World War II

“NATURE IS CRUEL, SO WE MAY BE CRUEL, TOO… I HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMOVE MILLIONS OF AN INFERIOR RACE THAT BREEDS LIKE VERMIN”

-HITLER

Europe in the 1930’s

• Adolph Hitler– Rise because of

WWI– Criticized rather

than submitted a plan for progress

– Forced his way into the chancellorship

America_in_the_20th_Century__World_War_II__The_World_at_War.mov

IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF WW II

• IN GERMANY ADOLF HITLER CAME TO POWER IN 1933 AS A FASCIST DICTATOR.

• HITLER HATED THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND VIOLATED IT. FIRST HE BUILT UP THE GERMAN MILITARY. THEN HE SENT TROOPS INTO THE RHINELAND. THIS WAS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES, WHICH SAID IN 1919 THAT RHINELAND WAS A DEMILITARIZED ZONE.

IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF WW II

• HITLER WANTED TO CONQUER WHOEVER HE FELT WAS INFERIOR TO THE GERMANS OR ARYANS. HE WANTED “LIVING SPACE” FOR THE GERMANS IN EASTERN EUROPE.

• ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 GERMANY INVADED POLAND WITHOUT A DECLARATION OF WAR. THIS STARTS WORLD WAR II.

IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF WW II

• BRITAIN AND FRANCE DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1939.

• ITALY DECLARED WAR ON FRANCE AND BRITAIN ON JUNE 10, 1940.

IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF WW II

• BRITAIN AND FRANCE DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1939.

• ITALY DECLARED WAR ON FRANCE AND BRITAIN ON JUNE 10, 1940.

“Blitzkrieg”• IN GERMAN BLITZKRIEG MEANS “LIGHTNING WAR”.

• HITLER USED BLITZKRIEG DURING HIS INVASION OF POLAND.

• BLITZKRIEG INCLUDED SURPRISE ATTACKS, RAPID ADVANCES INTO ENEMY TERRITORY, AND MASSIVE AIR ATTACKS THAT STRUCK AND SHOCKED THE ENEMY.

• GERMANY ACHIEVED MOST OF ITS VICTORIES IN WORLD WAR II WITH THE BLITZKRIEG TACTIC.

Neville Chamberlain, Britain’s prime minister, felt that Germany was treated unfairly after WWI, and that they had grievances that needed to be addressed.

Neville believed that if he catered to demands of Hitler and Mussolini, Britain could avoid another European war.

Neville firmly believed that if he catered to the demands of Hitler and Mussolini, Britain could fully avoid another war in Europe.

This policy became known as “appeasement”, which is defined as “the policy of granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain peace.”

The Munich Conference was the third of the three meetings held to negotiate who the territory should go to.

The leaders of Britain, Italy, France and Germany who met here, decided that Sudetenland be given over to the Germans immediately…without consulting the Czechs.

Europe in the 1930’s• AUSTRIA

– HITLER THREATENED INVASION– MERGED WITH GERMANY

• CZECHOSLOVAKIA– GERMAN-SPEAKING AREA TURNED OVER– MEETING IN MUNICH

• PEACE DECLARED– NON-AGGRESSION PACT WITH STALIN

Germany’s Attack in Europe

• Polish invasion–Sept. 1,

1339–Blitzkrieg–Warsaw

Ghetto

"The Nazi occupation of Poland was horrific. Twenty percent of the Polish people died in forced labor, of hunger, or from fighting. Resistance was impossible. Even the feeblest opposition brought devastating, over-whelming reprisals.

– Thorpe, Scott, How to Think Like Einstein, Barnes & Noble Books, Inc.,

2000, p. 127.

Germany’s Attack in Europe

• Denmark, Holland• Norway (Quisling)• Belgium and France

– Dunkirk• Britain

– Winston Churchill

“...We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end...We shall fight in the seas and oceans...We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...”

Winston Churchill

“We have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

— Winston Churchill

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

— Winston Churchill

Germany’s Attack in Europe

• Balkans• Russia• US isolation

Maximum Axis Control (Sept 1942)

Allied Counter attacks in Europe

• Soviet• North Africa• Italy • Normandy• Battle of the

Bulge

Allied Counter attacks in Europe

• Surrender– Stalin, – Churchill, – Roosevelt

• The Marshall Plan

"MEN OCCASIONALLY STUMBLE OVER THE TRUTH, BUT MOST OF THEM PICK THEMSELVES UP AND HURRY OFF AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED.“

– Churchill, Winston.

Japan’s Invasion

• China– Blockade

• Pearl Harbor

• Southeast Asia

Allied Counterattacks in the Pacific

• Midway• Southeast Asia• Island hopping• Japanese main

islands

Pacific War

Early DifficultiesTHE ALLIED AND AXIS POWERS–STRENGTHS

AND WEAKNESSESThe Allied Powers

advantage: the United States had tremendous production capacityadvantage: the Soviet Union had vast manpoweradvantage: Britain and the Soviet Union had not been defeateddisadvantage: faced a long, drawn-out fight on several frontsdisadvantage: enemy held firm control of conquered area spread over an enormous area—both in Europe and the Pacific

EARLY DIFFICULTIESTHE ALLIED AND AXIS POWERS–STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

The Axis PowersADVANTAGE: BETTER PREPARED FOR WAR

ADVANTAGE: HAD FIRM CONTROL OVER INVADED AREAS

ADVANTAGE: HAD BEEN REARMED SINCE THE 1930S

ADVANTAGE: ALREADY HAD AIRFIELDS, BARRACKS, AND MILITARY TRAINING CENTERS

ADVANTAGE: ECONOMIES READY FOR WARDISADVANTAGE: HAD TO DEFEND MULTIPLE FRONTS

EARLY DIFFICULTIESTHE ALLIED AND AXIS POWERS–STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

ADVANTAGE: THE UNITED STATES HAD TREMENDOUS PRODUCTION CAPACITYADVANTAGE: THE SOVIET UNION HAD VAST MANPOWERADVANTAGE: BRITAIN AND THE SOVIET UNION HAD NOT BEEN DEFEATEDDISADVANTAGE: FACED A LONG, DRAWN-OUT FIGHT ON SEVERAL FRONTSDISADVANTAGE: ENEMY HELD FIRM CONTROL OF CONQUERED AREA SPREAD OVER AN ENORMOUS AREA—BOTH IN EUROPE AND THE PACIFIC

The Home Front

WOMEN AND THE WAR EFFORT

• ENTERED THE JOB MARKET

TO REPLACE SOLDIERS

• WORKED IN PLANTS

• PRODUCED WAR PRODUCTS

Victory in Europe

Fighting in the Atlantic

• Axis attacks took a huge Allied toll• with sonar, Allies turned the tide in 1943• sea dominance allowed the Allied to protect cargo

ships and bomb Axis vessels

Fighting in the Air

The Normandy Invasion

• as with the Battle of the Atlantic, 1943 was an important year

• Allies conducted strategic bombing to destroy important German cities

• took place on June 6, 1944• Allies needed to invade German-occupied France• created a dummy invasion as a decoy• stormed the beach with high casualties but ultimate

success

THE WAR IN EUROPE

WORLD WAR II–THE FINAL COSTS

• killed millions of people

• resulted in the Holocaust

• wounded many soldiers and civilians

• destroyed many nations’ economies

• ruined countless cities

• destroyed national infrastructures

• the mostdevastating

war in history

• enormous human and economic

losses

Human Costs Economic Costs