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World War II
1939 – 1945
Chapter 31 section 4
Chapter 32
World War II
CAUSES
 German Aggression in Europe
 Unstable Governments
 Rise of Fascism
 Failure of League of Nations
 Appeasement
World War II
 German Aggression
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Hitler Defies the Treaty of
Versailles
1935 Hitler announced
Germany would not follow the
conditions set by the treaty
Germany began to rebuild its
military
League of Nations issued a mild
condemnation
League could not stop German
rearming
Nazi Party Principles
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Unification of Greater Germany (Annexed Austria +
Germany)
Land + expansion (what fascist dictators do)
Anti-Versailles - abrogation of the Treaty.
Land and territory - lebensraum.
Only a "member of the German/Aryan race" can be a
citizen.
Anti-Semitism - No Jew can be a member of the race.
Anti-foreigner - only citizens can live in Germany.
No immigration - ref. to Jews fleeing pogroms.
Everyone must work.
Abolition of unearned income - "no rent-slavery".
Nationalization of industry (Factories focused on the
development of war technology)
Nazi Party Principles
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Extension of old age welfare.
Land reform
Death to all criminals
German law, not Roman law (anti- French Rev.)
Dictators take away civil liberties.
Education to teach "the German Way" [Hitler
Youth, German League for Girls]
Education of gifted children
Protection of mother and child by outlawing child
labor.
Encouraging gymnastics and swimming
Formation a national army.
Duty of the state to provide for its volk. (people)
Duty of individuals to the state
Appeasement Policy
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 Forbidden Land
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Although forbidden by the Treaty
of Versailles Hitler moved troops
into the Rhineland
French did not want war
British urged appeasement –
giving in to the aggressor to keep
peace
France and Britain looked weak in
Hitler’s eyes which served to
encourage further aggression!
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 Axis Powers
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Mussolini, Italian fascist leader sought
an alliance with Germany.
Japan shortly joined Italy and Germany
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 United States
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Adopted a policy of isolationism
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(political ties with other nations should be avoided)
Neutrality Acts
Passed by Congress
 Banned loans or selling of arms to nations at war
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Third Reich – German Empire
Hitler planned to annex Austria &
Czechoslovakia
Treaty of Versailles forbade an alliance
between Germany & Austria-Hungary
1938 – Hitler’s army took control of
Austria
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 Third Reich
 Czechoslovakia was a democracy
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Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) was on the
border of Germany
A German speaking area
Hitler demanded control of
of the Sudetenland
Many of the region
welcomed
the Germans.
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Munich Conference
France & Gr. Britain met and decided
that Hitler could take Sudetenland for
the promise to respect the borders of
Czechoslovakia
Six months later
Hitler took control
of Czechoslovakia.
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German – Russian Non Aggression Pact
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Britain & France sought Russia’s help
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Negotiations were slow
 Hitler signed an
agreement with Russia
but secretly they agreed
to divide Poland.
Germany and Russia will take Poland!
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 Germany Attacks Poland Sept. 1, 1939
Surprise attack
 German planes attacked from the air
 Tanks attacked on land
 Troops on the ground
“BLITZKRIEG”
“lighting war”
Considered the
beginning of WW II
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Sept. 3, 1939
 France declared war
on Germany
 Britain declared war
on Germany
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 Russia Took Eastern Poland
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Soviet troops took E. Poland
Also Latvia, Lithuania, & Estonia = Balkans
Finland resisted, but were later taken by
the Soviets.
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 Phony War
France & Gr. Britain stationed troops along
the French/ German border in a defensive
position, believing Germany would attack.
The German soldiers just stared back.
They remained there for months with no
military action taken – “sitzkrieg”
Ended when Hitler launched a surprise
attack on Denmark & Norway.
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BATTLE FOR FRANCE AND BRITAIN
 Germany took Holland, Belgium, & Luxembourg
Then to France
 Allies were backed up to Dunkirk
a port city on the English Channel
 Britain to the rescue!
 Sent 850 ships along with yachts,
lifeboats, motorboats, fishing
boats to save the Allied troops.
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Fall of France
Italy joined Germany in war against France
- attacked from the south
- Germany took Paris
- French leader, Charles de Gualle, exiled to
London setting up a government in exile.
- Established Free French Forces that fought
the Nazi until French liberation in 1944.
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Germany Assaults Great Britain
Great Britain stood ALONE against Germany
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister declared
that Britain would NEVER give in to Germany.
surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in,
never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large
or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of
the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it
seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition
of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this
country, were gone and finished and liquidated.
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 Operation Sea Lion
September 7, 1940
- Luftwaffe – (German Air
Force) Hitler hoped to knock
out the RAF and land 250,000
soldiers in Great Britain. Germany
targeted airfields and aircraft
factories
- Focused on the bombing
of London – Bombs exploded
daily in city streets. They killed
Britain resisted until May 10, 1941
and Hitler called off his attacks.
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Britain’s Secret
Weapons
Radar – detected number,
speed & direction of
incoming planes
Enigma – German code
machine in the hands of
Britain became a code
breaking machine.
Germany called off attacks
on Britain in May 1941.
The Germans were stopped
by the Allies!
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 Eastern Front / Balkans / Mediterranean Area:
Because of the success of Britain, Hitler changed his
European strategy.
Mediterranean Area: Sept. 1940Mussolini orders Italy’s North African army to move East
from Libya. His goal: seize British-controlled Egypt and
gain control of the Suez Canal (key to reaching the oil
fields of the Middle East). Italy pushed the British units
back. Finally in December, the British struck back. By
Feb. 1941, the British swept 500 miles across North
Africa and had taken 130,000 Italian prisoners.
Hitler had to step in to save his Axis partner…Italy.
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Feb. 1941: Hitler sent German tank commander Erwin
Rommel (“Desert Fox”) was sent to help the Italians
defeat the British in Africa.
March 24th: He attacked the British at Agheila. The
British retreated 500 miles east to Tobruk.
Mid-January 1942: after fierce fighting for Tobruk, the
British drove Rommel back to where he had started.
June 1942: Rommel regrouped and pushed the British
back across the desert and seized Tobruk.
This was a shattering loss for the Allies. Rommel later
wrote, “To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British
resistance, and we were now going to finish with it for good.”
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As early as the summer of 1940: Hitler plans to
attack his ally, the USSR. The key to Hitler’s
invasion plan was taking the Balkan countries of
southeastern Europe.
 Hitler attacked the Balkans in order to build
military bases in the region.
 Looking at how strong Germany’s resolve was,
Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary joined the Axis
powers in early 1941.
 Yugoslavia and Greece were pro-British
governments. Yugoslavia fell in 11 days and
Greece fell in 17.
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Germany Invades the Soviet Union
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June 22, 1941: Operation Barbarossa
Surprise to Russia - blitzkrieg
Germany moved 500 miles inside the Soviet Union.
Retreating Russians used scorched earth
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Sept. 8th: Germans surround Leningrad
• Hitler starves the city’s 2.5 million inhabitants.
• German bombs destroy food warehouses.
• Russians resort to eating cattle, horse feed,
cats, dogs, and finally, crows and rats.
• More than 1,000,000 people died that winter.
• Leningrad refused to surrender.
• Oct. 2, 1941: Hitler’s army moves to the
capital – Moscow.
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• Soviet General Georgi Zhukov counterattacked with 100
fresh Siberian divisions + harsh Soviet winter.
• Temperatures fell. Germans in their summer uniforms
retreated.
• Fuel and oil froze!
• Tanks, trucks, and weapons became useless!
• Hitler sent his generals a stunning order, “No retreat!”
• German troops dug in about 125 miles west of the
capital. They held the line until March 1943.
• RESULT: Moscow saved / Germans -500,000 lives
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 U. S. Aids Allies
 Lend-Lease Act - March 1941
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The President could lend or lease arms and
other supplies to any nation vital to the United
States
By the summer of 1941, the U.S. Navy was
escorting British ships carrying U.S. arms.
In response, Hitler orders his submarines to
sink any cargo ships they met.
On August 9th, Churchill and Roosevelt met
secretly on a battleship to sign the Atlantic
Charter upholding free trade and self
determination (which gave people the right to
choose their own government).
September 4th – a German U-boat fired on a
U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic. Roosevelt
ordered navy commanders to shoot on site.
This drew the U.S. unofficially into the war.
United States Enters WW II
 Dec. 7, 1941 Japan Attacked
Pearl Harbor
 America Declared War On
Japan
Dec.8, 1941
Dec. 8, 1941
Pearl Harbor
Memorial over the U.S.S.
Arizona
“…we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…”
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Japan becomes a strong industrial nation! It
expands to build up nationalism.
*Invaded China in 1931
After Pearl Harbor Japan took and or
attacked:
Guam
Java
Wake Island
Sumatra
Philippines
Borneo
Island of Corregidor
Hong Kong
Celebes
Malaya
Burma
Singapore
Burma Road
Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
World War II
Allies Strikes Back
Allied forces led by led by
Lt. Col. Doolittle.
- bombed major Japanese
cities
- not much physical
damage but the Japanese
understood they were
subject to attack
-raised American morale
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Pacific Battles
Coral Sea – Japan & the Allies used aircraft
carriers for the first time. The Allies lost
more ships but stopped the Japanese
southward expansion.
Battle of Midway – Japanese target
because of American military bases located
there. Pacific Allied commander Chester
Nimitz was outnumbered by Japanese naval
forced 4 to 1. Japanese ships were attacked
destroying 322 Japanese planes, all four
aircraft carriers, and one support ship.
One Japanese official commented: “The
Americans had avenged Pearl Harbor.”
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Additional Allied Victories
Gen. Douglas MacArthur
 Commander of Allied forces in the
Pacific
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Proposed “island hopping” past
Japanese strong points
Seize islands not well defended
Cut supply lines
Starve the enemy troops
The Holocaust
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For generations, many Germans, along with other
Europeans, had targeted the Jews as the cause of their
failures.
Blamed the Jews for their WWI defeat
Germany Targeted Jews, homosexuals,
gypsies and others
Idea of the Master Race of Aryans
Gov’t Policy of Persecution: Jews are
forbidden to hold public office; No Jew
can be a German citizen; deprived of jobs
and property
Wear the star of David
Kristallnacht “Night of Broken Glass”
Emigration (forced removal to other
countries)
The Final Solution = genocide, the
systematic killing of an entire people
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World War II
DEATHS
Jews Killed
Poland
Soviet Union
Hungary
Romania
Germany/Austria
3,300,000
2,850,000
650,000
600,000
240,000
% Survived
10
56
30
50
10
Allied Victories
 Force A Two Front War
 Allied Victory in North Africa
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Fighting in N. Africa since 1941
Germans dug in near Alexandra
All out British assault defeated the
Germans
Allies launched Operation Torch in Algeria
and Morocco – defeated Germans in 1943
World War II
 Allies Defeated Germany at Stalingrad
Luftwaffe bombed the city nightly
 Stalin ordered the defense of the city
 Germans controlled 90% of the city
 Russians trapped the Germans inside the city.
where they cut off supplies.
Germans wanted to surrender.
Hitler said, “No!” German soldiers
Surrendered.
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 Allies Invaded and Defeated
Italy
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1943 Allies invaded Sicily
Mussolini fell
Resistance fighters found Mussolini
in a truck disguised as a German
soldier.
Next day Mussolini was shot
Mussolini’s body was displayed in
the Milan town square
Total War!
 Factories: converted their operations to wartime
production; made machine guns to boots
 Automobile Factories produced tanks
 U.S. Typewriter company made armor-piercing shells.
 By 1944 – almost 18million U.S. workers, (most of
them were women)were in the war industry
 American govt. rationed scarce items
 Propaganda campaigns
 Scrap metal drives (especially in the Soviet Union)
 Buying of war bonds and stamps to provide $ for the
U.S. government
World War II
D-Day Invasion of France
* Largest military invasion in history
* 3.5 Million Allied troops – Operation Overlord
*Dummy army set up at Calais
*Germans protected by concrete walls
*Thousands of casualties
*Allies held the beach
*A million additional troops
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Battle of the Bulge
Soviets from the east
Allies from the west
Germans broke through western
defenses creating a bulge in the
defensive line
Allies pushed back the Germans
and defeated them
Soon afterward Hitler committed
suicide and Germany surrendered.
World War II
The Manhattan Project:
Bombing of Nagasaki & Hiroshima
After the loss of many Allied lives
in battle with Japan, the decision
was made to bomb Japan rather
than suffer the loss of perhaps
another ½ to a million soldiers
8/6/45 - The first Atomic Bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima with the loss
of 73,000 lives – Japan did not surrender
8/9/1945 – The second bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki.
World War II
 The Japanese surrender on September 2,
1945 on board the U.S.S. Missouri.
Post War Europe
Huge Loss of Life and Property
Agriculture and Infrastructure Destroyed
Unstable Post War Governments
Nuremberg Trials
 International Military Tribunal to try German war
crimes
 Occupation and Demilitarization of Japan
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Japan was ordered to take down military forces, leaving only
enough to defend the nation
A constitution was written
U. S. helped with the rebuilding of the Japanese economy