Download World War II

Reconstruction and Prosperity
• The world experienced a short
recession immediately following World
War I
• The later 1920’s were generally a period
of global prosperity
Ford Model T
Put the entire
world on wheels
Causes of The Great Depression
• Overproduction
--more products available
than people can purchase
• Speculation
-- borrow money to invest
and make quick profit
• Lead to the Stock
Market Crash of
1929
Depression—an economic
downturn in which large
numbers of businesses
fail and workers are
unemployed
The Great Depression
• The interrelationship of loans and debts
helped the depression spread from the U.S.
to Europe then to the rest of the world
• Most leaders reacted poorly (stopped spending, cut off
trade, and tightened credit)
• Franklin Roosevelt (US)—used New Deal to
put people to work on public works projects
German Breadlines
Japanese children eating radish roots during famine
Fascism
• A political ideology that developed after
World War I
• Fascists believe in:
• extreme nationalism (nation superiority)
-unite all social classes (strong over weak)
• glorified violence and racism(defeat
opponents and expand country)
• opposed socialism and democracy
• Blind obedience to a strong (all powerful)
leader who expressed the national will
The Rise of Fascism
• In Italy, Benito Mussolini, comes to power
creating a totalitarian state in 1922
Totalitarianism—dictator or political party
controls all aspects of life
The Rise of Fascism
• In Germany, Adolf Hitler,
becomes leader of fascist
party known as the Nazi’s
Wrote Mein Kampf stated:
Germans were superior
race and Jews were the
major cause of Germany’s
problems
The Nazi Rise of Dictatorship In Germany
• In Germany, millions of workers lost their jobs in
the Great Depression
• German people (all classes) turn turned to the
Nazi Party to help
Election date
Votes in
millions
Share
May 20, 1928
0.81
2.6%
September 14, 1930
6.41
18.3%
July 31, 1932
13.75
37.3%
November 6, 1932
11.74
33.1%
March 5, 1933
17.28
43.9%
The Nazi Rise of Dictatorship In Germany
Hitler’s uses Nazi message
of:
*weak Weimar republic
*harsh Versailles Treaty
 Lost—but not forgotten country.
 Into the heart
You are to dig yourself these words
as into stone: Which we have lost
may not be truly lost!
The Nazi Rise of Dictatorship In Germany
*anti-communism
*anti-Semitism
*blaming Jews for defeat in WWI
--In 1933, Hitler becomes
Chancellor of Germany
Nazism (National Socialism)
• In 1933 Hitler and Nazi Party:
-eliminate all political rivals
-restricts Jews in business and
education
-begin a massive rebuilding of
the military
-public projects to stimulate the
economy
-used terror with Gestapo
(secret police)
-Build concentration camps
The Origins of World War II
The War in Europe
The War in Asia
The Global Impact of World War II