1. Why did the United States “unite” so well behind a common goal in WWII?

2. “What does this economic data tell us?
Unemployment Rates
Gross Domestic Product
$$ amount everything a nation
produces in a year
1928 – 4.2%
1930 – 8.7%
1932 – 23.6%
1934 – 21.7%
1936 – 17%
1938 – 19%
1940 – 14.6%
1942 – 4.7%
1944 – 1.2%
1946 – 3.9%
1928 – $97.4
1929 – $103.6
1930 – $91.2
1932 – $58.7
1934 – $66
1936 – $83.8
1938 – $86.1
1940 – $101.4
1942 – $161.9
1944 – $219.8
1946 – $222.3
“What does this economic data tell us?

3. Why was this economic growth possible?
(1) Massive government spending
Federal government budget
$9 billion
$100 billion
$323 billion during war years ( )
(2) 19 million new jobs – full employment
U.S. Army grew from 227,000 in 1939 to 16 million soldiers by (not all at the same time)
These soldiers taken out of the workforce
(3) Limited direct taxation to pay for war
(4) Renewed confidence by Americans

4. Pacific Theater of War
- Island Hopping Campaign …

5. Fall of the Philippines & the Bataan Death March
- 9 April, 1942
** Forced march of 78,000 POW’s, mostly Filipino and American soldiers.

6. Farthest Japanese Advance

7. Battle of Coral Sea * The supply lines to Australia is sustained.
- 4-8 May, 1942

8. Battle of Midway
* The Americans sank four Japanese fleet carriers – Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu.
- 4 June, 1942

9. All Quiet on the “Eastern Front”
* Most epic and intense fighting front in the history of mankind

10. Operation Barbarossa 22 June – 5 December 1941
Largest military operation, land invasion, and number of casualties in the history of warfare.
Consequence: Opens up the Eastern Front
4 million German soldiers invade
95% of these soldiers perished
Almost 9 million Soviet soldiers & 20 million civilian deaths

11. First Battle of Kiev (1941) Aug. 7 to Sept. 26, 1941
Nearly the entire “Southwestern Front” Soviet Army encircled, 665,000 troops, largest number of prisoners of war in history.

12. Siege of Leningrad Sept. 8, 1941 to Jan. 27, 1944
Now called “St. Petersburg,” the cultural center of Russia
872-day siege
Death of 1,500,000 soldiers and civilians
1,400,000 civilians evacuated, mainly women and children

13. Diary of Tanya Savicheva During Siege of Leningrad
Shown at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials
She describes the starvation faced by her family …

14. Two German soldiers outside Moscow, 1941
… I imagine them saying, “Hey Claus, did you pack any winter gear?”
“No Dieter. They told us we’d beat the Soviets in four months.”

15. Battle of Moscow (1941) Oct., 1941 to Jan., 1942
Nazis stall 19 miles outside Moscow
Hitler is furious, fires head of Wehrmacht, and takes over control
Let’s Defend Moscow

16. Battle of Stalingrad
German advance halted and Soviets go on the offensive
Bloodiest battle in the history of warfare
Most strategically decisive battle in WWII
- Sept to Feb. 1943

17. Battle of Stalingrad - Sept. 1942 to Feb. 1943
2 million soldiers killed, wounded, or captured!!
144,000 Axis prisoners; 6th Army destroyed; Wehrmacht never recovers; Japan never declares war on Soviet Union.

18. U.S. Aid and Geography
5 million tons of food, enough for a ½ pound ration for every Soviet soldier for every day of the war
13 million boots
2/3rds of vehicles Soviet Army used