Download World War II - English FCS

World War II
1939-1945
I. Causes
A. Similar Causes to WWI
World War I
World War II
1. Alliances
1. Alliances
2. Nationalism
2. Nationalism
3. Militarism
3. Militarism
4. Imperialism
4. Imperialism
1. Axis Powers
2. Allied Powers
B. Nationalism
C. Militarism
1. New Nazi Technologies
D. Imperialism (Axis Aggressions)
1931 Japan takes Manchuria and port of
Shanghai
 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia
 1936 Germany retakes Saar Valley
(Rhineland)
 1938 Germany annexes Austria
 1938 Munich Conference- Germany gains
Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia
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Aggressions cont’d
1937 Japan invades China
 1939 Germany takes rest of
Czechoslovakia
 1936-39 Germany helps Spanish fascists in
Spanish Civil War- Franco comes to power.
 1939 Hitler and Stalin sign Nazi-Soviet
Non-aggression Pact
 September 1, 1939 Germany invades
Poland. World War II officially starts.
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II. Axis on the Offensive
A. Germany 1939-1942
Blitzkrieg tactics
 By Fall of 1940, Germany had conquered
most of western Europe.
 Began the “Blitz” of Britain to try and
remove them from the war.
 June 1941 Germany violated NonAggression Pact and invaded Russia
(Operation Barbarossa)
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B. Japan 1937-1942
1937 Invaded China
 1941 Bombed Pearl Harbor/ Invaded
Philippines and Vietnam
 1942 Invaded Singapore and islands south
to New Guinea thus threatening Australia
 1942 Also took some Aleutian Islands (US
territory)
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C. Axis Successes by 1942
Held all of western and most of eastern
Europe
 Controlled most of the Mediterranean area
 North Africa
 Most of China and Southeast Asia
 Controlled large areas of Russia
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III. Allied Turning Points 1942-44
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1942 Battle of Midway
Partisans in Europe
August 1942 Stalingrad
Spring 1943 US and British forces defeat
Germany in North Africa
August 1943 Invade Sicily
Fall of 1943 Invade Italy
Summer 1943 Battle of Kursk
June 6, 1944 Normandy Invasion
Winter 1944 Battle of the Bulge
IV. “V” is for Victory
A. Allied Victory Europe
After the battles of the Bulge and Kursk,
the German army was on the run.
 Massive Allied bombing of Germany in
1944 and 1945
 Hitler commits suicide in April 1945 as
Soviets enter Berlin.
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B. Allied Victory Japan
After Midway, General Douglas MacArthur
begins “island hopping” campaign.
 By Spring of 1945, Allied forces had
recaptured most of Pacific and after
battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa could
now launch bombing raids on Japan.
 August 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki
destroyed by atomic bombs.
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V. Conferences
1941 Atlantic- Churchill and Roosevelt meet to
set war aims
 1943 Tehran- Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill meet to
discuss opening second front in Europe and to
agree to cooperate in war effort.
 Feb. 1945 Yalta- Big Three meet again to discuss
post war Europe, UN creation, agreement to
defeat Japan together.
 July 1945 Potsdam- Big Three (Truman now
president of US) re-affirm Yalta agreements, US
hints at atomic bomb development.
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VI. Results of WWII
2191 days of warfare
 17 million soldiers killed
 44 million civilians killed-12 million in Nazi
death camps
 Most expensive war in history
 United Nations formed
 2 power world emerges- US vs. USSR
 Cold War begins
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