1. World War II, 1939-1945 Paths to War
1930s, totalitarian regimes in Europe & Asia began aggressive
territorial expansion; nothing stopped the acts of aggression
that finally led to war
1) Japan
a) 1931, invaded Manchuria
b) 1937, invaded remainder
of China
2) Italy
a) 1935, Mussolini ordered invasion of Ethiopia
b) 1939, took over Albania

2. 3) Germany
a) 1936, Hitler ordered occupation
of the Rhineland
b) 1938, Germany annexed Austria (the Anschluss); Hitler
claimed the Sudetenland; Munich
Conference gave the Sudetenland
to Germany
c) 1939, Hitler took remainder of Czechoslovakia, threatened Danzig & the Polish Corridor, &
signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Stalin
d) Sept. 1, 1939 – Germany invaded
Poland & World War II began

4. The Course of World War II
Sept to June 1940, Hitler’s forces used blitzkrieg to
expand German control from Poland to France
1) April 1940 – German forces took control of Denmark & Norway
2) May 1940 – Germany invaded the Low Countries; Churchill
became P.M. of Britain; Miracle at Dunkirk occurred
3) June 1940 – German forces invaded & conquered France;
Italy entered the war; Charles de Gaulle organized the
Free French gov’t in Britain; French Resistance est.

5. The Battle of Britain (Aug. 1940 – May 1941)
Aug – Battle of Britain began as Germany’s Luftwaffe
attempted to eliminate the RAF
Sept – Luftwaffe changed tactics & began blitz of major
population centers; London blitzed for 57 consecutive nights
May 1941 – battle ended when Hitler
called off the attacks

6. Anglo-American Cooperation
After Dunkirk, Churchill appealed to U.S. for help
Sept – FDR got Congress to enact the cash-and-carry
policy
Mar – Congress approved & FDR
signed the Lend-Lease Act
Aug – Churchill & FDR issued the
Atlantic Charter

7. Eastern Europe & Africa
Dec – Britain defeated Italians in N. Africa; Hitler issued
directives for invasions of Greece & USSR
Mar – Erwin Rommel & Afrika Korps sent to N. Africa
April 1941 – German forces invaded Yugoslavia & Greece

8. Invasion of the USSR
Feb – Hitler met with military leaders to discuss plans for
Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union
June 1941 – Operation Barbarossa began as German forces
invaded USSR
Sept – German forces laid siege to city of Leningrad
Nov – German forces reached outskirts of Moscow when
the Russian winter hit
Dec – German assault on Moscow began & Russian
forces counter-attacked

10. Japanese Expansion & Pearl Harbor
July 1940 – Japanese government moved to establish the
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Jan – Japan warned the U.S. not to interfere in East Asia
Oct – Hideki Tojo became prime minister of Japan
Nov – Hirohito gave go-ahead for war with U.S.;
Yamamoto’s plan went into effect; Japanese fleet
sailed for Hawaii
Dec. 7, 1941 – Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor, effectively drawing
the U.S. into WWII
Dec thru Feb – Japanese
forces overran European &
American possessions in the
Pacific & Southeast Asia

11. Pearl Harbor

12. Hitler’s New Order & the Holocaust
As Germany conquered most of Europe, Hitler set out to build a
“New Order” in occupied lands
1) Nazis rule Europe & exploit resources
2) Nazis enslave conquered peoples
3) Nazis exterminate “undesirable elements”
a) the Holocaust (mass genocide of 6 million European Jews)
b) murder of 6 million gypsies, Poles, & Slavs

13. The Holocaust started in the late 1930s as Germany conquered
land in Eastern Europe
1) 1939 – Hitler & the Nazis began to speed up the final solution
to the “Jewish problem”
2) 1940 – Germans began building Auschwitz
3) 1941 – extermination facilities constructed at Auschwitz &
other camps; Germans began using poison gas

14. Allied Advances
Four major turning points in 1942 shifted the war in favor
of the Allies
1) June – American carrier fleet defeated
Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway,
ending Japanese naval superiority in
the Pacific
2) Oct. – Montgomery’s British 8th Army
defeated Rommel’s Afrika Korps at the
Battle of El Alamein

15. 3) Nov. – major Allied invasion (Operation Torch) captured
Morocco & Algeria in North Africa
4) Nov. – Soviet forces encircled & wiped out the entire German
6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad

16. Allied Advances
Throughout 1943, Allied forces won victories in N. Africa & Italy
as the decision for an invasion of France was put off until 1944
1) May – German & Italian forces surrendered in N. Africa
2) July – Allied forces invaded Sicily; Mussolini fired & arrested
3) Sept. – Allied forces landed in southern Italy; Italy signed
secret act of surrender
4) Nov. – FDR, Churchill, & Stalin met at Tehran Conference &
decided to invade France in 1944

17. Allied Advances
Early 1944, Allies continued to gain ground in Italy as
preparations for invasion of France were underway
1) June – Allied forces liberated Rome; D-Day arrived &
Operation Overlord (Normandy Invasion) began
2) July – Allied troops broke out of Normandy & began
advancing toward Paris
3) Aug. – Allied forces liberated Paris

19. Toward Victory
After Midway, the U.S. took the offensive in the Pacific
1) Aug – U.S. Marines, under command of Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, landed at Guadalcanal, from which
the U.S. would begin an “island hopping” campaign
2) July-Dec – U.S. attacks throughout Pacific began to
roll back the Japanese; by Nov., Japanese began
kamikaze missions
3) Oct – MacArthur began invasion of the Philippines

20. Toward Victory
After the liberation of Paris, Allied forces prepared for the
invasion of Germany
1) Oct – Soviets were advancing toward Germany from
the east, while U.S. & Britain were driving toward Germany
from the west
2) Dec – Germans launched last,
desperate offensive that started the
Battle of the Bulge
3) Feb – Big Three met at Yalta
Conference to discuss post-war plans
4) April 1945 – Soviets entered Berlin;
FDR died; Mussolini captured &
executed; Hitler committed suicide
5) May 7, 1945 – Germany surrendered
unconditionally

21. Toward Victory
As Allies were finishing off Germany in Europe, U.S. forces
continued march toward Japan in 1945
1) Mar. – U.S. forces secured Iwo Jima
& Philippines
2) June – U.S. forces secured Okinawa
3) July – Potsdam Conference held where
ultimatum was issued to Japan
4) Aug. 6 – atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
5) Aug. 9 – atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
6) Aug. 14 – Japan surrendered unconditionally
7) Sept. 2 – Japan formally surrendered aboard USS Missouri
in Tokyo Bay

24. From World War to Cold War
Series of events beginning in 1945 quickly led to the Cold War
between the U.S. & USSR
1) Different goals of Big Three at Yalta &
Potsdam opened cracks in the wartime
alliance
2) Soviet & Western interests came into conflict
when Stalin created satellite communist
governments in Eastern Europe
April 1945 – delegates from 50 nations met in
San Francisco to draft a charter for the
United Nations, an international
organization created to help maintain
peace & promote development
throughout the world