World War 2-Modern Day

22nd Amendment
FDR was the only
president elected more
than two terms; he was
elected 4, but died at
the beginning of his 4th
term
No doubt because of
the four terms of FDR,
Congress passed the
22nd amendment to
limit the presidency to
no more than two terms
World War 2 Begins
As the United States
struggled to overcome the
effects of the Great
Depression, the rest of the
world was struggling, too;
the depression was in fact
worldwide
Countries, such as Germany,
Italy, and Japan placed their
hopes in a single political
party or a strong leader to
make their economies work
againthe result was a
disaster (World War 2)
Soviet Union Formed
In 1922 after World War 1,
the territories that had
once belonged to the
Russian Empire united to
form the Soviet Union
(largest of these territories
was Russia)
From the very beginning,
the United States
relationship with the
Soviet Union was not a
great one, but the Soviet
Union was an uneasy
partner of the United
States during WW2 (we
will return to these
tensions later)
FDR Re-elected
FDR was largely
popular because of
his handling of the
Great Depression and
he promised no
involvement in the
war if he was re-
elected (isolationism)
Who promised this
same thing during
WW1??
Like __________, FDR
would have to break
his promise
Neutrality Acts of 1935,
1937
Neutrality Acts- prohibited sale
of arms to belligerents (hostile
nations) in a war; banned loans
to belligerents; citizens cannot
travel to countries at war or
travel on armed ships; passed
to prevent American
involvement in future overseas
wars
Axis Powers Formed
Hitler (Germany), Mussolini
(Italy), and Japan united to
form the Axis Powers
These three countries had
one thing in common, the
idea of building an empire
None of the countries that
formed the Allies (England,
France, later U.S. and
Soviet Union) wanted war,
but they were left with little
choice due to the
aggression and threats of
the Axis Powers
Hitler Advances; America Remains
Out
Despite Hitler expanding
Germanys empire by taking
over European countries, the
United States remained out of
the war in the late 1930s
Atlantic Charter- an agreement
between FDR and Churchill
(leader of Great Britain) about
how a postwar world should
look; became the basis for the
United Nations
To get around the neutrality
laws, FDR came up with the
lend-lease policyrather than
selling war supplies to the Allies,
the United States would lend
them
 Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese had gotten close enough to
Hawaii to launch an air attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor
The United States was caught off guard by the surprise attack
more than 2,300 servicemen were killed
On December 8, 1941, FDR asked Congress to declare war on
Japan, calling the attack on Pearl Harbor a date which will live in
infamy
Three days later, the other members of the Axis Powers declared
war on the U.S.
Declaring War Videos
1. Most Americans who experienced
the Pearl Harbor attack remember to
this day where they were when they
heard the news. To them it is a shared
generational moment. The same can
be said of people who experienced
President John Kennedy or Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr.s assassinations. Do you
think you have experienced a historical
moment that you will always
remember?
 Impact of War on the U.S.
The impact of World War
II on American society
was very similar to that of
World War 1the
economy boomed and the
government encouraged
citizens to do their part to
support the war effort
About one million African
American men and
women served in the
armed forces in World
War II, but the American
military remained
segregated
Rationing
Because so much of the
nations industrial output
was focused on war
machines instead of
consumer goods, some
items became scarce
the government set up a
system of rationing to
conserve goods that
were in short supply
Rationing- allow each
person to have only a
fixed amount of (a
particular commodity)
Role of Women
The government also
encouraged war
production with
symbols and slogans
Rosie the Riveter was
a female symbol (or
icon) who represented
women working in the
manufacturing
industries for the war
effort
Rosie the Riveter was a
motivational symbol
Japanese Internment
Americans had a very
difficult time trusting
Japanese Americans as a
result of Pearl Harbor
Not sure where their
loyalties would lie, FDR
ordered between 110,000
and 120,000 people of
Japanese ancestry to be
confined to internment
camps
Internment camps were
like prisons and were
located throughout the
United States (mostly
Western U.S.)
Korematsu v. United States
(1944)
Fred Korematsu was a Japanese
American who decided not to
report to the relocation center
for internment he was arrested
and his case went before the
Supreme Court
The court ruled that the national
security concerns of the U.S.
outweighed his civil liberties
The government had effectively
made a statement that they
could violate civil rights when
national security is at stake (or if
they feel it is)
 Holocaust
Holocaust- A methodical plan
orchestrated by Hitler to
ensure German supremacy. It
called for the elimination of
Jews (and other groups, but
mostly Jews)
six million European Jews were
killed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi
Germany, and the World War II
collaborators with the Nazis
On 13 May 1939, more than
900 Jews fled Germany aboard
a luxury cruise liner, the SS St
Louis. They hoped to reach
Cuba and then travel to the
US - but were turned away in
Havana and forced to return
to Europe, where more than
250 were killed by the Nazis
FDR dies; Truman and the
bomb
Less than a month before
Germany surrendered, FDR
died of a strokeHarry
Truman became president
Japan resisted
surrendering which led to
Truman dropping atomic
bombs on the cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
killing civilians
This decision was very
controversial but led to the
surrender of Japan
 Cold War Begins
Shortly after the end of
World War 2, a new type of
international tension
developed between former
allies- the Cold War
The United States and the
Soviet Union emerged from
World War 2 as
superpowers and engaged
in a struggle over ideology
Democracy vs. communism