Causes of The Great Depression

-On October 29, 1929 the stock market in the United States crashed

-People began to spend less, invest less and borrow less; this drove prices down and led to high unemployment rates

Effects of the Great Depression

-Unemployment rates rose to over 25% in the United States-The Depression spread around the world-International trade dropped by 50%-The unemployment rate rose in Germany to over 30%

Hitler Rises to Power

• The anti-capitalist party, the Nazis, won the majority in German elections in 1932

• In 1933, Hitler became Chancellor • Hitler abolished democracy and created a

single-party state led by the Nazis• Hitler began mass industrial and military

projects; which led to almost full employment for the German people

The “New Order”-Hitler believed that Germans were superior and other groups of people, such as Slaviks and Jews, were not worthy of life-Hitler wanted to reorganize the world; he appointed a man named Heinrich Himmler to enslave, relocate, and exterminate “inferior” ethnic groups-Many people were relocated to forced labor camps or “concentration camps”-Hitler devised a “Final Solution” for Jewish people; the Final Solution was that “all Jews would be killed”

Appeasement

-On March 7th, 1936, Hitler reclaimed the Rhineland-In March of 1938, Hitler annexed Austria; one year later he invaded Czechoslovakia-The major powers in Europe, France and Britain, ceded these territories in exchange for a promise that Hitler would not demand any more land

World War II Begins-On September 1st 1939, Hitler invaded Poland-Britain and France declared war on Germany-Britain, France and Russia joined forces and were called the Allies -Germany, Italy, and Japan joined forces and were called the Axis-In the beginning, the Axis were winning; Poland was defeated in 16 days

The United States Enters the war

• The United States did not want to enter the war; however they did sell weapons to the Allies

• On December 7th 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the next day the U.S. entered the war

• Shortly after the U.S. entered the war, Allied forces gained momentum

• Germany officially surrendered May 7th, 1945• Japan did not surrender until August; after the

United States dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima

The Holocaust

-Allied forces begin to discover “concentration camps” in enemy territory-They discovered mass graves, crematoriums, and starving people in these death camps-The most famous of these camps was named Auschwitz-Over 6 million Jews, and 5 million Poles and gypsies were murdered during the Holocaust