Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss Goes to WarGoes to War

1941 - 1945World War II:

Political Cartoons

League of Nations: Appeasement Policy toward Hitler and the Nazi Regime

What did the lollipop

represent?

1937 to 1939: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s Appeasement Policy toward Hitler

“The policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and compromise, thereby avoiding the resort to an armed conflict which would be expensive, bloody, and possibly dangerous."

American Reluctance to become involved in the growing tensions in Europe:

• America First Committee focused on Isolationism & U.S. Neutrality

The American pilot, Charles Lindbergh, was a leading member of America First:

Later, it was discovered that Lindbergh was Pro-Nazi, and supported the anti-semitic views of Hitler & the Nazis:

Joseph Goebbels was Hitler’s minister of propaganda which spread the anti-Jewish message throughout Europe.

• Rescue Mission to relocate Jewish children from Germany as well as Nazi occupied Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

• England accepted 10,000 Jewish children without their parents between December 1, 1938 & September 1939.

• The U.S. accepted none based on the idea that it was unethical to accept children without their parents.

• Prior to 1944, the U.S. had strict immigration quotas. Read more here…

Kindertransport:

Dr. Seuss’ cartoons dealt with America’s reluctance to deal with Hitler or the other Axis Powers.

•Continued reports of cruelty toward the European Jewish population reached the United States and Congress, but most Americans seemed unwilling to step in and help

• September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland

• September 3, 1939: Britain and France Declare war on Germany

Declaration of War:

The Appeasement Policy was over in Europe, however, the United States had yet to enter the war.

June 22, 1940: German

Occupation of France

After France fell to Nazi Germany, Hitler used the French army, headed by the new French Vichy Government to fight Britain in areas such as Northern Africa

Lend-Lease Program• 1938 – 1941: The

United States was still unwilling enter the war against Germany

• However, FDR knew that Great Britain needed help!

• March 1941: LEND-LEASE ACT• America would aid

Britain by supplying military tanks, weapons, fuel, & more

Operation BarbarossaJune 22, 1941: The German invasion of the Soviet Union

• Hitler broke the treaty he signed with Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union

• Now the Germans were fighting a two front war in Europe

• Western Front• Eastern Front

Pearl Harbor

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

-Japanese Navel Marshall General Isoroku Yamamoto

December 7, 1941: Japan declared war on America with an aerial attack that bombed U.S. warships stationed in Hawaii

The U.S. Declares War!December 8, 1941:

•Japan declares war on the U.S. & Great Britain

•United States & Britain declare war on Japan

December 11, 1941:

•Germany & Italy declare war on the U.S.

•The United States declares war on both Germany & Italy

Fighter Pilot Recruitment: Air Force Critical to Allied Victory

Racial Segregation & Military Recruitment during WWII:

Recruitment of African American for the United States Armed Forces which has been historically segregated.

Tuskegee Airmen: First African American Air Force Pilots for the United States

Racial Segregation on the American Homefront:

• U.S. factories were producing all the war supplies for the Allied forces in Europe and the Pacific.

• With most of the men away fighting, factories needed to find workers to keep the war machine going.

• This opened up factory jobs to African Americans & women in the U.S.

U.S. Defense on the Homefront:

Back at home, the U.S. government needed to raise money to pay for the war:

•Americans were asked to buy BONDS & STAMPS

Americans were asked to make sacrifices to support the war effort.

Conservation & Rationing:

FUEL FOOD

Fuel Shortages

Conservation & Rationing:

METAL RUBBER

Urging Congress to work together in support of the war effort.

In 1942, Dr. Seuss ran political cartoons dealing with the possible outcomes of the war.