World War IIWorld War II

Chapters 24 and 25

DictatorsDictators

• After WWI, many new nations had new democratic govts– Without democratic tradition, govts collapsed– Fell to dictators

Joseph Stalin Benito Mussolini Adolf Hitler Hideki Tojo

Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin

• Attempted to create a pureCommunist state in Soviet Union– State-run economy became the

2nd largest in the world by 1937– Totalitarian state: government

controls citizens entirely– “Show Trials:” Stalin attacked and executed

his closest allies and officials to eliminate all challenges to his rule

Benito MussoliniBenito Mussolini

• Fascism in Italy– Mussolini took power during a time

of fear and economic depression– Mega-nationalist– Fascism: one individual holds

power; stresses nationalism and places interests of the state above individuals

– Totalitarian state• “Il Duce” = the leader

Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler

• German soldier, joined the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NAZI Party)

• Called himself the Furher

• Wrote Mein Kampf– Outlined ideas of the Nazi Party

• Extreme nationalism and uniting all German-speaking people in one empire

• Racial purification• Territorial expansion

Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler

• German people turned to Hitlerand the Nazi party because ofthe humiliation and economicdepression that existed sinceWWI

• Once elected, he abolished the former democratic Weimar Republic– Set up the Third Reich: Third German Empire

Hideki TojoHideki Tojo

• Rose through ranks of the Japanese army

• Supported Nazi Germany

• Called for preemptive air-strikeson China and Soviet Union

• 1941, became prime minister and ordered attack on Pearl Harbor

Great SpeakersGreat Speakers

Things these dictators hold in common:

Military experience

They are enthusiastic, riveting speakers

Power-hungry

“The Office” – Dwight’s Speech

Causes of WWIICauses of WWII

1. Terms of the Treaty of Versailles (WWI)

2. Failure of the League of Nations

3. Policy of appeasement

4. Hitler’s invasion of Poland

Terms of Treaty of Terms of Treaty of VersaillesVersailles

• Humiliated Germany– No standing army– Pay war reparations

• depression

– War-guilt clause

Failure of the League of Failure of the League of NationsNations

• Japan seized Manchurian province 1931– League of Nations condemned Japan’s

actions• Japan, Germany quit League of Nations

• Hitler invaded the Rhineland– League did nothing

• Mussolini invaded Ethiopia– League boycotted Italian goods

Failure of the League of Failure of the League of NationsNations

• United States wanted to remain neutral– Kellogg-Briand Pact

• Isolationists vs. Internationalists– Neutrality Acts: banned sale of weapons to

nations at war– Roosevelt felt that we should stop aggressive

nations

Policy of AppeasementPolicy of Appeasement

• Appeasement: to concede to demands in order to maintain order– Sudetenland (Germany vs. Britain & France)--

• Hitler: “I promise, this will be the last one.”• Munich Agreement: turned Sudetenland over to

Germany

– Czechoslovakia

Invasion of PolandInvasion of Poland

• Russia and Germany sign a nonaggression pact:– Promise not to fight each other– In return, Russia & Germany will get dibs on

Poland• Blitzkrieg: Sept 1, 1939

German airplanes and tanks roared across Poland in what is knownas “lightning war”

– Fast-moving, element ofsurprise

The BeginningThe Beginning

• Between Sept. and May of the following year, Hitler gained Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg

• Stalin gained Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland

The BeginningThe Beginning

• Fall of France– Germany attacked from north, Italy joined and

attacked from South• Germany occupies northern France and creates a

new government

The BeginningThe Beginning

• Battle of Britain– Four months of nightly

bombings• Hitler knew he couldn’t

match Britain’s navy

– Newly developed radarhelped Great Britain to track and shoot down over 100 German planes while only losing 26

– Proved G.B. could withstand German attack; first time Hitler’s army is stopped

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Holocaust: systematic murder of 11 million people in Europe– More than ½ were Jews

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• The Jewish people have been scapegoats throughout history:

• Different way of life during the Roman Empire• Blamed for crucifixion of Jesus

– Relegated to jobs nobody wanted (tax collector, etc)

• Blamed for the Black Death in Europe• Blamed for the economic troubles after WWI

– Mostly because of their having to be involved in certain jobs involving money

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Hitler found it easy to blame the Jewish people because Germans were eager to accept a reason for their suffering

• When there’s a reason for it, there’s a solution for it

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Nuremburg Laws (1935):• Took civil rights and property away from Jews who

tried to leave Germany• Forced to wear Jewish yellow star of David in

public

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Jewish refugees fled Europe after Kristallnacht: attack of Jewish homes, businesses, etc.

• Few countries would accept the refugees because of an already surging European population

• The St. Louis was forced to return to Europe without allowing any refugees to enter the U.S.

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• The Final Solution also affected these groups of people:

• Gypsies• Jehovah’s Witnesses• homosexuals• Mentally ill• Physically disabled• Terminally ill• Any “non-Aryan”

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• German SS (security squadron):

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Began in Poland with the Jewish population• Ghettos: segregated areas where Jews were forced

to relocate

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Concentration camps: labor camps– Work to death– Die of starvation– Be killed for being too weak

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Final stage was to create death camps– Auschwitz: largest death camp

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Methods of execution:– Hanging– Poison gas– Injected by poison– Shot

• Bodies were burned in crematoriums to hide evidence and reduce the smell

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Some camps experimented on prisoners– Without anesthesia

• Japan also created similar camps for the Chinese of Manchuria– Similar experiments, but even more sinister

The Final SolutionThe Final Solution

• Among those who survived:– Elie Wiesel, Night

• Travels the country giving talks on Holocaust and segregation awareness

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• Neutrality Acts of 1939• Roosevelt convinced Congress to include a new

“cash and carry” provision that would allow the U.S. to provide weaponsto allies as long asthey paid in cash and used own ships

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• Axis Powers• Germany, Italy, Japan• Ensured a two front war if the U.S. were to enter

• Allies• United States, Britain, Russia, France• And any country who fought the Axis Powers (26)

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• Pearl Harbor– Japan needed oil, but U.S. would not end its

embargo– Peace talks ensued– Roosevelt received decoded message telling

Japanese to reject all peace proposals

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• Pearl Harbor– Bombers attacked the

harbor for 1 ½ hours– Nearly entire U.S.

Pacific fleet was wiped out

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• D-Day– “Operation Overlord” June 6, 1944– Largest land-sea-air operation in U.S. army

history– Freed France by

September

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day):– May 8, 1945– Pushed east from France, Soviets west from

Russia– Liberated concentration camps– Rather than surrender, Hitler shot himself and

had his wife, Eva Braun, swallow poison• Ordered that their bodies be burned

– Third Reich surrendered– President Roosevelt died one month earlier

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• Yalta Conference– Stalin agreed to join war against Japan

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day)– Aug. 14, 1945– ended WWII– U.S. battles way across the Pacific Ocean

• Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Iwo Jima• Midway was a turning point in Pacific war• Okinawa and Iwo Jima opened way for invasion of

Japan, but too risky

– Manhattan Project: making of the atomic bomb• J Robert Oppenheimer

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day)– Aug. 14, 1945– ended WWII– August 6th, Enola Gay dropped bomb on

Hiroshima, Aug. 9th, on Nagasaki

The U.S. in the warThe U.S. in the war

• Nuremburg Trials– German leaders were put on trial for their part

in the various war crimes of WWII– 12 of 24 were hanged (of original defendants)– 200 more later convicted and jailed– Many others went free

– First time in history leaders held responsible for war crimes