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World War II. Mr. Owen AP World Spring 2012. Road to War in Asia. Japanese aggression in China 1937: major attack on the Chinese heartland started WWII in Asia 1940–1941: Japan launched conquest of European colonies (Indochina, Malaya , Burma , Indonesia , and the Philippines )
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World War II Mr. Owen AP World Spring 2012
Road to War in Asia • Japanese aggression in China • 1937: major attack on the Chinese heartland started WWII in Asia • 1940–1941: Japan launched conquest of European colonies (Indochina, Malaya , Burma , Indonesia , and the Philippines ) • July 1941: U.S. imposes oil embargo on Japan • Dec 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor
The Road to War in Europe • Britain , France , and the USSR were unwilling to confront German aggression • Appeasement • War was perhaps actually desired by the Nazi leadership • Germany quickly gained control of most of Europe • Germany ’s new tactic of blitzkrieg was initially very successful
World War II: The Outcomes of Global Conflict • An estimated 60 million people died in WWII • USSR suffered more than 40 percent of the total number of deaths • China also suffered massive attacks on civilians • in many villages, every person and animal was killed • the Rape of Nanjing (1937–1938): 200,000–300,000 • Chinese civilians were killed; • countless women were raped • Indiscriminate Bombing
World War II: The Outcomes of Global Conflict • The Holocaust: 6 million Jews were killed in genocide • WWII left Europe impoverished • its industrial infrastructure in ruins, • millions of people homeless or displaced • Weakened Europe could not hold onto its Asian and African colonies • WWII consolidated and expanded the communist world
World War II: The Outcomes of Global Conflict • WWII consolidated and expanded the communist world • Growing internationalism • Creation of the United Nations (1945) • The new dominance of the United States as a global superpower
The Recovery of Europe • Europe recovered in the second half of the twentieth century. • How Europe recovered: • Industrial societies are very resilient • The major states of Western Europe integrated their recovering economies • An extension of European civilization existed: the United States • The United States took the initiative to rebuild Europe : • The Marshall Plan • Japan underwent a parallel recovery process.