Transcript Causes of WWII - pams

The Road to War
The long-term and immediate causes
of WWII
Japanese Aggression
• Needed more space
and land for
resources
• 1931 - Invade China
• League of Nations
does nothing
• 1937 – Assaulted a
quarter million
citizens
Treaty of Versailles
• After WWI, forced Germany to:
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Accept blame for the war
Pay reparations
Reduce military
Give up land
Germany’s Desire for Living Space
• Hitler and the Nazis needed more land for:
• Living space for all European Germans
• Resources
Italian Aggression - 1935
• Italy invades Northern Africa
– Ethiopia, Libya and Albania
• Later, Italy becomes controlled by Hitler and the
Nazis
Munich Conference - 1938
• British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
agrees to give Hitler
the Sudetenland (a
“German” part of
Czechoslovakia)
• Hitler promised to
stop taking any more
territory
• Appeasement - Great
Britain gave in to
Germany’s demands
to avoid war.
Broken Munich Pact - 1939
• Hitler took over
Czechoslovakia
immediately after the
Munich Pact was signed
• Chamberlain did NOT last
as Prime Minister
• Winston Churchill – a
MUCH stronger leader –
took over as British
leader
Soviet Non-Aggression Pact - 1939
• Much to the surprise of the
rest of the world bitter
enemies Germany and the
Soviet Union signed a
peace treaty – the MolotovRibbentrop Non-Aggression
Pact.
• They promised to split the
land they conquered
• Germany was now in
alliance with Italy, Japan,
and the Soviet Union
• Democracies were justifiably
frightened.
German Invasion of Poland - 1939
By the year 1939, Germany had rebuilt its military, occupied the Rhineland, funded a war in
Spain, taken over all of Austria by extortion, seized the Sudetenland, captured all of
Czechoslovakia, and, in September of 1939, invaded Poland, starting World War II.
• Hitler invades Poland in September 1, 1939
• This OFFICIALLY begins WWII
Soviet Invasion of Poland - 1939
• Soviet Union invades Poland and the Baltic nations
• Sixteen days after Hitler does
Britain & France Declare War - 1939
• Horrified by the brutal
repression of the Polish
people, England and
France both declared
war on Germany.
• Both nations refused to
declare war on the equally
aggressive Soviet Union.
They have a feeling that the
Soviet Union would be
betrayed by Hitler – and
knew they would likely need
another ally, no matter their
political differences.
Europe at War
What goes down in Europe prior to the U.S. joining the war?
German Blitzkrieg
• When the war finally came, both Great Britain and
France were overwhelmed by the massive German
onslaught.
• The German blitzkrieg, or “Lightening War,”
devastated the advanced forces of the British and
French armies so completely that they were forced
to retreat.
Evacuation at Dunkirk - 1940
• The English and
French were
cornered at Dunkirk,
a beach along the
English Channel
• The people of
England organized
every fishing vessel
to evacuate as many
soldiers as possible
• Over 300,000
soldiers were
evacuated and saved.
Fall of France - 1940
• The attempts are not enough and France surrenders
to Nazi Germany
• The German army captures Paris, France
Battle of Britain - 1940
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Daily air assault on the British islands by German planes
Tens of thousands of people died
British air force fought against the Nazis
Finally, Hitler gave up
Germany Invades the Soviet Union - 1941
• Since German Nazism and Soviet
Communism were two rival
philosophies and each nation had a
brutal dictator for its leader, most
European observers correctly predicted
that the relationship would end in
betrayal.
• Germany would eventually
violate their Pact and they
invade the Soviet Union
– (Operation Barbarossa)
Stalin & Churchill - 1941
• An unlikely team, Stalin and Churchill must team up
to beat a bigger enemy – Adolf Hitler