World War II
McFarland
AGGRESSION LEADS
TO WAR IN EUROPE
AND ASIA.
Attempts at Peace (good
intentions).

The League of Nations-had been
established by the Treaty of
Versailles to promote world
peace. More than 60 nations
joined, but the League was weak
due to the refusal of the United
States to join. More importantly,
the League lacked power to
enforce decisions.
International Conferences-in
London & Washington, D.C.,
diplomats discussed disarmament &
agreed to limit the size & strength
of navies.
 Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact, 1928-an
agreement eventually signed by all
countries to renounce war, named
for American Secretary of State
Frank B. Kellogg, & Premier Aristide
Briand of France. This promise
would soon be broken.

Germany violates the
Versailles Treaty.

Germany had originally joined the
League of Nations, but left when
the Nazis took over. Germany had
bitterly resented the treaty due to
the fact that disarmed the country,
taken away conquests, and ordered
the payment of huge sums for war
damages. When Hitler gained
power, he vowed to change things.
◦ His first step in restoring Germany’s
power was to rebuild its military
force. In 1935, Hitler declared
Germany would build a peace-time
army of 550,000 men, going against
the provision in the treaty that set a
100,000 limit.
◦ Britain & France denounced German
rearmament but did not take action
in order to preserve peace. A law or
rule was violated and there were no
consequences.
Fascist aggression goes
unchecked.

Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935.
(Italy would leave as a member
of the League.) Ethiopia, this
independent African kingdom,
had resisted earlier Italian
invasions in 1896. Now, they
would be defeated.
◦ Haile Selassie (HY-lee suh-LASS-ee),
Ethiopia’s emperor, appealed for help
from the League of Nations.
◦ The League condemned Italy for this
act of aggression.
◦ The League urged members not to
sell arms or raw materials to Italy,
rather, adopt economic sanctions,
but only a few cooperated.

Hitler sent troops into the
Rhineland in March, 1936, the
region between the Rhine River
and the French border, violating
the Versailles Treaty again.

Japan took Manchuria in 1931.
◦ The League of Nations condemned
the move but took no action.
◦ Japan resigned from the League in
1933.
◦ In July, 1937, Japanese & Nationalist
Chinese troops clashed and the
Sino-Japanese War followed.
◦ Japanese troops began an all-out
invasion of China-1937.

Hitler south to bring together all
German-speaking peoples.
◦ Troops entered Austria in March,
1938 & declared it part of the Third
Reich, violating the treaty again. A
union, or Anschluss, was prohibited
between Germany & Austria.
◦ 1938, Hitler moves on Czechoslovakia.
Most Czechs & Slavs lived here, but
there were some Germans.
 Most Germans lived in the Sudetenland, the
western region along the German border.
 France & Britain opposed this & British Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain called for the
Munich Conference in September, 1938. The
two agreed to the German claim on the
Sudetenland, continuing a policy of
appeasement. Both nations desired peace at
almost any price.
 Americans wanted to stay out of
European wars.
 Germany’s actions were often unopposed
for many, especially in Britain, felt the
Versailles Treaty was too harsh.
 March, 1939, German troops took
Prague, the Czech capital, and
Czechoslovakia now ceased to exist as an
independent nation.

March, 1939-Hitler demanded that
the city of Danzig, Poland return to
German rule; Hitler wanted Poland.
He demanded that Germany be
granted a railroad & a highway
through the Polish Corridor, which
had been created after World War I.
This corridor was a strip of land
that separated East Prussia from
the rest of Germany, giving Poland
access to the sea.
◦ Poland refused.
◦ Britain & France declared that they
would help defend Poland’s
independence.
◦ They were stunned when the NaziSoviet Pact was signed in late
August, 1939-a pact of friendship &
non-aggression. In return for half of
Poland, the Soviet Union agreed not
to interfere with Hitler’s invasion.
◦ On Sept. 1, German troops marched
into Poland.
◦ On September 3, 1939, Britain &
France declared war against
Germany.

At the time of the invasion of
Poland, Germany was better
prepared than Britain & France
for war and would now begin to
exert their power in Europe, thus,
a long war was in store for the
world.
EUROPE FALLS TO THE
AXIS POWERS (ITALY &
GERMANY) BETWEEN
1939 & 1942.

Poland falls to Germany-In less
than 1 week after the Sept. 1st
invasion, the German blitzkrieg
(BLITS-kreeg), or lightning war,
occurred. . Hitler developed this
type of warfare that used quick,
massive attacks on land and in the
air. On Sept. 27, 1939, after heavy
days of bombing, Warsaw
surrendered. Poland was divided
between Germany & the Soviet
Union.

The Soviet Union claimed land in
the Baltics.
◦ They established military bases in
Latvia, Lithuania, & Estonia.
◦ Finland was seized in the winter war
of 1939.

Phony war of Western Europelittle action in late 1939-early
1940.

Germany strikes in the spring of
1940. Heavy bombing
devastated cities & terrorized the
civilian population as Germany
pushed into northern France.
◦ Denmark-April, 1940
◦ Norway-April, 1940
◦ Belgium-April, 1940
◦ The Netherlands-April, 1940
◦ Luxembourg-April, 1940
◦ France-June, 1940
 Allied forces (British, Belgian, & French)
rescued at Dunkirk. The fall of Belgium
allowed the German army to move around
the end of the Maginot Line. Germans broke
the French defenses near Sedan & moved to
the English Channel. Every available vessel
set sail from England-even fishing boats. By
June 4, most of the soldiers were taken to
England leaving equipment behind.
Germany advanced steadily across northern
France. Many civilians fled south.
 Italians invaded from the South.
 German troops marched into Paris on
June 14th.
 The French government asked for an
armistice, under which Germany
occupied northern France, including
Paris, and the coast.
 In the south, a government was
established at Vichy (VEE-shee) that was
very cooperative with the Germans,
headed by Marshal Henri Philippe Pe’tain,
a hero of World War I.
◦ Battle of Britain, 1940-1941; Great
Britain stood alone. Hitler planned
to invade, but hoped they would
surrender.
 When it was clear Britain would not
surrender, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to
heavily bomb British factories, airfields,
seaports, & cities. On August 8, 1940,
hundreds of bombers & fighter planes
attacked, beginning months of air raids,
day & night, in preparation for an
invasion.
 British Royal Air Force defended Britain
inflicting heavy losses on German aircraft
and the British were aided by radar, a new
device to detect enemy planes.
 By late fall, Hitler abandoned his invasion
plans. The Blitz continued until spring,
however, claiming thousands of British
civilians.
 A German naval blockade prevented the
shipment of food & supplies, thus there were
shortages. Britain needed help, but U.S.
neutrality prevented the U.S. from lending
money or goods to a country at war.

Invasion of the Soviet Union.
June 22, 1941-anniversary of
Napoleon’s invasion. Even
though Hitler & Stalin had made
a nonaggression pact when they
divided Poland, Hitler moved to
destroy communism & seize
Soviet territory.
◦ Reasons for the invasion:
 Hitler wanted land for German settlers.
 Hitler wanted rich grain fields to feed the
German nation.
 Hitler wanted oil, coal, & iron ore to
supply the German war machine.
◦ Soviet armies suffered enormous
losses in the first months. By
October, 1941, German troops were
only 50 miles from Moscow. The
Russian civilians were suffering
hardships.
◦ The Soviet defense.
 As the Soviet troops withdrew, crops were
burned in the fields & equipment was
destroyed. These “scorched earth” tactics
left no food or supplies for the advancing
Germans.
 Autumn rains & winter snow slowed the
Germans. Obviously, blitzkrieg tactics were
not effective on muddy, snowy roads. The
Soviets were ready for winter, while the
Germans were not.
 Soldiers suffered 30 degree below zero weather in
summer uniforms.
 Tanks and Trucks could not start in the cold.
 Even another offensive would not be
successful. The Soviet victory marked
the turning point for Eastern Europe in
the war. Germany surrendered
Stalingrad in 1943.

Lend-Lease: In March, 1941, the
U.S. Congress passed the LendLease Act which allowed
President Roosevelt to sell, lease,
or lend military equipment to
nations whose defense was vital
to American security. This
applied to Britain & China, and
was extended to the U.S.S.R.

Fighting in North Africa.
Mussolini sought control over the
Mediterranean, while Hitler
expanded westward in Europe.
◦ In the fall of 1940, Italian forces
from Libya invaded Egypt.
 to capture the Suez Canal.
 To open the way to the oil fields of the
Middle East.
◦ Forces were led by German Field
Marshall Erwin Rommel whose clever
tactics earned him the nick name the
“Desert Fox”.
◦ The British forces were led by Field
Marshal Bernard Montgomery; they
blocked Rommel’s advance toward
Egypt. At El Alamein (ell ah-lahMAYN), Britain had their first major
victory of the war.
◦ The U.S. meanwhile had entered the
war after the attack at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii on December 7, 1941. In
November, 1942, Allied troops were
under the command of General
Dwight D. Eisenhower. They began
in French Morocco and Algeria.
Rommel’s armies became trapped
between the two Allied armies. By
May, 1943, the Allies held North
Africa.

Europe under Hitler.
◦ A New Order was imposed. Despite
the Allied victories in Africa &
Eastern Europe, most of Europe was
firmly under Nazi control.
 Over this Reich, Hitler planned to extend
a New Order in which all of Europe would
serve the German “master-race” idea of
Aryan superiority.
 These racial policies called for
enslavement or extermination of all
inferiors. The non-Aryans were not only
the Jews, but Slavs (mostly Poles &
Russians).
 These policies were administered by
Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s police chief.
◦ Persecution begins in Poland-When
Poland fell in 1939, both the Soviets
& the Nazis terrorized the Poles.
 Soviets transported over 1 million from
eastern Poland to labor camps and
concentration camps in the U.S.S.R.,
especially the upper class. 4,000 officers
were massacred.
 In Western Poland, concentration camps
were built and many Poles were relocated
here.
◦ Conquered lands are exploited by
Germany. (France, U.S.S.R,
Czechoslovakia, & Rumania) Food,
resources, labor, and art were taken
by the Germans. About 7 million
were sent to forced labor camps.
◦ European Jews faced the Holocaustremember, wiping out the Jews was
one of Hitler’s major goals.
 Genocide-considered the final solution to
the Jewish problem; the systematic
murder of an entire people.
 Jews were rounded up, loaded into sealed cattle
cars, & shipped to death camps. Remember
Anne Frank.
 Those who were used in labor were of a prime
age; the very young and old were killed first.
 Many were herded into gas chambers.
 Others were beaten and starved.
 Some were victims of cruel medical
experiments.
 6 million Jews died; about 1.5 million children.
 Most notorious death camp was
Auschwitz (OUSH-vitz) in Poland. Here
alone, 3-4 million died. In charge here
was Rudolf Hoess, who was later tried for
crimes against humanity and executed.
◦ Resistance movements; some occurred
in each German-occupied country.
Some aided the Allies. Some led
strikes. Others sabotaged plants
making German war equipment.
 They symbol of resistance became the “V”
for the Victory sign.
 These people took great risk. For every
German soldier killed, many other civilian
hostages were executed.
 Governments in exile were established; for
example, the Free French, led by General
Charles de Gaulle (de GOHL).
While war was raging in Europe, another
arena caught the attention of the world.
This Pacific theater would bring the United
States directly into the war.
WAR BREAKS OUT IN
THE PACIFIC.
◦ Japan expands in southeastern Asia.
 Occupation of British, French, & Dutch
colonial possessions in Asia & the Pacific.
These nations’ involvement in World War
II in Europe left these areas undefended.
Japan already had control of Korea,
Manchuria, & parts of China for oil,
rubber, tin, & rice. This was very
important to feed their people on the
island. The United States would have
been capable in 1940 to stop Japanese
expansion. The Japanese feared this and
thus worried.
 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: December 7,
1941
 Reasons for Japan’s actions:
 The U.S. passed an embargo, which limited trade &
banned the export of war material.
 Japan resented the Russo-Japanese War settlement;
unhappy because they had to remove their troops
from Manchuria. This settlement, the Treaty of
Portsmouth, had been orchestrated by Theodore
Roosevelt.
 They disliked the U.S. immigration policy because it
excluded Orientals. Earlier in 1941, the U.S. Congress
passed an act providing for the refusal of visas to
aliens whose presence in the U.S. would endanger
public safety. For those Japanese living in America,
they were herded into internment camps.
 Japan also wanted to cripple American naval bases, as
well as the United States’ power to interfere in Asia.
 The attack came on Sunday, December 7, 1941,
at 7:55 a.m. Before this, the U.S. & Japan had
been negotiating to improve relations. Nothing
came from these talks, though, and many
expected war. Japan had talked of an attack.
However, Americans were taken by complete
surprise. That morning, the radar picked up the
Japanese bombers headed toward the base in
the Hawaiian Islands, but thought they were
American planes. No alert was sounded, thus,
destruction came.
 The fleet was destroyed. American losses: 8
battleships & 10 other naval vessels were sunk
or badly damaged; about 200 aircraft were
destroyed; about 3,000 naval & military
personnel were killed or wounded. Over 1,000
were entombed in the USS Arizona when it
exploded and sank. Japan's losses: 29 planes,
45 pilots, 1 submarine, & 5 midget subs.
 This resulted the U.S. entering the war. On
December 8, the U.S. and Great Britain declared
war on Japan; 3 days later, Germany & Italy
declared war on the United States.
 Japan continues its conquests in Asia.
Japan had more victories after Pearl
Harbor, and by early 1942, claimed these
possessions.






The Philippines-an American possession.
Burma-British
Singapore-British
Dutch East Indies
Japan also had plans to capture New Guinea
and Australia.
◦ U.S. regains strength.
 Battle of the Coral Sea-In May, 1942,
American & Japanese clashed here. After
this defeat, Japan made some plan changes.
 Battle of Midway-June 4-7, 1942: Japan
suffered its most serious defeat at Midway
Island, 1,135 miles northwest of Pearl
Harbor. Japan lost their 4 best aircraft
carriers along with the planes on deck and
many pilots. Despite the loss of the carrier
Yorktown, the U.S. regained naval
superiority. The tide was now turning; the
Allies would now be more aggressive.

The Allies are Victorious.
◦ The Allied Offensive Becomes
Aggressive.
 The Invasion of Italy-By occupying North
Africa, the Allies were in a good position to
invade Italy.
 July, 1943-British & American troops landed on the
island of Sicily.
 July, 1943-Mussolini was overthrown. Fascism
collapsed after 20 years. Mussolini was now
powerless, but somewhat popular still. He later
died on April 28, 1945, telling his family goodbye,
then going into hiding with his long-time mistress
Clara Petacci. A partisan communist leader found
their hiding place in a farmhouse up in the
mountains of Italy. He wanted to put down any
fascist, especially Mussolini. Both were shot dead.
 September, 1943-Allies landed on the mainland
and the new Italian government surrendered.
There was still stiff German resistance.
 The Allies took Rome in June, 1944.
 Northern Italy was finally taken in early 1945.
 The invasion of Nazi-occupied France.
After much preparation, “Operation
Overlord” was ready for action.
 Before Normandy, the first conference of the Big
Three occurred in Tehran, Iran (November,
1943) to coordinate military plans &
agreements about the future of Europe.
(Roosevelt, Churchill, & Stalin) Another
meeting was at Yalta on the Black Sea to
discuss Asia.
 Allied forces were led by General Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
 June 6, 1944; D-day: the day of the landing on
the beaches of Normandy.
 The Allies (approximately 120,000 forces of
mostly American, British, Canadian, & Free
French) crossed the English Channel.
 Thousands of ships & planes were coordinated
for this. This caught the Germans by surprise.
On some beaches, soldiers struggled through
4 feet waves in the face of fierce German
gunfire.
 Allied control of the air was crucial to the
invasion’s success by bringing in more soldiers
& supplies.
 Less than a month after D-day, a million
soldiers were in France.
 August 25, 1944-Paris was liberated & the Allies
were advancing toward Germany. Southern
France was later liberated in September when
the Allies invaded Dijou in Operation Dragoon.
 The last German attack. By autumn,
1944, Germany’s cause seemed
hopeless. Germany was under heavy
Allied bombing.
 December, 1944-the Battle of the Bulge:
German troops and tanks attacked in the hilly
forests near Germany’s border with Belgium &
Luxembourg. Americans were outnumbered 5
to 1. Despite this, the German offensive was
halted by the Allies. The weather did not help
and Germany was short of gasoline.
 The Allies could now advance from both the east
and the west.
 April 21, 1945-Marshal Zhukov’s Soviet troops
reached Berlin.
 April 30, 1945-With Soviet troops so close,
Hitler apparently committed suicide. At the last
moment, he married long-time mistress Eva
Braun. The day before he died, he wrote a
farewell & his last testament. Eva took poison;
he shot her just to be sure, then probably shot
himself, but may have taken poison, however,
his body was never found.
 Germany surrendered-the end of the war in
Europe announced on May 8, 1945: V-E Day.
 The U.S. takes the offensive in the
Pacific-After the Battle of Midway. The
battle plan was island-hopping, seizing
only those islands that were in strategic
positions on the sea route to Japan.
 August, 1942-Japanese base at Guadalcanal in
the Solomon Islands was attacked by
Americans.
 August, 1942-Austrailian and other Allied troops
fought in New Guinea.
 Allied victory came to these islands-the Gilbert
Islands.
 The Marshall Islands.
 The Mariana Islands.
 Americans reclaimed the Philippine Islands.
Casualties ran high in the Pacific due to the fact
that the Japanese felt that surrender meant
dishonor. They would rather fight until they
died, rather than be taken prisoner. “Kamikaze”
attacks were common because pilots in planes
with bombs would crash into American ships on
purpose.
 Americans took Iwo Jima in early 1945. Taking
the island from the Japanese cost the lives of
6,800 and wounded 18,000. It took a month to
take the island. It took 4 days after the initial
landing to plant the American flag atop Mount
Suribuchi, where photographer Joe Rosenthal
caught the moment.
 Americans then took Okinawa, where casualties
were even higher: 12,500 Americans (35,500
were wounded), & 120,000 Japanese.
 The Potsdam Conference took place in July,
1945, after Germany’s surrender. Stalin,
Clement Atlee, the new prime minister, and
Harry Truman, who succeeded FDR, met to
discuss Japan. At this conference, they
demanded Japan’s surrender. A few days later,
President Truman decided to drop the first
atomic bomb. This was done to bring a quick
end to the war and avoid further casualties.
(The war was also fought in the scientific
laboratories; Germany was also experimenting
with an atomic bomb in 1939.)
 August 6, 1945-Hiroshima was bombed, bringing
horrible destruction: more than 80,000 were killed;
37,000 suffered severe injuries. Others later died from
the effects of the radiation released by the explosion.
The bomb weighed 9,000 pounds and was as powerful
as 12,500 tons of TNT. It exploded within 100 feet of
the target and was dropped from the plane, “Enola Gay.”
It sent a fireball 18,000 feet across the sky. The
temperature at the center of the fireball was as hot as
the surface of the sun. People became nothing. Within
the first nine seconds of the drop, many disintegrated
into ash. Half of the doctors were killed. Devastation
covered a 4 square mile area. The light from the bomb
created permanent shadows on wood & stone of flowers
& men. They disappeared but their shadows remained.
Those who survived had patterns on their skin; later,
they lost their hair. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist
who had worked on the bomb, came to regret his work.
 August 8, 1945-the Soviet Union declared war
on Japan & invaded Manchuria.
 August 9, 1945-because Japan had not
surrendered, a second atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki. Shortly after this, peace
came.
 August 15, 1945-Emperor Hirohito announced
the Japanese surrender: V-J Day.
 September 2, 1945-officials of Japan and U.S.
General Douglas MacArthur signed the
document of Japanese surrender aboard the
USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
◦ Results of World War II-57 nations
had become engaged in this struggle
that created an armed forces
exceeding 90 million. There is an
old saying: “In peace, sons bury
their fathers; in war, fathers bury
their sons.” World War II destroyed
3 times as many lives and 10 times
as much wealth, and was longer
than World War I.
 The Allies take control in both Germany
& Japan.
 The U.S. occupied Japan; however, the
Japanese Imperial government was allowed to
run the country.
 In Germany, the U.S., Britain, France, and the
Soviet Union established zones of occupation.
 Destruction left by the war.
 Around 50 million people died. (U.S.-407,000
deaths)
 Civilians suffered; many became homeless.
This war that had been orchestrated by a few
was paid for by many.
 10 million died in the Nazi concentration camps,
including 6 million Jewish people.
 There were vast areas of destruction. Cities,
farms (livestock), factories, bridges, railway
systems, waterways, harbors, coal mines, etc.
were destroyed. The world had to rebuild.
 Military expenditures and property damage
totaled 1500 billion dollars.
 War trials-The Nazi leaders and the
Japanese commanders responsible for
the destruction were arrested and tried
for “crimes against humanity.” The most
famous trial was in Nuremburg, Germany
(November, 1945) where the world
learned of the horrors of the Holocaustthe genocidal destruction of Jews by Nazi
Germany.
World War II had been the longest war
yet, from September 1939 through August
1945. Even before the war ended, leaders
of the Allied nations began to make plans
for the postwar world. One of their goals
was the creation of a peacekeeping
organization. By 1945, the United Nations
would be established.
The United States and The Soviet Union
emerged as the world’s most powerful
nations. Rivalries between these two
superpowers created an atmosphere of
tension that became known as the Cold War.
The U.S.S.R. established several Sovietbacked Communist governments in Eastern
Europe. In response, the U.S. developed
policies designed to control the spread of
communism in the world. Each formed
defensive alliances and began to build up
weapons. At the same time, both desired
ways to cut down the risk of actual war.