2. FACTORS
GERMAN EXPANSIONIST
THE FAILURE OF PEACE
ATTEMPTS:
• Inefficiency of the League
of Nations.
• (the United States was not
part of it).
• JAPANESE IMPERIALISM:
Expansionism in Asia and
the Pacific. Alliance with
Germany and Italy.
3. Hitler is unaware of the Versailles Treaty
agreements and began a policy of accelerated
rearmament.
Purpose:
to recover the old German possessions and
incorporate a series of territories with a
majority population of this origin.
(Pan-Germanism)
EVENTS PRIOR TO THE WAR
4. 1935: Mussolini invades
Ethiopia.
1936: The Rome-Berlin Axis
arises
1939: Steel Pact between
Germany and Italy.
Japan would join later.
Tripartite Pact (Rome-Berlin-
Tokyo Axis)
5.
6. 1936: Italy and Germany support
Francisco Franco in the Spanish
Civil War.
7. 1936: Germany and Japan sign the
Antikominter (Anti-Communist) Pact.
Then Italy would join.
1938: Beginning of pan-German politics:
Annexation of Austria to Germany
("Anschluss").
France and England: Politics of appeasement.
1938: Hitler demands the Sudetenland from
Czechoslovakia / Anglo-German talks: Munich /
Czechoslovakia pact cedes the Sudetenland.
8. THE WAR DEVELOPMENT.
1. THE LIGHTNING WAR (SEPTEMBER 1939-MAY 1940):
September
1939: Germany invades Poland / "Blitzkrieg" or lightning war.
Great Britain and France, allies of Poland, declared war on the
Axis.
Germany invades Finland, Denmark and Norway (iron).
Italy invades Egypt and Greece.
In May 1940 Germany attacked Belgium and Holland and
invaded France: Attitudes of Petain and De Gaulle.
9.
10. ENGLAND AND AFRICA (JUNE 1940-JUNE
1941):
The invasion of England by sea is planned.
Aerial bombardments begin: Battle of Britain /
The German plan fails.
Hitler Extends War to Africa: Cut Oil Supplies to
England and Support Italy
11. 3. THE LETTER FROM THE ATLANTIC:
Faced with German expansionism, the United
States abandons its isolationist policy (Law of
Neutrality: prevents involvement in external
wars).
August 1941: Charter of the Atlantic between
Rossevelt and Churchill (Material aid in the
fight against the Nazi danger).
4. THE WAR SPREADS (JUNE-DECEMBER 1941):
Germany invades the Soviet Union (Operation
Barbarossa) near Moscow and Leningrad /
Soviet resistance and Russian winter stop the
German advance.
December 1941: Japan attacks the American
fleet at Pearl Harbor / United States enters the
war.
12. THE ADVANCE OF THE AXIS IS CONTENT (JUNE
1942-JULY 1943):
Japanese defeat in the Coral Sea, Midway and
Guadalcanal.
The English defeat the Germans in Africa.
The Russians defeat the Germans at the Battle
of Stalingrad
LOS ALIADOS CONTRATACAN (JULIO DE 1943-
AGOSTO DE 1945):
Fuerzas inglesas, rusas y estadounidenses
invaden el norte de África e Italia: Destitución
de Mussolini / Italia se pasa al bando aliado /
Alemania invade Italia y mantiene a Mussolini
como gobernante en la zona norte / Luego
sería capturado y ejecutado.
LOS ALIADOS CONTRATACAN (JULIO DE 1943-
AGOSTO DE 1945):
Conferencia de Teherán (Roosevelt, Churchill y
Stalin): Plan para recuperar Francia.
13. THE ALLIES CONTRACT (JULY 1943-AUGUST
1945):
June 1944: Landing in Normandy ("D" Day) and
liberation of France.
On the eastern front the "Soviet Roller" expels
the Germans from the USSR, Poland, Hungary,
Austria and Czechoslovakia.
THE ALLIES CONTRACT (JULY 1943-AUGUST
1945): Invasion of Germany: The Soviets
occupy Berlin / Suicide of Hitler / May 8, 1945:
Capitulation of Germany.
14. THE ALLIES CONTRACT (JULY 1943-AUGUST
1945):
Japanese resistance: Kamikases.
Harry Truman, US president, decides to use the
atomic bomb / Japanese surrender is called for.
August 6: Atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
August 9: Atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
September 2: surrender of Japan and end of
war.
