7th Grade Ch. 26 Sec. 1 and 2 Quiz

Ch. 26 World War II
Section 1: The War Begins
The Rise of Totalitarianism
          After enduring such hard times, many people were willing to give up their individual rights to leaders who promised to deliver prosperity and national glory. As a result, several European countries moved toward totalitarianism, a political system in which the government controls every aspect of citizens’ lives.
-Italy
          Benito Mussolini gained complete control of Italy in 1922. His rule was based on fascism, a political system in which the “state”-or government-is seen as more important than individuals. Fascists systems are typically militaristic and headed by a strong leader. Mussolini improved the economy through public works projects, but the fascist government destroyed basic individual rights such as freedom of speech. He also tried to expand Italy’s territory by attacking Ethiopia and making it a colony.
-Germany
          Germany was also suffering from the global depression, and Adolf Hitler took advantage of the public’s anger by vowing to restore Germany to prosperity and a position of international power. He also offered Germans a scapegoat, or someone to blame for their problems, accusing intellectuals, Communists, and especially Jews of causing Germany’s defeat in WWI. Hitler demanded that Germany rid itself of all Jews to rise again to greatness. Hitler’s National Socialist Party, or Nazis, gained a large following, and Hitler became chancellor in 1933, quickly seizing all government power.
-The Soviet Union
          Joseph Stalin had become the dictator of the Soviet Union by 1928, and terrorized anyone he saw as political enemies, killing or imprisoning millions of Soviet citizens.
-Japan
          Japan never had one single dictator, but a group of military leaders slowly gained complete control over the government during the early 1900s. These leaders wanted to build a large Japanese empire in East Asia. In 1931 Japan invaded and conquered a region in northern China calling it Manchukuo. At least 360,000 Chinese were killed by the invading Japanese in the fall of Nanjing. The United States protested the invasion, but fearful of another world war, opposed using force to help China.
Germany Expands
          Hitler wanted to build an empire, uniting all German-speaking people in Europe. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler began to rebuild the German military. In 1936, Nazi troops invaded the Rhineland, a former German territory lost during WWI. That year Hitler signed an alliance with Mussolini, forming the Axis Powers with Japan later joining this pact. In 1938 Hitler forced Austria to unite with Germany and then demanded control of Sudetenland, a region in Czechoslovakia where many Germans lived. When Czechs refused, Hitler threatened war.
-Appeasement Fails
          Czech leaders looked for help from their allies France and Great Britain, but neither wanted to be pulled into an armed conflict. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain organized a meeting with Hitler to work out a peaceful solution. Germany was given control over the Sudetenland in return for a promise not to demand more land. This was an approach known as appeasement—a policy of avoiding war with an aggressive nation by giving in to its demands.
          British admiral Winston Churchill was convinced that this strategy would not stop Hitler, and he was right. In March 1939, German troops seized the rest of Czechoslovakia and began demanding territory from Poland. Great Britain and France pledged to defend Poland if Hitler attacked. To keep the Soviets out of conflict, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with Joseph Stalin in August 1939, while secretly agreeing to divide Poland between them. On September 1, 1939, Hitler’s troops and tanks rushed into Poland, starting World War II. Two days later, Britain and France, known as the Allied Powers, declared war on Germany.
-Hitler Moves West
          Using a strategy called blitzkrieg, or “lighting war”, German tanks and airplanes broke through Polish defenses, taking control within a month. In the spring of 1940, Germany conquered Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. German forces continued their march through France, approaching the French capital of Paris. Italy then declared war on the Allied Powers. France surrendered to Germany on June 22, 1940, but many French soldiers continued to resist Germany’s occupation of France. French general Charles de Gaulle organized a “Free French” army to fight alongside the allies.
-The Battle of Britain
          Hitler prepared to invade Britain, but first had to defeat the British Royal Air Force (RAF) to safely move troops and equipment across the English Channel. In July 1940 the Luftwaffe, or German air force, began attacking British planes and airfields in what became known as the Battle of Britain. In August Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to begin bombing British cities hoping to crush British morale, but the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill refused to give in. Hitler canceled the invasion of Britain after the RAF was able to detect and destroy some 2,300 of the Luftwaffe’s aircraft.
The United States Joins the War
          Most Americans opposed Hitler’s actions, but did not want to enter the war. President Franklin Roosevelt told voters he would not send troops into foreign wars when he ran for re-election, but he knew the United States would eventually be joining the war.
-Helping the Allies
          In March 1941 Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, allowing the president to aid any nation believed vital to U.S. defense. The United States sent billions of dollars’ worth of aid in the form of weapons, tanks, airplanes, and food to Great Britain, the Nationalists in China, and other Allied countries. In June 1941 Hitler violated his nonaggression pact with Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union, causing the Soviets to join the Allies in the fight against Germany.
-Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
          Japan began building an empire, conquering much of China and moving into Southeast Asia. When Japan captured French Indochina in July 1941, Roosevelt protested, demanding that Japan withdraw and freezing Japanese funds in its banks and cut off exports to Japan. Japanese military leaders had already begun planning a large-scale attack to destroy the U.S. naval fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii.
          At 7:55am on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes dove from the sky and attacked Pearl Harbor. More than 2,400 Americans were killed and almost 200 airplanes destroyed. President Roosevelt referred to this day as “a date that will live in infamy” and Congress declared war on Japan. Germany then declared war on the United States.

Ch. 26 Sec. 2: The Home Front
Preparing for War
          Preparing for the war finally brought the Depression to an end. Factories ran 24 hours a day, producing ships, tanks, jeeps, guns, and ammunition. Americans turned their knowledge of mass production toward the production of war supplies. They began building Liberty ships—transport vessels for troops and supplies.
          Unemployment fell to 1% in 1944, and Americans doubled the war production of Germany, Japan, and all other Axis Power countries combined. Agricultural production also increased while farmers sent food overseas to feed soldiers. To organize the war effort, the government created the War Production Board (WPB) to oversee the conversion of factories to war production.
          More than 16 million Americans served during the war through the Selective Training and Service Act, which required men from the ages of 21 to 35 to register for the draft.
          To finance the war effort, the government increased taxes and sold war bonds. Americans also contributed by collecting scrap metal that could be used in weapons factories and rationed gasoline, rubber, and food.
Wartime Opportunities
          Wartime production created new opportunities for many women and minorities.
-New Roles for Women
          With so many men leaving home to fight in the war, many women began filling roles in factories and in military service. About 300,000 women served in the armed forces through special divisions such as the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). WASP pilots flew test flights and ferried planes between factories and air bases.
-African Americans
          African Americans moved to northern cities to find factory jobs, but were often paid lower than white workers, as well as restricted from certain jobs. To protest this unfair treatment, African American labor leader A. Philip Randolph began to organize a march to Washington, D.C. The march was canceled when President Roosevelt issued an order prohibiting racial discrimination in the government and in companies producing war goods.
          About 1 million African Americans served in the armed forces during the war, mostly in segregated units, however some still became national heroes during the war such as Dorie Miller. The Tuskegee Airmen were African American pilots who trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. This group was led by Benjamin O. Davis Jr, who later became the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force.
-Mexican Americans
          About 300,000 Mexican Americans served in the military during the war. Because of a shortage of farm workers, the federal government asked Mexico to provide agricultural workers. These workers, called braceros, were guaranteed a minimum wage, food, shelter, and clean living conditions.
          Young Mexican Americans of the time created their own culture by blending different music styles and clothing styles. Some men wore zoot suits—fancy, loose-fitting outfits with oversized hats. In Los Angeles in June 1943, groups of sailors attacked Mexican Americans wearing zoot suits, beginning the zoot-suit riots.
Japanese American Internment
          After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, some Americans began to look at Americans of Japanese descent with fear and suspicion. It was feared that they would serve as secret agents for Japan and help Japan prepare an invasion or try to sabotage U.S. war efforts.
          President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 that allowed the government to begin the process of internment, or forced relocation and imprisonment, of Japanese Americans. About 115,000 Japanese Americans were evacuated from their homes and held in isolation internment camps.
          Some of these Japanese Americans were Issei, or immigrants born in Japan, but most were Nisei, American citizens born in the United States to Japanese immigrant parents. Both groups lost their jobs, homes, and belongings when they were forced to move to internment camps.
          After the Pearl Harbor attack, young Japanese American men were also banned from serving in the military, but Roosevelt reversed this policy in 1943.