UNIT 5: TURNING POINTS
CHAPTER 12: WORLD WAR II
ROAD TO WAR
—In the 1920s and 30s a number of ruthless men rose to power and became dictators once they
gained enough political power. These dictators rose to power by taking advantage of people’s
anger and suffering. Many Europeans resented the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of WWI.
When a worldwide depression hit in the 1930s frustration and fear added to this anger. Benito
Mussolini rose to power by appealing to the resentment of many Italians who felt they had not
won enough in the Versailles treaty. Mussolini had gained enough strength to become Il Duce—
the leader—and put an end to democracy. Civil liberties and the free press ceased to exist.
Mussolini built up Italy’s military and vowed to recapture the glory of the ancient Romans.
—The Great Depression had hit Germany extremely hard. Millions of people lost their jobs and
their economy was in shambles. Adolf Hitler gained popularity by exploiting people’s concern
about high inflation and severe unemployment. Hitler also played upon bitterness over the
Versailles treaty. He became chairman of the Nazi Party which portrayed the German people as
superior to all others. Soon after, he became chancellor and ended all democracy and established
totalitarian rule. In a totalitarian state, a single party and its leader suppress all opposition and
control all aspects of people’s lives. Hitler began to rebuild Germany’s military strength in
defiance of the Versailles treaty. He formed an alliance with Italy. In the Pacific, Japan was
trying to expand political power by gaining territory across Asia. They had invaded parts of
China and they eventually signed a pact of alliance known as the Axis with Germany and Italy.
Japan had become a military dictatorship with Hideki Tojo as the leader.
—Hitler had plans for German expansion. In 1938, he sent troops to the Rhineland, which in the
Versailles treaty had been denied to the Germans. Next, he sent troops to Austria insisting that
Austria should be unified with Germany. Then he turned to the Sudetenland, an area of
Czechoslovakia where many German-speaking people lived. Czechoslovakia wanted to keep
that land and was prepared to fight Hitler. Britain and France were afraid this would lead to war
so they met in Munich, Germany to discuss this. At the Munich Conference France and Britain
agreed to turn over the Sudetenland to Germany and Hitler promised not to expand Germany’s
territory further. However, in March 1939 Hitler broke his promise and seized the rest of
Czechoslovakia. Hitler also had plans to invade Poland. However, he was worried about Joseph
Stalin, leader of the U.S.S.R. because it bordered Poland. To avoid conflicts with Stalin, Hitler
convinced him to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact in which Germany and the U.S.S.R would not attack
each other and secretly divided up Poland and other eastern European countries between them.
WAR BEGINS
—On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland. Two days later Great Britain and France
declared war on Germany. WWII had begun. This invasion of Poland was swift and fierce; the
Germans called this offensive a blitzkrieg (lightning war). The Soviets had moved in eastern
Poland and occupied it, acting on the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed earlier. In late 1939 the western
front was settled in by British and French forces at the Maginot Line, a string of steel and
concrete bunkers along the German border. In the spring of 1940 Germany successfully invaded
Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The Allied troops then retreated to the port of
Dunkirk in France on the English Channel. The Allied troops had to evacuate for safety and
crossed the English Channel to Britain. Italy (then later Japan) then joined Germany to form the
Axis Powers and invaded Paris on June 14, 1940. The French surrendered a week later. Hitler
then decided to conquer Britain. He began to bomb Britain to break British morale to then
invade and make them surrender. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill kept the British
strong and defiantly claimed that he will never surrender. Fortunately, Britain had a spectacular
Air Force and inflicted heavy losses on the German Air Force. Hitler then called off the invasion
of Britain. Hitler then decided to ignore the pact he made with Stalin and invaded the USSR in
June 1941.
—America is seeing what is going on and proclaims neutrality, even though most Americans are
rooting for the Allies. FDR is actually preparing for war by strengthening the navy and selling
weapons. He also signed the Selective Training and Service Act, the first peacetime draft in
history. FDR won the next presidential election in 1940, becoming the first and only president to
be elected for 3 terms. FDR and Congress signed the Lend-Lease Act which allowed America
to sell, lend, or lease arms or other war supplies to any nation considered vital to the defense of
the U.S. Britain used the Lend-Lease Act.
—Over in the Pacific, Japan began to take over parts of Asia. The U.S. responded by applying
economic pressure. FDR froze all Japanese assets in American banks and stopped the sale of oil,
gasoline, and other natural resources that Japan lacked. On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the
American military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 2,400 soldiers and civilians were
killed. Battleships, cruisers, and other vessels were destroyed. It was the worst defeat in U.S.
military history. The next day FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war, calling December 7
“a date which will live in infamy”. Congress quickly approved the president’s request to declare
