Download File - In The Front Seat

Causes of
World War II
1933 to June 1940
By Mr. Woodmansee
Good Shepherd Catholic School
Causes of WWII
A
N
T
I
Appeasement
Nationalism
Totalitarianism
Imperialism
The Fuhrer Commander-in-Chief
Conrad Hommel 1940
The Flag Bearer
Hubert Lanzigner after 1933
The Baby
Fritz Markensen
Two Men Looking at the Moon
Casper David Frederick
Men Looking Out
Workers Soldiers Farmers
by Hans Schmitz-Wiednbruck
Plowing
by Julius Paul Junghanns
Harvest by Karl Alexander, 1938
Youth Volunteers in the Reich Labor Service
1936 Berlin Olympics
• Promoted the Nazi State
• Only Aryan participated
– Anti-Semitic posters were
removed
– Gypsies were arrested
Nazi Germany
Keeping Control:
Terror State
“Terror is
the best
political
weapon for
nothing drives
people harder
than a fear of
sudden death.”
The Terror State
• Both the Gestapo
(Secret Police) and
the SS (Storm
Troopers – Hitler’s
private soldiers)
were run by Heinrich
Himmler
• The Gestapo employed
an army of spies who
would inform on
people
Enemies of the State
• Communists
• Social
Democrats
• Jews
• Trade
Unionists.
• Work Shy
• Homosexuals
• Gypsies
• Germans who
bought from Jews
• Pacifists
• Radical Christian
Organisation
• Anyone who
criticised Hitler
or the Nazi
Party.
Enemies of the State
• Scare tactics
were used to
ensure Germans
did as they were
told
• A list of German
women who were
still purchasing
goods from Jewish
shops
How did the Terror State Work?
You are imprisoned
for up to six
months doing hard
physical labor.
You are handed
over to the SS
who run the
concentration
camps.
By signing this form
you are giving your
consent to be put
into a concentration
camp.
When you are
released you tell
everybody what has
happened to you
Fear
Days or maybe
weeks later you are
interviewed and
asked to sign form
D11
Gestapo Spies
inform on you
You are woken up by the
Gestapo at 1 am in the
morning and told that
you have 5 minutes to
pack your bags.
You are
arrested and
thrown into a
cell at the
police station
Key Quote: Martin Niemollen,
1945
• When the Nazis came for the
Communists I was silent, I was
not a Communist.
• When the Nazis came for the Social
Democrats I was silent, I was not
a Social Democrat.
• When the Nazis came for the Jews I
was silent, I was not a Jew.
• When the Nazis came for me there
was nobody left to protest.
Totalitarian State
• The government control the
population by fear
• The NAZIs removed opposition
• Used citizens to spy on each other
– especially the youth
– Hitler Jugen (Hitler Youth)
A Weak League of
Nations
German Foreign Policy
1933 - 1939
Presentation by Mr Young
Your Task
 You are an expert in foreign policy
 It is your job to advise the new leaders
of Germany
 You will be told about various
problems and given a choice of three
policies to follow.
 Choose wisely. Your success will be
rewarded. Failure will be punished!
Mein Kampf
 Your policy has very
clear aims:
 Destroy the Treaty of
Versailles
 Gain ‘Lebensraum’ (living
space) in the east
 Bring all Germans into one
Reich
 Make Germany strong again
Crisis: Austria 1934
 The Depression has made
Austria weak
 Taking over Austria will be
very popular in Germany
 It will bring many Germans
into the Reich
 However other countries
might oppose you
Crisis: Austria 1934
Try to take
over Austria
by sending
troops to
Vienna
Try to take
over Austria
by political
pressure
Do nothing,
its not worth
annoying
France,
Britain and
Italy
Crisis: Austria 1934
30
Points
10
Points
20
Points
Crisis: Rhineland 1936
 Italy has invaded Ethiopia
 The league of Nations is
divided
 While the League is
divided you could send
troops to the Rhineland
 Be careful! Any opposition
and you’ll have to
withdraw
Crisis: Rhineland 1936
Send in the
troops.
France is
divided and
Britain wants
peace
Ask
permission
from the
Allies
before doing
anything
Do nothing,
you can’t
risk war
with France.
Germany is
too weak
Crisis: Rhineland 1936
10
Points
20
Points
30
Points
Crisis: Austria 1938
 Austria is even weaker
than in 1934
 Italy is now your ally
 You have many supporters
in Austria, who can help
you
 Union with Austria is
forbidden by the Treaty of
Versailles
Crisis: Austria 1938
Try to take
over Austria
by sending
troops to
Vienna
Try to take
over Austria
by political
pressure
Do nothing,
its not worth
annoying
France,
Britain and
Italy
Crisis: Austria 1938
20
Points
10
Points
30
Points
Crisis: Czechoslovakia 1938
 Three million German
speakers live in
Czechoslovakia
 Czechoslovakia has a strong
army and alliances with
Britain, France and the Soviet
Union
 Victory over the Czechs will
finally destroy the Treaty of
Versailles
 The army is unwilling to
fight over the Sudetenland
Crisis: Czechoslovakia 1938
Invade
Czechoslovakia
and hope the
army follows
your orders
Make a deal
with Russia
and hope
Britain and
France
ignore your
actions
Threaten the
Czechs and
make a deal
with Britain
and France
Crisis: Czechoslovakia 1938
30
Points
20
Points
10
Points
Crisis: Poland 1939
 After victory over the
Czechs you can’t do wrong
 Poland splits German land
and holds the German city
of Danzig
 Poland has an alliance with
Britain and France
 The Soviet Union could be
a threat, the Red Army
could easily help the Poles
Crisis: Poland 1939
Do a Deal
with Russia
to split
Poland
between you
Invade Poland
without any
agreements
no-one can
stop you now
Stop now,
you’ve
already
achieved
most of your
aims
Crisis: Poland 1939
10
Points
30
Points
20
Points
Add up your scores
How did you do?
 120 - 150 Points
 Your advice has been superb for the
outside world as war has been avoided
 However, your advice has not been good
for you. The Gestapo have arrested you
and you are never seen again
How did you do?
 90 – 110 Points
 You’re not the expert the Nazi party
thought you were. You’ve missed many
opportunities to expand Germany’s
population and resources
 You have been demoted but you still have
a comfortable life in Berlin
How did you do?
 50 – 80 Points
 Fantastic! you have made Germany strong
again, the Treaty is a thing of the past and
Germany is well prepared in case war
comes.
 You have been rewarded with promotion in
the Nazi party and all the privileges of
power
What did Hitler do?





Austria 1934
Rhineland 1936
Austria 1938
Czechoslovakia 1938
Poland 1939
What did Hitler do?
Crisis: Austria 1934
Try to take
over Austria
by sending
troops to
Vienna
Try to take
over Austria
by political
pressure
Do nothing,
its not worth
annoying
France,
Britain and
Italy
What did Hitler do?
Crisis: Rhineland 1936
Sent troops in
the
Rhineland.
France was
divided and
Britain wants
peace
Ask
permission
from the
Allies
before doing
anything
Do nothing,
you can’t
risk war
with France.
Germany is
too weak
What did Hitler do?
Crisis: Austria 1938
Took over
Austria by
sending
troops to
Vienna
Try to take
over Austria
by political
pressure
Do nothing,
its not worth
annoying
France,
Britain and
Italy
What did Hitler do?
Crisis: Czechoslovakia 1938
Invaded
Czechoslovakia
Make a deal
with Russia
and hope
Britain and
France
ignore your
actions
Threaten the
Czechs and
make a deal
with Britain
and France
What did Hitler do?
Crisis: Poland 1939
Made a non –
aggression pact
with Russia to
divided Poland
Invade Poland
without any
agreements
no-one can
stop you now
Stop now,
you’ve
already
achieved
most of your
aims
Appeasement
• March 1938 Ger. took control of Austria
– GB and Fr took no serious action
• September 1938 Ger. demanded
Czechoslovakia cede (give) the
Sudetenland
– Munich Conference – Chamberlin gave in
• Hitler agreed not to take any more
European land...
Sudetenland
Now we have “peace in our time!”
Herr Hitler is a man we can do
business with.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Czech woman “welcoming a
German army division, 1938
German-Soviet Nonaggression
Pact
• August 23, 1938 by foreign ministers von
Ribbentop (Germany) and Molotov
(USSR) signed a non-Aggression Pact
• Both countries publicly agreed not to
attack each other
Shhhh!
Secretly they agreed to invade Poland
On September 1, 1939 Germany
unleashed a blitzkrieg (lightning
war) against Poland. The goal
was to destroy communication,
transportation and shock the
enemy into submission. It
worked.
Poland (cont’d)
• Wehrmarcht (main German Army)
easily defeated Polish forces in days
• The Soviets invaded Sept. 17, 1939
– The Poles ran to the Russian Army
who they thought were there to
protect them
Poland (cont’d)
• Totenkoph (Death’s Head) Squadrons
hunted down and executed “racially
inferior” people
• Many Jews were rounded up and
forced into the Warsaw Ghetto
Sitzkrieg
• September 3, 1939 GB and France
declared war on Germany
• GB evacuated some Poles but offered
no military resistance to Ger.
– “Confetti War”
• Allies waited for Ger. to attack
Belgium and France
Western Front
• April 9, 1940 Germany attacked
Copenhagen and landed in Norway
– Denmark fell
– Oslo, Norway fell but with British
supplies the Norwegians resistance
held the mountains
Western Front
• May 10, 1940 Germany attacked
France, Belgium, Luxemburg and the
Netherlands
• By May 13 The Allied forces were
trapped in northern France
• May 14 the Netherlands surrendered
Miracle at Dunkirk
• May 27 the BEF
evacuated across the
English Channel from
France at Dunkirk
– “Operation Dynamo”
• Churchill became fully
committed to the war
Fall of France –
June 22, 1940
Vichy France
A puppet French
state was
organized to
administer
southern France
Marshall Henri Petain
Pres. Vichy France
Free French Forces
• Charles DeGaulle used
guerilla tactics to fight the
Germans
• "France has lost a battle;
she has not lost the war"
Fall of France Examined
• It is a mistake to believe that French
forces were weak, in fact they were more
advanced and larger in number then
German forces
– Many German leaders were
apprehensive about war with France
• The quick fall of France is attributed to
Germany’s unexpected attack though the
Ardennes Forest
Causes of WWII Examined
• World War II started with the rise of a
totalitarian German state under the
leadership of Adolf Hitler who sought to
create a new continental empire for the
German people at the expense of their
neighbors
• The invasion of Poland revealed Hitler’s
sinister plans and preludes what will
happen in Russia
• With the fall of France only Great Britain
stands to oppose Nazi Germany and Italy