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American Studies WWII

Terms in this set (11)

Who were the leaders of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII? How did these nations become dictatorships?
Germany-- Adolf Hitler, Germans wanted a strong leader after the Kaiser stepped down and also because the new government was weak. People turned to Hitler, and he created/headed the Nazi party.

Italy-- Benito Mussolini, because taxes were high, many people were unemployed, government seemed power He gathered unhappy italians and created the Fascist party. It pledged to end all bad things about italy, and end communism. It ended up controlling all aspects of italian life and squashing individual liberties.

Japan: Emperor was Hirohito. After an economic boom, they faced the Great Depression. People wanted them to expand their military and power. So, militarists took power. People honored the emperor and the empire. Democracy died.
Explain how President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress tried to keep the US neutral at the beginning of the war.
When France and Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, America stayed out of it. FDR created neutrality acts designed to lawfully keep the US out of the war. They prevented US trade of weapons/non military supplies with nations at war, forbade American companies from loaning money/giving credit to nations at war.
How did the Lend-Lease Act and the Atlantic Charter bring the US closer to a war?
Lend-Lease Act-- allowed the US to sell, lend, or lease weapons/war supplies to nations considered vital to the defense of the US.

Atlantic Charter-- Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill and although he didn't agree to join the war, he helped Churchill brainstorm ways to foster peace and a better world after the war.
How did the US become involved in the war?
In 1941, Japan attacked the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. They did this because the US Pacific Fleet in Hawaii was the only thing stopping their Pacific expansion. The US declared war on Japan the next day. Germany then declared war on the US.
What steps did the US take to mobilize for WWII?
We mobilized very quickly, which helped the allies win in the end. Mobilization created many jobs. Women got very involved in the process by creating war materials in factories (since the men were off at war). The Jeep was a new invention.
How much did the war cost?
$300 billion.
Why did the US force Japanese-Americans into internment camps during WWII? What did the Supreme Court decide in the case Korematsu v. US?
Distrusted because of their ancestry, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from the West Coast to inland internment camps. Most lost their homes. German and Italian Americans didn't get this treatment. No one did anything wrong; innocent people.

Korematsu v. US case: Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American man who refused to leave his home because of the relocation act thing. He was eventually arrested for violating the law, but he took the case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that the rules were lawful and were of military neccessity.
Why were the D-Day invasion and the Battle of Midway turning points in World War 2?
D-Day: Germany had to split troops to fight on both sides, so there were shortages. Russia and America's relations were strengthened, so Germany was alone. Liberation of France, so the Allies had a place to fight in the Pacific.

Battle of Midway: It was the battle that made the US go from fighting on the defensive to fighting on the offensive for Japan. After Pearl Harbor and the US entered the war, Japan wanted to keep expanding. Also, it was an aircraft battle fought over the sea that destroyed Japan's naval strengths.
What was D-Day?
On June 6, 1944 in Normandy. The Allies wanted to invade German-occupied Europe from Britain and begin fighting the Germans on a Western Front (so it could be a two-front war). The Germans were took by surprise​, because they thought they were going to be attacked at the Strait of Dover.
What was the general US strategy for defeating Japan in the Pacific?
Island Hopping was a strategy to gain bases and control the many small islands of the pacific. The US would target not strongly-defended islands from the japanese, secure those, and secure other islands from the safety of those islands, all while getting closer to Japan.
How was the atomic bomb developed for use in WWII? Why did the US use atomic bombs on Japan and what were the results of this action?
It was already discovered, but other countries couldn't figure out how to create it. By the time the US finally figured out how to create an atomic bomb, the war against Germany had already been defeated. However, Japan had yet to surrender. Hiroshima was hit first, then Nagasaki a few days later. A few days later, Japan surrendered. Although it ended WWII, some say it started the Cold War.
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