1939-19451939-19451939-19451939-1945

A Story that Matters

• Read p. 808 “Hitler’s Vision”– Why would Hitler regard democracy as a

“cancer”?– What does Hitler mean by “ruthless

Germanization”?– Look at the map on page 816. What

countries took part in World War II?

Voices from the Past p. 809

The German Path to War• The Ideas of Hitler

– Germans belonged to the superior Aryan race

– Germany should be a great civilization• Needed more land to

support a larger population

– East: Prepare for war with the Soviet Union

» Could use Slavic peoples as slave labor to build The Third Reich

The First Steps

• Hitler “only wanted to revise the unfair provisions of the Treaty of Versailles”– March 1935: Hitler announces creation of

a new Air Force and an expansion of Germany’s army to 550,000 • Both direct violations of the Treaty of

Versailles– However, due to distractions from the Great

Depression, Britain/France/Italy did nothing» ***Convinced Hitler that the Western states had

no intention of using force to maintain the Treaty

With No Fear of Military Force…• Hitler sends troops into the

Rhineland– Part of Germany that was supposed

to be demilitarized (buffer zone between France)• France had the right to use force, but

wouldn’t act without support of Britain– Britain didn’t support (said it was a

reasonable action to militarize their own land!)

» APPEASEMENT POLICY: if European states satisfied the reasonable demands of dissatisfied powers, the dissatisfied powers would be content, and stability/peace would be achieved

Germany’s New Alliances• Italy:

– Benito Mussolini wanted to create a new Roman Empire and invaded Ethiopia

• Opposed by France and Britain– Angered by this opposition, Mussolini welcomed

Hitler’s support– New Alliance formed between Italy and Germany

• Japan:– Signed the Anti-Comintern Pact

• Promising a common front against Communism

• Austria:– Threatened Austria with invasion

• Gives in and Austria puts Austrian Nazi’s in charge of government

– Invited German troops in to “maintain law and order”» March 13, 1938: Hitler annexed Austria to

Germany

More Appeasement: The Sudetenland

• Demanded Sudetenland (NW Czechoslovakia) because it was inhabited largely by Germans– Hitler declares he’ll risk “world war” to get it

• Munich Conference: Britain/France/Germany/Italy meet and decide to meet Hitler’s demands

– Czechs abandoned and forced to stand by helplessly – Hitler promised to make no more demands

But Hitler Wasn’t Done…• Convinced that Western

democracies were weak & wouldn’t fight– Hitler invades western

Czechoslovakia and demands Danzig (a port in Poland)

• Britain vows to defend Poland if attacked

• Clear now that Hitler’s promises were worthless– However, Britain and

France realized that by now only the Soviet Union was powerful enough to help contain Nazi aggression

• Start negotiating with Joseph Stalin (Soviet dictator)

Hitler “Out-Negotiates” the West• Feared a two-front war if the

Soviets allied themselves with Britain/France– Made the “Nazi-Soviet

Nonaggression pact”• Hitler offered Stalin control of

eastern Poland & the Baltic states– Didn’t matter though, Hitler was

used to breaking promises

• Without fear of the Soviets, Hitler invades Poland (September 1, 1939)– 2 days later, Britain and

France declare war on Germany

Japanese Path to War

• September 1931: Japanese had seized Manchuria– Used the excuse that the Chinese

attacked a Japanese Railway (in fact, the attack was carried out by Japanese soldiers disguised as Chinese)• Needed natural resources

– League of Nations and the U.S. very much against Japanese occupation of Manchuria, but neither were willing to use force

China and Japan Conflict• Japan continues to push southward from

Manchuria– Chiang Kai-Shek (Chinese Nationalist leader)

decides to fight• Chiang lose capital city of Nanjing, but Chiang

doesn’t surrender…just moves capital south

• Raising strong criticism from the U.S.– Japan, nontheless, demands the right to

exploit the reosurces in French Indochina• U.S. places economic sanctions on Japan (Japan

badly needed oil and scrap iron from the U.S.)

• Japanese dilemma: To guarantee access to raw materials it wanted in SE Asia, Japan had to risk losing raw materials from the U.S. – Decision: Launch a surprise attack on U.S.

and European colonies in SE Asia

Important Review Questions• In what sense was World War II a

product of World War I?

• Name 2 of Hitler’s early ideas.

• Hitler’s 3 earliest allies were…

• What was “appeasement” and how did it encourage Hitler’s expansion?

Hitler’s Commitment

» “Voices from the Past” p. 814

• Blitzkrieg: Lightning War that used armored columns supported by airplanes– Europe was stunned with the speed and

efficiency of the German attack on Poland• Sept 28, 1939: Germany divides Poland with the

Soviet Union (as promised)

• Other Early Victories for Hitler: Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, and FRANCE!– Germany occupied 3/5th’s of France

(armistice signed on June 22, 1940)– U.S. denounced Germany’s aggression, but

still followed a policy of Isolationism under FDR

The Battle of Britain• Germany realized they could only defeat Britain if they controlled the air

– Luftwaffe: German Air Force• Launched a major offensive and bombed

British air/naval bases, harbors, communication centers, and war industries

– British fights back with determination, but still suffered major losses• Hitler then shifts bombings away from

military targets and towards British cities (hoping to break British morale)

– However, it just allowed Britain to rebuild their air strength quickly because military targets were not being hit

» Soon, the British Air Force was inflicting major losses on Luftwaffe bombers (Forcing Hitler to postpone the invasion of Britain indefinitely)

Look at the picture on p. 815. How did Hitler’s strategy of attacking civilian targets hurt, rather than helped, Germany’s efforts?

Look at the picture on p. 815. How did Hitler’s strategy of attacking civilian targets hurt, rather than helped, Germany’s efforts?

So Much for the Non-Aggression Pact: Hitler Attacks

the Soviet Union• Hitler convinced that the only reason Britain was remaining in the war was because it expected Soviet support– Invades June 22, 1941

• Thought that the Soviets could be defeated before the brutal winter weather set in

• Successful, but not quick– An early winter and fierce Soviet resistance

halts the German advance

Japan at War• December 7, 1941: Japanese aircraft attacked

the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii)– Kills 2,402; Wounds 1,178; Destroys 19 ships/100

planes – Other assaults on the Philippines as well

• By the spring of 1942, almost all of SE Asia & much of the western Pacific had fallen into Japanese hands– Japan had hoped that their lightning strike at

American bases would destroy the U.S. fleet in the Pacific

• However, Pearl Harbor unified American opinion about becoming involved in the war

– Joined with European nations and nationalist China to defeat Japan

• Hitler believed that U.S. involvement in the Pacific would make the U.S. ineffective in the European War, so he declares war on the U.S. 4 days after Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941

A date which will live in infamy!

Alliances: Who’s with who?

• Grand Alliance: Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the U.S.– Agreed to fight until the

Axis Powers surrendered unconditionally

• Axis Powers: GermanyItaly Japan

The War in Europe• Up until 1942, it appeared that the

Germans might win on the battlefield– However, the war would soon turn

• November 1942: British/American forces invaded French North Africa (forcing German and Italian troops to surrender)

• Battle of Stalingrad: Soviets defending a German attack

– German troops were stopped, encircled, and supply lines were cut off (all in frigid winter conditions)

» Forced to surrender– ***Importance: Puts Germany on the defensive on

the Easter Front which they will never change

Eyewitness to History

• Read p. 823 and answer #’s 1-3– Discuss as a class

German Army

Russian Army

1,011,500 men

1,000,500 men

10,290 artillery guns

13,541 artillery guns

675 tanks 894 tanks

1,216 planes 1,115 planes

The Holocaust: Origins

• Read “Why Remember”-pg 2 of Newspaper

• Voices from the Past– P. 824

• After the conquest of Poland, Nazis began to put their racial program into effect – Heinrich Himmler was in charge of removing

“inferior” Slavic people and replacing them with Germans (“Germanization”)

• Slavs would be slave labor

The Holocaust: Racial Struggles• Aryans vs. Jews

– The Nazi’s “Final Solution” • Genocide: physical extermination

• Reinhard Heydrich was given the task of administering the Final Solution– Created special strike forces, called

Einsatzgruppen, to carry out Nazi plans• Round up the Jews; Killed over 1 million total• Followed the regular army’s advances and

caught Jews from the villages that had been passed, execute them, and bury them in mass graves

– Read quote p. 826

• Do “Geography Skills” p. 826 #1-2

The Holocaust: Death Camps• 1942: Jews from countries occupied by

Germany were rounded up, packed like cattle into freight trains, and shipped to Poland (where there were 6 extermination centers)– Largest: Auschwitz

• About 30 percent of the arrivals were sent to a labor camp where they were starved or worked to death

• Other 70% went straight to the gas chambers (some were subjected to “medical” experiments)

• Watch “Auschwitz: If You Cried, You Died.”– 24 minutes

First They Came…When the Nazi’s came for the communists,

I remained silent; I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, I did not speak out;

I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,There was no one left to speak out for me.

The Holocaust: Death Toll• Killed between 5-6 million Jews

– 3 million of them in death camps– Virtually, 90% of the Jewish

populations of Poland, the Baltic countries, and Germany were killed

• Also, responsible for the deliberate death by shooting, starvation, or overwork of at least another 10 million non-Jewish people– Mostly Gypsies and Slavic Peoples

• Read “Escaping the Nightmare” p. 14 (Newspaper)

The Holocaust: Children

• Along with women, children were usually the 1st sent to the gas chambers (because they couldn’t work)– 1.2 Jewish children died

• Many were helped and hid– Often separated from parents

• 13 million orphaned children in Europe in 1945

• The Hitler Youth Program– Often only 14-15 years old

• Could be found on the front lines during the last year of the war

• Read “A Story to Tell” p. 10-11 (Newspaper)

Horrors of the Holocaust Exposed

Horrors of the Holocaust Exposed

Mass Graves at Bergen-BelsenSlave Labor at Buchenwald

Entrance to Auschwitz:

Work Makes You Free

The War in Japan• 1942 was the year the

war changed in the Pacific War too– June 4, 1942: Battle of

Midway Island• U.S. planes attacked 4

Japanese aircraft carriers (headed for Hawaii!)

– Established naval superiority in the Pacific

– U.S. policy of “Island Hopping”

• Don’t sweat the small Japanese bases!

Kamikaze Pilots (Suicide Bombers)

Kamikaze Pilots (Suicide Bombers)

Read “Connections Around the World” -Women as Spies (p. 819)Read “Connections Around the World” -Women as Spies (p. 819)

The Last Years of the War (Europe)• Allies invade Italy

– Remove Mussolini from office• The new government offered to surrender to the Allies

• June 6, 1944: D-Day– Allied forces under General

Eisenhower landed on Normandy (France) beaches in history’s greatest naval invasion

• Fought there way through underwater mines, barbed wire, and massive machine gun fire

• Germans thought it was a distraction and that the real invasion would occur elsewhere (which slowed their response)

– Allies landed 2 million men and a ½ million vehicles & pushed inland!

– Liberated Paris by August 1944 and advanced into Germany by March 1945

GeneralPattonGeneralPatton

Normandy Landing

(June 6, 1944)

Normandy Landing

(June 6, 1944)

Higgins Landing Crafts

German Prisoners

The Last Years of the War (Europe)

• January 1945: Hitler is trapped!– Moved into a bunker 55 feet under the city of

Berlin to direct the final stages of the war• Committed suicide on April 30 (2 days after Mussolini

had been shot by Italian resistance fighters)

• Watch “The Last Days of Hitler” from DVD 2 of Unsolved Mysteries of World War II

The Führer’s BunkerThe Führer’s Bunker

Yalta Conference: February, 1945

Yalta Conference: February, 1945

FDR wants quick Soviet entry into Pacific war.

FDR & Churchill concede Stalin needs buffer, FDR & Stalin want spheres of influence and a weak Germany.

Churchill wants strong Germany as bufferagainst Stalin.

FDR argues for a ‘United Nations’.

Potsdam Conference:July, 1945

Potsdam Conference:July, 1945

FDR dead, Churchill out of office as Prime Minister during conference.

Stalin only original. The United States

has the A-bomb. Allies agree Germany

is to be divided into occupation zones

Poland moved around to suit the Soviets.

P.M. Clement President Joseph Atlee Truman Stalin

The Last Years of the War (Pacific)• FDR dies April 12, 1945

– Harry Truman takes over the presidency • Truman inherits a major decision

– Invade Japan or use the newly available Atomic Bomb?

• Must take a stand against perceived Japanese threat to democracy and Soviet expansion

• Aug 6, 1945: First bomb dropped on Hiroshima; 3 days later another dropped on Nagasaki

– 80,000 killed instantly– Survivors suffered from burns, radiation poisoning,

cancer, leukemia, etc. for the rest of their lives• Aug 14, 1945: Japan Surrenders

– The War is Over!» Overall, 17 million had died in battle. » As many as 20 million more civilian deaths…

Truman’s Decision Video (3 Perspectives)

• Japanese Perspective– Bomb was used as a test of its effectiveness and its

destructive capabilities on a live target• Revisionist Historian Perspective

– Truman more concerned with Soviets (and their expansion)

– Believe Truman used bomb as a form of “Atomic Diplomacy” (political tool for diplomatic leverage)

– Truman’s justification (to save U.S. lives by avoiding an invasion of Japan) was an excuse to cover up his diplomatic reasons stated above

• Traditionalist Historian Perspective– Truman simply wanted to save U.S. lives and quickly

end the war– Atomic Diplomacy played little to no role in his decision– Truman wanted payback for Pearl Harbor

Truman’s Decision Writing Assignment

• Which perspective/argument do you feel holds the most merit? WHY?

• Also, regardless of which perspective you chose, do you feel it was morally justified for Truman to use the atomic bomb? – In other words, did Truman have a moral

obligation to not use such a devastating weapon and attempt to find an end to the war in another manner?

• WWII Photostory: “In Color”-Jamey Johnson