World War II

European Theater of Operations

Building the Alliance

The Tripartite Pact

27 September 1940

Berlin, Germany

Saburo Kurusu of Imperial Japan

Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany

Galeazzo Ciano foreign minister of Fascist Italy

Also signed by:

Hungary

Rumania

Bulgaria

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The Atlantic Conference

14 August 1941

Issued the Atlantic CharterGreat Britain – Winston Churchill

United States – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Unanimously approved at the Inter-Allied meeting in London, September 1941

No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom. Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned. All peoples had a right to self-determination. Trade barriers were to be lowered. There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare. Freedom from want and fear; Freedom of the seas; Disarmament of aggressor nations, postwar common disarmament

Height of Axis Power Expansion

Operation Barbarossa

Germany invades USSR

July 1941“So long as Russia is preoccupying Hitler … we should and will do everything in our power to aid Britain …”

November 1941Roosevelt proclaims the survival of the Soviet Union vital to the defense of the United States and orders Lend Lease extended to the Soviets

America’s Entry into the War

IsolationismAmerica had shown remarkably little interest, prior to 1941, in how the rest of the world was governed. Repressive regimes elsewhere might be regrettable, but they could hardly harm the United States.

Pearl HarborThe Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor immediately and irrevocably shattered the illusion that distance ensured safety – the nation’s security was now at risk and since others might follow the example of Japan, the US had to assume global responsibilities.

Day of Infamy

Forming a New Alliance

Although tensions between the so-called “Big Three” (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) continued throughout the war the tensions never became greater to any of the “three” than the overall pursuit of victory.

The tension existed largely because of ideological differences between the US and the USSR – one capitalist, the other communist; one authoritarian, the other republican.

The Soviets never forgot the US armed intervention in the Russian Civil War (1917-1923) and the US refusal to recognize the Soviet state until 1933.

Finally, future tensions would arise as Stalin continually demanded the Great Britain and the United States open a second, Western Front, once the US entered the war.

The Grand Alliance

Joseph Stalin Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston Churchill

The Allies’ Strategic Dilemma

How to Coordinate the efforts of the Allies?

Stalin demanding a “second front” since July, 1941Roosevelt wanted to invade Europe in 1942Churchill wanted to avoid an invasion of EuropeThe American public demanded immediate reprisals

against Japan

Components of the War in Europe

The Naval War

The Air War

The Ground War