Download World War II

World War II
AP World History
Road to War: Europe
1. Treaty of Versailles
“MORE than fourteen years have passed since the unhappy day when the German people, blinded by
promises from foes at home and abroad, lost touch with honor and freedom, thereby losing all. Since that day
of treachery, the Almighty has withheld his blessing from our people.”
Adolf Hitler, February 1, 1933
2. The Great Depression
3. Rise of Nazi Germany
Rise of Nazi Germany
4. German Expansion
 1936 – German troops
move into the Rhine river
valley
 Breaks Treaty of Versailles
 1938 – Germany annexes
Austria & the Sudetenland
 Munich Conference-
England’s Appeasement
 1939 – Nazi-Soviet non-
aggression pact
 September 1, 1939 –
Germany invades Poland
Road to War: Japan
1. Treaty of Versailles
2. Washington Conference
3. Japanese Imperialism
 1910 – Annex Korea
 1931 – Attack Manchuria
 Mukden Incident
 1936 – Battle near Beijing
 Used as an excuse to
invade mainland China
 1937: Rape of Nanking
 Massacre, rape of thousands
 1940 – French Indo-China
“Comfort Women”- women forced
into sexual slavery in Japanese
occupied territory, numbers range from
20,000 (Japan) to 400,000 (China) –
most likely around 200,000
Comfort Women Memorial
Glendale, CA
4. Japanese Aggression
Document Analysis:
The Invasion of Nanking
Context: Japan, 1930
Japan suffered from economic
problems.
Japan was geographically small.
Goals of Japan’s military leaders
 expand Japan’s empire to gain more
raw materials
 restore Japan’s power in Asia and
the world
World View of Japan
Invasion of China
 Japan invaded China’s northern region of
Manchuria in 1931.
 This area was rich with iron and coal.
Japanese soldiers in Manchuria
Invasion of Nanking
 Nanking was China’s capital.
 Japan invaded Nanking in December 1937.
Japanese Soldiers entering Nanking
Central Historical Question:
Central Historical Question
What happened during the invasion
of Nanking?
Rise to Power: Italy
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
What is fascism?
 A system of government with centralized authority
under a dictator. Power is kept by extensive
military control.
 Usually involves terror, censorship, nationalism,
and racism.
Benito Mussolini
Fasces- Symbol of power for Fascism
Mussolini gains power
 Mussolini set up a Fascist
Party and promised to
solve Italy’s problems
 Promised to rebuild Italy
and recreate the Roman
Empire
 Organized armed gangs
called the “Blackshirts”
 Came to power in 1922
and was appointed Prime
Minister by King Victor
Emmanuel II to prevent a
Communist Revolution in
Italy
March on Rome, 1922
Mussolini and Hitler
Hitler and Mussolini
had a close
relationship.
May 1939- Mussolini
signed a full defensive
alliance with Nazi
Germany in the Pact
of Steel.
Mussolini and Hitler
Anti-Semitism
 About 50,000 Jews lived in Italy in the 1930s.
 Mussolini did NOT implement an extermination
program in Italy.
 75% of Italian Jews survived World War II.
 8,000 died in German extermination camps.
 1938 anti-Semitic laws passed
 Manifesto degli Scienziati Razzisti [The Manifesto of the
Racist Scientists].
• Excluded foreign Jews [most of them were sent to German death
camps].
• Forbade all Jews from teaching.
• Excluded Jews from serving in the government or in the military.
Cult of Personality: Mussolini
Mussolini’s Execution
• Allied invasion of Western
Europe quickly weakened
Italy
• Mussolini and his mistress
Clara Petacci were taken
prisoner by the Allied
forces. A few days later
they were shot to death by
Italian partisan forces.
• In April of 1945, their
bodies were hung along
with the bodies of other
fascist leaders.
Axis Powers
Quick Note on Japan…

Emperor Hirohito
 Technical leader from 1926-1989
 AKA Emperor Showa
 Never put on trial for war crimes

Hideki Tojo
 Head of military 1935
 Named Prime Minister in 1941
 Quickly names himself:
• Minister of Education
• Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Home Minister
• Foreign Minister
 Captured in 1944, put on trial for war
crimes and executed
Fighting
World War II
Blitzkrieg- Lighting War
Video Clip
 Hitler Unleases the Blitzkrieg
New Technology
Other technological advancements: radar,
synthetic rubber, antibiotics, etc.
Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor
Video clip
 "A date which will live in infamy...."
 Was it really a surprise?
 US claims neutrality, but definitely not neutral.
 Four months earlier, the US had imposed an oil embargo,
knowing full well that Japan was dependent on US oil.
 The US Pacific Fleet had been moved to Pearl Harbor,
which was not the home port for the ships.
 US plan of attack against the Japanese fleet that had
been unearthed and published in the Chicago Tribune
 Japan warned that they would attack Pearl Harbor
1942: Highpoint of Axis Power
Winning the War
European Theater
Notable Battles
1 – Blitzkrieg of Poland
5 – Surrender of Paris
6 – Battle of Britain
9 – Germany invades USSR
21 – Battle of Stalingrad
*Turning Point of WWII
22 – Battle of El Alamein
*Monty defeats Rommel
26 – Allies invade Sicily
*U.S. troops led by Patton
29 – Battle of Normandy
*Largest amphibious assault
in world history
32 – Battle of the Bulge
*Last German offensive
35 – Soviets enter Berlin
July ’42- Feb ’43:
Battle of Stalingrad
Video Clip
 A turning point in the war
 Stops Nazi invasion of Soviet Union
 Over 2 million died in this battle alone- one of the
bloodiest of all time.
Battle of Stalingrad
Amphibious Assaults
June 6, 1944: Battle of
Normandy (D-day)
 D-Day Invasion
 From June to August 1944
 Largest amphibious military assault in history
 Liberates Western Europe from Nazi control
1945: Firebombing of Dresden
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-
two/11393917/The-firebombing-of-Dresdenarchive-footage.html
 Hitler commits suicide April 30, 1945
 VE Day (Victory in Europe Day)- May 8, 1945
 Unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany
Allied Victory in the Pacific
Island-Hopping
1944-45: Firebombing of Tokyo
 Island Hopping in the Pacific
 Firebombing of Tokyo
Atomic Bomb
Effects of the Atomic Bomb
 http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-
of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
 Aug 6, 1945: US drops bomb on Hiroshima
 Aug 9, 1945: US drops bomb on Nagasaki
 Aug 14, 1945: Japan surrenders unconditionally,
officially ending World War II
DBQ Essay (due Tuesday)
“Was President Truman’s decision to use atomic
weapons against Japan justified?”
Things to consider:
Was it a military necessity?
Was it justifiable for a reason other than military
strategy?
How did this decision impact the people of Japan?
How did this decision impact foreign relations?