World War II
1. Europe and Asia Post-WWI
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Economic depression and social problems
Deep feelings of nationalism
Strong desire to expand & gain territory
Rise of dictators: democratic govt fails & people
turn to authoritarians to fix the problems
• The Allies blamed Germany for the war &
punished them harshly  anger and resentment
on all sides
– Germany lost their colonies & territories
– Soviets lost parts of Russia
A. Joseph Stalin: Man of Steel
• Goal: worldwide
spread of
communism
• Great Purge: 8-13
million executed or
banished to Siberia
• Totalitarian: total
control over citizens
B. Benito Mussolini
• Fascism: strong central
govt
• Nationalist/patriotic
• Invades Ethiopia, 1935
– Ethiopians had
defeated Italians in
1896, so Mussolini
wanted revenge
– League of Nations
issues sanctions – no
real consequences
C. Adolf Hitler
• Nazism: extreme racism, expansionism
and nationalism, Hitler's book Mein Kampf
• Aryans: the master race that needs to be
served by inferior races
D. Emperor Hirohito
and P. M. Tojo
• Japan needs more living
space
• Japan attacks & conquers
Manchuria in 1931 (wants
their natural resources)
• League of Nations issues
sanctions against Japan 
Japan quits
• Later invades Eastern China
in 1937
Japanese Acquisitions, 1937
E. Appeasement & Neutrality
• France is concerned but needs Great
Britain to act
• Britain wants no part of another war
• US passes Neutrality Acts, 1935
– Outlawed weapon sales to nations at war
– Outlawed weapon sales to nations in civil war
– Prohibited Americans from traveling on
warring nations’ ships
– GOAL: avoid involvement in European war
2. Road to War in Europe
• Rome-Berlin Axis
Pact, 1936- treaty of
friendship between
Italy and Germany,
later joined by Japan
• Hitler begins to build
up military (violation
of Treaty of
Versailles)
A. Germany’s Invasions & Acts of Aggression
• Hitler and Nazis:
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Wanted to unite all German-speaking peoples
Believed in a superior race (Aryans)
The Germans needed more “living space”
Felt Eastern European Slavs were inferior: “nature is cruel, so
we may be cruel, too… I have a right to remove millions of an
inferior race that breeds like vermin.”
• 1. March 12, 1938 – German Troops enter Austria
(“Anschluss”)
(Sound of Music)
• Captain von Trapp, a decorated World War I Captain of
the Austro-Hungarian Navy, hires Maria to be the
governess of his children in Salzburg, Austria on the eve
of World War II. As you know, they fall in love and marry.
• The family is eventually forced to flee the country (to
Switzerland) because Captain von Trapp refuses to join
Hitler’s navy. The movie closes after the family sings
“Edelweiss,” a sort of national anthem of loyalty to
Austria.
Munich Conference: 1938
• Germany wanted Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia
with German language speakers)
• Munich Conference- Britain, France, Germany and Italy
meet to try to prevent war, but Germany refuses to back
down.
• 2. Germany invades Czechoslovakia in October 1939
Invasion of Poland
• Nazi-Soviet Pact, August
23, 1939
• 3. Nazis invade Poland,
Sept. 1, 1939
• Germany takes western
land, Stalin takes
eastern land
• France & Britain declare
war on Germany: Sept.
3, 1939
B. Blitzkrieg
• “Lightning War”: aerial bombings  tanks
 ground troops
• Germany attacks Norway & Denmark in
April 1940
• Germany conquers Belgium, Netherlands
& Luxembourg in May 1940
German Advance on France
• French & British troops stationed at Maginot Line (border of
France and Germany)
• British troops retreat, caught btwn English Channel & Nazis
• “Miracle of Dunkirk”  Emergency evacuation of Allied
soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, in
1940 because the British, French and Belgian troops were
cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk.
300,000 troops live!
France Surrenders
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Italy attacked France from South
Germans headed toward Paris
French surrender June 22, 1940
Some French officers & leaders
escape to England – led by
Charles de Gaulle
• Resistance begins in France
France falls June 17, 1940
-British/ French retreat at Dunkirk
Battle of Britain, Late Summer 1940
• Neville Chamberlain is Prime Minister, refuses to
surrender to Germans
• Luftwaffe: German Air Force
– Same unit that would bomb Guernica in Spain
• RAF: Royal Air Force
• 2 months of heavy bombing…people hid in the
subways
• British able to win because of radar
• 15,000 Londoners killed
St. Paul’s Cathedral
British propaganda to raise morale
Over 500,000 children were evacuated from
British cities to the countryside
War Continues
• Operation Barbarossa, June 1941: Germany attempts to
conquer USSR
– Three million German
troops advanced
– 2.5 million Russian
soldiers died (unprepared,
Great Purge)
– Germany pushed almost
to Moscow and Leningrad
– Russian troops destroyed
land on the way
Siege of Leningrad
• September 1941
• German troops
stopped by “General
Winter”
• Russians in
Leningrad suffered
– 1 million+ died from
starvation
• Great Britain and
Russia agree to work
together
1941-1942
Germany & Axis Powers
Allies
3. Holocaust
• Nuremburg Laws (1935)
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anti-Semitism as a form of scientific racism
deprived Jews of their German citizenship
prohibited marriage between Jews and other Germans
legal embodiment of an already existing Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses
prevented "Jews" from participating in German civic life
• Kristallnacht (1938)
– “Night of Broken Glass”
– series of coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and
parts of Austria, carried out by SA stormtroopers and civilians
– left the streets covered with broken glass
from the windows of Jewish-owned stores,
buildings, and synagogues
– at least 91 Jews were killed in the attacks,
and a further 30,000 arrested and
incarcerated in concentration camps
Targets and the Final
Solution
• Germany encouraged Jews to move to
other countries
• Nazis set up concentration/ labor camps
• Death camps were created in 1941
– 6,000 could be killed daily
• Who else was targeted?
– Gypsies, communists, homosexuals,
Catholics, handicapped, etc…
• The “Final Solution” – Nazi Germany's plan
and execution of the systematic genocide
of European Jews during World War II,
resulting in the most deadly phase of the
Holocaust.
• http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_nm.php?
ModuleId=10005143&MediaId=3372
Universe of Obligation
• The circle of individuals and groups toward whom obligations are
owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for amends.
(Helen Fein, Holocaust and Human Behavior)
• “I love my daughters more than my nieces, I love my nieces more
than my cousins, my cousins more than my neighbors. But that
doesn’t mean we detest our neighbors. The fact of being
Francophile doesn’t require being xenophobic (afraid of foreigners).
The fact that I prefer the French does not mean that I detest the
English.”
• A hierarchy of caring: who are we obligated to? What happens if we
expand this hierarchy out to include people like us in the form of
race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, political beliefs,
professions, clubs, schools, etc.?
All People
All People
All People
All People
4. Axis Powers
• Sign treaty in September 1940:
– Germany – Hitler
– Italy – Mussolini
– Japan – Emperor Hirohito
5. Neutrality in Action
• 1939: Cash-And-Carry - nations can buy
American weapons and supplies if they pay cash
and carry the goods home in their own ships
• 1940: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is 1st President
to be elected for the 3rd time. Promises to keep
the U.S. out of the war.
Lend-Lease Plan (1941)
• Britain out of $ to buy U.S. weapons
• Congress allows the U.S. to lend or lease
arms to “any country whose defense was
vital to the U.S.”
• Who did this apply to?
– Great Britain and USSR (had been invaded
by Germany in 1941)
We “lent” Great Britain war planes
and gunpowder
U.S. Plans for War
• Sept. 1941: Atlantic Charter– FDR and
Churchill secretly meet to set goals for war
– Britain and the U.S. declare why they are
opposed to the Axis Powers
• Sept 1941: German “wolf packs” begin
sinking U.S. cargo ships
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Nov 1941 – Japan sends “peace envoy” to D.C.
• In late Nov, FDR sends “war warning” to Hawaii, Guam, and
Philippines
• Dec 6, 1941 – FDR intercepts coded message to Japanese
peace envoy telling them to reject U.S. proposals
• Dec 7, 1941 – Japanese navy launches a surprise attack on
American navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii– which officially brings
the US into World War II. Why?
– Japan wants an empire and the U.S., Great Britain and French colonies
are in their way
– in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military
actions Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas
territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United
States
– Japan needs U.S. oil for fuel
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• FDR: Pearl Harbor Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VqQAf74fsE
Pearl Harbor Attack
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188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed
2,402 Americans were killed
1,282 Americans were wounded
8 U.S. Navy battleships were damaged,
with 4 being sunk
• Several other ships were destroyed or
damaged
Progression of War
• US declares war on Japan December 8
• Germany and Italy declare war on US
December 11
6. Allied Powers– Leaders
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Great Britain – Winston Churchill
France – Charles de Gaulle
United States – FDR
USSR - Stalin
7. War for Europe and North Africa
U.S. and Great Britain Join Forces
1. First, defeat Germany (unconditional
surrender- nothing less)
2. Then, focus on the Pacific
Why was Switzerland Neutral?
• Switzerland was never attacked. It was able to remain
independent through a combination of military deterrence,
economic concessions to Germany, and good fortune as
larger events during the war delayed an invasion.
• Attempts by Switzerland's small Nazi party to affect an
Anschluss with Germany failed miserably, largely as a result
of Switzerland's multicultural heritage, strong sense of
national identity, and long tradition of direct democracy and
civil liberties.
• The Swiss military strategy was changed from one of static
defense at the borders, to a strategy of organized long-term
attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions
high in the Alps. The idea was to cause huge losses to
German forces and render the cost of invading too high.
• Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both
sides in the conflict and often mediated communications
between the Axis and Allied powers by serving as a protecting
power.
Battle of Atlantic
• 1939-1945
• German u-boats/Luftwaffe vs. British and
Canadian navy/air force
• American navy aided the Allies from 1941
onward
Eastern Front (USSR)
• 1942-1943- Battle of Stalingrad
– Germany surrenders (300,000 Germans die)
– Soviets lose 1.25 million soldiers and civilians
– 2 months of hand-to-hand street fighting
North Africa- “Operation Torch”
• 1942-1943 Allies (led by Eisenhower)
chase German General Rommel (The
Desert Fox)
– Germany surrenders May, 1943
Italy
Allies capture Sicily in summer 1943 and
invade Italian towns along the coast – Axis
defeated
Italy and Mussolini’s Death
• Mussolini executed
(by firing squad) by
Italians in April, 1945
• Mussolini and other
fascist leaders were
hung upside down
and beaten by a
crowd of Italians
• Italy joins the Allies
Europe Liberated: Normandy
• Battle of Normandy– code name “Operation
Overlord”
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Allied powers open second front in Europe
Plan to invade German-occupied France
General Dwight D. Eisenhower – supreme commander
June 6, 1944: paratroopers drop in France at midnight
176,000 Allied troops landed (via England)
• Approx. 6000 Allied troops died
• 80,000 Germans killed
• 19,000 Normandy civilians killed
Europe Liberated: D-Day
• The Normandy landings, codenamed “Operation Neptune:, were the
landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy (NW France), in
Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944.
• Goal: After the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, the British forces planned a
return to France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in charge of the
invasion of Germany, and the goal of the invasion was to take over the
beach so the British and American forces could bring supplies and
equipment.
Battle of the Bulge
• Dec. 1944 outside the
town of Bastogne,
Germany
• Allies move closer to
Germany, Germany
retreats then stops for a
surprise attack
• Lasted a month in the
winter: Hitler’s last stand
Bastogne
Liberation of the Death Camps
• Allied troops pushed
into Germany
• Discovered
concentration camps
Hitler’s Death
• April 30, 1945 – Hitler writes final letter blaming
the Jews
• He and new wife Eva Braun commit suicide in
Berlin bunker
Yalta Conference: Feb. 1945
• Met at Yalta, Russia after V-E Day
• The Big Three: Churchill, Stalin, FDR
• Purpose was to make post-WWII plans for
Europe (still fighting in Pacific)
– How to re-establish war-torn nations
– How to divide other nations
• Stalin agreed to declare
war on Japan after
Germany’s defeat (US
needed help!)
• Occupation of Germany
Occupation of Germany
• Demilitarized Germany
• Germany divided into 4 zones: French,
British, American and Soviets
• Berlin Wall [built in 1961 by USSR Communists]
V-E Day: Victory in Europe
• May 8, 1945 – Unconditional surrender of
the Nazi Forces and the end of Hitler’s
Third Reich.
Potsdam Conference – July 1945
• In the five months since the Yalta Conference, a
number of changes had taken place which would
greatly affect the relationships between the leaders.
– The Soviet Union was occupying Central and Eastern
Europe (which had been part of Germany’s Empire)
– Britain had a new Prime Minister – Clement Atlee
– America had a new President, and the war was ending –
Harry Truman, who was much more suspicious of Stalin
and the Soviet Union’s aggressive
expansion than FDR had been.
– The US had tested an atomic
bomb (but had not dropped one
on Japan yet).
Potsdam Conference – July 1945
• Potsdam Agreement: the Allied (UK,
US, USSR) plan of tripartite military
occupation and reconstruction of
Germany and the entire European
Theatre of War territory. It also
included Germany's
demilitarization, reparations and the
prosecution of war criminals.
• Potsdam Declaration: Churchill,
Truman, and Chiang Kai-shek
(China) outlined the terms of
surrender for Japan during World
War II in Asia.
Nuremburg Trials
• Held by the Allied Powers in Nuremberg, Germany to try Nazis for “crimes
against humanity”
• The indictments were for:
– Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime
against peace
– Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace
– War crimes
– Crimes against humanity
• 142 out of the 177 Nazis tried were convicted
• Many received death sentences