Download Causes of World War II

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Treaty of Versailles
Fascism
Failure of the League of Nations
Japanese imperialism
Economic problems worldwide- depression
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Shortly after signing a nonaggression pact
with Russia, Hitler was ready for all out war.
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On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded
Poland.
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This attack on Poland marked the official
beginning of World War II.
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German forces used a new tactic known as
blitzkrieg.
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German for “lightning war” it consisted of
powerful fast moving planes and ground forces.
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An air strike would begin attacks followed by
fast moving columns of tanks and mobile
artillery. Behind the tanks and artillery were foot
soldiers looking for any remaining resistance.
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Although Poland was ill prepared to stop the
German blitzkrieg, it did have the support of
the French and British.
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Shortly after Hitler invaded Poland, France
and Britain declared war on Germany.
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Following the win in Poland Hitler took
Denmark and Norway, then looked to take
France.
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French and Allied troops rushed to stop the
Germans from breaking through France from
the Netherlands and Belgium.
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At the same time the Germans began a push
through the dense forest of the Ardennes.
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French leaders thought that the thick forest of
the Ardennes would stop the Germans but
German tanks emerged from the forest and
overwhelmed the French.
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Germany easily defeated the resistance in
France and controlled much of the country.
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The Germans placed the remainder of France in
the hands of French officials that cooperated
with Hitler.
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Many French leaders escaped to Britain and
organized a resistance to help liberate their
country.
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After the fall of France, the British stood
alone in opposition against Germany.
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Great Britain was under a new leader:
Winston Churchill. Hitler knew it would be
hard to take Britain.
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Hitler's plan to take England, called
Operation Sea Lion, began with an air attack
over Britain.
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Known as the Battle of Britain, thousands of
German airplanes ran bombing missions over
England.
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Although Hitler’s planes destroyed much of
England, the British held on with the
leadership of Winston Churchill.
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Once Hitler realized he could not take Britain he focused
on an attack on Russia.
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In 1941 Hitler broke his nonaggression pact with Stalin.
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At first the Russians were no match for the German
military. However, as the Germans pushed deeper into
Russia they were halted by the Russian winter.
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The Germans troops lacked equipment and worked poorly
in the Russian weather.
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Eventually the Russians began to fight back and started to
push the Germans back.
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While war raged in Europe many Americans wanted to
avoid getting involved in another conflict.
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However, America was helping the Britain and the
Allied Powers through the Lend-Lease Act.
 a program under which the United States supplied Great
Britain, the USSR, Republic of China, Free France, and
other Allie nations with materiel and money between 1941
and August 1945.
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Although America wanted to avoid conflict, in 1940 a
draft was held to build up the military’s rank in the
event of war.
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In Southeast Asia, the Japanese moved its
forces into an oil and rubber rich Allied
Controlled colonies. They resented the fact
that these Asian resources were controlled by
non-Asian countries.
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In response America banned the sale of oil to
Japan. This move was meant to slow down
the Japanese war machine.
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Japan continued to talk peace with the United States
while in secret they were planning for war.
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On December 7, 1941 the Japanese launched a
surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet harbored at
Pearl Harbor.
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The Japanese believed that it would take the U.S. at
least 2 years to recover and they would have time to
take other areas and then defeat the U.S.
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The attack on Pearl
Harbor caused
many Americans
who had previously
wanted peace to
call for war.
On December 8,
1941 the U.S.
Congress declared
war on Japan.
Arizona Memorial
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Soon the Allies began to focus on Italy.
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The invasion of Italy was launched on the
island of Sicily.
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After some light resistance, the Italian
government eventually removed Mussolini
from power and the Allies made plans to take
the Italian mainland.
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While the German advance into Russia was
slowed down, the Germans were able to take
key cities in Russia.
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Stalingrad was on of Russia’s largest
industrial cities. It was named in honor of
Joseph Stalin.
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The battle that took place there was one of
the most brutal of the war.
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During the Battle of Stalingrad, the Germans
bombed the city into rubble.
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Although the Russians were pinned in the city
they fought fiercely from the rubble of the
city.
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Stalin was determined to hold the city that
was his namesake.
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On June 6, 1944 or D-Day the allies launched
over 150,000 troops on the shores of Normandy
in France. (the D doesn’t stand for anything)
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Lead by American General Dwight D.
Eisenhower, D-Day was launched in an effort to
liberate Europe from Nazi control.
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American and Allied forces met heavy resistance
but were able to push back the German army.
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After D-Day, Allied troops pushed from both the
west and east towards Germany.
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Hitler order a last massive assault in December
of 1944. While the Germans made some
advances, they could not break through Allied
lines.
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The German advance created a “bulge” in Allied
lines, thus it became known as the Battle of the
Bulge.
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With the Soviets and Allied forces pushing on
Germany from both sides, Hitler took his own
life in a underground bunker in Berlin.
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In April of 1945, Soviet and American troops met
in Berlin.
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Berlin and Germany surrendered that same day.
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Finally in May of 1945 Germany officially
surrender to the allies. May 8, 1945 was
officially called V-E Day. (Victory in Europe Day)