World War II
World Issues
1
Aggression in Europe to 1939
2
Early Axis Gains
By 1941, the Axis powers or their allies controlled most of
Western Europe.
• Germany and Russia conquered and divided Poland.
• Stalin’s armies pushed into Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• Soviet forces seized Finland.
• Hitler conquered Norway and Denmark.
• Hitler took the Netherlands and Belgium.
• France surrendered to Hitler.
• Axis armies pushed into North Africa and the Balkans.
• Axis armies defeated Greece and Yugoslavia.
• Bulgaria and Hungary joined the Axis alliance.
France Falls to Hitler
September 1940-May 1941: the Blitz
For the following nine months, the
German air force (Luftwaffe)
launched repeated bombing raids on
British towns and cities. This was
known as the BLITZ and was an
attempt to bomb Britain into
submission.
Methods of warfare:
blitzkrieg or “lighting war”
“We shall go on to the end…We shall defend our
island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight
on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing
grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the
streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never
surrender”- Winston Churchhill
GERMANY ATTACKS RUSSIA
 The Soviet Union invades eastern Europe (Finland,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
 Hitler mistrusted Stalin, decides to betray their nonaggression pact and attack Russia.
 What is Hitler’s major mistake?
 He decided not to concentrate all his forces against
Moscow and instead attacks Leningrad.
 Why was attacking Russia such a failure?
 One million citizens died from starvation
 The Leningrad never fell to the Germans
 Hitler tries to instead attack Moscow but the Nazi’s were
stuck in the middle of one of the worst Russian winters.
 The Soviet Forces were able to then drive the Germans
back


When the war began in 1939, the United
States declared its neutrality.
How did the U.S. help the allies fight Hitler’s
advance?
◦ Lend-lease act: the lending or leasing of raw
materials, equipment, and weapons to the Allied
nations.
 $50 billion of war goods sent to the Allies
Pearl Harbor
• What was the main source of conflict between
Japan and the United States ?
▫ Japan advanced into French Indochina and the
Dutch East Indies.
▫ To stop Japanese aggression, the United States
banned the sale of war materials to Japan.
• What were the immediate effects of the attack on
Pearl Harbor?
▫ The United States declared war on Japan.
▫ Germany and Italy, as Japan’s allies, declared war
on the United States.
Pearl Harbor Re-cap

What? :


Where?

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“A date which will live in infamy”
December 7, 1941
Why did it happen?


Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
When?


Japanese warplanes bombed the huge American naval base at…
Conflict between the US and Japan- United States navy stood in the
way of Japan conquering the Dutch East Indies for OIL
Why is it important?


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2,400 Americans killed
First time we are directly attacked
US JOINS THE WAR
Main Idea: Both the Germans in Europe and the Japanese
in Asia and the Pacific set out to build a “new order” in
the lands they occupied
1. Hitler set up puppet governments in countries
that were peopled by “Aryans.”
▫ Eastern Europeans were considered an inferior “race,”
and were thus shoved aside to provide “living space” for
Germans.
2. To the Nazis, occupied lands were an economic
resource to be looted and plundered.
3. Japan’s self-proclaimed mission was to help
Asians escape imperial rule. In fact, its real goal
was a Japanese empire in Asia.
▫ The Japanese treated conquered people with great
brutality.
Main Idea: The Big Three Allied leaders met periodically
to plan their strategy for winning the war
4. In 1942, the Big Three-Roosevelt, Churchill,
and Stalin-agreed to finish the war in Europe
before turning their attention to Asia.
5. From the outset, the Allies distrusted one
another. Stalin urged them to open a second
front in Western Europe.
Main Idea: From 1942-1944, the Allied turned the tide of war
Part I and I
The Battle in North Africa
6. The British stopped Rommel’s advance and
drove the Axis forces back across Libya into
Tunisia. (late 1942)
7. From North Africa, the Allies invaded Italy.
The invasion weakened Hitler by forcing him
to fight on another front. (mid 1943)
▫ American General Dwight Eisenhower led the
attack, finally successful in forcing the surrender
of the Axis Powers in North Africa
Main Idea: From 1942-1944, the Allied turned the tide of war
Part III
The Red Army Resists
8. Stalingrad-The Red Army took the offensive and
drove the Germans out of the Soviet Union
entirely. Hitler’s forces suffered irreplaceable
losses of troops and equipment. (late 1942)
Main Idea: From 1942-1944, the Allied turned the tide of war
Part IV
Invasion of France: D-Day
9. The Allies opened a second front in Europe
with the invasion of Paris. They freed France
and were then able to focus on defeating
Germany and Japan. (June 6, 1944)
EISENHOWER GIVES
THE ORDER
1. Who is Eisenhower
addressing in his Order of
the Day?
2. What words and
phrases does Eisenhower
use to convey the idea of
teamwork?
3. If he is trying to motivate
the troops, why does he
say, “Your task will not be
an easy one”?
D-Day Re-cap

What?:
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Where?
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Normandy, France
When?

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Allied offensive- 130,000 US and British soldiers brought
across the English channel to invade the beaches of…
June 6, 1944
Why is this important?


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Largest seaborne invasion in history
Last chance for allied success
More than 10,000 were killed or wounded by the Allies
secured the beaches

The way was clear now to move into France and liberate it from the
Germans
3
World War II in Europe and North Africa
The War in Europe is Over: V-E Day!
 April 1945- Soviets reach Berlin
 Hitler commits suicide
 May 2 1945- Soviet Army
captures Berlin
 May 7 1945- Germans surrender
 May 8 1945- Declared ‘Victory in
Europe’ day
Pacific War

May and June 1942: Us damaged Japanese fleets
during the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway Island


Stops the Japanese Advance
Summer 1942: US goes on the offensive, begins
“Island-hopping” campaign.
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(See strategy slide for definition)
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Early 1944:US Navy blockading Japan

October 1944: MacArthur fights to retake the
Philippines. The British were pushing back Japanese
forces in Burma and Malaya.
STRATEGY: ISLAND HOPPING

Invading islands that were not heavily defended
and then using captured islands to stage
further attacks.
 Move
within striking distance of Japan
 The captured islands served as steppingstones to
the next objective.
Chapter 31 , Section
European War Ends
December 1944- Hitler’s final assault, German
troops counterattacked Allied forces at the
Battle of the Bulge
 Early 1944- Allied bombings of Germany
 March 1945- Allied forces advanced from the
West, Soviet troops beat back Hitler in the East
 April 1945-Russia and US meet, Axis armies
begin to surrender
 May 8, 1945- V-E Day

Japan’s Defeat
• By mid-1945: most of Japanese navy and air force had
been destroyed
• Invasion verses the Bomb: estimated that an invasion of
Japan would cost a million or more casualties
• In bloody battles on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the
Japanese had shown that they would fight to the death rather than
surrender
• Kamikaze- Japanese pilots who undertook suicide missions,
crashing their explosive-laden planes into American ships
• April 1945: FDR dies, Harry Truman takes office and
decides to use the Atomic Bomb against Japan
• July 1945: The bomb is tested
• August 1945: Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
 August 6, 1945 : Atomic
Bomb dropped on
Hiroshima
 70,000+ people die
 August 9, 1945:Atomic
Bomb dropped on Nagasaki
 40,000 die
 By the end of 1945 another
70,000 people will die due
to radiation and injures
 Japan surrenders on August
14 1945
WHY DID PRESIDENT TRUMAN USE THE
BOMB?
Dropping the atomic bomb brought a quick end to the war. It
also unleashed terrifying destruction.
• Truman was convinced that Japan would not surrender
without an invasion that would result in enormous losses of
both American and Japanese lives.
• Truman also may have hoped that the bomb would impress
the Soviet Union with American power.
5
Aftermath of War
•
The appalling costs of the war began to emerge.
•
The world learned the full extent of the horrors of the Holocaust.
•
Nuremberg War crimes trials were held in Germany, Italy, and Japan.
– “Crimes against humanity”
•
People faced disturbing questions: What made the Nazi horrors possible?
Why had ordinary people collaborated with Hitler’s “final solution”?
•
The Allies worked to strengthen democracy in occupied Germany and
Japan.