HOW DID THE SECOND WORLD WAR BECOME A WORLD WAR?

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HOW DID THE SECOND WORLD WAR BECOME A WORLD WAR?
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• In the early years, the Second World War in
  Europe could not have been more different from
  the First World War. Germany quickly conquered
  Poland, but there was no fighting in western
  Europe for the first nine months.
• When Hitler finally invaded France in May 1940 he
  swept through Holland and Belgium and conquered
  most of France.
• In June 1941 Hitler invaded the USSR.

glossary
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• Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a
  separate conflict was developing.

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PEARL HARBOR
glossary

• On 7 December 1941, a Sunday, a band was
  rehearsing on the deck of a warship in the US
  naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
• A few minutes later, the bandsmen were diving for
  cover or running to their stations as the first
  wave of Japanese fighter planes dropped their
  bombs and torpedoes.

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(No Transcript)
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• By the afternoon of 7 December Pearl Harbor lay
  in ruins and the US fleet was a mass of twisted
  metal.
• Japan had made its play for domination in the
  Pacific.

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THE RIVALRY BEGINS

• Rivalry between Japan and the USA had begun in
  the 1920s. While the European powers fought out
  the First World War, Japan was able to take over
  much of their trading activity in the Far East.
• By 1921 the rise of Japan was beginning to worry
  the USA that also wished to dominate trade in the
  Pacific.

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• Japan was pressured by the USA into a series of
  treaties which limited its influence over China
  and reduced the size of the Japanese navy. The
  USA and western European countries also placed
  tariffs on Japanese goods.
• In response powerful businessmen and military
  leaders such General Tojo increasingly called for
  Japan to build its own empire on the mainland of
  Asia.

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Profile General Tojo

• Born in 1884.
• Graduated with distinction from military college.
• Rose quickly to the rank of general.
• He was a leading figure among the nationalists.
• In 1940 he became War Minister.
• In 1941 he became Prime Minister.

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AMERICAS CONCERNS GROW
glossary

• When the world trade depression on the 1930s
  began to hit Japan, these empire builders took
  their chance and invaded Manchuria in 1931. In
  1937 Japan launched a war with China.

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• These developments were watched with concern in
  America. Roosevelt was especially worried when
  Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact
  in 1936. Italy signed in 1937, bringing three
  aggressive regimes together into one alliance. In
  that same year Japan launched a full-scale
  invasion of China.
• Roosevelt did not want war, but he began to
  prepare the American people for the possibility
  of a war.

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• By 1941, however, there was a definite shift in
  the opinions of American politicians and military
  leaders.
• The fall of France in 1940 and the devastating
  effectiveness of the German army as it swept
  through western Europe had jolted Americans.

glossary
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• American spies also informed Roosevelt that there
  had been top-level meetings among German, Italian
  and Japanese politicians.
• On 27 September 1940 these three governments
  signed a Tripartite Pact.

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• Although the USA was supposedly neutral, it was
  clear that Roosevelt supported Britain.
• The USA was doing all it could to help the
  British in the war in Europe - except for
  fighting with them.

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JAPANS DILEMMA
glossary

• Japans invasion of China was a spectacular
  success, but even bigger prizes beckoned once war
  in Europe broke out. Britain, France and Holland
  had large territories in the Far East which they
  could not possibly defend while they were at war
  with Germany. President Roosevelt was worried
  about American interests in China and in the
  Pacific, particularly in the Philippines.

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• Roosevelt restricted the supply of important
  materials to Japan from 1940.
• This was Japans dilemma it wanted to carve out
  an empire in the Far East which would make it
  self-sufficient in vital materials such as rice,
  oil, coal and rubber. However, not only the USA
  worried Japan, also the USSR. In June 1941 Hitler
  solved Japans second problem when he invaded the
  USSR.

glossary
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• In July 1941 Japan took control of French
  Indo-China and it seemed that Japan had made up
  its mind to challenge the USA on 7 December 1941
  some 300 planes took off from aircraft carriers
  to launch their attack on Pearl Harbor.

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• FOCUS TASK
• After reading Source 1, 2 e 3, write a short
  speech for Roosevelt to give in one of his
  fireside chats, explaining to the American people
  why they are now involved in the war.
• SOURCE 1
• Some of our people like to believe that wars in
  Europe and Asia are no concern of ours. But it is
  a matter of most vital concern to us that
  European and Asiatic war-makers should not gain
  control of the oceans which lead to this
  hemisphere. If great Britain goes down, the Axis
  powers will control the continents of Europe,
  Asia, Africa, Australasia and the high seas. All
  of us would be living at the point of a gun.
• From one of Roosevelts Fireside Chats,
• broadcast in 1940. Roosevelt was the first
• political leader to use radio regularly to
• talk directly to his people
• SOURCE 2
• America is a decayed country. I like An
  Englishman a thousand times better than an
  American Everything about the behavior of
  America society reveals that it is half Jew and
  the other half negro. How can one expect a state
  like that to hold together a country where
  everything is built on the dollar.
• Hitler writing about the USA before the war began
• SOURCE 3
• We can have no choice but to follow the letter of
  the law in the three-power treaty and declare war
  on the United States.
• From a speech by Joseph Goebbels

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• GLOSSARY
• To sweep, swept, swept through infuriare
• To rehearse provare, ripassare
• Torpedo siluro
• To launch lanciare
• To jolt scuotere
• To beckon chiamare, allettare
• To carve out ritagliarsi