Standard 7A - Beginning of World War II

Identify reasons for U.S. involvement in World War II, including the aggression of Italian, German, & Japanese dictatorships especially the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Effect Treaty of Versailles on Germany and World War II

Germany had been blamed for starting World War I and had to pay war reparations due to losing the war and signing the Treaty of Versailles. Germans viewed the treaty as a humiliation and eagerly listened to Adolf Hitler's oratory which blamed the treaty for Germany's problems. Hitler promised to reverse the terms of the treaty and recover Germany's lost territory and pride. This has led to the treaty being cited as a cause of World War II.

Adolf Hitler

A veteran of World War I, Hitler rose to power as Chancellor and later dictator through his plans to fix Germany and go against the Treaty of Versailles.

Nazism

Hitler and the Nazis believed in a “Master Race” and blamed Jewish people for economic problems and eventually placed them in Concentration Camps. The Nazis also hated other races they were not considered pure (all who were not "Aryan" or White).

German Expansion

German expansion in acquiring land through force from surrounding countries (Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland (1939).

Benito Mussolini

Dictator of Italy

Facism

a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Joseph Stalin

Leader and Dictator of the Soviet Union

Communism

A political theory advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Hideki Tojo

Military Dictator of Japan

Japan invaded China in 1937 and as a result economic sanctions were issued by the U.S. in order to stop Japanese expansion into Eastern Asia (Manchuria and China). These sanctions caused shortages on oil, gas, rubber, and other products and ultimately caused Japan to attack the U.S.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Japanese surprise attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941

"A date which will live in infamy"

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Speech Given after the attack on Pearl Harbor

Declaration of War against Japan

The U.S. declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941.

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