Week of February 29 - March 4 - Blogs

Monday, February 29

United States Notes

major events between WWI and WWII
- didn't join the League of Nations
- Kellogg - Briand Pact
- Naval Conferences
- neutrality acts of 35, 36, 37, 39
- Bases for Destroyers Pact
- Lend Lease Act
basic facts
- belonged to the Allied Powers
- 300,000 battle deaths
- $280 billion total cost
- war goals - stop Germany, stop Japan

Tuesday, March 1

United States Notes

Allies
- Allied Powers
- main power: Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, China, France
- other powers: Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, San Marino, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, South Africa, India, Iran, Iraq, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, New Zealand, Australia, Canada
Post WWI
- Treaty of Versailles
  - Wilson (Democrat and Congress (Republican) couldn't agree
  - we never signed it
  - We didn't join the League of Nations
  - Warren Harding becomes president in 1920 and promised to return to normalcy
  - The US went back to isolationism for the 20s and 30s
- Washington Naval Conference
- 4, 5, 9 Power Pacts
  - designed to undo a lot of the problems that led to WWI
- Kellogg-Briand Pact
- Neutrality Acts
  - passed by the US in the 1930s in response to the issues in Europe and Asia that eventually led to WWII
  - 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
- Interventionists vs. Isolationists
  - Interventionists - help Europe
  - Isolationism - do nothing, focus on America
- Isolationism Committees
  - America First Committee
    - promoted isolationism
- Specific Neutrality Acts
  - 1935 - stop trading with countries at war
  - 1936 - stop loaning money to countries at war
  - 1937 - cash and carry system - weapons not included
  - 1939 - cash and carry system - weapons included
- Quarantine Speech - 1937
  - peaceful countries need to work together to quarantine aggressive nations
- Panay Incident - December 1937
  - American gunboat attacked on river in China by Japanese planes
  - 3 US troops killed, 45 wounded
  - Japan said it was an accident, apologized, and paid the US money
  - worsened US-Japanese relationships
- Bases for Destroyers
  - fifty US destroyers were given to Great Britain in exchange for 99 years of land rights on British colonies for naval or air base purposes
  - passed in September, 1940
- End of US Neutrality - Lend Lease Act
  - end of neutrality for the US came with this act
  - this act allowed the US to sell, lend, or give war materials to the nations the US wanted to support
  - US gave $50 billion ($650 billion today) to Allied nation throughout the war
- Selective Training and Service Act
  - passed September 1940
  - 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 war
  - first peacetime draft in US history
- Atlantic Charter
  - signed in August 1941 between the US and Britain
  - Defined the allied goals for the post-war world
  - many similarities to Wilson's Fourteen Points
- Pearl Harbor
  - December 7, 1941
  - did to get resources

Wednesday, March 2

Study hall

Thursday, March 3

Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941
- 7:40 AM - first wave of the attack
- 8:50 AM - second wave
- Japan cancels planned third wave
  - no longer had surprise
  - wanted to leave before we could do any more damage to them
- Japan needed the element of surprise
  - in order to accomplish this, they had complete radio silence the week before the attack
  - had to remain unseen
- they didn't destroy as many ships as they thought they would
- our 3 air craft carriers were out at sea and Japan couldn't destroy them like they thought they would
- USS Arizona
  - memorial for Pearl Harbor
- Pearl Harbor Propaganda
  - people were more willing to volunteer after Propaganda
  - "Remember Pearl Harbor"
  - tried to persuade people to buy war bonds
- Official Declaration of War - December 8, 1941
  - last time Congress ever officially declared war
- FDR's War Message
  - Pearl Harbor was not the only area attacked by Japan on December 7
  - they also attacked...
    - Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, Philippine Islands, Wake Island, and Midway Island
- we got into the war with Germany when Hitler declared war on us
- reasons Japan attacked Pearl Harbor
  - after Japan invaded French Indochina in 1940, US stopped trading with Japan
  - Japan signed the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in April, 1941 guaranteeing that Japan and the USSR would not go to war
  - Japan realized they needed US trade to be successful in war
  - Only way to force US' hand was to hit them hard in a surprise attack, forcing them out of the war
  - Japan knew this was a huge risk, but thought it was the only way to defeat the US
  - Plan backfired. Instead, Japan "woke a sleeping giant"
- Backdoor to War Conspiracy
  - FDR wanted to get into the war but the American people wouldn't support that
  - to ensure we got into the war, FDR pushed Japan into a corner
  - this would force them into an attack

Friday, March 4

Great Britain

Leader
- Winston Churchill
  - "Rise to Power"
    - had more members in the Conservative Party
  - "Fall"
    - Attlee won the 1945 election
    - Churchill had just led the Allies to Victory
- Attlee
  - "Rise to Power"
    - Won the 1945 election
- Chamberlain
  - "Rise to Power"
    - Led Britain in the first 8 months of WWII
Battle Strategies
- "Outlast the Germans"
  - surviving German bombing campaigns
- Focus on defeating Germany and Italy in Africa to Italy
  - do not invade France right away
Major Events between WWI and WWII
- London Naval Conference
  - 1930
  - Formed with the purpose of placing limits on the naval capacity of the world's largest Naval Powers
- League of Nations
  - 1930
  - Created after the WWI to provide a forum for resolving international disputes
  - Joined by Great Britain
- WWI Reparations
  - Germany had to pay about 34 billion in reparations to Britain
- Washington Naval Conference
  - 1921-22
  - World's largest naval powers gathered in DC for a conference to discuss naval disarmament and ways to relieve growing tensions in East Asia
    - 4, 5, and 9 Power Pact came from this conference
- Munich Conference
  - 1938
  - "mistake where Britain and France should've finally stepped up to Hitler and said no"
  - Leaders of Britain, France, and Italy agreed to allow Germany to annex Czechoslovakia
  - they give him the Sudentand of Czechoslovakia
  - Churchill thought this policy was a mistake
  - all British soldiers left Belgium
- Kellogg - Briand Pact
  - 1928
  - outlawed war
  - "Pact of Paris"
- Great Depression
  - Largest economic Depression of the 20th century
Basic Facts
- Allies
  - US, Soviet Union, France, China - Allies
- Casualties
  - Military -
  - Civilian - 62,000
- Deaths
  - Military - 452,000
  - Civilian - 60,000
  - Allies -
- Cost
  - At the time - $120 billion
  - Today's money - $1.6 trillion
- Goals
  - Stop Hitler
  - Survive
  - Win
Major Battles
- Battle of North Africa
  - June 10-1940 - May 13, 1943
  - fight over the Suez Canal
  - they wanted this because that area had oil and materials from Asia
  - Britain depended on the oil
  - Allies win
- Battle of Britain
  - Germany and Hitler conquered Europe
  - Britain was left
  - Germany bombed Great Britain
  - Germany tried to take out the Royal Air Force
  - Hitler wanted control of the skies
  - Allies won
- Battle of Italy
  - US and Great Britain planned to invade Italy
  - plan was to take Italy out of the war
  - Italy surrendered, Allies win
Important People
- Winston Churchill
- Marshal Hugh Dowding
  - commander RAF

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