World War II
Yes, again ...
Start
World WAr II Causes
World War II began for a variety of reasons . . .
Watch this video to be introduced to what we will learn about in this module
World War II started in 1939, only twenty years after the end of World War I (previously known as the Great War). Key players in this war include U.S. Presidents FDR and Truman, Great Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the authoritarian rulers Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito Mussolini (Italy), Hideki Tojo (Japan), and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union).
+ info
Important People
Causes
Homefront
Intro Video
WWII
Pacific Theater
Western Theater
End of War
World War II
The fighitng in World War II was split between the Western Theater (Europe) and Pacific Theater (war with Japan)
- The two sides were known as the Allied Powers (same as in WWI) and the Axis Powers.
- Allied Powers: Great Britain, United States, France, Soviet Union (USSR) and China
- Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan
CLICK EACH DOT OR NUMBER FOR A DESCRIPTION
Germany invades Poland
U.S. ENTRY - PEARL HARBOR
Treaty of Versaillies
Dictator Aggression
AppeasEment
homefront
Minorities - Women, African Americans, American Indians
Executive Order 9066
Propaganda and Volunteerism
Forced internment of Japanese Americans into camps - click below for details
Used to encourage support for the war effort just like during the first world war - click below for details
Enter workforce and join military - click below for details about women, the Tuskegee Airmen (African American pilots) and Navajo Code Talkers (American Indians)
+ Indian
+ women
+ African
+ info
+ info
important people - click each picture
George Patton
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Douglass MacArthur
Omar Bradley
Vernon Baker
Chester Nimitz
Harry Truman
Franklin D. Roosevelt
western theater
Operation Overlord was the code name in planning the invasion of Normandy. It took place on June 6, 1944 and was the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied France at multiple beaches in Normandy. The day officially became known as D-day. Click the image of the map to enlarge it and more clearly see where Allied forces landed. You may also see this refered to as the Battle of Normandy.
The invasion of Normandy was the turning point in the war in Europe. The Allied forces drove the Nazis out of France and continued to push them back into Germany. Our allies, the Soviet Union, also pushed the Nazis back from the eastern side until they finally surrendered. Hitler then commits suicide rather then let himself be captured. As Allied forces continued into Germany, they made the gruesome discovery of concentration camps and freed them as they went. The Allied soldiers were not prepared for the horrors they discovered. The captured Nazi officials were put on trial for these crimes (Holocaust) in the Nuremberg Trials.
Click image
Pacific Theater - Island Hopping & Bataan Death March
Flying Tigers:
The First American Volunteer Group (also known as the Flying Tigers) of the Republic of China was a group of American pilots sent to help defend China against Japan. U.S. support of China in their conflict with Japan led the U.S. to place an embargo on trade with Japan. This also contributed to their attack on the U.S. naval base, Pearl Harbor.
Bataan Death March
Island Hopping was the tactic used in the Pacific to gain or lose ground (remember there are no large continents to be fighting on, only strings of islands) The U.S. had territories in the pacific such as Guam and the Philippines that we gained from the Spanish American War. The Bataan Death March occurred on a Philippine island and was the forced march of about 75,000 Filipino and American Prisoners of War by the Japanese.
The conditions of the march were grueling. Prisoners were forced to march 65 miles to a prison camp through tropical conditions such as high heat and humidity, sun exposure and rain without proper food, water, or medical attention. They were also subjected to abuse and torture. About 10,000 died during this march while others escaped into the jungle. Roughly 54,000 POWs survived long enough to reach the camp.
pacific theater - Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific theater. The Japanese were using their control of the Western Pacific to protect their home islands and vast new empire. The Japanese Pacific fleet commander had devised a plan to lure the U.S. Pacific fleet into a battle near a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific called Midway, where he believed he could destroy them. However, the U.S. Navy could decipher Japanese secret codes and knew that a surprise attack from Japan was coming, giving them an advantage.
Admiral Chester Nimitz was Commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the Battle of Midway where the U.S. destroyed four of Japan’s aircraft carriers, ending their superior strength in the Pacific Ocean and halting Japan’s advance. General Douglas MacArthur commanded the U.S. army in the Pacific. They worked together to retake the Philippines and Guam from Japan and then Iwo Jima and Okinawa allowing the U.S. to use them as bases to attack the Japanese home island
End of War - Manhattan Project
During World War II, the famous scientist Albert Einstein informed President Roosevelt that Germany might be working on the creation of an atomic bomb. The U.S. response was the Manhattan Project which was the code name for the project in charge of creating the atomic bomb. There were locations for it across the U.S. (Tennessee, Washington, & New Mexico). The 1st atomic bomb was developed and exploded in New Mexico in July 1945, after Germany had already been defeated. The war in the Pacific with Japan however was still waging on. President FDR died in April 1945 of a heart attack and President Harry Truman took over the presidency. Truman feared that invading Japan would cost a million American lives and decided the use of the atomic bomb against Japan would save the U.S. those casualties. He chose centers of Japanese military production as targets. On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb (named Little Boy) exploded over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb (named Fat Man) exploded over Nagasaki. About 230,000 people were killed in both explosions combined. Critics argued that Truman could have exploded bombs on unoccupied islands in the Pacific as demonstrations, instead of on heavily populated cities. Japan surrendered shortly after the second explosion, once American leaders agreed to allow the Japanese Emperor to remain on his throne
United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Propaganda and Volunteerism
Propaganda was used to encourage support for the war effort during both WW1 and WW2. Volunteerism was Americans' willingness to help with the war effort. They did this by doing what propaganda persuaded them to do such as:
- Rationing - conserving certain foods, gas, and materials for the war effort
- Planting Victory Gardens at home or in communities so you could grow your own food and the other food could go to the soldiers
- Enlistment - even women could enlist in clerical postitions
- Buying war bonds to financially support the war
- Encouraged people to enter workforce - Rosie the Riveter poster appealed to women that they were just as capable as men were for the jobs
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Holocaust
The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews and other minorities (those they deemed undesirable like the disabled, gay, prisoners of war, etc.) started by the Nazi party during WW2. The persecution the Jewish and other minorities faced leading up to being put in concentration or death camps and throughout WW2 led many to attempt to escape and start over in new country. Many came to America. Following Allied discovery of the death camps and horror that occurred, many Nazi officials were put on trial in the Nuremberg Trials - along with other WW2 atrocities. Rather than face judgement for his actions, Hitler committed suicide before Allies could capture him.
- About 6 million Jews died
- Jews were blamed as the scapegoat for Germany's struggles after WW1
- Hitler and the Nazis came to power legally
- An extreme example of eugenics
Treaty of Versailles
Ended World War I in 1919
Placed some harsh restrictions on Germany following the end of the war and did not involve them in creating it - just forced them to agree to it. This led to resentment from Germany and they struggled to recover. A few of these conditions included:
- Accept full war guilt
- Pay reparations for damages
- Give up all territories and colonies
- Demilitarize
Women
Women, African Americans, and other minorities filled the gap as other workers went to fight in the war. World War II brought sacrifices to be made at home as well as new jobs, skills, and opportunities for many women. Women were not allowed to enlist in the regular armed forces but they joined the new Women's Army Corps (WACS) in large numbers. After basic training, many women took clerical jobs in the military. Back at home, women filled in for jobs previously held by men (just like in WWI) such as shipbuilding and aircraft productions. Songs like Rosie the Riveter celebrated women's new roles. The more women in the workforce, the more men we could send into combat. Between 1941 and 1945 more than 6.5 million women entered the workforce.
Navajo Code Talkers
American Indians also entered the workforce and joined the war effort. Native Americans enlisted for military service in higher proportions than any other minority group. More than 25,000 served in combat during the war. One group in particular gained notoriety for their contributions and that iwas the Navajo Code Talkers. This was a group of Navajo American Indians who were important in the Pacific theater for using their native navajo language to communicate important information like movement of ships, etc. There is no written version of navajo and the Japanese never broke the code.
Pearl Harbor
U.S. Entry to WWII
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese carried out a surprise air raid attack on the U.S. Naval base, Pearl Harbor, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kamikaze Japanese pilots even carried out deliberate suicide crashes into enemy targets. The attack was partly fueled by the U.S. embargo against Japan. This event is what officially brought the United States into war with Japan, and then their allies Germany and Italy.
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech following the attack, calling the Pearl Harbor attack "a date which will live in infamy."
Tuskegee Airmen
Aside from entering the workforce in support of the war effort, many African Americans enlisted. More than 2.5 million registered for the draft, of whom 1 million eventually served, even though they were forced into segregated units. African Americans had to battle of two fronts: the enemy overseas and the prejudice on the homefront. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of all African American pilots. They demonstrated that African Americans were just as capable of flying advanced aircraft as their white counterparts.
Germany invades Poland
World War II officially began when Germany decided to invade Poland. Appeasement was clearly failing and Britain said if you invade Poland, that's it. We're done playing nice.Britain begins to mobilize for war after the invasion along with their ally, France. The U.S. does not enter yet but we pass the Lend-Lease Act and help provide supplies. Basically, this allows us to supply countries that our vital to OUR OWN defense while staying neutral... what could go wrong...
Failure of Appeasement
Great Britain tried to "appease" Germany by allowing them to break the treaty in little ways in hopes to avoid another major war. Germany expanded their territory into Czechoslovakia and Great Britain allowed it because they knew Germany's economy was destroyed after the reparations that were forced on them in the Treaty of Versailles. This ultimately failed because Germany just kept pushing for more and Great Britian just kept letting them do what they wanted.
- Germany took Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia)
- Remilitarized the Rhineland
Dictator Aggression
Authoritarian rulers come to power in multiple countries during this time. Authoritarian rulers are also called totalitarian. This means that the ruler (often a Dictator) has complete control. Hitler was voted into power in Germany with the Nazi Party.
- Adolf Hitler - Germany
- Benito Mussolini - Italy
- Hideki Tojo - Japan
- Joseph Stalin - Soviet Union (U.S.S.R)
Executive Order 9066
Internment of Japanese Americans
- Feb. 19, 1942 - President FDR signed Executive Order 9066 that ordered the forced internment of Japanese American citizens into camps because of the fear of espionage while we were at war with Japan. (Espionage and Sedition Act comes back during WWII.)
- This order violated the citizens' 4th and 14th amendment rights.
- In one case, one citizen (Korematsu) took the constitutionality of this order all the way to the Supreme Court in Korematsu v. United States - the court upheld it's constitutionality due to it being a time of war.
- It took over 50 years until President Bill Clinton formally recognized that this was wrong and offered reparations.
- Internment camps in California, Washington, Oregon, etc.
- Locked away 120,000 people of Japanese heritage in overcrowded camps - had to leave homes, businesess, many belongings
- Last camp didn't close until the year after the war ended
WW2
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Transcript
World War II
Yes, again ...
Start
World WAr II Causes
World War II began for a variety of reasons . . .
Watch this video to be introduced to what we will learn about in this module
World War II started in 1939, only twenty years after the end of World War I (previously known as the Great War). Key players in this war include U.S. Presidents FDR and Truman, Great Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the authoritarian rulers Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito Mussolini (Italy), Hideki Tojo (Japan), and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union).
+ info
Important People
Causes
Homefront
Intro Video
WWII
Pacific Theater
Western Theater
End of War
World War II
The fighitng in World War II was split between the Western Theater (Europe) and Pacific Theater (war with Japan)
CLICK EACH DOT OR NUMBER FOR A DESCRIPTION
Germany invades Poland
U.S. ENTRY - PEARL HARBOR
Treaty of Versaillies
Dictator Aggression
AppeasEment
homefront
Minorities - Women, African Americans, American Indians
Executive Order 9066
Propaganda and Volunteerism
Forced internment of Japanese Americans into camps - click below for details
Used to encourage support for the war effort just like during the first world war - click below for details
Enter workforce and join military - click below for details about women, the Tuskegee Airmen (African American pilots) and Navajo Code Talkers (American Indians)
+ Indian
+ women
+ African
+ info
+ info
important people - click each picture
George Patton
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Douglass MacArthur
Omar Bradley
Vernon Baker
Chester Nimitz
Harry Truman
Franklin D. Roosevelt
western theater
Operation Overlord was the code name in planning the invasion of Normandy. It took place on June 6, 1944 and was the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied France at multiple beaches in Normandy. The day officially became known as D-day. Click the image of the map to enlarge it and more clearly see where Allied forces landed. You may also see this refered to as the Battle of Normandy.
The invasion of Normandy was the turning point in the war in Europe. The Allied forces drove the Nazis out of France and continued to push them back into Germany. Our allies, the Soviet Union, also pushed the Nazis back from the eastern side until they finally surrendered. Hitler then commits suicide rather then let himself be captured. As Allied forces continued into Germany, they made the gruesome discovery of concentration camps and freed them as they went. The Allied soldiers were not prepared for the horrors they discovered. The captured Nazi officials were put on trial for these crimes (Holocaust) in the Nuremberg Trials.
Click image
Pacific Theater - Island Hopping & Bataan Death March
Flying Tigers:
The First American Volunteer Group (also known as the Flying Tigers) of the Republic of China was a group of American pilots sent to help defend China against Japan. U.S. support of China in their conflict with Japan led the U.S. to place an embargo on trade with Japan. This also contributed to their attack on the U.S. naval base, Pearl Harbor.
Bataan Death March
Island Hopping was the tactic used in the Pacific to gain or lose ground (remember there are no large continents to be fighting on, only strings of islands) The U.S. had territories in the pacific such as Guam and the Philippines that we gained from the Spanish American War. The Bataan Death March occurred on a Philippine island and was the forced march of about 75,000 Filipino and American Prisoners of War by the Japanese.
The conditions of the march were grueling. Prisoners were forced to march 65 miles to a prison camp through tropical conditions such as high heat and humidity, sun exposure and rain without proper food, water, or medical attention. They were also subjected to abuse and torture. About 10,000 died during this march while others escaped into the jungle. Roughly 54,000 POWs survived long enough to reach the camp.
pacific theater - Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific theater. The Japanese were using their control of the Western Pacific to protect their home islands and vast new empire. The Japanese Pacific fleet commander had devised a plan to lure the U.S. Pacific fleet into a battle near a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific called Midway, where he believed he could destroy them. However, the U.S. Navy could decipher Japanese secret codes and knew that a surprise attack from Japan was coming, giving them an advantage.
Admiral Chester Nimitz was Commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the Battle of Midway where the U.S. destroyed four of Japan’s aircraft carriers, ending their superior strength in the Pacific Ocean and halting Japan’s advance. General Douglas MacArthur commanded the U.S. army in the Pacific. They worked together to retake the Philippines and Guam from Japan and then Iwo Jima and Okinawa allowing the U.S. to use them as bases to attack the Japanese home island
End of War - Manhattan Project
During World War II, the famous scientist Albert Einstein informed President Roosevelt that Germany might be working on the creation of an atomic bomb. The U.S. response was the Manhattan Project which was the code name for the project in charge of creating the atomic bomb. There were locations for it across the U.S. (Tennessee, Washington, & New Mexico). The 1st atomic bomb was developed and exploded in New Mexico in July 1945, after Germany had already been defeated. The war in the Pacific with Japan however was still waging on. President FDR died in April 1945 of a heart attack and President Harry Truman took over the presidency. Truman feared that invading Japan would cost a million American lives and decided the use of the atomic bomb against Japan would save the U.S. those casualties. He chose centers of Japanese military production as targets. On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb (named Little Boy) exploded over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb (named Fat Man) exploded over Nagasaki. About 230,000 people were killed in both explosions combined. Critics argued that Truman could have exploded bombs on unoccupied islands in the Pacific as demonstrations, instead of on heavily populated cities. Japan surrendered shortly after the second explosion, once American leaders agreed to allow the Japanese Emperor to remain on his throne
United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Propaganda and Volunteerism
Propaganda was used to encourage support for the war effort during both WW1 and WW2. Volunteerism was Americans' willingness to help with the war effort. They did this by doing what propaganda persuaded them to do such as:
Got an idea?
Use this space to add awesome interactivity. Include text, images, videos, tables, PDFs... even interactive questions! Premium tip: Get information on how your audience interacts with your creation:
Holocaust
The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews and other minorities (those they deemed undesirable like the disabled, gay, prisoners of war, etc.) started by the Nazi party during WW2. The persecution the Jewish and other minorities faced leading up to being put in concentration or death camps and throughout WW2 led many to attempt to escape and start over in new country. Many came to America. Following Allied discovery of the death camps and horror that occurred, many Nazi officials were put on trial in the Nuremberg Trials - along with other WW2 atrocities. Rather than face judgement for his actions, Hitler committed suicide before Allies could capture him.
Treaty of Versailles
Ended World War I in 1919
Placed some harsh restrictions on Germany following the end of the war and did not involve them in creating it - just forced them to agree to it. This led to resentment from Germany and they struggled to recover. A few of these conditions included:
Women
Women, African Americans, and other minorities filled the gap as other workers went to fight in the war. World War II brought sacrifices to be made at home as well as new jobs, skills, and opportunities for many women. Women were not allowed to enlist in the regular armed forces but they joined the new Women's Army Corps (WACS) in large numbers. After basic training, many women took clerical jobs in the military. Back at home, women filled in for jobs previously held by men (just like in WWI) such as shipbuilding and aircraft productions. Songs like Rosie the Riveter celebrated women's new roles. The more women in the workforce, the more men we could send into combat. Between 1941 and 1945 more than 6.5 million women entered the workforce.
Navajo Code Talkers
American Indians also entered the workforce and joined the war effort. Native Americans enlisted for military service in higher proportions than any other minority group. More than 25,000 served in combat during the war. One group in particular gained notoriety for their contributions and that iwas the Navajo Code Talkers. This was a group of Navajo American Indians who were important in the Pacific theater for using their native navajo language to communicate important information like movement of ships, etc. There is no written version of navajo and the Japanese never broke the code.
Pearl Harbor
U.S. Entry to WWII
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese carried out a surprise air raid attack on the U.S. Naval base, Pearl Harbor, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kamikaze Japanese pilots even carried out deliberate suicide crashes into enemy targets. The attack was partly fueled by the U.S. embargo against Japan. This event is what officially brought the United States into war with Japan, and then their allies Germany and Italy.
Tuskegee Airmen
Aside from entering the workforce in support of the war effort, many African Americans enlisted. More than 2.5 million registered for the draft, of whom 1 million eventually served, even though they were forced into segregated units. African Americans had to battle of two fronts: the enemy overseas and the prejudice on the homefront. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of all African American pilots. They demonstrated that African Americans were just as capable of flying advanced aircraft as their white counterparts.
Germany invades Poland
World War II officially began when Germany decided to invade Poland. Appeasement was clearly failing and Britain said if you invade Poland, that's it. We're done playing nice.Britain begins to mobilize for war after the invasion along with their ally, France. The U.S. does not enter yet but we pass the Lend-Lease Act and help provide supplies. Basically, this allows us to supply countries that our vital to OUR OWN defense while staying neutral... what could go wrong...
Failure of Appeasement
Great Britain tried to "appease" Germany by allowing them to break the treaty in little ways in hopes to avoid another major war. Germany expanded their territory into Czechoslovakia and Great Britain allowed it because they knew Germany's economy was destroyed after the reparations that were forced on them in the Treaty of Versailles. This ultimately failed because Germany just kept pushing for more and Great Britian just kept letting them do what they wanted.
Dictator Aggression
Authoritarian rulers come to power in multiple countries during this time. Authoritarian rulers are also called totalitarian. This means that the ruler (often a Dictator) has complete control. Hitler was voted into power in Germany with the Nazi Party.
Executive Order 9066
Internment of Japanese Americans