1. World War II
U.S. History

2. Germany starts the war in Europe by invading Poland in 1939

3. Germany’s war strategy, blitzkrieg, means “lightning war”
Sudden, massive attack to achieve a quick victory

4. Even though they did not enter the war, he United States passed the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the U.S. to supply the Allies with war supplies

5. The United States enters the war in December 1941 as a result of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

6. War Mobilization
After Pearl Harbor, 5 million volunteered to join the army, but this was still not enough to face a war on two fronts.
The Selective Service System brought 10 million more soldiers in the U.S. armed forces.
Factories across America were quickly converted to war production
Shipyards and defense plants expanded with amazing speed
Women and minorities filled the need for workers in war industries

7. A. Philip Randolph proposed a march on Washington to protest discrimination against African-Americans in war industries

8. Women contributed to the war effort by working men’s jobs and conserving resources

9. Rationing
Rationing: establishing fixed amounts that people could buy of goods deemed essential for the military
Households received ration books with coupons used for buying scarce goods such as meat, shoes, sugar, coffee and gasoline

10. The U.S. put Japanese Americans and some German Americans and Italian Americans in internment camps during the war because Americans were afraid they were spies or would hurt the war effort

11. The Battle of Midway is the turning point of the war in the Pacific
U.S. wants to stop Japanese naval advancement
Americans broke Japanese code and knew Midway would be their next stop
After Midway, the Allies began “island hopping” and winning territory back from Japan

12. The Manhattan Project was the name of the project to develop the atomic bomb in the U.S.

13. Los Alamos is where the U. S
Los Alamos is where the U.S. tested the atomic bomb before dropping it on Japan

14. D-Day is the Allied invasion of France
June 6, 1944
Allies trick Germans and land at Normandy
Allows the Allies to liberate France

15. The Battle of the Bulge was a month long battle in Europe in which the Allies turn back the Germans in October 1944

16. In August 1942, the Soviets stop the German offensive in Russia in the Battle of Stalingrad

17. Fall of Berlin
May 2, 1945 Soviet troops complete the capture of Berlin
Shortly thereafter, the Axis powers surrender in Europe (VE Day)

18. FDR dies on April 12, 1945 and Truman becomes president

19. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war in the Pacific