World War Looms
Failures of WWI Peace
Settlement
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Germany felt Treaty of Versailles was unfair
Russia resented their land was taken away to
form Poland & Lithuania
Treaty left war-torn nations to rebuild on their
own
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Gave new democracies little chance at survival
What took place as democracy collapsed?
Treaty of Versailles
Stalin & the Soviet Union
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1922: Revolutions in
Russia gave way to a
Communist state
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Soviet Union
1924: Joseph Stalin took
control of the gov’t
Focused on creating a
model Communist state
Stalin & SU contd
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1927: Stamped out all private enterprise
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Production only under state control
1928: Goal- turn SU into great industrial
power
To accomplish goals the Soviet became
a police state
Fascism in Italy
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1919: Benito Mussolini began
his rise to power
Many people who feared
communism became
supporters of Mussolini
1935: Fascist Part established
& won 35 seats in Italian
Parliament
FACISM: strong centralized govt headed by a dictator
Nazis take over Germany
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1919: Adolf Hitler joined the Nazi
party, soon became leader or
Fuhrer
Mein Kamf (My Struggle)
March 1932: Hitler won more votes
than any other party
Jan. 1933: appointed Chancellor
Once in power democratic govt
dismantled
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Third Reich established
Japan
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Militaristic leaders take over
Shared Hitler’s belief in more living
space
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1931: Surprise invasion of Manchuria
First test for League of Nations
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Report condemned Japan
Japan simply quit League
League of Nations
Remember: League was set up after WWI,
designed by Pres. Wilson, to be a place where
nations could solve issues diplomatically, not
war.
League of Nations Failure
Hitler begins his “imperialist moves”
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1933: Hitler pulled Germany out of League
1935: Began military build up
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Sent troops into the Rhineland (forbidden by
Versailles)
Signed Rome-Berlin Axis Pact
Mussolini began building his own Roman
Empire
June 1936: Ethiopia fell to Italy
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“It is us today, it will be you tomorrow” Ethiopian
Emperor
America Responds
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Americans had strong anti-war feelings
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1937: poll 70% of Americans believed they
should not have entered WWI
Breakdown
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America took sides when Hitler &
Mussolini began to aid Spain
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Supported Franco with
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Troops, weapons, & fighter planes
1939: Spain established a Fascist govt.
with the help of Hitler and Mussolini.
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Spain now was led by Francisco Franco.
Austria
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Feb 1938: Hitler met with Austrian chancellor
Kurt von Schuschnigg
Schuschnigg was bullied into signing a pact
that brought Austrian Nazis into his govt.
March 12, 1938: German troops forced
chancellor to resign
Hitler marched troops into Austria and took it
over.
Sudetenland
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At the end of WWI
the Sudetenland
was joined to
Czechoslovakia
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Mountainous region
with 3 million
German speaking
people
Originally was a part
of Germany
Munich Conference
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Spring 1938: Hitler charged the Czechs
with abusing Sudeten Germans
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France & GB promised to protect
Czechoslovakia
Just before war broke Hitler called a
meeting in Munich
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Edouard Daladier - French Premier
Neville Chamberlain- British PM
Munich Conference
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Hitler claimed
Sudetenland would be his
last territorial claim
September 1938: Munich
Pact signed
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Turned Sudenland over to
Hitler w/o a shot fired
Reactions: Appeasement

Neville Chamberlain
returned home claiming
“peace in our time”
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Britain rejoiced except for
Winston Churchill
German Offensive Begins
March 1939:Hitler broke the Munich Pact &
seized control of Czechoslovakia
Poland
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Charged with the same mistreatment of
Germans
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Both France & GB promised aid
People didn’t think Hitler was serious
because of the Soviet’s location to Poland
Stalin did not want war with Germany
August 1939: The SU & Germany signed a
non-agression pact
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Also signed a secret pact: agreeing to divide
Poland between them
Poland
Invasion of Poland
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August 31, 1939: Hitler
fabricated a fake attack
on a German radio
station near Polish
border. (Actually SS
troops)
Hitler invaded Poland
the next day Sept. 1,
1939
Invasion of Poland
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Sept. 1939: Nazi soldiers
marching through Warsaw
Germany used the
“Blitzkrieg” or “lightning
War”
Sept. 1, 1939: German war
planes flew over Poland
dropping bombs & tanks
rolled over the country side
Britain & France declared
war on Germany Sept. 3
Poland
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Germany tested a
new strategyBlitzkrieg or
lightning war
By the end of Sept.
Poland ceased to
exist
Invasion of Poland
Europe 1939
Axis Powers
Japan, Germany, & Italy
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Tripartite Pact each Axis nation
agreed to come to
the aid of the other
incase of attack
The Phony War
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Countries expect & braced for heavy
combat
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Troops sat & waited in peace for more than
6 month
British newspapers called it the “sitzkrieg”
Phony War Ends
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Germany broke the
peace by taking
countries it lost in
WWI
By the end of May
Germany took …
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Denmark, Norway,
Netherlands,
Belgium &
Luxembourg
Fall of France
Before the war France fortified itself at the Maginot Line
Fall of France
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Invasion of Belgium threatened France
Hitler sent forces to France
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Think Schlieffen Plan from WWI
Used Blitzkrieg
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Allied forces fled to Dunkirk
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“Miracle at Dunkirk”
Italy invaded from the south
Fall of France
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June 1940:Germany
reached Paris
Hitler handed over
his terms of
surrender
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Germans occupy
Northern France
Nazi-controlled
puppet govt. in S.
France called the
Vichey Government.
Hitler in Paris
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What a scary sight:
France
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General Charles
DeGaule
Fled to England
Set up French govt
in exile
Britain Stands Alone
“ I have nothing to offer but blood,
toil, tears and sweat” Winston
Churchill.
May 1940: Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister
Battle of Britain
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Summer- Fall 1940
The Blitz
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Operation Sea Lion
Luftwaffe or German
Airforce
Goal: gain control of
the skies
On a single day
1,000 planes would
bomb England
Battle of Britain
Targets:
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Royal Air Force (RAF)
Airfields, aircraft &
eventually cities
RAF: fought back
with help of radar
The London “Tube”
Air Raid shelters during the “blitz”
Battle of Britain
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With radar, British planes destroyed
many German aircraft.
This forced Hitler to cancel his invasion
of Britain and turn to attack the Soviet
Union
Non-Aggression
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June 1941- Hitler ignored his pact with
Stalin and invaded the Soviet
Soviets carried out a slash and burn
policy to keep up a fight against Hitler
FDR started sending supplies to Stalin
U-Boat Attacks
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British & Soviet supplies from America
were being destroyed by U-boats
Wolf-packs: 15 to 20 U-boat groups
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April-May 1941: Germans sank 1.2 million
tons of British shipping
June 1941: FDR orders the Navy to protect
shipments
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Permission to attack U-boats in self defense
Atlantic Charter
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FDR & Winston Churchill
met secretly to form a
declaration of war
principles
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Atlantic Charter spelled
out causes for which
WWII was fought
Operation Barbarossa:
Hitler’s Biggest Mistake
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Hitler’s attack on the USSR
-June 22, 1941
-Hitler’s racist policies would not allow
him to remain loyal to Stalin
-By Dec 1941, failure for Germany
-Largest Military Op in history:
manpower, area, casualties
-A turning point in the War.
Barbarossa
North African Campaign
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Operation Torch
British/American invasion of North Africa
-Allies plan assault on weakest Axis area - North Africa
- Nov. 1942-May 1943
-George S. Patton leads American troops
-Germans trapped in Tunisia - surrender over 275,000
troops.
North African Campaign
The Battle of El Alamein, 1942
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Gen. Bernard Law
Montgomery
(“Monty”)
Gen. Ernst Rommel,
The “Desert Fox”
Italian Campaign
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Battle for Sicily, June 1943
Gen. George S. Patton
Italian Campaign
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Battle of Monte
Cassino, Feb. 1944
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Goal: Liberate Rome
Monastery destroyed
Germans flee May 18
Rome captured June 4,
1944
Invasion of France
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June 6, 1944: Operation Overlord
Gen. Eisenhower
gives orders for DDay
Invasion of France
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D-Day
Casualties:
Allies: 11,000
Germans: 9000
Paratroopers
Normandy
Landing
German Prisoners
Higgins Landing Craft
Invasion of France
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Liberation of Paris: Aug. 25, 1944
De Gaulle in triumph
Battle of Bulge: Dec 16, 1944Jan. 28, 1945
Ardennes
Forest: Belgium
Battle of Bulge
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Last ditch effort by Hitler to split Allies in
two in their drive toward Germany and
destroy their ability to supply themselves
Known as the Ardennes offensive
Massive attack against American forces
Caused a bulge in the Allied front line.
Goal: Disrupt Allies unity and take Port of
Antwerp, where allies received many
supplies.
Yalta: February , 1945
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Stalin, FDR & Churchill prepare for
peace
Agreed to:
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Move ahead in the creation of the UN
Soviet promises to enter war against Japan
Defeat of Germany
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April 28, 1945, Mussolini was killed by
Italians.
On 30 April, 1945 the Reichstag in
Berlin was captured.
The same day, Hitler committed suicide
in a bunker in Berlin.
Hitler Commits Suicide
The Fuhrer’s
Bunker
Cyanide &
Pistols
V-E Day (May 8, 1945)
Japanese Aggression
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Japan kept claiming more lands in its colonial
empire
July 1941- Japan takes military bases in
French Indochina
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US cut off trade with Japan
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Oil embargo
Japan Continued
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October 1941- Hideki Tojo became Prime
Minister
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Tojo promised Hirohito a final attempt to make
peace with America
No peace = war
November 5, 1941- Tojo flew to Washington
for peace talks
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At the same time he ordered the Japanese navy to
prepare for attack
Japan
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The US broke Japan’s secret codes
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They knew an attack was coming but did not know
when
FDR sent a war warning to Guam, the Philippines,
and Hawaii
Peace talks went on for a month
Dec. 6- FDR received a decoded message
instructing Japan to reject all peace terms
Pearl Harbor
“A date that will live in
infamy”…
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Dec. 7, 1941- Two wave attack on
Oahu, Hawaii
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First at 7:53 am
Second at 8:55 am
2,403 left dead
188 destroyed planes
8 damaged or destroyed battleships
Pearl Harbor
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Japanese Navy crippled
the entire US Pacific
Fleet
Congress approved a
declaration of war the
next day
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Dec 11- Germany & Italy
declared war on the US
FDR signs declaration of war
Pearl Harbor
Selective Service
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“Remember Pearl Harbor”
5 million men volunteered for the war effort
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Not enough to fight two front war
Selective Service
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Draft provided 10 million soldiers to meet the
military’s needs
All men 18-45 required to register
A GI’s basic training lasted 8 weeks
War in the Pacific
-For the first 6 months after Pearl Harbor, the
Japanese knew nothing but victory and
continued to build an empire.
-But after a stunning defeat by American forces
at the Battle of Midway in June 4-7, 1942, the
Japanese found themselves on the defensive.
War in the Pacific
“Island Hopping”
Philippines
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The US under
direction of General
Mac Arthur
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Loses control of the
Philippines
12,000 Americans
surrender at Bataan
Bataan Death March
76,000 prisoners [12,000 Americans] Marched
60 miles in the blazing heat to POW camps in
the Philippines.
“I Shall Return”
Air Raids on Tokyo:
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April 1942
Colonel Jimmy Doolittle
Psychological victory for
US because bombs do
little damage to Tokyo
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Japan questions its
defense
Battle of Midway
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TURNING POINT OF PACIFIC CAMPAIGN
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Japan wanted Midway Island for use as a base to attack
Hawaii
June 4-7, 1942
JUNE 4- Japanese attack on US carries and island are
beaten back
 Later in day, US planes find 3 of 4 Japanese carriers &
inflict fatal damage
JUNE 5- US planes sink 4th Japanese Carrier
 US carrier Yorktown in badly damaged & sinks
JUNE 6- remainder of Japanese fleet retreats out of area
Japan: on defense rest of war
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US starts “island hopping” campaign
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Island Hopping
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LOCATION: South & Central Pacific Islands
April 1943- June 1944
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Winner: US
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US plan to attack selected islands & ignore others
Battles take place on many islands including:
 Truk, Tarawa, Marshall, Eniwetok
 The US worked their way closer to the
Japanese Islands.
Island Hopping
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
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June- Feb 1945
South of Japan
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Islands needed for air strikes on Japan
Very costly for US to take both islands
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Iwo: 7,000 KIA & 19,000 wounded
Okinawa: 50,000 casualties
Japan lost over 130,000 combined
Iwo Jima
US Marines raise
flag on Mt.
Surbachi, Iwo Jima.
Feb. 19, 1945
Defeat of Japan
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Aug- Sept 1945
July ‘45: while US is
completing Manhattan
Project, they attempt to
convince Japan to
surrender
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Los Alamos, NM
Japan seemed willing but
on their terms, not ours
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Aug 6: B-29 Enola Gay
drops a uranium bomb
on Hiroshima
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The bomb instantly kills
80,000 & incinerates 42
square miles
Aug 9: B-29 Bock’s Car
drops a plutonium bomb
on Nagasaki
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It kills 40,000 & destroys
city
Col. Paul Tibbets and the ABomb
Terms of Surrender
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Debate over terms of surrender are settled
September 2, 1945 the Japanese Supreme
Council signs the papers on the deck of the
USS Missouri
September 2 is V-J Day
WWII is now over
Japan placed under US control & the
rebuilding process begins