Chapter 27
The Deepening
European
Crisis:
World War II
Adolf Hitler
salutes
soldiers
marching in
Nuremberg
during the
party rally
in 1938.
p. 849
Chronology, p. 857
• WWII was largely made possible by the failure of Britain &
France to strongly oppose flagrant German violations of the
Versailles Treaty
• Lebensraum – maintained that a nation’s power depended on
the amount and kind of land it occupied.
• Hitler wanted to acquire Russian territory because he
believed that the Slavs were an “inferior” people now
governed by impotent Jews among the Bolsheviks and
worthy of enslavement.
• For Hitler to achieve his goals – his basic plan of racial
supremacy & empire over “inferior” peoples was MOST
critical.
Prelude to War

The “Diplomatic Revolution” (1933-1937)

Hitler becomes chancellor, January 30, 1933


Slow rearmament
Repudiation of disarmament clauses of Versailles Peace
Treaty, 1935





France & Britain condemned Germany & warned against future
aggression
Britain signs the Anglo-German Naval Pact later in the year, acquiescing
to Hitler's growing military might
The British begin to “appease” Hitler
Troops into the demilitarized Rhineland, March 7,
1936 – 1st act of aggression
New Allies


Rome-Berlin Axis, October 1936
Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan,
November 1936
The Path to War (1938-1939)


Annexation of Austria, March 13, 1938
Demand the cession of the Sudetenland, September 15, 1938

Munich Conference, September 29, 1938







Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940)
 Appeasement – belief that if European states, satisfied the
reasonable demand of dissatisfied powers, the latter would be
content, and stability and peace would be achieved in Europe.
MARCH 17, 1939: HITLER INVADES the rest of Czechoslovakia
Hitler demands Danzig
 British offer to protect Poland
Non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, August 23, 1939
Invasion of Poland, September 1, 1939


Mussolini of Italy, Hitler of Germany, Chamberlain of England, Daldier of France made
all the decisions at the meeting.
Who was missing from the meeting?
BLITZKRIEG – Lightening War.
Britain and France declare war on Germany, September 3, 1939



Followed by the Phony War (6 months of waiting for Germans to attack them!)
April – June, 1940 – Germany captured Norway, Belgium the Netherlands,
& France
After Dunkirk – France soon surrendered & the Vichy gov’t was set up as a
German puppet state
Rhineland
Munich Conference
By threatening to invade Austria, Hitler forced the Austrian government to capitulate to his wishes. Austria was annexed to
Germany. Shown here is the triumphal arrival of Hitler in Vienna on March 13, 1938. Sitting in the car beside Hitler is
Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Hitler’s new handpicked governor of Austria.
p. 853
Hitler Declares War.
Adolf Hitler believed that
it was necessary for
Germany to gain living
space through conquest
in the east. This policy
meant war. Hitler’s
nonaggression pact with
the Soviet Union on
August 23, 1939, paved
the way for his invasion
of Poland on September
1. On that day, Hitler
spoke to the German
Reichstag and
announced the outbreak
of war.
p. 856
Non-aggression
pact
Evacuation of Dunkirk
Changes in Central Europe,
1936–1939.
Hitler’s main objectives in
the late 1930s were the
reoccupation of the
Rhineland, incorporation
into a greater Germany of
lands that contained
German people (Austria
and the Sudetenland), and
the acquisition of
Lebensraum (living space)
in eastern Europe for the
expansion of the German
people.
Q What aspects of
Czechoslovakia’s location
would have made it difficult
for France and Britain to
come directly to its aid in
1938?
Map 27-1, p. 854
Winston Churchill



May 1940 – Chamberlain lost election and the new Prime
Minister was Winston Churchill
Hitler’s plan for defeating Britain relied on the Luftwaffe gaining
control of the skies
Thus started the Battle of Britain
The Path to War in Asia

Japanese Empire



Korea, Formosa, Manchuria, and the
Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana islands
1931 Japan seized Manchuria
1937 Japan invades China



Chiang Kai-shek - leader of the Nationalists in
China
Mao Tse-tung (Zedong) – leader of the
Communists in China
Chief among the reasons for Japanese expansion in the 1930s
were:


An expanding population
Severe lack of natural resources on the island nation
World War II in Asia and the Pacific
World War II in Asia and the Pacific
1. The population of Japan had exploded from 30 million in 1870 to 80 million in 1937. The ability to feed the people and purchase
raw materials depended on the manufacturing of industrial goods and textiles. When Western nations hit by the depression sought
to protect their economies by erecting tariff barriers, Japan's economy was devastated. This, in turn, affected democratic growth.
2. Patriotic societies allied with the army and navy to push for expansion at the expense of China and Russia. The navy especially
cast its eyes on oil rich British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
3. Japan had controlled Manchuria (Manchuko) since its victory over Russia in 1905. Chinese nationalism, however, threatened
Japan's warlord puppets. In response, junior army officers in 1931 blew up the tracks of a Japanese owned railroad at Mukden.
Citing the need for self-defense, Manchuria was occupied. The following year, Japan proclaimed Manchuko an independent state
with a Manchu puppet as emperor. Manchuria's valuable raw materials had been guaranteed. When the League of Nations
condemned Japan in 1933, it withdrew from the League. In July 1937 Japan invaded northern China. Two years later, from May
to September 1939, an undeclared war was fought with the Russians on the Mongolian border.
4. Following the German defeat of France in June 1940, Japanese troops pushed into northern French Indochina. By July 1941
the occupation was completed when southern Indochina was seized. The United States responded by cutting off supplies of vital
scrap iron and oil to Japan. This action led the army to press for the occupation of the oil rich Dutch East Indies and Malaya.
However, the military leaders feared this would provoke the United States. Therefore, a preemptive strike was determined. On
December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This was quickly followed in succession by the capture of Singapore, the
Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and northern Burma between February and May 1942.
5. The tide of battle turned on May 7-8, 1942, at the battle of the Coral Sea when naval and air power stopped the Japanese
advance and also relieved Australia from the pressure of Japan. The following month Japanese hopes of annihilating the rest of
the American Pacific fleet were dashed at the battle of Midway in which Japan lost four aircraft carriers. At this point the war
became a defensive one for the Japanese. The Americans initiated two island hoping campaigns. The first sought the recapture of
the Philippines which was accomplished by June 1945. The second struck out across the South Pacific beginning at the Gilbert
Islands (Tarawa, November 1943). The two offensives converged at Okinawa in April 1945. From Okinawa American bombers
could strike Japan.
Question:
1. Why did Japan need an economic hegemony over Asia?
A Japanese Victory
March in China.
After consolidating its
authority over Manchuria,
Japan began to expand
into northern China.
Direct hostilities between
Japanese and Chinese
forces began in 1937.
This photograph shows a
Japanese victory march in
Shanghai at the beginning
of December 1937. By
1939, Japan had
conquered most of eastern
China.
p. 857
The Course to World War II



Blitzkrieg (lightening war)
Poland divided on September 28, 1939
Victory and Stalemate






“Phony War”, winter 1939-1940
Germany resumes offensive, April 9, 1939, against Denmark
and Norway
Attack on Netherlands, Belgium, and France, May 10, 1940
Evacuation of Dunkirk
Surrender of France, June 22, 1940
Vichy France


Battle of Britain, August-September 1940



Marshal Henri Pétain (1856-1951)
German Luftwaffe
German Mediterranean strategy
Germany invades the Soviet Union, June 22, 1941
German Troops in the
Soviet Union
At first, the German attack
on the Soviet Union was
enormously successful,
leading one German
general to remark in his
diary: ‘‘It is probably no
overstatement to say that
the Russian campaign has
been won in the space of
two weeks.’’
This picture shows
German troops firing on
Soviet positions.
p. 859
The War in Asia



After Japan took French Indochina, the U.S. issued an embargo on
Japan – blocking the sale of scrape Iron, Aviation fuel, & oil
Japan responds w/ plans to attack…..
Pearl Harbor
 Assault on the Philippines



Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Attacks galvanized American opinion in support for war
The GRAND ALLIANCE: USA, Gr. Br., & USSR

Americans plan on fighting in Germany first then turning its great naval
war machine against Japan
World War II in
Asia and the
Pacific.
In 1937, Japan
invaded
northern China,
beginning its
effort to create
a ‘‘Great East
Asia CoProsperity
Sphere.’’
Further
expansion
caused the
United States to
end iron and oil
sales to Japan.
Deciding that
war with the
United States
was inevitable,
Japan
engineered a
surprise attack
on Pearl
Harbor.
Q Why was
control of the
islands in the
western Pacific of
great importance
both to the
Japanese and to
the Allies?
Map 27-3, p. 861
Turning Point of War, 1942-1943


Europe
The Grand Alliance (USA, Gr. Br., & USSR – the Big Three)

Defeat of Germany the first priority





Argument- Hitler’s defeat was inevitable b/c of immediately
declaring war on the U.S. after the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor
Military aid to Russia and Britain (Lend-Lease)
Allies ignore political differences
Agree on unconditional surrender (I’ll tell you abt. this)
German success in 1942 in Africa and Soviet Union

Allies invade North Africa, November 1942, victory in May 1943


Battle of Stalingrad, November 1942-February 1943




Turning point --- British victory at El Alamein
Hitler realized he could not defeat the Soviet Union
U.S. invades Italy – liberates Rome June 4, 1944
U.S. invades Normandy – June 6, 1944
Battle of the Bulge – Dec. 1944 – Nazi Germany's last
offensive of the war.
The Battle of Stalingrad.
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point on the Eastern Front. Shown in the first illustration is a German infantry platoon in the ruins of
a tractor factory they had captured in the northern part of Stalingrad. This victory took place on October 15, 1942, at a time when Hitler still
believed he was winning the battle for Stalingrad. That belief was soon dashed as a Soviet counteroffensive in November led to a total defeat for
the Germans. The second illustration shows thousands of captured soldiers being marched across frozen Soviet soil to prison camps. The soldiers
in white fur hats are Romanian. Fewer than 6,000 captured soldiers survived to go home; the remainder—almost 85,000 prisoners—died in
captivity.
p. 862
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point on the Eastern Front. Shown in the first illustration is a German infantry
platoon in the ruins of a tractor factory they had captured in the northern part of Stalingrad. This victory took place on
October 15, 1942, at a time when Hitler still believed he was winning the battle for Stalingrad. That belief was soon dashed as
a Soviet counteroffensive in November led to a total defeat for the Germans. The second illustration shows thousands of
captured soldiers being marched across frozen Soviet soil to prison camps. The soldiers in white fur hats are Romanian.
Fewer than 6,000 captured soldiers survived to go home; the remainder—almost 85,000 prisoners—died in captivity.
p. 862

War in Asia


Battle of the Coral Sea, May 7-8, 1942
Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942 – considered
the turning point in the war and established
the U.S. naval supremacy in the area.
Last Years of the War

Invasion of Sicily, 1943
Invasion of Italy, September 1943
Rome falls June 4, 1944

D-Day invasion of France, June 6, 1944 (Second Front)


Five assault divisions landed on Normandy beaches
 Within three months, two million men landed
German surrender at Stalingrad, February 2, 1943
Tank Battle of Kursk, Soviet Union, July 5-12, 1943




Largest tank battle in history
World War II in Europe
and North Africa.
With its fast and
effective military,
Germany quickly
overwhelmed much
of western Europe.
Hitler had
overestimated his
country’s
capabilities,
however, and
underestimated those
of his foes.
By late 1942, his
invasion of the
Soviet Union was
failing, and the
United States had
become a major
factor in the war.
The Allies
successfully invaded
Italy in 1943 and
France in 1944.
Q Which countries were
neutral, and how did
geography help make
their neutrality an
option?
Map 27-2, p. 860
Last Years of the War (cont)

Russians enter Berlin, April 1945

Hitler’s suicide, April 30, 1945





Surrender of Germany, May 7, 1945
Death of President Franklin Roosevelt, April 12,
1945
Difficulty of invading the Japanese homeland

New President Harry Truman makes decision to use
the atomic bomb



Nazi’s never organized systematically or governed
efficiently despite German claims to the contrary.
Nazis were most ruthless in Eastern Europe
Afraid of losing more Americans in an invasion of
Japan
Surrender of Japan, August 14, 1945
Human losses in the war: 17 million military
dead, 18 million civilians dead
Crossing the Rhine.
After landing at Normandy, Allied forces liberated France and prepared to move into Germany. Makeshift bridges enabled the
Allies to cross the Rhine in some areas and advance deeper into Germany. Units of the U.S. Seventh Army of General Patch are
shown here crossing the Rhine at Worms on a pontoon bridge constructed by battalions of engineers alongside the ruins of the
old bridge.
p. 864
Chronology, p. 865
The Nazi New Order

The Nazi Empire

Nazi occupies Europe was organized in two ways




Racial considerations
Resettlement plans of the East



Some areas annexed and made into German provinces
Most areas were occupied and administered by Germans
Poles were uprooted and moved
2 million ethnic Germans settled Poland, 1942
Need for labor
The Holocaust: Activities of the
Einsatzgruppen.
The activities of the mobile
killing units known as the
Einsatzgruppen were the first
stage in the mass killings of
the Holocaust.
This picture shows the
execution of a Jew by a
member of one of these SS
killing squads. Onlookers
include members of the
German army, the German
Labor Service, and even Hitler
Youth.
When it became apparent that
this method of killing was
inefficient, it was replaced by
the death camps.
p. 868
Salomon
Perel/Josef
Peters
Marco
Hofschneider
as a Hitler
Youth
member.
p. 869
Resistance Movements

Charles de Gaulle



Free French movement,
Josip Broz Tito
In Germany



The White Rose movement
Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg
Stauffenberg assassination attempt

Five thousand executions
The Holocaust.
Hitler used the fiction of the
Aryan race, to which Germans
supposedly belonged, to help
radicalize the German people
and justify his hatred of Jews.
Hitler’s ‘‘Final Solution’’ to the
‘‘Jewish problem’’ was the
mass execution of Europe’s
Jews in death camps.
Q Which region lost the
largest number of Jews in the
camps, and what helps
explain this?
Map 27-4, p. 870
The Holocaust


First focused on emigration
The Final Solution



Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942)
Einsatzgrupen
Death camps

In operation by the spring of 1942






Shipments of Jews from Poland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in
1942
Shipments from Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Greece, southern France, Italy,
and Denmark
Zyklon B (hydrogen cyanide)
Auschwitz
Death of 2 out of 3 European Jews
The Other Holocaust


Death of 9 - 10 million people beyond the 5 - 6 million Jews
40 percent of European Gypsies
The Extermination Camp at Auschwitz.
After his initial successes in the east, Hitler set in motion the machinery for the physical annihilation of Europe’s Jews.
Shown here is a group of Hungarian Jews arriving at Auschwitz. Hungarian Jews were not rounded up and shipped to the
death camps until 1944, at the time when the Allies were making significant advances in the war. In fact, between May 2 and
July 9, 1944, more than 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz.
p. 871
The New Order in Asia

Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere


“Asia for the Asians”
Japanese Occupation




Conquest of Nanjing
“Comfort women”
800,000 Korean forced laborers
Burma-Thailand Railroads
The Mobilization of Peoples

Great Britain





55 percent of the people were in ‘‘war work”
By 1944, women held 50 percent of the civil service
positions
Dig for Victory
Emphasis on a planned economy
The Soviet Union
 Enormous losses, 2 of every 5 killed in
World War II were Russians
 Siege of Leningrad
 Factories moved to the interior
Women in the Factories.
Although only the Soviet Union used women in combat positions, the number of women working in industry increased
dramatically in most belligerent countries.
British women are shown here in a British munitions factory during World War II, probably in 1943.
p. 873
The Mobilization of Peoples (cont)

The United States


Slow mobilization until mid-1943
Social problems




Japanese Americans
Germany





African-Americans
Detroit, June 1943
Continued production of consumer goods first two years of
the war
Blitzkrieg and then plunder conquered countries
Albert Speer and armaments production
Total mobilization of the economy, 1944
Japan



Highly mobilized society
Bushido
Kamikaze
Civilians on the Front Line: The
Bombing of Cities



Bombing civilians
Luftwaffe begin the Blitz in Britain
Allies begin bombing raids on German cities
under Arthur Harris





Cologne, Germany
Americans daytime bombing
Hamburg; Dresden
Success or failure of bombing raids
Atomic bomb


Hiroshima, August 6, 1945
Nagasaki, August 9, 1945
Images of Everyday life --- read page 878
p. 878
p. 878
p. 878
The Victorious Allied Leaders at Yalta.
Even before World War II ended, the leaders of the Big Three of the Grand Alliance, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin (seated,
left to right), met in wartime conferences to plan the final assault on Germany and negotiate the outlines of the postwar
settlement. At the Yalta meeting (February 5–11, 1945), the three leaders concentrated on postwar issues. The American
president, who died two months later, was already a worn-out man at Yalta.
p. 880
Aftermath: The Emergence of the Cold War

The Conferences at Teheran, Yalta, and Potsdam

Conference at Tehran, November 1943



Conference at Yalta, February 1945






“Declaration on Liberated Europe”
Soviet military assistance for the war against Japan
Creation of a United Nations
German unconditional surrender
Free elections in Eastern Europe
Conference at Potsdam, July 1945



Future course of the war, invasion of the continent for 1944
Agreement for the partition of postwar Germany
Truman replaces Roosevelt
Growing problems between the Allies
Winston Churchill proclaims in March 1946 the existence
of “an iron curtain” across the continent of Europe
Territorial
Changes After
World War II.
In the last
months of
World War II,
the Red Army
occupied much
of eastern
Europe. Stalin
sought proSoviet satellite
states in the
region as a
buffer against
future invasions
from western
Europe,
whereas Britain
and the United
States wanted
democratically
elected
governments.
Soviet military
control of the
territory settled
the question.
Q Which
country gained
the greatest
territory at the
expense of
Germany?
Map 27-5, p. 881
Timeline, p. 883
Discussion Questions






What steps did Hitler take to conquer England?
Why did Hitler abandon the fight for England and turn
toward Russia?
What seemed to have been the causes of Soviet
suspicions about Britain and the US throughout the
war? Give examples.
What were “kamikaze” pilots? What do they mean by
“Divine Wind”?
How were conquered or occupied peoples treated by
the Germans during the war? Give examples.
How did each country mobilize the home front for the
war effort?