Download The Road to War: World War II Begins

The Road to War
World War II Begins
IMPERIAL JAPAN
NAZI GERMANY
FASCIST ITALY
I. THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR II
A. In the 1930s, events throughout the world led to conditions that started World War II
1. High _________________________, desperation, and feelings of betrayal led to the rise of _____________________ dictators
2. Fascist dictators _________________ and ________________ threatened to conquer new territories for Italy and Germany
3. Extreme _____________________ and a need for raw materials led to a desire to expand in Japan under ____________ _______
B. By the 1930s, the world was moving towards another war but few nations were in a position to __________________war
1. _______________ and _______________were the leaders of the League of Nations, but both wanted to _________________
another bloodbath like World War I
2. The USA was focused on the ___________ _________________ and wanted to avoid foreign affairs
C. Japan, Italy, and Germany __________________ ________________ in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 1936, Germany, Italy, and Japan
formed an alliance called the ______________
1. Japanese Expansion
a. In 1931, Japan invaded _______________________in order to ______________ its iron and coal mines
b. In 1937, Japan conquered northern ______________________, then murdered about 300,000 unarmed soldiers and civilians
during the “________ _____ _____________”
HOW DOES THE WORLD RESPOND TO THIS BLATANT AGGRESSION BY THE JAPANESE?
c. The League of Nations officially condemned the Japanese invasion, but took _______ _____________ _______________
d. Japan’s response? They withdrew from the League of Nations and ______________________ to take over Manchuria
e. By 1934, Japan was _________________ ____________, warning other nations to not try to assist China in its conflict with Japan
THE RAPE OF NANKING
a. The Japanese took over the Chinese capital city of _________________, driving out Chinese forces
b. Nearly 500,000 Chinese civilians were ________________ in Nanking
c. Starting in December 1937 and ending in January 1938, the Japanese Army embarked on a six-week _________ _____ ________,
torturing, raping, mutilating, and murdering as many as 300,000 Chinese civilians (including children and babies)
d. Japanese soldiers followed the Samurai’s _____________ _______ called “Bushido”; it demanded unquestioning loyalty to the
divine emperor. Death in battle was seen as a __________ and was welcomed. Surrender was unthinkable for the Japanese soldier:
they felt that citizens or soldiers who surrendered were _________ _______ _____________ and deserved nothing but humiliation,
torture, and ____________.
2. The Spanish Civil War: “Dress Rehearsal For World War II”
a. A fascist leader in Spain, __________________ ____________, started a rebellion against Spain’s government; Hitler and
Mussolini sent weapons, planes, and ______________to ________________ Franco
b. Hitler and Mussolini saw this as an opportunity ___________their newest ___________________ (and help a fellow fascist, too);
for this reason, the Spanish Civil War is called a “_____________ ___________________” for World War II
3. Italian Expansion
a. In 1935, Mussolini began his campaign to create a new _____________ ________________ for Italy by invading Ethiopia
b. The Italian army easily ___________________the Ethiopians
c. The spears, swords, and antique guns of the Ethiopians were ____ _________ for Italian airplanes, tanks, guns, and poison gas.
3. The League of Nations ________________ Japanese and Italian aggression but ______ _______________ to stop the attacks in
an effort to maintain peace in the world
4. German Expansion
a. The ____________ of the League of Nations to stop Italy or Japan __________________ Hitler to expand Germany as well
b. In 1935, Hitler ___________ the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and expanded the size of the German _____________
c. In 1936, Hitler moved his army to the _________________ (which was supposed to be demilitarized)
d. Both times, the League of Nations ______________ to take action against Hitler in order to avoid war
e. Hitler’s move to reoccupy the DMZ of the Rhineland was a _____________ ________________ of the Treaty of Versailles
f. At this point, the German military was not yet __________ _____________ to defeat France, if it came to war
g. Hitler took a _________, but he was correct in guessing how badly the French (and their allies) did ______ __________ war
h. The horrors and endless ___________________ of __________ _____ _____ were still fresh on the minds of the French; they
were ________ _____________ to fight over the Rhineland
i. In 1938, Hitler ________________ Austria
j. Hitler demanded that the western border of Czechoslovakia, an area known as the __________________, be given to Germany
k. The Sudetenland contained many ethnic Germans; Hitler wanted all Germans (and the land they lived on) to be __________ by
Germany. The Czechs asked Britain and France for _________.
5. The Munich Conference, 1938
a. In 1938, leaders from England and France met with Hitler and Mussolini at the ____________ ____________________ in order
work out an _____________________ to avoid war
b. Germany was allowed to ____________ the Sudetenland when Hitler _________________ to stop expanding
6. Appeasement
a. This so-called “___________ _____ ______ ___________” came at the expense of Czechoslovakia, but the democratic nations
wanted to ______________ Hitler’s aggression without provoking it
b. As one historian put it: “Munich was surrender on an installment plan. It was like giving a cannibal a finger in hopes of
saving an arm.”
c. Within weeks, Hitler told his generals to prepare _________ for taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia
d. Britain and France used ____________________ with Hitler: they _________ _____ to his demands in order to avoid war
e. Six months after the Munich Conference, Hitler _________ _____ ______________ and annexed ALL of Czechoslovakia
f. The League of Nations, led by Britain and France, still did __________________. However, they promised that ONE MORE
aggressive move by Hitler would lead to __________. Hitler did not believe them.
7. The Non-Aggression Pact and Invasion of Poland, 1939
a. In 1939, Hitler demanded that western ___________ be returned to Germany, but he did not want to provoke a war with the
___________ ___________ before he was _____________ to do so (one of Hitler’s long-term goals was taking over the USSR).
b. Stalin and Hitler agreed to the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, promising never to ______________ each other
c. Secretly, Germany and the USSR agreed to ______________Poland
d. On September 1st, 1939, Hitler _________________ the German military to attack Poland
e. In a speech to his military leaders, Hitler leaves no doubt as to his intention with Poland: “Kill without pity or mercy all men,
women, and children of the Polish race or language.” He also said in a public speech: “I shall strike like lightning with the full
force of a mechanized army, of which the Poles have no conception.”
8. WORLD WAR II BEGINS
On September 3rd, 1939, Britain and France _____________ _________ on Germany. World War II had ____________.
9. CAUSES OF WORLD WAR II
Many factors played a part in the outbreak of World War II, but it can be broken down to FOUR MAIN CAUSES:
1. The conditions of the _____________ _____ _________________
2. The ___________________ of totalitarian dictators
3. The failure of the __________ _____ ______________
4. The failure of ___________________