Transcript WWII
WWII Leading to War • In 1932 the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly referred to in English as the Nazi Party, becomes the majority party in the German Parliament • Adolf Hitler became the outspoken charismatic public speaker and eventually leader of the Nazi Party • In January of 1933 after months of negotiations, the president of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg appoints Hitler Chancellor of Germany • On August 2, 1934 Paul von Hindenburg dies and Hitler becomes president and his official title is now “Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor” • Fuehrer: Nazi Leader Causes of the War • Germany invades Poland and conquers the western half of Poland in 1939 • France and Britain had promised to protect Poland if Germany ever invaded and on September 3rd 1939 the Prime Minister of Britain declared war on Germany The Two Sides Axis Powers Allies Italy Japan Germany India China Britain France Canada Australia New Zealand The Soviet Union The United States of America Early War • Germans used Blitzkrieg to invade and conquer other countries • Blitzkrieg is a concentration of power on a specific location (usually the capital) to get a country to surrender • During the war the Germans successfully invaded and conquered the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, and Western Poland. Stalin • Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during WWII • Stalin was obsessed with turning the Soviet Union from a peasant based society into an industrial and military powerhouse • Part of his plan included the forced collectivization of farms in which the government would take control of agriculture • Many farmers who did not agree to Stalin’s plans where shot or exiled • The forced collectivization led to widespread famine across the USSR and millions died Holocaust • Between 5 and 6 million Jews were killed during the Second World War and about half of those were killed in concentration camps • There were many different concentration camps ranging in a large variety of purposes. • Types of camps included work camps, death camps, detention camps, and even small transit camps • There were a total of six death camps all of which were located in Poland Events • The United States Joined World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 • German territory eventually became so large that they did not have enough people to hold the eastern and western borders • June 6, 1944 D-Day: 156,000 British, Canadian and American forces land on a 50 mile stretch of beach in France’s Normandy region and are able to liberate Northern France • In August of 1945 the allies, led by the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan End of the War • Over 50 million people died in World War II • World War II ended on September 2, 1945 on (VJ day) after Japan surrendered almost 4 months after May 8, 1945 (VE day) when Germany surrendered.