World War II: Causes and Expansion

1. Chapter 8 World War II

2. 1. Causes of the War • Spanish Civil War - During the 1930s, Spain experienced much political unrest - In 1936,Francisco Franco, a General in the Spanish Army, led a revolt against the government -Franco and his supporters called for the creation of a Fascist state in Spain -Mussolini and Hitler formed an alliance (Rome-Berlin Axis) that sent supplies and troops to aid Franco -The Soviet Union sent weapons and supplies to aid the Spanish government -The Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 with a victory by Franco, which turned Spain into a Fascist Dictatorship

4. B. German Expansion -In March 1935, Hitler decided to ignore the Versailles Treaty and started to build up the German military -Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland area, which was a neutral military free zone set up after WWI between France and Germany -After not receiving any opposition from France, Hitler took the area over and its reserves of coal and iron -In 1938, Hitler increased Germany’s size and power by annexing Austria, another action that was prohibited by Treaty of Versailles -Hitler, wanting to unite all former WWI German lands, demanded Czechoslovakia give him Western lands called the Sudetenland. -The Czechs refused and asked France for help

6. C. Italian Aggression -In October 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, which is in Eastern Africa -The Ethiopian Emperor asked the League of Nations to help them against the Italian takeover -The League of Nation only proposed a European boycott of German goods, proving how ineffective and weak the League was -In May 1936, Italy annexed Ethiopia

8. D. Preparing for War -France and Great Britain, fearing another war, proposed a meeting with Germany and Italy as a compromise to Germany’s aggressive policies -In Sept 1938, French and British leaders met with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, Germany to discuss matters -Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain, proposed a policy of appeasement in order to maintain peace by giving into the demands of Germany -At the meeting, Germany was given the Sudetenland area in exchange for an end to any further Nazi aggression in Europe

10. 2. Start of the War -In March 1939, Hitler went against the Munich Conference and took over the rest of Czech -In 1939, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union (pledged not to attack each other) in dealing with Eastern Europe -On Sept 1, 1939, German forces attacked Poland from the western side -When, Hitler refused to stop his attack, France and Britain declared war on Germany -Meanwhile, Soviet Union attacked Poland from the Eastern Side -In less than one month, Germany and the Soviet Union took over Poland divided it between them

12. A. Takeover of France - Using a new style of warfare strategy called Blitzkrieg (lightning war) by using a combination of planes, tanks, artillery, and mechanized infantry in quick fashion, Germany began to takeover Europe -Germany invaded Belgium to mobilize their troops along the French border. -While Germany invaded Northern France, Italy invaded southern France. -On June 22, 1940 France surrendered. In the peace agreement, Germany occupied and governed Northern France directly. -In Southern France Germany set up a puppet regime known as Vichy France, due to their capital in the city of Vichy.

14. B. Stalin Fears Germany -Because Stalin feared that Hitler would eventually break the Nazi-Soviet Pact and attack the Soviet Union, Stalin moved to strengthen his defenses. -Stalin attacked and took over the small countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and took over some territories of Finland.

16. C. Battle of Britain After the surrender of France, Great Britain stood alone against Germany. Neville Chamberlain resigned due to the failure of his appeasement policy. The new prime minister became Winston Churchill. The British rallied around Churchill’s determination, courage and inspirational speeches. Hitler’s goal was to invade and take over the island nation of Great Britain. Hitler planned to weaken the British forces by having German planes bomb British cities and defense installations.

17. Winston Churchill

18. C. Battle of Britain Pg.2 This punishing bombardment lasted nearly three months. These brutal attacks by Germany, only strengthened British morale rather than destroying it. Britain’s royal air force attacked German planes. British pilots were aided by radar, a recent British invention. By late 1940, Hitler cancelled plans for an invasion of Britain, although the bombing continued off and on for several years.

20. D. Further Attacks After gaining control of most of western Europe, the Axis leaders turned their attention to the Balkans (eastern Europe) and north Africa. The Italians attacked the British in north Africa by invading Egypt. Fighting in north Africa continued for many years. Also, Hitler turned against Stalin and the Nazi-Soviet Pact and attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. Hitler needed the Soviet’s rich farmland and oil fields to supply his troops and military equipment.

22. D. Further Attacks Pg.2 Around 3 million German soldiers invaded the Soviet Union. The Soviets resisted but were forced to retreat. As the Soviets retreated, they destroyed the farm equipment and burned crops. This “Scorched Earth” policy kept much needed supplies out of enemy hands. However, the Soviet winter and a strengthening defense kept the Germans from advancing further. The German siege of Leningrad, a Soviet city, lasted for two years.

24. E. Sides of The War The alliance between Italy and Germany became known as the Axis Powers. Spain, though technically neutral, was pro-axis due to their fascist government led by Franco. Spain allowed Germany to use their ports. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Western Poland also joined the axis powers. The Nazi’s exploited the occupied areas of France, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Germany imposed heavy taxes in these areas and sent men and women as slave labor to work in German factories. Great Britain and the Soviet Union were the main Allied Forces. In March 1941, the United States passed the Lend-Lease Act that furnished military supplies to Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

25. 3. War In The Pacific A. Japanese Expansion In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale war against China. In December of 1937, Japan had taken over Nanking, the former capital of the Republic of China. During this take over the Japanese military murdered hundreds of thousands unarmed Chinese soldiers and civilians. This mass act of genocide is referred to as the “Rape of Nanking” as well as the “Nanking Massacre”. The Chinese resisted but by 1938, Japan controlled northern and central China.

27. 3. War In The Pacific Pg.2 Japan announced the creation of a “New Order in East Asia”. When World War II broke out, Japan signed an alliance with the Axis powers creating the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. Japan took advantage of their alliance with the axis powers and took control of many territories that were controlled by Western powers but were defeated by the Axis Powers.

29. B. U.S Involvement The United States took an aggressive stance against Japanese expansionism. When Japan attacked China, the U.S cancelled their commercial treaties with Japan. The U.S stopped exporting oil and scrap metal to Japan. The U.S moved their fleet from the West Coast of the United States to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to show its military readiness against Japan.

31. B. U.S Involvement Pg.2 Even after the U.S relocated their fleet, Japan began pushing farther into Southeast Asia. General Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan, wanted to negotiate new treaties with the U.S but negotiations ended when Japan insisted on occupying China. On December 7, 1941, In the early morning, Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor for nearly two hours. In this attack the Japanese sank 8 American battleships, 188 planes, and killed over 2,500 Americans. The following day the U.S declared war on Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.

33. 3. Japanese Victories The Japanese followed their successful attack on Pearl Harbor with numerous assaults across the Pacific. Within months Japan had captured Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Great Britain was too involved with the war in Europe to spare resources while France was defeated early and could not help defend their territories. After the Philippines were lost, the U.S set up a headquarters in Australia to manage the war in the Pacific. Japan was able to gain resources through their conquests which helped supply their troops.

34. 4. Turning Points In The War After months of axis triumphs, two allied victories offered hope. The first took place in North Africa when the allies were able to force Germans back to Tunisia and ultimately forcing them to surrender in May 1943. The second took place on the Russian front. In the fall of 1942, Hitler launched a massive attack on the city of Stalingrad, In southern part of the Soviet Union. After a fierce two month battle, Soviet forces won and forced the Germans out of the Soviet territory.

35. Stalingrad

36. 5. Allied Offensives Two events in Europe changed the face of World War II. The first event was the invasion of Italy. After a month of fighting allied troops took control of Sicily and moved into mainland Italy. During this time Mussolini was forced out of power, there were still thousands of German troops in Italy. Eventually allied forces pushed northward and in June 1944, they took control of Rome. By early 1945, members of the Italian resistance captured Mussolini and killed him.

38. 5. Allied Offensives Pg.2 The second event was the allied landing in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. Which became known as D-Day, 120,000 allied troops crossed the English channel into France. Another 800,000 allied troops joined the fight for control of France. Meanwhile, other allied forces moved into southern France pushing northward. On August 25, 1944, allied troops marched into Paris.

40. 6. March Into Germany After the invasion of Normandy, the allied had begun heavy bombings of all major cities in Germany. By April 1945, allied forces began pushing eastward into Germany, while Soviet forces began pushing westward. As allied troops approached Berlin and realizing that defeat was near, Hitler committed suicide in an underground bunker. A week later, Germany surrendered. World War II in Europe was over.

41. 7. The End of The War In The Pacific The Americans began using a military campaign known as Island Hopping to defeat the Japanese forces in the Pacific. The U.S would attack some Japanese-held islands but would bypass others. The captured islands would serve as stepping-stones to their next objectives. The bypassed islands would have their supply lines cut off and would eventually be defeated easily. On the Asian mainland, the allied forces supported local nationalist forces and began overthrowing Japanese forces. In April 1945, American forces landed on Okinawa, a small Japanese island about 1000 miles away from Tokyo. American casualties were especially heavy due to Kamikaze attacks. Japanese suicide missions in which they crashed planes loaded with explosives into American ships.

43. 8. Defeat of Japan After the allied forces took on Okinawa, allied bombers began bombing mainland Japan causing heavy damage to major cities. Still, the Japanese would not give up. In the U.S, president Franklin Roosevelt died and vice-president Harry Truman succeeded him. Truman’s military advisers warned him that the only way to make Japan surrender was to invade mainland Japan. The problem was that many more troops would be killed in the invasion. Instead president Truman decided to use the newly invented Atomic Bomb.

45. 8. Defeat of Japan Pg.2 On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. The blast leveled 42 square miles of the city and killed 80,000 people instantly. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing at least 40,000 people instantly. Thousands died afterward due to radiation sickness and other injuries. On August 14, Japan surrendered.