1. THE UNITED STATES IN IN WORLD WAR II

2. World War II Beginnings
World War II officially started in September of 1939 when Nazi Germany
invaded Poland. Prior to the invasion, a lot of factors were starting to
come together, which eventually led to the invasion. Some of these factors
include the global economy, the rise of totalitarianism and facism, and the
isolationism of the United States. We will explore these factors in depth
to gain a better understanding of how all of these factors led to World
War II and what roles the United States played.
The Global Economy
Following World War I, many nations experienced financial struggles.
The victors of World War I decided that the losing nations must pay for
damages caused. Germany suffered most of burden of paying for the war.
Do to this heavy burden placed on Germany, the nation began to build a
grudge against the victorious nations. This war debt also helped Adolf
Hitler rise to power.

3. Rise of Totalitarianism and Fascism
Totalitarianism
A totalitarian state is run by the government in the form of a sin-
gle-party dictatorship that controls every aspect of it’s citizens lives. To
the state, the people have no individual rights. Citizens are also ex-
pected to obey the government without question. Those who speak up
are quickly silenced. Totalitarian states also favor extreme national-
ism; everything done must benefit the state. Propaganda is used heavi-
ly to force ideals upon the people. Censorship and terror also play an
important part in maintaining the ideals of totalitarianism.
Russia
When Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin
outmaneuvered his political rivals to gain con-
trol of the government. Stalin’s main goal was
to transform the Soviet Union into a powerful
industrial state. In 1928, Stalin introduced a
five-year plan that would help the Soviet Un-
ion achieve that goal. There were two main
goals of the five-year plan, the rapid growth of
industry and to increase farm production
through the collectivization of agriculture. Through many of these five-
year plans, several of the nation’s resources were used to build steel

4. Fascism in Italy
Following World War I, Italy fell victim to economic and political prob-
lems. Many workers went on strikes and in the countryside, peasants
revolted, seizing the land of their wealthy landlords. With such turmoil
occurring in the country, the middle class feared a socialist revolution.
Using the distress to his advantage, Benito Mussolini gained power in
Italy. Shortly after coming to power, Benito. Founded the Fascists party.
The Fascists focused on glorifying the state, supporting aggressive na-
tionalism, and disapproved of democracy. They felt that if rival political
parties existed, the state would become divided. In 1922 Mussolini
was appointed prime minister of Italy and increased his power by ap-
pointing Fascists to top positions in the government, censoring the
press, and organizing a secret police.

5. Japan and Militarism
After World War I, Japan went through a period of economic prosperity
and a democratic government was on the rise. Shortly following this pe-
riod, the United States entered the Great Depression and this effected
Japan greatly. Japan’s economy suffered greatly because the country re-
lied on foreign trade. Unable to solve it’s economic issues, the people of
Japan looked to the military instead of the government for help. Taking
matters into their own hands, military leaders began to set up a military
dictatorship. Japan’s system was different from that of other countries.
Instead of having a single leader, a small group of military leaders con-
trolled the government. This military dictatorship resembled a totali-
tarian state. The government arrested critics , imposed censorship, and
created a secret police to hunt down “enemies” of the state.. In order to
strengthen itself, Japan felt that an empire must be established . With
this in mind, Japan invaded Manchuria, a province in northeastern Chi-
na. China protested to the League of Nations when this occurred. The
League of Nations condemned the invasion but did not take any further
action.
Hideki Tojo
One of Japan’s military leaders.

6. The Rise of Nazi Germany
Germany suffered the most following World War I. The German people
faced many problems and looked for someone to blame them on. Extrem-
ists on both the right and left threatened to revolt. Inflation also plagued
Germany in the 1920s and slowly the people began to have little faith in
their government. A man by the name of Adolf Hitler gained control of the
Nazi Party in the 1920s. The Nazi Party was described as being a national-
istic, anti-communist, and anti-Semitic organization. He used hatred for
the Jewish people to his advantage. He blamed them for Germany’s defeat
in World War I and for the economic problems that followed. Hitler con-
vinced the German people that they belonged to a superior “Aryan” race
that was destined for world domination. Similar to the United States and
Japan, Germany was affected by the Great Depression, and this caused
people to find hope in the Nazi Party. Rising to power in 1933, Hitler set
up a fascist state in Germany. He utilized the strategies similar to those of
Stalin and Mussolini to build upon a totalitarian state. The Nazi party used
propaganda to call the German citizens into a need for hard work, sacri-
fice, and service to the state. The secret police, or Gestapo, arrested any-
one who was suspected of opposing the Nazi Rule. Like Stalin, Hilter
launched massive building programs. He also placed strict regulations on
wages and prices. Lastly, Hitler began to build up the German military. At
this point, Hitler was starting to see his dream of German expansion.

7. The United States and World War II
The United states did not officially join World War II until December
7th, 1941 when the Japanese attacked the United States naval fleet in
Hawaii. Prior to this, the United States maintained a sense of isolation-
ism, only providing supplies to their allies, Great Britain and France. Af-
ter this attack, everyday life for citizens was drastically changed. Some
of these changes included rationing and drives for various resources.
Winning the War on the Home front
The citizens of the United states realized that
they must be ready to make sacrifices for the
nation should they be called upon. In the
Spring of 1942, the government began a ra-
tioning program to set the limits of various
goods such as gas, food, and clothing. As part
of this rationing program, families were is-
sued ration stamps that were used to buy everything they needed. A
popular slogan used during this ration period was “Do with less, so
they’ll have enough” with “they” being in reference to American troops
overseas. In addition to rationing, “victory gardens” were planted by
many to grow their own food. Citizens also worked to collect scrap met-
al, aluminum cans, and rubbers. These resources were recycled and
used to produce war goods. Bonds were also sold to help pay for the
cost of the war.
The American Worker
When the United States entered the war, many armaments were
going to be produced, so the American worker played a vital role in the
production of these war-related materials. With many of the men going

8. This was kind of unusual because prior to the war, those positions were
held by men. One of the most famous examples of women in the workforce
was “Rosie the Riveter”.

9. The United States Overseas
There were several key battles and military campaigns that the Unit-
ed States executed during World War II. These include the North African
campaign, “island hopping”, and the European Theater. The North African
campaign took place in the North African desert from 1940 to 1943. In
strategic terms, this campaign was important because the Mediterranean
and British African Empire were at risk to be attacked by Italian and Ger-
man forces. The Battle of Tunisia was one of the decisive battles of the cam-
paign. The battle was fought between German and Italian forces and the Al-
lied forces, mainly the United States and Britain. At the end of the fight,
more than 275,000 Axis prisoners were taken. Fighting for control of Libya
and parts of Egypt, British forces were able to push the Axis back. Since the
Axis forces were so dispersed, the Allies were able to gain the upper hand
in North Africa.
In the European Theater, one of those
most famous battles was that of Norman-
dy. This battle was fought between Ameri-
can, British, and Canadian forces invading
Western Europe. Dwight D. Eisenhower
was named supreme commander of the
Allied Expeditionary Force. The Allies set
up a planning staff to plan an invasion,
which many people know as “D-Day”. On
June 6th, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops and
30,000 vehicles landed on a 50-mile
stretch of fortified French coastline. D-Day is the largest seaborne invasion
to this date.

10. In the Pacific Theater, the United
States utilized an “island hop-
ping” campaign in which essen-
tially the United States went
from island to island, defeating
Japanese forces. Some key battles
include the Battle of Midway and
Iwo Jima.
The Battle of Midway was a two
day long struggle between the
United States Pacific Fleet and
the Japanese fleet. In a decisive
victory, the United States de-
stroyed four Japanese carriers
and good portion of their air
strength. The victory ended the
Japanese threat to Hawaii and al-
so stopped the expansion of the
Japanese Empire in the Pacific. At
the Battle of Iwo Jima, United
States forces fought for and cap-
tured the island of Iwo Jima from
the Japanese as part of the island
hopping campaign. The battle has
since been immortalized by the
photograph of five U.S. Marines
raising the American flag atop
Mount Suribachi.

11. Conclusion
Fighting with the German forces was concluded on May 7th, after Germany
signed an unconditional surrender. Adolf Hitler resorted to suicide. Japan
followed suit on September 2nd. World War II changed the lives of many,
altering their everyday routines. From the American home front to the
multiple war theaters in Europe and the Pacific, World War II was an his-
toric period of time that should be studied for ages to come.
Resources
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1661.html
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/examining-the-beginnings-of-world-war-ii.html
http://www.history.com/topics/us-home-front-during-world-war-ii
http://fresno.k12.ca.us/divdept/sscience/history/totalitarianism.htm