World War 2 was an extremely costly war in terms of both money and human lives. The document outlines some key facts about WW2, including that the war cost the US $330 billion, 50 million people died total, and the main causes included the Treaty of Versailles, the worldwide depression, and the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan that pursued expansionist policies. The war lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved the Allied powers of the UK, USSR, US, and France against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

2. World War 2
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3. Quick Facts of WW2
 War cost
 US debt in 1940—$9 billion
 US debt in 1945—$98 billion
o The war cost $330 billion—10 times the cost
of WW1 and as much as all previous federal
spending since 1776
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4. Quick Facts of WW2
 Human Cost
 50 million people died (compared to 15 million
in WW1)
 21.3 million Russians (7.7 million civilians)
 11 million died as a result of the Holocaust
o (6 million Jews & 5 million other)
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5. Quick Facts of WW2
 When?
 1939-1945
 US involvement 1941-1945
o September 1, 1939—Germany invades Poland
(official start to war)
o September 3, 1939—Britain & France declare
war on Germany
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6. Quick Facts of WW2
 When?
o December 7, 1941—Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
(US enters war)
o May 1945—Germany surrenders
o August 1945—Atomic bombing of Hiroshima &
Nagasaki (Japanese surrender)
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7. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 The Allies
1. Great Britain
o Winston Churchill
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8. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 The Allies
2. USSR (Russia)
o Joseph Stalin
 “The enemy of your enemy is your
friend”
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9. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 The Allies
3. United States
o FDR (later Truman)
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10. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 The Allies
4. France (surrenders in 1940 to
Germany after 6 weeks of fighting!)
 Charles de Gaulle –Leader of Free
French Forces
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11. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 Axis of Evil
1. Germany
o Adolf Hitler
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12. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 Axis of Evil
2. Italy
o Benito Mussolini
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13. Quick Facts of WW2
 Who?
 Axis of Evil
3. Japan
o Hideki Tojo &
Emperor Hirohito
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14. The Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin 14

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16. Quick Facts of WW2
 Why? (Causes of WW2)
1. Treaty of Versailles
 Germany lost land to surrounding nations
 War reparations—paying off war debt
 Germany must pay $55 billion (modern equivalent)
 Bankrupted the German economy & embarrassed them
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18. Quick Facts of WW2
 Why? (Causes of WW2)
2. World-wide Depression
 Depression made Germany’s debt even worse
 Desperate people turn to sketchy leaders
o Hitler seemed to provide solutions to Germany’s problems
o Hitler provided people to blame (foreigners, Jews,
communists, Roma, mentally ill, homosexuals)
o Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass)—vandalism &
destruction of Jewish property
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21. Kristallnacht
 SPEECH DELIVERED IN COLOGNE SYNAGOGUE 9 November 1978
 A Plea for Honesty and Tolerance
by Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor, West Germany
 Mr. Federal President
Dear citizens of Cologne,
Dear Jews, Christians and Free-Thinkers in Germany,
 The German night, whose observance after the passage of forty years has
brought us together today, remains a cause of bitterness and shame. In those
places where the houses of God stood in flames, where a signal from those in
power set off a train of destruction and robbery, of humiliation, abduction
and incarceration - there was an end to peace, to justice, to humanity. The
night of 9 November 1938 marked one of the stages along the path leading
down to hell...
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22. Quick Facts of WW2
 Why? (Causes of WW2)
3. Rise of Totalitarian Regimes
 In a totalitarian country, national needs are
more important than individual needs
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23. Totalitarianism
Communist
Dictatorship
USSR
Fascist Dictatorship
Germany,
Italy
Fascism: military government which is based
on racism & nationalism with strong support
from business communityMilitary Dictatorship
Japan
Government totally controls everything
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24. Italian army
German army
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Japanese army

26. Quick Facts of WW2
 Why? (Causes of WW2)
4. Isolationism from major problems
 Why was the US isolationists?
o Great Depression
o Bad feelings about WW1
o Pacifism—opposition to war
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27. Quick Facts of WW2
 Why? (Causes of WW2)
4. Isolationism from major problems
 This led to policies of “Appeasement”
o Appeasement—give dictators what they want & hope
they don’t want anything else
o Japan invades Manchuria
o Italy invades Ethiopia
o Continues with Hitler
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