WORLD WAR II TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION

POP QUIZ Who was the leader of the Nazi Party?

Adolf Hitler  Elected in 1933  Led the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZIS) THE RISE OF NAZISM Who to Blame for Germany’s Problems? 1.Germany’s enemies in WWI 2. Communist ideas 3. Jewish people

 Hitler’s government passed many laws discriminating against Jews.  Nazis persecuted Jews.  Denied them their rights as German citizens. TREATMENT OF JEWS

POP QUIZ What law took away the German citizenship rights of the Jewish people? A. The Lindbergh Law B. Nuremberg Law C. Voting Rights Act D. Angela’s Law Google it if you don’t know!

They are at it again…  WWII began when Hitler invaded Poland, France, the Soviet Union, and several other European nations.  The United States eventually joined the war. They sided with Great Britain, Soviet Union, and several others.  The Allies were once again victorious and Germany was defeated. WORLD WAR II

 Hitler tried to kill all the Jews living in Nazi areas.  The Nazis removed millions of people from their homes and sent them to prison camps.  Jews were used as forced labor and died from starvation and abuse.  Nearly 6 million Jews were killed. THE HOLOCAUST THE HOLOCAUST HOW WERE JEWS TREATED?

POP QUIZ What was one form of torture The Nazis used within their concentration camps? Google it if you don’t know!

 When Allied troops marched on Germany they discovered concentration camps throughout Germany (and neighboring countries) filled with Jews.  They also found mass graves where Nazis had dumped bodies. WHAT DID THEY FIND?

 A special court tried and hanged a number of Nazi leaders for their crimes after the war.  Hitler killed himself in the final days of the war before he could be captured. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

 People around the world were horrified by the treatment of Jews and were very supportive.  A new organization is formed…the United Nations.  The UN granted part of Palestine in Southwest Asia to the Jewish people.  This area became the Jewish state of Israel. HELPING THE JEWISH PEOPLE

After the war, the Soviet Union and the United States did not trust each other. A DIVIDED EUROPE UNITED STATES DEMOCRACY GOVERNMENT SOVIET UNION COMMUNISM GOVERNMENT The U.S. was concerned because they believed that the Soviets wanted to spread communism all through Europe.

POP QUIZ From where did the Soviet Union get its roots? Google it if you don’t know!

GERMANY DIVIDED WEST GERMANY Controlled by Great Britain, France, and the United States EAST GERMANY Controlled by the Soviet Union

THE ALLIES ALSO DIVIDED UP THE GERMAN CAPITAL OF BERLIN. DIVIDING UP BERLIN

EUROPE DIVIDED WESTERN EUROPE Remained or became free democracies. West Germany became a free democracy and sided with the U.S. and other Western European nations. EASTERN EUROPE Became Communist East Germany became a Communist nation allied with the USSR.

An Iron Curtain has descended on Europe – Winston Churchill  Iron Curtain came to symbolize the dividing line that separated Western Europe and Eastern Europe. IRON CURTAIN

 After WWI, 2 superpowers emerged in the world. They were the United States and the Soviet Union.  Both had nuclear weapons.  Neither trusted each other.  Great tension existed between the two.  People feared that this tension would one day result in nuclear war.  Cold War – the tension between the US and the Soviet Union that many feared would lead to war.  It divided most of the world into 2 camps.2 camps. 1.Those that supported free democracy. 2.Those that supported the USSR and communism. THE COLD WAR

POP QUIZ Why was the Berlin Wall built? Read on for the answer

 Many east Germans were fleeing to West Germany.  In the 1960’s, the communist leaders built the Berlin Wall.  The wall made it hard for people to escape from communist East Berlin to free West Berlin.  Anyone that tried to scale the wall was shot.  It stood until THE BERLIN WALL

 The U.S. built up their military and made more nuclear weapons.  The Soviets were unable to keep up with the U.S due to their economy.  Soon communist governments fell throughout Europe.  By the early 1990s, the Soviet Union ceased to be a country.  It divided into Russia and several other countries. COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION

 In 1990, Germans voted to reunify Germany.  For the first time since WWI, Germany became one country.  Europe is no longer divided by the “Iron Curtain.” END OF THE COLD WAR