Introduction to WWII

The impact of World

War II on Georgias
development
Timeline of World War II 1939-1945
US involvement 1941-1945

1939 1941 1945

Sept.1 Sept. 3 Dec. 7 May - Sept.

Germany Britain & Japan bombs Germans Atomic
invades France Pearl Harbor; Surrender Bombing of
Poland declare US enters the Hiroshima
(official start war on War & Nagasaki,
to the war) Germany Japanese
2
Surrender
 Causes of WWII
1. Treaty of Versailles
Germany lost land to
surrounding nations
War Reparations (Germany)
- Allies collect money to pay back
war debts to U.S.
- Germany must pay $57 trillion
(modern equivalent)
- Bankrupted the German economy
& embarrassed Germans
Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Germany not allowed to
Wilson during negotiations for the Treaty of
Versailles rebuild military after World
3
War I
 Causes of WWII
2.World Wide Depression
The Great Depression affected
countries throughout the world
Desperation among populations
throughout the world caused
desperate people to turn to
desperate leaders.

1923 - Wallpapering with German Deutschmarks

4
 Causes of WWII
3. Desperation in Germany
Increased Debt due to Versailles
Treaty and the Great Depression
Desperation among the citizens of
Germany little food, high
inflation, lack of employment
International embarrassment due
to loss of territory, lack of military,
German Citizen looking at destruction after and harsh reparations after World
Kristallnacht War I

5
 Major powers of World War II
Allies Axis
Great Britain Germany
Winston Churchill Adolph Hitler

Russia
Josef Stalin Italy
Benito Mussolini
United States
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Japan
France Hideki Tojo
and
Charles De Gaulle Emperor Hirohito

6
 Major Leaders
Adolf Hitler
Nazi Germany

Benito Mussolini
Italy
7
 Adolf Hitler
Claimed he would restore Germanys
position in the world, as well as
Germanys lost territories.
Hitler ignored the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles and rebuilt Germanys
military.
He pointed the finger at certain groups of
people for all of Germanys problems
the Jewish population and other
undesirables including communists,
8
Gypsies, mentally ill, and disabled
 In 1925, Benito Mussolini became
dictator of Italy.

He was much like Hitler as he

opposed western democracy and
was cruel.

Mussolini increased the size of

Italys military.

Italy conquered Albania and

Ethiopia in Africa.
 Hideki Tojo
Japanese Prime Minister
Feelings of nationalism and
militarism also swept through Japan
in the 1920s and 1930s.
Emperor Hirohito was the ruler of
Japan and the military had a lot of
power in his government.
Japan built up its army, navy, and
air force and invaded China in 1931.

10
 Mussolini signed an alliance with Germany in
The Axis Powers 1936.

Japan signed an alliance with Germany and Italy

in 1940.

The aggressive countries soon became known as

the Axis Powers.

11
 Neutral U.S.
When WWII broke out in Europe in
1939, the US followed a policy of
neutrality, which meant that they
wouldnt join either the Axis or Allied
powers.

Many people in the US believed that

the war was Europes problem, not
Americas.

As Germany, Japan, and Italy

continued to be victorious and take
12 over nation after nation, the U.S.
 US Assistance
Roosevelt provided aid to the Allies:
Lend-Lease - 1941
US lent war materials to cash-strapped
Great Britain and Russia as well.
This act gave the Allies more than $50
billion in supplies (weapons, equipment) in
exchange for US military base rights in the
countries.
Atlantic Charter
US secretly meets with England to
commit to defeating Germany
London Firefighter Tackles an
13
Air Raid Blaze
 Everything changed on December 7, 1941, when Japanese
A day that will live in infamy airplanes made a surprise attack on the US naval base at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The Japanese sank/destroyed 8 US battleships and 188

airplanes.

More than 2,400 people lost their lives.

 The next day, President
Roosevelt asked Congress to
declare war on Japan.

They agreed and the US

officially entered WWII on
December 8, 1941.

On December 11, Germany

and Italy declared war on the
US.

Roosevelt Signing Declaration of

The US was now deeply
War Against Japan. involved in WWII on the side
of the Allies.
 Hitler declares war on the U.S. in 1941

16
 Georgias Role
Prior to WWII, Georgia was a very
poor state; however, once the war
started, Georgias economy grew.

The federal government poured

money into military bases and war-
related industries, helping Georgians
make more money than ever before.

17
Georgias Role - Manufacture
- The Bell Bomber
plant in Marietta
(later Lockheed)
built B-29
bombers.
- Two building
centers
Savannah and
Brunswick built
Liberty Ships
 Bell Aircraft Company
Nearly 30,000 workers were employed at the plant,
causing Marietta to quickly grow and prosper.

Bell paid excellent wages, and its workers (including

women and African Americans) built over 660 bombers
while the plant was open.

19
 Shipyards
Two major shipyards
became known as
Georgias as military
accomplishments

Savannah and Brunswick, both deep-sea ports,

provided ideal naval yards for the construction of
war ships.

The Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation was in

Savannah and constructed over 80 ships,
The J.A. Jones shipyard in Brunswick turned out
almost 100 ships.
 Georgia became the home
of the Liberty Ship, a
large, square-hulled ship
designed to carry supplies
to troops (grain, trucks,
mail, etc.).
These ships transported
troops and supplies to
both the European and
Pacific fronts.

Many of Georgias ships

came to be called Liberty
Ships because Roosevelt
said they would, bring
liberty to Europe!

21
22
 Georgias Role - Training
-Over 320,000 Georgians volunteered or
were drafted into the military between
1941 and 1945.

-Training centers for soldiers:

1. Fort Benning
2. Camp Gordon
3. Fort McPherson
4. Warner Robins Airfield
5. Hunter Airfield
23
- Georgia also housed German Prisoners
 Military bases
During World War II, Georgia became home to
more military training bases than any other state
in the U.S. besides Texas.

Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, was the

largest and viewed as the best infantry facility
during the war.

Today, these bases provide thousands of jobs for

Georgians and pump millions of dollars into the
states economy.
Fort Benning
Columbus, GA
 Georgia also had influential politicians:

1. Carl Vinson father of the two Ocean Navy

-Served 50 years in the House of Representatives

-Argued that the US must strengthen its navy if it

hoped to remain secure.

2. Richard Russell served on the Naval Affairs

Committee, and reported on the progress of American
troops.

-argued that the US needed military bases in foreign

territories to secure international security

-influenced the making and maintaining of 15 military

bases
 The War Ends
- On May 7, 1945, Germany
surrendered to the Allies.

- On August 6, 1945 the US drops an

atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan

- On August 9, 1945 the US drops a

second atomic bomb on Nagasaki,
Japan.

- On August 15, 1945 Japan

surrenders.
27
 The War Ends

Hiroshima Nagasaki

28
 Holocaust

29
 Nazis persecuted Jews and other minorities in
Germany.

Hitler blamed all of Germanys problems after

WWI on the Jewish people.

He forced Germans to stop buying things from

Jewish shops.

Then he forced Jews to move into crowded

neighborhoods called ghettos.

Finally, Jews were rounded up and forced into

concentration camps where millions died
(more than 6 million).
 In 1986, Governor Joe Frank Harris established
Georgia and the Holocaust the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust.

The commission became a permanent state

agency whose goal is to teach future
generations about the dangers of prejudice,
racial hatred, and genocide.

Jewish organizations like the Jewish Federation

of Greater Atlanta and the Jewish Family and
Career Services provides assistance to
Holocaust survivors.

These organizations are determined not to

31
forget the Holocaust and to educate future
generations.
 President Roosevelt and Georgia
Franklin Roosevelt visited Georgia over 40 times
from 1913-1945.

Roosevelt had a disease called polio, and visited

Warm Springs for therapy.

Roosevelt, and other polio patients, exercised in

the warm water pools of the spring to help ease
the crippling effects of polio.

When he came to Georgia, he stayed at his home

in Warm Springs, which became known as the
Little White House during his presidency.

32
 Roosevelt made several
appearances and gave many
speeches throughout the state.

His exposure to rural Georgia

and its problems during the
Depression helped him create
effective New Deal programs
that helped alleviate the
countrys economic problems.

Roosevelts New Deal programs

helped many Georgians.

His agricultural policies assisted

Georgia farmers and work
programs gave jobs to the poor.
33
 President Roosevelt was visiting Warm Springs on April
12, 1945, when he died after suffering a massive stroke.

Today, many people still go to Warm Springs for treatment

of strokes and injuries at the Warm Springs Rehabilitation
Center, and Roosevelts home is visited by thousands every
year.

34