World War II was the largest war in history lasting from 1939-1945. It involved countries around the world and resulted in over 70 million deaths. The war began after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Germany was led by Adolf Hitler while the Allied forces included Britain, the USSR, and the US. The war ended in Europe in 1945 after the Allied invasion of Normandy and the Soviet advance. It ended in the Pacific after the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading Japan to surrender. Over 60 million people died making it the deadliest conflict in history.
2. What was WWII?
• Largest war in human history.
• Involved countries, colonies, and territories
around the entire world.
• By the end, over 70 million were dead.
• It lasted from 1939 until 1945.
3. Causes
•W WI and the Treaty of Versailles
•Appeasement
•Rise of Totalitarianism
• Or the M A I N causes work too
4. WWI and the Treaty of
Versailles
• Germany lost land to
surrounding nations
• War reparations
– Allies collect $ to pay
back war debts to US
– Germany pays $33
billion
– Germans are bankrupt,
embarrassed, guilt
ridden, and angry.
• Desperate people turn
to desperate leaders:
Totalitarian regimes
5. Appeasement
• Appeasement: Giving someone something to make them happy and
leave you alone. Hitler demanded land that wasn’t Germany’s and
others just gave it to him.
• Isolationism: Nations were trying to prevent war & focus on
domestic issues
• Appeasement just showed Hitler that he could do whatever he
wanted. Isolationism allowed Hitler to punish German jews without
fear of reprisal from the international community
7. Rise of Totalitarianism
• A system in which the state and its leader
have nearly TOTAL control.
• Individual rights are not viewed as important as the
needs of the nation.
– No right to vote
– No free speech
– Government controlled economy
– Often a police state
11. What is Fascism?
• Political belief that says the individual is
less important than the nation.
• Glorifies violence, believes it is needed to
“prove” strength of a people.
• Uses nationalism and racism.
• Dictatorships.
• Italy and then Germany became fascist.
12.
13.
14. How did WWII start?
• Germany invaded Poland to get
lebensraum
15. What did Hitler Want?
• Militarism- soon after becoming chancellor he
begins rearming Germany breaking the Treaty of
Versailles
• Rhineland- moves troops into the Rhineland
territory again breaking the Treaty of Versailles
• Lebensraum- “living space”
– Austria - annexed peacefully in 1938
– Sudetenland – territory in Czechoslovakia
• Given to Germany by Great Britain and France (appeasement)
– Hitler then invades the rest of Czechoslovakia
16. How did WWII start?
• Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 3rd, 1939.
• Allies declare war on Germany (Britain & France).
• Germany then invades France, Belgium, Neth.
• Then Hitler invades Russia.
• Germans use “blitzkrieg” to overwhelm other
armies.
– Blitzkrieg means “lightening war” in German.
17. Who was on each side?
Axis Powers
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
Allied Powers
• Great Britain
• France
-Surrendered to Germany in
1940 after 6 weeks
• Soviet Union (enters war in
1941)
• United States (enters war in
1941)
18. Battle for France
• May 10th, 1940: France is invaded by
Hitler’s army through a thick forest –the
Ardennes.
• France believed the forest would protect
them, but it couldn’t protect them from
Hitler’s Panzer Division (tank division).
• On June 22nd, 1940: France Surrendered
Germany.
19. Battle for Britain
• Britain helped to evacuate 300,000 soldiers from
France who were escaping the German Army.
• Their plan was to weaken the will of the British.
Germany bombed London for over 50 days,
slaughtering civilians, destroying ancient
buildings.
• After the invention of Radar technology, German
forces are unable to make many successful
attacks on Britain.
• By 1941, Germany could not continue to lose
planes/pilots on London Bombing
Raids…(stalemate)
20. Battle Against the Soviets
• After failing in Britain, Hitler turned toward his
old enemy Josef Stalin and the Soviet Union.
• In June, 1941 Germany invaded the Soviets
with a force of 3 million troops.
• At first the assault is highly effective, but as
winter sets in German machines and people
are unprepared for Soviet Winter.
• After Winter, Stalin’s forces regroup and
millions begin marching against the Germans
21.
22. Questions
1). What are the sides of the war? Which major
countries are on which side?
2). Why does Hitler decide to attack the Soviet
Union? Which agreement did Hitler break
when he attacked?
3). What technology saved Britain from the
Blitz?
4). Name 3 totalitarian leaders during WWII.
5). Define appeasement. Give an example of
when the Allies appeased Germany.
23. What about the Pacific War?
• The US (mostly) fought the Japanese.
• December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii to sink US ships there.
– Two hours = most US navy destroyed and
over 2,000 sailors killed
• Japan surrenders after US drops atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
24. Pearl Harbor: Why?
• Japan needed a lot of oil for its War Machine
to remain operational. America traded a lot of
oil to Japan.
• America cut-off their oil supplies to Japan in
response to their Militarism/Imperialism in
Asia (i.e., China, Korea, Manchuria).
• Japan responded by planning a secret attack
on the U.S. base in Hawaii: Pearl Harbor
25. Pearl Harbor: The Attack
• The attack begins early on the morning of
Dec. 7th, 1941 (Day of Infamy)
• 2 waves of attack from planes/submarines
• Attack takes less than 2 hours.
• 2402 – Dead Japanese Losses
1282 – Injured 65 people
4 Battleships Sunk 5 Subs
128 Aircraft destroyed 29 aircraft
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31. The Aftermath
• America was shocked and entered the war
the very next day (Dec. 8th).
• America, upon entering the war, rounded
up Japanese into Internment Camps.
• Germans and Italians also experienced
severe mistreatment.
• Jingoism: patriotism in the form of warlike,
aggressive, ethnocentric behavior
32.
33.
34. How did WWII end in Europe?
• Operation Overlord- Allied invasion of
France. Also called D-Day.
– Within a month 1 million Allied troops were
stationed in Europe.
– Germany is surrounded with the USSR to the
east
• Germany surrenders in 1945 after Hitler
commits suicide.
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38.
39. How did WWII end in Europe?
• Allies divide Germany up between them.
– This helps start the Cold War.
• Nuremberg Trials are held in Germany
(and Japan) to try the people responsible
for the war.
– Many are executed and jailed for war crimes.
40. How did WWII end in the
Pacific?
• “Island-Hopping” – Invading throughout
the pacific Island by Island
– Costly in lives, resources; bloody battles
– Battle of Midway – US destroys Japanese
fleet [turning point in the pacific]
– Japan continues to fight despite losses
– Truman doesn’t want to invade mainland
Japan (projected too costly in lives)
– Aug. 6 Hiroshima; Aug 9. Nagasaki
41. What was the Holocaust?
• Nazi plan to kill all Jews.
• Why? Hitler provided a scapegoat to Germany’s
problems
• 6 million Jews murdered in camps in Europe.
• 5-6 million others (gypsies, mentally ill, homosexuals)
• Total of 11-12 million exterminated
• What is genocide?
• Attempt to exterminate an entire group of people
(ethnic, religious, racial).
42.
43. Quick Facts
• War Costs
–US Debt 1940 - $9 Billion
–US Debt 1945 - $98 Billion
• WWII cost $330 billion – 10 times the
cost of WWI & equivalent to all
previous federal spending since 1776
44. Losses of the Major Wartime Powers in WWII,
1939-1945
• Germany
– 4.5 million military
– 2 million civilian
• Japan
– 2 million military
– 350,000 civilians
• Italy
– 400,000 military
– 100,000 civilian
• China
– 2.5 million military
– 7.4 million civilians
• USSR
– 10 million military
– 10 million civilians
• Great Britain
– 300,000 military
– 50,000 civilians
• France
– 250,000 military
– 350,000 civilian
• United States
– 274,000 military
45. Postwar Efforts
at Revenge
• The Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46
– After, WWII the Allied powers decided to place on trial
the highest-ranking Nazi officers for “crimes against
humanity”
– Allied forces had attempted to do this after WWI, but
had released them on the grounds that they “were just
following orders”
– Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler were dead; but, 22 Nazi
leaders (including Goring) were tried at an international
military tribunal at Nuremburg, Germany. 12 were
sentenced to death. Similar trials occurred in the east
and throughout the world.
• The Tokyo Trial (1946-48)
46. Postwar Efforts at Peace
• The United Nations – There was some hope
when, in 1945, the United Nations was created;
an organization to promote international stability
– A General Assembly where representatives from
all countries could debate international issues.
– The Security Council had 5 permanent members
– U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China
could veto any question of substance. There were
also 6 elected members.
– Key: the U.S. joined [in contrast to League of
Nations]
47. Wartime
Agreements
• Unlike WWI, there was no Peace of Paris to
reshape Europe.
– Instead, the Yalta agreement of February 1945,
signed by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, turned
the prevailing military balance of power into a
political settlement.
– Potsdam Conference, in suburban Berlin (July
1945)—Truman, Stalin, Churchill – Finalized plans
on Germany. Germany would be demilitarized and
would remain divided.
48.
49. Postwar Reality
• Consequences of World War II
– COLD WAR (see below)
– Soviet Union (Communism & Totalitarianism
vs
United States (Capitalism & Democracy)
– Unlike the isolation after WWI, the U.S. was
engaged in world affairs
– The triumph of Communists in China
– Decolonization
• The independence of nations from
European (U.S. & Japan) colonial powers.
50. Questions
• 1). What officially started WWII?
• 2). What enemy did Hitler agree not to fight?
• 3). Why did he make the non-aggression
agreement?
• 4). Why and How did Hitler break the agreement?
• 5). Why did the U.S. stay out of the war for so long?
• 6). What brought the United States into WWII?
What were the causes of the event?
• 7). What event leads to the downfall of Germany in
1944?
• 8). What event leads to the downfall of Japan in
1945?