World War II
Vocabulary
• Appeasement – A policy where you meet the
demands of an aggressor in order to preserve
peace.
• Aggression – A policy that means you launch
attacks on other countries.
• Dictator – A person that has total control over
the people
VOCABULARY
• Fascism – A form of government that stresses
the nation above the individual.
• Genocide – The deliberate destruction of a
group of people.
• Propaganda – Planned spread of certain
beliefs.
Causes of WWIi
• There were many causes to WWII. You should
begin to notice a pattern within the causes.
Many of these causes go back to issues
connected with WWI. These unresolved issues
or conditions of the Treaty of Versailles bring
about WWII.
Causes of WWIi
• All of the countries were afraid to enforce the
Treaty of Versailles.
Causes of WWIi
• Germany was forced to accept the blame.
• This made Germany feel angry, bitter, and to
have a lot of resentment toward the other
countries, especially those that had defeated
them in WWI.
Causes of WWIi
• Economic Depression around the world.
• Germany was hit especially hard because they
were also being forced to pay reparations for
damages done during WWI.
Causes of WWIi
• Feelings of Desertion –
No Jobs, No food, No Homes, No Businesses
Causes of WWIi
• Some countries turn to dictators
• Dictators promised to change things in the
country to improve the lives of the citizens.
Causes of WWIi
• Nationalism- Many people still experienced
pride in their country. Many dictators played
to the nationalism and used it to get the
public on their side. Nationalism allowed
fascist governments to come to power.
Causes of WWIi
• Militarism – The countries started to gather a
collection of weapons
U Boat – Can attack from a great
distance, quiet, untraceable.
Tanks – Heavier, Germans had
radios installed for communication
purposes.
* Germany goes from 57 to 1,100
in 6 years. This causes Great Britain
to become concerned.
Turret – Mounted Machine Gun on
Tanks. It can shoot all around the
tank while shooter stays covered.
Causes of WWIi
Fighter Aircraft – Small and fast
planes that are easy to maneuver.
*The countries that controlled the
sky would win the war.
Blitzkrieg – “Lightening War” Very Big and
Very Sudden.
Causes of WWIi
• Alliances
Allies
Axis
Great Britain
Germany
Soviet Union
Italy
France, Poland,Canada
Japan
The United States stays neutral
until it is drawn into the war.
Then we joined the side of the
Allies.
Leaders of WWIi
• Allied Powers–
– Joseph Stalin – Soviet Union
– Winston Churchill – Great Britain
– Franklin Roosevelt – United States
• Axis Powers –
– Benito Mussolini – Italy (Dictator)
– Adolf Hitler – Germany (Dictator)
– Hirohito – Japan (Emperor)
The Beginnings of WWII
• Hitler takes over country
after country. Hitler had a
policy of aggression.
• He says that he is taking
over these countries to
unite the Germans.
• Great Britain and France
appease Hitler and allow
him to take over Austria.
He doesn’t stop there.
Next he takes over
Czechoslovakia.
The Beginnings of WWII
• If Hitler wanted to take over
Poland he would have to deal
with the Soviets. He makes a
deal that Germany and the
Soviet Union would divide up
Poland and not attack each
other.
• Hitler doesn’t want to split
Poland so he makes it look like
Poland attacked Germany and
then he invades Poland.
The Beginnings of WWII
• Great Britain and France send an ultimatum to
Hitler. War breaks out shortly after.
• Russia joins the side of the Allies since Hitler
broke his promise to Russia.
Allied Powers
Axis Powers
Neutral
Major Battles
• Pearl Harbor – 12/7/41
– The United States had remained neutral up to this
point.
– Japan attacks a U.S. Base in Hawaii
– The attack lasted less than 2 hours but damaged
21 ships and 300 airplanes. 2,500 people died as a
result of this attack.
– This would be the start of the war between the
United States and Japan.
Japanese
Internment Camps
• Americans were angry toward the Japanese because of
Pearl Harbor.
• Roosevelt responded to pressure from the public and
ordered all Japanese descent or relation to leave the
west coast and go to camps in other U.S. states.
• 50 years later Congress voted to give $20,000 to the
surviving Japanese Americans who had been in the
camps.
Major Battles
• Battle of Midway – 6/7/42
– Turning point in the war
– Midway islands were northwest of Hawaii
– Control of Midway would mean control over the
Pacific
– Japan lost many ships, aircraft carriers, and
aviators.
– The United States defeated Japan and gained
control over the Pacific.
Major Battles
• Battle of Normandy – 6/6/44
– Also known as D-Day
– Nazis vs. Allies
– Largest Seaborne invasion in history – 3 million
troops
– Air and Sea attack that lasted 2 Months
– Resulted in an Allied Victory
– Less than a year later the Germans surrendered.
Women in WWII
• For the most part women are not allowed to fight in
combat.
• Ways women helped the war effort:
– Worked in Defense plants and weapon factories
– Nurses or Non Combat Army positions
– WASP’s or other similar organizations. Women’s Air Force
Service Pilots towed targets for training. They also moved
aircrafts from factories to bases around the world.
– Near the end of the war, due to a heavy loss of men,
Great Britain drafted women but did not let them fight.
Russia did the same however, they did let them fight
U.S. Involvement
• Prior to getting involved in war we
allowed the Allied powers to buy
supplies from us.
• When we joined the war we were
the only big power left that could
stop Japan from taking over Asia.
• We produced 86,000
Tanks/297,000 Airplanes
• Our country took a leading
position in the war with U.S.
General, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
leading the D-Day attack and U.S.
General Douglas MacArthur’s
leadership in the Pacific.
Victory in Europe
• August 25th U.S. and French troops drive the Germans out of
Paris.
• The Soviets are advancing from the east pushing the Germans
out of the Soviet Union.
• The Allied forces began closing in on the Axis Powers.
• As they are closing in, Hitler gets married on April 29, 1945.
One day later he and his wife take their own lives.
• Eventually Berlin was surrounded and on May 7, 1945 the
Germans surrendered.
Victory in Japan
• While the U.S. was mobilizing to war
Japan took over more of Asia.
• General Douglas MacArthur was
giving the Japanese a lot of
resistance in the Philippine Islands,
however, the island surrendered
forcing the General out. MacArthur
promises to return and after a few
Allied victories and 2 years time he
makes it back to the Philippines to
defeat the Japanese. Japan fought
back with a new deadly weapon –
Kamikazes!
• The war against Japan raged on until
the United States decided to take
serious measures in the war.
The Atomic Bombs
• A top secret government program called
the Manhattan Project developed the
Atomic Bomb.
• New U.S. President Harry Truman (took
office after Roosevelt died) had to make the
decision of whether or not to drop the
bomb on Japan.
• He decided to use it and on August 6, 1945
the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on
Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb devastated the
city; however, Japan would not surrender.
• So on August 9, 1945 the U.S. dropped a
second Atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The
emperor convinced the government to
surrender.
• WWII was now over.
The Tragedies of War
• Death Toll – 40 to 50 million people were killed worldwide
• Refugees – Millions forced to leave their homes now flooded
Europe and China
• Atomic Bomb Effects – 100, 000 died instantly, others died
later and even more developed cancer and other diseases.
• Concentration Camps – Millions of people were put to
death or died under the horrible camp conditions.
Holocaust
• “The Final Solution”
• Concentration camps held people of a particular
ethnic group or people with particular religious or
political beliefs.
• Nazi Germany put millions of people, not just
Jews, to death in these camps. The Holocaust was
a genocide of people with different beliefs than
the Nazis.
• Forced work, little food, no medical attention,
research experiment subjects, and many other
terrible fates awaited those who were placed into
Concentration Camps.
New Beginnings
• United Nations- 1945
– International Peacekeeping Organization
– Headquarters in New York City
– Stronger Version of the League of Nations
– Eleanor Roosevelt was the United States Delegate
to the UN
New Beginnings
• Marshall Plan – 1948
– Secretary of State, George Marshall, and
President Truman worked to come up
with a plan to help the economy of
Europe.
– The United States sent $13 billion in aid
to Europe
– The plan was a success in Eastern
Europe. Western Europe was under
Soviet, Communist control and they
were forced to turn down the U.S. offer
of help.
WWII Toward The Cold War
• Following WWII the United States and Russia become rivals.
• Both wants to be the superpower
• We both have different government structures – Democracy vs.
Communism.
• These things create a lot of tension which gives this time period the name –
The Cold War.