1939 - 1945

WWII

The Great Depression – Post-WWI

Following WWI, economies devastated from costs of war. Germany no longer could pay their debt from WWI to

allies Britain & France couldn’t pay their debts to U.S.

Agriculture suffered around the world Overproduction leads to lower prices

Stock Market crash in US in 1929

Events Leading to WWII

Rise of fascist governments Nationalists, single-party authoritarian regimes Examples: Adolf Hitler – Germany; Benito Mussolini –

Italy

Rise of military rule in Japan Japan invades Manchuria to create buffer zone

between Soviet Union (Russia) 1937 – Japan invade parts of China; beginning of

WWII in Asia

Germany & Italy rising to power 1935 – Hitler begins to re-arm Germany 1935 – Mussolini invades Ethiopia

Germany taking territories…again

1938 – Hitler unifies Austria w/ Germany1938 – Germany annexes the Sudetenland

(west portion of Czechoslovakia where they speak German)

1938 – Munich Conference Hitler pledges NOT to take any more territory; France & Britain take his word…(fools!)

1939 – Germany annexes all of Czechoslovakia1939 – Hitler signs a non-aggression pact w/

Soviet UnionSeptember 1, 1939 – Hitler attacks Poland –

marks the beginning of WWII in Europe

Let’s go Round 2!

Axis Powers Germany Italy (didn’t they switch sides before?) Japan

Allied Powers Great Britain France Soviet Union (later on…the U.S.)

Why does Japan bomb Pearl Harbor?

Because Japan took territories in Southeast Asia and attacked other areas (not to mention what side they were on!)…the US imposed an embargo act against Japan

December 7, 1941 – Japan attacks US fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii This brings the US into WWII and joins the Allied

powers. Swings the momentum of the war from the Axis to the

Allied powers

Germany’s Mistake (Little Hitler’s mistake!)

Still fighting a “Two-Front War” (western & eastern front)

Hitler attempts to invade Russia…in the winter! Cold, harsh Russian winter took its toll on German

soldiers Many lost their lives due to the weather Germany forced to withdraw from Russia in 1942

Soviet armies begin making their way through Eastern Europe and into Germany

Ending the War

April 1945 - Allied Powers depose (forced to leave) Mussolini (Italy) from power

April 30, 1945 – Hitler commits suicideMay 1945 – Germany resigns

Ends the European “theater” of WWII

What about Japan?

After Europe was won, Soviet Union assisted the US and the Allies against Japan

US uses the atomic bomb against Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

August 1945 – Japan surrenders Ends WWII in the Pacific “theater”…and for good!

Peace Settlements

Yalta Conference – 1945 Soviet Union agrees to join the war in exchange for

territory in Manchuria & northern island of Japan Divides Germany into 4 zones of occupation

Potsdam Conference – 1945 Soviets control eastern Poland Poland receives part of Eastern Germany Divides Austria

Post-WWII

United States occupied JapanKorea divided into US & Soviet occupation

zonesChina regained most of its lost territoryLatvia, Lithuania, & Estonia became Soviet

provincesEuropean world dominance endedUnited Nations created in 1945

US joins this time. World is left with 2 “superpowers”

United States & Soviet Union This will lead to the “Cold War”