World War IIThe War in Europe

Dictators Threaten World Peace

Nationalism in Europe & Asia

• Failures of the Treaty of Versailles– Blamed Germany for starting WWI– Took German territories– Took territories form Russia– Did nothing to help rebuild

Nationalism in Europe & Asia

• Communism– Joseph Stalin (Russia)

• Best totalitarian leader

• Fascism– Benito Mussolini (Italy)– Adolph Hitler (Germany)– Francisco Franco (Spain)

Nationalist Ideals

CommunistsCommunists1. No social Darwinism2. More rational – history

is evolutionary3. Nationalistic4. Not as expansionistic5. Women expected to

work and breed6. Stalin Purges (1937-41)

3-3.5 m soldiers & officers

FascistsFascists1. Social Darwinism

2. Not rational – based on emotion

3. Extreme nationalism

4. Expansionistic

5. Women’s roles

6. Very militaristic

7. Dictatorship/totalitarians

Hitler’s Rise to Power• 1919 joined the NAZI party• Nov. 1923 leads armed uprising• 1924 Wrote Mein Kampf in prison• 1929 reorganized NAZI party becomes a national

party• 1932 NAZI party is the largest in Germany• Jan. 1933 Pres. Hindenburg appoints him Chancellor• Enabling Act suspends the constitution• Aug. 1934 Pres. Hindenburg dies, Hitler takes over

Aggression in Europe

• March 1935 Hitler creates the air force and introduces a military draft that would expand the army from 100-550,000 troops

• Hitler pulls out of the League of Nations in 1933

• Oct. 1935 Mussolini invades Ethiopia• March 1936 sent troops to the Rhineland• 1936 sign the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact

U.S. Responds Cautiously

• Clinging to Isolationism– Neutrality Acts of 1935

• Outlawed arms sales or loans to warring nations

• Outlawed arms sales or loans for civil wars

• Neutrality breaks down– 3000 volunteers go to support the Spanish

Gov’t against Franco.

The War Begins

War in Europe

Lil’ Hitler

Austria Falls

• Hitler annexes Austria– Hitler demands that Austria appoint Nazi's to

gov’t posts– March 1938 Hitler sends troops unopposed into

Austria

Czechoslovakia Falls

• Bargaining for the Sudetenland– German’s mobilize troops to Czech border– Daladier (Fr.) & Chamberlain (G.B.) sign

Munich Pact in Sept. 1938. This is called appeasement!!!

– Churchill opposed the pact calling it appeasement: “Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war.”

German Offensive begins

• Hitler sets his sights on Poland– Aug 1939, Ger.-Russian

non-aggression pact– With this signed Germany

advances on Poland– Sept 1, 1939 Ger. begins

bombing Poland– Ger. Blitzkrieg takes Poland

in 3 weeks– Sept. 3, 1939 G.B. & Fr.

declare war on Ger.

Invasion of Poland

The Phony War

• Ger. and Fr. both sit and wait (sitzkrieg) at the Maginot Line

• Russia takes lost land in the Baltics

• April 9, 1940 Ger. invades Den., Nor., Neth., Bel., & Luxembourg

France & G.B. Resist

• The fall of France– Ger. feints an invasion through Bel. then push

their troops through the Ardennes– Ger. push cuts off troops to beaches of Dunkirk

• Hitler doesn’t attack. This allows the troops to retreat back to England

– Italy invades Southern France– June 21, 1940 Paris falls

G.B. Alone

• The Battle of Britain– Ger. launched naval & air raids, summer 1940

• Ger. air force “Luftwaffe” 2,600 planes

• Starting on August 15, 1,000 attacked Britain a day

• 2 solid months of bombing London

• RAF and radar fight back– Shot down 56 on Sept. 15 and only lost 26

• Hitler finally call off the attack, June 1941

• 20,000 British killed & 70,000 wounded

War Threatens America

America Moves Toward War

• Axis Threat– Axis Powers: Germany,

Italy, Spain, Japan

– FDR sends aid to Britain

• Building America’s defenses– Selective Training &

Service Act (1940)

– 1st peacetime military draft

– 16 million register 21-35 years

America Moves Toward War

• Lend-Lease Plan– Arms to any country whose

defense was vital to the U.S.

• June 22, 1941 Hitler invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)– Scorched-earth policy

• Wolf packs– Groups of 15-20 subs

America Moves Toward War

• Allies– U.S., G.B., Fr.,

U.S.S.R., China

• Japan attacks the U.S.– Pearl Harbor Dec. 7,

1941.– Dec. 8, we declare war

on Japan– Dec. 11 Ger. & Italy

declare war on U.S.

War for Europe & N. Africa

• U.S. & G.B join forces– War plans

• Defeat of Ger. 1st priority

• Only unconditional surrender

– Battle of the Atlantic• U-boats attack U.S. ships on east coast sinking 87

• Convoy system

• 1943 Henry Kaiser & liberty ships– 140/mo, it took 4 days 15 hours and 26 minutes to build

Eastern Front & Mediterranean

The beginning of the end for Germany

Battle of Stalingrad

• Hitler attempts to capture oilfields in Caucasus mtns & industry of Stalingrad

• Stalin refused a withdrawal• By Sept. Ger. controls 9/10 of city• Nov. Soviets start counter attack• Hitler refuses retreat• Feb. 2, 1943 91,000 Ger. surrender• 240,000 Ger., 1.25 mil. Russian casualties

North African Front

• Dwight D. Eisenhower• Nov. 1942, 107,000 allied troops land in

Northern Africa• Chased and battled Rommel and the

Germans for 6 months• In May 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery

surround Rommel forcing him and 240,000 troops to surrender

North Africa & Mediterranean Advance

Italian Campaign

• June 1943 we begin the invasion of Sicily

• Mussolini ousted by rebel forces

• Hitler send troops to reinstate him

• 18 months of fighting to get the Ger. out

• April 28, 1945 Mussolini is found, shot and hanged

Allies Liberate Europe

D-Day to Berlin

Operation Overlord

• June 6th, 1944 orchestrated by Eisenhower

• 3 divisions of paratroopers (101st Airborne)

• 60 mile stretch of beach (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword)

• 150,000 troops, 4,000 landing craft, 600 warships, 11,000 planes

D-Day

• Utah and Omaha beaches were the worst

• Within one month they landed 1 million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies

• July 25th Gen. Bradley attacks St. Lo

D-Day

• Gen. Patton takes advantage and pushes towards Paris

• Aug. 25, U.S. and French troops liberate Paris

D-Day

• By Sept. 1944, allies had freed France, Belgium, Luxembourg and much of the Netherlands

• FDR re-elected for a 4th term with Truman

Battle of the Bulge

• Dec. 1944- Jan. 1945• Hitler’s last ditch

effort counter attack• Dec. 16, 8 German

tank divisions broke through U.S. defenses along an 80 mile front

Battle of the Bulge

• U.S. stand at Bastogne• 1 month battle, Ger.

lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks, 1,600 planes

Liberation of Concentration Camps

• As we entered the camp, the living skeletons still able to walk crowded around us and, though we wanted to drive farther into the place, the milling, pressing crowd would not let us. It is not an exaggeration to say that almost every inmate was insane with hunger. Just the sight of an American brought cheers, groans and shrieks. People crowded around to touch an American, to touch the jeep, to kiss our arms--perhaps just to make sure that it was true. The people who couldn't walk crawled out toward our jeep. Those who couldn't even crawl propped themselves up on an elbow, and somehow, through all their pain and suffering, revealed through their eyes the gratitude, the joy they felt at the arrival of Americans.

• --Captain J.D. Pletcher, 71st Division Headquarters

• I saw Eisenhower go to the opposite end of the road and vomit. From a distance I saw Patton bend over, holding his head with one hand and his abdomen with the other. And I soon became ill. I suggested to General Eisenhower that cables be sent immediately to President Roosevelt, Churchill, DeGaulle, urging people to come and see for themselves. The general nodded.

• --Lewis H. Weinstein, Lieutenant Colonel

Liberation of Concentration Camps

Unconditional Surrender

• Soviets storm Berlin on April 25, 1945

• Hitler’s death– Married Eva Braun on April 29– Same day wrote an address praising the soldiers

at the front, blamed the Jews for starting WWII, and his Generals for losing

– April 30, poisoned Eva, shot himself and had their remains burned

Unconditional Surrender

• May 7, 1945 Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich

• May 8, 1945 V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day)

• Could now turn our full attention to the Pacific.

WWII

The War in the Pacific