Chapter 16/Section 1

Dictators ThreatenWorld Peace

Key Idea

America remains isolated from world affairsas nationalist leaders in Japan, Germany, and Italy come to power.

The Treaty of Versailles created problems thatled to new dangers.

  • Germans resented losingterritory and being blamed for starting the war.
  • Dictators began to seize power across Europe.

Soviet Union:Joseph Stalin focused ondeveloping communism.

  • He made the nation a huge police state—totalitarianism.

Italy: Benito Mussolini came to power ashead of a movement called fascism.

  • It joinednationalism with a strong central government.

Germany: Adolf Hitler hoped to join allGerman-speaking people into a new Germanempire.

  • Hitler believed that Germans—“Aryans”—were a master race.
  • Hitler believed that Germany had to expand itsterritory to thrive.
  • His political movement wascalled Nazism, which combined extreme nationalismwith racism.
  • Appointedchancellor in 1933, Hitler seized all power.

Japan: Militarists believed that moreland and resources were needed.

  • In 1931, theylaunched an attack on a province of China and established Manchukuo.

The League of Nations’ failureto stop Japan gave Hitler and Mussolini confidence.

  • Hitler rebuilt the German armed forces, breakingthe Versailles treaty.
  • Mussolini conquered Ethiopia.

Other nations responded weakly to thesethreats to peace.

  • Most Americans wanted the U.S.to avoid foreign conflicts.
  • In the Neutrality Acts,Congress outlawed arms sales or loans to nationsat war.
  • In 1935, the Spanish Civil War broke outbetween the monarchy and fascists.
  • By 1937, Roosevelt was less willing to remain neutral.

Chapter 16/Section 2

War in Europe

Key Idea

Bold moves by Adolph Hitler—and weakcountermoves by other leaders—trigger World War II inEurope.

In Europe, Hitler continued plans to increaseGerman power.

  • In 1937, Germany annexedAustria.
  • In 1938, Hitler claimed thatGermans living in western Czechoslovakia—the Sudetenland—werebeing mistreated.
  • At the Munich Conference, Great Britain and Francelet him take this area-- a policy called appeasement.
  • Hitler promised it would be his last land seizure, but took the rest of Czechoslovakia six months later.
  • In 1939, Hitler claimed persecution ofGermans in Poland.
  • In August, Germanyand the Soviet Union signed an agreement not toattack each other.

On September 1, 1939, Hitler launched WorldWar II by attacking Poland.

  • The Germans usedtanks and planes in an attack called blitzkrieg or“lightning war.”
  • They overran Poland quickly.
  • GreatBritain and France declared war on Germany.

In the spring of 1940,Hitler captured much of Western Europe.

  • Hisforces captured France by June.
  • Only GreatBritain was left standing.
  • Hitler’s airforce bombed Britain frequently.
  • The Royal AirForce won the Battle of Britain.CHAPTER162

Chapter 16/Section 3

The Holocaust

Key Idea

Hitler’s plans for conquering the world includekilling Jews and others—and he proceeds with determination and success.

Part of Hitler’s plan for Germany was to makethe country racially pure.

  • 1933 - non-Aryans ordered out of government jobs.
  • 1935 - Jews lose civil rights andproperty.
  • 1938 - Nazis terrorized Jews in anight of attacks—Kristallnacht.
  • During the Nazis’ rise to power,Jews left Germany in great numbers.
  • The U.S. accepted 60,000 refugees, but refusedto accept more.
  • Many Americans feared competitionfor scarce Depression-era jobs.

In 1939, the Nazis adopted the “finalsolution” to what they called “the Jewish problem.”

  • Jews who were healthy would be sent to labor camps.
  • The rest would bekilled.
  • Some Jews were crowded intospecial sections of cities—ghettoes.
  • Most were taken to concentrationcamps where they suffered hunger, illness,overwork, and death.
  • In 1941, the Nazis builtspecial “death camps” where nearly six million Jews died.
  • The Nazis murdered many other peoples—Soviets, Poles, gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled.
  • Some survived to tell the worldof the atrocity.

Chapter 16/Section 4

America Moves Toward War

Key Idea

The United States provides aid to nationsresisting Hitler and enters World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

According to the Neutrality Acts, the US could not enter the war in Europe to aidPoland after Germany invaded.

  • Roosevelt persuaded Congress to amend the acts,allowing the US to sell weapons to England and France.
  • Japan signed an alliancewith Germany and Italy, alarming the US.

In 1940, Roosevelt broke tradition, ranfor a third term as president, and won.

Roosevelt spoke of the threat theHitler posed.

  • He proposed increasing Americanarmaments to loan to Great Britain in the Lend-Lease Act.
  • The Germans used submarines to attack theAmerican ships carrying weapons and supplies.

In August 1941, Roosevelt met with BritishPrime Minister Winston Churchill.

  • They issued theAtlantic Charter—a statement of goals for the war.

In the Pacific, conflict grew between Japan andthe United States.

  • When Japan seized Indochina,the US protested.
  • Peace talks between thetwo countries began in late 1941.
  • On December 7,1941, the Japanese attacked the main U.S.naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
  • The attack leftmany navy ships destroyed and others crippled.
  • Thenext day, President Roosevelt asked Congress for adeclaration of war which was quickly approved.