Teaching Notes WW1 and WW2
 Alliances before WW1:
 Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance (1882)
 France, Great Britain, and Russia formed the Triple Entente (1907)
 Crisis that happened tested these alliances, which in turn left European states angry at
each other—Eager for revenge.
 Militarism:
 Tensions were heightened because of the growth of mass armies, which meant that if a war
did happen it would be very destructive.
 Conscription- a military draft was established in most western countries before 1914 (except
for the US and Britain)-Because of this, European armies doubled in size.
 Russian army-1.3 million men. German and French army- 900,000 each British, AustrianHungarian, and Italian armies numbered between 250,000-500,000 each.
 WW1:
 The reason that WW1 happened could be a mix of a few things; nationalism, militarism, and
the European leader’s response to the Balkans crisis in the summer of 1914.
 Serbia:
 Supported by Russia in 1914
 Wanted to be an independent state in the Balkans.
 Black Hand- Serbian terrorist organization.
 They wanted Bosnia to be free of Austrian-Hungarian rule and to become part of the
Serbian kingdom.
 Gavrilo Princip (Bosnian Serb) assassinated the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his
wife who were the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.
 Emperor William II of Germany responded with a blank check-Austria-Hungary could rely
on Germany’s full support.
 July 28, 1914- Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
 Russia supported Serbia’s cause. Czar Nicholas II ordered partial mobilization against
Austria-Hungary. Then he ordered full mobilization on July 29.
 Mobilization-assembling troops and supplies and making them ready for war.
 Germany told Russia to back down, and to halt its mobilization in 12 hours, Russia
ignored this.
 Germany declared war on Russia on August 1st.
 German Plan:
 Schlieffen Plan- two-front war with France and Russia. Germany would conduct a small holding
against Russia while most of the German army would carry out a rapid invasion in France.
 Germany declared war on France August 3rd. They issued an ultimatum against Belgiumdemanding the right of German troops to pass through their territory.
 August 4th- Great Britain declared war on Germany for violating Belgium- concerned with
maintaining its own world power.
 By August 4, all great powers of Europe were at war.
 Propaganda:
 Influence the public opinion for or against a cause to stir up hatreds.
 First Battle of the Marne (September 6-10)
 French and Germans. Stalemate. Trench Warfare. The same position for four years.
 Battle of Tannenberg (August 30) Battle of Masurian Lakes (September 15)
 Russian defeat.
 Russians defeated Austria-Hungary’s armies in Galicia, and thrown out of Serbia.
Italians betrayed their alliance and attacked Austria. Italy joined France, Russia, and Great
Britain- now called allied powers.
 WW1 turned into a war of attrition: war based on wearing the other side down by constant
attacks and heavy losses.
 Airplanes:
 Began by the end of 1915.
 Zeppelins- German airships- bomb London and Eastern England.
 Ottoman Empire sided with Germany. Allies declared war on them.

 Entry of the U.S:
 Tried to remain neutral. Naval war between Great Britain and Germany.
 Lusitania sunk by Germany-Over 100 Americans on this ship.
 Germans continued to use unrestricted submarine warfare, believing the British would starve
out before Americans got involved. U.S entered war on April 1917.
 Became a total war- involving a complete mobilization of resources and people.
 Women:
 New roles for women: take over jobs that had not been available to them before; chimney sweeps,
truck drivers, farm laborers, factory workers.
 Gained new freedoms.
 Last Year of the War:
 Russian withdrawal.
 November 11, 1918: Germany government signed an armistice- a truce, agreement, to end the
fighting.
 The Peace Settlements:
 January 1919: representatives of 27 victorious Allied nations met in Paris.
 Woodrow Wilsons Proposals: Reduce military forces and weapons.
 Reparations- Germany to pay for the costs of the war, and a separate Rhineland as a buffer state
between France and Germany.
 Treaty of Versailles:
 Declared Germany and Austria were responsible for starting the war.
 Germany to pay reparations.
 Germany to reduce army to 100,000 men, cut back its navy, eliminate its air force. Alsace
and Lorraine were returned. Sections of Germany were awarded to a new Polish state,
demilitarized zone, stripped of all weapons and fortifications.
WW2
 League of Nations was Weak:
 U.S was not a member, which meant that it weakened the effectiveness.
 The Great Depression:
 Period of low economic activity and rising unemployment.
 Germany needed loans from US to pay reparations.
 US stock market crashed- withdrew funds from Germany and other European
markets, weakening banks in Europe.
 Communism became popular- Marxist belief. This made citizens follow leaders who offered
simple solutions.
 Weimar Republic:
 Created in Germany, Democratic state.
 Had no political leaders.
 Faced economic problems- inflation.
 Great Depression.
 France:
 After WW1 became strongest power on the European continent.
 French New Deal- collective bargaining- right of unions to negotiate with employers over wages
and hours.
 United States:
 FDR- New Deal- increased program of public works.
 Rise of Dictators:
 France and Great Britain were democratic. Italy, Soviet Union, Germany, and many other
states adopted dictatorial regimes.
 Totalitarian state-government that aims to control the political, economic, social,
intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens.
 Italy:
 Fascism: Benito Mussolini established the first European fascist movement.
 Glorifies the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central
government led by a doctorial ruler.
 Formed Black Shirts- attacked Socialist offices and newspapers, used violence.
 Control all forms of media; propaganda, newspapers, radio, and film.
 “Mussolini is always right.”
 Women were to be homemakers and mothers.
 Catholicism “sole religion of the state”
 Promised much, but delivered less.
 Soviet Union:
 Lenin’s new economic policy- Peasants allowed to sell their produce openly, retail stores could
be privately owned-still under government control.
 Saved the Soviet Union from economic disaster.
 Stalin:
 After Lenin’s death, a struggle of power began.
 Seven members of Politburo-committee that became the leading policy-making body of the
Communist party.
 Leon Trotsky wanted to end the group and launch Russia on industrialization.
 Rivalry between Trotsky and Stalin.

Trotsky held the job of post of commissar of war. Stalin held the job of bureaucratic, the
party general secretary.
 Stalin used his job to gain control of the Communist Party.
 Trotsky expelled from party in 1927-made his way to Mexico and was murdered in 1941
under Stalin’s orders.
 Five-Year Plan:
 Stalin ended NEP, and launched Five-Year Plan.
 Economic set of goals for a five year period. Transform Russia overnight from an
agricultural into an industrial country.
 Maximum production of capital goods-doubled oil production.
 Number of workers increased by millions.
 Total investment in housing declined.
 Collectivization- system in which private farms were eliminated. Government owned all of
the land, while peasants worked it.
 Wide-spread famine.
 Those who opposed him were sent to forced labor camps in Siberia.
 Purges and removals of the Old Bolsheviks.
 Purged army officers, diplomats, union officials, party members, intellectuals, and
numerous ordinary citizens.
 Hitler
 Born in Austria April 20, 1889.
 Became an artist in Vienna, was not good at school. Developed his ideas while in Vienna.
 Anti-Semitism.
 Four years of service during WW1. Decided to enter into politics.
 Took control of the German Worker’s Party, renamed it National Socialist German Worker’s
Party. (NAZI for short)
 SA/Brown Shirts. Storm Troopers were militia.
 Beer Hall Putsch-crushed
 Hitler put in prison. Wrote Mein Kampf. (My Struggle)
 Once released, he expanded the Nazi party to all parts of Germany. –By 1929 it had 800,000
members and had become the largest party in the Reichstag (German Parliament)
 Great Depression made this party more attractive.
 Hitler had mass support to create a right-wing authoritarian regime.
 In 1933-Hindenburg under pressure agreed to let Hitler become chancellor, thus he
created a new government.
 Passed the Enabling Act-government power to ignore the constitution.
 Concentrations camps were created for people who opposed the new regime.
 Trade unions dissolved.
 1934 President Hindenburg died, this set Hitler up to become the sole ruler of
Germany.
 Hitler’s largest goal-to become an Aryan state; racial state that would dominate
Europe.
 They believed Germans were the true descendants and leaders of the Aryans.
 Hitler’s goal to create the Third Reich.
 Created a totalitarian state.
 Meetings were held in Nuremburg.
 Schutzstaffein-“Guard Squadrons” known as the SS
 Used for maintaining order. Secret police.
 Under direction of Heinrich Himmler.
 Used terror-instruments of repression and murder.
 Anti-Semitic Policies:
 Nuremburg Laws- racial laws. These excluded Jews from German citizenship, forbade
marriages between Jews and German citizens. Jews were required to wear yellow Stars of
David and to carry Identification cards.
 Kristallnacht- Night of broken glass
 Nov 9, 1938. This was the turning point. Nazi’s burned synagogues. Destroyed
Jewish businesses, at least 100 Jews were killed. 30,000 males were sent to
concentration camps.
 WW2:
 Treaty of Versailles: Hitler wanted to revise the terms.
 March 9, 1935- Hitler announced creation of new air forces. Week later, he began a
military draft. (Violations of the Treaty)
 March 7, 1936- Hitler sent German troops into the Rhineland, another violation.
 Great Britain practiced appeasement- if European states satisfied demands,
the other powers would be content- this would achieve peace.
 Hitler gained allies: Mussolini. They made an agreement with common interests in mind.
After this, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Communist Pact.
 Hitler invades Austria-Austria annexed to Germany.
 Hitler demanded Sudetenland be given to Germany.
 March 1939- Hitler invades and takes control of Czechoslovakia.
 August 23, 1939 Germany and Soviet Union sign Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact.
 Hitler used blitzkrieg as a method of German attack- “lightning war”
 He had many early victories; Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and France
 U.S had a policy of isolation during this time.
 Battle of Britain:
 Luftwaffe-German air forces. Bombed British air and naval bases as well as communication
centers, war industries.
 British had a very effective radar system-they were able to fight back. British rebuilt air strength
quickly.
 End of September, Germany postponed the invasion of Britain.
 Attack on Soviet Union:
 Hitler believed Soviet Union had a pitiful army (he was misled) so, he thought they could be
defeated quickly.
 Soviet Union was invaded by Germany June 22, 1941
 The early winter forced Germany to halt-they had no winter gear.
 Japan:
 December 7, 1941-Japanese aircraft bombed Pearl Harbor- U.S naval base on the Hawaiian
Islands. Launched assaults on the Philippines, and began advancing towards Malaya-British
colony.
 The U.S now joined with the European nation and Nationalist China, who were also
being attacked by Japan.
 Hitler declared war on the U.S four days after Pearl Harbor.
 Turned into a global war.
 Battle of Stalingrad:
 Stalingrad was the industrial center, Hitler believed this should be taken from the Soviet
Union.
 Soviets counterattacked. German supply lines were cut off. Germans forced to surrender.
 After this, Germany began losing more and more.
 D-Day:
 June 6, 1944- US allies landed on Normandy’s beaches. Broke through German defense lines.
 Allies liberated Paris by the end of August.
 May 7, 1945 Germany surrenders.
 Hitler commits suicide April 30 in his underground bunker.
 Mussolini shot by Italian partisans April 28.
 Truman drops bomb on Hiroshima August 6. Second bomb dropped in Nagasaki. Japan surrendered
August 14.-WW2 was now over.