Download Origins of World War II

 Why dictators rose to power in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s
 How Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were similar and different as leaders
 The policy of appeasement
 How appeasement impacted WWII
 Why the US and GB choose to align themselves with the Soviets
In Europe in the 1930s, the stage was
set for the rise of dictators who would
rule in a TOTALITARIAN system
 Complete rule by a single party and it’s leader
 All aspects of people’s lives are controlled without
opposition
 Harsh punishment of Germany
 Led to resentment
 Soviet Union lost a great deal of land
 Including several ports
 Italy felt like they didn’t get enough
 Led to resentment
 New democracies set up
 But had no help in rebuilding
 No tradition of rule
 US was not a member
 The League was a failure
 Peace was not kept in the world
 No way to enforce disarmament
 Germany and Italy drop out of the League
 The Great Depression
extended beyond the US
 Large numbers of people
were unemployed
 Led to discontentment
 In an environment of
discontentment,
dictators could easily
rise to power
 Adolf Hitler
 Der Fuhrer
 National Socialist German
Workers Party (Nazi)
 Nationalism, racism,
expansionism, anti-communist
 The Third Reich – the Nazi state
 Benito Mussolini
 Il Duce
 Fascism – strong
central government
headed by a
powerful dictator
 Military expansion
and extreme
nationalism
 Joseph Stalin
 The Man of Steel
 Communist
 Collective farms, state run
industry
 Stalin was paranoid
 Attempted to destroy all
opposition
 Various Military Leaders
 Including Hideki Tojo (appointed
Prime Minister and Army Minister)
 Hirohito was emperor of Japan
 Looked to expand Japan’s power in
the Pacific
 Wanted more land and resources
 Germany begins mobilizing for war in 1935
 Germany takes the Rhineland in 1936
 Germany and Italy support fascist
revolution in Spain
 Italy invades Ethiopia and later takes
Albania
 Germany annexes Austria
 Germany occupies the Sudetenland
 Munich Pact signed
 France and Britain were hesitant to enter
another war, due to problems with WWI and
war debt. In 1938, France and Britain met
with Hitler and allowed Germany to take
Sudetenland if no other land was taken –
APPEASEMENT
 Germany takes over the rest of
Czechoslovakia
 Germany,Japan, and Italy form the Axis
Powers
 Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact of
1939
 Germany invades Poland
 Blitzkrieg – “lightning war”
 Britain and France declare war on
Germany
 Soviet Union acquires part of Poland and
ports in the Baltic states
 Germany, Italy and Japan sign the
Tripartite Pact
 Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania join
the Axis – 1940
 Denmark and Norway fall to Germany
– 1940
 Netherlands, Belgium and
Luxembourg fall to Germany – 1940
 Germany marches on France, takes
over Paris – 1940
 Vichy France
 Germany attacks Great Britain
 Battle of Britain – “the Blitz”
 Germany invades Yugoslavia and
Greece
 Germany invades the Soviet Union
 The Soviet Union allies with Britain
and France
Axis Powers
Allied Powers
 Germany
 United States
 Canada
 Italy
 Britain
 China
 Japan
 France
 Denmark
 Soviet Union
 Greece
 Australia
 Netherlands
 Belgium
 New Zealand
 Brazil
 Norway
 Yugoslavia
 Poland
 Hungary
 Romania
 Bulgaria
 South Africa
1.
Explain why dictators rose to power in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.
 Describe how Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were similar and different as leaders.
2.
Explain the policy of appeasement. How did appeasement impact the starting of
WWII?
3.
The US and Great Britain’s objectives were different than the Soviet objectives for
war. So, why did the US and GB choose to align themselves with the Soviets?