Download World War II - Mrs.Sylvester

LONG TERM CAUSES LEADING UP TO
WORLD WAR II (WWII)
1. Treaty of Versailles
•
Germans were forced to:
0 pay reparations
0 Redraw boundaries and reduce territory
0 Reduce the size of their military
The Germans were upset with this treaty and
the Weimar Republic for signing it
because it made them look WEAK
2. Economic and Political Factors
0 Great Depression hit Germany
hard
0 High unemployment rates
0 High inflation making German
money worthless
0 Germans were afraid communists
would take over
0 Hitler was seen as a defense
against this
3. Appeasement (giving in to someone’s
demands)
• Americans passed Neutrality Acts to
•
•
stay out of foreign affairs
France and Britain appeased Hitler
and his violation of the Treaty of
Versailles
Germany, Italy, and Japan united to
form an alliance called the AXIS
POWERS
0 Hitler invaded
Austria, the
Sudetenland and
eventually all of
Czechoslovakia
0 This territory was
known as the
“Third Reich”
0 Chamberlain
appeased him to
avoid another war,
even though it
violated the Treaty
of Versailles
4. Hitler’s Leadership
Challenged the Treaty of Versailles
0 Rebuilt German military
0 Practiced territorial aggression to
claim back land
0 Promoted extreme Nationalism
0 Encouraged Anti-Semitic Scapegoating
0
WORLD WAR II BEGINS
0 Hitler invaded Poland in 1939
0 France and Britain promised that they
would defend Poland if this happened
0 As a result, WWII began in September of
1939
WAR BEGINS
0 Hitler invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939 using a
tactic called “Blitzkrieg” meaning “lightning
war”
0 It was a very fast, forceful fighting tactic and
Poland surrendered after one month
0 After this, the war was called a “phony war”
because there wasn’t much fighting until April
1940
0 Germany began invading Denmark,
Norway, and other surrounding countries
Before attacking France and Britain
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JAPANESE INVOLVEMENT
0 Japan wanted to expand their empire and become an
imperialist power
0 Japan invaded Manchuria (part of China) because it had
many natural resources
0 The League of Nations investigated this invasion, and
Japan withdrew their membership from the League
0 Japan allied with Germany
0 Thought they would invade Soviet Union together
0 When Germany signed Nazi-Soviet Pact, Japan instead
invaded the South Pacific
0 Led to the attack on Hawaii
ALLIANCES
0 AXIS POWERS Germany, Italy, and Japan
0 ALLIED POWERS  France, Great Britain,
Poland
0 The Soviet Union made a non-aggression
pact with Germany called Nazi-Soviet Pact
promising neutrality between the two
countries
AXIS POWERS
0 Germany ~ Adolf Hitler
0 Italy~ Benito Mussolini
0 Japan~ Hideki Tojo
ALLIED POWERS
0 Great Britain
0 Neville Chamberlain until 1940
0 Winston Churchill took over in 1940
0 USA~ Franklin D. Roosevelt ~ until 1945
0 Harry S. Truman ~ End of the war
FDR
Churchill
Chamberlain
Truman
US INVOLVEMENT
0 USA passed the Neutrality Acts in 1935, stating
that we would not supply weapons to belligerent
countries (countries at war) taking a position of
isolationism
0 In 1941, the US passed the Lend-Lease Acts
which allowed us to supply weapons to the
Allied Powers without going to war
0 Kept us directly out of the war, but showed that we
supported Allies
US ROAD TO WAR
0 FDR and Churchill met in 1941 and wrote
the Atlantic Charter
0 Document stated their democratic goals
that both share
0 US also helped defend Britain against
German submarines
0 US was showing support for Britain in the
war
PEARL HARBOR
0 Dec. 7, 1941~ US naval base in Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked by Japan
0 Dec. 8, 1941~ Congress declared war on
Japan
0 Event caused the US to enter WWII as an
Allied Power
SIGNIFICANT BATTLES OF
WWII
0 Invasion of Poland~ began WWII
0 Battle of Stalingrad~ allowed Soviets to hold
Germans back turning the tide of the war
0 Battle of El Alamein~ North African battle that
turned the tide of the war on the European Front in
favor of the Allies by causing Italy to eventually
surrender
0 Bataan Death March~ united Philippines and US
against Japanese when 10,000 people were killed
0 Battle of Midway~ air battle that turned the tide
of the war in favor of the Allies on the Pacific Front
0 D-Day~ June 6, 1944~ led to the eventual defeat of
Nazi Germany
END OF WAR IN EUROPE
0 V-E Day~ May 8, 1945
0 Victory in Europe Day
0 Germany surrendered ending the war on
the European Front
ATTACK ON JAPAN
0 Japan refused to surrender in the war
0 US dropped two atomic bombs in August of
1945
0 Hiroshima ~ 80,000 killed
0 Nagasaki~ 40,000 killed
0 Led to the surrender of Japan
WAR ENDS IN JAPAN
0 V-J Day~ September 2, 1945
0 Victory in Japan Day
0 Japan surrendered and World War II was over
EFFECTS OF THE WAR
0 Over 22 million military personnel died
0 34 million wounded
0 Holocaust resulted in over 12 million
deaths, 6 million being Jews
0 Millions of dollars spent on the war
0 Territory destroyed