Transcript World War II - Options

World War II
Understanding the Pre-war Era
Vocabulary
• Totalitarianism – government regulates
almost every aspect of public and private
behavior
• Fascism- government with very strong,
authoritative government
• Dictator- sole military ruler of a country
• Black Shirts- Italian fascist terrorist group
• Nazi- National socialist German workers
party, fascist political party in Germany
• Swastika- official symbol of the Nazi party
• Third Reich- third German Empire
(supposed to last 1000 years)
Vocabulary (continued)
• Allied Powers- Great Britain, France, Russia, United
States
• Axis Powers- Germany, Italy, Japan
• Isolationists- people who did not want to enter the
European war
• Aryan- considered by Hitler to be the perfect human
• SS- military component to Nazi party
• Genocide- elimination of an entire race of people
• Holocaust- German genocide in the 1930s-1940s
• New World Order- extermination of all non-Aryans,
their land would be given to Aryans who would then
create a world with a single political and economic
system
Important People
• Adolf Hitler – Dictator of
Germany and leader of Nazi
party
• Benito Mussolini- Dictator of
Italy
• Hideki Tojo- leader of Japan
• Neville Chamberlain,
Winston Churchill- leaders
of Great Britain
• Franklin Roosevelt, Harry
Truman- leaders of the
United States
• Joseph Stalin- ruler of
Russia
The World After WWI
The Aftermath of War
• Much of Europe suffered
heavy damages from battle
and had to rebuild
• The loss of life created a huge
strain on many countries’
economies, as did the debt
many owed to the US
• Colonies in Africa and Asia
saw the postwar period as the
perfect time to work toward
independence
• When the US economy
collapsed in 1929, the
worldwide depression
deepened to an all-time low
The Great Depression - France
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Most of WWI battles took
place in France, so many
cities were badly damaged
and a lot of farmland was
ruined
The country had huge war
debt to pay and very little
money in treasury
Spent over $200 million to
build defense system
against any future German
invasion
Experienced major
economic troubles, but
kicked out foreigners to keep
unemployment levels low
The Great Depression – England
• After WWI ended, many
factory workers lost their
jobs
• National unemployment
rose to 20%
• Government passed
social reforms to help
those without jobs
(welfare, unemployment
office, etc.)
• Colonies started fighting
for more rights,
eventually Egypt
became independent
and India was granted
the right to partial rule
The Great Depression –U.S.A.
• Had no damage in its borders from WWI battles and experienced
prosperity until 1929
• Stock market crash caused entire economy to collapse
• Unemployment rose to 30%
• Pres. Roosevelt enacted New Deal – it helped create more jobs and
give people money to pump into the economy
The Great Depression - Italy
• High unemployment
caused social unrest
• When government
couldn’t help the people,
they began to revolt
• Many groups struggled
for power
• Italian king gave power to
Mussolini to stop civil war
from erupting
• Mussolini promised to
make Italy’s economy
prosperous again
Postwar Germany
The Great
Depression Germany
• Had to accept blame for WWI and
pay huge war reparations even
though the country was broke
• Economy collapsed, money was
worthless
• Cost billions for loaf of bread;
became cheaper to burn money
than to buy wood
• Nazi party gained support because
it promised to make Germany
stronger and cut unemployment
• Hitler gained popularity in the Nazi
and was appointed Chancellor of
Germany in 1933
• Government passed many reforms
to rebuild economy
The German Economy
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The country was in economic ruin and
many Germans had their life savings
wiped out
The number of homeless people
soared as unemployment rose higher;
Millions of soldiers returned home to
find no jobs available
While Germany began to rebuild its
economy in the late 1920s, the US
stock market crash created even
more problems
German currency lost its value so fast
that the economy went into
hyperinflation; the government
couldn’t even print money fast
enough to reflect its current value
Government Problems: 19191924
• The German people blamed the Weimar
government for all of the economic problems
• They believed German officials shouldn’t have signed
the Treaty of Versailles
• All of the profits from their economy were sent directly
to the Allies as reparations pay-outs
• The government was unable to make decisions
quickly and groups began questioning its ability
to lead
• Extremist groups gained popularity and
attempted to wrestle power from the Weimar
government
A New Generation of World
Leaders
Adolf Hitler
• Very smart, had a talent for
public speaking
• Realized that the German
people needed to unite
around a common cause
before the country could
regain its strength
• Eliminated opposition and
argument to prevent people
from getting distracted from
Germany’s goal: world
domination
Benito Mussolini
• Used threats, violence,
and political skills to gain
and maintain power
• Wanted to control all
aspects of the daily lives
of his people, including
their thoughts, feelings,
and actions
• Was a firm believer of
totalitarian government
Hideki Tojo
• Very sharp, able to make
quick decisions
• Wanted to make Japan a
strong imperial power
• Worked closely with
military officials and the
emperor
Neville Chamberlain
• Worked hard to
rebuild Britain after
the war
• Strongly believed the
world needed a
period of peace to
recover from the
deadliest war in
history
Franklin Roosevelt
• Believed government
has responsibility to take
care of its citizens
• Felt he needed to market
himself to his people as
strong, smart, and caring
Joseph Stalin
• Did not tolerate
dissent
• Used fear, terror and
mistrust to keep
control of his country
• Didn’t trust his own
advisors, refused to
give them access to
certain governmental
information
The Kellogg-Briand Pact
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Made war illegal, more than 60 nations signed
First test of the pact happened when Japan invaded China; League of nations
said they were unhappy with Japan but would not act; Japan withdrew from
the League
Then Italy attacked and conquered Ethiopia; no country wanted to stand up
and enforce the pact