Chapter 16-Beginnings of WWII

7/31/2019 Chapter 16-Beginnings of WWII

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FDR realized that war was coming Aggressive behavior by Germany, Italy, and

Japan was proof

FDR called for an economic quarantineof the aggressor nations- but nodeclaration of war

Americans were greatly opposed to going towar in Europe again


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1937- Neutrality Act Forbade the selling or lending of war materiel

to any warring nation

1937- Isolationists sought anamendment to the Constitution thatwould prevent Congress from declaringwar without first submitting the

question to a popular vote A poll of the American people resulted in 75%

of the people being in favor of such a law


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1939- Neutrality Act European democracies could buy American

war materiel on a cash-and-carry basis

Countries at war had to pay for the goodsbefore the goods left our shores and had tocarry the goods in their own ships

Resulted in a sharp upswing in manufactured

goods and an end to the recession of 1937-38and ultimately ended the decade-long problemof unemployment


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September 1939- Germanys invasion ofPoland lasts two weeks Britain nor France could do anything as they

possessed neither the weaponry nor themanpower to mount a credible deterrent onGermanys western flank

September 1939 April 1940- thePhony War Europe sat in silence wondering what

Germanys next move was


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November 1939- USSR invades Finland As a result of the Scandinavian countrys

refusal to be a part of the Soviet sphere of

influence and provide naval bases to protectLeningrad

US sent millions of dollars for non-militarysupplies

Finland fell to the USSR anyway


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1) Germanys successful blitzkrieg of Polandand stabilization of the western front during thewinter of 1939-40

2) Germanys offensive in the West through theLow Countries and the rapid collapse of Franceand the eventual evacuation of the British fromthe continent

3) transformation into a world war in which theUSSR would join and then the US


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April 1940- Germany invades Norwayand Denmark Granted access to Swedens high-grade iron-

ore by rail and ship

May 1940- Germany invades Holland,Belgium, and Luxembourg


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June 1940- Germany invades France June 14, 1940- Paris falls to the German army

British and French army escape the continent

at Dunkirk in a makeshift flotilla of privateships/boats over a period of nine days

French puppet government is established atVichy, France under President Philippe Petain

Free French Army operates out of London,England under Charles de Gaulle


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Codename for Germanys attack on

Britain in the summer of 1940

The plan was to bombard major citieswith the air force to be followed by anamphibious invasion of the shores ofEngland across the English Channel


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Summer 1940- From France, Germanybegan bombing strategic cities in England Winston Churchill replaces Neville Chamberlain as

British Prime Minister

Hitler made the mistake of bombing civiliancenters instead of war targets such as army, navy,and air force bases

British fight back with their air force (RAF)

and keep the government from collapsing


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Three major advantages over the Germans Ultra- a German secret code machine that was

taken by the British from a German submarine Britain could now unscramble secret codes and know

when and where the German air force was to attack Radar- (ra)dio (d)etecting (a)nd (r)anging Pinpointed German airplanes crossing the English

Channel

Superior Quality of Aircraft- Spitfires andHurricanes were faster and more agile thanGerman Messerschmitts


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Brit civilians did not wilt under round-the-clock bombings of majormetropolitan areas, but instead weregalvanized, supported theirgovernment, and dared to carry on thewar in the face of such death and

destruction


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FDR- Democratic nominee More for the Forgotten Man

Neutrality, but aid to the Allies

Destroyers for Bases DealWendell Willkie- Republican nominee

Part of the Anti-New Deal coalition

Neutrality, but aid to the Allies

Attacked FDR for leading the US towards warFDR wins an unprecedented third term


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September 1940- Destroyers forBases Deal with Britain FDR transferred 50 old, but useful destroyers

in exchange for the use of eight British navalbases all along the Atlantic coast fromNewfoundland to British Guiana

FDR had accomplished helping the Allies

without committing US troops to war Appeased both warhawks and isolationists


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January 1941- Lend-Lease Act British needed more US war materiel, but had

no more cash

FDR proposed a lend-lease program in whichnations at war would be able to lease US-madegoods US would send a limitless supply of arms to the

victims of aggression and they would return the

used weapons or their equivalents when the warwas over

FDR called America an arsenal ofdemocracy


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January 1941- Presidents annualmessage to Congress

FDR proclaimed the Four Freedoms based

upon the principles of Wilsons FourteenPoints

Freedom of speech

Freedom of religionFreedom from want

Freedom from fear


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June 1941- Operation Barbarossa Hitler makes a bad decision and starts this

invasion too late in the year and will eventuallyget bogged down in the Russian winter Cause- German aid for Italys engagement in the

Balkans was bogged down by fierce Greekresistance and British military aid

Hitler is now engaged in a two-front war

West- Britain and the Free French East- Russia


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Three-Pronged Attack- each with itsown objective Leningrad in the North

Moscow in the center

Ukrainian grain fields and Caucasian oil wellsin the South


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Germanys invasion of Russia turned

from Blitzkrieg to a war of attrition byDecember, 1941 Failure to deliver a decisive blow before the

Russian winter ground its mechanizedoffensive to a halt


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Condition of the Russian Military Completely unprepared

Reeling in confusion

Tactically incompetent Due to the officers purge in 1937-1938

In the first 3 months of the conflict the Soviet army was killed, wounded, or

captured

Tank force was reduced to 700 vehicles from15,000


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August 1941- FDR and WinstonChurchill secretly meet on a ship off thecoast of Newfoundland, Canada Discussed post-war situation if the Allies won

No discussion of US intervention

Created the Atlantic Charter

Based on Wilsons Fourteen Points Adopted by the USSR and several other Allied

nations


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Chapter 16-Beginnings of WWII

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