Europe in Flames

World War II by the Numbers

World War II by the Numbers• 6• 74• 3• 58• 288• 464• 24,997

• 416,000• 10,700,000

Years of war, 1939 to 1945Million killed, civilian and militaryContinents- Europe, Asia and AfricaNumber of countries who lost soldiers

Billion dollars spent by the U.S. Number of U.S. Sherman tanks in 1940 Number of U.S. Sherman tanks produced in 1942

(outnumbered Germany)

Americans KIASoviets KIA

World War IICauses-

Rise of dictatorships in EuropeFailure of the League of NationsGerman expansion in EuropeJapanese expansion in Asia

Effects-The United States becomes the most powerful nation on earthEurope is divided into east and west, democratic and communistThe United Nations is createdGoodbye colonialism

Status of nations during the Second World War.dark green — Allies before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor;light green — Allied countries that entered the war after Pearl

Harbor;orange — Axis powers;

grey — countries that were neutral during the war.

Open Note Quiz for 1-25-08

1. Write down two of the three axis powers:

2. Which country suffered the most casualties during World War II?

Open Note Quiz for 1-25-08

3. Which of the following was NOT a reason for British and French appeasement of Germany:

A. Europeans were tired of war and wanted to prevent another one.

B. Britain needed more time to rebuild her armed forces.

C. Britain was more concerned with her military assets in the Pacific and the rise of Japan.

D. Western Europe figured Hitler would stop expanding after annexing The Sudetenland.

Open Note Quiz for 1-25-08

4. What was the U.S. position towards the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939?

A. Alliance with Great Britain and FranceB. NeutralityC. Alliance with GermanyD. Sit and wait it out and see who comes out on

top

Open Note Quiz for 1-25-08

5. What were two major causes of World War II?

Open Note Quiz for 1-25-08

France fallsOnly Britain remains

A British soldier searches the London sky for any sign of German bombers.

By Summer of 1940, only Great Britain stands between Hitler and total conquest of Europe.

The Fall of France

• June 5, 1940- Hitler launches “Operation: Case Yellow” and the Western Front is opened.

• June 10- In just TEN days, Paris falls to the Nazis. France surrenders and a pro-German government is established.– The same day, President Roosevelt announces a shift from

neutrality to “non-belligerency.” Translation= more support for the Allies.

The Battle of Britain

• July 10- The first aerial attacks on England by German forces begins. The Nazis bomb London and other strategic points with over thousands of fighters and bombers. Britain resists and destroys over 1,700 German planes.– Failure to control English airspace is a key factor in

the Nazi decision not to launch an invasion across the English Channel.

Meanwhile back at home in the States-

• July 20, 1940- Congress authorizes $4 billion for the construction of a two-ocean navy.

• Sept. 3- FDR gives 50 American destroyers to England in exchange to construct bases in British territory. This becomes known as LEND-LEASE.

• Dec. 29- In a year-end “fireside chat”, Roosevelt promises that America will be the “arsenal of democracy”…still no declaration of war however.

Hitler’s Biggest Mistake

• June 22, 1941- In one of history’s great military blunders, Hitler orders the wehrmact into the Soviet Union.– Code-named “Operation: Barbarossa”, Hitler

orders the invasion of Russian territory and the Eastern front is born. The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact is dead and once again Germany is faced with a two-front war.

• These are the darkest days of the war.

America on the Move1941-1945

An American child cashes

in his ration card for a can of

tomatoes.

Review• 1938- Japan attacks Manchuria in mainland China for natural

resources.• 1939- Germany breaks Munich agreement and invades Poland.• 1940- Hitler’s army invades France. Paris falls in 10 days.• 1941- Germany invades the Soviet Union, breaking the Nazi-Soviet

Nonaggression Pact. Poland was to have been divided. Lesson: Don’t make deals with Germany.

• 1941- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.• End of 1941- FDR orders an incredible mobilization of America’s

industries to prepare the United States for a two-front war.• Roosevelt delivers his famous “Four Freedoms” speech declaring

that every human being should have the freedom of speech, religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Review• “Lend-Lease”- The U.S. was already supplying Great Britain

with destroyers in exchange for using British bases• By mid-1942, things did not bode well for the allies.• Hitler lacked only Great Britain to complete his conquest of

Europe.• The Russians had been driven back to their capital, Moscow.• America had entered the war but was not yet prepared to fight

both Germany and Japan at the same time.• The U.S. government had begun to “relocate” 100,000

Japanese-Americans to internment camps across the American west.

Which is the concentration and which is the internment camp?

So how do we get from this…

to this…

Mobilization

• Mobilization was a national effort that took the work of the entire country.

• Government and businesses worked together to get the tanks built and the planes flying.

FDR visits a munitions plant

Index of American Manufacturing Output (1939 = 100)

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

Aircraft 245 630 1706 2842 2805

Munitions 140 423 2167 3803 2033

Shipbuilding 159 375 1091 1815 1710

Aluminum 126 189 318 561 474

Rubber 109 144 152 202 206

Steel 131 171 190 202 197

Don’t forget to save your scraps…Or else…

Even Walt Disney helped out…

Even Walt Disney helped out…