Overview of World War II. Modified from "World war ii" presentation by Kimberly McClain.

1. World War II

2. World War II
Section 1
Paths to War

3. Section 1, Paths to War
Aggressive moves by Germany and Japan set the stage for World War II. In 1935 Adolf Hitler
began a massive military buildup and instituted a draft, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. In
1936, Hitler sent German troops into the Rhineland which alarmed France, but neither France
nor Britain responded with force. In 1936, Germany and Italy became allies, as did Germany
and Japan. Germany annexed Austria in 1938. Appeasement of Germany peaked at the
Munich Conference where Hitler claimed he sought only one
final territory, the Czech Sudetenland and Britain and France
agreed to Hitler's demands. This soon proved false as Hitler
continued his invasions. When Hitler signed the
Nonaggression Pact with Stalin and invaded Poland, Britain
and France declared war on Germany. Japanese expansion
into Manchuria and northern China brought condemnation
from the League of Nations. Japan was at war with China. In
December 1937 Japan destroyed Nanjing and massacred
100,000 civilians and prisoners of war. Next, Japan was
rebuked by the United States for its efforts to exploit
resources in French Indochina.

4. Section 1, Paths to War
1st Steps New Alliances Union
w/Austria
Demands &
Appeasement
Great Britain & France
React
Hitler & the Soviets
Hitler formed a new Air
Force, then built the
army from 100k-550k
soldiers (other
countries were
distracted by the
Depression). 3/7/36
Hitler sent troops to the
Rhineland . Germany
was NOT supposed to
be there or do any of
these things according
to the Treaty of
Versailles at the end of
WWI.
Great Britain & France
could attack, but
decided on
‘appeasement,” which
is a diplomatic policy
aimed at avoiding war
by making concessions
to an aggressor
Hitler &
Mussolini
(Italy) wanted
to create a new
Roman Empire.
10/1935 Italy
invaded
Ethiopia. Both
Helped Franco
in the Spanish
Civil war.
Roman-Berlin
Axis became an
alliance
between Italy &
Germany.
1938 - Hitler
forced
Austrian
Chancellor to
put Nazis in
charge of the
government.
Germany
controlled
Austria by
March 13th,
1938.
September 15th,
1938, Hitler
demanded the
Sudetenland and
at the Munich
Conference,
leaders
‘appeased’ him
by allowing him
to occupy that
land.
The Munich Conference
showed Hitler that the
leaders were weak and
would not fight him, so, he
took over Czechoslovakia.
Great Britain realized the
Hitler could not be trusted
so negotiations began with
Stalin (USSR) and Great
Britain.
Hitler met with
Stalin(USSR), Aug
23, 1939 Nazi-
Soviet
Nonaggression
Pact. They agreed
not to attack each
other. Stalin took
Eastern Poland,
Hitler could have
the rest. Sept. 1,
1939, Hitler
attacked Poland,
the beginning of
WWII in Europe.

5. Section 1, Paths to War
War with China The New Asian Order
1931, Japan attacked China (in Manchuria) to take natural
resources. Japanese soldiers were disguised as Chinese.
Though the League of Nations investigated, the Japanese
kept a strong hold on the area. China worried about
Communists to the West and Japanese to the East.
“Appeasement” began with Japan, but in 1937, Japan
declared war on China and seized Nanjing.
Under Japan’s control, the New Asian Order would unite
Manchuria, China and Japan. Japan began to work with the
Nazis to attack the Soviets, but Nazi’s signed a Non
Aggression Pact with USSR. The US threatened sanctions
(restrictions intended to enforce law), Japan did not want to
risk losing US products, but decided to attack Southeast Asia
& with US and European colonies.

6. World War II
Section 2
The Course of WWII

7. Section 2, The Course of World War II
• Hitler was incredibly successful at the beginning of the war. German forces swept
through central and northern Europe early in the war. After Germany occupied
three-fourths of France, Hitler set up the Vichy government in France.
• Meanwhile, the United States followed a policy of isolationism. German air
attacks on Great Britain resulted in fierce British retaliation.
• In the east, harsh weather and a resolute Soviet Union defeated an invading
German army.
• The Japanese conquered the Pacific but miscalculated when they attacked the
U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor. The United States surprised Japan by abandoning
its neutrality and entering the war to retake the Pacific.
• By the end of 1943, the tide had turned against Germany, Italy, and Japan.
• After the invasion of Normandy, the Allies liberated Paris and defeated Germany.
• The war in Asia continued until the United States dropped atomic bombs on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing massive casualties and
bringing Japan's surrender.

8. Section 2, The Course of World War II
Axis Powers:
Germany, Italy &
Japan
Allied Powers:
United Kingdom
(N.Ireland, Wales, Scotland,
England), USA, Soviet
Union(USSR), Most
of the major cities
damaged by war
were found in
Germany and
England.
Which
countries
had the
most
battles?

9. Section 2, The Course of World War II
Hitler’s early Victories Battle of Britain Attack on the Soviet Union
Blitzkrieg = lightning war.
After the slow trench warfare
of WWI, Hitler knew that
fighting fast was the key to
winning, with his ‘Panzer’
divisions of 300 tanks, he was
able to move quickly. April 9,
1940 (after dividing Poland with
USSR) Hitler attacked Denmark
& Norway. Then 5/7/40 he
attacked the Netherlands,
Belgium & France. Hitler
attacked France in an
unexpected way so France
signed an armistice on June 22.
France was now occupied by
Germany. The US denounced
Hitler, but did not enter the
fight.
Luftwaffe=German Air
Force
In August 1940, Germany
attacked Great Britain from the
air; they attacked not just
military targets, but civilian.
The British people were
resilient to the attacks. The
British used blackout paper to
block light from their windows,
and used the subway stations
as bomb shelters during
German raids.
Hitler did not want a two
front war, but he thought the USSR
was supplying Great Britain. Hitler
tried to attack the USSR, but was
delayed in his attack AND he
attacked a large front 800 miles
long. Hitler did not study
Napoleon’s problems of invading
Russia and the early winter and
fierce Soviet Resistance halted the
German advance.

10. Section 2, The Course of World War II
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor on
Dec. 7th, 1941, This is a military
base in Hawaii, on the island of
Oahu. This was before Hawaii
became a state. On the same
day, the Japanese also attacked
Philippines and the British
colony of Malaya. By the spring
of 1942, Japan controlled all of
Southeast Asia & much of the
western Pacific. Japan now
declared Greater East-Asia
Prosperity Sphere.
Japan in the Pacific

11. Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a deep water
harbor that could hold large
battle ships close to shore.
That and its location in the
Pacific were reasons why the
US used this port.

12. Section 2, The Course of World War II
Island
Hopping
was the
term used
to describe
the US
advance
across the
Pacific to
gain control
over
Japan’s
hold on the
many
islands.

13. Section 2, The Course of World War II
European Theater Asian Theater European Theater Asian Theater
The Big 3: The leaders of
Great Britain, Winston
Churchill, US, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and USSR,
Joseph Stalin, decided to
fight until Germany and
Japan surrendered. Hitler
saw victories in North
Africa, but by the fall of
1942 Rommel (Hitler’s
leader in Africa) had to
retreat. Hitler wanted to
attack the USSR in
Stalingrad
By 1942 the battle in the
East also started to change.
By May 7th, 1942
Americans stopped the
Japanese and saved
Australia from invasion.
On June 4th, the Battle of
Midway Island US planes
destroyed 4 attacking
Japanese aircraft carriers,
this defeated the Japanese
navy and established US
superiority in the Pacific.
By 1942 Douglas McArthur
was in charge of US
operations in the Pacific.
Africa had fallen, so the
Americans attacked Italy
through the island of Sicily.
Mussolini was removed
from office by the Italians.
Germany controlled parts
of Italy until June 4, 1944.
The Allies (UK, US & USSR)
had a plan to attack
Germany through France.
D-Day was June 6, 1944
U.S. General Dwight
Eisenhower landed in
Normandy, France. 2 mil.
troops were there within 3
months. By January, 1945
Hitler moved into his
bunker 55 ft under ground.
May 7, 1945, V-E Day
Victory in Europe was
achieved.
President Roosevelt died in
April 1945 (He had Polio
and could not walk) Harry
Truman became President;
was developing an atomic
weapon. He used the
bombs on Hiroshima Aug
6,1945 and Nagasaki Aug
9th. Thousands of civilians
died and the cities were
leveled. Japan
surrendered V-J Day Aug
14th, 1945.
50,000,000 people died
during the war.
Allies Advance Last Years of the War

14. World War II
Section 3
The New Order &
the Holocaust

15. What do you think this poem
means? In the part that
says, “Then they came for
me…” how would you
describe ‘you’ that would
make them want to ‘come’
for?
To further their war effort and Hitler's plans for Aryan expansion,
the Nazis forced millions of people to resettle in Germany as forced
laborers. No aspect of the Nazi New Order was more terrifying than
the deliberate attempt to exterminate the Jews. As part of the Nazis'
Final Solution, Jews were locked into cramped, unsanitary ghettos
or forced to dig their own mass graves before being killed. When
this proved too slow for the Nazis, they transported Europe's Jews
to death camps where they were starved, worked to death, sent to
die in gas chambers, or subjected to cruel "medical experiments".
The Nazis killed approximately six million Jews and nine to ten
million non-Jewish people.
Japan showed little respect for the peoples it conquered in
Southeast Asia in its effort to secure industrial markets and raw
materials. Japanese treatment of prisoners of war was equally
harsh. Japan professed a commitment to ending Western
colonialism, but the brutality of the Japanese convinced many
Asians to resist Japanese occupation.
Section 3, The New Order & the Holocaust
First they came for the
communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I
wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the
socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I
wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade
unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I
wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for me, and
there was no one left to speak
for me.

16. Section 3, The New Order & the Holocaust
The ‘death camps’
were located in
PolandWhich country had the most
concentration camps?

17. Section 3, The New Order & the Holocaust
The Death Camps The Death Toll Children at War
(look at the next two maps)
Hitler’s FINAL SOLUTION was
genocide, the physical
extermination of an entire race, in
this case, Jews. Heydrich was
placed in charge of the Final
Solution. The Einsatzgruppen
carried out the Nazi plans. In
Poland, Jews were first placed in
ghettos, to starve out. Then, they
became mobile killing units. Mass
executions with mass graves.
Approx. 1,000,000 Jews were killed
this way, which was too slow for
the Nazis.
Camps were built to kill Jews faster
and in larger amounts. Auschwitz
is one of the most well known.
Some were experimented on
before being killed
6,000,000 Jews died
1.2 million were children
10,000,000 non-Jews died,
including the Roma, or gypsies,
and Slavic peoples.
These are CIVILIANS or non-
combat deaths. Some of whom
were considered German citizens
prior to Hitler.
Children were moved around,
away from parents. Sometimes to
protect them and other times to
kill them. In England, 6 million
were moved out of cities. Many
young teenagers fought on both
sides.

18. PLEASE: visit these
sites for these
Holocaust
Museums. There is
more to see.
http://www.ushmm.org/
http://www.lamoth.org/
https://www.hmh.org/

19. Section 3, The New Order & the Holocaust
Japanese Policies Japanese Behavior
Many locals in the many countries of Southeast Asia
agreed with the Japanese because these locals were
tired of colonial rule (powers from America or Europe
controlling them) Japan was supposed to give power
to the anti-colonialists, but the Japanese military had
the real power.
At first, the countries of Southeast Asia thought that
removing colonial rule from American and European
powers might benefit them and believed the Japanese
rhetoric of being a large Asian power together.
Japanese military were largely in control of local
governments though and the Japanese felt the locals
were inferior. They made them bow towards Tokyo
and recognize the emperor as being divine. Many
people were killed or forced into labor.

20. World War II
Section 4
Home Front &
Aftermath of War

21. • Section 4 Home Front and Aftermath of War
World War II reached almost every area of the world, and mobilization for war brought widespread
suffering and even starvation. The war caused about 20 million civilian deaths.
• The Soviet Union won the war by using its income for war materials; there were food and housing
shortages.
• The United States, which did not fight the war on its own territory, sent its forces to fight and
produced much of the military equipment for the Allies.
• Segregation in the U.S. military later led African-Americans to demand civil rights.
• Racism and suspicion led to the wartime internment of more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans.
• Nazi Germany did not cut customer goods or raise military production until after the first two years
of the war. Total mobilization of the economy did not come until July 1944, which was too late to
save Germany from defeat.
• Wartime Japan was a highly mobilized society. Calls for sacrifice led some Japanese pilots, known as
kamikazes, to serve in suicide missions against U.S. ships.
• The bombing of cities by the Allied and Axis powers destroyed buildings and cost hundreds of
thousands of lives including civilians.
• U.S. President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph
Stalin, the Big Three, met at Yalta to plan the post-war world.
• After the war, ideological conflict between the West and the Soviet Union resulted in the Cold War.
Section 4, Home Front & Aftermath of War

22. Section 4, Home Front & Aftermath of War
Mobilization of People
USSR USA Germany Japan
900-day siege caused
people to eat dogs. 1.5
mil. died. Entire
factories were
dismantled and moved
to keep making
weapons and to keep
factories out of the
hands of Nazis. 60% of
Soviet women worked
in factories, digging
anti-tank trenches & air
wardens. The Soviets
even used women as
snipers.
The war was not fought directly on its
territory. It made 6 ships per day and
96,000 planes per year. We call
these people, “the Greatest
Generation” because they fought not
for fame and recognition, but
because it was the right thing to do.
Movements of people around the
country to follow work and then their
families following them caused a shift
in where the populations lived prior
to the war. Boomtowns were
created. 1 million African-Americans
moved out of the south. This actually
caused race riots in places like
Detroit.
***Internment Camps***
Americans were so afraid of the
Japanese that they placed 110,000 in
camps. 65% of these people were
born in the US.
http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/his
tory/
(See pictures on next slide)
June 1944, schools, theaters & cafes
were closed. Women were not called
into the work force in Germany as
they were in other fighting countries.
Women were looked at differently.
There was also resistance within
Germany itself. The White Rose, a
student youth movement which
called for active opposition to Hitler’s
regime, have gone down in history as
a result of their leaflet campaign
between June 1942 and February
1943. Similarly, Dietrich Bonheoffer's
Confessing Church represented a
significant form of Christian
opposition to the Nazi government.
The Nazis pursued resistance leaders
relentlessly. If captured they would
face certain death, with executions
widely publicized to cow the local
population into submission.
The Japanese
culture, as an island
culture, was called
upon to make great
sacrifices. Toward
the end, young men
were called up to be
suicide bombers, or
kamikaze (divine
wind) Women did
not take on
additional roles in
the work force.
Instead, the
Japanese used
Chinese and
Koreans laborers.

23. In what ways were
these camps the SAME
as the German
concentration camps?
In what ways were they
different?

24. Home Front & Aftermath of War
Frontline Civilians: The Bombing of Cities
Great Britain:
Sept. 1940 Germans began to
bomb London. These were
civilian targets. ‘The Blitz’
(German air raids) caused
severe damage. Winston
Churchill decided to bomb
Germany in return.
Germany: Great Britain decided to bomb cities in
retaliation. The first was May 1942. Bombings caused
food, clothing and fuel shortages, transportation and
housing issues. Incendiary bombs spread fire and
were greatly feared, but the Germans
kept on fighting.
Dresden,
Germany may
have lost 100,000
in February 13-
15, 1945. Many
people burned
due to the
bombings from
Great Britain
Japan: Cities were being bombed prior to the dropping of the A-
bomb. B-29 “superfortress” airplanes were attacking cities that
were built with flimsy materials. Finally, atomic weapons were used
Atomic weapon deaths: 60% immediately die from flash burns 30% falling debris & 10%
from other causes. Months later, 15-20% die from radiation sickness, 20-30% die from
burns & 50-60% from injuries & illness. The soldiers had named the bombs, “Little Boy”
and “Fat Man”. The bombs were dropped by an airplane called the Enola Gay.

27. Section 4, Home Front & Aftermath of War
Tehran Conference: Nov. 1943.
The Big Three(Roosevelt,
Churchill & Stalin) met to decide
the tactics of the war and
agreed to invade France and
meet in a defeated Germany.
The Yalta Conference: Feb.
1945. Roosevelt needed USSR
to help defeat Japan (A-bomb
was not created yet) so he
agreed to the USSR taking
possession of Sakhalin & Kuril
islands near Manchuria. The
United Nations was created and
had its first meeting in San
Francisco in April 1945. It is
now located in New York, NY.
The US also wanted free
elections in Europe, Stalin did
not.
Germany after the war would be divided into 4 sections
governed by US, Great Britain, USSR and France. By
March of 1946 Winston Churchill had declared an “Iron
Curtain” had descended across the continent dividing
Europe into Communists & non-communist countries.
See where the
Iron Curtain
would be?