World War IIAnd the Holocaust1939-1945

Bell Ringer•Describe the economic situation of Germany in between the wars.

1 minute

The Road To War

Totalitarianism•What root word do you notice in

totalitarian?

Totalitarianism•A totalitarian government is one that exerts total control over a nation

•It dominates all aspects of life•Uses terror to: ▫Suppress individual rights ▫Silence all forms of opposition

Fascism•Emphasizes the importance of the nation or an ethnic group and the supreme authority of the leader

•Fascist leaders of WWII▫Adolf Hitler (Germany – Axis)▫Benito Mussolini (Italy – Axis)▫Joseph Stalin (USSR – Allied)

Adolf Hitler•video

Stalin’s Soviet Union•Lenin’s death

(1924)•Fight for power – Stalin vs. Trotsky

•Trotsky fled to South America

•Stalin sends thugs over

•Trotsky assassinated

Stalin’s Five-Year Plan•Goal – modernize USSR ▫Agriculture▫Industry

•Collective Farms ▫Soviet farmers to combine small family farms into big ones

▫Owned & operated by the state•Did this go over well? Why? (30 seconds)

Collective Farms•Stalin met with great resistance

•Forced peasants off of their land

Consequences of Protest

•Resistant farmers punished▫Took food - millions died (starvation)

▫5 million sent to gulags (forced labor camps) in Siberia

Consequences of Collectivization•Human cost•Agricultural production fell dramatically

•Food shortages rationing•Clearly unsuccessful

Soviet Industrialization•More successful•Iron, steel, coal, and oil produced•Money invested here, not in housing, clothing,

or consumer goods – resulted in more shortages of essential products• Standard of living fell sharply

The Great Purge (1934)•To remove enemies & undesirable individuals from power

•“trials” for show – all guilty verdicts•By 1939 – over 7 million arrested from all levels of society

•Nearly 1 million executed, rest sent to gulags

Check for Understanding

•What was Stalin’s Five-Year Plan, and what happened to those who disagreed?

Discuss with partner1 minute

Germany•March 1935 – Hitler denounced the Treaty of Versailles & began rearmament

•League of Nations objected, but did nothing

Germany (cont.)•LON’s failure to act convinced Hitler to take bigger risks

•Mussolini (Italy) took notice

Benito Mussolini•video

Mussolini Attacks Ethiopia•Italy was defeated by Ethiopia in the 1890s

•October, 1935 Italy invaded & easily conquered the African nation (aka Abyssinia)

League of Nations Reacts•Condemned but did

nothing•Britain and France hoped to keep the peace in Europe

•“God and history will remember your judgment…It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.” - Haile Selassie, Ethiopian Emperor

German Expansion•March 1936 – Germany reoccupies the Rhineland (DMZ)

1936 Rome – Berlin Pact•Hitler &

Mussolini form an alliance

Formation of Axis Powers•November 1936 – Japan allied with Italy & Germany

•Axis Powers

German Expansion•Hitler pushed for “Anschluss” (political union) with Austria

•March 1938 – Austrian Chancellor said no

•Hitler sent in German troops•Britain & France protested – Hitler said…

MYOB!

Check for Understanding

•What was “Anschluss?”

Share with partner - 30 seconds

Sudetenland•1938 Hitler also demanded this industrial region in Western Czechoslovakia

Reactions to Expansion•France – shocked•Britain – policy of appeasement▫Giving into a competitor’s demands in order to keep peace

▫PM Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler twice

Appeasement•Did not work – why??

Appeasement•Did not work – why??•Because Hitler kept increasing his demands

1938 Munich•September 1938 – Meeting in Munich▫Hitler (Germany)▫Mussolini (Italy)▫Chamberlain (Britain)▫Daladier (France)

•France & Britain not prepared for conflict

•What do you think they did?

L-R: Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini

In the End…•Sudetenland was sacrificed•No one consulted Czech leaders•France was bound by treaty to defend Czech

•Hitler allowed to annex Sudetenland

•Chamberlain hailed as peacekeeper

Closure

•What is appeasement and how did it play a role in the spread of fascism during the 1930s?

The Spanish Civil War1936-1939A Dress Rehearsal for World War II

Spanish Civil War•February 1936 – Spain held an election

•Many vied for power•This tension led to:▫Labor strikes▫Assassinations▫Street battles

Outcomes•National Front elected (liberals/socialists/ communists)

•Coup d’état by rebels (Army)

•Led by Gen. Francisco Franco (Fascist)

Sides•Republicans▫Socialists▫Communists▫Anarchists▫Liberal democrats

•Nationalists▫Loyalists▫“Francoists”▫Fascists

Nationalists vs. Republicans•Republicans backed by:▫USSR provided arms &▫Mexico supplies▫International Brigades (soldiers)

•Nationalists backed by:▫Germany provided tanks, planes, &

▫Italy soldiers

America’s Reaction•Neutrality Act – 1937 (isolationism)

•Attracted the attention of many (Hemingway, Orwell)

•Small brigades from across the country (and the world) volunteered

•Which side do you think they took?

Spanish Civil War “The Lincoln

Brigade”

The Bombing of GuernicaOn with the show…

Guernica•April 26,

1937 Hitler’s Condor Legion Forces (Luftwaffe) bombed the Spanish city of Guernica

It was market day in Guernica when the church bells of Santa Maria sounded the alarm that afternoon in 1937. People from the surrounding hillsides crowded the town square. "Every Monday was a fair in Guernica," says José Monasterio, eyewitnessto the bombing. "They attacked when there were a lot of people there. And they knew when their bombing would kill the most. When there are more people, more people would die."

The Story of Guernica

For over three hours, twenty-five or more of Germany's best-equipped bombers, accompanied by at least twenty more Messerschmitt and Fiat Fighters, dumped one hundred thousand pounds of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the village, slowly and systematically pounding it to rubble.

"We were hiding in the shelters and praying. I only thought of running away, I was so scared. I didn't think about my parents, mother, house, nothing. ..

…just escape. Because during those three and one half hours, I thought I was going to die." (eyewitness Luis Aurtenetxea)

Those trying to escape were cut down by the strafing machine guns of fighter planes. "They kept just going back and forth, sometimes in a long line, sometimes in close formation. It was as if they were practicing new moves. They must have fired thousands of bullets."

(eyewitness Juan Guezureya)

The fires that engulfed the city burned for three days. Seventy percent of the town was destroyed. Sixteen hundred civilians - one third of the population - were killed or wounded.

News of the bombing spread like wildfire. The Nationalists immediately denied any involvement, as did the Germans. But few were fooled by Franco's protestations of innocence. In the face of international outrage at the carnage, Germany claimed publicly that the target was a bridge over the Mundaca River on the edge of town, chosen in order to cut off the fleeing Republican troops.

Although the Condor Legion was made up of the best airmen and planes of Hitler's developing war machine, not a single hit was scored on the presumed target, nor on the railway station, nor on the small-arms factory nearby.

Guernica is the cultural capital of the Basque people, seat of their centuries-old independence and democratic ideals. It has no strategic value as a military target. Yet some time later, a secret report to Berlin was uncovered stating, "...the concentrated attack on Guernica was the greatest success," making the dubious intent of themission clear…

The all-out air attack had been ordered on Franco's behalf to break the spirited Basque resistance to Nationalist forces. Guernica had served as the testing ground for a new Nazi military tactic - blanket-bombing a civilian population to demoralize the enemy.

Spanish Civil War - Movies•Pan’s Labrynth•Butterfly (La Lengua de las Mariposas)

Europe Goes To WarBlitzkrieg and Beyond…

Winston Churchill•Regarding the

Munich Conference in 1938:

“Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They Chose dishonor. They will have war.”

Hitler’s Pact With Stalin•Enemies – realize

more to gain as allies

•August, 1939: Ten year Nonaggression Pact

•Secret clause: G & R to split states of E. Europe

Invasion of Poland•March, 1939 – Britain & France

promise aid to Poland (Is Hitler worried? Why?)

•September 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland

•Blitzkrieg – “Lightening War”▫Fast, concentrated air and land attack▫Takes enemy’s army by surprise

Poland (cont.)•Germany had overrun Poland in less than

1 month•Where were Britain & France??

Helpless Allies•Due to blitzkrieg, Britain & France could

not mobilize quickly enough to come to the aid of Poland

•However, B & F declared war on G on Sept. 3, 1939

Soviet Union & Poland•Sept. 17, 1939

- As per secret pact, Stalin invaded & seized Eastern Poland

•Sept. 19th – Poland surrendered

“Phony War” (aka Sitzkrieg)•Silent period Oct.

1939-April 1940•Germany & Soviet

forces held ground

•Britain & France mobilized troops

Maginot Line•A series of

fortifications along the French-German border

•Provided to troops:▫Housing▫Recreational areas▫a/c▫Underground rail

General Patton’s Thoughts…“Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.”

Why might he say this?

Two Major Problems1. Protected only the part of the

French border that faced Germany▫ Left France open to an attack through

Belgium2. All heavy guns pointed east toward

Germany▫ If Germany got around the Maginot

Line, the guns would be useless

Sitzkrieg ist Kaput •April 9, 1940 – Germany took

Denmark in days•Norway was next•Then blitzkrieg on:▫Netherlands▫Belgium▫Luxembourg

German Invasion of France•May 1940 – went through Belgium to

invade Northern France•Raced to English Channel…why?

Dunkirk•May 1940 -Britain

on edge of military disaster

•German army - advanced across northern France

•British & French forces trapped

•Retreated to French port of Dunkirk

Bell Ringer

•When the French & British were trapped between German forces and the English Channel, to where did they retreat?

Dunkirk•Hitler’s tanks were just 10 miles away •400,000 troops backed to English Channel•Constant air raids from Luftwaffe•Death or capture seemed imminent

•Clip from the movie Atonement

What Do You Think Happened??

Operation Dynamo “On 26 May, the British Admiralty

responded by launching Operation Dynamo - the evacuation of the BEF by sea. This enormous rescue mission was led by Vice Admiral Ramsay, who rounded-up a huge fleet of vessels - from tiny tugs and barges, to lifeboats and navy destroyers - to send to Dunkirk.”

Source: BBC News, Dunkirk Remembered

Miracle of Dunkirk•850 vessels – from destroyers to tugboats

to fishing boats – sailed the English Channel through mines and air raids

•Smaller boats transported soldiers to ships•Despite the loss of 235 vessels, it was a

miracle•By June 4th, over 338,000 men had been

evacuated to England in one of the greatest rescues of all time

Allies Under SiegeFrance Falls & Britain Battles

France Falls•After F & B retreated from Dunkirk to B, G

headed southward• June 10, 1940 – French gov’t abandoned

Paris• June 14 – G took Paris• June 22 – France surrendered

Negotiations in Paris•Surrender terms:▫Germany

occupied: Northern 3/5ths Atlantic Coast

▫French gov’t supervised unoccupied zone in south – Vichy

Vichy, France•Unoccupied•Puppet

government▫General Henri-

Philippe Pétain

•Many helped Germans - collaboration

Why Collaborate??•Many French thought that they were under

German rule forever•Accepted it as their fate – save self,

families, homes•Did all French people just give in?

Free France•French gov’t exiled▫London ▫French-African colonies

•Goal = liberate France

Gen. Charles de Gaulle

The French Resistance• Underground

movement▫Literally met in the

catacombs & tunnels beneath Paris

• Backed by Free France & De Gaulle

• Made up of French citizens▫Propaganda

distribution▫Sabotage▫Helping Allies

Sabotage

Women played an important role in the Resistance movement

Resistance (cont.)• Citizens who joined the Resistance did so at

their own risk• Captured resistance members were often

executed or sent to Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp

                                                                                          

Agence France-Presse

A few years after his death, French leftists marched to honor the legacy of Guy Môquet,a 17-year-old Communist and a participant in the French Resistance, who was executed by the Nazis in 1941.

The Battle of Britain•Once France fell,

Hitler amassed troops on the French coast

•Britain was clearly his next target

• It was then that Winston Churchill made his famous “We Shall Never Surrender” speech

Churchill’s Famous Speech “We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end.

We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the rescue and liberation of the Old. . “

Battle of Britain•Only thing in the way of Hitler’s path

to England – British Navy•Because the B Navy was so strong, G

had to use Luftwaffe first•August 1940 – G launched on B

greatest air assault world had ever seen

•Continued into September•1,000+ planes dropped bombs on

Britain daily

London Blitz•What began as

attacks on military targets soon turned to civilian attacks

•Late August 1940 – G bombed London

•Two nights later – B bombed Berlin

London Blitz•By early Sept.,

Hitler ordered massive bombing raids on London & other B cities

•Used incendiary bombs

•Goal = break people’s will

•Where have you heard this before??

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/London_Blitz_791940.jpg

London Blitz•Each time the

Luftwaffe approached, air raid alarms would sound

•Civilians would run to the nearest bomb shelter

•Many went to “The Underground” (subway)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Blitz_West_End_Air_Shelter.jpg

Children from London hide in a bomb shelter during the Blitz (1940-41)

London Blitz

The Blitz would go off & on through May 1941

Read p. 795-6 “The London Blitz”

In the End…•18,000 tons of high explosives

dropped on B over 8 months•375,000 Londoners homeless•Death Toll:▫18,629 men▫16,201 women▫5,028 children ▫695 unidentified charred bodies

Source: The History Place