Transcript Ch_ 29 World War II - Ed W. Clark High School

WWII
The Roaring Twenties
 U.S. becomes a major power after WWI
 Industrial boom
 Mass consumption
 New technology
 Decline in unemployment
Depression
 U.S. economy is pretty strong after WWI
 But some practices help lead to the depression
(credit; huge agricultural surpluses; ‘buying on
margin’)
 Stock market crashes (Black Tuesday, Oct. 29,
1929)
 Rampant unemployment
 Worldwide event; Germany hit hard
 Britain and France fared a little better because
they used their colonies to buy products
• Totalitarian- A government that exerts total control
over a nation
• Fascism- Type of totalitarianism- emphasizes the
importance of the nation or an ethnic group and
the supreme authority of the leader
• Communism- Complete government ownership of
land and property, single-party control of the
government and lack of individual rights
Stalin and the Soviet Union
• Soviet Union is a communist
country
• After Lenin dies, Josef Stalin
takes over
• Goal- to modernize and
build new industries
• Began government takeover
of farms- those who
resisted had food taken
away or were sent to labor
camps
• Stalin poured money
into industry, but
people suffered
shortages in housing
and clothing
• 5 Year Plans
• By 1940- Russia was an
industrial power (3rd
largest)
Reign of Terror
• Stalin dominated his
country through
purges- the process of
removing enemies and
undesirable individuals
from power
• 7 million were arrested;
1 million were killed
Italy
• Fascist government
• Led by Benito Mussolini
(Il Duce)
• Organized fascist groups
and relied on thugs
(called Blackshirts) to
terrorize those who
opposed him
• Gained much powerthreatened to march on
Rome
• King panics and makes him
prime minister
• Establishes dictatorship
• Engineers “economic
miracle”
• Main goal: to conquer
territory and create a
“New Roman Empire”
• 1935- Invades Ethiopiaby 1936, Italy controls
the country
• League of Nations is
extremely upset…but
they do nothing
Hitler’s rise to power
• Born in Austria
• Wanted to be a painter
• Moves to Viennabecomes involved in
politics
• Fought in WWI
• 1919- Joins Nazi party
(National Socialist
German Workers’ Party)
• Gradually, the party
gains power
• 1923- Hitler and a
group of 3,000
followers try to
overthrow the
German government
– they fail, and Hitler
is jailed
• While in prison, he writes
his autobiography “Mein
Kampf” (my struggle)outlines his plans for
Germany and his hatred
of Jews
• He calls for defiance of
the Treaty of Versailles
and purification of the
“Aryan race”
• Gains large following
• Hitler places second
in the presidential
election
• President
Hindenburg makes
him chancellor
• Hitler suspends
freedom of speech
and press
• Nazi storm troopers
silence opposition
• German parliament
(Reichstag) burns down
in a suspicious fire
• Hitler blames
communists
• Convinces parliament to
pass a bill giving him
dictatorial powers
• Great Britain- leaders- Neville
Chamberlain (until 1940); Winston
Churchill (1940)- Great Britain wants
peace
• U.S.- leader- Franklin Roosevelt (FDR)U.S. wants peace- isolationism
WWII
Beginning the War
German Aggression
• Germany rearms
• Hitler takes Austria (Anschluss) ,
Czechoslovakia
• British prime minister Neville Chamberlain
meets with Hitler. Hitler promises not to
attack anymore countries and signs a pledge
• Hitler is a liar
• “Britain and France had to choose between
war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They
will have war.” – Winston Churchill
• Allies follow a policy of appeasementgiving in to a country’s demands in
order to keep the peace
Non-aggression pact w/ Stalin
• September, 1939Germany invades
Poland- “Blitzkrieg”
• France and Great
Britain declare war
on Germany
• The invasion of
Poland marks the
beginning of WWII
• In less than a year,
Germany has taken
the Netherlands,
Belgium,
Luxembourg,
Norway, and France
(1941)
• Britain stands alone
against Hitler
Battle of Britain
• German Air force
relentlessly bombs
London- up to 1,000
planes
• Greatest air assault the
world had ever seen
• London is defended by
the RAF (royal air force)
• Bombing and aerial
combat lasts for over a
year
Japan
• In the 1930’s, Japan
begins to build an
empire; military
gains a significant
role in politics (2
cabinet members)
• Japan has limited
resources- needs to
get them elsewhere
• 1931- Takes over
Manchuria (coal,
iron, land)
• Invades China
• FDR worried about
Japan’s aggression
• Begins limiting
resources to Japan
• Japan takes
Indochina, and east
Indies (Europeans
too busy fighting to
worry about these
colonies)
• FDR cuts off oil
shipments
• Japan decides to
destroy U.S. navy
• They feel they can
achieve their goals
in Asia before the
U.S. can rebuild its
navy
• December 7, 1941Japanese attack
Pearl Harbor
• 18 warships
destroyed, including
8 of 9 battleships
• 2400 killed
• The next day, FDR
asked congress for a
declaration of war
• On Dec. 11, Germany
and Italy declare
war on the U.S.
The War in Africa
 1941 - When Italy invades Somaliland (Somalia),
Britain aides Haile Selassie (Ethiopian leader) in
overthrowing the Italians
 Germany comes to Italy’s rescue
 Battle of El Alamein – 1942– British break German
codes and expel them from Africa
 "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is,
perhaps, the end of the beginning."
- Winston Churchill, after victory at El Alamein
Retaking Europe
Hitler attacks the Soviet Union
• After losing the Battle
of Britain, Hitler
decided to turn his
attention to the Soviet
Union
• In Mein Kampf, Hitler
had called for the
conquest of the Soviet
Union to give the
German people
“living space”
Battle of Stalingrad
• Red Army used the
cold winter as a way
to stop the Germans
advance and regain
lost territory
• The Red Army
decided to take a
stand at Stalingrad
• The Soviet forces
launched a fierce
attack and forced the
Germans to surrender
D-Day- June 6, 1944
• Allies invasion of
Western Europe
• The invasion was code
named Operation
Overlord
• Allied troops came
ashore along the
Normandy coast
• Largest landing by
seas in history
Battle of the Bulge
• Hitler reinforced the
army using draftees as
young as 15
• The Battle of the Bulge
was the largest battle in
Western Europe during
WWII and the longest
battle ever fought by the
U.S.
• After the battle, most
Nazi leaders recognized
that the war was lost
War Ends in Europe
• Soviet forces captured
Berlin, Germany’s
capital, as a matter of
honor
• Germany surrenders
– May 8, 1945
• Hitler commits
suicide in his
underground bunker
–April 30, 1945
• Allies celebrate V-E
day (Victory in
Europe Day)
Kristallnacht
• “Night of Broken
Glass”
• Nazi thugs
throughout Germany
and Austria looted
and destroyed Jewish
stores, houses, and
Synagogues
Concentration and Death
Camps
• “The Final Solution to the Jewish
Question”
• Genocide – the deliberate destruction of
an entire ethnic or cultural group
• Concentration Camps – functioned as
prisons and centers of forced labor
• Death Camps – existed primarily for mass
murder
Camps Cont.
• Life expectancy of a Jewish prisoner was a
few months
• Men and women had to have their heads
shaved and had registration numbers
tattooed on their arms
• Hitler targeted Jews, homosexuals,
Jehovah’s Witness, Gypsies, and the
homeless
Rescue and Liberation
• In January 1944,
Roosevelt created the
War Refugee Board
• Soviets liberated
Auschwitz, the largest
extermination,
concentration camp,
in January 1945
• As Allies advanced,
the Nazis abandoned
the camps
Nuremberg Trials
• 24 Nazi officers were
placed on trial
• Charged with crimes
against peace, crimes
against humanity, and
war crimes
• Established the
importance of individuals
being responsible for
their own actions
• Rejected Nazi argument
”I was only following
orders”
Explanations?
 Intentionalists and Functionalists
 Insights from psychology
Asch
and Milgram
WWII: War in the Pacific
• Battle of Midway
• American victory
• Turned the tide of the
war
Island-Hopping
• U.S. follows strategy of
Island-hopping
• Attacking certain islands
and bypassing others
• Allowed U.S. to cut off
supplies to the bypassed
islands
• Also allowed U.S. to move
quickly towards Japan
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
• Important battles
• Many Japanese
soldiers fought to
the death
– Kamikazes
• Victories give the
U.S. a clear path to
Japan
Manhattan Project
• Top-secret project to develop the atomic
bomb
• Suggested by Einstein
• First tested on July 16, 1945 in NM
• On witnessing the explosion, J. Robert
Oppenheimer, who supervised the project,
remembered these words from the
Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become
Death, the destroyer of worlds”
The Decision to Drop the Bomb
• Other alternatives
proposed
– Massive invasion
– Naval blockade
– Demonstration
• All rejected by U.S.
officials
• Harry Truman, U.S.
president, decides to
drop the bomb
• On August 6, 1945, the
1st A-bomb is dropped
on Hiroshima
• 3 days later- Nagasaki
• August 14, Japan
surrenders
• Restructuring
WWII- Around the World
Africa
• Africans noticed European hypocrisy in
their “fight for freedom,” and their
colonization of African territories
• S. Africa establishes Apartheid, a system of
racial segregation
Middle East
• Many Jews move to Palestine as a result of
the Balfour declaration
• Some in England seek to reverse the trend
and support indigenous Arabs in Palestine
• Official British policy seesaws back and
forth
Spain
• Fights a civil war- 1936-1939
• War was a coup by the Spanish army
against the Republic – Coup supported by
Germany and Italy, but not Soviet Unionwhy not?
• Rebels win, and establish a dictatorship
under Francisco Franco
• Because of the devastation in this war,
Spain does not participate in WWII
U.S.
• More job opportunities for women,
African-Americans and Latinos after
WWII
• Leads to Civil Rights movement
• U.S. rises in power during WWII as well as
WWI
Misc.
• During WWII, less distinction is made
between civilian and military targets
• Thailand remains neutral and cooperates
with Japan
• United Nations is created after WWII –
idea is to promote peace