Unit 6 World War II & Aftermath
Following WWI and the Gr. Depr US wanted to stay out of world affairs Needed to rebuild economy Pursued policies of: isolationism neutrality
Neutrality Taking no side in conflicts aka non-involvement or non-alignment May continue to trade w/ other nations
Roots of Neutrality Washington s Proclamation of Neutrality 1796 Supported trade but not entangling alliances Monroe Doctrine 1823 US would not interfere in European issues Europe stays out of the W hemisphere
Isolationism A country keeping to itself politically & economically ex: no trading After WWI Americans did not want to get involved in any other foreign concerns Remember the League of Nations?
Foreign Policies Before WWII 1935 Neutrality Acts US would not make loans to countries at war trade would be cash & carry only 1941 Lend-Lease Act Moved away from neutrality/isolation US can provide aid for countries fighting for democracy/freedom
Essential Questions How are isolationism and neutrality different? What were historical examples of isolation and neutrality? Why did Americans want to pursue these policies after WWI? How did the Lend Lease Act move away from these policies?
FDR and the Presidency FDR had helped the country though the Gr. Depression In 1940 he ran for a third term as President and won This was unusual- every President before him had only ever served 2 terms as President Ran again in 1944 and won for a fourth term 1951-22 nd amendment was passed to the Constitution limiting Presidents to only 2 terms in office
Events Leading to WWII Rise of totalitarianism gov t in Europe Hitler and Mussolini European appeasement of Hitler- agreement to avoid war 1938 Munich Agreement Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941 Led US to declare war on Japan
WWII Allies vs. Axis Allies: Gr Brit, France (and later USA, USSR and China ) Axis: Germany, Japan, Italy
Holocaust Hitler called it the final solution tried to exterminate the Jewish population US did little to stop the Holocaust Nuremberg Trials- tried Nazi soliders after the war estb. the law that officials/people are responsible for actions taken during wartime
Essential Questions What led to WWII beginning in Europe? What led the US getting involved in fighting? What foreign policies made the US ignore the Holocaust for so long?
WWII at Home Rationing= limited amount of food, gas, etc during the war victory gardens - people planted gardens to help grow food Women joined the military Repaired planes, built transportation, operated radios, Women worked in factories Rosie the Riveter became a symbol
WWII at Home African-Americans Segregated military until 1948 Tuskegee Airmen-first black pilots Continued moving North (like Gr. Migration) Race riots in NYC and Detroit Civil rights organizations grew NAACP
WWII at Home Asian Americans Had immigrated since 1900 and settled on West Coast (California) were called Nisei Executive Order 9066- made Americans of Japanese descent move into military camps Korematsu vs. US 1944 S. Court said forcible evacuation and relocation to camps were constitutional
Essential Questions How did women benefit from WWII? How did discrimination continue to face African Americans? How did Asian Americans face discrimination? How did the Supreme Court support discrimination?
Ending the War Yalta Conference 1945 FDR (USA), Churchill (Gr Britain) & Stalin (USSR) met and planned to divide Germany into zones after the war. Planned trials for war criminals-nuremberg Trials. USSR entered the war on the side of the Allies
Atomic Bomb Manhattan Project developed the atomic bomb Pres. Truman decided to bomb Hiroshima & Nagasaki in Japan to save American lives Forced Japan to surrender
Ending the War at Home WWII had ended the Gr. Depression (factories made more products, more people had jobs, men joined the military) GI Bill of Rights Gave veterans money for college tuition, buying a home, medical expenses Taft Hartley Act Put limits on unions and strikes Dept. of Defense and CIA were created
United Nations International peacekeeping organization (similar to League of Nations)
UN Achievements Dec. of Human Rights- guaranteed human rights for all people
Europe After WWII Divided between the West & East West- Gr Brit, France, Italy, W Germany= democratic East- Poland, Czech, Romania, E Germany= communist Germany divided into zones and city of Berlin divided into 2 W Germany and W Berlin democratic E Germany and E Berlin-communist Berlin Wall built to separate West Berlin & East Berlin
Essential Questions What decisions were made at the Yalta? What action did the US take to end the war? How were veterans supported after the war? How did countries band together to work for peace? What were the results of WWII in Europe?
Containment Foreign policy after WWII (remember isolationism and neutrality?) Goal: to limit communist expansion Truman Doctrine-economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey to resist communism Marshall Plan-economic aid to rebuild Europe Went to non- communist countries in Western Europe
Cold War Not an actual war- no fighting Threats & trash talking Berlin Blockade- USSR/Soviets blocked off W Berlin Berlin was in E Germany controlled by Soviets Berlin Airlift-US, Gr Brit, France airlifted food and supplied into W Berlin
Cold War at Home A Continuation of the Red Scare House on Un- American Activities Congress investigated possible communists Targeted Hollywood McCarthyism Sen. Joe McCarthy accused gov t officials of being communists
NATO & Warsaw Pact North Atlantic Treaty Alliance Alliance for fighting communism Western Europe and US Warsaw Pact Alliance for spreading communism Eastern Europe and USSR
Foreign Policy in Asia China Communist take-over by Mao Zedong in 1949 Supported by USSR Japan Had been an enemy during WWII Became an ally after the war-became democratic Korea Divided at end of WWII (taken from Japan) North-communist controlled by USSR South was democratic controlled by US N Korea invaded S Korea US sent troops to help S Korea
Effects of Korean War US involvement ended in 1953 34,000 Americans died Showed US willingness to get involved in armed conflicts over communism Korea remained divided and is still divided today N Korea communist S Korea- democratic
Essential Questions How was containment different from isolation/neutrality? Why was the Cold War not an actual war? How did the Yalta Conference lead to the Cold War? Why is the Korean war significant to future foreign policies of the US?