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Economic Crisis and Political
Turmoil
Economic Crisis
• Germany owed the Allies 132 billion marks ($33
billion) in war reparations (Treaty of Versailles)
• Germany could not make payments so France
occupied the Ruhr Valley (Germany’s chief
industrial and mining center) and collected
reparations directly from the German mines and
factories
• Germany tried printing more paper money but this
only generated inflation
– 1914: 4.2 German marks equaled 1 U.S. dollar
– 1923: 4.2 trillion German marks equaled 1 U.S. dollar
Worldwide Economic Depression
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Increase in oil and hydroelectricity severely damaged the coal
industry
European prosperity depended on American loans
American investors withdrew their European loans so they could
invest in booming U.S. stock market
U.S. stock market crash of 1929 persuaded more investors to
withdraw their European loans
The Great Depression begins worldwide (late 1929)
Unemployment rises
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25% of British workforce unemployed
40% of German workforce unemployed
Production falls
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Industrial productivity fell 50% in the U.S.
Industrial productivity fell 40% in Germany
Results of the Great Depression
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Social discontent
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Increased government involvement
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Lower wages
Foreign goods unaffordable (tariffs)
Unemployment
Feeling of hopelessness
More government regulation of economic systems
Communism endorsed by more political scientists and workers
Totalitarianism in, democracy out
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Democracy/Capitalism had failed and people sought strong
totalitarians (dictators) to seize power and “quick fix” the crisis
Soviet Russia
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Socialism: public ownership of the means of production
Communism: system of ownership of all property by the
community
– Supports a classless society
Socialism exists when people receive according to their deeds
(work) while communism exists when people receive
according to their needs
Politburo: leading institution of the Soviet Communist Party
After Lenin’s death, two Politburo members, Leon Trotsky
(Commissar of War) and Joseph Stalin (Party General
Secretary), engaged in a power struggle
Stalin seized control of the Politburo in 1929 and established a
Communist dictatorship
Stalin collectivized the agricultural industry
– Russia’s 26 million private farms were joined into 250,000
units
– Resistant farmers hoarded food and slaughtered livestock
– Stalin intensified the process
– 10 million peasants died from famine
“The Boss” in Soviet Russia
• Stalin transformed Russia from an agricultural
nation into an industrial nation
– Steel production increased from 4 to 18 million tons, coal
from 36 to 128 million tons
– Produced oil, armaments (weapons), and machinery
• Stalin purged (removed) all political, intellectual, or
military leaders that opposed his policies
– Between 1936 and 1938, 8 million Russians were
arrested…million of which were shipped to Siberian
labor camps never to return
• Women encouraged to work outside the home and
received equal rights as men
• Stalin’s message: “Sacrifice for the good of the
new socialist state.”
Fascism in Italy
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fascism: political philosophy in which the
ruling government exercises total control
over the state and holds the interests of
the state or race above individual
rights/interests
Benito Mussolini: fascist dictator of Italy
that promised the rebirth of a new grand
Roman Empire
Mussolini’s acts of fascism
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Arrested opposition without due process of law
Exercised total control over mass media
Created youth fascist organizations
Eliminated women from the workforce
Named Catholicism the only religion of the
state
Japan Mobilizes For War
 Dictator:
Emperor Hirohito
 Platform: Create a self-sufficient and
secure Japan by gaining territory and
providing land for agriculture and raw
materials
 Political philosophy…militarism:
military leaders independent from
civilian government; embrace very
aggressive military policies
 Extended borders and made Japan a
great empire
Hitler 101
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Struggling artist (understood power of propaganda)
Anti-Semitic: strong racial intolerance of Jews
WWI veteran
Organized National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazis) in 1921 and
developed the party into a mass political movement with party flags,
banners, badges, uniforms, newspapers, and its own police force known as
the SA (Storm Troopers)
Beer Hall Putsch: failed Nazi uprising in 1923 to seize power over the state
Imprisoned for a short time for involvement in a failed uprising in 1923
Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) while in prison for political beliefs; book
provided earlier indications of anger, rage, plans for revenge, and racism
(Aryan superiority)
Motivational orator: inspirational speaker full of conviction, energy,
confidence, and power
Brawler not a debater (appealed to young men)
Propaganda master: brainwashed German masses
– Poor leadership kept Germans from winning WWI
– Germany treated unfairly by Treaty of Versailles
– Aryans are dominant race
Hitler Seizes Power
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Hitler and the Nazis murdered political opponents
Hitler appointed German Chancellor in 1933 (given power to make laws)
Reichstag (German legislature) grants Hitler emergency powers during time of
crisis
Hitler abolishes office of president in 1934 and declares himself Fuhrer or
supreme ruler of Third Reich
totalitarian dictator: controlled all aspects of life including industry, economics,
foreign policy, mass media, religion, etc.
Hitler’s Economic Reform: mobilize nation for war; concentrate all efforts on
building war supplies
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Ignore Treaty of Versailles restrictions
Stimulate industrial growth
Reduce unemployment (1931: 6 million; 1934: 2.6 million; 1937: 500,000)
Diminish poverty
Revive German spirits
The Terror of Nazism
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Women encouraged to stay at home
and bear more Aryan children
Hitler Youth: youth organization
created to educate and indoctrinate
young Aryan children with Nazi
ideologies
SS (Schutzstaffel or “defense
squadron): Nazi terror organization
led by Heinrich Himmler that controlled
the regular police force, secret police
force (Gestapo), and managed the
concentration camps
Terror of Nazism
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Nuremberg Laws (September 1935): Nazi laws
created to oppress the Jewish race
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Excluded Jews from German citizenship
Forbade marriage between Jews and German
citizens
Separated Jews from Germans politically, legally,
and socially
Forced Jews into ghettos
Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass”):
destructive rampage led by the Nazis in
November of 1938 during which synagogues
were burned, Jewish businesses destroyed,
about 100 Jews killed, and 30,000 Jewish
males rounded up and sent to concentration
camps
Axis Advances:
Events Leading to World War II
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Japan invades Manchuria (September 1931) to take possession of natural
resources and territory
Italy invades Ethiopia (October 1935) to strengthen its empire
Japan invades China (1937) to extend empire
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Rape of Nanking: Japanese soldiers seized China’s capital city
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Germany annexes Austria (March 1938)
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Anschluss: The belief that all German speaking people should be unified
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Hitler sends troops to Austria to unify it with German
Germany occupies Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia (September 1938)
Britain and France exercise appeasement: give in to demands in order to
maintain peace; believed Munich Pact achieved “Peace for our time.”
Hitler signs nonaggression pact with Soviet Union (August 1939): neither
Germany nor Soviet Union will attack each other
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Thousands of people were killed…between 20,000 to 80,000 women raped by soldiers
Pact contained secret deal to divide Poland between them
Germany invades Poland (September 1939) using blitzkrieg warfare tactics:
“lightning war;” swift offensive combining ground and air forces in attempt to
make a quick, devastating blow to the enemy
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Causes of World War II
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Axis Powers on quest for world domination
Revenge for World War I results and reparations
Post-World War I economic depression: war production
promises jobs
Allied Appeasement: gave in to German demands in
exchange for peace
Nationalism: love and pride for nation
Fascism: for the good of the nation
Racism: rule over inferior races
Militarism: nations desiring to flex military might
AXIS POWER:
THE WAR BEGINS
Nazis Take Western Europe
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Just months after Poland falls, Nazis
conquer Norway, Denmark, Belgium,
and Luxembourg
Fall of France: Nazis avoid the
Maginot Line and draw the enemy
away from the Ardennes Mountains
Defeat French in one month; Nazis
take Paris without a fight (May 1940)
Dunkirk: French seacoast town where
338,000 defeated French and British
troops evacuate across English
Channel to avoid total annihilation
Battle of Britain: series of German
bombing raids intended to demoralize
and weaken Great Britain; 20,000
London civilians die
American Neutrality?
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America divided: interventionism (America should fully support
Britain) vs. isolationism (America should not get involved)
Nye Committee: Documented the huge profits that arms
factories had made during WWI
Neutrality Act of 1935: Made it illegal for Americans to sell
arms to any country at war
Britain needs supplies but has no money
Destroyers -for-Bases Deal: In exchange for the right to build
American bases in British territory, Roosevelt sent 50 old
American destroyers to Britain
Lend-Lease: FDR’S policy allowing the U.S. to lend or lease
military supplies to Britain if considered vital to national
defense
 Allowed Britain to receive arms without paying cash for
them
War on the Atlantic: undeclared war between German
submarine wolf packs and American or British merchant
convoys
Atlantic Charter: Britain and the US agreed to a postwar
world of democracy, non-aggression and free trade
Nazi Advances in the East
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Operation Barbarossa: Germany
invades Russia in June of 1941 and
betrays non-aggression pact
German Blitzkrieg (lightening war) routes
Red Army (Russian army)
Luftwaffe (German air force) dominates
air
Nazis starved or executed almost a
million Russian citizens
Battle of Stalingrad begins: last hope for
Soviets to make a stand
Soviets win – for the rest of the war,
Germans will be on the defensive
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Bloodiest battle in history
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over 1,225,000 deaths
America and Japan
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Japan fights to extend empire into
China, Southeast Asia, and the
western Pacific
Axis Powers Created: Japan
recognizes formal alliance with
Germany and Italy (1940)
FDR imposes trade embargo on
Japan, denying it any materials that
could be used for war
Pearl Harbor
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Encouraged by Hitler and in
retaliation for trade embargo,
Japan orders sneak attack on
American naval base of Pearl
Harbor in an effort to destroy the
entire Pacific Fleet
Attack occurs on December 7,
1941
Japanese achieves total surprise
(Tora! Tora!)
Japanese bombers and fighters
destroy 19 ships (including 5
battleships), 188 planes, and kill
more than 2,400 Americans in less
than 3 hours
“A day that will live in infamy”
December 8, 1941 U.S. declares
war on Japan
THE ALLIES FIGHT BACK
America Fights Back
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15 million GI’s (government issued) go to war
Battle of the Atlantic: U.S. and Britain battles against the German U-boat
 Led to the use of a Convoy System
General Dwight D. Eisenhower named the Supreme Allied Commander
North African Campaign (Winter 1942 – Spring 1943): first major Allied
offensive; first German defeat
 Battle of El Alamein
 British General Bernard Montgomery defeats the Germany’s Erwin
Rommel
 Turned the tide of war in North Africa
 Operation Torch: American/British invasion of North Africa
 Battle of Kasserine Pass
 Americans defeated (7,000 casualties)
 Eisenhower promotes George Patton to commander
 Patton forced the Germans to surrender
Italian Campaign (1943-1944): General Patton and Allied troops defeat
Italians and kick Germans out of Italy; Mussolini overthrown
Soviets turn the tide at Stalingrad and defeat the Nazis (February 1943)
without Allied help; Soviets suffer more casualties at Stalingrad than the U.S.
suffers the entire war
D-Day: Operation Overlord
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Invasion Planning: Allies must
invade Germany’s new empire and
liberate Western Europe; Allies
deceive Nazis and choose beaches
of Normandy, France as landing
site
D-Day: June 6, 1944, massive
Allied forces cross English Channel
and defeat German forces at
Normandy; set up base from which
to launch western offensive
Allies suffer about 4,000 casualties
while taking the beaches and
winning one of the war’s most
significant battles
Western Theater
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Allies advance from Normandy
Paris liberated (August 1944)
Battle of the Bulge: major German
counterattack; US airborne soldiers
(101st) surrounded in Bastogne;
Germany calls for surrender, troops
reply “NUTS”; Allied counter-offensive
kills 100,000 German troops; Allies win
biggest land battle in American history
Allies advance on Berlin (Russians from
east, Americans/British from west)
Hitler commits suicide
VE Day: victory in Europe; Germany
surrenders on May 8, 1945
Pacific Theater
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General Douglas MacArthur
commanded American forces in Pacific
Philippines fall; thousands of American
prisoners killed by Japanese during
Bataan Death March
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Battle of Coral Sea: code breakers
discovered Japan’s plan for two attacks
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America attacks forced Japan to call of their
invasion on New Guinea
Battle of Midway: turning point in
Pacific; American planes sank four
Japanese aircraft carriers
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65 mile march
Devastating blow to Japanese naval power and
crippled the Japanese carrier fleet
Island hopping: American marines gain
key victories at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima,
and Okinawa
The Atomic Bomb
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Manhattan Project: secret project
responsible for developing the first atomic
bomb; led by scientist Robert Oppenheimer
Roosevelt dies of stroke; Vice-President
Truman takes office and learns of project;
believes bombs will prevent U.S. from
having to invade Japan with ground forces,
thus saving thousands of American soldier
lives
American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay,
drops worlds first A-bomb on Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945, instantly killing 100,000
and another 100,000 died later from burns
or radiation
Second bomb dropped on Nagasaki on
August 9, 1945, killing 40,000 Japanese
World War II Ends
VJ Day: Japan surrenders on August 14, 1945
CIVILIAN EXPERIENCES OF
WORLD WAR II
American Home Front
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Volunteer Efforts
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Bomb raid wardens
Victory Gardens
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Red Cross
Collected materials that could be
converted to war armaments such as
paper, rubber, scrap metal, aluminum
pots
Rationing
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Coupons needed to purchase goods like
sugar, meat, butter, gasoline, and shoes
Blue points – process foods, Red points –
meats, fats and oils
Media Propaganda
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Film industry
“Double V” campaign
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Used to supplement rations
African-Americans should join the war effort
in order to achieve a double victory – a
victory over Hitler’s racism abroad and a
victory over racism at home
War Bonds
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Money loaned to government is later
paid back with interest
American Wartime Industry
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Deficit spending: government uses borrowed money to counteract
economic depression
Liberty ship: welded ships that were very hard to sink compared to
riveted ships – mass produced cargo ship
War Production Board (WPB): created to help American industry
convert to war production; regulate economy
Industrial capacity: amount of goods/products a nation has the
potential of mass producing
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Gross National Product (GNP): dollar value of all goods and
services produced annually
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In 1941, the production time for 1 merchant ship was 105 days
By 1945, 1 merchant ship could be produced in 4 ½ days
GNP 1939: $90 billion
GNP 1945: $211.9 billion
New workers:
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“Rosy the Riveter”: 6 million women join the labor force as welders, riveters,
and mechanics
African-Americans granted jobs once reserved for whites
Minorities and Women During the War
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Tuskegee Airmen
African-American fighter pilots
 Trained in Tuskegee, AL
 Fought bravely and performed well
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Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
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Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
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First organization that allowed women to serve in the military
Replaced WAAC
“Rosie the Riveter”
A character who worked in the factory while her boyfriend served in
the military
 Female symbol of manufacturing
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Injustice on the Home Front
Japanese Internment
 Japanese
Americans stripped of their civil liberties
 More than 100,000 moved from their homes to
relocation camps
 Lost farms, houses, and businesses ($500 million worth
of losses)
 Reasons:
 Racial
fear and prejudice
 Guard against espionage
 Protection against hate crimes
Holocaust
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1930’s
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1939-1942
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European Jews in Germany and other territories occupied by the Nazis forced
to wear yellow stars, close businesses, leave homes, and move into Jewish
ghettos
European Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, Communists, homosexuals, and other social
outcasts exiled to concentration camps for slave labor
Camps: Auschwitz
1942-1945
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Hitler begins “final solution” plan for “Jewish problem” involving the total
extermination of Jews and other “inferior” races
6 million Jews killed (two-thirds of all European Jews)
Holocaust atrocities:
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Starvation
Beaten to death
Shot
Medical experiments
Gas chambers
Buried in mass graves or burned in crematoriums
World War II Death Count
Country
United States
Great Britain
Germany
France
USSR
Poland
Italy
China
Japan
Military
Deaths
Civilian
Deaths
405,000
271,000
2,850,000
210,700
14,500,000
850,000
279,800
1,324,000
1,506,000
2,000
60,600
2,300,000
173,300
7,000,000
5,778,000
93,000
10,000,000
300,000