1. World War II

2. 1. Europe and Asia Post-WWI
Economic depression and social problems
Deep feelings of nationalism
Strong desire to expand & gain territory
Rise of dictators: democratic govt fails & people turn to authoritarians to fix the problems
The Allies blamed Germany for the war & punished them harshly  anger and resentment on all sides
Germany lost their colonies & territories
Soviets lost parts of Russia

3. A. Joseph Stalin: Man of Steel
Goal: worldwide spread of communism
Great Purge: million executed or banished to Siberia
Totalitarian: total control over citizens

4. B. Benito Mussolini Fascism: strong central govt Nationalist/patriotic
Invades Ethiopia, 1935
Ethiopians had defeated Italians in 1896, so Mussolini wanted revenge
League of Nations issues sanctions – no real consequences

5. C. Adolf Hitler
Nazism: extreme racism, expansionism and nationalism, Hitler's book Mein Kampf
Aryans: the master race that needs to be served by inferior races

6. D. Emperor Hirohito and P. M. Tojo
Japan needs more living space
Japan attacks & conquers Manchuria in 1931 (wants their natural resources)
League of Nations issues sanctions against Japan  Japan quits
Later invades Eastern China in 1937

7. Japanese Acquisitions, 1937

8. E. Appeasement & Neutrality
France is concerned but needs Great Britain to act
Britain wants no part of another war
US passes Neutrality Acts, 1935
Outlawed weapon sales to nations at war
Outlawed weapon sales to nations in civil war
Prohibited Americans from traveling on warring nations’ ships
GOAL: avoid involvement in European war

9. 2. Road to War in Europe
Rome-Berlin Axis Pact, treaty of friendship between Italy and Germany, later joined by Japan
Hitler begins to build up military (violation of Treaty of Versailles)

10. A. Germany’s Invasions & Acts of Aggression
Hitler and Nazis:
Wanted to unite all German-speaking peoples
Believed in a superior race (Aryans)
The Germans needed more “living space”
Felt Eastern European Slavs were inferior: “nature is cruel, so we may be cruel, too… I have a right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin.”
1. March 12, 1938 – German Troops enter Austria (“Anschluss”)

11. (Sound of Music)
Captain von Trapp, a decorated World War I Captain of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, hires Maria to be the governess of his children in Salzburg, Austria on the eve of World War II. As you know, they fall in love and marry.
The family is eventually forced to flee the country (to Switzerland) because Captain von Trapp refuses to join Hitler’s navy. The movie closes after the family sings “Edelweiss,” a sort of national anthem of loyalty to Austria.

12. Munich Conference: 1938
Germany wanted Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia with German language speakers)
Munich Conference- Britain, France, Germany and Italy meet to try to prevent war, but Germany refuses to back down.
2. Germany invades Czechoslovakia in October 1939

14. Invasion of Poland Nazi-Soviet Pact, August 23, 1939
3. Nazis invade Poland, Sept. 1, 1939
Germany takes western land, Stalin takes eastern land
France & Britain declare war on Germany: Sept. 3, 1939

15. B. Blitzkrieg “Lightning War”: aerial bombings  tanks  ground troops
Germany attacks Norway & Denmark in April 1940
Germany conquers Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg in May 1940

16. German Advance on France
French & British troops stationed at Maginot Line (border of France and Germany)
British troops retreat, caught btwn English Channel & Nazis
“Miracle of Dunkirk”  Emergency evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, in because the British, French and Belgian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk. 300,000 troops live!

17. France Surrenders Italy attacked France from South
Germans headed toward Paris
French surrender June 22, 1940
Some French officers & leaders escape to England – led by Charles de Gaulle
Resistance begins in France

18. France falls June 17, 1940 -British/ French retreat at Dunkirk

19. Battle of Britain, Late Summer 1940
Neville Chamberlain is Prime Minister, refuses to surrender to Germans
Luftwaffe: German Air Force
Same unit that would bomb Guernica in Spain
RAF: Royal Air Force
2 months of heavy bombing…people hid in the subways
British able to win because of radar
15,000 Londoners killed

22. St. Paul’s Cathedral

23. British propaganda to raise morale

24. Over 500,000 children were evacuated from British cities to the countryside

27. War Continues
Operation Barbarossa, June 1941: Germany attempts to conquer USSR
Three million German troops advanced
2.5 million Russian soldiers died (unprepared, Great Purge)
Germany pushed almost to Moscow and Leningrad
Russian troops destroyed land on the way

28. Siege of Leningrad September 1941
German troops stopped by “General Winter”
Russians in Leningrad suffered
1 million+ died from starvation
Great Britain and Russia agree to work together

29. 1941-1942 Germany & Axis Powers Allies

30. 3. Holocaust Nuremburg Laws (1935) Kristallnacht (1938)
anti-Semitism as a form of scientific racism
deprived Jews of their German citizenship
prohibited marriage between Jews and other Germans
legal embodiment of an already existing Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses
prevented "Jews" from participating in German civic life
Kristallnacht (1938)
“Night of Broken Glass”
series of coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria, carried out by SA stormtroopers and civilians
left the streets covered with broken glass from the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues
at least 91 Jews were killed in the attacks, and a further 30,000 arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps

31. Targets and the Final Solution
Germany encouraged Jews to move to other countries
Nazis set up concentration/ labor camps
Death camps were created in 1941
6,000 could be killed daily
Who else was targeted?
Gypsies, communists, homosexuals, Catholics, handicapped, etc…
The “Final Solution” – Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the most deadly phase of the Holocaust.
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32. Universe of Obligation
The circle of individuals and groups toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for amends. (Helen Fein, Holocaust and Human Behavior)
“I love my daughters more than my nieces, I love my nieces more than my cousins, my cousins more than my neighbors. But that doesn’t mean we detest our neighbors. The fact of being Francophile doesn’t require being xenophobic (afraid of foreigners). The fact that I prefer the French does not mean that I detest the English.”
A hierarchy of caring: who are we obligated to? What happens if we expand this hierarchy out to include people like us in the form of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, political beliefs, professions, clubs, schools, etc.?

33. All People
All People
All People
All People

34. 4. Axis Powers Sign treaty in September 1940: Germany – Hitler
Italy – Mussolini
Japan – Emperor Hirohito

35. 5. Neutrality in Action
1939: Cash-And-Carry - nations can buy American weapons and supplies if they pay cash and carry the goods home in their own ships
1940: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is 1st President to be elected for the 3rd time. Promises to keep the U.S. out of the war.

36. Lend-Lease Plan (1941) Britain out of $ to buy U.S. weapons
Congress allows the U.S. to lend or lease arms to “any country whose defense was vital to the U.S.”
Who did this apply to?
Great Britain and USSR (had been invaded by Germany in 1941)

37. We “lent” Great Britain war planes and gunpowder

38. U.S. Plans for War
Sept. 1941: Atlantic Charter– FDR and Churchill secretly meet to set goals for war
Britain and the U.S. declare why they are opposed to the Axis Powers
Sept 1941: German “wolf packs” begin sinking U.S. cargo ships

39. Attack on Pearl Harbor Nov 1941 – Japan sends “peace envoy” to D.C.
In late Nov, FDR sends “war warning” to Hawaii, Guam, and Philippines
Dec 6, 1941 – FDR intercepts coded message to Japanese peace envoy telling them to reject U.S. proposals
Dec 7, 1941 – Japanese navy launches a surprise attack on American navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii– which officially brings the US into World War II. Why?
Japan wants an empire and the U.S., Great Britain and French colonies are in their way
in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States
Japan needs U.S. oil for fuel

40. Attack on Pearl Harbor
FDR: Pearl Harbor Address -

41. Pearl Harbor Attack 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed
2,402 Americans were killed
1,282 Americans were wounded
8 U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with 4 being sunk
Several other ships were destroyed or damaged

42. Progression of War US declares war on Japan December 8
Germany and Italy declare war on US December 11

43. 6. Allied Powers– Leaders
Great Britain – Winston Churchill
France – Charles de Gaulle
United States – FDR
USSR - Stalin

44. 7. War for Europe and North Africa
U.S. and Great Britain Join Forces
First, defeat Germany (unconditional surrender- nothing less)
Then, focus on the Pacific

46. Why was Switzerland Neutral?
Switzerland was never attacked. It was able to remain independent through a combination of military deterrence, economic concessions to Germany, and good fortune as larger events during the war delayed an invasion.
Attempts by Switzerland's small Nazi party to affect an Anschluss with Germany failed miserably, largely as a result of Switzerland's multicultural heritage, strong sense of national identity, and long tradition of direct democracy and civil liberties.
The Swiss military strategy was changed from one of static defense at the borders, to a strategy of organized long-term attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps. The idea was to cause huge losses to German forces and render the cost of invading too high.
Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides in the conflict and often mediated communications between the Axis and Allied powers by serving as a protecting power.

47. Battle of Atlantic
German u-boats/Luftwaffe vs. British and Canadian navy/air force
American navy aided the Allies from onward

48. Eastern Front (USSR) 1942-1943- Battle of Stalingrad
Germany surrenders (300,000 Germans die)
Soviets lose 1.25 million soldiers and civilians
2 months of hand-to-hand street fighting

50. North Africa- “Operation Torch”
Allies (led by Eisenhower) chase German General Rommel (The Desert Fox)
Germany surrenders May, 1943

51. Italy
Allies capture Sicily in summer 1943 and invade Italian towns along the coast – Axis defeated

52. Italy and Mussolini’s Death
Mussolini executed (by firing squad) by Italians in April, 1945
Mussolini and other fascist leaders were hung upside down and beaten by a crowd of Italians
Italy joins the Allies

53. Europe Liberated: Normandy
Battle of Normandy– code name “Operation Overlord”
Allied powers open second front in Europe
Plan to invade German-occupied France
General Dwight D. Eisenhower – supreme commander
June 6, 1944: paratroopers drop in France at midnight
176,000 Allied troops landed (via England)
Approx Allied troops died
80,000 Germans killed
19,000 Normandy civilians killed

54. Europe Liberated: D-Day
The Normandy landings, codenamed “Operation Neptune:, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy (NW France), in Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944.
Goal: After the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, the British forces planned a return to France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in charge of the invasion of Germany, and the goal of the invasion was to take over the beach so the British and American forces could bring supplies and equipment.

55. Battle of the Bulge Dec. 1944 outside the town of Bastogne, Germany
Allies move closer to Germany, Germany retreats then stops for a surprise attack
Lasted a month in the winter: Hitler’s last stand

58. Bastogne

59. Liberation of the Death Camps
Allied troops pushed into Germany
Discovered concentration camps

60. Hitler’s Death
April 30, 1945 – Hitler writes final letter blaming the Jews
He and new wife Eva Braun commit suicide in Berlin bunker

61. Yalta Conference: Feb. 1945 Met at Yalta, Russia after V-E Day
The Big Three: Churchill, Stalin, FDR
Purpose was to make post-WWII plans for Europe (still fighting in Pacific)
How to re-establish war-torn nations
How to divide other nations
Stalin agreed to declare war on Japan after Germany’s defeat (US needed help!)
Occupation of Germany

62. Occupation of Germany Demilitarized Germany
Germany divided into 4 zones: French, British, American and Soviets
Berlin Wall [built in 1961 by USSR Communists]

63. V-E Day: Victory in Europe
May 8, 1945 – Unconditional surrender of the Nazi Forces and the end of Hitler’s Third Reich.

64. Potsdam Conference – July 1945
In the five months since the Yalta Conference, a number of changes had taken place which would greatly affect the relationships between the leaders.
The Soviet Union was occupying Central and Eastern Europe (which had been part of Germany’s Empire)
Britain had a new Prime Minister – Clement Atlee
America had a new President, and the war was ending – Harry Truman, who was much more suspicious of Stalin and the Soviet Union’s aggressive expansion than FDR had been.
The US had tested an atomic bomb (but had not dropped one on Japan yet).

65. Potsdam Conference – July 1945
Potsdam Agreement: the Allied (UK, US, USSR) plan of tripartite military occupation and reconstruction of Germany and the entire European Theatre of War territory. It also included Germany's demilitarization, reparations and the prosecution of war criminals.
Potsdam Declaration: Churchill, Truman, and Chiang Kai-shek (China) outlined the terms of surrender for Japan during World War II in Asia.

66. Nuremburg Trials
Held by the Allied Powers in Nuremberg, Germany to try Nazis for “crimes against humanity”
The indictments were for:
Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace
Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace
War crimes
Crimes against humanity
142 out of the 177 Nazis tried were convicted
Many received death sentences