Transcript World War II

World War II
Introduction
• World War II was the mightiest struggle
humankind has ever seen.
• It killed more people, cost more money, damaged
more property, affected more people, and caused
more far-reaching changes in nearly every
country than any other war in history.
• The number of people killed, wounded, or
missing between September 1939 and
September 1945 can never be calculated, but it is
estimated that more than 55 million people
perished.
World War II
• More than 50 countries took part in the
war.
• Men fought in almost every part of the
world, on every continent except
Antarctica.
• Chief battlegrounds included Asia,
Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans, and the Mediterranean
Sea.
Beginning of WWII
• Most consider the German invasion of Poland
on September 1, 1939, to be the beginning of
the war.
• World War II would go down in the history
books as bringing about the downfall of
Western Europe as the center of world power.
• It also lead to the rise of (U.S.S.R.), setting up
conditions leading to the Cold War, and
opening up the nuclear age.
Major Powers Involved
• The Axis Powers and the Allies were the major
powers involved with World War II.
Axis Powers
• The principal countries constituting the
Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and
Japan. In 1940, the three nations signed
the Tripartite Pact, promising to aid each
other if any one of them was attacked by
the United States.
• Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania also
fought with the Axis Powers.
Leaders of the Axis Powers
• Germany was
lead by Hitler,
Italy by
Mussolini, and
Japan by
Hideki Tojo.
Axis Leaders
The Allies
• The Allied Powers were any countries
who officially fought against the Axis
Powers.
• The Major Allied Powers were the United
States, Soviet Union, Great Britain and its
Empire, France, and China.
• Numerous smaller nations also fought
with the Allied Powers.
Major Leaders of the Allies
• The leaders of the
major countries
fighting for the Allies
include Winston
Churchill of Britain,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
of the United States,
and Joseph Stalin of
Russia.
Axis Powers and Aggression
• Germany was angry about the Treaty of
Versailles.
• Hitler wanted to take revenge for Germany’s
loss in WWI by expanding German territory.
• Hitler attacked Poland in 1939.
• In response, Great Britain and France,
declared war on Germany.
• Hitler then creates an alliance with Italy and
Japan.
A New Kind of War
• Tanks, trucks, and bombers allowed armies to
move very quickly.
• With the new tactics, Germany defeated
Poland in what the Germans called a blitzkrieg
or “lightning war.”
• Hitler then turned his focus on other
European countries.
America Enters the War
• December 7, 1941, Japan
attacked the U.S. Navy at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• The United States decided
to join the Allies and
enter WWII.
• The U.S. battled for two
and a half years in
Europe, North Africa, the
Middle East, Asia, and the
islands of the South
Pacific Ocean.
The Atomic Bomb
• U.S. leaders thought the atomic bomb could end the
war with Japan.
• In August 1945 the United States dropped atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Days later Japan surrendered. The war was over.
Little Boy
Fat Man
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Hiroshima
Major Battles of WWII
• The Battle of Britain
– After Germany and Hitler had
conquered most of Europe,
including France, the only
major country left to fight
them was Great Britain.
– Germany wanted to invade
Britain, but first they needed
to destroy Great Britain's
Royal Air Force. The Battle of
Britain was when Germany
bombed Great Britain in
order to try and destroy their
air force and prepare for
invasion.
Major Battles of WWII
• Pearl Harbor
–The Attack on Pearl Harbor happened
on December 7th, 1941. Japanese
airplanes made a surprise attack on the
US Navy in Pearl Harbor. They
destroyed many ships and killed many
soldiers. It was this attack that forced
the United States to enter World War
II.
Pearl Harbor Memorial
Major Battles of WWII
• The Battle of Stalingrad
– The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the
largest and deadliest battles in World War
II. It was a turning point in the war.
– After losing the battle, the German army
lost so many soldiers and took such a
defeat that they never quite recovered.
Major Battles of WWII
• D-Day: The Invasion of
Normandy
– On June 6, 1944 the Allied
Forces of Britain, America,
Canada, and France
attacked German forces on
the coast of Normandy,
France.
– With a huge force of over
150,000 soldiers, the Allies
attacked and gained a
victory that became the
turning point for World
War II in Europe.
Major Battles of WWII
• Battle of the Bulge
– It was Germany's final
attempt to drive the
Allies off of mainland
Europe. Most of the
troops involved on the
Allied side were
American troops. It is
considered one of the
greatest battles ever
fought by the United
States military.
Major Battles of WWII
• Battle of Iwo Jima
– The Battle of Iwo Jima took
place during World War II
between the United States
and Japan.
– It was the first major battle of
World War II to take place on
Japanese homeland.
– The island of Iwo Jima was a
strategic location because the
US needed a place for fighter
planes and bombers to land
and take off when attacking
Japan.
Results of the War
• More than 34 million soldiers were
injured, and 22 million died.
• Over 30 million civilians also lost
their lives.
• Many were victims of the Holocaust.
–The Nazis’ effort to wipe out the
Jewish people.
The Holocaust
• The Nazis’ rounded up Jews throughout
Europe and sent them to concentration camps
where they were killed.
• 6 million Jews died in this genocide.
– The deliberate destruction of a people.
• Millions of others, including Slavs, Catholics,
homosexuals, and those with mental and
physical disabilities, were killed too.
The Holocaust
• Ghettos
– The Nazis would take over a city in Europe they
would force all of the Jewish people into one area
of town.
– This area was called a ghetto and was fenced in
with barbed wire and guarded.
– There was little food, water, or medicine available.
It was also very crowded with multiple families
sometimes sharing a single room to live in.
Jewish ghetto children during the
Holocaust.
Jewish ghetto.
The Holocaust
• Concentration Camps
– All Jewish people were eventually to be brought to
concentration camps. They were told they were
relocating to a new and better place, but this was not
the case.
– Concentration camps were like prison camps. People
were forced to do hard labor. The weak were quickly
killed or died of starvation.
– Some camps even had gas chambers. People would be
led into the chambers in large groups only to be killed
with poison gas. The concentration camps were
horrible places.
Nuremburg Trials
• The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military
tribunals, held by the Allied forces of WWII,
most notable for the prosecution of
prominent members of the political, military,
and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi
Germany.
– Tribunal-any person or institution with the
authority to judge or determine claims or
disputes.
Nuremburg Trials
• The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg,
Bavaria, Germany, in 1945–46, at the Palace of
Justice.
• The first and best known of these trials was the
Trial of the Major War Criminals before the
International Military Tribunal (IMT), which tried
25 of the most important captured leaders of the
Third Reich.
• Several key architects of the war (such as Adolf
Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels)
had committed suicide before the trials began.
Defendants
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Martin Bormann: Secretary to Hitler, Head of
the Nazi Party Chancellery
Karl Doenitz: Commander-in-Chief of the
German Navy
Hans Frank: Governor-General of occupied
Poland
Wilhelm Frick: Minister of the Interior
Hans Fritzsche: Head of the Wireless News
Service (radio produced by the Reich)
Walther Funk: Minister of Economics
Hermann Goering: Second-in-command to
Hitler, Luftwaffe (Air Force) Chief, President of
Reichstag
Rudolf Hess: Deputy to Hitler, Nazi Party Leader
Alfred Jodl: Chief of Operations for the German
High Command (Army)
Ernst Kaltenbrunner: Chief of Security Police,
Chief of RSHA (an organization containing,
among other things, the Austrian branches of
the SS and the Gestapo)
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Wilhelm Keitel: Chief of Staff of the German
High Command
Erich Raeder: Commander-in-Chief of the
German Navy (before Doenitz)
Alfred Rosenberg: Minister of the Eastern
Occupied Territories, Chief Nazi Philosopher
Fritz Sauckel: Head of Slave Labor Recruitment
Hjalmar Schacht: Minister of Economics (prewar), President of Reichsbank
Arthur Seyss-Inquart: Chancellor of Austria,
Reich Commissioner of the Netherlands
Albert Speer: Minister of Armaments and
Munitions, Hitler's architect and friend
Julius Streicher: Editor of Der Sturmer (antiSemitic publication)
Konstantin von Neurath: Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Reich Protector for Bohemia and
Moravia
Franz von Papen: Chancellor of Reich before
Hitler, Vice Chancellor under Hitler, Ambassador
to Turkey
Joachim von Ribbentrop: Foreign Minister,
Ambassador to Great Britain
Baldur von Schirach: Head of the Hitler Youth
Nuremburg Trial Defendants
Nuremburg Trials
• The first session was presided over by the
Soviet judge, Nikitchenko. The prosecution
entered indictments against 24 major war
criminals and seven criminal organizations–
the leadership of the Nazi party, the Reich
Cabinet, the Schutzstaffel (SS),
Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Gestapo, the
Sturmabteilung (SA) and the "General Staff
and High Command," comprising several
categories of senior military officers
Nuremburg Trials
• Schutzstaffel (SS) - Defence squadron under
Hitler. Lead by Himmler.
• Sicherheitsdienst (SD) - Intelligence agency of
the SS and the Nazi Party. Under Himmler.
• Gestapo -Secret State Police under Himmler. A
sister organization to the SS.
• Sturmabteilung (SA) - Paramilitary
organization. The SS was originally a branch of
the SA.
Indictments
• The indictments were for:
– Participation in a common plan or
conspiracy for the accomplishment of a
crime against peace
– Planning, initiating and waging wars of
aggression and other crimes against peace
– War Crimes
– Crimes against humanity
Convictions
• Nineteen of the 22 defendants were convicted on at least one
charge.
• Of the 19 defendants who were convicted, two were
convicted on just one count, seven were convicted on two
counts, four were convicted on three counts, and six more
were convicted on all four counts.
• On Count 1 (Conspiracy to Wage Aggressive War), eight of the
defendants were found guilty. On Count 2 (Crimes Against
Peace), 12 defendants were convicted. On both the third
Charge (War Crimes) and the fourth charge (Crimes Against
Humanity), 16 defendants were convicted.
Sentencing
• Three of the defendants were acquitted and
released. Of the nineteen that were convicted, 12
(11 of whom were present) were sentenced to
death by hanging.
• The other seven defendants were given prison
sentences ranging from ten years to life in prison.
• Hermann Goering committed suicide the day
before his execution by ingesting a cyanide pill.
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