy later known as appeasement. At the Mu-nich Conference, the leaders agreed to turn theSudetenland over to Germany. Hitler, in turn,promised not to expand Germany’s territory fur-ther. The British prime minister, Neville Cham-berlain, returned home to cheering crowds,declaring that the agreement had preserved“peace for our time.”

Hopes for peace were shattered the followingspring. In March 1939, Hitler’s army seized therest of Czechoslovakia. Now even Chamberlainrealized that Hitler could not be trusted.

The Nazi-Soviet Pact

Meanwhile, Hitler was making plans to in-vade Poland. He worried, however, that such anattack would anger Stalin because Poland bor-dered the Soviet Union. Though bitter enemies,Hitler and Stalin signed a treaty called the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939.

The two leaders pledged not to attack one an-other. They also secretly agreed to divide Polandand other eastern European countries betweenthem. The pact freed Hitler to use force againstPoland without fear of Soviet intervention. Stalinwanted to delay the day the Soviet Union wouldhave to fight Germany. The Nazi-Soviet pactshocked the leaders of Europe.

Section 1 AssessmentSection 1 Assessment

Activity

Making a Time Line Create a time line tracingthe major events in Hitler’s rise to power in Ger-many before World War II.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini,

Joseph Stalin, Neutrality Acts, Rhineland.2. Define dictator, fascism, anti-Semitism,

totalitarian, appeasement.3. Explain how Hitler gained popularity in

Germany.Reviewing Themes

4. Continuity and Change What was theaim of U.S. foreign policy in the 1930s?

Critical Thinking5. Making Comparisons What goals did the

dictators and military leaders of thenations of Germany, Italy, and Japan sharein the 1930s?

A deeplysaddened

woman (left) gives aforced Nazi salute as Ger-man troops enter theSudetenland. NevilleChamberlain greets Hitlerat the Munich Conference(right). What happened to the Sudetenland as aresult of the Munichagreement?

PicturingHISTORY


In a speech in 1937, President Franklin Roo-sevelt expressed the feeling of many Ameri-cans toward the growing “epidemic of world

lawlessness”:

“We are determined to keep out of war,yet we cannot insure ourselves againstthe disastrous effects of war and thedangers of involvement.”

Within two years the nations of Europe wereat war again. Two years after that, a surprise attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor plunged Ameri-ca deep into the terrible conflict.

War in EuropeOn September 1, 1939, Hitler sent hisarmies into Poland. Two days later Great

Britain and France declared war on Germany.World War II had begun.

The German attack on Poland was swift andfierce. German planes bombed and machine-gunned targets, German tanks blasted holes inPolish defenses, and thousands of soldierspoured into Poland. The Germans called the of-fensive a blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” Then So-viet troops moved into and occupied easternPoland, acting on the Soviet agreement with Ger-many to divide Poland.

Great Britain and France could do little tohelp Poland because its defeat came so quickly. Inlate September 1939, the conquered country wassplit in half by Hitler and Stalin. Stalin also forced

Britain is bombed by Germany

August 1940Germany invadesPoland

Hitler attacksthe Soviet Union

Japan bombsPearl Harbor

September 1939 June 1941 December 1941

1939 19411940 1942

War BeginsREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ which European countries fell to Germany

in 1939 and 1940.■ how America responded to the war in

Europe.■ what effect Japan’s actions had on America.

TERMS TO LEARNblitzkrieg disarmamentlend-lease

Sixteen-year-old John Garcia, like otherswho witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor,never forgot it: “My grandmother . . . informedme that the Japanese were bombing PearlHarbor. I said, ‘They’re just practicing.’ She said, no, it was real and the announcer isrequesting that all Pearl Harbor workers report to work. . . . I was asked . . . to go intothe water and get sailors out that had beenblown off the ships. Somewere unconscious, somewere dead. So I spent the rest of the day swim-ming inside the harbor,along with some otherHawaiians. . . . Weworked all day at that.”

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Section 2Section 2

United States poster afterPearl Harbor bombing

the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Es-tonia to accept Soviet military bases. When hetried to do the same with Finland, war broke out.The Finns held out heroically until March 1940 be-fore the Soviets forced them to surrender.

The War Expands

All through the winter of 1939–40, the west-ern front was quiet. British and French forces settled in at the Maginot Line, a string of steel-and-concrete bunkers along the German borderfrom Belgium to Switzerland. In the spring thefighting began again. Hitler attacked Denmarkand Norway to the north in April, and the fol-lowing month he turned west to invade theNetherlands and Belgium. The Netherlands andBelgium immediately asked for help from GreatBritain and France—the Allies. After terriblebombing raids, the Dutch surrendered. The Bel-gians fought courageously, but they too wereoverwhelmed.

With the collapse of Belgium, Allied troops re-treated to the port of Dunkirk in the northwestcorner of France on the English Channel. Theywere now trapped between the advancing Ger-mans and the French coast. In a daring move,more than 800 British ships—warships, ferries,and fishing boats—joined an operation to rescuethe troops. Crossing the Channel again and again,the boats evacuated more than 300,000 Frenchand British troops to safety.

In June the Germans crossed the SommeRiver and continued their sweep into France. Italyjoined the war on the side of Germany and at-tacked France from the southeast. Germany andItaly—and later Japan—formed the Axis Powers.On June 14, 1940, German troops marched victo-riously into Paris. The French surrendered a weeklater, stunned by the German blitzkrieg.

The Battle of Britain

All that stood between Hitler’s dominationof western Europe was Great Britain. In August1940, the Germans bombed British shipyards, industries, and cities, destroying entire neigh-borhoods of London and killing many civilians.Hitler’s goal was to break British morale beforeinvading Britain. The British people endured,however, in part because of the inspiration ofPrime Minister Winston Churchill. When Hitlercalled for Britain to surrender, Churchill re-sponded defiantly:

“We shall defend our island, whateverthe cost may be. We shall fight on thebeaches, we shall fight on the landinggrounds, we shall fight in the fields andin the streets, we shall fight in the hills;we shall never surrender.”

Although the Battle of Britain continueduntil October, the Germans never gained control

The Withdrawal fromDunkirk, June 1940by Charles R.A. Cundall Boats ofevery size crossed theEnglish Channel tobring Allied troopsfrom France to safetyin England. Why didAllied forces retreat?

HISTORYAND ART


of the skies over Britain. The British Royal AirForce (RAF) mounted a heroic defense and inflict-ed heavy losses on the German air force. Finally,Hitler ended the air attacks and called off the in-vasion of Britain.

Germany Turns East

Frustrated by his failure in Britain, Hitler de-cided to realize one of his oldest dreams—to de-stroy the Soviet Union. Ignoring the pact he hadmade with Stalin, Hitler launched an attack onthe Soviet Union in June 1941. Within monthsGerman armies had moved into Soviet territory.

America and the WarThe United States watched the war in Eu-rope with growing concern. Although

most Americans sympathized with the Allies,they were determined to avoid war. Isolationistsbanded together to form the America First Com-mittee. Its members thought the United States

should keep out of Europe’s business. Amongthose who led this group were aviation heroCharles Lindbergh and automaker Henry Ford.

While vowing to remain neutral, Roosevelttook steps to prepare for war. In 1938, at his re-quest, Congress voted to strengthen the navy. In1939 the president asked Congress to pass a newNeutrality Act that allowed the United States tosell weapons to other countries on a “cash andcarry” basis. In 1940 FDR signed the SelectiveTraining and Service Act, the first peacetime draftin United States history. The law applied to Amer-ican men between the ages of 21 and 35.

The 1940 Election

With the world in crisis, President Rooseveltdecided to run for a third term, breaking the tra-dition set by George Washington. His Republicanopponent was Wendell Willkie. Public sentimentto stay out of the war was so strong that Rooseveltpromised the American people, “Your boys arenot going to be sent into any foreign wars.” Roo-sevelt won an easy victory.

Def

ense

spe

ndin

g (i

n bi

llion

s of

dol

lars

)

Year

3.5

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

.5

Serv

ice

men

and

wom

en(i

n hu

ndre

d th

ousa

nds)

Year19361935 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

20

15

10

5

01936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

4

Source: Bureau of the Census.

The Nation Gears Up for Conflict

Graph Study

As early as 1938 American factories planned for producing war equipment. Military personnel also increased. 1. About how many Americans served in

the military in 1941?2. Analyzing Information About how much more money was spent on defense in 1940 than in 1938?


Growing Involvement

With the election won, Roosevelt moved tosupport the Allies openly. At Roosevelt’s urging,Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act in March1941. The Lend-Lease Act allowed America to sell,lend, or lease arms or other war supplies to any na-tion considered “vital to the defense of the UnitedStates.” Britain, which was running out of cash,was the first to use lend-lease. Isolationists op-posed the Lend-Lease Act, arguing that it wouldincrease American involvement in the war.

German submarines in the Atlantic Ocean hadbeen sinking British ships, including those carry-ing supplies from the United States. In April 1941,American ships began escorting convoys of Britishmerchant ships. After the Germans began firing onAmerican destroyers, Roosevelt issued a “shoot-on-sight” order to American naval vessels thatfound German and Italian ships in certain areas.

The Atlantic Charter

In August 1941, President Roosevelt andBritish prime minister Churchill met and drewup the Atlantic Charter. While Roosevelt madeno military commitments, he joined Churchill insetting goals for a world after “the final destruc-tion of the Nazi tyranny.” The two nationspledged that the people of every nation would be

free to choose their own formof government and live free of“fear and want.” They urgeddisarmament—giving up mili-tary weapons—and the cre-ation of a “permanent systemof general security.”

The JapaneseThreat

After seizing much ofChina in the 1930s, the

Japanese continued their ex-pansion. After the fall of Francein 1940, they seized the French

colony of Indochina in Southeast Asia. Japan alsoplanned to take the Dutch East Indies, BritishMalaya, and the American territory of the Philip-pines, primarily to acquire badly needed rubberand oil.

The United States Responds

The United States responded to Japan’s ag-gression by applying economic pressure. Roo-sevelt froze all Japanese assets in American banks,preventing the Japanese from obtaining funds theyhad in the United States. He also stopped the saleof oil, gasoline, and other natural resources thatJapan lacked. The action outraged the Japanese.

In September 1941, General Hideki Tojo be-came prime minister of Japan. Desperate for re-sources and confident of Japan’s military might,the Tojo government began planning an attack onthe United States.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

At 7:55 A.M. on Sunday, December 7, 1941,Japanese warplanes attacked the American mili-tary base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, putting an endto American neutrality. Rear Admiral William R.Furlong reported:

to HISTORYEyewitness

Roosevelt and Churchill adopted the AtlanticCharter in August 1941. What did the AtlanticCharter express?

PicturingHISTORY


“I was on the deck of my flagship andsaw the first enemy bomb fall. . . .Plumes over one hundred feet highwent up from bombs that hit closealongside of battleships.”

The attack devastated the American fleet, de-stroying 8 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 4 other ves-sels. Hundreds of planes were destroyed on theground. More than 2,400 soldiers, sailors, andcivilians were killed.

Fortunately, at the time of the attack, thenavy’s three aircraft carriers were at sea. Their es-cape from destruction provided the only goodnews that day.

Grace Tully, one of the president’s secretaries,received an urgent call to report to the WhiteHouse. She later recalled:

“Most of the news on the . . . attack wasthen coming to the White House bytelephone from Admiral Stark, Chief ofNaval Operations, at the Navy Depart-ment . . . each report more terrible thanthe last, and I could hear the shockedunbelief in Admiral Stark’s voice.”

Pearl Harbor was the worst defeat in UnitedStates military history. Yet Pearl Harbor also united Americans. All debate about involve-ment in the war ended. On the day after PearlHarbor, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a

declaration of war, calling December 7 “a datewhich will live in infamy [shame].” Congressquickly approved the president’s request to de-clare war on Japan.

Three days later Germany and Italy, Japan’sallies, declared war on the United States. Con-gress then declared war on them as well. TheUnited States had joined the Allied nations—in-cluding Great Britain, France, and the SovietUnion—against the Axis Powers—Germany,Italy, and Japan—in World War II.


Activity

Media Literacy Write and record a 15-secondradio news bulletin announcing the Japanesebombing of Pearl Harbor.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Allies, Axis Powers, Winston

Churchill, Atlantic Charter, Pearl Harbor.2. Define blitzkrieg, lend-lease, disarmament.3. Describe the action that started World

War II.Reviewing Themes

4. Global Connections What actions did theUnited States take to prevent Japan fromtaking over nations in Asia?

Critical Thinking5. Predicting Consequences Do you think

the United States would have eventuallyjoined the war even if the Japanese hadnot bombed Pearl Harbor? Explain.

Japan’s surprise attack on PearlHarbor severely damaged the

United States Pacific Fleet. How did the attackaffect American neutrality?

PicturingHISTORY


World War II required commitment andsacrifice from all Americans. WhileAmerican soldiers risked their lives in

combat overseas, people at home worked hardand learned to do without goods and servicesthey had taken for granted.

America Prepares The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor unit-ed the American people as nothing else

could. With astonishing speed the nation’s econo-my and its people prepared to fight the war.

Raising an Army

Even before Pearl Harbor, the United Stateshad begun raising an army under the SelectiveService acts of 1940 and 1941. More than 15 mil-lion Americans joined the armed forces duringthe war, both as draftees and as volunteers.

For the first time, large numbers of womenserved in the military. About 350,000 womenserved in the WACs (Women’s Army Corps), theWAVES (Women Appointed for Volunteer Emer-gency Service in the Navy), and women’s units inthe marines, Coast Guard, and army air corps.These women did not fight in combat—most per-formed clerical tasks or worked as nurses—butthey played important roles in the war effort.

Equipping the troops and providing armsand other war materials required changes in thenation’s economy. To speed up mobilization—military and civilian preparations for war—the

1941 1942 1943

FDR establishesFair EmploymentPractices Commission

1941Revenue Act raises taxes to finance the war;Office of War Informationpromotes patriotism

1942Navajo soldiersdevelop unbreakableradio code

1943

On the Home FrontREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ what steps the United States took to

prepare for fighting World War II.■ how the war affected the American people.

TERMS TO LEARNmobilization internment campration

Despite the serious nature of war, Americans tried to keep their morale high during World War II through cooperation andhumor. People bought war bonds, ate less but-ter, made war jokes, and became air raid war-dens. In Yank, theArmy weekly maga-zine, one writer hadthis to say about therationing of foodssuch as butter andsugar:

“Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet—

remember?”

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Section 3Section 3

U.S. sailor,World War II


American government created a number of newgovernment agencies.

The War Production Board supervised theconversion of industries to war production.Under its guidance, automakers shifted frombuilding cars to producing trucks and tanks. TheOffice of Price Administration set limits on con-sumer prices and rents to prevent inflation. TheNational War Labor Board helped resolve labordisputes that might slow down war production.Later, the Office of War Mobilization was estab-lished to help these agencies operate efficiently.

Financing the War

From 1941 to the end of World War II, theUnited States spent more than $320 billion on thewar effort—10 times the amount spent in WorldWar I. Much of this money was raised throughtaxes. The Revenue Act of 1942 raised corporatetaxes and required nearly all Americans to pay in-come taxes. Congress approved a system forwithholding taxes from workers’ paychecks—apractice still in effect.

The government also borrowed money to fi-nance the war. As in World War I, the governmentsold war bonds. Movie stars and other celebritiesurged people to buy bonds to support the war.

Wartime AmericaDuring the war, industry soared. Factoriesproduced more than 70,000 ships, almost

100,000 tanks and airplanes, and millions of guns.Production speed increased as well. Some cargoships were built in only 17 days.

Wartime production helped restore prosperityto the nation after the long years of the Depression.Incomes rose and prices remained fairly stable.

Making Sacrifices

With the war effort came sacrifices. For mil-lions of American families, the war meant separa-tion from loved ones serving overseas. Those athome lived in dread of receiving a telegram an-nouncing that a family member had been killed,wounded, or captured.

With industries making war materials, Ameri-cans faced shortages of many consumer goods.After 1942, for example, automakers stopped mak-ing new cars and turned instead to making tanks,planes, and trucks. Women could not buy stock-ings—silk imports from war-torn Asia had halted,and nylon was needed to make parachutes.

In addition many resources and goods need-ed for the war effort were rationed—consumerscould buy only limited numbers of them. Ameri-cans used government-issued books of rationcoupons to purchase certain items, such as shoes,gasoline, tires, sugar, and meat. When people ranout of coupons, they did without the rationeditems. But because Americans overwhelminglysupported the war effort, they generally acceptedinconveniences and shortages with good spirits.

More than 25,000 womenapplied to become members

of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots(WASPs). About 2,000 were accepted, and1,074 won their wings. What were the responsibilities of women in the service?

PicturingHISTORY

Ration coupons

WAC hat


Helping the War Effort

People found other ways to help the war ef-fort. Many planted “victory gardens” to growvegetables, which were in short supply. Childrencollected scrap metal for use in industry.

Many people joined in civil defense—protec-tive measures in case of attack. For example, vol-unteer spotters scanned the skies for enemyaircraft that might try to approach America.Coastal cities enforced blackouts at night so thatlights could not serve as beacons for enemy pilots.

The Office of War Information, establishedby the government, promoted patriotism andhelped keep Americans united behind the war ef-fort. It also broadcast messages all over the world.

Women and MinoritiesThe war had a tremendous impact on thelives of women and minorities. It brought

opportunity for new jobs and a newrole in society. Yet for some, unfair

treatment left lasting scars.As millions of men joined

the armed forces, morewomen than ever before en-tered the labor force. In fac-tories women worked aswelders and riveters and inother jobs held previously by

men. An advertising cam-paign featuring a character

called Rosie the Riveter encour-aged women to take factory jobs. For

many women it was their first oppor-tunity to work outside the home.

Although women had new job op-portunities, they usually earned less than men.Moreover, when the war ended and the troops re-turned home, most women would lose their jobs.Still, the war opened new fields to women andchanged public opinion about women’s right towork.

African Americans During the War

About 700,000 African Americans served inthe armed forces during the war. At first mostwere given low-level assignments and kept insegregated units. Gradually, military leaders as-signed them to integrated units. In 1942 the armybegan training whites and African Americans to-gether in officer candidate school. Finally, AfricanAmericans were allowed to take combat assign-ments. The 332nd Fighter Group, known as theTuskegee Airmen, shot down more than 200enemy planes. Benjamin Davis, Jr., who trainedat the Tuskegee flying school, became the firstAfrican American general in the United States AirForce. His father, Benjamin Davis, Sr., had beenthe first African American general in the army.

In civilian life African Americans sought change. In the summer of 1941, labor leaderA. Philip Randolph demanded that the

U.S. Women in the Labor Force,1900–1950

Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.

Graph Study

During World War II, the American workforce took on a whole new look. 1. During what year were there about 8 million women in the labor force? 2. Analyzing Information In 1940 what percent of the labor force was made up of women?

Num

ber

of w

omen

em

ploy

ed (

in m

illio

ns)

Year

17

15

13

11

9

7

5

3

1

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

00

21

21

18

22

24

27

Percent of total labor force

Wartimeworker


government ban discriminationagainst African Americans in de-fense industries. He planned alarge demonstration in Washing-ton in support of his demands.President Roosevelt persuadedRandolph to call off the march byestablishing the Fair EmploymentPractices Commission to combatdiscrimination in industries thatheld government contracts. Thepresident announced that

“. . . there shall be no discrimi-nation in the employment ofworkers in defense industriesor government because of race, creed,color, or national origin.”

The war accelerated the population shift thathad begun during World War I. Large numbers ofAfrican Americans moved from the rural South toindustrialized cities in the North and the West insearch of work. In some cities, racial tensionserupted in violence. The violence sometimes re-sulted in death. The riots inspired the AfricanAmerican poet Langston Hughes to write:

Doris Miller,World War II’s

first recognized African Ameri-can hero, won the Navy Crossfor bravery for defending a battleship during the Japaneseattack at Pearl Harbor. Howdid the position of AfricanAmericans in the armedforces change during WorldWar II?

PicturingHISTORY

In 1943 the United StatesMarines recruited Navajo

soldiers to develop a military code that theJapanese could not break. In what otherways did Native Americans contribute tothe war effort?

PicturingHISTORY

“Yet you say we’re fightin’for democracy.

Then why don’t democracyInclude me?”

Native Americans

Thousands of Native Americans served in thearmed forces. Ira Hayes became a hero in the bat-tle for Iwo Jima in the Pacific. Navajo soldiersworked as radio operators, using their own lan-guage as a code. Many Native Americans leftreservations to work in defense industries.

Hispanic Americans

Approximately 500,000 Hispanic Americansserved in the armed forces. The CongressionalMedal of Honor, the nation’s highest militarymedal, was awarded to 17 Mexican Americans.Mercedes Cubría of Cuba became the first His-panic woman officer in the Women’s ArmyCorps. Horacio Rivero of Puerto Rico became thefirst Hispanic four-star admiral since David Far-ragut to serve in the United States Navy.

Prompted by the wartime need for labor,United States labor agents recruited thousands offarm and railroad workers from Mexico. Thisprogram, called the bracero program, stimulatedemigration from Mexico during the war years.

Like African Americans, Mexican Americanssuffered from discrimination, and their presence


created tensions in some cities. In 1943, for exam-ple, a four-day riot started in Los Angeles whenwhite sailors attacked Mexican American teens.

Japanese Americans

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,Japanese Americans were feared and hated bymany other Americans. About two-thirds ofJapanese Americans were Nisei—American citi-zens who had been born in the United States. Butthis fact made little difference to some who ques-tioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans.

Japanese Americans Relocated

Military and political leaders worried aboutthe loyalty of Japanese Americans if Japaneseforces invaded the United States. The presidentdirected the army to relocate more than 100,000West Coast Japanese Americans to detention cen-ters. Located mostly in desert areas, these intern-ment camps were crowded and uncomfortable.Conditions were harsh.

With only days to prepare for the move, mostJapanese Americans left valuable possessions be-hind. Many abandoned their homes and busi-nesses or sold them at a loss. Most had to stay ininternment camps for the next three years.

Peter Ota and his family were sent to a campin Colorado. His father had come to California in1904 and built up a successful fruit and vegetablebusiness. After the war Ota remembered how hisfather had suffered.

“After all those years, having worked hiswhole life to build a dream—having itall taken away. . . . He died a brokenman.”

In 1988 Americans acknowledged the injus-tice of relocation. Congress issued a formal apolo-gy and agreed to give each survivor $20,000, atoken of the nation’s regret.


Activity

Writing a Journal Entry Imagine you are awoman working in a defense factory during thewar. This is the first job you have ever had awayfrom home. Write a journal entry describing yourfirst day on the job.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify WACs, WAVES, Benjamin Davis, Jr.,

A. Philip Randolph.2. Define mobilization, ration, internment

camp.3. List two ways the United States financed

the war effort.Reviewing Themes

4. Economic Factors How did wartimeindustrial production help the Americaneconomy recover from the Depression?

Critical Thinking5. Making Critical Judgments Do you think

the United States government was justifiedin sending Japanese Americans to intern-ment camps? Explain.

A distressed Japanese Ameri-can family watches an FBI

agent search their family albums for evidenceof disloyalty to the United States. Whatmajor hardship did West Coast JapaneseAmericans face during World War II?

PicturingHISTORY


On January 1, 1942—three weeks afterPearl Harbor—the United States joinedBritain, the Soviet Union, and 23 other

Allied nations in vowing to defeat the Axis Pow-ers. Although the Japanese were conquering vastareas in the Pacific, the Allied leaders decided toconcentrate first on defeating Hitler before deal-ing with Japan. The situation in Europe was des-perate. German forces occupied almost all ofEurope and much of North Africa. If the Ger-mans defeated the Soviets, Germany might proveunstoppable.

North African CampaignStalin and many American military leaderswanted the Allies to launch a major attack

on continental Europe across the English Chan-nel. Such an attack would force the Germans todefend the heart of their own empire. Churchill,however, argued that such an assault would betoo difficult because of the German military pres-ence in the area. FDR concluded that Churchillwas right. The Allies made plans to attack NorthAfrica instead. The Axis forces there were underthe command of German general Erwin Rom-mel, known as the “Desert Fox” because of hissuccess in desert warfare.

In November 1942, the British turned Rom-mel back at El Alamein in Egypt. The victory pre-vented the Germans from capturing the SuezCanal, a vital sea link between Europe and Asia.

Landing in Algeria and Morocco on Novem-ber 8, American, British, and Canadian troops

1942 1944 1946

U.S. joins AlliesJanuary 1942

Allied ships land at Normandy

June 1944

Battle of the Bulge takes 75,000 lives

December 1944 Germanysurrenders

May 1945

War in Europe and AfricaREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ what important battles took place in North

Africa, Italy, and the Soviet Union between1942 and 1944.

■ what factors contributed to the Allied victory in Europe.

TERMS TO LEARNgenocide Holocaust

Ernie Pyle, a war correspondent, describedthe life of the World War II American soldier:“In the magazines war seemed romantic andexciting, full of heroics and vitality. . . . I saw instead men suffering and wishing they weresomewhere else. . . . All of them desperatelyhungry for somebody to talk to besides them-selves . . . cold and fairly dirty, just toiling from day to day in a worldfull of insecurity, dis-comfort, homesick-ness and a dulledsense of danger.”

SThetoryteller

Section 4Section 4

World War II GI work uniform

under American general Dwight D. Eisenhoweradvanced eastward swiftly. The inexperiencedAmericans met defeat in Tunisia. With the back-ing of British air and naval power, however,American general George Patton closed in onRommel. The Allies drove the Germans out ofNorth Africa in May 1943.

The Invasion of Italy

The Allies used bases in North Africa tolaunch an invasion of southern Europe. They tookthe island of Sicily in the summer of 1943 and

landed on the Italian mainland in September. Asthe Allies advanced, the Italians overthrew dicta-tor Benito Mussolini and surrendered. However,German forces in Italy continued to fight.

In the winter of 1943, the Allies met fierce re-sistance at the monastery town of Monte Cassinoin central Italy, and their advance faltered. Thenext January the Allies landed farther north atAnzio, a seaport near Rome. German forces keptthe Allies pinned down on the beaches at Anziofor four months. The Allies finally broke throughthe German lines in May and advanced towardRome. They liberated Rome in June 1944.

SUPPLY LINETO SOVIET

UNION

Aug. 15, 1944

July 10, 1943

Nov. 8, 1942

FINAL SOVIET DRIVEJuly-August, 1944

D-DAYJune 6, 1944

Supply linesfrom U.S.

1942 The British beat the German

tank division at El Alamein

GERMANY

FRANCE

NETH.

LUX.

SWITZ.

UNITEDKINGDOMIRELAND

ESTONIA

LATVIA

LITHUANIASOVIET UNION

FINLAND

ICELAND

ITALY

SPAIN

SPANISHMOROCCO

FRENCHMOROCCO ALGERIA

(France)TUNISIA(France)

LIBYA(Italy)

PORTUGAL

ROMANIA

BULGARIAYUGOSLAVIA

GREECESicily

EGYPT

PALESTINE

SAUDIARABIA

LEBANON

TRANSJORDAN

IRAQ

IRAN

KUWAIT

SYRIA

TURKEY

AUSTRIA

ALBANIA

BELG.

Moscow

London

RomeNaples

Stalingrad

CairoEl Alamein

Paris

Dunkirk

Leningrad

Vienna

WarsawBerlin

HUNGARY

CZECH.

POLAND

SWED

EN

NO

RWAY

Normandy

ATLANTICOCEAN

NorthSea

Black Sea

Caspian Sea

Balti

cS

ea

AralSea

MediterraneanSea

N

S

EW

500 kilometers0Lambert Conformal Conic projection

500 miles0

World War II in Europe and Africa

Map Study

Churchill and Roosevelt delayed an attack in Europe to first fight in North Africa. 1. Location Where did the Allied forces

land on D-Day? 2. Analyzing Information When did Allied forces invade Sicily?

Major Axis powers

Greatest extent of Axis control

Allied or Ally-controlled

Neutral nations

Allied forces

Supply lines

Air War over Germany

While fighting raged in North Africa and Italy,the Allies launched an air war against Germany.In the summer of 1942, British and American airforces began a massive bombing campaignagainst Germany. Each day hundreds of Ameri-can bombers pounded German factories andcities. Each night British bombers battered thesame targets. The bombing caused massive de-struction in many German cities and killed thou-sands of German civilians. Yet the attacks failed tocrack Germany’s determination to win the war.

The Tide Turns in EuropeMeanwhile, the Soviets and the Germanswere locked in ferocious combat. For

months the Soviet Union bore the main force ofGermany’s European war effort.

The Eastern Front

After invading the Soviet Union in June 1941,German troops had moved quickly into the na-tion’s interior. By September the Germans sur-rounded Leningrad and began a siege, ormilitary blockade, that lasted nearly 900 days.The German attack continued, but Leningrad didnot fall. As food ran out, the people of the city atehorses, cats, and dogs—even bread made fromwallpaper paste. Thousands died. The Germanscould not take the city, however, and in early 1944the siege was broken.

German forces also attacked other Sovietcities. In 1941 the Germans tried to capture the So-viet capital of Moscow. Heavy losses and badweather slowed their advance, but the Germansreached Moscow’s outskirts by December. Whenall seemed lost, the Soviets staged a counterattackand forced a German retreat.

In the spring of 1942, Germany launched an-other powerful offensive. A major German targetwas the city of Stalingrad, key to oil-rich lands tothe south. To take the city, the Germans had tofight street by street and house by house. No sooner had the Germans won Stalingrad than

Soviet forces surrounded the city, cutting off theGerman supply lines. Cold and starving, the Ger-man troops fought on until February 2, 1943,when the tattered remains of their army finallysurrendered. German losses exceeded 300,000.

After Stalingrad, a major Soviet offensivedrove the Germans back hundreds of miles. TheGermans mounted a counteroffensive in the sum-mer of 1943, but their defeat at Stalingrad markeda major turning point in the war.

Invasion of France

As the Soviets pushed toward Germany fromthe east, the Allies were planning a massive inva-sion of France from the west. General Eisenhower,the commander of Allied forces in Europe, direct-ed this invasion, known as Operation Overlord.

Eisenhower planned to land his troops on theFrench coast of Normandy on June 5, but roughseas forced him to delay the landing. Finally, onJune 6, 1944—D-Day—the Allied ships landed onthe coast of Normandy. After wading ashore thetroops faced land mines and fierce fire from theGermans. Many Allied troops were hit as theystormed across the beaches to establish a footholdon high ground. Within a few weeks, the Allieshad landed a million troops, 566,648 tons of sup-plies, and 171,532 vehicles in France.

From Normandy the Allies pushed acrossFrance. On August 25 French and American sol-diers marched through joyful crowds and liberat-ed Paris.

Homeless woman in Cologne, Germany



Victory in EuropeGermany fought for survival on two fronts.In the east the Soviets pushed the Germans

out of eastern Europe. In the west the British andAmericans approached the German border.

The Advance on Germany

The Allied advance across France moved sorapidly that some people thought the war wouldbe over by the end of the year. In late 1944, how-ever, the drive came to a halt at the Rhine River,stalled by German defenses and cold weather.

In mid-December the Germans mounted alast, desperate offensive. On December 16, 1944,they launched a surprise attack along a 50-milefront in Belgium. In the Battle of the Bulge, theGermans at first drove troops and artillery deepinto a bulge in the Allied lines. After several weeks,however, the Allies pushed the Germans back. Thebattle, which resulted in more than 75,000 casual-ties, marked the end of serious German resistance.

The final phase of the war in Europe nowbegan. By mid-April 1945, the Soviets had surrounded Berlin, the German capital. Hitler,who had spent the final months of the war in an

u n d e rg ro u n dbunker there, real-

ized that the situa-tion was hopeless and

committed suicide on April30. Germany signed an uncondi-tional surrender on May 7, endingthe war in Europe. The Allies de-

clared May 8 V-E Day for “Victory in Europe.”

Death of a President

President Roosevelt did not share in the Alliedvictory celebration. In February 1945, he had trav-eled to Yalta in the Soviet Union to meet withChurchill and Stalin. After returning home Roo-sevelt had gone to Warm Springs, Georgia, for avacation. He died there suddenly on April 12, 1945.

Americans were saddened by the death of theman who had led them for 12 difficult years.When Vice President Harry S Truman heard thenews, he asked Eleanor Roosevelt if there wasanything he could do for her. She replied, “Isthere anything we can do for you? You are the onein trouble now.”

The HolocaustAs the Allies liberated areas that had beenunder German control, they found horrify-

ing evidence of Nazi brutality. Hitler had warnedin 1939 that another war would result in “the de-struction of the Jews in Europe.” Nazi leaders de-veloped what they called “the final solution ofthe Jewish question.” Their “solution” was geno-cide—wiping out an entire group of people.

Ever since Hitler had gained power in 1933,the Nazis persecuted Jews. This persecution be-came more deadly as German power spreadthrough Europe. Once the war began, Nazis


American, British, Canadian, and French troops took part in

the D-Day invasion, making it the largest inva-sion force ever assembled. What dangers didthe Allied soldiers face when landing on theNormandy beaches?

PicturingHISTORY

General Dwight D.Eisenhower


rounded up thousands of Jews, shooting themand throwing them into mass graves. One manwho witnessed a massacre of Russian Jews wrote:

“I watched a family of about eight per-sons. . . . [A soldier] instructed them togo behind the earth mound. . . . Theywent down into the pit, lined them-selves up against the previous victimsand were shot.”

Nazi troops crammed thousands more intorailroad cars like cattle, depositing them in con-centration camps—prison camps for civilians.Guards took the prisoners’ belongings, shavedtheir heads, and tattooed camp numbers on theirarms. Forced to live in horrible conditions, theprisoners often had only a crust of bread or waterysoup to eat. Thousands became sick and died.

In the early 1940s, the Nazis embarked ontheir “final solution” to destroy the Jews. Theybuilt death camps where they killed thousands ofpeople a day in gas chambers, then burned theirbodies in ovens. At the largest camp—Auschwitzin Poland—the Nazis killed between 1 and 2 mil-lion people. As many as 6 million Jews died inwhat has become known as the Holocaust. Mil-lions of others—Soviet prisoners of war, Poles,Gypsies, and people with handicaps—were alsoruthlessly killed.

As Allied forces moved through Germanyand Poland after V-E Day, they saw firsthand the

unspeakable horrors of the camps. R.W. Thomp-son, a British reporter, wrote about one suchcamp:

“Across the sandy clearing is the inciner-ator, but it ran out of [fuel]. A roughrecord by the chief burner of bodiesrecords 17,000 burned last month. Theysay each body was roughly clubbed asit went in.”

People around the world were stunned by thisterrible result of Nazi tyranny.


Activity

Making a Map Make a map of the former Soviet Union and use symbols to show the outcome of battles between the Germans andthe Soviets during World War II.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Erwin Rommel, Dwight D. Eisen-

hower, George Patton, D-Day, V-E Day.2. Define genocide, Holocaust.3. Trace the path of Allied forces through

Africa and Europe from 1942 to D-Day.Reviewing Themes

4. Geography and History Which largeAllied countries defended the eastern frontin Europe in 1944? The western front?

Critical Thinking5. Drawing Conclusions Why do you think

Hitler felt threatened by Jews and otherminorities?

Starved survivors at the concentration camp atEvensee, Austria


During World War II the Nazis murdered 12million people, 6 million of whom were Jews. Thismass murder of Jewish people has come to beknown as the Holocaust. As Allied forces movedthrough Germany and Poland after V-E Day, theysaw the horrors of the concentration camps. Tolearn more about the Holocaust, use the Internet.

Getting ThereFollow these steps to gather information

about the Holocaust experience.1. Use a search engine. Type in the phrase

Holocaust Survivors.2. After typing in this phrase, enter words such

as the following to focus your search: stories,experiences, oral history.

3. The search engine should provide you with anumber of links to follow. Links are “point-ers” to different sites on the Internet.

What to Do When You Are ThereClick on the links to navigate through the

pages of information. Print your findings. Workwith a partner or group to create a booklet of Holocaust survivors’ memoirs. Design eachmemoir as a separate page of your book. Showyour booklet to your parents or older adults anddiscuss the experiences of the Holocaust survivors.If possible, interview a person who lived duringthe World War II era. Ask what he or she remem-bers about the public’s response when the exis-tence of concentration camps became known.

Setting up the VideoWork with a group of your classmates to view

the videodisc “The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial” onthe videodisc Historic America: Electronic FieldTrips. This program gives detailed accounts of theDecember 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor,which caused the United States to join the Alliedcause in World War II. The program ends withscenes of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.

Side 2, Chapter 8

Hands-On ActivityAs a nation we have built many memorials to

Americans who have lost their lives during war.On large drawing paper, create a sketch of a monument for a patriotic cause. Thenuse your sketch to makea three-dimensionalmonument out of papier-mâché or modeling clay.

!7|Ü"

Surfing the “Net”

Historic America Electronic Field Trips

Multimedia ActivitiesMultimedia Activities

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Field Trip to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

The Holocaust

View the video by scanning the bar code or by entering thechapter number on your keypad and pressing Search.


On December 7, 1941, the same day theJapanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Japanesebombers struck American airfields in the

Philippines and on the islands of Wake andGuam—key American bases in the Pacific. In thefollowing days, the Japanese intensified theircampaign in the Pacific. They invaded Thailandand Malaya and captured Guam, Wake Island,and the British colony of Hong Kong.

The Pacific FrontJapanese troops had landed in the Philip-pines in mid-December and quickly taken

the capital of Manila. The defending forces—Filipino and American troops commanded by American general Douglas MacArthur—were forced to retreat to the rugged BataanPeninsula west of Manila and the small islandfortress of Corregidor.

The Philippines Fall

After months of fierce fighting, the exhaustedAllied troops defending Bataan surrendered onApril 9, 1942. The forces on Corregidor held outfor another month. The Japanese forced theirBataan prisoners—many sick and near starva-tion—to march to a prison camp more than 60 miles away. Only much later did the publiclearn what these prisoners endured. About 76,000


1942 1944 1946

Allies surrenderBataan

April 1942Americans seizeIwo Jima

March 1945

Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima

August 1945

Japan surrenders; World War II ends

September 1945

War in the PacificREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ how the United States planned to gain

control in the Pacific region.■ what role the atomic bomb played in

ending the war.

TERMS TO LEARNisland hopping kamikaze

Bob Krell, a soldier in World War II, felt aneed to describe his life in the war: “At nightbefore a big airborne operation you crawldeeper in your sack, but you can’t get awayfrom the noise. Over the roar of engines,somebody is shouting a bunch of names. . . . [W]e will climb into our parachutes asdawn breaks. We will trudge out to the planesand climb in, not sayingmuch of anything aboutanything. . . . ” Bob Krellwas killed in action 12hours after he wrotethese words.

SThetoryteller

Section 5Section 5

Silver Star, awarded for gallantry in action


prisoners started out, but only about 54,000 ofthose on the Bataan Death March reached thecamp. As one survivor recalled:

“Anybody that could walk, they forced’em into line. . . . If you fell out to theside, you were either shot by theguards or you were bayoneted[stabbed] and left there.”

Two months beforethe surrender, GeneralMacArthur had left for Australia to takecommand of Alliedforces in the Pacific.MacArthur promisedthe Filipinos, “I shallreturn.”

1944

1944–45

1945

1942

–43

1942

SOVIET UNION

CHINA

MONGOLIAMANCHUKUO(MANCHURIA)

NEPAL

INDIA

BURMA

THAILAND

MALAYA

FRENCHINDOCHINA

KOREA JAPAN

BORNEO

NEWGUINEA

Guadalcanal

Solomon Is.

Caroline Islands

Eniwetok

Kwajalein

Marshall Is.

Wake IslandMariana Is.

GilbertIs.

Saipan

Guam

BismarckArch. Tarawa

Iwo Jima

HongKong(Br.)

Singapore

Chungking TokyoNagasaki

Hiroshima

Manila

LuzonFormosa

OkinawaKyushu

Kurile Is.

Sakhalin

Kiska

Attu

AleutianIslands

PhilippineIs.

MidwayIsland Hawaiian

Islands

ElliceIslands

SUMATRA

AUSTRALIA

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES

PACIFICOCEAN

INDIANOCEAN

BeringSea

CoralSea

140°

E 160°E

180°

160°W140°W

120°W120°E

100°E80°E60°E

60°N

40°N

20°N

0°

20°S

40°S

60°S

MidwayJune 3-6, 1942 Pearl Harbor

Dec. 7, 1941

Coral SeaMay 7-8, 1942

Leyte GulfOct 23-24, 1944

World War II in the Pacific

Map Study

Japan controlled a wide expanse of territory in Asia and the Pacific. 1. Location What parts of China were

under Japanese control in 1942? 2. Analyzing Information What two cities were destroyed by atomic bombs?

Japanese Empire, 1936

Extent of Japanese control, 1942

Allied troop movements

Major battles

Atomic bomb explosions

General Douglas MacArthur


Island Hopping

With Japan’s string of quick victories, Ameri-can morale was low. Then in mid-April, 16 Amer-ican B-25 twin-engine bombers, launched from anaircraft carrier in the Pacific, bombed Tokyo. Thisdaring raid led by James Doolittle had little mili-tary importance, but it lifted Americans’ spirits.

In May, American and Japanese fleets clashedin the Coral Sea northeast of Australia. Americanships were heavily damaged, but the Japanesesuffered crippling losses. The Battle of the CoralSea was a strategic victory because it halted theJapanese advance on Australia.

An even greater victory followed in June1942. In the Battle of Midway, northwest ofHawaii, the navy destroyed four Japanese aircraftcarriers and hundreds of airplanes. This was thefirst major Japanese defeat.

The United States was now ready to go on theoffensive against Japan. The commanders—Gen-eral MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz—adopted a strategy known as island hopping.This called for attacking and capturing certainkey islands. The United States then used these is-lands as bases for leapfrogging to others, movingever closer to the Philippines—and to Japan.

Between August 1942 and February 1943,American forces engaged in one of the most vi-cious campaigns of the war for the control ofGuadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. TheJapanese put up fierce resistance; however, withsuperior air and naval power, the Americans fi-nally secured the island.

In June 1944, American forces captured Guamand other islands nearby. Guam provided a basefor launching bombing strikes on Japan. In Octo-ber, American ships destroyed most of the Japan-ese fleet at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in thePhilippines, the biggest naval battle in history—in all, 282 ships took part. MacArthur had ful-filled his promise to return to the Philippines.

The Advance on Japan

American forces now closed in on Japan itself.In March 1945, they seized the island of Iwo Jimaand in June the island of Okinawa. The Japanese

fought fiercely to defend these islands so near toJapan. Thousands of Americans died in the bat-tles, and many thousands more were wounded.

With most of Japan’s air force and navy de-stroyed, American B-29 bombers pounded Tokyoand other Japanese cities. The raids killed thou-sands of civilians and crippled Japan’s economy.

In desperation, the Japanese unleashed a corps of suicide pilots known as kamikazes.They crashed planes loaded with explosives intoAmerican ships. Kamikaze pilots sank severaldestroyers during the battle for Okinawa.

The Atomic BombAlthough the Japanese faced certain de-feat, they continued to fight. Their refusal

to surrender led the United States to use a power-ful new weapon: the atomic bomb.

In 1939 the German-born physicist AlbertEinstein had written to President Rooseveltwarning him that the Nazis might try to use theenergy of the atom to build “extremely powerfulbombs of a new type.” Wanting to develop such

Aerial Warfare

Germany intro-duced jet planes late inWorld War II. The Germanjets could fly almost 550miles per hour. By the 1960s American andSoviet jets roared through the skies at 1,000miles per hour. Today United States militaryaircraft includes the F-117 stealth fighter. Awinglike shape and flat surfaces that absorbradar energy make it difficult for enemyradar to detect it. How doWorld War II planesdiffer from mod-ern stealthbombers?

Present

LinkingPAST & PRESENTLinkingPAST & PRESENT

Stealthbomber

Flying Grumman Wildcat Fighter, 1942

Past


weapons first, Roosevelt createda top-secret operation, the Man-hattan Project. After years ofwork, scientists tested the atom-ic bomb in the New Mexicodesert on July 16, 1945. Trumannow had to decide whether touse the bomb against Japan.

The Allies issued the Pots-dam Declaration, warning thatif Japan did not surrender, itfaced “prompt and utter de-struction.” The Japanese leaders did not surren-der, and Truman ordered the use of the bomb.

On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber,the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on theJapanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, asecond bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasa-ki. The atomic bombs caused unimaginable de-struction. The first bomb leveled Hiroshima andkilled about 70,000 people; the Nagasaki bombkilled about 40,000. Thousands more were in-jured, and many died later from radiation.

The War EndsAfter the bombings, the Japanese govern-ment agreed to surrender. August 15,

1945, was proclaimed V-J Day, for “Victory overJapan.” All around America, people expressedhappiness and relief. Japan signed the formal sur-render on September 2 aboard the battleship the

U.S.S. Missouri. World War IIhad finally ended.

The War Trials

In the years immediatelyafter the war, Allied authoritiesput the top Nazi and Japaneseleaders on trial. Those broughtto trial were accused of warcrimes and crimes against hu-manity. The Allies held the trials

in Nuremberg, Germany, and in Tokyo, eventuallyconvicting and executing 24 Nazis and 7 Japanesefor their crimes. Hundreds more were imprisoned.

The Cost of the War

World War II was the most destructive con-flict in history. More than 40 million people diedduring the war; more than half of these were civil-ians killed by bombing, starvation, disease, tor-ture, and murder. American casualties—about322,000 dead and 800,000 injured—were high, butlight compared with those of other nations. TheSoviet Union suffered more than 20 milliondeaths. Those who survived faced the dauntingtask of trying to rebuild their lives and their coun-tries. Nationalist movements grew, particularly incolonial nations that had suffered invasions bythe warring powers. Many colonies began to seekindependence in the postwar years.


Activity

Creating a Graph Make a line graph that com-pares the number of people killed during the warin the major Axis and Allied countries.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Douglas MacArthur, Chester

Nimitz, Manhattan Project, V-J Day.2. Define island hopping, kamikaze.3. Explain the significance of the Battle of

Leyte Gulf.Reviewing Themes

4. Individual Action What did Japan’s use ofkamikazes illustrate about its desire to winthe war?

Critical Thinking5. Identifying Central Issues If you had

been President Truman, would you haveallowed the United States to drop theatomic bomb on Japan? Why or why not?

Raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima

Paragraphs are the building blocks of anessay or other composition. Each para-graph is a unit, a group of sentences

about a single topic or idea.

Learning the Skill

Most well-written paragraphs share fourcharacteristics.

• First, a paragraph expresses one main ideaor is about one subject. A topic sentencestates that main idea. The topic sentencemay be located at the beginning, the mid-dle, or the end of a paragraph.

• Second, the rest of the sentences in a para-graph support the main idea. The mainidea may be developed by facts, examples,or reasons.

• Third, the sentences are arranged in a logi-cal order.

• Fourth, transitional words link sentenceswithin the paragraph. These words canalso link one paragraph with the next. Examples include next, then, finally, also, because, however, and as a result.

Practicing the Skill

Use the following sentences to build a para-graph containing a topic sentence and other sentences that give supporting details. Put the sen-tences in a logical order and add transitional wordsif you need to. Underline your topic sentence.1. Three days later an American plane

dropped another bomb on Nagasaki.2. The bomb killed between 70,000 and

100,000 people.3. This second bomb killed nearly 40,000

people instantly and many more later.

4. On August 6, 1945, the United Statesdropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima,Japan.

5. About 100,000 others died later from theeffects of radiation.

6. When the bomb exploded, a sheet of flamespread over the city.

Study and WritingStudy and Writing

Writing a Paragraph

Writing a Paragraph Choose a topic from theWorld War II era and write a paragraph aboutit. Then rewrite the paragraph with its sen-tences out of order. Exchange papers with aclassmate. Can he or she find the topic sen-tence? Does it work logically?

Applying the Skill


Hiroshima after the atomic bomb

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook, Level 1provides instructionand practice in key social studiesskills.

Reviewing Key TermsOn a sheet of paper, use each of the following terms ina sentence:dictatorfascismanti-Semitismappeasementblitzkrieglend-leaserationinternment campgenocideHolocaustisland hoppingkamikaze

Reviewing Key Facts1. How did Britain and France try to prevent

war with Germany?2. What steps did President Roosevelt take to

prepare for war even though he vowed toremain neutral?

3. What did the government do to keep theAmerican economy stable and to ensure thatindustries produced enough war materials?

4. What was Operation Overlord?5. What actions by the Japanese convinced the

United States to use the atomic bomb?

Critical ThinkingAnalyzing Information

Despite having to deal with continuing racialtension, African Americans gained new opportu-nities during the war.

1. What advances did African Americansmake in the military?

2. What rights did A. Philip Randolph win forcivilian African Americans?

Time Line ActivityCreate a time line on which you place the followingevents in chronological order.

• Congress passes Lend-Lease Act • World War II begins• Hitler and Stalin sign nonaggression pact• V-E Day• Hitler becomes German chancellor• Japan bombs Pearl Harbor

Reviewing Themes1. Continuity and Change Why did most

Americans want to avoid involvement ininternational conflicts after World War I?

2. Global Connections What was Japan’smain reason for wanting to take over theDutch East Indies, British Malaya, and thePhilippines?

3. Economic Factors Why did the govern-ment require rationing during the war?

4. Geography and History Despite the factthat Japan was conquering areas in thePacific, why did the Allies focus first on the war in Europe?

5. Individual Action What was the signifi-cance of the bombing raid on Tokyo led by American James Doolittle?

Technology ActivityUsing the Internet Search the Internetfor a World War II site that includesmemoirs or excerpts from veteransand/or civilians. Copy orprint a part of the mem-oirs that you find interest-ing. Post the excerpts on the classroom bulletin board under the heading “Voices ofWorld War II.”


Assessment and Activities


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Geography ActivityThe map below shows the Allied invasion routes from Great Britain to Normandy beginning on June6, 1944. Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Swordwere code names for the Normandy beaches. Studythe map below, then answer the questions that follow.

1. Location From where did the United Statesforces leave Great Britain?

2. Movement Why do you think the invasionwas launched from five sites?

3. Location The Nazis were fooled into think-ing the invasion would come near Calais.Why do you think the Allies chose to landon the Normandy peninsula instead?

Skill Practice ActivityWriting a ParagraphWrite a short paragraph for each of the topic sentencesthat follow. Each paragraph must have at least threesentences supporting the topic and arranged in a logi-cal way. Use transitional words or phrases to connectyour ideas smoothly.

1. The leaders of Italy, Germany, and Japanattempted to restore their nations to theirformer greatness through the use of themilitary.

2. Minority groups played vital roles in WorldWar II, both in the armed forces and athome.

3. During World War II, Americans at homemade many sacrifices.

Cooperative ActivityHistory and Law As a class create a courtroomwith students role-playing a panel of judges, athree-member prosecution team, three defenseattorneys, a jury, three defendants, and an audi-ence. Put the following people on trial for crimesagainst humanity: Adolf Hitler—for beginningWorld War II and establishing the Nazi deathcamps; a German military officer—for carryingout orders to execute Jews in a death camp; Gen-eral Hideki Tojo—for ordering kamikaze attacksagainst Allied forces in the Pacific. Try each caseseparately, decide on a verdict, and recommenda punishment.


UTAH (U.S.)

JUN

O(C

AN

AD

IAN

)

GO

LD(B

RIT

ISH

)

OMAHA(U.S.)

SW

OR

D(B

RIT

ISH

)

N

S

EW

Axis territory

Allied territory

Allied invasion force

D-Day Invasion, June 6, 1944

50 kilometers0Lambert Equal-Area projection

50 miles0

GREATBRITAIN

FRANCE

London

Southampton PortsmouthShoreham

Dover

PortlandDartmouth

Normandy

Cherbourg

Territory controlled byAllies one week after

D-Day invasionSt.-Lô

Caen

Dieppe

Calais

Le Havre

Seine R.

Strait o

f Dov

er

EnglishChannel

HHiissttoorryy JJoouurrnnaall Reviewthe chapter to findinformation on themajor battles of World War II. Use your notes to make a chartthat lists the names of the battles or their locations, and the outcomeof each.

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Chapter 26: World War II - Sandwich Community Unit School...

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