Transcript Chapter 20 “A World in Flames”

One of Europe’s first dictatorships arose in Italy. In
1919 Benito Mussolini found Italy’s Fascist Party. By
1922, Mussolini would seize power and he worked
quickly to setup a dictatorship.
 Vladimir Lenin established communists
governments throughout the Russian Empire. In
1922, they renamed these territories the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
 Lenin died in 1924 and Stalin replaced him after a
power struggle. Stalin began to industrialize the
country and proved to be a very brutal dictator.

 Adolf
Hitler joined the Nazi Party shortly after
World War I.
 In 1923, Hitler and the Nazi Part tried to seize
power in Germany which failed. While in
prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
 By 1932, the Nazis were the largest part in
Reichstag which led to Hitler being named
Chancellor the next year. Hitler also moved
quickly to establish a dictatorship in Germany.
 In 1934 Hitler became president, which gave
him control over the military. He then gave
himself the new title of Der Fuhrer, or “The
Leader.”
 Military
leaders seized power in Japan during
the 1920’s.
 In 1931, the Japanese army invaded Manchuria,
a resource-rich region of northern China.
 The Japanese lacked natural resources and had
population issues.
 World War II Started in Asia in 1937 when the
Japanese invaded the rest of China.
 The
United States followed a policy of
Isolationism.
 The United States passed three neutrality
laws during the late 1930’s.
 Roosevelt was an internationalist who
believed the United States should be
more actively involved in events in
Europe and Asia.
 In
1935 Hitler began to defy the Treaty of
Versailles that had ended World War II.
Germany started to build a new air force and
draft men into the military.
 Hitler called for the unification of German
speaking people into one nation.
 Hitler occupied the Rhineland in 1936.
 Hitler sent troops into Austria in March 1939.
Hitler then announced German claims to the
Sudetenland, and area of Czechoslovakia.
 At the Munich Conference, Britain and France
gave into Hitler’s demands that came to be
known as appeasement.
 In March 1939, Hitler invaded the rest of
Czechoslovakia.
 Hitler then demanded territory in Poland.
France and Great Britain said an attack upon
Poland would mean war.

 Germany
signs a non-aggression pact with the
Soviet Union in August, 1939 which shocks the
world.
 Hitler invades Poland on September 1, 1939.
Great Britain and France declare war on
Germany. World War II begins in Europe.
 The Germans develop a new type of warfare
called the blitzkrieg or “lightning warfare.”
 By October 5, 1939, the Germans had defeated
the Polish military.
 The
Germans do not attack western Europe
during late 1939 and early 1940. The lull in the
fighting is known as sitzkrieg or “phony war.”
 On May 10, 1940, Hitler launched a new
blitzkrieg on western Europe.
 The British are able to save over 330,000 troops
at Dunkirk. The miracle at Dunkirk was a
military blunder by the Germans and saved a
substantial British force to fight another day.
 On
June 22, 1940, the French surrender to the
Germans. The British are now alone to face the
Nazi threat in Western Europe.
 Winston Churchill becomes the new Prime
Minister of Great Britain and rallies the British
people to resist the German threat to their
country.
 Hitler then prepared for an invasion of Great
Britain.
 Against
overwhelming odds, the Royal Air
Force (RAF) is able to inflict heavy losses on the
Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.
 Hitler calls off the invasion of Great Britain.
Winston Churchill
 The
Fall of France 1940
RAF “Battle of Britain”
 The
Holocaust was the deliberate
extermination of European Jews and others that
the Nazis considered inferior.
 By the war’s end, the Nazis were responsible for
mass murdering 12 million people, including 6
million Jews.
 We will watch a video dealing with the
Holocaust on Friday.
 After
Hitler and the nazis came to power,
they passed Nuremberg Laws that took
citizenship away from Jewish Germans
and banned marriage between Jews and
other Germans.
 Kristallnacht was a series of attacks that
were led by the Nazis against the
German population in Germany.
 Jewish
rights in Germany are eliminated by the
Nazis.
 The Gestapo began rounding up Jewish citizens
and took away their property and businesses.
 After the Nazis seized territory in Europe, they
began targeting the Jewish populations in those
countries.
 In Poland, Jews were either sent to the ghettos
or concentration camps.
 On
January 20, 1942, Nazis leaders met at
the Wannsee Conference and established
the “final solution” to the Jewish question.
 The Nazis established extermination
camps where they planned to eliminate
the Jewish population and other
“undesirables.”
 1. How
did the Nazis come to power in
Germany?
 2. What event was the height of appeasement
by Great Britain and France towards Germany?
 3. What was blitzkrieg?
 4. What event started the war in Europe?
 5. What was the “miracle at Dunkirk?”
 6. What was the result of the “Battle of Britain?”