World War II was caused by the outcome of World War I which humiliated and impoverished Germany, fueling nationalist sentiments. Germany, under Hitler, began rearming in violation of Treaty terms and invaded Poland in 1939, marking the start of WWII. Japan also expanded its military and attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, drawing the U.S. into the war against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. After several years of fighting around the globe, the Allied powers which included the U.S., Britain, Soviet Union and others defeated the Axis through massive invasions of Germany and Japan in 1944-1945, culminating in the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that led

1. World War II
The most significant event of the 20th
Century!

2. Causes of World War II
•Hitler, Mussolini,
and Tojo did not
cause World War II.
•The Treaty of
Versailles which ended
World War I is the
chief cause of World
War II.

3. Other Causes of WWII…
 Germany was poor and humiliated.
 The Worldwide depression made life
bad for everyone, but especially
Germany.
 Italy, Germany, and Russia turned to
fascist leaders who promised to
restore national wealth and pride.

4. Divided and Weak Government in
Germany, Chaos in the Streets!
Von Hindenburg chooses Hitler as Chancellor in 1933.

5. Hitler becomes “the fuehrer” when Hindenburg dies!

6. German Socialist Workers Party, the Nazis, a Midnight Parade!

7. Europe on the Brink of
War
 In 1934, Adolph Hitler announced a
program of re-arming Germany which
was a violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
 In Italy, Benito Mussolini was also
building a powerful military force.
 Many American adults belonged to peace
organizations and were determined never
again to enter a foreign war.

8. World War II Facts
•World War II, or the Second World War,
was a worldwide conflict which lasted
from 1939 to 1945.
•This global conflict split a majority of the
world's nations into two opposing camps:
the Allies and the Axis. Spanning much of
the globe, World War II resulted in the
deaths of over 60 million people, making it
the deadliest conflict in human history.

9. World War II Facts
•World War II was the most widespread
war ever experienced, mobilizing over 100
million soldiers from 61 nations.
•As a result of World War II, the United
States and Soviet Union emerged as the
world's two leading superpowers,
dominating the world's stage for the next
40 years.

10. Germany
Hitler
Italy
Mussolini
Japan
Tojo

11. Winston Churchill
FDR – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Joseph Stalin
Russia
Great Britain
Chaing Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle
The Allies
USA (joined the war in
1941), USSR, China,
Great Britain, and
France
USA
France
China

12. War Begins in Europe
 Roosevelt, while not an isolationist,
was determined to keep America out of
the European war.
 March 1938: Hitler takes the
Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia and
later overruns the entire country.

13. War Begins in Europe
 August 1939: Germany and Russia sign
non-aggression pact; Germany attacks
Poland, making the official beginning of
World War II as France and Britain were
treaty-bound to come to the aid of
Poland.

14. Appeasement:
•giving Hitler what he wants to avoid
war
•The Rhineland
•Austria
• The Sudetenland
•Czechoslavakia
•Neville Chamberlain
–Prime Minister of Great
Britain 1930’s

15. WW II Europe
Red countries
are Allied or
Allied-controlled.
Blue is Axis or
Axis controlled
countries, and
the Soviet Union
is colored green
prior to joining
the Allies in 1941.

16. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army
expected the attack to come along the Polish frontiers, but Hitler
introduced a new kind of war called a blitzkrieg, which means
“lightning war.”Waves of German bombers targeted railroads, which
crippled Polish military mobilization. Hundreds of tanks smashed
through Polish defenses and rolled deep into the country. The Poles
fought hard, but on September 17, the Soviet Union invaded their
country from the east. By the end of the month, Poland had fallen.

17. Germans invade France!
June 1940

18. The French are defeated!!!

19. The U.S. and Lend-Lease
 Before 1941, the United States stayed
out of World War II.
 President Roosevelt worked out a deal
called lend-lease, which allowed him
to give weapons to any countries on
the Allies side (including tanks,
airplanes, and ships).

20. Propaganda
 Propaganda is information presented in an
attempt to influence people.
 2 Types that were used…
 generalization – a statement that
suggests all members of a group are
the same in some way
 scare tactics – the threat that if you do
not do or believe something,
something terrible will happen

21. G
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22. G
E
N
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R
A
L
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Z
A
T
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23. G
E
N
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R
A
L
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Z
A
T
I
O
N

24. G
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N
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R
A
L
I
Z
A
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N

25. Scare
Tactic

26. Scare
Tactic

27. Scare
Tactic

28. Then came the
attack on Pearl
Harbor!!!

29. Pearl Harbor
 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was home to the
American Pacific Fleet in 1941.
 The attack on Pearl Harbor was
intended to neutralize the U.S. Pacific
Fleet, who was blockading Japan from
acquiring resources that it needed for
the war.

30. Pearl Harbor
 The attack took place on December 7,
1941.
 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402
Americans were killed and 1,282
wounded
 This attack unified the country and
threw America into World War II.

31. December 7th 1941

32. Isoroku Yamamoto planned the December
7th attack on Pearl Harbor.
FDR asks for a declaration
of War on December 8, 1941.
FDR "Day of Infamy" Speech

33. Above -- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against
Japan, December 8, 1941. (Photo credit: U.S. National Archives)

35. Basic Allied Strategy:
•win the battle of
supply
•Stop the Axis
Advance
•Defeat Hitler
First

36. Life expectancy in the first wave: 26 seconds!

37. Normandy Invasion,
D-Day (June 6, 1944)
The successful
invasion at
Normandy was a
massive victory
for the Allies.
D-Day!

38. Paris Liberated August 1944!

39. Pulitzer Prize Winning
Photograph of the US
Marines Raise the
Flag on Mt. Surabachi
The Battle for the Island of
Iwo Jima!

40. The Atomic Bomb
 The first atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945
 The blast killed an estimated 60,000 to
70,000 people, according to United
States estimates.
 The second bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki, another city in Japan, on
August 9, 1945.

41. The Atomic Bomb
 Six days after the detonation over
Nagasaki, on August 15, Japan
announced its surrender to the Allied
Powers.
 This officially ending the Pacific War and
therefore World War II, as Germany had
already signed its Instrument of
Surrender on May 7.

42. The Atomic Bomb!
Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki
(right).

43. The Atomic Bomb
 Why did Harry Truman decide to drop the
Atomic Bomb on Japan?
 Kamikazes…

44. World War II Changes the World!
•atomic age begins
•jets, computers, and rockets invented
•radar and sonar
•penicillin, sulfa, and antibiotics
•imperialism and colonialism end
•USA & USSR emerge as Superpowers
•Holocaust and the death of 6 million Jews
•Cold War begins…