Download World War II

World War II
Part 1:
The Rise Of Nazi Germany
Benito Mussolini
• Mussolini fought in World War
I.
• In March 1919, he formed the
Fascist Party .
• On October 28, 1922, the
Fascists undertook their
famous “March on Rome.”
• Mussolini’s followers occupied
the capital.
• Fascists achieved their first
parliamentary majority by
using violent tactics of
intimidation to secure votes.
• Mussolini destroyed political
parties and made Italy into a
one-party dictatorship.
Adolf Hitler
• Adolf Hitler was born in
Austria.
• Joined the German army
in World War I.
• Believed in the racial
superiority of the Aryan
(German) people and
was committed to
providing Lebensraum
(living space) for his
“master race.”
Nazi Party
• After WW1, Hitler entered
politics by joining the
National Socialists Party
(Nazi), and soon took
over the party.
• In 1923, Hitler and the
Nazi’s tried to overthrow
government, but failed
and Hitler sent to jail.
• Hitler wrote Mein Kampf
(My Struggle) while in jail.
Mein Kampf Quotes
• “The worst danger is that we
are interrupting the natural
selection process ourselves
(by caring for the sick and the
weak).”
• “The [Nazi party] should not
become a constable of public
opinion, but must dominate it.
It must not become a servant
of the masses, but their
master!”
• “...the personification of the
devil as the symbol of all evil
assumes the living shape of
the Jew.”
Chancellor Adolf Hitler
• Hitler became Chancellor of
Germany in January 1933 through
legal means.
• Hitler claimed Germany was on
verge of Communist revolution and
persuaded President Paul von
Hindenburg and the Reichstag
(Parliament) to consent to a series
of emergency laws, which Nazis
used to establish themselves in
power.
• Hitler removed all political parties
of Germany except the Nazi party.
• Within two months, Germany was
a police state and Hitler was
dictator.
The Third Reich
• Hitler was dictator now, was
called the “Führer”
• Goal was the unite all German
speaking lands.
• Three goals for the Nazi state:
Lebensraum, rearmament, and
economic recovery.
• Hitler started to round up Jews
and placing them in Ghettos
and eventually concentration
camps.
• For the next six year, Germany
began building an army worthy
of the new Reich.
Propaganda
• Joseph Goebbels was Reich
Minister of Propaganda.
• German audience continually
reminded of struggle of the
Nazi Party and greatness of
German culture.
• “Heroic Art” portrayed only
Aryan men as heroic and
strong.
• Hitler was glorified like a God.
• Jews were depicted as
animals or evil monsters.
Jewish “Problem”
• By beginning of 1939,
Nazi policy focused on
promoting the
“emigration” of Jews from
Germany.
• Heinrich Himmler and the
SS shared Hitler’s racial
ideology.
• Reinhard Heydrich given
responsibility for what
Nazis called their Final
Solution to the Jewish
problem – extermination.
Jewish “Problem”
• After defeat of Poland, Heydrich ordered special strike
forces to round up all Polish Jews and concentrate them
in ghettos.
• Eventually, death squads entered the ghettos. Their job
was to round up as many Jews as possible and execute
them.
• Often times, the Jews dug their own graves before they
were executed.
• As many as one million Jews were killed through this
fashion, but was soon perceived as inadequate.
• Nazis opted for the systematic annihilation of Jews in
specially built death camps.
Hitler Makes His Move
• In March 1938, German forces marched in Austria, they were cheered
by Austrians.
• European leaders sought to avoid war through appeasement.
• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Premier had
conference with Hitler in Munich.
• Hitler demanded the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, they
agreed.
• Hitler “promised” for no more expansion.
Czechoslovakia Seized
• Six months after Munich
Conference, Hitler occupied the
remainder of Czechoslovakia.
• Seizure finally showed that
Hitler’s demands were not
limited to German speaking
areas but instead determined by
the need for Lebensraum (living
space) for the “Master Race.”
• Obvious Poland was Hitler’s
next target.
• On March 31, 1939, Britain and
France extended a formal
guarantee to support Poland in
the event of a German attack.
• Mussolini took advantage of the
European situation by invading
Albania on April 1939.
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
• The Soviet Union potentially
faced war on two fronts against
Germany in the west and
Japan in the east.
• On August 23, 1939 the
German-Soviet NonAggression Pact signed.
• Agreement consisted of a 10year nonaggression pact.
• Partitioning of Eastern Europe
between both nations.
• USSR will supply vast
quantities of raw materials to
Germany in exchange for
military technology and
finished goods.
Neutrality
• “This nation will remain a
neutral nation…”
• Neutrality Act (1935)
passed by Congress. It
prohibited American
munitions sales to any
nations at war.
• The message was clear:
the United States would
take care of its own
problems; Europe should
do the same.