Download World War II Many economic and political causes led toward World

World War II
Many economic and political causes led
toward World War II. Many theaters of war
included Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific
Islands. Leadership was essential to the
Allied victory.
Economic and Political Causes of World
War II:
- Aggression by the totalitarian governments
of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
- Failures of the Treaty of Versailles.
- Nationalism.
- Weaknesses of the League of Nations. It
had no real power and could only weakly
protest against acts of aggression.
- Appeasement. Appeasement is granting concessions to maintain peace.
- Tendencies toward isolationism and pacifism in Europe and the US. Pacifism is
opposition to war under any circumstances. Isolationism is the policy of staying out of the
political action of other countries.
- The Munich Conference. The Munich Conference is when France and England allowed
Hitler to take control of the Sudetenland, a part of
Czechoslovakia in 1939 for Hitler’s promise not to take any more
European territory and to settle disputes by peaceful negotiation.
Major Events of the War (1939-1945):
- September 1939: German invasion of Poland. In response, Britain
and France declare war on Germany.
- June 1940: Fall of France.
- August 1940: Battle of Britain.
- June 1941: German invasion of Soviet Union.
- December 1941: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This brought the US into the war.
- June 1942: US Defeats Japan at Battle of Midway. This helped prevent Japan from
carrying out further attacks.
- January 1943: The Soviets defeat the Germans at Stalingrad and begin pushing toward
Germany.
- July 1943: The Allies invade Sicily and southern Italy.
- June 1944: D-Day/Allied invasion of Europe.
- May 1945: Germany surrenders.
- August 1945: Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.
Major Leaders of World War II:
- Franklin D. Roosevelt – U.S. President during most of
WWII.
- Harry Truman – U.S. President after the death of
Roosevelt.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower – Allied commander in Europe
during WWII. He was responsible for the planning and
implementing the invasion of Normandy.
- Douglas MacArthur – U.S. General in the Pacific
during WWII. He accepted the surrender of Japan in
September 1945.
- George Marshall – U.S. General during WWII.
Marshall coordinated allied operations in Europe and
the Pacific. He is known for proposing a plan for the
economic development of post-WWII Europe
(Marshall Plan).
- Winston Churchill – British prime
minister during WWII. He was an early
opponent of Hitler and opposed
appeasement of Germany.
- Joseph Stalin – Soviet dictator during
WWII. After signing a non-aggression pact
with Germany, he invaded Poland from the
east in 1939 as Germany invaded from the
west. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union
in June 1941, Stalin will begin working with
the allies to defeat the Axis.
- Adolf Hitler – Nazi dictator of Germany
during WWII. He will set out to dominate
Europe.
- Hideki Tojo – Japanese general. He approved the attack on Pearl Harbor and played an
important role in Japan’s military decisions.
- Hirohito – Emperor of Japan (1926 to 1989).
The Holocaust
There had been a climate of hatred against
Jews in Europe and Russia for centuries.
Various instances of genocide have occurred
throughout the twentieth century. Genocide is
the systematic and purposeful destruction of a
racial, political, or cultural group.
Elements Leading to the Holocaust:
- Totalitarianism combined with nationalism.
Nazis preached that Jews were not “real Germans.”
- History of anti-Semitism. Discrimination had been going on
for hundreds of years all over Europe.
- Defeat in WWI and economic depression blamed on German
Jews. Propaganda to cause hatred against Jews during the hard
economic times that followed World War I.
- Hitler’s belief in the master race. Other groups were targeted
such as Slavs, Romas, homosexuals and disabled people. Jews were not the only group
targeted.
- Final solution: Extermination of Jews in concentration camps and gas chambers. Since
1945, the most commonly cited figure for the total number of Jews killed has been six
million. The Final Solution was Germany’s decision to exterminate the Jews.
Other Groups Targeted by the Holocaust:
Poles: During World War II Poland suffered greatly under five
years of German occupation. Nazi ideology viewed "Poles"- the
predominantly Roman Catholic ethnic majority- as "sub-humans"
occupying lands vital to Germany. As part of the policy to destroy
the Polish resistance, the Germans killed many of the nation's
political, religious, and intellectual leaders. They also kidnapped
children judged racially suitable for adoption by Germans and
confined Poles in dozens of prisons and concentration and forced
labor camps, where many perished.
Gypsies: "Gypsies," or the "Roma" as they prefer to be called, are an ethnic group which
originated in India (their language-Romany-is directly descended from Sanskrit) which for
unknown reasons took to a wandering lifestyle in the late Middle Ages. Eventually they
reached Europe and became part of the ethnic mix of many countries. Because they were
strangers to many of the people they moved among, strong prejudices grew up, and indeed
continue to this day.
Slavs: A Slav is any member of the people of Eastern Europe or Asian Russia who speak
a Slavonic language.
“Undesirables” (Homosexuals, mentally ill, political dissidents): Anybody who was
considered to be un-pure or genetically diseased were also sent to concentration and death
camps. Dissidents are people who openly criticize the policies of his or her government.
Examples of Other Genocides:
- Armenians by leaders of the Ottoman Empire. Armenians are a group that
originally lived in the Caucuses Mountains. They were a Christian
minority. During the Armenian Genocide (1915-1916), The
Ottoman Empire forced many of them to leave the country.
Many (Around 1.5 Million) were executed or died of
starvation.
- Peasants, government, and military leaders, and members of the elite in the Soviet
Union by Joseph Stalin.
- The educated, artists, technicians, former government officials, monks, and
minorities by Pol Pot (pictured right) in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge was a
communist group led by Pol Pot. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge overthrew the
Cambodian government. The idea was to turn Cambodia into a rural
agricultural nation. About 1.7 million were killed.
- Tutsi minority by Hutu in Rwanda. In 1994, Rwanda was led by Hutus.
The Tutsis were the minority. The Hutus used the government to kill Tutsi
opposition. Many Hutus were killed as well. As many as 800,000 died.
- The Darfuri civilians by the Sudanese Government. The “Darfur Genocide” refers to the
current mass slaughter and rape of Darfuri men, women, and children in Western Sudan.
The killings began in 2003 and continue still today, as the first genocide in
the 21st century.
- Muslim and Croats by Bosnian Serbs in former Yugoslavia.
Outcomes of World War II
The outcomes of World War II included the war crimes
trials, the division of Europe, plans to rebuild Germany and
Japan, and the establishment of international cooperative
organizations.
Outcomes of World War II:
- European powers’ loss of empires. Britain lost colonies
in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Burma in 1950. Later,
Britain lost colonies in Africa. France also gave up its
empires in Southeast Asia and Algeria.
- Establishment of two major powers in the world: The U.S.
and the U.S.S.R.
- War Crimes trials. The Nuremburg War Crimes Trials were
held from 1945-1946 to charge WWII German leaders with
“crimes against humanity” and to pass sentences.
- Division of Europe – Iron Curtain. The Iron Curtain was
the division of Europe into the Communist East and nonCommunist West after WWII. The term was coined by
Winston Churchill.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights arose directly from the experience of WWII and represents the first global
expression of rights to which all human beings are entitled to.
- Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was a US aid
program to restore the economies of Western European
nations after WWII.
- Establishment of the United Nations. The United
Nations replaced the League of Nations in 1945 and was
formed as an international organization to maintain
peace by guaranteeing the security of its members.
- Formation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO). NATO is a military alliance of democratic
countries formed in 1949 and agreed that an attack on
one would be an attack on all.
- Formation of the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was
an alliance between the Soviet Union and its Eastern
European allies formed by a military alliance in 1949.
Efforts for Reconstruction of Germany:
- Democratic government installed in West Germany and West Berlin.
- Germany and Berlin were divided among the four Allied powers.
- Emergence of West Germany as an economic power in postwar
Europe.
Japan was required to adopt a new constitution which took power from
the imperial family and gave it to Japanese citizens. Large Japanese
industrial and banking organizations (Zaibatsu) were decentralized during
reconstruction to prevent rearming the military.
Efforts in the Reconstruction of Japan:
- U.S. occupation of Japan under MacArthur’s
administration.
- Elimination of Japanese offensive military
capabilities; United States’ guarantee of Japan’s
security.
- Democracy and economic development. A
democratic government was created which
expanded education and civil rights for the
Japanese. The economy developed and became efficient in Japan
because it did not have to spend money on a military.
- Emergence of Japan as a dominant economy in Asia. By the
1970’s the Japanese economy had become the strongest economy in
Asia and one of the strongest in the world.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued in 1948 to
protect the “inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of
all members of the human family…”
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Was established and adopted by members of the
United Nations.
- Provided a code of conduct for the treatment of
people under the protection of their government.