WWII & End
of European
World Order
Ch. 30
Pg.709-721
Old & New Causes
Economic disaster creates the right
conditions for fascist & militarist groups to
gain power
 Prospect of united China threatened
Japanese imperialism ambitions
 Fascist nationalistic ambition fueled
expansion & intervention against liberal
republics



Uniting German-speakers, Spanish civil war
Inability of international organizations &
Western powers to stop aggression
Unchecked Aggression
Local conflict raged long before official
start to war in 1939
 Japan:



Efforts to control Manchuria → then China
through brutal bombardment of coastal cities
Germany:

Rearms & gains control of German-speakers
in Central Europe; divides remaining states
with USSR – all w/o strong Western reaction
↳ WWII begins w/ invasion of Poland
Conduct of WWII
Nazi Blitzkrieg
Lightning war of air force & tanks rapidly
gained control of much of Europe &
Mediterranean
 Western campaign stagnates with Battle of
Britain
 Germany turns eastward to capture Soviet
industries & natural resources


USSR incurred heavy losses but repelled
Germans starting long slow retreat
The Holocaust

12 million undesirables exterminated
6 million Jews
 Others included homosexuals, gypsies, Polish
intellectuals, political opponents


Characterized by persecution, forced labor,
inhumane medical experiments

“Final solution” intensified w/ mounting battle
losses
End of Reich
U.S. supported allied cause long before
entering war
 Once in the war, U.S. provided key forces
 German shift to the east gives western
allies space to launch offensive

N. Af → Italy
 D-Day invasion of Normandy beaches →
Battle of Bulge
 Allied victory inevitable

Japan & Pacific Theater
After China, Japan captured SE Asia &
European colonial possessions for raw
materials, oil, food stuffs
 1941 – Pearl Harbor attack draws U.S.
into war

U.S. initially engaged in “island-hopping”
pushing Japan from outer island fortresses
 U.S. later strikes at core (Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
Tokyo)


1945 – Atomic bombs brought dramatic
end to war
WWII Ends…
Superpower Standoff Begins

Germany & Japan forced to accept
unconditional surrender (although Japan
maintains emperor)


Sought to avoid vengefulness of WWI
United Nations created international
diplomacy rather than one dominated by West

Labor protection, famine relief, women’s rights,
environmental protection, peacekeeping
Cold War

Tension b/t 1945 & 1990, but no direct conflicts
b/t emerging Soviet & U.S. superpowers
Tensions rise at a series of conferences as USSR
sought to maximize gains vs. West
 Yalta
 Potsdam
 Korea divided into 2 zones—US & Soviet occupied
 Colonies restored to European control, but nearly
immediate decolonization heightened Cold War
politics as each colony gets independence
