Download Chapter 29 Part 3

World War II
Chapter 29-3
Causes of WWII
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Dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles
Discontent due to the Depression
Failure of the League of Nations to keep the
peace
Failure to Disarm
The Rise of totalitarian states
U.S. stock market crash, bank failures,
isolationism, tariff policy
Causes
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Treaty of Versailles:
Harsh reparations, conservative resentment over
Diktat (article 231)
The League of Nations:
Little credibility without the U.S. and USSR
Was unable to maintain peace
Causes
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Washington Naval Conference 1921: did not
provide for enforcement
Four-Power Treaty
Five Power Treaty
Nine Power Treaty
Japan gave only verbal agreement
5-Power Treaty only concerned 1st class ships
20’s Treaties had no enforcement
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Locarno Pact:
offered a false sense of security for the future
 was not relevant once Hitler took power
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Same for Kellogg-Briand Pact signed by 62
nations
Economic factors
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The depression caused wide-spread discontent
and created the opportunity for the rise of
fascism
The London Economic Conference = Failure
The above convinced Hitler that democracies
lacked the will and organization necessary to
address the international crisis
Hitler began to rearm Germany
1931 Japan invaded Manchuria
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Violated the 9-Power Treaty, the Kellogg-Briand
Pact and the Charter of the League of nations
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The League of Nations protested
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Japan withdrew from the League and treaty
obligations
1935 The Stressa Front
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The British, French and Italy, concerned about
Hitler’s rearmament, agreed to use force to
preserve the political status quo in Europe
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Then, Italy invaded Ethiopia 1935
Used modern weapons
500,000 Ethiopians died, 5,000 Italians
The League protested & Italy dropped out
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Italian Aggression
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Sanctions imposed by the League but not oil
Brits and French did not stop Italy at the Suez
Canal on the way to Ethiopia.
They needed Italy’s help to keep Hitler in check
By 1936 Hitler and Mussolini are working
together in the Spanish Civil War
Sanctions were lifted by this time
The Spanish Civil War
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Spain had a constitutional monarchy
Was challenged by Fascist, Francisco Franco
Wanted to eradicate socialism & communism
Wanted to restore the power of the Church
Civil War Between the Fascists (Falangists) and
Royalists
Franco was aided by Mussolini and Hitler
Picasso’s Guernica
The Rome-Berlin Axis
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Formed as a response to successful military
cooperation in Spain
Italians still upset about lack of territory at post
WWI Paris Peace Conference (Italia Irredenta)
1936 Germany occupied the Rhineland…T of
V had demilitarized this zone
German Generals were nervous. France too
The Rhineland
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For the first time since WWI, Germany had
troops on the Franco-German border
A major threat to French security
France was unwilling to enforce the T. of V.
without England’s help
England was Pacifist:
Due to the memories of WWI
 And the belief by many that the T. of V. was too
harsh
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Japan
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Had control of the Northern and Central
Chinese Plains
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“The Rape of Shanghai”
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The League was impotent
Anschluss March 1933
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Germany’s threat of military action = Austrian
Chancellor resigned
Austrian Nazi Party assumed government
control
Germany marched in and annexed Austria
Brits: Policy of Appeasement (Neville
Chamberlain)
The Sudetenland
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At the 1938 Munich Conference Brits, French,
Italy allowed Hitler to take Sudetenland in
exchange for guarantee: no more territorial
aggression (appeasement)
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The Czechs were told to comply…had no
choice
Neville Chamberlain a hero at home
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March 1939
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Hitler went back on his word and took the rest
of Czechoslovakia
The end of Appeasement Policy
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
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Public: 10-Year pact
Surprised the world
Privately: Agreed to divide Poland between
them
Also, Russia could snap up Baltic states:
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Hitler: a one-front war against the West
The Blitzkrieg
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One week after taking Czechoslovakia, Hitler
demanded he be able to build a road across the
Polish corridor…Poles refused
Hitler also demanded Danzig (port city on the
Baltic run as a “Free City” by the League
Brits and French promised Poland aid
Poles expected help from General Mud
Poland
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Hitler claimed Poles were committing atrocities
against Germans in the corridor and attacked
Russia invaded on Poland’s Eastern Front
Refugees were bombed
Brits and French sent a naval blockade
Had no impact against land forces
Warsaw fell in 3 weeks
Sitzkrieg
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Was Hitler done? Only until the spring
But Russia was busy: Attacked Finland
Fins held out for 3 months alone
Then Russia occupied Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia
Used as a buffer zone between Russia and
Germany
More Aggression
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1939 Italy took Albania
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Sitzkrieg (phony war) over after 7 months
April of 1940 Hitler invaded Norway and
Denmark and Sweden
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Hitler
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May 1940 Hitler demanded occupation of
Netherlands and Belgium
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Dutch held out for 5 days; lost ¼ of army
Belgium held out for 18 days
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Miracle at Dunkirk
The Fall of France
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In three weeks
Terms of Armistice: 1 million French POWs
and occupation
Vichy France: Petain (hero of Verdun) now
Nazi sympathizer ruled for Nazis (later executed
for treason
De Gaulle and the Free French
1940 Tripartite Pact
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Japan joined Rome-Berlin Axis
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Battle of Britain: Hitler offered peace with Brits
if Brits would accept German domination of
continent
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Churchill (had replaced Chamberlain) refused
Battle of Britain
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Hitler planned “Operation Sealion”: a massive
invasion of England across the channel
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German aerial bombings of Britain to soften
them up
Goring’s Luftwaffe vs Brits RAF
Brits had radar and defeated the Luftwaffe
Germany lost 2,433 planes, RAF lost 900
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Germany invaded the Soviet Union
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Violation of Non-Aggression agreement
Hitler’s biggest mistake
Invasion East for Lebensraum: living space
Soviets called it The Great Patriotic War of the
Fatherland
Scorched Earth Policy
The United States
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FDR meeting secretly with Churchill:
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Atlantic Charter
Agreed: no territorial exchanges after the war
contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants
A new world organization
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Stalin endorsed above
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U.S. Neutrality
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Neutrality Acts prevented FDR from bringing
U.S. into the conflict
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Lend-Lease Act 1941 = help to Brits and
eventually Soviets
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Japan attacked Pear Harbor Dec. 7, 1941
U.S. entered the war
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Hitler declared war on U.S. Dec 11th
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Another mistake
See Atlantic Charter
Solved a problem for FDR
The Grand Alliance formed in 1942
Britain, USSR, the U.S. and 42 other nations
Spain neutral but allowed Nazis to use ports
The Nazi “New Order”
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Nazis exploited Europe for economic value
Nordic Peoples were given preferential
treatment: Dutch, Norwegians, Danes (were
racially related to Germans)
French were taxed big time: were racially
inferior Latin people …but to be tolerated
Poles, Ukrainians, Russians to be worked to
death…Slavs considered subhuman
80% Soviet POW’s did not survive the war
Genocide
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Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
Homosexuals, captured Communists
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Jews: Businesses and property confiscated
Had to register with government and wear Stars
of David
Polish Jews forced into ghettos: Warsaw,
Krakow…deprived of supplies & outside
contact
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Nuremburg Laws
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To deprive Jews of civil rights
Racial Hygiene, marriage laws
Sterilization
Berlin Olympics…Master Race
Kristalknacht
Final Solution began in 1942
Wannsee Conference outlined formal plan
Auschwitz
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And 5 other Death Camps built in Poland
In addition to hundreds of concentration camps
6-10 million Jews killed
5-10 million others
Underground movements
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Free French was the most famous
Supplied the allies with valuable info (troops
movements, etc) and aid
Published secret newspapers, hid escaped allied
prisoners
Sabotaged Nazi supply depots, derailed trains,
blew up bridges
Turning points in the war
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El Alamein Nov. 1942: British forces led by
Montgomery drove the Germans (led by
Rommel- the Desert Fox) out of Egypt
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Operation Torch Nov. 1942: U.S. and Brits
engaged retreating German forces on beaches
of Morocco and Algeria
Allies surrounded Rommel’s Afrikakorps May,
1943
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Stalingrad Nov. 1942- Feb. 1943
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Critical battle on Eastern front
First German land defeat in Europe
While attempting to take Stalingrad and control
of Soviet oil fields in Caucasus Mountains, they
were surrounded by Soviet troops
Hitler refused to allow German forces to
surrender = lost 300,000 men
Back to Germany
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After Stalingrad, Russians began the 2 & ½ year
long march, pushing the Germans back to Berlin
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July 1943 Battle of Kursk: the largest tank
battle in human history…Russian victory
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By Feb. 1945, Russians on the outskirts of
Berlin
D-Day: Operation Overlord June 6,
1944
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120,000 troops crossed the channel to beaches
of Normandy in France...amphibious assult
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Western Front established = beginning of the
end for Germany
Hitler now fighting on 3 fronts...(By now, allies
in Italy)
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Battle of the Bulge Dec. 1944
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Hitler tried to break through the Allied lines
Huge casualties
Allies deep into Germany in 1945
May 8, 1945 V-E Day
Hitler and his new wife had committed suicide
some days earlier
Japan
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U.S. and others island-hopping
Truman and Potsdam Conference
Atomic bomb Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945
Nagasaki Aug. 9th
Japan surrendered tho- Emperor (Hirohito)
allowed to remain
War Diplomacy
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Tehran Conference 1943…Big Three
Allies agreed to invasion of W. Europe (D-Day)
 Stalin agreed to go against Japan after Hitler
defeated
 Stalin insisted on occupying E. Europe
 Churchill fought this
 Delayed to Yalta
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Germany to be occupied after the war
Yalta “Sell-out”
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Stalin promised free elections after brief
occupation of E. Europe
Planned United Nations
Stalin agreed to enter war against Japan within 3
months after defeat of Germany
Zones for divided Germany decided on
Cairo (earlier)
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FDR, Churchill and Chaing Kai-shek: agreed
on independence of Korea
Potsdam Truman, Stalin, Atlee
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Potsdam Declaration
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Stalin reversed on free elections in Eastern
Europe
Agreed on war crimes trials: Nuremburg Trials
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Reparations from each zone of Germany
Results of the War
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55 million dead or missing (22 million Soviets)
Holocaust: 6-10 million Jews
Millions left homeless
Europe in ruins
Women in the factories
U.S. and Soviets poised for Cold War
Why did Germany Lose?
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Blunders: Russia, Declaring war on U.S.
Germany too spread out, ran out of soldiers,
began using old men and young boys
Industry not equal to the allies, especially the
U.S.
Slave labor not overly effective
Too much time & energy spent on Final
Solution
Alliances were liability: Japan, Italy