WORLD WAR II

Failure of Versailles

• Deep resentment in Germany

• Weimer Republic could not handle the stipulations

• Easy for dictators to ease power.

Joseph Stalin• Took control after Lenin died in Took control after Lenin died in

19241924• Wanted the Soviet Union to Wanted the Soviet Union to

become the model communist become the model communist statestate– Stamped out all free enterpriseStamped out all free enterprise– Government owned land and Government owned land and

industryindustry

• Responsible for 8 – 13 million Responsible for 8 – 13 million deaths.deaths.

• Totalitarian- Form of Totalitarian- Form of government where the government where the government maintains all government maintains all control over its citizenscontrol over its citizens

Benito Mussolini• Unemployment, strikes in

Italy• Played on economic

collapse and communism to gain popularity

• Fascism: Terror – based dictatorship that valued strong government control, military strength, and intense nationalism.

• Militaristic expansion• Private property w/strong

gov. controls.• Italy invaded Ethiopia in

1935

Adolf Hitler

• Failure of the Weimer Republic, German unemployment & depression gave him an opportunity

• Nazism:– Extreme nationalism– Racial purification– National expansion

Militarism in Japan

• The Great Depression hit Japan hard– Military took matters in

its own hands

• 1932: Military dictatorship– Group of leaders

• Wanted an overseas empire = nat. resources

• Invaded Manchuria • Hideki Tojo becomes

Prime Minister is ’41.

Civil War in Spain• 1936, Francisco

Franco led Spanish officers against the Spanish Rep.– Civil War

• World alarmed by another fascist regime

• Backed by Hitler and Mussolini

• Western democracies remained neutral.

U.S. Remains Neutral• Arguments that U.S.

involvement in WWI was caused by greedy bankers and arms dealers

• Neutrality Acts:– Outlawed arms sales

or loans to nations at war and or civil war.

Neutrality Breaks Down• FDR found away around

the Neutrality Acts• Japan never declared

war on China when they invaded Manchuria

• U.S. supplied China w/arms

• Called on nations to quarantine aggressors

• Strong criticism

WAR IN EUROPE

Austria & Czech. Fall

• For Germany to grow it needed land of its neighbors

• Hitler knew it might provoke war but didn’t care.

Austria• Majority of

population were Germans who favored unification

• March 12, 1938: German troops marched in unopposed– Auschliss = Union

• World did nothing

The Sudetenland• Hitler = false

accusations of Czechs abusing Sudeten Germans

• France, G.B. = protect Czech.

• Munich Agreement = Sep. 30, 1938 – France & G.B. gave Hitler the Sudetenland w/o a shot fired.

Soviet Union Remains Neutral• Poland: neighbor of

Soviet Union– France, G.B. vowed to

protect her

• Nonaggression Pact- Agreement between two parties not to engage in hostilities.

• w/Hitler and Stalin– Divided Poland between

the both

The “Blitz” in Poland• Sept. 1, 1939:

Germany invaded Poland

• Blitzkrieg: Lightning war– Bombing raids by air– Quick but

devastating advances on the ground

• Sept. 3: France, G.B. declare war on Germany = WWII

The Fall of France• German invasion

from the north, Italy from the South

• Little resistance• Nazi controlled

Northern France, puppet gov. in the South

Battle of Britain

• Summer – Fall 1940• German Luftwaffe

relentlessly bombed Britain

• Royal Air Force (RAF)– Used radar to take

back the skies– Sept. 15, 1940: 185

German planes shot down

PEARL HARBOR

Japan’s Ambitions in the Pacific• French, Dutch, and

British colonies unprotected in Asia– Japan seized them

• July 1941: Japanese takeover of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

• U.S. cut off trade– No oil

Peace Talks• Tojo promised peace• Sept. 1941: Japanese

planned the attack• U.S. broke Japanese

codes – learned that Japan was preparing for an attack

• FDR wanted the Japanese to strike 1st

• Dec. 6, 1941: Japan rejects all peace proposals.

Battleship Row

The Attack• 180 Japanese

warplanes; 6 carriers; two waves

• 21 ships / 8 battleships lost or sunk– Nearly the whole

Pacific Fleet

Reaction to Pearl• FDR did not want a two

front war.• Dec. 8: Unanimous

declaration of war on Japan

• Dec. 11: Italy & Germany declared war on the U.S.

• Sen. Burton Wheeler: “The only thing to do now is lick the hell out of them.”

One Saving Grace

• U.S. aircraft carriers left Pearl days before.

• Aircraft carriers changed the way the Pacific theatre would be fought.

Battle of the Atlantic• German U-Boats

sank any supply ship in the Atlantic– 1st seven month of

’42 = 681 ships lost

• Allied Solution: Convoy system– Battleships and

airplanes accompanied supply ships

Stalingrad• S-Grad: major

manufacturing and communications center city of So. Russia.

• Sept. – Oct ’42: Germans surrounded the city

• Winter helped the Soviets– Bring in reinforcements

and surround the Germans who were inside the city.

• German surrender in Jan. ’43 marked the beginning of Germany’s retreat westward.

North Africa• Allies didn’t think

they had the men/resources for a European invasion

• Operation Torch – Nov. ’42– Designed by Ike

• Industry/resources propelled Allied victory

Italian Campaign

• Italy chosen before English Channel invasion

• Patton’s Sixth Army• Sicily fell to the

Allies in 1943– Mussolini stripped of

power.

D-Day• June 6, 1944• Largest land-sea-air

operation in history• 5 main beaches– Gold– Sword– Juno– Omaha– Utah

D-Day (Decision Day)

• 156,000 men (3 million total)

• 6,000 landing craft• 11,000 planes• 800 warships• 60 miles of coastline

to secure• Break down the

Atlantic Wall

Success at Normandy• Within one month: 1

million Allied troops occupied the beaches

• Began the process of pushing the Germans back towards Belgium

D-Day Memorial

• 9378 Americans buried w/crosses and Stars of David

• 209,000 total Allied casualties

• 200,000 estimated Germans