Monday- discuss WWII movies
Tuesday- Watch The World Wars episode 3
Wednesday- Continue The World Wars episode 3
Thursday- US in WWII PowerPoint
Main Allied Powers: Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, China, Free France
Europe: Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, etc., either armed resistances or after they were liberated from Germany or Italy
Africa: Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, South Africa- many were controlled by GB
Asia/Other: China India, Iran Iraq, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, New Zealand, Australia, Canada
US after WWI
- US never signed he Treaty of Versailles
- Wilson (Democrat) vs Congress (Republican controlled)
- Join the League of Nations or go back to isolationism?
- Republican Warren Harding won the 1920 Presidential election with a promise to "Return to Normalcy"
- The US went back to focusing on America in the 20's and 30's
Washington Naval Conferance
4 Power Pact
- 4 Power Pact- US, GB, France and Japan would respect each other's possessions in the Pacific
5 Power Pact
- Signed by signers of 4PP plus Italy
- Designed to prevent an arm's race
- Limited the construction of battleships, battle cruisers and aircraft carriers
- Did not restrict cruisers, destroyers or submarines
9 Power Pact
- Guaranteed Chinese independence and upheld the Open Door Policy
- Signed by the US, GB, Japan, China, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal
Kellogg-Briand Pact
- The US did sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact denouncing war as a means to settle disputes
- Most countries signed it sooner or later
Neutrality in General
- The Neutrality Acts were passes by the US in the 1930's in response to the issues in Europe in Asia that eventually led to WWII
- They were caused by the desire to be isolationist in the US following WWII
- Passed to ensure that the US would not become involved in world conflicts (war)
- US had a very strong history of isolationism
America First Committee- promoted neutrality and isolationism- main goal was to keep US out of war
US Neutrality Acts during 30's
- Neutrality Act of 1935- stop trading with countries at war
- Signed on Aug. 31, 1935
- Designed to last six months
- Banned US trade of arms and materials with any country at war
- Also declared that US citizens traveling on warring ships were traveling at their own risk
- Neutrality Act of 1936- stop loaning money to countries at war
- Signed Feb. 1936
- Renewed the provisions of the 1935 act for another 14 months
- Forbade all loans or credits to countries at war
- Did not cover "civil wars", such as the Spanish Civil War
- Also did not cover materials such as trucks and oil
- Neutrality Act of 1937- Cash an Carry System- weapons not included- countries can buy supplies and pay up front and
- Passed in May, 1937
- Set to expire after 2 years
- Included the provisions of the earlier acts this time without expiration date
- This time it also included civil wars
- US ships were prohibited from transporting any passengers or items to countries at war
- US citizens were forbidden from traveling on ships of countries at war
- A "cash and carry" system was set up
- The President could permit the sale of supplies of countries at war (belligerents) in Europe as long as they paid immediately in cash and transported the goods on their own ships
- FDR believed that cash-and-carry would help France and GB in the event of a war with Germany
- FDR chose not to invoke the Neutrality Acts on Japan and China since they had not formally declared war
- Neutrality Act of 1939- Cash and Carry System- weapons included
- Passed in Nov. 1939
- Allowed for arms trade with belligerent nations on a cash-and-carry basis
- US citizens and ships were barred from entering war zones designated by the President
Quarantine Speech- 1937
Bases for Destroyers
- Passed in Sept. 1940 between the US and GB
- Fifty US destroyers were given to GB in exchange for land rights (for 99 years) on British colonies for naval or air base purposes
- Newfoundland, eastern side of the Bahamas, southern coast of Jamaica, western coast of St. Lucia, west coast of Trinidad, Antigua, British Guiana and Bermuda were the areas the US received
End of US Neutrality-Lend Lease Act
- The end of neutrality for the US came with the Lend-Lease Act
- Passed in March, 1941
- This act allowed the US to sell, lend, or give war materials to nations the US wanted to support
- US gave $50 billion ($650 billion today) worth of supplies to Allied nations throughout the war
Selective Training and Service Act
- Passed in September, 1940 and ended in 1947
- Required that men between the ages of 21 and 35 register for the draft
- Extended to all men aged 18 to 45 once US entered the war
- First peacetime draft in US history- preparing to enter the war
- How did it work?
- Local draft boards were set up from coast to coast
- Each male registered was given a number between 1-7,836
- In Washington, papers with the numbers 1 through 7,836 printed on them were put into capsules, one number to a capsule
- The capsules were dumped into a giant fishbowl and then stirred
- Finally the capsuled were drawn from the bowl one by one to establish the draft order
- It your number was chosen, you were now officially part of the US military! Congrats!
- 158 was the first number chose (6,175 young men were drafted with that number)
Friday- talk about Syria, continue PowerPoint
Atlantic Charter
- Signed in August 1941 between the US (FDR) and GB (Churchill)
- Defined the Allied goals for the post-war world
- Many similarities to Wilson's 14 points
- US wasn't even in the war at this point, but we all knew it was only just a matter of time.
- US was still "neutral", but not really neutral... sided with GB and the Allies
Island hopping was a major strategy in US war in the Pacific with Japan
Battle of Okinawa
- Okinawa wasn't taken over by Japan, was Japanese island historically, part of the "mainland"
Manhattan Project
Japan officially surrendered to US on Sept. 2, 1945
US WWII Major Battle/Operations Timeline vs Germany
- Battle of the Atlantic- 1941-45- fought for control of trade routes
- Operation Torch (Invasion of Morocco)- 1942
- Operation Avalanche (Invasion of Italy)- 1943
- Battle of Salerno (1943)
- Battle of Anzio (1944)
- Battle of Monte Cassino (1944)
- Operation Overlord (D-Day)- June 6, 1944
- Operation Dragoon (Invasion of southern France)- Aug. 1944
- Battle of the Bulge (Hitler's last major offensive)- Winter 1944-45
- Operation Varsity (Invasion of western Germany past the Rhine River)-March 1945
German U-Boats (Submarines)
- After repeated attacks by German U-Boats on US ships in the Fall of 1941, FDR announced that he had ordered the US Navy to attack German and Italian war ships in the "waters which we deem necessary for our defense"
- War was imminent!
Comments