1. 20TH CENTURY GLOBAL CONFLICT

2. Between the Wars
World War I saw the end of the older, land-based empires
Ottoman
Russia
Qing
Due to internal and external factors
political and social discontent
technological and economic stagnation
military defeats

3. Economic Upheaval Europe was slow to recover from war
Germany suffered economic setbacks due to the conditions of the treaty
US Great Depression spread to Europe and Asia to become global depression
Government began to take a more active role in economy with programs such as the New Deal and fascist corporatism
The Soviet Union attempted economic reform through the Five Year Plans

5. New Ideologies
Governments used ideologies to mobilize all of their resources at home and in the colonies
fascism
nationalism
communism
Strategies included political speeches, art, and media to embed these messages in their populations

6. World War II
Like the Great War, WWII was a “total war” – all resources were used for the purpose of waging war
Experiments with democratic forms of government in Europe failed with the rise of Italian fascism under Mussolini and Hitler and the Nazis
These new governments were attempting to address the economic crisis and regain a foothold in the global balance of power

7. The Drift Toward War
The weakness of League of Nations and policy of appeasement led to Fascist aggression
Japan invaded China
Italy invaded Ethiopia
Hitler took the Rhineland, Sudetenland, Austria
After a period of civil war, Franco formed dictatorship in Spain

9. The War in Europe
The war began with Hitler’s invasion of Poland on September 3, 1939
Germany employed the “blitzkrieg”
The Allies could no longer stand by and declared war on Germany
While Britain and France rearmed, Hitler took Denmark, Norway, Belgium and France
The Battle of Britain in 1940 was unsuccessful for Germany but did much damage
Nazi submarines inflicted losses on British and American shipping
Germany will unsuccessfully attack Russia and fighting will extend into Africa because of colonial holdings

11. The War in Asia
Japan was not rewarded for their efforts on the Allied side in WWI and sided with Germany in WWII
Their military-industrial complex will quickly capture most of East Asia and Pacific islands
Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 drawing the US into the war
The US will quickly rebuild and began retaking the Pacific islands in order to attack the Japanese mainland

14. The War Ends The Axis powers begin running out of men and supplies
US planned a joint major offensive at Normandy which will lead to the liberation of France and the retreat of Germany
Russia attacks from the East
Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrendered in May, 1945
The US dropped atomic bombs in Japan ending the war in Asia in August, 1945

17. Holocaust Jews were the largest single group targeted by Nazis
Nuremburg Laws of 1935 stripped them of German citizenship
Jews were persecuted, placed in ghettos, with violence against them (pogroms)
Hitler’s Final Solution – mass murder to kill all the Jews in Europe (death camps, gas chambers)
This led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1947