1) Worldwide economic depression left European countries in turmoil after World War I. The Treaty of Versailles did not create long-lasting peace, instead it created bitterness in Germany. In this chaotic time, the people of Germany, Italy, Russia, and Japan turned to dictators to lead them to stability. These dictators repressed personal freedoms, promoted violence, and preached militant nationalism to keep control.
2) The United States foreign policy was still isolationism in 1939. The United States tried to stay out of war; however, President FDR allowed American companies to supply the British. The Japanese surprised attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor in 1941. This act of aggression brought the U.S. into war.
3) Life changed dramatically when the United States went to war. Millions of men and women served in the military either by enlisting or being drafted. Women at home went to work in factories to produce wartime products. Families rationed food, clothing, and gasoline to help with the war effort.
4) In a response to fear, President FDR signed Executive Order 9066 that interned all Japanese and Japanese-Americans on the west coast. The internment camps were prisons and all those who were interned had to make great personal sacrifices and suffered great personal losses.
5) The United States fought a 2 front war; one against Germany and Italy in Europe and one against the Japanese in the Pacific.
6) D-Day was a major turning point in the war in Europe because it gave the Allied Powers the foothold it needed on the European mainland to attack Germany.
7) WWII ended in Europe on May 8, 1945, and then officially ended in the Pacific on August 14, 1945. The Japanese finally surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
8) WWII is the deadliest military conflict in history. Over 60 million people lost their lives, and for the first time ever more civilians died than military personnel. The United States emerged as a world superpower helping Europe and Japan rebuild. The horrors of the Holocaust were discovered, which prompted an outcry for the protection of human rights.