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World War II
LEADERS OF THE AXIS POWERS
•ITALY- MUSSOLINI
•JAPAN-HIROHITO
•GERMANY-HITLER
Events leading to WWII
Italy
Benito
Mussolini
seized power,
became
dictator and
made Italy a
fascist state
Events leading to WWII
Japan
Invaded and took the
Chinese province
of Manchuria.
Protested by League
of Nations
Events leading to WWII
Germany
Adolph Hitler
became Fuehrer
(leader) of
Germany
Events leading to WWII
Hitler
 Destroyed the
Republic
 Persecuted Jews
 Drove out political
enemies
 Made Germany a
totalitarian state (one
party) state
Events leading to WWII
Mussolini’s
army invaded
and
conquered
Ethiopia in
Africa
Events leading to WWII
German Troops
marched into the
Rhineland (area
between Germany
and France) in
violation of Treaty
of Versailles.
Events leading to WWII
Germany and
Italy sent
planes and
troops to
Francisco
Franco, a
revolutionary
leader in Spain.
Events leading to WWII
Germany and
Italy formed the
Rome-Berlin
Axis (Later
Japan joined ,
making it the
Rome-BerlinTokyo Axis)
Events leading to WWII
Japan began an
undeclared war with
china.
Though the democracies
condemned Japan’s
action, the U.S. and
England continued to
ship vital war materials
to her
Events leading to WWII
Hitler’s
Legions
marched into
Austria and
annexed it to
Germany.
Events leading to WWII
Hitler threatened war if the
Sudetenland (part of
Czechoslovakia) were not turned
over to Germany
Events leading to WWII
• France and England, anxious to avoid
war, appeased Hitler and gave the
area to him.
• He then demanded and got the
remainder of Czechoslovakia after
signing a non-aggression pact with
Russia
Events leading to WWII
• September 1, 1939 Germany attacks
Poland
• This marked the beginning of World
War II
• France and Great Britain declare war
on Germany
• Russia invades Poland from the east
and seized the Baltic states.
The Axis Powers
Germany
Italy
Japan
The Allied Powers
France
Great Britain
Russia
The United States attempts to
remain Neutral (isolationism)
As Germany and Japan gained
ground, the U.S. changes her
policy from one of strict
neutrality to one of aiding the
Allies “Short of War”
Events leading to WWII
Lend Lease Act,
1941, authorized
the President to
send aid to the
Allies. The U.S.
became the
“arsenal of
democracy”
Events leading to WWII
The U.S. Made preparations for
defense in case of war
 Billions of dollars were appropriated for
strengthening the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
 In 1940, the Selective Service Act was passed
to raise an army of fighting men.
Western Front
April 1940, Germany invades and
occupies Denmark (four hours) and
Norway (four days)
May 1940, Hitler invades Holland (three
days) and Belgium (fourteen days). His
army skirts the Marginal Line of France
and races to the English Channel
Norway
Denmark
Holland
Belgium
Western Front
• June 1940, France is forced to surrender in the
same railway car in the forest at Campiegne,
where Germany signed the Armistice in 1918.
Then Hitler orders the railway car blown up.
• The British Expeditionary forces are pushed back
to Dunkirk Belgium with the backs to the Sea
• Through a supreme effort the entire army is
evacuated by the British Navy but all their
equipment is lost.
Western Front
July 1940- Hitler
begins preparations
for the invasion of
England. Winston
Churchill becomes
Prime Minister of
England (Great
Britain) and vows to
fight on.
Western Front
• August 1940Germany begins
the Blitzkrieg
(Lightning War)
against England
by trying to bomb
her into
submission
Western Front
• September 1940The Royal Air Force
(RAF) Turns back the
German Air Force and
forces them to give up
round-the- clock
bombing. Now the
Germans can only
carry out nightly terror
raids.
Western Front
October 1940- Hitler gives
up plans to invade Great
Britain and decides to
turn against Russia. He
plans to defeat England
with submarines by
cutting off supplies. His
U-boast sink more than
a British ship a day
Western Front
• June 1941- Hitler
invades Russia. His
army drives a
thousand miles into
Russia. At a spot
fifteen miles form
Moscow, he is
stopped by the
Russian Winter.
Start of WWII
Western Front
• 1941- Mussolini invades Egypt and is
thrown out by the British.
• 1941- Italy and Hitler invade and conquers
Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania,
Greece, and Crete.
– This is done with the leadership of Field
Marshall Rommell for Germany, known as
“the desert fox”.
Germany
Field Marshall Rommell, “The Desert Fox”
Events leading American
involvement in WWII
December 1941- The U.S. placed an embargo
on all war materials sold to Japan. (Oil, steel,
iron, etc) because of their refusal to stop her
aggression against China. Japan knows she
cannot exist without these material so she
decide on radical action. Two of Japan’s top
diplomats are dispatched to Washington D.C.,
in early December 1941, to try to negotiate a
compromise .In the meantime the Japanese
Fleet sets sail.
December 7, 1941
December 7, 1941
• “A Day that will live in Infamy”
• U.S. Naval and Military installations in
Hawaiian Islands are surprise attacked by
the Japanese without a declaration of war.
• All eight U.S. battleships were sunk or
badly damaged.
• The U.S. world War II battle cry becomes
“remember pearl harbor”
December 8, 1941
• The U.S.
congress
Declares
war on
Japan
December 11, 1941
• Germany
and Italy
declare
war on the
U.S.
World War II
America enters the
war
Two Front War
European
Theater
Attempt to
defeat
Germany and
Italy in Europe
Pacific
Theater
Attempt to stop
Japanese
aggression in
the Pacific
Region
Philippines
Within hours of
attacking Pearl
Harbor, Japan
attacks the
Philippines. U.S.
forces are forced
to surrender to
Japanese.
American General
Douglas McArthur
vows, “I shall
return!”
Bataan Death March of
surrendered U.S. Troops
Battle of Midway
• Japan attacks Midway
Island (American Naval
station) in an attempt to
wipe out the entire U.S.
fleet.
• The critical Battle of
Midway on June 4, 1942
turned the tide in the
Americans' favor and
they now controlled the
Pacific.
U.S.S. Yorktown, during the Battle of Midway
Pacific Theater
• The allied powers
leapfrogged from
island to island until
they controlled the
island of Saipan, the
last island that
protected the
Japanese mainland.
Raid on Tokyo
Jimmy Doolittle led the
audacious April 1942
bombing raid on
Japan from the decks
of an aircraft carrier.
Although little
damage resulted, his
action raised
American morale
European Theater
• Allies prepared to
invade Italy and
Benito Mussolini. On
July 9, 1943,
American and British
parachute and
amphibious landings
in Sicily marked the
beginning of the
invasion.
European Theater - Italy
U.S. -General
George Patton
Britain-General Montgomery
European Theater
• Allies led by General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
make a secretive massive
assault on France near
Normandy.
• The secret operation is
code nicknamed
“Operation Overlord”,
which became known
through history as D-Day
D-Day
D-Day
• June 6, 1944
• More than 150,000 Allied soldiers stormed
the beaches of Normandy in an early
phase of the largest amphibious military
operation in history
• Although the Allied troops suffered heavy
losses, including a casualty rate of 90% in
several companies attacking Omaha
Beach, they broke through German
defenses after heavy fighting.
NORMANDY, FRANCE
European Theater
The Battle of the
Bulge
Germans mounted one
final, desperate
offensive through the
Ardennes Forest, in
Belgium, against the
relatively weak center
of the American lines
European Theater
The Battle of the
Bulge
U.S. Division
Commander of the
surrounded 101st
Airborne were asked
to surrender to the
Germans. He sent
back his reply, “Nuts”
European Theater
The Battle of the
Bulge
After 10 days of fighting, the
Allies had crushed the
German offensive. The
Battle of the Bulge was a
major defeat for the
German Army; it opened
the door for Allied
invasion of Germany
Death of a President
• President
Roosevelt
dies April
1945, his Vice
President
Harry Truman
succeeds him
as President.
European Theater
• By early 1945, the combined effect of Allied
bombing, invading Americans and British troops
from the West, and vengeful Soviets in the East
had reduced much of Germany to rubble.
• The Soviets carried out the attack on Berlin,
capturing it by the end of April. Hitler committed
suicide in his bunker beneath Berlin on April 30
as the Soviets closed in. On May 8, remaining
German forces finally surrendered
unconditionally to the Allies.
European Theater
VE Day“Victory in
Europe”
May 8 1945
the war was
officially over
in Europe.
Pacific Theater
Japan still remained
undefeated. The
prospect of
invading the island
nation was
daunting, especially
in the face of
projected bitter
resistance from the
Japanese people.
Pacific Theater
Roosevelt had
gathered
hundreds of
scientists to
develop a weapon
of destruction,
the A-Bomb. This
secret group was
code named the
“Manhattan
Project”
Pacific Theater
• August 6, 1945 the
U.S. dropped the first
Atomic Bomb on
Hiroshima, Japan.
• August 8, 1945 the
U.S. dropped the
second Atomic bomb
on Nagasaki, Japan.
Pacific Theater
• On
September 2,
1945, Japan
surrendered
aboard the
U.S.S.
Missouri.
The War is Over!
VJ Day
September 2,
1945
Marked the end
of the war
Although more than 400,000
American soldiers were killed
(nearly 300,000 in combat), these
losses paled in comparison with
those of other nations,
particularly the Soviet Union,
Japan, and Germany. American
civilians also suffered
comparatively little