Download The Origins of WWII

Objective
Students will comprehend political views of major world leaders during WWII and
how they gained popularity by analyzing key speeches made by them
The Origins of
WWII
Cult of Personalities
Benito Mussolini
Italian
Fascist
Violent youth
Blackshirts
Il Duce
Took over the
government in a coup
Joseph Stalin
Russian
Communist
Responsible for
the death 15 to
20 million of his
own people
Adolph Hitler
Austrian but German
leader
Nazi party
Resented the Allies
and Treaty of
Versailles
Responsible for the
death of millions
Hideki Tojo
Japan
Military leader
Became the Prime
Minister
Invaded Manchuria
and China
Responsible for many
deaths
Franklin D.
Roosevelt
American
Democrat
You know the rest
Didn’t actively kill
anyone
Winston Churchill
British
Prime Minister Conservative
Also didn’t actively
kill anyone
Authoritarian Government
When the government
has complete control of
the people and
demands complete
obedience
Run by a dictator
Fascism or Communism?
Communism –complete equality in society
through class warfare
Fascism –nationalistic right wing focused on
suppression of opposition
Power to the people
Strong government control
WWII Begins
1935 Hitler began to defy the
Treaty of Versailles
Started building up the air force
and draft
Europe tried to negotiate rather
than go to war
Thought Hitler’s demands were
reasonable and that he would
back off and want peace too.
Hitler wanted to unify all German
speaking people
Hitler takes more land
Hitler believed in Anschluss
and Lebensraum
Wanted to expand to
Austria who grudgingly
accepted but wanted to
put it to a vote
Hitler was afraid they
wouldn’t vote in his favor
so he invaded instead
Munich Crisis
Hitler claimed Sudetenland in
Czechoslovakia
Britain and France said they would go to war
with Germany if they invaded
September 1938 Britain, France, Italy, and
Germany all met in Munich to decide
Czechoslovakia’s fate
Agreed to Hitler’s demands
Appeasement
Czechoslovakia had to give up Sudetenland
or fight alone
Appeasement Fails
March 1939 Germany sent
troops into
Czechoslovakia
Divided it into Slovakia and
Czech lands
Slovakia was “independent”
but under German
control
Czech lands became a
German protectorate
Demand for Danzig
Around the same time Hitler
demanded Danzig
Polish city that was 90% German
but belonged to Poland since
WWI
He also wanted highways and
railways through Poland
Britain and France said they
would help Poland defend its
territory
Everyone prepared for war
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Germany proposed a nonaggression treaty with Russia
Stalin agreed hoping to turn
capitalist nations against
each other
Shocked the world but
everyone soon realized it was
because Germany wanted to
be able to fight the West
without Russia to its back
Invasion of Poland and the Fall of France
September 1st 1939 Germany
invaded Poland
Blitzkrieg -Lightning War
Western Europe waited for a
direct German attack
May 1940 Germany invaded
Belgium and smashed through
the northern French line
France was taken
Miracle at Dunkirk
German troops drove Allied forces
toward the English Channel
Port of Dunkirk became the Allies’
only way out
For some insane reason Hitler ordered
the German troops to stop
This gave troops a chance to escape to
England
Around 338,000 British and French
troops were saved
Battle of Britain
Hitler though Britain would
surrender after France fell
Winston Churchill was defiant “We
shall never surrender”
Luftwaffe vs. The British Royal air
Force
London was bombed so Britain
bombed Berlin
Radar
Hitler cancelled his invasion plans
But what about the rest of the world?
Japan rarely gets mentioned
before Pearl Harbor
Invasion of Manchuria and China
The Rape of Nanking
Terrible atrocities were inflicted
on the people of China and
Korea
American Isolationism
Determined not to get involved
again
Depression was on and people
were preoccupied
Not much more to say about
America at this time
And that’s just the beginning!