World War II and Post-War
Europe
-Key Concepts-
I. Hitler’s Foreign Policy Goals
• Made clear in Mein Kampf
•
•
•
--The Third Reich
More than just a revision
of the Treaty of Versailles
The need for
“lebensraum”
The vast spaces of Russia
were his target
II. Economic and Social Stability
through Expansion
• Domestic economic policy
•
•
fit his foreign policy
Territorial Expansion
came to be seen as an
economic “safety valve”
Aggressive Foreign Policy
was undertaken to avoid
domestic difficulties
III. Revising the Treaty of
Versailles
• Allies came to believe
•
•
that the Treaty was
unworkable by the
mid-1930’s
Rebuilding of German
Army (March, 1935
radio address)
Formation of the
German Airforce:
Luftwaffe
IV. Revising the Treaty of Versailles
(cont)
• Reinstating Draft to
•
•
form an army of 36
divisions—500,000
men
Remilitarization of the
Rhineland (March,
1936)
French merely lodged
a protest with the
League of Nations
V. Aggressive Italian Foreign Policy
• Invasion of Ethiopia
•
•
(October, 1935)
Aid to General Franco
fighting the Spanish
Civil War
The Rome-BerlinTokyo Axis (October,
1936)
VI. The “Anschluss”
• The unification of
•
•
Austria and Germany
German troops march
into Austria (March,
1938)
Seems to be an
example of Wilsonian
self-determination
VI. The “Anschluss” (cont)
• No European power was
•
•
willing to risk war over
such a popular invasion
Germany now included
territory that had never
been a part of the whole
Reich
Hitler was triumphant and
more confident than ever
1938 British Cartoon after the
“Anschluss”
VII. Czechoslovakia and the Policy
of Appeasement
• Eastern Europe began to
•
•
•
clamor for protection
Hitler eyed the
Sudetenland with desire
Czechoslovakia has a
treaty with France
Policy of Appeasement
was especially tragic in
the case of
Czechoslovakia
VII. Czechoslovakia and
Appeasement (cont)
• Very tense moment for
•
•
Europe (September,
1938)
--British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
The Munich Agreement
(September 30, 1938)
Hitler marches into
Prague and takes the rest
of Czechoslovakia (March
15, 1939)
VIII. Why Did the Western
Democracies Appease Hitler?
• Widespread Pacifism
• Increasing Guilt over the
•
•
•
harshness of the Treaty
of Versailles
Hitler and Mussolini seen
as a protection against
further communist
advances
Britain and France were
far too weak internally to
oppose Hitler
U.S. isolationism
IX. The Invasion of Poland
• German displeasure with
•
•
•
•
the Polish corridor
British and French
abandon appeasement
Nazi-Soviet NonAggression Pact (August,
1939)
British announced
support for Poland—Hitler
hesitates
Invasion of Poland—
September 1, 1939
Anonymous Cartoon, 1939
Life Magazine Cartoon
(September 1, 1939)
X. A Brief Look at World War II
• Nazi “Blitzkrieg”
• The “Sitzkrieg” or Phony
•
•
•
War (winter of 19391940)
Russia at war with
Finland (November, 1939March, 1940)
Impact of the RussoFinnish War
German attack on Norway
and Denmark (April 9,
1940)
X. World War II (cont)
• Tension Between France
•
•
•
and England
General Manstein
proposes a derivation of
the old Schlieffen Plan
German attack on France
(May 10, 1940)
The miraculous
evacuation at Dunkirk
(May 27-June 4, 1940)
German Invasion of France—
May, 1940
Evacuation at Dunkirk,
June 4, 1940
Soldiers walk across vehicles in the water to get to
ships in deeper water—Dunkirk Evacuation
X. World War II (cont)
• The Fall of France
•
-- “Vichy” France in the
south
--Charles de Gaulle
escapes to London
The Battle of Britain
(June-December, 1940)
--The “Blitz”
--Leadership of Winston
Churchill
Londoners Sleep in the Tube During
the Battle of Britain
X. World War II (cont)
• Crucial Delay of Invasion
•
•
•
of Russia to help out
Italian forces in Greece
(April-May, 1941)
Invasion of Russia—June
22, 1941 (“Operation
Barbarossa”)
Initial Hesitation by Stalin
and a Soviet military
disaster
Hitler divides troops
towards Leningrad and
Kiev
X. World War II (cont)
• German Troops in
•
•
•
suburbs of Moscow by
early October, 1941
German Troops began to
suffer
Soviet Counterattack and
Moscow is saved
(December 5-6, 1941)
The Battle of Stalingrad
(September, 1942January, 1943)
XI. An Uneasy Alliance
• Lend-Lease Aid to the
•
•
•
•
•
Soviets
Atlantic Charter (August,
1941)
US entry into the war
(December 8, 1941)
British diplomacy with
Stalin
Allied Strategy against
the Germans
War in North Africa
XI. An Uneasy Alliance (cont)
• Invasion of Sicily and
•
•
•
•
Italy (July-August, 1943)
Teheran Conference
(November 28-December
1, 1943)
Opening of a Second
Front—the Invasion of
Normandy (“Operation
Overlord”)
From D-Day to V-E Day
Yalta Conference—
February, 1945
XII. Nazi Treatment of Occupied
Peoples
• Germany and its “allies”
•
•
•
during the War
A German “New Order”
Treatment of Occupied
Peoples
-- “Mongrelized peoples”
--Treatment of Slavs
The importance of
“orderly reproduction” or
scientific breeding
XIII. Nazi Treatment of the Jews
• Early Approach:
•
•
•
•
•
Restrictions
More acute problem with
the invasion of Poland
Warsaw Ghetto (October,
1940)
SS Murder Squads
Establishment of Death
camps in Poland
--Auschwitz
Reaction when camps
were discovered
Arrival at Auschwitz
Entry Gate of Auschwitz
The Condemned Unclothe and Sort
Clothes and Shoes
The Condemned are sent to the
Showers
Empty Cans of Zyklon B
Bodies were then Cremated
XIV. Resistance Movements to Nazi
Terror
• Warsaw Ghetto uprising
•
•
•
•
(April, 1943)
Death Camp Uprisings
(1942-1943)
Some simply gave in to
Nazi tyranny
Resistance organized all
over occupied Europe
Turning Points in
European resistance to
Nazi rule
XV. Legacies of World War II
• Shift in Global Power
• Beginning of the Atomic
•
•
Age—anxiety living under
the mushroom cloud
Change in traditional
American foreign policy of
isolationism
Irrationality of Nazi
atrocities jarred
confidence of western
civilization
XVI. The Cold War: 1945-1989
• Origins
•
•
--Case Study: Stalin
and the Polish
government
--Potsdam
Conference: July,
1945
Key Events
Unraveling in 1989
XVII. De-Colonization and Beyond
•
•
•
•
Reasons
Process
Results
A New World of Terror