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Chapter 19
World War II
Section 1: Paths to War
• German Path to War
– WWII had its
beginnings with
Hitler’s desire to
create a German
empire.
• He wanted to access land
in the east which would
eventually lead to war with
the Soviet Union
• In order to accomplish this task, Hitler
created a new air force and increased
the army to over 550,000 troops.
• France, Great Britain, and Italy
condemned Germany’s actions and
warned against future aggressive acts.
– This ended up being an empty warning.
• Hitler sent troops into the demilitarized
zone.
– France did not respond because they did
not have British support.
– The policy of appeasement began with
Britain’s refusal to support military action.
• This policy continued for two years,
while Hitler annexed Austria and parts
of Czechoslovakia.
– Hitler had threatened invasion and was
willing to risk “world war” to achieve his
objective of creating a German empire.
** end of notes**
• In August of 1939, Germany and the
Soviet Union signed a non-aggression
pact.
– Hitler knew that he would eventually have
to break the pact.
• On September 1,
1939, Germany
invaded Poland.
– Two days later,
Great Britain and
France declared war
on Germany.
• Japanese Path to War
– Japan was in search of natural resources
to fuel their industries.
• They began annexing territory in China in the
1930s.
– The US warned Japan that it would apply economic
sanctions unless it withdrew from China. The US
would cut Japan off from the oil and scrap iron it was
supplying.
• Japan’s military
leaders decided to
launch a surprise
attack on U.S. and
European colonies
in Southeast Asia.
** end of notes**
Section 2: The Course of
World War II
• Europe at War
– Hitler hit Poland with speed and efficiency.
• His blitzkrieg forces easily broke through the
Polish defenses.
• Within four weeks, Poland surrendered.
– At the end of September, Germany and the Soviet
Union divided Poland.
• Hitler continued his attack through the
Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
– Within a month and a half, Germany
occupied three-fifths of France.
– Germany was now in control of western
and central Europe.
• Germany began
attacking Great
Britain.
– The Luftwaffe bombed
major naval bases,
communication centers, and
war industries.
– They would eventually
bomb cities, hoping to break
British morale.
• Hitler, convinced that
Britain remained in the
war only because it
expected Soviet help,
invaded the Soviet
Union in June of 1941.
– Unprepared for the harsh
winter, the Germans
were halted by the
Soviets in December.
• On December 7,
1941, Japanese
aircraft attacked the
US naval base at
Pearl Harbor in the
Hawaiian Islands.
• By the spring of
1942, almost all of
Southeast Asia and
much of the western
Pacific had fallen
into Japanese
hands.
• The entry of the US into the war created
a new coalition, the Grand Alliance.
– The three major allies were Great Britain,
the US, and the Soviet Union.
• The Allies agreed to fight until the Axis
Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan)
surrendered unconditionally.
** end of notes**
• Last Years of the War
– In Asia, a major turning
point was at the Battle of
Midway Island in June of
1942.
• The US destroyed
Japanese aircraft carriers
and established naval
superiority in the Pacific.
• General Douglas
MacArthur would
lead the allied forces
across the Pacific,
“island hopping”
until they reached
the Iwo Jima and
Okinawa.
• On June 6, 1943, the Allies landed on
the Normandy beaches under the
leadership of General Dwight D.
Eisenhower. This day is known as DDay.
– Within three months, the Allies had landed
2 million men and a half-million vehicles.
• The Allies freed France in August of 1944.
• In January of 1945, Hitler moved into an
underground bunker in Berlin.
– On April 30, he committed suicide after
Mussolini was assassinated.
– German forces on May 7, 1945.
• May 8 is known as V-E Day
• War in Asia continued
– Pres. Harry Truman decided to drop the
atomic bomb on Japan to avoid heavy
American casualties
• August 6 – Hiroshima
• August 9 – Nagasaki
• September 2 – V-J Day
** end of notes**
Section 3: The New Order
and the Holocaust
• Newly conquered lands were seen as
living space for German expansion.
– 1 million Poles were uprooted and moved
to southern Poland.
• They would become slave labor for the German
people.
• The Holocaust
– Polish Jews would eventually be
exterminated.
• The Einsatzgruppen would be responsible for
carrying out the Nazi plans.
• They rounded up Jews, killed them, and buried
them in large mass graves.
• Death Camps
– Because of the slow progress of the mobile
killing units, the Nazis decided to build
death camps.
• 6 extermination centers were established in
Poland.
• Auschwitz was the largest.
• The Germans killed between 5 and 6
million Jews.
– Virtually, 90% of the Jewish population
were killed.
– The Germans were also responsible for the
shooting and starvation of at least 9 to 10
million non-Jews.