Download causes of wwii

CAUSES OF WWII
Treaty of Versailles
•Frustration
•Resentment
WORLD WAR II
•Lost territory
•Reparations
•War Guilt
Aggression
•Japan 1931
Great Depression
•Rhineland (1936)
•Austria (1936)
Racism
•Czech. (1938)
•Poland (1939)
Militarism
Extreme
Nationalism
•Rearmament
•Jews scapegoats
for ills of society
•Holocaust
WORLD WAR II: EUROPE
September 3, 1939
• Britain & France
declare war on
Germany after Hitler
refuses to withdraw
from Poland.
• Although war is
declared no actual
battles will be fought
until 1940.
September 17, 1939
• USSR invades Poland and then continues north to
capture the Baltic Republics. (Lithuania, Latvia,
Estonia and Finland)
The Phoney War
(Sept. 3/39 to May 10/40)
• The period between
the declaration of
war and the German
invasion of France.
• No real fighting took
place.
The Maginot Line
Invasion of France
• German forces bypass the
Maginot line and invade
Belgium.
• In three days drove 500km
into France.
(May 10, 1940)
"I believe that, if an adequate fighter force is kept
in this country, if the fleet remains in being, and
if Home Forces are suitably organized to resist
invasion, we should be able to carry on the war
single-handed for some time, if not indefinitely.
But, if the Home Defence Force is drained away
in desperate attempts to remedy the situation in
France, defeat in France will involve the final,
complete and irremediable defeat of this
country."
ACM HUGH DOWDING
May 16, 1940
Miracle at Dunkirk (May 26, 1940)
• British & French troops pushed back to the sea and
surrounded by German forces.
• German armies halted attack.
• A flotilla of military and civilian ships from Britain
rescue over 300, 000 troops.
`
June 22, 1940
Vichy France
• French were permitted to
govern the interior of
France.
• Marshal Petain ruled by
decree. (Nazi puppet state)
– i.e. deportation of 75,000
Jews to German
concentration camps
• Charles de Gaulle led the
French Free Forces from
London and Algiers.
Battle of Britain
•
The planned invasion of Britain
by Germany was called
Operation Sea Lion.
1.
2.
•
Command of the air over English
Channel
Launch an armada of barges with
German soldiers onto the beaches of
Britain.
The RAF (Royal Air Force) was
stretched to the limits by attacks
from the Luftwaffe (German Air
Force).
The Blitz
• An errant bombing raid on London sparked
British retaliation on Berlin.
• Hitler redirects his forces to attack British
cities.
• This allowed the RAF to rebuild.
• Became apparent to Hitler the Germany
would not be able to invade Britain.
The Blitz
• 50 000 civilians dead
• 80 000 wounded
EUROPE 1940
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
• Germany invades the
USSR.
• The Germans called
for a quick and
decisive victory in the
summer.
• Despite early success
the German advance
falls short of Moscow
as the winter sets in.
The Atlantic Charter
August, 1941
• Document issued by Roosevelt
and Churchill outlining their
vision for the post-war world.
– Called for the defeat and
disarmament of the Axis nations.
– The U.S. and U.K. would seek no
additional territory at the end of
war.
– All peoples would have the right
to choose their government.
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbour
December 7, 1941
• Japan launches a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval
base in Hawaii.
• This brings the U.S. into the war.
• Hitler declares war on the U.S. December 11, 1941.
• Decision is made to concentrate war effort on
Germany first.
Dieppe
August, 1942
• Stalin asked Churchill and Eisenhower to help the
USSR by opening up a Western front in
continental Europe.
• There was a need to test the complex combination
of land, naval and air maneuvers required by a
large-scale invasion in real action conditions.
• Raid was a disaster (9hours/1000 lives) but was
useful in providing knowledge which was later to
make victory possible.
Battle of Stalingrad
September, 1942
•
German armies after…
1.
2.
•
•
•
Resource base
Cut off supply routes
The city of Stalingrad stood
in the way.
Battle continued for 5 months
and the city became a
smoking graveyard.
Soviet troops surrounded
German armies in city and
forced the surrender of 90 000
soldiers.
Battle of El Alamein
October, 1942
• 10 day battle in a tiny village in
Egypt
Rommel (Afrika Corps)
vs.
Montgomery (Desert Rats)
• Was the beginning of the
liberation of N.Africa.
• With help from fresh American
soldiers under the leadership of
Eisenhower the Allies were able to
defeat the Germans
• May, 1943 Germany surrendered
in Africa.
Invasion of Italy
July, 1943
• British, American and
Canadian troops
invaded Sicily.
• People of Italy turned
on Mussolini and
imprisoned him.
(eventually rescued)
• New Italian
government agreed to
ceasefire.
Strategic Bombing
• Instead of opening a second front Allies decided to
bomb strategic targets in Fortress Europe.
• Incendiary bombs used to create firestorms to
destroy targets. (Dresden)
• These firestorms created winds powerful enough
to suck people into the flames and reached
temperatures hot enough to melt glass and steel.
Operation Overlord (D-Day)
June 6, 1944
V-E Day
May 8, 1945
• April 30, 1945 Hitler
committed suicide in his
underground bunker in
Berlin.
• German forces
surrendered May 8, 1945.
• War in Europe was over
but WWII still raged on in
the Pacific.
The Holocaust
• The Final Solution or liquidation of all
Jews, Gypsies, and most Slavs in Europe.
(including all who opposed the Nazi Party)
• Death camps were created to rid the Third
Reich of the unwanted.
– Auschwitz (12 000/per day) Liberation of
Auschwitz
– 67% (6 million) of Jewish population in Europe
was annihilated. (90% in Poland/Germany)
The Holocaust
Group
Jews
Slavs
Russian POW’s
Gypsies/Homosexuals
Approximate # Killed
6
Million
10-11 Million
3
Million
1
Million
Approximately 21 million killed
The Nuremburg Trials
• Nazi leaders who
directed the war and
the Holocaust were
put on trial.
• The Nuremburg trials
established precedents
in international law for
dealing with war
crimes and crimes
against humanity.