WWII

The Rise of Fascism• Fascism-political movement

– Loyalty to the State and Dictator (Nationalists)

– One Party Rule– Militant– Authoritarian Rule– Wore certain clothing/symbols

• Italy-Benito Mussolini established the Fascist Party

• Charismatic leader who made promises

• Marched on Rome in 1922 and was made dictator legally

• Used censorship and secret police

• Black Shirts-troopers• Controlled everything

The Rise of Nazism in Germany• National Socialist German

Workers Party (Nazi Party)• Nazism-German form of

Fascism (more racist)• Adolf Hitler-took control of

the Nazi Party (became der Fuhrer)– Good Speaker– Good Organizer

• Imprisoned in 1923 and wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)– Set Forth his Goals for

Germany– German “Aryan Race”– Promised to regain lands

Adolf Hitler Takes Over Germany• Once out of prison, Hitler was

elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

• Turned Germany into a Totalitarian State and became the dictator of what he called The Third Reich.– Storm Troopers (Brown

Shirts)– The SS (Hitler Protection

Squad-Black Shirts)– Gestapo (Secret Police)– Propaganda, Censorship,

Schools– Economy– Anti-Semitism-hatred of Jews– Swastika

Japan Establishes a Pacific Empire• Weak democracy during the

Depression• Japan was taken over by military

leaders in the 1930s.• Nationalists• Kept Emperor Hirohito as the

head of state• Militarists planned to expand

and create an empire• Use others’ resources, materials,

and land.• Seized Manchuria in 1931

(against the League of Nations)• 1937-took northern China

including the capital, Nanjing.• By 1940, most of Asia had been

conquered by Japan.

The Axis Powers Expand

• Axis Powers: Germ, Italy, Japan.– Germany: The Rhineland

(1936), Austria and the Sudetenland (1938), Czechoslovakia (1939)

– Third Reich-new German Empire

– Non-Aggression Pact: Germany w/ the Soviet Union & split Poland (1939)

– Munich Conference (1938): Britain and France used Appeasement to avoid war.

– Italy: Ethiopia (1935), Albania (1939)

– Japan: Manchuria (1931), China (1937)

WWII Begins• September 1, 1939-Nazi

Germany invaded Poland• Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”)-

military tactic that uses planes and tanks to quickly conquer.

• Britain and France declared war

• By June 1940, Germany had conquered France

• The Battle of Britain (1940-1941)-the Nazi Air Force (The Luftwaffe) bombed London

• Winston Churchill-British Prime Minister refused to surrender to Germany.

The United States Enters After Pearl Harbor• By 1941, Japan’s Empire

started to reach into European colonies in Southeast Asia

• The U.S. cut off oil supply to Japan and sent aid to Asia

• Isoroku Yamamoto-Japan’s greatest naval commander called for an attack on Hawaii

• Hawaii was a crucial base• December 7, 1941-Japanese

airplanes attacked Pearl Harbor– Sunk 19 ships– More than 2,300 killed– Over 1,100 wounded– U.S. Declared War

The Pacific Theater• After Pearl Harbor, the

U.S. launched attacks in the Pacific.

• Battle of Midway (1942)-Naval battle that turned the tide of the war in the Pacific for the Allies.

• Island Hopping-U.S. military strategy in the Pacific led by General Douglas MacArthur.

• Famous Island Battles:– Guadalcanal (1942-43)– Iwo Jima (1945)

WWII Fought on Multiple Fronts

• European Theatre:– Western Front: France,

Great Britain, Belgium, Germany (Allies v. Germany & Italy)

– Eastern Front: Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 (Germ v. Soviets)

• North Africa: Mussolini and Hitler invaded in 1940 for control of the Suez Canal and oil fields (Allies v. Germany & Italy)

• Pacific Theatre: Japan v. Allies for control of Asia.

The North Africa Campaign• Battle of El-Alamein (1942)-

Primarily a tank battle fought in Egypt btw. Britain and Germany ending in an Allied victory (turning point in North Africa)

• Erwin Rommel- “The Desert Fox;” commander of the Nazi forces in North Africa.

• The British pushed the Germans back in Egypt

• The U.S. helped by launching an invasion into Morocco in November 1942 (Operation Torch).

• By 1943, the Nazis had retreated into Italy.

The European Theater• The Soviet Union was invaded

by the Nazis in 1941.• Battle of Stalingrad (1942-

1943)-Soviet forces turned the Nazis back with the help of winter. (Turning Pt. in the East)

• D-Day (June 6, 1944)-Allied invasion into Normandy, France (largest land/sea attack in history)-created a two front war (Turning Pt. in the West)

• Allies led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945)-last effort from the Nazis to win the war, but they were pushed back by the Allies led by General George Patton.

The End of the WWII• 1945-The Nazis were

surrounded by the Allies after the Battle of the Bulge

• Italy was taken and Mussolini killed (April 27, 1945)

• Hitler committed suicide (April 30, 1945).

• V-E Day-May 9, 1945-Germany surrendered

• Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)-Nazis punished for Holocaust

• The Manhattan Project-created two atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan:– Hiroshima (August 6th)– Nagasaki (August 9th)– This ended WWII

WWII Aftermath• Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945):

– Churchill, Roosevelt, & Stalin met

– Decided to divide Germany into four occupied zones

– Stalin promised free elections in Eastern Europe

• Potsdam Conference (July 1945):– Churchill, Truman, and Stalin

met– Re-affirmed the division of

Germany and Berlin into 4 occupied zones by the Allies

– Issued Japan an ultimatum

• United Nations-International Peace Organization (June 1945)

Country Cost of War

Military Killed/Missing

Civilians Killed

U.S. $288 Billion

292,131 0

Britain $117 Billion

272,311 60,595

France $111.3 Billion

205,707 173,260

USSR $93 Billion

13,600,000 7,720,000

Germany $212.3 Billion

3,300,000 2,893,000

Japan $41.3 Billion

1,140,429 953,000

The Holocaust

• Hitler claimed that the Aryan race was the “master race.”

• Jews were seen as inferior• Nuremberg Laws-deprived Jews of

certain rights like citizenship• After Kristallnacht, Jews were

rounded up around Europe by the SS.

• Placed in ghettos, concentration camps, or death camps

• 1941-His plan was called the “Final Solution.”– Exterminate the entire Jewish race

(genocide)– Heinrich Himmler was the chief

architect

• Worked to death, starved, murdered• Six million Jews were killed• Israel was established afterwards as

a homeland for Jews.