Download THE BATTLE BEGINS

Vocabulary
Axis Powers- Germany, Italy & Japan
Allied Powers- Britain, Soviet Union, U.S.
Blitzkreig- Also called “Lightening War”, involves
surprise attacks and fast moving airplanes and
infantry
Operation Barbarossa- Hitler’s plan to invade the
Soviet Union
Pearl Harbor- Naval Base that was attacked by the
Japanese that brought the US into WWII.
THE BATTLE BEGINS
M.A.I.N. causes of WWII
Militarism
1.
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Axis created huge armies and taught war was glorious
Appeasement
2.
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Britain/France allowed dictators to take over some lands in hopes that it
would stop their aggression
Each concession strengthened the aggressing nations, so they made further
demands
Munich Conference was a failure and Germany got the Sudentenland
Imperialism
3.

Axis nations lack land/resources and needed to find raw
materials/markets
Nationalism
4.
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Japanese militarism, Italians dream of “New Roman Empire”, Germans
were “Master Race”
Axis considered themselves superior and destined to rule “lesser peoples”
Hitler’s Lightening War
 After his moves on the Rhineland, Austria, and
Czechoslovakia, Hitler turns his eyes to Poland.
 Hitler invades Poland
 Sept 1, 1939
 German Blitzkrieg defeats Poland in 1 month
 Britain and France declare war on Germany
Fall of France
 Nazi’s invade France in May
1940
 Germany easily defeat the
British and French
 Escape from Dunkirk
 330,000 soldiers evacuate to
England to fight another day
 France falls on June 22, 1940
 June 1940, Germany has
conquered Denmark, Norway,
Holland, France, Belgium &
Luxembourg…control all of
continental Europe
Battle of Britain
“We shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight
on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the
fields and in the
streets…we shall never
surrender!”
- Winston Churchill,
Prime Minister
 Aug 1940, Hitler’s Luftwaffe
begin bombing Britain
 For 3 months Britain was
severely bombed
 Two technological devices
helped turn the tide in
Britain’s favor
 Radar
 Enigma
 British never waiver
 Hitler calls off attack on
May 10, 1941 to focus on
Mediterranean/Eastern
Europe
War in the Mediterranean
 Mussolini declares war on
France and Britain
 Mussolini invades France
and then British Egypt in
Sept. 1940
 British push Italian troops
back
 Hitler sends Erwin Rommel
“The Desert Fox”
 Rommel wins N. Africa
 Hitler invades the Balkans
to prepare for an attack on
the Soviet Union
Hitler Invades USSR
 Operation Barbarossa
 June 22, 1941 Hitler invades
the Soviet Union
 Soviets practice “scorched
earth policy”
 Fatal mistake
 Hitler must now fight 2 front
war
 Hitler puts Leningrad under
siege
 Hitler attempts to starve the
2.5 million inhabitants
 People resorted to eating
crows and rats
 The city would not fall
 Hitler grows impatient
and turns towards
Moscow
 Germans retreat as the
temperature fell
 Hitler orders them to
dig in
 By March 1943, Hitler’s
assault on USSR yielded
no gains and cost
500,000 German lives
U.S. Involvement
 U.S. remains neutral when
war breaks out in 1939
 Arsenal of Democracy
 Congress passes Lend-Lease
Act in March 1941
 Send, lend, lease arms to
Britain
 Hitler orders U-Boats to sink
any cargo ships they met
 FDR the Navy to shoot
German subs on sight
 Surprisingly, the attack that
would draw the U.S. into the
war would not come from
Germany but Japan
“A Date Which Will Live In Infamy”FDR
 FDR refuses to ship oil to
Japan due to its aggression
and atrocities
 Japan sees this as an act of
war
 Saw US Pacific Fleet as “A
dagger pointed at Japan’s
throat”
 Dec. 7, 1941
 Gen. Tojo orders a surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor
 U.S. Declares war on Dec. 8
 Knocked us down, but didn’t
knock us out
Japanese Victories
 Japan takes Guam and Wake Island
and the Philippines.
 American prisoners are forced on the
Bataan Death March.
 Japan takes British controlled islands
in the Pacific.
 Hong Kong and Singapore
 Japan conquers 150 million people.
 Treated the people with extreme
cruelty.
Battle Lines are Formed
 Axis Powers
 Germany- Hitler
 Italy- Mussolini
 Japan- Hirohito/Tojo
 Allies
 United States- FDR
 Britain- Churchill
 Soviet Union- Stalin
Closing
 What were the MAIN causes of WWII?
 What was the German Blitzkrieg?
 What was the Luftewaffe?
 How was Britain able to defeat Germany in the Battle of

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Britain?
Why was Hitler’s decision to attack the USSR such a
blunder?
What is the Arsenal of Democracy?
Why did Japan attack the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor?
Who are the Axis and Allied Powers?