Transcript world war ii

World War II and its Aftermath
(Late 1939 – 1945)
Main points:
• Militaristic dictators took power in Europe and
Japan.
• Invasions by Adolf Hitler triggered war!
• Hitler and his Nazis set out to conquer the world
and exterminate Jews!
• United States entered the war after attack on
Pearl Harbor.
• Victory led to an uneasy peace with the Soviet
Union and the threat of nuclear war, known as
Failure & Dictatorship after WWI:
(lesson 1)
• Treaty of Versailles: Caused anger &
resentment.
• After WWI, Germany set up democratic
government: “The Weimer Republic”.
• Democracy failed in Germany and across
Europe!
• People turned to dictators who promised
salvation!
1. Stalin in Communist
Soviet Union (Russia)
• Communist state (Soviet
Union) established in 1922.
• When Lenin died, Joseph
Stalin took control of Russia.
• Created “collectives”, large
gov’t owned farms worked by
several families.
• Economic activity placed under
state management.
• His agricultural and industrial
programs cost many their lives
(Great Purges: 8-13 million
died).
• By 1937, Soviet Union was
second-largest industrial
power.
2. Mussolini in Fascist Italy
• Italy was in economic ruin.
• Benito Mussolini took
advantage and took control,
promising economic reform.
• Established the Fascist Party.
• Fascists: Stressed nationalism;
placed interests of the state
above individual; stressed
importance of a single strong
leader.
• Mussolini gained support of
government officials, army,
and police.
• In 1922, Mussolini made Italy a
totalitarian state.
3. Hitler In Nazi Germany
• Became leader of National Socialist German Workers’
Party (Nazi Party) after WWI.
• Author of Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
• Nazism: Based on extreme nationalism, racial
purification, and expansion.
• Hitler dreamed of uniting all German-speaking people
into a great empire.
• Inferior races (such as Jews) were meant to serve.
• Many unemployed German men joined Hitler’s private
army (the storm troopers).
• 1933: Hitler was appointed Chancellor (prime minister) of
Germany.
More on Hitler…
• Hitler quickly
dismantled
Germany’s Weimer
Republic.
• Established the “Third
Reich”.
• Hoped this German
empire would last
1000 years.
Hitler ignores the Treaty of Versailles
and begins his program to regain lost
territories
Pride
Militarists take control in Japan:
• Militarists: Shared Hitler’s belief in
expansion.
• Invaded and seized control of Chinese
province of Manchuria in 1931.
• The League of Nations protested Japan’s
actions, and Japan quit the League.
• The success of this invasion put the
militarists in power in Japan.
Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931
The dictators “expand” and the
League of Nations does nothing!
• 1935: Hitler invades the Rhineland
(German region bordering France &
Belgium).
• 1935: Mussolini invades Ethiopia.
• 1936: Hitler begins military buildup, in
opposition to the Treaty of Versailles.
Italy Attacks Ethiopia, 1935
Emperor Haile
Selassie
Germany Invades the
Rhineland
March 7, 1936
Civil War breaks out in Spain
• Francisco Franco led a revolt in Spain.
• Also a fascist, Franco hoped to take control of
Spain.
• Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco’s forces with
troops, weapons, and fighter planes.
• Franco’s victory in 1939 established him as
Spain’s new fascist dictator.
• Later, Italy and Germany signed a formal
alliance known as the “Rome-Berlin Axis”.
The Spanish Civil War: 1936 - 1939
The American “Lincoln Brigade”
The Spanish Civil War: 1936 - 1939
Francisco Franco
The Spanish Civil War:
Italian troops in
Madrid
The U.S. Responds Cautiously!
• Kelogg-Briand Pact signed after WWI
denounced war!
• Anti-war feeling in the U.S. was strong!
• Congress passed a series of neutrality acts
outlawing the trade or sale of arms.
• Roosevelt ignored the neutrality acts and
assisted China against Japanese aggression.
• “Peace-loving nations should isolate aggressor
nations to stop spread of war!”
Hitler continues to “expand”
• “To grow and prosper, Germany needed
the land of its neighbors!”
• Austria first; Austrians welcomed Hitler!
• Sudentenland (Czechoslovakia) second!
• France and Britain promised to protect
Czechoslovakia.
• Hitler said this would be his “last territorial
demand.”
The Austrian Anschluss, 1938
The Munich AgreementSept. 30, 1938
• Edouard Daladier of France
• Neville Chamberlain of Britain
• Adolf Hitler of Germany
• Turned the Sudetenland over to Germany
without a single shot being fired!
Appeasement: The Munich
Agreement, 1938
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Now we have “peace in our time!” Herr
Hitler is a man we can do business with.
Czechoslovakia Becomes Part
of the Third Reich: 1939
The German “Offensive”
Continues!
• Hitler was NOT finished
• Poland next!
• Many thought Hitler would NOT be foolish
enough to attack Poland:
– Poland had an alliance with Russia.
– Britain and France had promised aid to
Poland.
The Soviet Union declares
Neutrality
• Stalin surprised everyone by signing a
non-aggression pact with Hitler.
• German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
(August 23, 1939)-was to last 10 years (2)
– 1. Germany and Russia committed not to
attack each other..(if Germany attacked
Poland; S.U. would not come to its aid; if
Germany went to war with the West over
Poland, The S.U. would stay out-eliminating a
two front war)
German-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact
• Secret Protocol
- Germany agreed to give the states of the Baltic
to S.U. (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania)
- Also agreed to divide Poland along the Narew,
Vistula, and San Rivers
• S.U. stood back after Germany attacked Poland
• September 17, S.U. came into eastern Poland to
occupy their “sphere of influence”
• Germany later surprise-attacked S.U. on June
22, 1941
The Nazi-Soviet
Non-Aggression Pact, 1939
Foreign Ministers
von Ribbentrop & Molotov
Poland Attacked: Sept. 1, 1939
Blitzkrieg [“Lightening War”]
German Troops March into Warsaw
Blitzkrieg in Poland
• September 1, 1939
• “Lightning War”
• The German air force roared over Poland
attacking with speed and surprise!
• German tanks raced across the Polish
countryside!
• Two days later, Sept. 3, Britain and France
declared war on Germany.
• World War II had begun!
Hitler continues advance…
• 1940: Hitler launches surprise invasion of
Denmark & Norway.
• Then, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg.
• Then, Hitler’s armies turned towards
France!
• Fall of France (May-June 1940)
• Battle of Britain (Britain is victorious!)
European Theater of Operations
The “Phoney War” Ends:
Spring, 1940
Dunkirk Evacuated
June 4, 1940
France Surrenders
June, 1940
A Divided France
Henri Petain; Vichy Gov’t
Now Britain Is All Alone!
Battle of Britain (1940)
• "...the Battle of France is over. I expect
that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.“
– Prime Minister Winston Churchill
• First campaign to be fought by air force
• Luftwaffe v. RAF (Royal Air Force)
• Britain had “radar”—plotted German flight
plans
• Germany’s 1st major defeat; turning point
in WWII
Battle of Britain:
The “Blitz”
Battle of Britain:
The “Blitz”
The London “Tube”:
Air Raid Shelters during the Blitz
The Royal Air Force
British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
The Holocaust (lesson 3)
• The systematic murder of people (Jews,
gypsies, homosexuals, Catholics, Jehova
Witness, etc.) across Europe.
• 1935: Nuremberg Laws (reduced power and
privileges of Jews).
• Kristallnacht – “Night of the Broken Glass”
(November 9-10, 1938)
• Jewish Refugees struggle to leave Germany.
• Plight of the German ocean liner, St. Louis.
(An example of man’s inhumanity to man.)
Hitler’s “Final Solution”
• Adolf Eichmann
• Policy of genocide: the deliberate and
systematic killing of an entire population.
• Aryans: “The master race”.
• Condemned: Jews, Gypsies,
Homosexuals, Mentally ill, Physically
disabled, Incurably Ill.
• Security Squadrons (SS): Rounded up
people and shot them.
• Forced Relocation (Creation of ghettos)
The Final Stage of the Holocaust:
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Mass exterminations/Death by Gassing
Death camps/ 12,000 killed each day.
Crematoriums.
Mass graves.
The United States Moves Toward
War (lesson 4)
“This nation will remain a neutral nation…I have seen
war and I hate war.” (FDR).
Later, FDR changes his mind and takes steps to
prepare for the inevitable war!
1. As Hitler invaded Poland, FDR revised the
Neutrality Act (1935) - “Cash & Carry
Provision” (1939)
2. FDR institutes a draft to recruit soldiersSelective Training and Service Act 1940
(STSA)
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•
Axis powers sign Tripartite Pact: Germany, Japan, Italy.
Roosevelt elected to third term (1941).
The Great Arsenal of DemocracyFDR takes more steps toward war!
3. Lend-Lease Plan (1941)
- Aid to Britain & France, countries whose
defense is “vital” to the U.S.
4. U.S. sends aid to Stalin (1941) Why?
- “If Stalin is an enemy to Hitler, then he will be
my friend.” (FDR)
5. Roosevelt authorizes U.S. warships to attack
German U-boats (1941).
- German u-boats attacked numerous U.S.
ships.
FDR Plans for War:
6. Atlantic Charter (1941)-Roosevelt and Churchill –
outlined the Allied goals for the post-war world
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–
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No territorial gains (by the U.S. or United Kingdom)
Collective security (system of mutual defense).
Disarmament (of aggressor nations).
Self-Determination (Respect people’s right to choose
their own government).
– Economic Cooperation (the advancement of social
welfare).
– Trade Barriers lowered
– Freedom of the seas.
Declaration of War seems
Inevitable:
In the Pacific: Japan continues to conquer
7. U.S. Response: To arm merchant ships
and shoot on sight!
• 1941-Japanese invaded French military bases in
Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos).
8. U.S. Response: To cut off trade (Oil
Embargo), then later ended all trade with
Japan
Peace talks with Japan failed-Japan wanted a free hand in
China and restoration of normal trade relations; U.S.
demanded the removal of Japanese troops in China
Attack on Pearl Harbor:
• Japan rejected all peace proposals!
• December 7, 1941:
– 180 Japanese warplanes.
– Bombed targets for an hour an a half.
– Devastation was appalling!
– 2403 Americans killed; 1178 wounded.
– 21 ships in the Pacific fleet sunk or damaged.
– More than 300 aircraft severely destroyed.
War in Europe and North Africa
• Battle of the Atlantic.
– Hitler ordered submarine raids against U.S. ships along
America’s east coast.
– Hitler’s goal: To prevent food & war supplies from reaching lendlease countries.
– U.S. used convoys & sonar to achieve victory.
• Battle of Stalingrad.
– Hitler hoped to capture oil fields in the Caucuses Mts. and wipe
out Stalingrad.
– In the end, the Russians used the cold weather to their
advantage.
• Operation Torch (North Africa).
– Invasion of Axis controlled North Africa (Casablanca, Oran, Algiers).
– German & No. African troops surrendered quickly!
Europe & North Africa (continued)
• Italy
– Allies forced Mussolini to resign.
• D-Day
– June 6, 1944: Allies landed in five beach locations in
Normandy in northern France.
– “phantom army” created; “Operation Overlord”
– After seven days of fighting, Allies controlled an 80mile strip of France.
– By September 1944: Allies had freed France,
Belgium, & Luxembourg.
“Fifty-seven years ago, America and the nations of Europe formed a
bond that has never been broken. And all of us incurred a debt that
can never be repaid. Today, as America dedicates our D-Day
Memorial, we play that our country will always be worth of the courage
that delivered us from evil and saved the free world.” June 6, 2001
George W. Bush, President of the United States
Picture of Soldiers Ready for D-Day
Troops land at Normandy, France
Allied troops arrive in Omaha
Beach, D-Day 1944
Troops treading through water and
Nazi gunfire, D-Day 1944
Europe & North Africa (continued)
• Battle of the Bulge:
– German offensive.
– Hitler hoped to split American & British forces & break
up supply lines.
– Strategy was planned very covertly.
– Most bloody of battles; Heavy casualties!
• Liberation of Nazi death camps.
• Roosevelt’s death.
Lesson 3
The War in the Pacific
• In the six months after Pearl Harbor,
Japan conquered many lands: Hong Kong,
Burma, Thailand, and most of China.
• The Allies began their attack!!!
– “Doolittle’s Raid”: April 1942: Allies raided
Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
– Lieutenant James Doolittle led 16 bombers in
the attack of Japan.
– Pulling off a “Pearl Harbor like attack” lifted
America’s sunken spirits!!!
Map of Asia
Battle of Midway
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Strategic island located NW of Hawaii.
Americans knew this was the next target of Japan.
U.S. sent torpedo planes and dive bombers to attack!
By the end of battle, Japan lost four aircraft carriers, and
250 planes.
• Admiral Chester Nimitz and the U.S. had avenged Pearl
Harbor
• Turning point: Soon, the allies began island hopping,
slowly taking away territory from Japan.
Japanese Defense - Kamikaze
• In Japanese means “God-wind” or “spiritwind”.
• Tactic used by Japanese pilots who
crashed their planes (loaded with bombs)
into allied ships.
• “Suicide Missions”.
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
Iwo Jima:
- “Ugly, smelly glob of cold
lava”.
- Critical to U.S. to use as a
base.
- Heavily defended by over
20,000 Japanese troops.
- More than 6000 marines
died taking this island.
Okinawa:
- Japan:1900 kamikaze
attacks here.
- Japan lost 110,000 men
to defend Okinawa.
- The Allies succeeded in
taking the island from
Japan.
The Atomic Bomb ends the war:
• President Truman wanted to avoid having
to invade Japan.
• Decided to use a very powerful weapon to
defeat Japan and end the war – the Atom
Bomb!
• “Manhattan Project”: Research directed by
J. Robert Oppenheimer; Developed the
bomb, the “best kept secret of the war.”
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
• August 6,1945: “Little Boy” released over
Hiroshima, a Japanese fort.
• Every building in the city collapsed into
dust.
• August 9, 1945: “Fat Man” dropped on
Nagasaki, leveling half the city.
• Only attack using nuclear weapons in the
history of war!!!
The bombs drop over Japan!!!
Little Boy - Hiroshima
Fat Man - Nagasaki
Hiroshima:
Before and After
Nagasaki: Before and After
Human Effects
Japan Surrenders
• September 2, 1945
• U.S. battleship, Missouri