Transcript Document

Introduction to
WWII
US History
Why? (underlying causes of WWII)
1. Treaty of Versailles
A. Germany lost land to surrounding nations
B. War Reparations
1) Allies collect $ to pay back war
debts to U.S.
2) Germany must pay $57 trillion
(modern equivalent)
3) Bankrupted the German economy &
embarrassed Germans
2Lloyd
George, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson
during negotiations for the Treaty
Why? (underlying causes of WWII)
2. World-wide Depression
A. The Depression made Germany’s debt
even worse
B. Desperate people turn to desperate
leaders
1) Hitler seemed to provide
solutions to Germany’s problems
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1923 - Wallpapering with German Deutchmarks
Why? (underlying causes of WWII)
2. World-wide Depression
2) Hitler provided scapegoats for
Germany’s problems (foreigners,
Jews, communists, Roma
(Gypsies), mentally ill,
homosexuals)
3) Kristallnacht - vandalism &
destruction of Jewish property &
synagogues
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Why?
3. Rise of Totalitarian Regimes
A. In a Totalitarian country, individual rights are not viewed as important as the needs
of the nation
Communist Dictatorship
(USSR)
Fascist Dictatorship
(Germany, Italy)
Totalitarianism
Military Dictatorship (Japan)
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Fascism: military government with
based on racism & nationalism with
strong support from the business
community
Why?
4. Isolationism of Major Powers
A. Why was the U.S. Isolationist?
1. Great Depression (problems at home)
2. Perceptions of WWI
a. WWI did not seem to solve much
b. People began to think that we’d got into WWI for the
wrong reasons (greedy American businessmen!)
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Why?
4. Isolationism of Major Powers
3. Opposition to war (Pacifism)
a. Washington Conference - Limits on size of
country's navies
b. Kellogg-Briand pact - condemned war as a way to
solving conflicts
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Why?
4. Isolationism of Major Powers
B. This led to policies of “Appeasement”
1. Appeasement: give dictators what they want and hope that
they won’t want anything else
2. Begins with Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Italian invasion
of Ethiopia, and continues with Hitler . . .
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So What Was Hitler Asking For?
Return of German Speaking Lands - “Lebensraum”
•Austria - Peacefully Annexed
in 1938
German Troops Parade in Streets of Czechoslovakian Town, ca. 1939
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So What Was Hitler Asking For?
Return of German Speaking Lands - “Lebensraum”
•Sudentenland - (now part of
Czech Republic)
•Munich Conference - Great
Britain & France give to Hitler
in return for peace
•Hitler then invades the rest of
Czechoslovakia
German Troops Parade in Streets of Czechoslovakian Town, ca. 1939
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So What Was Hitler Asking For?
Return of German Speaking Lands
•Nonaggression Pact Russia
stays out of the war in return
for 1/2 of Poland
•Great Britain & France finally
declare war on Germany
Hitler's triumphal entry into Danzig, Poland 1939
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World War II in the Soviet Union
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When?
•1939-1945
•US involvement 1941-1945
1939
Sept.1 -
Germany
invades Poland
(official start to
the war)
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1941
Sept. 3 -Britain
Dec. 7 – Japan
& France declare bombs Pearl Harbor;
war on
US enters the War
Germany
1945
May - Germans
Surrender
Sept. - Atomic
Bombing of
Hiroshima &
Nagasaki,
Japanese
Surrender
Who?
Allies
(major powers)
(major powers)
Great Britain
Germany
Russia
Italy
United States
Japan
France
(note: France surrendered to Germany in
1940 (after 6 weeks of fighting)
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Axis
Major Leaders
Adolf Hitler
Nazi Germany
Benito Mussolini
Italy
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Major Leaders
Joseph Stalin
Russian Leader
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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US President
Major Leaders
Hideki Tojo
Japanese Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
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British Prime Minister
How Did Hitler Make War?
Blitzkrieg “Lightning War”
In the next year, Hitler invades:
•Denmark
•Norway
• The Netherlands,
•France
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Hitler in Paris
US Assistance
Roosevelt provided aid to the Allies:
Lend-Lease - 1939
•US “lent” war materials
to cash-strapped Great
Britain
Atlantic Charter
•US secretly meets with
England to commit to
defeating Germany
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London Firefighter Tackles an Air Raid Blaze
Meanwhile … in the Pacific
Pearl Harbor: “a date which will live in infamy”
What?
•Surprise attack by the Japanese on
American forces in Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii
Effect?
•US declares war on Japan & other Axis
powers
USS Arizona Sinking in Pearl Harbor
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World War II in the Soviet Union
The Germans attacked
Stalingrad in August
1942.
The Soviets refused to let
Stalingrad fall, and Hitler suffered
a stunning defeat in early 1943.
Stalingrad marked the
beginning of Germany’s
collapse in the Soviet
Union.
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Soviet forces pushed Germany
out of Russia, but lost 12
million soldiers and millions of
civilians.
American Forces in North Africa
and Italy
Why was North Africa
important?
By controlling North Africa, the
British could protect shipping
on the Mediterranean Sea.
They needed the ability to ship
oil from the Middle East
through the Suez Canal.
What was the result of fighting
in North Africa?
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Italy could not drive the British
from Egypt. Hitler sent troops
under the direction of Erwin
Rommel – nicknamed the Desert
Fox. After a back-and-forth battle
for North Africa, the Allied forces
handed the Germans a major defeat
at the battle of El Alamein.
American Forces in North Africa
and Italy
What happened in
Italy?
British and American forces invaded
Italy in 1943. The Italian people
forced Mussolini from power, but
Hitler rushed into Italy to stop the
Allies.
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D-Day: The Invasion of France
Operation Overlord
D-Day
Planned invasion of France from the
beaches of Normandy
June 6, 1944
General Omar Bradley led the
American troops.
Good planning and speed were vital.
Americans were concerned about the V1
flying bomb and the V2 rocket.
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Allied force of 3.5 million soldiers
Germans were slow to respond
Estimated 10,000 Allied casualties,
including 6,600 Americans
The Allies landed almost 1 million
soldiers and 180,000 vehicles.
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The Philippines
Japan invaded the Americancontrolled islands of the Philippines
in December 1941.
General Douglas MacArthur led
the defense of the islands.
MacArthur’s troops were no match
for the Japanese and he retreated to
the Bataan Peninsula. Although he
called for reinforcements, war
planners decided sending ships was
too risky.
In April 1942, the 10,000 American
and 60,000 Filipino troops on
Bataan surrendered.
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Thousands of these captured
soldiers died when the Japanese
forced them to march through the
steaming forests of Bataan. This
became known as the Bataan
Death March.
Fortunes Shift in the Pacific
Battle of Midway
• Japan tried to lure the
Americans into a large sea
battle around Midway
Island.
• Naval officers had broken
a Japanese code and
learned of the plan.
• Nimitz devised a plan to
thwart the attack and
placed his 3 aircraft
carriers carefully.
• The Americans destroyed
3 of the 4 Japanese
carriers and won a major
victory.
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Allied Progress in the Pacific
1. Gained control of territory in the
Solomon Islands to protect
Australia.
2. Used powerful combination of
land, sea, and air forces to capture
key islands.
3. Captured locations in the Gilbert,
Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana
islands.
4. Took advantage of American
industrial power by replacing ships
and aircrafts, which Japan was
unable to do.
5. European successes allowed more
resources to be made available in
the Pacific.
6. Recaptured the Philippines
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7. Captured strategic Japanese
islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Iwo Jima
Okinawa
• Allied troops invaded on
In February 1945
April 1, 1945.
American forces set out to
• The island was to be the
capture Iwo Jima.
launching pad for the final
invasion of Japan.
The island would provide
a good base to launch raids • It was a bloody battle; more
against major Japanese
than 12,000 American died
at the Battle of Okinawa.
cities.
Iwo Jima, the Japanese
For the first time, Japanese • Like
refused to surrender and lost
soldiers were fighting for
a staggering 110,000 troops.
and on Japanese land.
The Japanese fought
ferociously and refused to
surrender.
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The Allies eventually won.
• Allies gained control of the
island in June 1945.
Iwo Jima
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Winning the War in Europe
Crossing the Rhine
Hitler ordered his troops
to make a stand at the
Rhine River.
Despite the fact that the
Germans blew up many
of the bridges across the
Rhine to slow the Allies,
they managed to cross at
Remagen.
The decision to defend the
river turned out to be
one of Hitler’s military
mistakes.
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The Yalta Conference
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•Allied leaders Roosevelt,
Winston Churchill, and Joseph
Stalin (the so-called Big Three)
met in the resort town of Yalta
in the Soviet Union to discuss
the end of the war and the peace
that was to follow.
•A key goal was to determine
what to do with Germany. The
leaders agreed to divide the
country into four sectors. The
Americans, Soviets, British, and
French would each occupy one
of these sectors. Berlin was also
divided into four sectors.
•Stalin agreed to hold free
elections. He never lived up to
those promises.
Hitler’s Death and V-E Day
•On April 30, 1945, Hitler
realized that all hope for a
German victory was lost. He
committed suicide in his Berlin
bunker.
•Berlin surrendered on May 2,
1945. Karl Dönitz, who had
taken over as Germany’s leader,
agreed to a surrender on May 7,
which would take place the
following day.
•In the United States, May 8
was proclaimed V-E Day—
Victory in Europe Day.
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Winning the War in the Pacific
The cost of capturing Okinawa were
high.
High rates of battle-related
psychological casualties
Thousands suffered from battle fatigue
and other disorders.
Many dreaded the possibility of
invading the major islands of Japan.
General Macarthur and Admiral
Nimitz developed plans for a
massive invasion of Japan.
A new bombing tactic was used on
Japanese cities, one designed to
produce tremendous firestorms in
the bombed area.
Some Japanese leaders began to see
the need for peace and began to
contact the Soviet Union.
President Harry S Truman decided
to drop an atomic bomb on Japan.
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Japan surrendered on August 15,
1945.
Harry S Truman became
president when Roosevelt died.
He had to decide whether the
United States should use the
Manhattan Project’s atomic
bomb.
After consulting with his
advisors, Truman decided to
drop the bomb on a Japanese
city. There would be no
warning.
On August 6, 1945, the Enola
Gay dropped its atomic bomb on
the city of Hiroshima.
Despite the horror caused by the
bomb, the Japanese did not
surrender.
The Atomic Bomb
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Photo of a deadly burnt victim taken in Hiroshima on August 7th, 1945, this young man
was located at the moment of the explosion on an island 3000 meters from the hypocenter.
on on an island 3000 meters from the hypocenter.
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•On August 9, the
United States dropped
an atomic bomb on
Nagasaki. Even this did
not bring an end to the
war.
•Finally, on August 15 –
known from then on as
V-J Day—the Japanese
emperor Hirohito
announced the end of
the war.
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Challenges after the War
Rebuilding
Macarthur led efforts to
help Japan rebuild its
government and economy.
Seven Japanese leaders
were tried for war crimes.
Rebuilding Europe caused
tensions between the U.S
and the Soviet Union.
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Challenges after the War
United Nations
Representatives from 50 countries
met to form a new organization, the
United Nations.
The UN was meant to encourage
cooperation among nations and to
prevent wars.
Potsdam Conference
Allied leaders met in the German
city of Potsdam to discuss the
spread of communism and Soviet
influence in the postwar world.
Truman hoped to get Stalin to live
up to his promises from Yalta.
Stalin did not do this.
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Quick Facts (write 2-3)
A. War Costs
1.
US Debt 1940 - $9 billion
US Debt 1945 - $98 billion
• The war cost $330 billion -- 10 times the cost of WWI &
as much as all previous federal spending since 1776
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Quick Facts (write 2-3)
B. Human Costs
1. 50 million people died (compared to 15 million in
WWI)
• 21.3 million Russians (7.7 million civilians)
• 11 million died as a result of the HOLOCAUST
(6 million Jews + 5 million others)
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Quick Facts (write 2-3)
B. Human Costs
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