WWII

1. The Second World War
(1939-1945)
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II#/media/File:RIAN_archive_44732_
Soviet_soldiers_attack_house.jpg
Battle of Stalingrad, February 1943

3. When?
• 1939 - 1945
Causes
• Germany’s desire for revenge
• Rise of totalitarian regimes
• Policy of Appeasement (they let Hitler disobey the Treaty of
Versailles and also take territories back in order to avoid war).

4. Combatants
Who was on each side?
Axis Powers
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
Allied Powers
• Great Britain
• Soviet Union
• United States
• France
– Surrendered to Germany
in 1940 after 6 weeks

5. Phases
0. Pre-war events
Hitler’s blows:
•Hitler ordered his troops to occupy Rhineland (1936).
(Forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles).
•Mussolini and Hitler intervened in Spain. (The League of Nations
had forbidden any intervention).
•Hitler annexed Austria (1938). (Forbidden by Versailles). This is
called Anschluss.
•Hitler asked for the Sudetenland (1938).(Area in western
Czechoslovakia where many Germans lived).
•Hitler annexed western Czechoslovakia.
•Hitler asked for the control of the Danzig corridor. In response
Britain promised to support Poland.

6. 1. The First Phase (1939-1941) - German Attacks
• 1st
September, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland.
(Half of Poland is going to be controlled by Germany and the other half by the U.S.S.R.).
• Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany.
• The Germans attacked and occupied Denmark, Norway, The
Netherlands, Belgium, and finally France (June, 1940).
• The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attacked Britain but they
couldn’t occupy it. (Churchill said: “never was so much owed by so many
to so few” as a reference to the pilots of the RAF – Royal Air Force who fought
bravely).
• The Germans also took control of Serbia and Greece.

7. Map of Europe
• Countries allied with
Germany:
– Vichy France
(southern part),
– Italy,
– Croatia,
– Hungary
– Romania
– Bulgaria
– Finland
• Countries occupied by
Germany:
– The Netherlands
– Belgium
– France (northern part)
– Denmark
– Norway
– Serbia
– Greece
– Austria
– Czechoslovakia
– Poland

8. German expansion 1940 - 1942
Source: http://html.rincondelvago.com/segunda-guerra-mundial_6.html

9. 2. Hitler invades the Soviet Union (June, 1941)
June, 1941: German forces attacked the Soviet Union. At the
beginning they occupied the territory very easily.
However the Russians practiced a scorched-earth policy
(política de tierra quemada) so that the Germans couldn’t get
supplies for their troops.
With the rainy season the roads were turn into mud and the
Germans were trapped.
The harsh Russian winter arrived catching the German army
unprepared.
The further the German troops reached were the outskirts of
Moscow, but they were unable to take the city.

10. • One of the most important battles was the Battle of Stalingrad.
It was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare
(1.250.000 casualties). Some historians say that it was the most
decisive battle of WWII, as it was a turning point in the WWII.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-
W0506-316,_Russland,_Kampf_um_Stalingrad,_Siegesflagge.jpg

11. 3. USA enters the war (December, 1941).
USA is interested in entering the war because Japan is
controlling and occupying most of the territories of the Pacific
ocean.
The Japanese controlled China (Manchuria, Nanjin, Taiwan,
Indochina, The Philippines…)
On December 7, 1941 Japanese airplanes attacked the
American Fleet at Pearl Harbour. (2,402 casualties)
The next day USA declared war on Japan and entered WWII.
Trailer of the film “Tora! Tora! Tora!” about the attack to Pearl
Harbour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n1pKsGqrqQ

12. 4. Change of fate. The Allies victories. (1942-1945)
•Thanks to the intervention of the USA the destiny of war starts
changing. These are the most important events:
•Victories in North Africa. Montgomery (British) defeats the German
general Rommel in the battle of Alamein (1942).
•Decisive battle of Stalingrad (1942)
•Battle of Guadalcanal against the Japanese. (Pacific Ocean) (1942)
•Landing in Sicily (1943)
•Bombings of Germany by the allies.
•The Normandy Landings, 1944 (Desembarco de Normandía).
“Saving Private Ryan” :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj7LlRUghUU
•Russian progress to Berlin: 2nd
May the Russians entered Berlin.

13. • 2nd
May 1945 the German Army finally surrendered.
• The Pacific War will last till the 15th
of August 1945, with the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (140,000-
240,000 deaths).
Atomic Bomb of Nagasaki, 15th
August 1945
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
#/media/File:Atomic_bombing_of_Japan.jpg

14. Hiroshima before and after the atomic bombing, August 1945
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#/media/Fil
e:AtomicEffects-p7a.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#/media/Fil
e:AtomicEffects-p7b.jpg

15. Nagasaki
Before and After
August, 1945
Source:
https://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/Atomic_b
ombings_of_Hiroshi
ma_and_Nagasaki#/
media/File:Nagasaki
_1945_-
_Before_and_after_
(adjusted).jpg

16. Consequences
• 55 million people died (22 million Soviets, 8 million Germans, 2
million Japanese, 300.000 Americans, 6 million Jews…).
• Millions of people were forced to migrate. (Germans that lived in
Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary); (Polish from Russia to
Poland) (Population from Baltic republics deported to inner Russia).
• During the war the allied leaders started the organisation of world
after the war. They held three conferences: Teheran (December
1943), Yalta (February 1945), Potsdam (summer 1945).
• In these meetings they decided to divide Germany, how to organise
the map of Europe, and the economy of the world.
• Europe will end up completely destroyed
• The new major power is going to be USA.

17. Map of Europe
1945
Source:
http://www.profes
orenlinea.cl/univer
salhistoria/SigloXX
NuevoMapa8BU2.h
tm