World War II

1. World War II The Deadliest Conflict in Human History

2. Key Players

3. Long-term causes • Treaty of Versailles (1919)* • League of Nations (1920)* • Rise of Dictatorships • Mussolini takes over Italy (1922) • Hitler gains complete power in Germany, wants to unite all German-speaking people and create a “Master Race” (1933) • Hideki Tojo takes control of Japan, desires vast colonial empire in the Pacific – even though the U.S. has warned them not to expand (1941)

4. appeasement • Appeasement – Britain and France wanted to avoid war so they continually give in to Hitler’s demands • Britain – realized the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh towards Germany and was sympathetic • France – would not do anything without Britain • U.S. – dealing with the Great Depression and trying to return to its isolationist stance • Consequence: Hitler becomes confident that the Allies were weak and would not fight – no matter what he does

5. Hitler on the move • Germany needs lebensraum (“living space”) to build its civilization of the “Master Race” • 1936 – reoccupies the demilitarized Rhineland • 1938 – annexes Austria • 1938 – Munich Pact gives Germany control of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia • *High point of Western appeasement: Pact signed by Britain and France • Chamberlain (Britain): “The agreement establishes peace for our time.” • 1939 – signs a nonaggression pact with USSR (and agree to divide Poland between the two countries) • 1939 – invasion of Poland • Official beginning of WWII: September 1, 1939 • Blitzkrieg (“lightning war”)

7. European theater

8. Pacific theater

9. 1940 axis advances • May-June 1940 – Battle of France • 3/5 of France is conquered by the Axis • September 1940 – May 1941 – The Blitz • German bombing of the United Kingdom • Bombing every night for 57 days straight • 1 million houses destroyed • 40,000 civilians killed

10. 1941war becomes global • June 1941 – Germany breaks pact with USSR and invades Soviet Union • (Hitler convinced that the only reason Britain was remaining in the war was because they were hoping for Soviet support.) • December 7, 1941 – Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor • US enters WWII • Japanese simultaneously attacked across the Pacific and creates the Greater East-Asia Co-prosperity Sphere (ruled by Japan)

12. 1942Axis advance stopped • Japan loses series of battles in the Pacific • Battle of Midway (June 1942) • (DE Video) • Germany halted in the Soviet Union • Did not learn lesson from Napoleon – invading Russia is never a good idea! • No winter uniforms • Supply line stretched thousands of miles • Battle of Stalingrad • Germans surrounded and cut off in frigid winter conditions – the best of the German troops (German Sixth Army) forced to surrender

13. 1943axis retreats • Allies agree to fight until the Axis Powers surrender unconditionally • May 1943 – Axis troops surrender in North Africa • July 1943 – Soviet counteroffensive into eastern Europe • September 1943 – Allied invasion of Italy • Mussolini removed from office

14. 1944Allies close in • June 6, 1944 – D-Day – Allied invasion of France • 2 million men and 500,000 vehicles landed in France and pushed inland • August 1944 – Allies liberate Paris • December 1944 – January 1945 – Allied victory at the Battle of the Bulge

15. 1945axis collapses • March 1945 – Allies cross the Rhine River into Germany and link up with the Soviets • April 28, 1945 – Mussolini shot by resistance fighters • April 30, 1945 – Hitler commits suicide • May 7, 1945 – Germany surrenders • Japanese continue to fight in the Pacific • August 1945 – U.S. drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki • September 1945 – Japan surrenders

16. Wwii deaths

17. Major consequences of the war • Deadliest conflict in human history • Cost of war caused the decline of European power – decolonization in Asia and Africa • United Nations (UN) created to replace the League and prevent a future conflict • U.S. and Soviet Union emerge as the two superpowers – leading to the Cold War

22. WWII Propaganda