1939-1945

World War II

The Russian Revolution

WWI Caused Tremendous Hardships for Russia

and Czar Nicholas II

Revolution Broke Out In March 1917 and a

Provisional Government Was Established

The Russian Revolution

In November 1917,

Vladimir Lenin and the

Bolsheviks

(Communists) Seized

Power from the

Provisional Government

Lenin Promised "Peace,

Bread and Land“

“Tell them my story,

Comrade Rowe!”

Russian Civil War (1917 - 1921) Civil War Broke Out In Russia as

Opponents of Lenin and

Communism tried to Drive Lenin

from Power

Reds vs. Whites

15 Million Died

Lenin Used Brutal Means to Crush

All Opposition to the Revolution

Executed the Romanov Family as a

Symbol of Not Going Back

Leon Trotsky Organized the Red

Army and Defeated the Whites

Lenin's Reforms

1. Started To Rebuild the

Shattered Russian Economy

(New Economic Policy)

Distributes Land to Peasants

Farmers Sell Crops for Profit

Uses Capitalism to save

Communism

2. Changed the Name of Russia to

the Soviet Union (USSR)

3. Moved the Capital Back To

Moscow

“And then, I Died.”

Joseph Stalin After the Death of Lenin, Joseph

Stalin Won Control over the Communist Party over Leon Trotsky

Communist Party Comes To Vote (1% or Less)

Stalin Wins; He Assigned Jobs

Killed All Who Voted For Trotsky

Stalin Modernized the Soviet Union with the Five Year Plans USSR Industrialized Quickly As Steel

and Oil Production Quadrupled In Just 10 Years

Ordered All Peasants to Give Up Their Land and Form "Collective Farms"

The Soviet Union

"We are 100 Years behind the

West, We Must Catch up in 10

or We are Doomed“

Obey the Government without

Question

The Comintern Was an

Organization Established In

1919 to Spread Communism

around the World

"A Single Death Is A Tragedy,

But A Million Deaths Is A

Statistic." - Joseph Stalin

Fascism in Italy

After WWI, Italy Was In

Turmoil

Benito Mussolini Came To

Power in Italy Promising To

Restore Order

Mussolini Founded the Fascist

Party in Italy

Fascist Beliefs

Fascist Beliefs Communist Beliefs

1. Ultra-Nationalism 1. Internationalist

2. Denounced Communism and Democracy 2. Believe In Equality

3. Emphasis on Militarism

Black Shirts = Mussolini's Followers Who Went Around Beating

Up Communists

4. Totalitarian

Benito Mussolini In 1922 Mussolini and His Black

Shirts Marched On Rome and Seized Power

"I'll make the Trains Run on Time." - Mussolini

Mussolini Gave Himself the Title of "Il Duce" and Ruled as Dictator by 1923

Foreign Policy Was Aggressive as Italy Conquered Ethiopia in 1936

"Today It Is Us, Tomorrow It'll Be You" - Ethiopia's Response to the League of Nations

The Rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany

The Weimar Republic was the Government Established at the End of WWI

Weimar Republic And Democracy Were Blamed For:

1. Signing the Treaty of Versailles

2. Economic Problems for Germany Hyper-Inflation (Printed Money

= Dollar Became Worthless)

40% Unemployment Rate

3. Political and Social Unrest (Rampant Crime)

Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945)

"The Creation of a Monster"

“Tell them my story,

Rowe”

Hitler Became the Leader of the Nazi Party (German Fascists) In 1921

Hitler Took the Title "The Fuhrer"

Hitler Attempted A Coup in Munich In 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch"

For The Coup, He Is Imprisoned

While In Prison, He Writes Mein Kampf = My Struggle

By 1932 The Nazi Party Was The Largest Political Party In The German Reichstag

In 1933, Hitler Received Emergency Powers And Made Germany A Totalitarian State And Made Himself Dictator

Hitler Called Germany The Third Reich

Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945)

Hitler's Reforms 1. Helped The Economy To

Recover

2. Built Up The Army And Navy

3. Put People to Work

Germany was Strong and Prosperous again, and the People Thanked Hitler for this

Hitler also Persecuted the Jews

Militarism In Japan

With The World-Wide

Economic Depression,

Military Leaders Seized

Control In Japan

General Tojo And Admiral

Yamamoto

Japan Became A Totalitarian

Fascist State And Allied With

Germany And Italy As The

Axis Powers

In 1937, Japan Launched An

All-Out Invasion Of China

The Road To War

The Bloodiest War Ever (45 Million Die)

In 1936, Civil War Broke Out In

Spain Between Fascists And

Republicans

Germany And Italy Openly Help

The Spanish Fascists To Victory

Spain Was A Chance For Germany

To Test New Weapons And Tactics

In 1936, Hitler Marched His

Troops Into The Rhineland,

Which Was Supposed To Be A

Demilitarized Zone as per the

Treaty of Versailles

The Road To War In 1938, Hitler Annexed Austria

Hitler Next Demanded Part Of Czechoslovakia Called The Sudetenland

In Sept. 1938 The Munich Conference Was Held To Settle The Crisis

Germany Was Given The Sudetenland And Hitler Promised That He Had No More Territorial Claims In Europe

Six Months Later Hitler Took The Rest Of Czechoslovakia

Policy Of Appeasement = Making Concessions In The Hopes Of Avoiding War

The Road To War Hitler Next Demanded Parts

Of Poland In 1939

Great Britain And France

Announce Their Support For

Poland

Hitler Signed A Non-

Aggression Pact With Stalin To

Secretly Divide Up Poland

On Sept. 1, 1939 Germany

Invades Poland And Two Days

Later Great Britain And

France Declare War On

Germany

Early Victories For The Axis Powers

(1939 - 1942)

Germany Crushed Poland In Two Weeks, Germany Took Half Of Poland And The Soviet Union Took The Other Half

Germany's Style Of War = Blitzkrieg = Lightning War

By 1940, Stalin And The Soviet Union Had Taken Over Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia And Finland

For 6 Months After Poland Hitler Waited And Did Nothing = Phony War

In April 1940 Germany Conquered Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium And Luxembourg

Germany's Blitzkrieg Next Struck France And Conquered Them By June 1940

Blitzkrieg Effects

British Involvement

Hitler Made The Crucial Mistake Of Allowing 338,000

French And British Soldiers To Escape At Dunkirk

Winston Churchill Was The Inspirational Prime Minister Of

Great Britain During WWII Who Refused A Treaty With

Hitler

Battle Of Britain Was A Yearlong Air Battle For Supremacy

Over The Skies Of G.B.

600 a Day Die From German Bombing

G.B. Invented Radar and Used an Enigma Machine

Planes Lost: Germany = 2,300; Great Britain = 900

Winston Churchill

“We Will Never,

EVER, Surrender!!!”

Hitler Invades The Soviet Union In June

1941

The Soviet Union Followed A Scorched Earth Policy As They

Retreated And Burned Everything

“General Winter" Stopped The German Attack Just Outside

Of Moscow And Leningrad

USSR Lost 22.5 Million People In WWII

War In The Pacific

In 1937, Japan Launched An All-Out Invasion Of China

The U.S. Opposed Japanese Expansion In The Pacific And

Asia

Japanese Launched A Surprise Attack On Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii On Dec. 7, 1941

2,403 Died

America Declares War On Japan At The Request Of Franklin

D. Roosevelt

On December 11, 1941 Germany And Italy Declare War On

America

Japan won Early Victories in the Pacific

Pearl Harbor and FDR

Turning Point For The Allies (Nov. 1942)

Pacific = Battle Of Guadalcanal

America Will Defeat Japan And Go On

The Offensive

North Africa = Battle Of El Alamein

Great Britain Defeats Germany And

Goes On The Offensive

Russia = Battle Of Stalingrad

Soviet Union Defeats Germany And

Goes On The Offensive

D-Day and V.E. Day

D-Day - The Allied Invasion Of France, Largest Amphibious

Attack In History (June 6, 1944)

In Italy, Mussolini And His Wife Were Overthrown And Hung

Hitler Commits Suicide on April 30, 1945

V.E. Day - May 7, 1945

Dresden - German Town Where 125,000 Died By Fire Bombs

V.J. Day - August 14, 1945 Japan was Defeated When Atomic Bombs Were Dropped On

Hiroshima (August 6; 80,000 Died) And Nagasaki (August 9; 40,000 Died)

Japan Surrenders on August 14th

Aftermath Of The War

45 Million Are Dead = Half From The Soviet Union

6 Million Jews Died In The Holocaust = 13 Million Total in

Concentration Camps

Outcomes Of WWII

1. Soviet Union Occupied Eastern Europe

2. Germany Is Divided Into East And West For 45 Years

3. World Power Transferred From Western Europe To The

U.S. And Soviet Union

4. Nationalism Grows In The Colonies

5. The World Has Entered The Nuclear Age