1. US Involvement in WWII
Lecture 2

2. Standard
Examine the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Essential Question: Why did the United States favor Isolationism, and what changed their mind?

3. World War II Begins Rhineland, 1936 Austria, 1938
area between France and Germany
Austria, 1938
Hitler took it without a fight
Czechoslovakia,
Hitler took the German-speaking western half before the Munich Pact

4. Hitler+Stalin=BFF’s Non-Aggression Pact, 1939
Germany and Russia agreed to not fight each other
this meant no second front if war began

5. The Plight of Poland Invasion of Poland, 1939 blitzkrieg warfare
September 1, 1939
USSR invaded two weeks later
September 17, 1939
Poland fell within a month
France and Britain declared war
official beginning of the war
Polish government fled to Britain

6. Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy
Americans favor neutrality
US passed neutrality acts in 1935, 1936, and 1937
German subs attacked US merchant ships
in 1939, FDR started limited arms sales to the Allies
“If they fall, we fall”

7. Partner B

8. Lend-Lease Act Lend-Lease Act, 1941
FDR called for the US to be the “great arsenal of democracy”
the US “leased” military supplies to the Allies
Hitler invaded the USSR in 1941 and the US sent aid

9. Atlantic Charter Atlantic Charter, 1941
FDR and Churchill met on a warship off Newfoundland
they signed an agreement to support each other
included plans for the UN

10. 4 Freedoms Four Freedom’s Speech, 1941
FDR’s state of the union address included goals for four basic freedoms we should fight for
freedom of speech and worship, freedom from want and fear

12. Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor, 1941 FDR put an embargo on Japan
oil, iron ore, fuel, steel, and rubber
by this time Japan was Germany’s ally
Japan wanted to expand and wanted the US to stay neutral
a decisive defeat would keep the US out of the war
Japan was still pretending to carry out diplomatic talks in DC

13. A Day That Will Live in Infamy
Pearl Harbor, 1941
six aircraft carriers brought 360 planes to attack the naval base
Americans suffered heavy losses
the Arizona is still at the bottom of the harbor
the US fleet was down for six months
luckily the 3 aircraft carriers were not in the harbor

14. Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy
Pearl Harbor, 1941
“A day that will live in infamy”
the US declared war on Japan and its allies
Germany, Japan, and Italy declared war back
the Doolittle Raid was sent in retaliation and to show we could reach Tokyo
16 planes destroyed 100 buildings and killed 50 people