WWII and the End of
the European World
Order
Causes of WWII
 Gradual militarization of Japan and imperialistic
tendencies (seized Manchuria in 1931 and proclaimed it
the independent state of Manchukuo)
 Nazi party in Germany gaining in success, Hitler’s policy
to dismantle the political system set up in Versailles
 Hitler’s success emboldened Mussolini to go on military
adventures of his own, i.e. Ethiopia
 Hitler and Mussolini realized that the western powers
weren’t going to do anything in defense of the small
states
Beginning of WWII
Japanese military actually moved first in 1937 to
launch an attack on China. By 1938 controlled
quite a large area
Japan had entered the war without coordination
of allies, Germany and Italy (only signed pact in
1940)
Germany had its eyes on the east
1939 non – aggression pact with Soviet Union
Sept. 1, 1939 invasion of Poland, Soviets then
take over eastern half of Poland
Nazi Blitzkrieg and Retreat
 Blitzkrieg “lightening war” rapid penetration of enemy territory
quickly overwhelmed the Poles, French, British.
 Weak French leadership. By 1940 Germans had north and central
France and set up puppet regime in Vichy
 Britain driven from continent but was able to fend off Germans in
London at Battle of Britain under the leadership of Winston Churchill
 Mid-1941 Germans controlled most of European continent- used
conquered nations for supplies, labor
 1941 drove Soviet forces out of central Europe and then moved onto
Soviet Union but winter stalled them. 1942 spring renewed attempt
on Soviets . Failure to capture Stalingrad in 1942 and 1943
 1943 Soviet armies went on the offensive and took back central
Europe
Holocaust: Hitler’s War Against the Jews
1942 final solution at
Wannsee conference
The more war turned
against Hitler, the more
he turned against the
Jews
12 million deaths (about
7-8 million Jews and 4
million others)
Intensified plight of
Zionists for place of
their own
End of European War
U.S. entered to counter German U-boat
attacks, then helped British fight Germans
in N. Africa
1944-45 Battle of the Bulge Allies
invading Germany from the East and
Soviets from the east
April 30, 1945- Hitler committed suicide
and two weeks later the military
surrendered
Rise and Fall of Japanese
Empire in the Pacific
Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack U.S. base at Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii
Japanese attacking colonial holdings in China
Battle of the Coral Sea 1942- Japan abandons
hope of taking over ports
Midway 1942 U.S. defeats Japan
March 1945 mass bombardment of vulnerable
Japanese cities
Japanese Americans Imprisoned
 Propaganda against Japanese- Americans
 Feb. 1942 internment program
 March Japanese-Americans sent to camps
(31,275 total in five years)
 Aug. 6 and 9
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki- U.S.
President Truman
drops the atomic
bomb on two cities
and Japanese
surrender
unconditionally
Facts about the Atomic Bomb in
Hiroshima
 Ground Temperatures
7000 degrees F.
 Hurricane Force Winds 980 mph
 Energy released
20,000 tons of TNT
 Buildings destroyed
62,000
 Killed immediately
70,000
 Dead by the end of 1945 140,000
 Total deaths related to the A-bomb 210,000
Allies and Axis Costs of WWII
Country
Military
Killed/missing
Civilians Killed
United States
292,131
-
Great Britain
271,311
60,595
France
205,707
173,260
USSR
13,600,000
7,720,000
Germany
3,300,000
2,893,000
Japan
1,140,429
953,000
Cold War: 1940s-1980s
 Arose over Allied Powers’ disagreement in
postwar settlement- who would get which
territory
 Tehran 1943- strategy to defeat Germany
 Yalta 1945- plan for governing postwar
Germany
 Potsdam 1945- division of Poland
Nationalism and Decolonization
WWII further destroyed the myth of white
superiority
Total war drained resources so Europeans
couldn’t hold on to colonies anymore
Atlantic Charter 1941- right to selfdetermination
Independence in South and
Southeast Asia
 WWII destroyed alliance between Indian
National Congress and Britain
 1947 India divided on religious lines- IndiaHindu and Pakistan – Muslim
 Sri Lanka and Burma later got independence
 Dutch and French pull out of Indonesia and
Vietnam
 Philippines given independence by U.S.
Liberation of Africa
 Western-educated individuals led
independence movements in Africa
(Nkrumah in Ghana)
 By mid-1960s the British, French,
Portuguese and Belgian nonsettler colonies
were free
Settler Colonies in Africa and S.
Africa
 Algeria, Kenya, Southern Rhodesiabloody fighting to get independence
 Only white minority in S. Africa able to
maintain power after 1980
 Apartheid
Arabs, Israelis, and Palestine
 Strains of nationalism conflicted in
Palestine
 Warfare over Palestine after WWII
 Zionists better armed, had world sympathy,
and expanded U.N. sanctioned territory