Download The Largest, Costliest, and Deadliest Conflict WHAP/Napp “Hitler

The Largest, Costliest, and Deadliest Conflict
WHAP/Napp
“Hitler continued to rearm. The building of the autobahns or motor highways and
the recovery of the automobile industry did almost as much as rearmament to
abolish unemployment in Germany. German morale and self-respect soared. In
March 1938 Hitler’s troops entered Austria. In October he suddenly occupied the
German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia. France and Britain did not rush to help
the 15 million Czechs, and this inertia emboldened Hitler peacefully to occupy the
remainder of their country. Bluff and bravado were as much his weapons as were
armed forces. Page by page, he had torn up the Versailles treaty. The main loser of
the First World War had recovered most of its territorial losses inside Europe.
In explaining why the treaty signed at Versailles in 1919 eventually failed, it is
often argued that it was unjust, and being unjust it had fallen apart. But the history
of the world does not offer persuasive evidence that an unjust treaty is normally
reversed. A war is won primarily by military means: the victorious peace is likewise
maintained by threat and implied force. Without doubt the punishment imposed on
Germany in 1919 was harsh by European standards, but far less harsh than the
peace terms that were to be imposed in 1945. By and large the Versailles treaty was
undermined not primarily because it was unfair but because the victors lacked the
unanimity and strength to uphold and enforce it.
The new war began in 1939 with Hitler’s invasion of Poland. The Soviet Union
joined the invasion. Poland was crushed before France and Britain could give it the
aid they had promised. In the years 1940 and 1941, Hitler captured nearly all of
central and western Europe except for Italy and Romania, who were allies, and
Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Sweden and Switzerland, who were neutral. He caught
Stalin by surprise and invaded Russia, and late in 1941 his advance guard reached
the outskirts of Moscow. But the further the Germans advanced, the more their
supply lines were vulnerable. Hitler’s invasion of Russia proved to be the slow
turning point in a war which hitherto favored him.
The Second World War consisted of two distinct wars, one fought mainly in
Europe and the other fought mainly in eastern Asia. The Asian war was earlier. It
began when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1932, and became more intense in 1937
when Japan and China began to fight on the plains of northern China. Within a
year Japan held the eastern half of China and had hope of capturing the remainder,
but supply lines became longer and more vulnerable.” ~ A Short History of the
World
1- How did Hitler violate the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
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2- According to the author, why did the Treaty of Versailles fail?
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3- Discuss Hitler’s actions during the Second World War.
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4- What were the two distinct wars of the Second World War?
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5- What were the causes of the Second World War?
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Notes:
I. World War II (September 1939 – September 1945)
A. Largest, costliest, and deadliest armed conflict in human history
B. The Axis Powers – Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Japan
C. The Allied Powers were Great Britain, Soviet Union, and United States, etc.
D. Between 55 million and 60 million people were killed during war
E. Also twelve million victims – 6 million Jewish, 6 million non-Jewish –
perished in German campaign of racial extermination known as Holocaust
F. When over, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. only superpowers Cold War ensued
G. And from 1940s through 1970s, a massive wave of decolonization
H. World War II resulted from straightforward pattern of aggression
I. Hamstrung by Great Depression, anxious to avoid another global conflict
J. Letting aggressors have what they wanted, hoping will stopappeasement
K. League of Nations proved almost useless
L. And by 1933, Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations
M. In 1935, Hitler openly rebuilt German military, violating Treaty of Versailles
N. In 1936, Hitler sent German troops into Rhineland, a demilitarized zone
O. In 1937, Hitler signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Italy and Japan
P. Hitler made public desire for Lebensraum or “living space” for Germany
Q. In 1938, Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss (“union”)
R. Hitler also took over Sudetenland which had formerly been German
territory and given to Czechoslovakia after World War I
S. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began
T. Meanwhile, by 1936, Italy had completed its conquest of Ethiopia
U. Spain experienced civil war (1936-1939)Franco came to power until 1975
V. Japan invaded ChinaRape of Nanking
W. In 1939, Hitler and StalinNazi-Soviet Pact, keeping the USSR neutral
II. A Different Kind of War
A. Germany’s Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”), using tanks and airplanes
B. Britain and France waited for Germany to attack them
C. Historians refer to winter of 1939 and 1940 as the Sliztkrieg, or “phony war”
due to British and French strategy of waiting
D. Germans attacked France on May 10By June 22, France surrendered
E. French had been confident that chain of border fortifications, Maginot Line,
would protect them but German Blitzkrieg sidestepped it
F. But Hitler’s attempt to knock Britain out of war failed
G. On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, starting the largest
ground war in historyOperation Barbarossa
I. German forces surrounded Leningrad, USSR’s second largest city, placing it
under worst siege in modern times
III. The Changing Tide of War
A. Japan’s goal was to establish its Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere
B. U.S.A.’s response to Japanese aggressionimposing economic sanctions
C. Japanese viewed as act of war, December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor
D. The second half of the war, 1942 through 1945, much different
E. Battle of Midway (June 1942), Battle of El Alamein (fall 1942), Battle of
Stalingrad (August 1942-February 1943), Allies experienced victories
F. June 1944, in the famous D-Day invasion, British, Canadian, and American
troops crossed the English Channel and landed on the coast of France
G. In 1945, the Axis surrendered
H. On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped an atomic
bomb on Hiroshimathree days laterNagasakiunconditional surrender
IV. Crimes Against Humanity
A. Even before war, Nazis operated apparatus of terror, formation of a secret
police (the Gestapo), concentration camps (such as Dachau)
B. Nuremberg Laws of 1935, deprived all German Jews of their civil rights
C. November 1938, Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”), Jewish shops,
synagogues, and homes throughout Germany and Austria were attacked
D. Sometime in 1941 that order for genocide came down from above
E. Final Solution resulted in 12 million deathsOf Europe’s 11 million Jews,
approximately 6 million were killed and 6 million non-Jewish victims
F. Nuremberg Trials (1946), to try remaining Nazi leadership
Complete the Review Quilt Below (Place Key Points in Each Box):
Axis Powers:
Allied Powers:
Holocaust:
Appeasement:
Hitler’s
Aggression:
League of Nations: Blitzkrieg:
1939:
Operation
Barbarossa:
Greater East
Pearl Harbor:
Asian CoProsperity Sphere:
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki:
Nuremberg Laws: Kristallnacht:
“Final Solution”:
Nuremberg Trials:
Questions:
 Describe Hitler’s acts of aggression which led to the Second World War.
 Explain the policy of appeasement and its failure.
 Discuss the changing relationship between the Nazis and the Soviets.
 Discuss the changing nature of the war.
 Discuss the crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War.
1. Which of the following had NOT
experienced fascist aggression or
takeover prior to World War II?
(A) Ethiopia
(B) Czechoslovakia
(C) Great Britain
(D) Spain
(E) China
4. Which member of the victorious
Allies emerged most dissatisfied
from the Versailles settlement?
(A) Germany
(B) France
(C) United States
(D) Japan
(E) Great Britain
2. The invasion of which country led to
the slowing and eventual reversal of
the German blitzkrieg?
(A) France
(B) Belgium
(C) The USSR
(D) Great Britain
(E) Spain
5. Which belligerent power of the First
World War carried out an early exit
from the hostilities and negotiated a
separate peace treaty?
(A) France
(B) The United States
(C) Russia
(D) Austria-Hungary
(E) Germany
3. Which is NOT true of the Nazi death
camps?
(A) Most were located in Poland.
(B) Escape was impossible.
(C) A variety of methods were
employed in carrying out
executions.
(D) They were staffed by German
and non-German guards.
(E) They were carefully planned and
constructed.
6. Which of the following periods have
been grouped together by world
historians into a time called an “Age
of Catastrophe” lasting from 1914 to
1945?
(A) World War I, Great Depression,
Cold War
(B) Napoleonic Wars, World War I,
World War II
(C) World War I, Great Depression,
World War II
(D) World War II, Cold War, postCold War era
(E) Great Depression, World War
II, Cold War
Thesis Statement: Change Over Time: Germany 1914 – 1945
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