1. Paths to War: An Introduction to WWII

2. Objectives
Analyze the global causes, course, and consequences of World War II and the post-war events
Crash Course: World History #38

3. Causes of WWII World War I and the Treaty of Versailles Appeasement
Rise of Totalitarianism
Militarism and Expansion

4. World War I and the Treaty of Versailles
Causes of WWII
World War I and the Treaty of Versailles
Germany lost land to surrounding countries
War reparations
Germany forced to pay 33 Billion US Dollars!
Germany goes bankrupt, suffers extreme hyper-inflation
Desperate people turn to totalitarian leadership

5. Causes of WWII Appeasement
Giving someone something to make them happy and leave you alone
Hitler demanded land that wasn’t Germany’s and others just gave it to him
Nations were trying to prevent war…. It didn’t work
Appeasement just showed Hitler that he could do whatever he wanted

6. Rise of Totalitarianism
Causes of WWII
Rise of Totalitarianism
Review: What is Totalitarianism????
A system in which the state and its leader have TOTAL control
Individual rights are not viewed as important as the needs of the nations
No right to vote
No free speech
Government controlled economy
Often military or police controlled

7. Communist Dictatorship Military Dictatorship
Totalitarianism
Germany: Hitler
Fascist Dictatorship
Italy: Mussolini
USSR: Stalin
Communist Dictatorship
Japan: Hideki Tojo
Military Dictatorship

8. Militarism and Expansion
Causes of WWII
Militarism and Expansion
Hitler and Germany
Move into the Rhineland
Demand the Sudetenland
Enacts a draft, builds up the army, creates an air force
Mussolini and Italy
Invades Ethiopia
Tojo and Japan
Seizes control of Manchuria
Moves into China
Together, Germany and Japan plan to over take Russia

9. Who Was On Each Side??? Axis Powers Germany Italy Japan Allied Powers
Great Britain
Soviet Union
United States
(Enters in 1941 after the
attacks on Pearl Harbor)
France
(Surrenders to Germany in
1940 after 6 weeks)

10. Axis Powers: Key Players
Adolph Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo
Nazi Germany Fascist Italy Japan 

11. Allied Powers: Key Players
Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill Franklin D Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Joseph Stalin
Great Britain Great Britain United States United States USSR

12. So…. How did this all get started?

13. The German Path to War
WWII had its beginnings in the ideas of Adolf Hitler
Hitler’s Beliefs:
Germans belonged to the Aryan race
The Aryan race was superior to all other races and nationalities
Germany was capable of building a great civilization
Germany needed more land to build this civilization an support a large population
Hitler's Goals:
Germany would find this land to the east, in the Soviet Union
Once the Soviet Union was defeated the Russians would be used as slave
Germany would resettle the land and the Third Reich would dominate Europe

14. The First Steps
WWI and The Treaty of Versailles- (A Cause of World War II)
Limits Germany’s military power… HOW????
Hitler, as chancellor, stressed that Germany wished to revise the provisions of the treaty through peaceful means
Germany “only” wanted it’s rightful place
1933: Germany withdraws from the League of Nations
March 9th, 1935: Hitler announces the creation of a new air force
One week later a military draft was enacted that would expand Germany’s army from 100,000 to 550,000 troops
Ummm.. Why did this violate the Treaty of Versailles???

15. The First Steps
Hitler is convinced the Western states had no intention of using force to maintain the Treaty of Versailles
March 7, 1936: Hitler sends German troops in the Rhineland
Part of Germany, but according to the Treaty of Versailles, it was a demilitarized area, meaning Germany was not permitted to have weapons or defenses there

16. The First Steps
France had the right to use force against any violation of the demilitarized Rhineland
Would not act without British support
Great Britain did not support the use of force against Germany
Viewed the occupation of German territory by German troops as a reasonable action by a dissatisfied power
The Germans were only, “going into their own back garden”
This is a policy known as appeasement– Belief that dissatisfied powers would be content if Europe satisfied reasonable demands
Hoped it would lead to peace and stability in Europe
This policy of appeasement is also a cause of WWII

17. New Alliances Hitler gained a new allies Benito Mussolini
Long dreamed of creating a new Roman Empire in the Mediterranean
October 1935: Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia
France and Britain (the League of Nations) opposed this invasion, but didn’t stop it
Mussolini welcomed Hitler’s support
1936: Germany and Italy both send troops to Spain to help General Francisco Franco in his military revolt against the democratic government in the Spanish Civil War
On other side, France, Britain and U.S. supported Spanish republic, but couldn’t agree on a course of action
Only the Soviet Union sent support to Spain’s republic, so Franco won

18. New Alliances
October 1936: Mussolini and Hitler made an agreement recognizing their common political and economic interests
Called the Rome-Berlin Axis
November 1936: Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact
Promises a common front against communism
Hitler and Franco
Hitler and Mussolini

19. Union with Austria
1937: Germany was once more a “world power”, proclaimed by Hitler
Convinced neither France nor Great Britain would provide opposition to his plan. Why????
1938: Pursues his goal of Anschluss (AN-schluss), or union with Austria, his native land
Threatens Austria with invasion
Forced the Austrian chancellor to put Austrian Nazis in charge of the government
This new government invited German troops to enter Austria and “help” maintain law
March 13, 1938: Hitler annexed Austria to Germany

20. Demands and Appeasement
Hitler’s next objective was the destruction of Czechoslovakia
September 15, 1938: Hitler demands Germany be given the Sudetenland
An area in NW Czechoslovakia that was inhabited largely by Germans
Said he would risk “world war” to get this territory

21. The Munich Conference
British, French, German and Italian representatives attend the Munich Conference
None of them object to Hitler’s plans, but instead meet nearly all of Hitler’s demands
German troops were allowed to occupy the Sudetenland
Czechs, abandoned by their Western allies, stood helplessly
Not at the conference, has no voice, looses about 1/3 of their land
This was the high point of Western appeasement of Hitler
British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, declared the agreement meant “peace for our time.”
Hitler had promised Chamberlain he would make no more demands
Chamberlain, like many others, believed him
Hitler however, becomes more convinced that the Western democracies were weak and would not fight
He was by no means satisfied at Munich

22. How would you feel if the Nazis took over your country????
This lady is saluting with tears as the Nazis enter into Czechoslovakia!!

23. Hitler Invades
March 1939: Hitler invades and takes control of Bohemian and Moravia in Western Czechoslovakia
In the eastern part of the country, Slovakia became a puppet state controlled by Nazi Germany
March 15, 1939: Hitler declares in a speech in Prague that he would be known as the greatest German of them all

24. Britain and France React
Finally, seeing this aggression, the Western states realize that Hitler’s promises are worthless and empty
Hitler demands the Polish port of Danzig
Great Britain offers to protect Poland in the event of war
Great Britain and France also realize that the Soviet Union is powerful enough to help contain Nazi aggression and they begin political and military negotiations with Joseph Stalin
Review: Britain and France sent troops to fight against communism during the Russian Civil War, so, they weren’t “close” to the Soviet Union

25. Hitler and the Soviets
Hitler pressed on in the belief that the West would not fight over Poland
But, he feared the West and the Soviet Union might make an alliance
This would mean a two-front war for Germany
August 23, 1939: Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union promise not to attack one another
Hitler offered Stalin control of eastern Poland and the Baltic States
Hitler didn’t care about promises, he often broke them and planned to fight the Soviets anyway
This was an attempt to try and stop a two-front war, although the Soviets join the side of the Allies after Hitler’s attacks
The World is shocked when Hitler announces the nonaggression pact
With this pact, Hitler now feels he has the freedom to invade Poland without fear of Soviet aggression

26. WWII Begins September 1, 1939: Hitler invades Poland
September 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany

27. The Japanese Path to War
September 1931: Japanese soldiers had seized Manchuria
Had natural resources Japan needed
Worldwide protests
The League of Nations condemns, but refuses to use force (as does the US)
Japan withdraws from the League and over the next few years strengthens its hold on Manchuria and begins to expand into North China

28. War with China China already at war with Chinese Communists
Didn’t have the resources to also fight Japan
Chiang Kai-Shek, leader (Nationalist…not Comm.)
Allowed Japan in part of Northern China, an attempt to appease Japan
Japan didn’t stop there
December 1936: Chiang ended his military efforts against the Communists and forms a new united front against the Japanese
July 1937: Chinese and Japanese forces clashed south of Beijing and hostilities spread.
 1937: Japan took capital of Nanking (Beijing)
Up to 300,000 Chinese massacred-“Rape of Nanking”
All out war between Japan and China

29. The New Asian Order Japan planed to seize Soviet Siberia
Needed its rich resources
During the late 1930s Japan worked with Nazi Germany
Japan assumed that the two countries would ultimately launch a joint attack on the Soviet Union and divide Soviet resources between them
The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact forced Japan to rethink their goals
Japan couldn’t defeat the Soviet Union on their own; not enough resources
Became interested in the resources of Southeast Asia
Could supply Japan’s military
This move risked war with European colonial powers and the US

30. The New Asian Order
Summer 1940: Ignoring the risk, Japan invades French Indochina
Wants its resources
The US objected
Warned Japan it would apply economic sanctions– restrictions intended to enforce international law– unless Japan withdrew
These sanctions would cut off the oil and scrap iron Japan was getting from the US
Japan viewed this as a threat to its long-term objectives
Japan is now caught in a dilemma
To get resources from SE Asia, it would have to give up its resources from the US

31. The New Asian Order
Given this dilemma, Japan makes the decision to launch a surprise attack on the US as well as European colonies in SE Asia
Japan wanted to prevent the U.S. from joining the war and stopping Japanese expansion
Thought it would destroy U.S. capability to fight the sea war
Launches an attack at the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, HI on December 7th 1941