World War II
1939-1945
Bellringer: 3-15

1. Pick up the papers by the door.
 2. Add these page numbers to each paper. I will
have a new ToC page for you next class!
 126: Notes – Lead-up to WWII
 127: Notes – WWII
 128: Map Activity – WWII
 129: Battles of WWII
 3. Write down your HW:
 Study for your WWII vocab quiz NEXT CLASS
(Thurs. 3/17)
Do you agree or disagree?

It is impossible to prevent civilians from getting
hurt during war.

Both sides should actively protect civilians
from harm during war.

If civilians work for the war effort, they should
not expect to escape attack.

Civilians should never be deliberately attacked
during war.
Causes of World War II

1. Appeasement


Western countries gave in to Hitler’s
demands in order to keep peace
2. Isolationism and Pacifism in
Europe and U.S.

Concerned with domestic issues or
problems within country
3. Aggression is ignored (3
parts!)

A. Japan
1931 – Invades Manchuria
 1937 – Invades Eastern China


League of Nations condemns their actions
Aggression is ignored

B. Italy
1935 – Invades Ethiopia (Italy bitter after
losing battle with them in 1896)
 Ethiopian King, Haile Selassie, asks League
of Nations for help


League of Nations sanctioned Italy but
could not enforce it (punish it at all)
Aggression is ignored

C. Germany
Hitler builds up Army (against Treaty of
Versailles)
 1936 – sent troops to Rhineland (violation of
Treaty)


Germans hated the Treaty so they
supported Hitler’s actions
German Aggression




Nazis take Austria (1938)
 Anschluss = union of Austria & Germany
Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia taken over by the
Nazis
9/1938: Munich Conference - to establish “peace”
 Another example of appeasement
 Hitler = no further expansion
3/1939 – Germany invades all of Czechoslovakia
Anschluss
US Isolationism

Neutrality Acts

If you are a nation at war, the Neutrality Act
says the U.S…
Weapons and loans cannot be sold/given to you
 Americans = can’t sail on ships that belong to
countries at war


**Goal: not to prevent war, just stay out
of it**
1. Road to War

8/1939: Germany and
USSR sign Nazi-Soviet NonAggression pact


Agree to not attack each other
9/1/1939: Hitler invades Poland

Britain + France = declare war on Germany
Hitler declares war on Poland
speech
2. Early Gains

Poland = attacked!
By Germany from west
 By USSR from east


War strategy – “blitzkrieg” (lightning war)


Helped by Luftwaffe (Germany’s air force)
Soviets = taking over rest of Eastern
Europe
2. Early Gains (continued!)
4/9/1940: Blitzkrieg against Denmark and
Norway
 May/June 1940:German victory at
Dunkirk, Belgium
 6/22/1940: Germany forces France to
surrender = Two Frances exist now

1. Vichy France – led by Nazis
 2. Free France – led by Charles de Gaulle in
England

Nazi Forces in France

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=003i
C7VZmYc
3. Battle of Britain – Operation Sea
Lion
8/12/1940: Luftwaffe conducts air raids
 British RAF (Royal Air Force) counter
attack with new tool called RADAR
 German air raids die down, but continue
to cut off British shipping (starve them
out if not for U.S. entry)
 Result? BRITISH VICTORY in June
1941!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxsMWAEpHxU
Are they going on a long or short
journey? How can you tell?
http://www.adhb30.dsl.pipex.com/ww2-pic-009.jpg
4. Italy takes action

9/1940: Italy invades Libya and Egypt
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October 1940

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Italian forces take Greece and Yugoslavia
Bulgaria & Hungary join Axis Powers
5. German attack on Soviet Union
June 1941: Germany
invades Soviet Union
- Without warning!


Nazis stall in
Leningrad

2½ year siege with no advances
1. U.S. Entry into World War II



Lend-Lease Act (March 1941) - war
materials given to Great Britain
US bans sale of war materials to Japan
December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
2. US Declares War

Dec. 8, 1941: U.S. declares war on
Japan and (within days) Germany and
Italy, too

Turning point in WWII!

FDR’s Speech – clip

Video
Turning Points

1. U.S. entry into war

2. American and British forces begin to
take Europe via N. Africa, Southern Italy

3. Battle of Stalingrad

4. Battle of Midway in Pacific
2. Allied forces gain ground
 Between Nov. 1942- May 1943
 US General Eisenhower leads joint
command through N. Africa
 Germans surrender in May 1943
 Allies move into Italy
Turning Points

3. Battle of Stalingrad
Lasted 6 months
 Soviets trap and encircle German troops in
city
 2/2/1943: Germany and its troops surrender
(a new turning point)

Battle for Stalingrad
Turning Points
4. Battle of Midway
 Island Hopping – military strategy in
Pacific
 June 1942
 US forces destroy
4 Japanese carriers
 250 planes


Japan never went on the offensive again
1. Victory in Europe

“Operation Overlord” – invasion of
Northwest France

Operation Overlord starts on D-Day) or
6/6/1944 on beaches of Normandy

April 30, 1945 – Hitler commits suicide

5/8/1945 –V-E Day
Pictures of dead Mussolini
2. Conferences

Yalta – February
1945
Discussion to
divide up Europe
post-war
 U.S.S.R. agrees to
enter war against
Japan within 90
days of German
defeat

2. Conferences

Potsdam – July
1945
Planned for
occupation of
Germany
 Unconditional
surrender of
Japan

3. Victory in the Pacific

Atomic bombs are dropped
8/6/1945 = U.S. drops bomb on Hiroshima
 8/9/1945 = U.S. drops bomb on Nagasaki

8/8/1945 – Soviet Union declares war on
Japan
 9/2/1945: V-J Day (Japanese surrender)

4. War Casualties
 50+
million people were killed
(population of CA and NY
combined)
 More
civilians killed than military
personnel were killed
Atomic Bombs are dropped
http://youtu.be/jY9VwCE_Dsg
New note section!

The next section of your notes is
“Outcomes of WWII”.
Outcomes of WWII
 1.
Loss of empires by European powers
(decolonization)
 2. U.S. & U.S.S.R. = become
superpowers
 3. War Crimes Trials ( write that down)

24 war criminals, mostly leaders in the Nazi
Party, most imprisoned for life or sentenced to
death
4. Division of Europe, Iron Curtain
Outcomes of WWII

5. Establishment of the United Nations

6. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Established and adopted by members of the
United Nations

Provided a code of conduct for the treatment of
people under the protection of their government
Outcomes of WWII

7. Marshall Plan


US gives $13 Billion to help Europe recover
8. Formation of North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) and Warsaw Pact
Pink = Warsaw Pact
Green = NATO
9. Reconstruction

Germany
Democratic gov’t = West Germany
 Communist gov’t = East Germany


Japan
U.S. occupied (MacArthur)
 Democracy (new constitution)
 3.5 billion from U.S. to revive economy

The Holocaust
Genocide:
The systematic
and purposeful destruction
of a racial, political,
religious, or cultural group
The Holocaust
Elements leading to the Holocaust
 Totalitarianism combined with nationalism
 History of anti-Semitism
 Defeat in World War I and economic
depression blamed on German Jews
 Hitler’s belief in the master race
The Holocaust
Hitler used existing Anti-Semitism to
fuel his plan to rid Germany of anyone
not part of the Aryan race
 Final Solution was plan for extermination
of the Jewish race
 Auschwitz- famous Nazi death camp
 Over 11 million people were killed when
all was said and done

Warsaw Ghetto
Selection of Jews at ramp in
Auschwitz-II (Birkenau)
Auschwitz Death Camp
Auschwitz Death Camp
Romanian Children used for
medical experiments
Mass grave in Bergen-Belsen
Mass Grave in Ukraine
Soviet POW’s at Concentration
Camp