Download Notes - The Road to WWII MEH

Modern Europe
Cooke
Name: ________________________________
The Road to WWII
I.
Five Major Causes of WWII:
II. WWI Recap
a. Who? Central (Germany, Austria-Hungary) vs. Allied Powers (U.S., England, France, Russia, Italy)
b. Why fighting? Underlying problems over who controlled African colonies, nationalism, a complicated
alliance system, and large militaries.
c. Outcome? Allies won, Germans forced to accept war guilt (responsibility for the war) and were told to
pay reparations totaling $30 billion to the Allies. German military was also stripped down to bare
bones. A-H was divided into a number of new nations. League of Nations was created to ensure peace
and security for all member nations.
d. How did the Treaty of Versailles set the world up for WWII?
III. The Rise of Fascism and Nazism
a. Nations weakened after WWI turned to the idea of fascism (DEFINE)
b. Hoped that fascism would help the country rebuild their strength and spirit.
IV. Benito Mussolini and Italy
a. Mussolini felt Italy had been shortchanged by ________________________.
b. He declared himself dictator in 1925, suspended elections, put all business under govt. control, and
started __________________________________________.
c. Wanting to create a modern-day Roman Empire, he aggressively invaded and took over
___________________.
V. The Great Depression
a. After WWI many European economies were ___________.
b. The boom in the _____ throughout the 1920s helped sustain worldwide trade.
c. The _____ stock market crash in the U.S. and the resulting _______________________ spread
throughout the world. U.S. restrictive tariff policies worsened the depression.
d. As economies plummeted and unemployment rose, what happened?
VI. Adolf Hitler and Germany
a. Hitler was soon named chancellor, he got rid of his opponents in the Reichstag, and took away
Germans’ civil liberties (no free speech, etc..)
b. He then gave himself dictatorial powers after becoming president and began calling himself
_________ (the leader) of the __________ (by which he meant the 3rd German Empire.)
VII. The backbone of Hitler’s power was his______________________________________.
a. Hitler blamed Jews for Germany’s problems, and praised __________ (blond-haired, blue-eyed
Germans) as belonging to what he called the “master race.”
b. He was _____________________ (One who discriminates against or who is hostile toward or
prejudiced against Jews)
c. He soon ordered a boycott of Jewish shops, the burning of books by Jewish authors, and the
_______________________________________________.
VIII.
Determined to return the German Empire to its former glory, Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy.
Hitler quickly tried to do what? _________________________________________________________.)
a. German aggression began with their seizure of the __________________________ in 1936. With
this, Hitler began his aggressive quest for Lebensraum (DEFINE:
)
b. Germany and Italy formed an alliance in 1936 as well called ________________________________.
c. Anti-Comintern Pact, 1936 was ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.
d. In 1938, Hitler made an _________________ (union) between ___________ and Austria where
Austria was annexed into Germany.
e. and later that year, he demanded possession of the _______________________ in Czechoslovakia.
f. England and France, reluctant to get involved in another big conflict, adopted a policy
of_____________________________________. MEANING?
i. In 1938, Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia cede the Sudetenland to Germany. He claimed
that the German population living there was being mistreated.
ii. The British and French prime ministers agreed to Hitler’s demands without consulting
Czechoslovakian leaders, in the hopes that this would avoid a war in Europe.
g. The Munich Agreement (1938) was:
IX.
i. As a result of it, _________________ became part of the _____________: 1939
b. In 1939, the Germans and Russians signed the ___________________________________. How did
this agreement differ from an alliance? EXPLAIN.
X. Meanwhile, back in America….
a. The U.S. was busy minding its own business (pursuing a policy of isolationism. (DEFINE)
i. In the 1930s, the U.S. turned inward and focused on rebuilding the American economy during
the Depression.
XI. While all of this was going on in Europe, in Japan…
a. Japanese leaders, also trying to make Japan into a world power, were busy attempting to take over
___________________________________.
b. Japan formed an alliance with Germany and Italy, known as the Tripartite Pact. They were known as
the Axis Powers.