Transcript The War in Europe

The War in
Europe
For many, World War
II began when Hitler’s
Nazi Germany
attacked Poland.
• The people of Germany were
struggling; they were humiliated that
they lost WWI and the economy was
bad. Hitler promised he would bring
Germany back to power.
• He was elected Chancellor of
Germany in 1933 and soon made
himself dictator.
• He said the country needed more
land or “living space”
• First, he would take over Austria,
then part of Czechoslovakia (and no
one did anything about it)
• Then he invaded Poland in 1939;
finally the other countries knew he
wouldn’t stop and Great Britain and
France declared war on Germany
The War in the
Pacific
There were two major places where
WWII took place. These places are
sometimes called theaters of war. One
theater of WWII was in Europe, the
other was in the Pacific. The Pacific
theater of war included Japan, China,
Korea, the Philippines, and many more
islands and countries in Southeast
Asia.
• Japan wanted to become a
strong country and a world
power; because Japan was a
small island country they had
to import many natural
resources. Some leaders felt
they needed to gain more
land by conquering other
countries.
• In 1937, Japan invaded China.
• By 1942, the Japanese had
taken over much of
Southeast Asia
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor happened on December 7th,
1941. Japanese airplanes made a surprise attack on the
U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor. They destroyed many ships
and killed many soldiers. It was this attack that forced
the United States to enter WWII.
Where is Pearl Harbor?
• Located in Hawaii on the island of O’ahu.
Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean between
California and Japan. During the time of WWII,
Hawaii was not a state, but a U.S. territory.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• The Empire of Japan was trying to take over much
of Asia and was worried about the U.S. Navy in
Hawaii. They decided to strike in order to
prevent the United States from attacking them.
• The Japanese thought that if they took out the
war ships in Pearl Harbor, the US Navy would be
crippled and would not be able to attack. They
were mistaken! The US declared war on Japan the
next day!
The Attack
The attack came as a complete surprise. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes and bombers
flew to Pearl and attacked. The bombers dropped bombs and torpedoes on the war ships,
while the fighter planes attacked the US fighter planes on the ground so they could not take
off and fight back. There were two waves of attacks and by the end of the second wave a
number of US ships were destroyed.
The Stats
• Approximately 2,400 people
were killed
• Approximately 1,180 people
were wounded
• 12 ships were sunk or
beached
• 9 ships were damaged
• 164 aircraft were destroyed
• 159 aircraft were damaged
• The entire attack lasted
around 110 minutes, just
under two hours
• The Japanese attacked on a
Sunday morning because
they thought the US soldiers
would be less alert at the
time.
• FDR gave a famous speech
after the attack in which he
said December 7th would be
a “day which would live in
infamy”.
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the largest and deadliest
battles in WWII. 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.
Stalingrad the City
Stalingrad was located in Southwest Russia on the
Volga River. It was a major industrial and
communications center for the Soviet Union in the
south. Also, it was named after the Soviet leader Josef
Stalin.
The Battle
• Took place during the last
part of 1942 and early
1943. After months of
fighting and finally nearly
starving to death, the
Germans surrendered on
February 2, 1943.
• Both sides had large
armies of over 1 million
soldiers. They also each
had hundreds of tanks and
over 1,000 planes. It is
estimated that around
750,000 soldiers from the
German army died and
nearly 500,000 Russians