Transcript Chapter 15 Section 2 PowerPoint

World War II
Chapter 15 Section 2
World War II
The Big Idea
Problems in Europe led to World War II,
the deadliest war in history.
Main Ideas
• Economic and political problems troubled Europe in the
years after World War I.
• World War II broke out when Germany invaded Poland.
• Nazi Germany targeted the Jews during the Holocaust.
• Allied victories in Europe and Japan brought the end of
World War II.
Main Idea 1:
Economic and political problems troubled
Europe in the years after World War I.
Economic Problems
• World War I destroyed
factories and farmland
all over Europe.
• Many European countries
borrowed money from
U.S. banks.
• In 1929 a U.S. stock
market crash began the
Great Depression.
• American banks had no
money to loan to Europe,
so European economies
declined.
Political Problems
• Many Europeans blamed
weak government for their
economic troubles. They
wanted strong dictators
to run their countries.
• In Russia Vladimir Lenin
formed the Communist
Soviet Union.
• Benito Mussolini took
power in Italy.
• Adolf Hitler and the Nazi
Party rose to power in
Germany.
Main Idea 2:
World War II broke out when
Germany invaded Poland.
Italian and German aggression led to World War II:
•
1935
Italy invaded Ethiopia. Italy and Germany formed the RomeBerlin Axis.
•
1938
Germany annexed Austria. Britain and France protested the
annexation, but did not try to stop it.
•
1938–1939
Germany conquered Czechoslovakia, over the objections of
many other countries. Italy invaded Albania.
•
1939
Germany invaded Poland, which Great Britain and France had
sworn to protect. In response to the invasion, they declared war
on Germany. This began World War II.
World War II Begins
The Axis Powers
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
The Allies
fought
• France
• Great Britain
• Soviet Union
Early in the war the Axis Powers were successful.
• After defeating Poland, Germany conquered much of Western
Europe, including France.
• The German air force launched attacks against British cities and
other targets, hoping to force the British to surrender.
• Germany invaded Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, while
Italy invaded North Africa.
• Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Main Idea 3:
Nazi Germany targeted the Jews
during the Holocaust.
• The Holocaust was the attempt by the Nazi government during
World War II to eliminate Europe’s Jews.
• The Nazis believed that Germans were a superior race, and
they tried to destroy people they thought were inferior,
especially the Jews. Their efforts began even before World War
II.
• During the war the Nazis used mass executions and death
camps, such as Auschwitz in Poland, to murder millions of Jews.
• Some Jews resisted the Nazis. Some non-Jews, such as Oskar
Schindler of Germany, also tried to save Jews from the Nazis.
Few were able to avoid the Holocaust, though.
• By the end of World War II, some 6 million Jews and millions of
non-Jews had been killed by the Nazis.
Main Idea 4:
Allied victories in Europe and Japan
brought the end of World War II.
End of
the War
Results of
the War
•
The United States joined World War II after the attack
on Pearl Harbor.
•
In 1943, American and British troops forced Italy to
surrender. Soviet troops forced Germany to retreat.
•
The D-Day invasion of 1944 allowed the Allies to
advance into German territory.
•
In May of 1945 Germany surrendered.
•
In August of 1945 the United States dropped atomic
bombs on Japan, which then surrendered.
•
More than 50 million people died.
•
The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from
the war as the world’s strongest countries.
•
The United Nations was formed.