1. Nationalism and Imperialism in Europe and Asia Causes of WWII
Road to War: WWII
Nationalism and Imperialism in Europe and Asia
Causes of WWII

2. How did we get to this point?

3. CAUSES OF WWII

4. 1. Terms of Treaty of Versailles
Reparation payments crippled Germany
Bitterness and anger lead to a desire for revenge – National Socialism
Strict terms made German compliance difficult. (War Guilt Clause, restricted military.
Creation of new countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland meant that many Germans were left living as minorities in new countries - ex. Sudetenland

5. 2. Great Depression
Massive unemployment, many people could not support their families
Many supported dictators like Hitler and Mussolini because they promised opportunity
Poverty + Unemployment = Instability  extremist governments emerge

6. German Hyperinflation

7. 3. Rise of Totalitarianism Dictators
Totalitarian dictators control all aspect of society – education, military, politics, economy, art, etc.
Advances in technology allowed dictators to be able to control their populations more fully.
Allowed no opposition, used secret police to terrorize the population.

8. Totalitarian Dictators
Mussolini - Italy
Gen. Franco - Spain

9. Hideki Tojo – Japan (not really a dictator)
More dictators…
Hideki Tojo – Japan (not really a dictator)
Josef Stalin - USSR

10. And finally, Hitler’s version of fascism ~ Nazism

11. Totalitarian Alliances
Japan joins forces with both Hitler and Mussolini during World War Two
1936 – Rome-Berlin Axis
1939 – Nazi-Soviet Pact

12. 4. Imperialism
Imperialism: Empire building in order to gain access to resources, land and financial wealth.
Imperialism was visible in the lead-up to WWII:
1. Japan – Asia (Korea, China)
2. Italy – Invasion of Abyssinia
3. Germany – Poland

13. 'Asia for Asians'
Japan tried to justify their imperialistic plans to take over Asia by claiming that they were 'saving' other countries from being taken over by the United States

14. The Rape of Nanking
In 1937, Japan attempted to take over Nanking, another region of China
The Nanking Massacre is considered to be one of the worst war crimes of the 20th century
The casualty estimates exceed 300,000 while historians estimate that 80,000 women were raped, including infants and the elderly.

15. Lebensraum – Living Space
Hitler was voted into power in 1933, on a political platform that was extremely nationalistic, anti- democratic, anti-semitic (hatred of Jews), and a desire to restore Germany’s military might
Hitler also believed in the superiority of the Aryan race – blond, blue-eyed, athletic (irony!)
He also believed that the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe/Russia were inferior, and that Eastern Europe should be taken over so that the Germans could have more “living space”
This explains why he invaded Czechoslovakia/Poland first

16. Hitler Youth & the Aryan Race

17. Life in Nazi Germany
Hitler was able to pass the Enabling Act which gave him absolute authority to pass any law he chose.
Night of the Long Knives – Hitler ordered the murder of over 1000 people over the course of one weekend. These were all political opponents or potential threats
Nuremburg Laws – Hitler enacted discriminatory laws against Jews including the wearing of the Star of David, loss of property and careers, loss of citizenship, and the creation of ghettos where Jews were forced to live

18. Life in Nazi Germany
4. Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass: Nazis encouraged citizens to attack and vandalize Jewish shops and property. People were beaten in public, and imprisoned
5. The Gestapo (German secret police) and the SS became all-powerful. Children were also encouraged to join Hitler Youth
6. All trust in society was lost, children were encouraged to spy and report their parents for crimes, and anyone could be imprisoned without reason

19. 5. Appeasement – Failure of the League of Nations
Hitler watched as the League of Nations did nothing to stop Japan in Manchuria, or Italy in Abyssinia
From these experiences, he concluded that in the face of aggression, Britain and France would choose appeasement at all costs in order to avoid war
As a result, once he had achieved full power as Fuhrer in Germany, he set about expanding his empire and preparing for war.

20. Hitler’s Steps to War… 1. Remilitarization of the Rhineland
2. Anschluss - Union of Germany and Austria
3. Annexation (taking over) of the Sudetenland (border region of Czechoslovakia) – Munich Pact
“I have secured peace for all time” - Chamberlain
4. Annexation of Czechoslovakia – Everyone now knew that appeasement as a policy had been a failure
5. Nazi-Soviet Pact – Alliance with Stalin
Invasion of Poland – Start of WWII