World War II
1939-1945
THEATERS OF WAR
World War II was fought in 2 theaters of war, meaning
that there were 2 wars going on at the same time:
EUROPEAN THEATER: The
main war with Germany
PACIFIC THEATER: The war fought against Japanese
aggression in the Pacific Ocean
Axis Powers
Japan
Germany
Italy
Allied Powers
Great Britain
U.S.
Soviet Union
France
CAUSE#1
The Treaty of Versailles
Lloyd George
England
Vittorio Orlando
Italy
Georges Clemenceau
France
Woodrow Wilson
U.S
In 1919, these men met to discuss how
Germany was to be made to pay for the
damage world war one had caused.
Germany had been expecting a
treaty based on Wilson's 14 points and was
not happy with the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles.
However, it had no choice but to
ITALY was also
disappointed that it was
denied territory that
had been promised by
Britain & France…
CAUSE#2
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
The 1929 stock market crash in the U.S. and the
resulting Great Depression spread throughout the
world.
economies plummeted and unemployment rose-
people were desperate for help and change…
Many people turned to
powerful
authoritarian
leaders and
governments who
promised to solve their
economic and social
problems
Cause #3
Rise of Totalitarianism/Fascism
These leaders were TOTALITARIAN and followed a set of
beliefs called FASCISM
TOTALITARIAN: describes a government that exercises
complete control over its citizens lives- individuals have
no rights and the government suppresses all opposition
FASCISM— political
philosophy that promotes a
totalitarian form of
government:
– Strong central government
headed by a powerful
military dictator
– Guided by nationalism
– All aspects of society
controlled by government
– Opposition/protests not
tolerated
ITALYFascism started in Italy because people were angry
they did not get more territory in the treaty that ended
WWI. Along with high inflation & unemployment, It was
ripe for takeover.
Benito Mussolini
came to power by
promising to help the
economy and build the
armed forces.
He used armed thugs called BLACKSHIRTS
to threaten political opponents. The king of
Italy decided Mussolini was the best hope to
save his dynasty and let him lead the gov’t.
Another Fascist came to power in Germany…
The GERMAN PEOPLE
were very unhappy about the
Treaty of Versailles and
thought that it was too harsh.
Dissatisfied with the government,
they voted to power a man who
promised to rip up the Treaty
Adolf
Hitler was
the leader of the
Nazi party. The
German brand of
fascism was
called
Nazism.
• Hitler tried to take over
the gov’t in 1923, but
failed, was arrested and
sent to jail.
• While in jail he wrote a
book that summarized
his ideas. It was called
Mein Kampf.
Hitler believed that Germans were
superior to all other people.
He also said that a crowded Germany needed
more LEBENSRAUM- or, living space.
To get that space, he promised to Conquer the
lands of eastern Europe and Russia.
When the depression hit Germany,
the country was in bad shape…
Adolf Hitler was named
1933. Soon, he took the powers of a
became Germany’s fuhrer
of Germany in
. He
His economic program gave work to millions but he:
took away the rights to
organize into unions or to
strike
took control of all areas of
life—burning books and forcing
children to join Nazi groups
Those who opposed him were arrested
Hitler also attacked Germany’s Jews.
Laws took away their rights.
November 1938: mobs attacked Jewish people and
destroyed thousands of Jewish-owned buildings.
This was the start of a process to eliminate the Jews
from German life.
Almost immediately he began secretly
building up Germany's
army & weapons.
In 1934 HE increased the size of the army, began
building warships and created a German air
force.
CAUSE #4
Appeasement Policy
Although
and
France were aware of
Hitler's actions, during the 1930s, many
politicians in both
and France came to
see that the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles had placed restrictions on
Germany that were unfair.
So when Germany began re-arming in
1934, many politicians felt that
So the Allies adopted a
policy of
appeasementgiving in to someone
provided their
demands are seen as
reasonable
In other words, in an
attempt to avoid
another large-scale
war, little was
done to stop
Hitler
The thought was, give
him what he wants and
he will be happy and
leave the world alone…
The Problem: This only encouraged Hitler to
pursue his policies, because there was no one
threatening to stop him
•
THE
MOVEMENT
TO WAR
Hitler Reclaims the Rhineland
1936: He sent troops into the Rhineland- an
area along the Rhine River between Germany and France
that the treaty had forbidden the Germans to
enter.
The French & British responded with APPEASEMENT
Hitler Allies with
Italy & Japan
1936: Hitler made 2
important alliances– Rome-Berlin Axis
Pact: Allied Hitler’s
Germany with Mussolini’s
Italy
– Anti-Comitern Pact:
Allied Germany with Japan
AND THE AXIS POWERS
WERE BORN!
Hitler’s next step was to begin taking back
the land that had been taken away from
Germany in the TREATY…
Hitler Unites
Germany & Austria
March 1938: German troops
marched into Austria and
forced the Austrian
government to hold a
vote asking Austrians
whether they wanted to be
part of Germany
The results of the vote were
fixed, showing that 99% of
Austrian people wanted
ANSCHLUSS
- union with Germany
Anschluss was also a violation of the Treaty, so
the Austrian leader asked Britain, France & Italy for
help
But Hitler then
promised that he
would not takeover
anymore territory
Because the other countries didn’t want to risk war, they
did nothing- APPEASEMENT
But Hitler did not keep his word…
Hitler Retakes Sudetenland
• Hitler demanded that
the Sudetenland
region of Czechoslovakia
be returned to Germany
• This area, on the border
between Germany &
Czechoslovakia had
been taken away from
Germany by the Treaty
of Versailles
The Munich Agreement
• The leaders of Britain, Germany, France & Italy held a meeting in
Munich on Sept. 29 to discuss Hitler’s demand for
Sudetenland…
• HITLER’S PROMISE: At this meeting, Germany, France, GB, Italy
agreed that the Sudetenland would be returned to Germany. In
return, HITLER PROMISED THAT NO FURTHER
TERRITORIAL CLAIMS WOULD BE MADE BY GERMANY
The Munich Agreement was viewed as a triumph of
the appeasement policy and an excellent
example of securing peace through negotiation
rather than war, UNTIL…
Hitler Invades
the Rest of
Czechoslovakia
Hitler broke the
Munich
Agreement and
invaded the rest
of Czechoslovakia
Britain & France
Promise to Defend Poland
Although it was now obvious that the policy of
appeasement had failed, British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain was sill not prepared to declare
war
However, believing that Poland would be Hitler’s next
target, both Britain and France promised that they would
take military action against Hitler if he invaded
Poland
Chamberlain believed that faced with the threat of war
against Britain and France, Hitler would stop his aggression
Chamberlain was wrong…
Hitler didn’t believe
Britain or France would
actually get involved in
another war
Hitler Makes Non-Aggression Pact
with Stalin
So Hitler made an
agreement with Soviet
dictator Joseph Stalin.
The 2 countries
promised:
– Never to attack one
another
– To divide Poland
between them
This deal removed the
threat of the Soviets
attacking Germany from
the East.
Hitler Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland in a
surprise attack
Using planes, tanks &
troops, the German
military moved suddenly
in a technique called
Blitzkrieg-
lightening war
…and the war is on!
Great Britain & France declared war on Germany
CAUSES OF WWII PICTURE COLLAGE
• Choose AT LEAST 2 of the causes we discussed
• DRAW a visual representation of the causes
• On the back: write a paragraph describing
how the 2 things you chose contributed to the
start of the war
• DUE FRIDAY!!