Download Risk another World War

A Prelude to War
Unit 14
The Interwar Years
&
World War II
Storm Brewing
•
•
•
•
•
Economic trouble and desperation in Europe
Some European nations still hadn’t recovered
since World War I ended (1918)
Many of these nations had to rebuild (factories,
homes, other structures)
Many were concerned about survival that they
didn’t think about government and political
platforms
Leaders would emerge to take advantage of the
situation.
Germany after World War I
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The depression crushes Germany
The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to:
Military, Territorial, and Economic stipulations
Reparations of more than 33 billion dollars.
In order to pay the reparations, Germany began
to print more money
This made the currency less valuable (Inflation)
Germany was also forced to give up important
economic territories (colonies)
These reasons led to the rise of dictators (rulers
who have complete control)
The Rise of Fascism
• Widespread economic despair paved the
way for the rise of dictators
• Strong leaders in Italy and Germany
promised solutions
• Germany – Adolf Hitler
• Italy – Benito Mussolini
• Fascism is the rule of a people by
dictatorial government that is extremely
nationalistic, imperialistic, and
sometimes even racist.
Strong military
Censorship and government
control of news
Use of violence
and terror
Blind loyalty to leader
Fascism
Rule by dictator
Strict discipline
Extreme Nationalism
State control of
economy
Totalitarianism
1919 -1939
Why did people support Hitler?
•Hitler and the Nazi party promised
people what they wanted
•The Weimar Republic appeared to
have no idea how to solve the problems
of the Depression.
•Hitler used the Jews and others as
scapegoats, blaming all the problems
on them.
•To Germans at the time Hitler made
sense, he united everyone by providing
explanations for Germany's problems.
•People in Germany were tired of their
poor quality of life.
•Hitler promised to make Germany
proud again…it was exactly what
people wanted to hear.
•The Third Reich had begun
Handout
The
Fuhrer
Adolf
Hitler
*The LEFT essentially plays up the role of society, and the community
as a whole. In Russian Communism the government controls
industry…
*The RIGHT essentially plays up the role of the individual…
In Fascism, individuals dominating industry and military control the
government.
THE RISE OF BENITO MUSSOLINI
•Italy was troubled after WWI
•Mussolini’s visit with the King: “Can I be
Prime Minister? I will clean up the streets.”
•Mussolini and the Matteotti incident:
Parliament issues full power to Mussolini
similarly to Hitler will after the fire.
•When Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party came
to power in Italy in 1922, he wanted to link
his own regime's existence with the glories of
the past Roman Empire.
•Mussolini promised to end unemployment
and gain land for Italy
•To do so, the Fascists used force and terror to
gain control of Italy
•Censored free elections, free speech, and free
press.
•They even killed or jailed enemies
•Mussolini was known as Il Duce.
What Happens to Lenin?
Iosif
Vissarionovich
Dzhugashvili
A.K.A.
Joseph Stalin
• Before Lenin dies: A couple of things:
• 1) Everyone assumes Trotsky is the successor… but Lenin feels he
is egocentric.
• 2) He wants Stalin to be removed from his post as Secretary
General.
• 3) Like Rome before, no successor=major instability
• Lenin dies in 1924
• Despite the “trash talk” Joseph Stalin acted on his best
behavior to ‘win over’ his colleagues.
• Joseph Stalin emerges through an immense power struggle
among Communist Party Leaders
• Stalin launches “The Great Purge”
• Stalin accused thousands of people of crimes against the
government. (Trotsky- while forced to Mexico, did not escape the
purge!)
• Stalin ruled through terror and brutality
• Many of the accused were exiled, sent to prison camps, or
executed
• The Soviet Union turned into a totalitarian regime.
(Government that regulates every aspect of the lives of its
citizens)
FIRST LEADERS OF THE SOVIET UNION
Lenin
(1917-1924)
•Chief Goal: to create
a classless society with
production in the
hands of the people
•Allows some private
business; lets some
peasants hold land
•Standards of living
rises for many workers
and peasants
Shared
•Became
Communist
Party Leader
•Uses secret
police to
enforce
Communist
will
•Wants to
bring about a
world wide
Communist
revolution
Stalin
(1924-1953)
•Chief Goal: to make
the Soviet Union into a
modern industrial
power with all
production under
government control
•Sets up Five-Year
Plans
•Forces peasants to
live on group farms
•Standard of living
falls for most workers
and peasants
• Stalin’s collectivization
program called for
peasants to give up
their small farms and
live on state-owned
ones.
• The government
controlled prices and
farm supplies and set
production quotas.
• Many peasants resisted
by growing just
enough to eat…
• But Stalin’s policies
were devastating
• Stalin accused the
peasants of being
kulaks (rich peasants
living very well while
others starved)
• The NKVD (formally
known as the Checka,
went round the
villages confiscating
food…Some reports
state about 15 million
people starving!
By the time his 62year reign came to
an end, Japan had
risen like a
Phoenix out of the
postwar rubble to
become one of the
world's richest
countries. It was
in demonstrating
this remarkable
capacity for
change that
Hirohito truly
became the living
symbol of his
people.
Emperor Hirohito
Emperor Hirohito
was the longestreigning monarch in
Japan's history,
ruling from 1926
until his death in
1989.
Japan and Militarism
• Japan had been a democracy during the 1920’s
• When the Great Depression hit in 1929, many were
speculating if capitalism was “right” for them
• Militarists and extreme nationalists gained power
•Many were unhappy over the loss of traditions, were
unemployed, poverty stricken, and wanted glory
•Therefore, Japan would end many democratic feelings,
increase honor for Emperor Hirohito, and would seek to expand
territory.
Dictators seek to expand territory
1. Japan will
invade China
(1931)
2. Italy will
attack
Ethiopia
(1935-1936)
3. German
Aggression in
Europe (1935)
Japan invades Manchuria
•The militaristic leaders of Japan
wanted to build a Japanese
empire.
•Japan will seize the Chinese
territory of Manchuria.
•This infuriates the League of
Nations since Japan is one of the
official members.
•So what happens?
•Japan withdrew its membership
from the League.
•In 1937, the Japanese army will
continue the invasion, moving
further into the Chinese
mainland.
•One of the invasion points was
the city of Nanjing (Nanking).
•The invasion was so brutal it
was referred to as “the rape of
Nanjing”
Gendercide
Gendercide:
gender-selective mass killing
Murdered Chinese women and children
are strewn across the steps of a Nanjing
building.
• The total number of
civilians and prisoners-ofwar murdered in Nanking
during the first six weeks of
the Japanese occupation
was over 200,000.
• These estimates are not
exaggerated by the fact that
burial societies and other
organizations counted more
than 155,000 bodies which
they buried
• ...these figures do not take
into account those persons
whose bodies were
destroyed by burning or by
throwing them into the
Yangtze River or otherwise
disposed of by the
Japanese.
As the twentieth
century dawns,
Japan begins to
expand its
imperial reach,
responding to a
perceived threat
from expanding
western nations,
such as Russia
and Britain.
In 1931, Japan
invades and
claims the rest
of Manchuria.
Japan invades
China in 1937,
marching into
French
Indochina by
1940. In
Europe, Adolf
Hitler's armies
now occupy
much of
central Europe,
including
France. The
world is at war.
By 1942, at the
height of its
wartime success,
Japan will have
massed over five
million troops,
expanding its
empire to include
the Philippines and
much of the
Southwest Pacific.
Hideki Tojo
•Prime Minister, Chief of Staff of
the Army, and Minister of War
from October 1941 until July 1944.
•Tojo could almost be described
as the dictator of Japan.
•He was the principal director of
all Japanese war operations.
Back Page
Events in Japan
1929 - 1940
1929
The Great Depression hits Japan
1931
Japan takes control of Manchuria, China
1933
Japan withdraws from League of Nations
1934
Japan announces it will no longer submit
limits on its navy
1936
Japan signs non-aggression pact with
Germany
1937
Japanese troops kill hundreds of thousands
of civilians in Nanjing, China
1940
Japan attempts to expand its power in Asia
by proposing an economic alliance of Asian
nations
European
Advancements
Back Page
Lebensraum
• In Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, he detailed his belief that the
German people needed Lebensraum ("living space", i.e. land
and raw materials), and that it should be found in the East.
• It was the stated policy of the Nazis to kill, deport, or enslave
the Polish, Russian and other Slavic populations, whom they
considered inferior, and to repopulate the land with
Germanic peoples.
• The entire urban population was to be exterminated by
starvation, thus creating an agricultural surplus to feed
Germany and allowing their replacement by a German upper
class.
The Road to War
• January 30, 1933
• 1933-5
• 1935
• 1936
• 1937
• 1938 - Spring
Hitler is appointed Prime Minister of Germany
Hitler violates terms of the Treaty of Versailles by
increasing the size of the German army, navy, and air force.
Germany also withdrew from the League of Nations.
Germany occupies the Rhineland (border of France and
Belgium). Puts Military there. (Nothing Done)
Italy invades Ethiopia – Ethiopia will appeal to League of
Nations but, no nation was willing to get involved (Risk
another World War)
Japan opens up full scale invasion of China. U.S.
government does nothing. Japanese airplanes sink the U.S.
gunboat “Pane.” U.S. protests are met by Japanese
apologies and compensation for damages.
Germany annexes Austria (makes Austria a part of
Germany). (Nothing Done)
Germany threatens a European war if Czechoslovakia does
not hand over large portions of territory to Germany. (The
Sudetenland) Hitler promises that this is his last demand.
Allies agree. FDR refuses to involve the US in European
problems.
So how was Hitler
faring in his first five
years on the job?
Time
Magazine’s,
Man of the
Year 1938!
Hitler and Mussolini
sign the Rome-Berlin
Axis 1936
Japan will soon follow,
creating what we know
as the Axis Powers
German Aggression in
Europe and Appeasement
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In 1938, Hitler invades Austria (Austria welcomes the
unification) and then looks to the Sudetenland. (a region
of Czechoslovakia-Czechoslovakia does not support
annexation, but yet many Germans live there)
Obviously western democracies responded weakly to
German aggression
Leaders will gather in Munich, Germany for a conference
to discuss the happenings in Europe.
The conference was appropriately named… (The Munich
Conference)
In an unbelievable decision, western democracies led by
British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlin, agree to
allow Germany to seize control of the Sudetenland from
Czechoslovakia.
This became better known as the Appeasement at Munich.
“Peace in our Time!”
Hmm. Seeing the pattern here, what will happen next?
The Road to War
•1939 – Spring
•1939 – Aug 23
•1939 – Sep 1
Hitler breaks promise and takes over the rest of Czechoslovakia
Stalin and Hitler surprise everyone by signing a non-aggression
pact.
Hitler and Stalin would not attack each other. Why is this
important?
Think back to WWI.
Germany invades Poland. Soviet Union also invades Poland and
the nation is divided between Germany and the Soviet Union per
their pact. (The Nazi-Soviet Pact divided Poland between the
two.)
Two days later, Britain and France declare war on Germany.
The Massacre in the Woods
Stalin’s evil reign continues…
•The NKVD (The New Checka,) will
shoot some 10,000 Polish officer
POW’s in Katyn Forest.
•Most of these men would eventually
lead Poland after the war…
•They never got a chance
•The incident was denied until 1991,
when Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris
Yeltsin apologized for the incident
The World at
War
•
•
•
Axis Powers
Germany
Italy
Japan
Allied Powers
• Britain
• France
•
Soviet Union (Later on)
• China
• U.S. (later on)
• 41 other nations
A View of the World
After
WWI
German Blitzkrieg
•Blitzkrieg = lightning
warfare
•In less than a month, Poland
fell to Germany and the
Soviet Union
•In 1940, Germany conquered
Denmark, Norway, Belgium,
Luxembourg, and the
Netherlands.
•However, France was well
equipped with the “the best”
defense system the world
had seen… The Maginot
Line.
FRANCE
“THE
IMPENETRABLE
COUNTRY”
• The Maginot Line was such an impressive piece of construction that people
from around the world visited it.
• However, the Maginot Line had two major failings – it was obviously not
mobile and it assumed that the Ardennes (the forest area) was impenetrable.
• The German Army attacked through the Ardennes
• One million men and 1,500 tanks crossed the seemingly impenetrable forests in
the Ardennes.
• Once the Maginot Line had been isolated it had little military importance.
• In 1940, France too would fall victim.
• It took less than two weeks!
• By June of 1940, Germans had entered Paris.
• Many of the french surrendered after the government signed its surrender with
Germany – few had to be captured in battle.
• One in seven French divisions was a fortress division - so the Maginot Line took
out 15% of the French Army. Though not a huge figure, these men may have
had an impact on the advance of the Germans or at least got evacuated at
Dunkirk to fight another time.
VICHY FRANCE
•Charles De Gaulle managed to
escape to England just before
the armistice was signed by the
French government handing
France to the Nazis. From
England, he spent the next 4
years organizing increasing
French resistance and calling
for support from French
colonies.
During World War II (1939-1945), Nazi
Germany defeated France in 1940 and
occupied the northern part of the country.
•He proclaimed himself the
leader of the Free French (later
the Fighting French) forces. De
Gaulle found himself with a
French navy, air force, and army,
which were under the general
command of the British.
The Battle
of Britain
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Even though France fell to the
Germans, The British didn’t
have intention of quitting.
“We shall defend every village,
every town, and every city”
This was the quote by new
British Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill
The decision surprised
everyone. Hitler did not really
have intentions of taking
Britain…
Hitler was aware that the
strength of Britain was the
RAF (Royal Air Force)
Hitler focused his attention on
defeating the RAF with his
own air force called the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe unleashed
massive bombing attacks on
Britain (London)
Despite constant bombing, the
British did not surrender
OPERATION: SEALION
Britain holds on primarily because the Luftwaffe
bombed London instead of focusing on the RAF
Airfields
The bombing terrified Londoners but it gave the RAF
time to recover.
Luftwaffe
Messerschmitt_ME109
A.k.a. - “The Butcher”
German Home-front
• Anti Semitism- Hostility
toward or prejudice against
Jews
• Nuremberg Laws – created a
separate legal status for
German Jews, eliminating
their citizenship and many
civil an property rights.
• The Nuremberg Laws
defined a person as Jewish
based on ancestry blood rather
than religious beliefs
• Kristallnacht- “Night of the
Broken Glass”
• Nearly 100 Jews killed, and
thousands of Jewish
businesses and places of
worship were destroyed.
Turning Points in the War
• Entry of the
United States
(1941)
• Battle of Stalingrad
(1942 – 1943)
• El Alamein (1942)
• Battle of The Coral
Sea and Midway
(1942)
• Invasion of Italy
(1943)
• Invasion of
Normandy (1944)
Entry of the
United States
(1941)
•Tojo made plans to invade the
Dutch East Indies- a source of oil•Tojo believed one thing stood in
their way- The United States Navy
•On December 7th, 1941, Japanese
warplanes bombed the huge
American naval base at Pearl
Harbor
•Before the day was over, about
2,400 Americans-both servicemen
and civilians died. Many of the
American warplanes and ships
were destroyed or damaged
•“A date which will live in
infamy”
-FDR
•The United States declares war on
Japan
•Germany and Italy declare war on
the United States
American Home Front
• Enormous task of mobilization; men and women volunteered for
service
• Factories converted; “victory gardens” planted; scrap drives and
recycling to collect materials
• Some negative effects of patriotism
• Japanese Americans placed in internment camps during the war
THE EASTERN FRONT
• OPERATION BARBAROSSA
• THE LENINGRAD SEIGE
OPERATION BARBAROSSA
• While Hitler conquered Western Europe, Stalin and the Soviet
army expanded its territory in Europe
• Hitler feared Soviet ambitions and didn’t trust Stalin’s
intentions
• Hitler also wanted Soviet wheat and oil fields
• Non-Aggression Pact?
• Broken!
• As a result, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941
• June 1941, Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union had initial
successes
• Major goals of Leningrad and Moscow not reached before
harsh Soviet winter
• Soviet armies had time to rebuild and would fight back
•During the winter of 1941, 3,000 people starved to death every day
in Leningrad
•Bodies were left in the street and were reduced to eating wallpaper
paste and carpenter’s glue.
•Stalin, who hated Leningrad and subjected it to the worst ‘purges,’
gave the city the title, “Hero City,” in honor of its brave stand.
•Like Francis Scott Key and the Star Spangled Banner, Dmitri
Shostakovitch writes a Leningrad Symphony during the seige.
•The 872 days of the siege caused unparalleled famine in the
Leningrad region through disruption of utilities, water, energy and
food supplies.
•This resulted in the deaths of up to 1,500,000 soldiers and civilians
and the evacuation of 1,400,000 more, mainly women and children,
many of whom died during evacuation due to starvation and
bombardment.
•Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery alone in Leningrad holds half a
million civilian victims of the siege.
•Economic destruction and human losses in Leningrad on both sides
exceeded those of the Battle of Stalingrad the Battle of Moscow, or
the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
•The siege of Leningrad is the most lethal siege in world history,
and some historians speak of the siege operations in terms of
genocide, as a "racially motivated starvation policy" that became an
integral part of the unprecedented German war of extermination
against populations of the Soviet Union generally. (courtesy of
Wikipedia)
Battle of Stalingrad
(1942 – 1943)
Turning Point in Europe
• The Red Army will stand
firm at Stalingrad
• Stalingrad was a powerful
industrial city for the
Soviet Union
• Hitler wanted to take the
resources and cripple the
Soviet’s at the same time
Battle of Stalingrad
(1942 – 1943)
Turning Point in Europe
• One of the most brutal campaigns of the war
• Stalin refused to have the city named after him
fall
• Stalin insisted they fight- even without food…
• Somehow, the Soviets gained the upper-hand.
• This time Hitler had to make a decision.
• Soon to be surrounded, Hitler orders the troops
to stay and fight… reinforcements will be
coming.
• The effort fell far short.
• The German commander told Hitler that his
troops had no ammunition.
• “Surrender is Forbidden”
• Many of the 90,000 Axis - troops would be
captured and sent to Soviet prison camps
• Nearly 1 million Soviet soldiers died alone in
the city’s defense.
• But, the seemingly invincible Germany army
was now retreating to the West
“Here was the
greatest misery that
I have seen in my
whole life. An
endless wailing of
wounded and dying
men…most of them
had received nothing
to eat for days”
-Alois Dorner, German
soldier, January 1943
El Alamein (1942)
War in North Africa
The Battles at El Alamein ended Axis hopes of occupying Egypt, taking
control of the Suez Canal and gaining access to the Middle Eastern oil fields.
Back-and-forth fighting
• Afrika Korps led by Erwin
Rommel = Desert Fox
• Pushed British back into Egypt
with power German Panzers
• Traded blows for two years
• British victory under Gen. Bernard
Montgomery
• Axis power lessened in North
Africa
Americans join the battle
• Soviets wanted European front
• Invasion of western North Africa
• Dwight D. Eisenhower led troops
• Rommel caught between forces in
east and west
• Supply problems worsened
• Eventual surrender to Allies
Nearly 250,000 Axis soldiers taken prisoner; with surrender, all of
North Africa in Allied hands
Pacific Problems
• Japan moves towards the
Philippines
• Douglas MacArthur was the
American General stationed
there.
• Japanese forces take the
Philippines and MacArthur is
forced to retreat
• The Japanese will force up to
70,000 prisoners to march up
the Bataan Peninsula to a
distant prison camp.
• This became better known as
the Bataan Death March
• Many Americans and Filipinos
will perish during the walk
and at the prison.
Battle of The Coral Sea
and Midway (1942)
Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of Midway
• First carrier battle—May 1942
• June 1942—high seas battle
• Off northeast coast of Australia
• Midway a strategic island—home
to U.S. military base
• Japanese forces tried to take Key
Ports on island of New Guinea
• Japanese advantage—more ships
and carriers
• Allied vessels tried to block attack
• Each side lost a carrier in battle
• A Japanese advance had been
stopped
• U.S. advantage—Japanese secret
code broken
• Japan’s navy suffered terrible
blow
• Video: Battle 360 Midway
Invasion of Italy (1943)
Next Allied goal: Italy itself
• July 1943, Allied soldiers
landed on the island of
Sicily
– Weak Italian
resistance
– Benito Mussolini
forced from power
• Allies capture Sicily
– Made plans to invade
the Italian mainland
– Hitler tried to protect
against the Allied
march through Italy
• September 1943
– Allies move into
southern Italy
– Strong German
resistance as troops
moved north
– Bloody fighting
continued for months
In April 1945,
Benito Mussolini
and Clara Petacci,
Il Duce's mistress,
were captured
near Lake Como
in northern Italy.
They were later
executed and the
corpses were
taken to Milan and
placed on public
display.
Invasion of Normandy (1944)
•Second front in Western Europe
•Sea assault led by Marshall and
Eisenhower
•June 6, 1944, invasion at
Normandy
•Victory came with high
casualties
•Paris free by end of August
•Soviet advance—pushing Hitler’s troops
backward
•Axis forces with 2 million casualties—
outnumbered and outgunned
•Early 1944, Siege of Leningrad ends; more
victories for Soviets followed
•Axis forces driven back into central Europe
•Soviets within 40 miles of Berlin by
February 1945
Soviets Reach the Reichstag
A fierce
opponent
• Battle of Iwo Jima
• February 1945 island invasion; 750 miles
south of Tokyo
• 7,000 Americans died in month of fighting;
20,000 Japanese died—only 1,000
surrendered
• The Atomic Bomb
• Why drop an atomic bomb?
• Japan would not surrender…
• We wanted The Soviet Union to know we
had it. (Even though they already knew
through spies!)
• Hiroshima
• Nagasaki
• Nearly 75% of the cities wiped out.
• Believe it or not, some of the research was
conducted by the University of Chicago.
The Holocaust
The “Final Solution”
Conquered areas of Europe
During World War II, Germany’s
Nazi government deliberately
murdered some 6 million Jews
and 5 million others in Europe.
These actions became known as
the Holocaust. Concentration camps
• Slave labor camps set up to
hold these “enemies of the
state”
• Millions of Jews came
under Hitler’s power
• Nazi leaders adopted
“Final Solution”—the
deliberate mass
execution of Jews
• Cruel medical experiments
• Large-scale executions with Killing begins
civilians gunned down
• Brutal treatment of Jewish
civilians
• Forced to live in ghettos
within a city
–400,000 Jews confined to
Warsaw ghetto
The Big Three and the Post War
Post War Aftermath
WWII VISUAL PRESENTATION
WWII
PROPAGANDA
POSTERS
“Hey you, have
you
volunteered?”
In the deepest need Hindenburg chose
Adolf Hitler for Reich Chancellor. You too
should vote for List 1
This poster from around 1939
advertises the Volkswagen. The text:
"Save 5 marks a week and you will
drive your own car. "
“LONG LIVE GERMANY”