Georgia High School
Graduation Test Tutorial
World History from
World War I to World War II
(SSWH16-18) (SSUSH19)
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Causes of World War I
1. Balkan Nationalism
Causes of World War I
2. Entangled Alliances
Causes of World War I
3. Militarism
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Arms races between nations
Built up to intimidate other nations
Russian army had over 1,000,000
Germany and France had 900,000
each
Conditions on the Front in WWI
1.
New Weapons Utilized
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2.
Machine Guns
Poison gas (Mustard Gas)
Tanks
Airplanes (Dog Fighting)
Trench Warfare
• “No Man’s Land”
• Disease and influenza
Effects of World War I
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Treaty of Versailles
-Establishment of League of Nations
-German reparations
• Mandate System –British and French
WWI - End of Empires
Hapsburg Dynasty (Germany & Austria)
 Romanov’s
(Russian Czars)
 Ottoman Empire
(Middle East)
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Family of Czar Nicholas II –
last of the Romanov Rulers of
Russia
The Russian Revolution
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1917—Workers revolt
against the Czar -Bolsheviks take over
Russia and begin a
socialist system under
Vladimir Lenin.
Allied countries (Great
Britain, France, Japan
and the United States)
send troops to support
anti-communist
forces, but communist
forces eventually
prevail.
The Soviet Union
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1922 --Lenin establishes the Soviet
Union (USSR)
The Rise of Joseph Stalin
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1924—Lenin dies–
Several leaders
struggle for power
including Leon Trotsky
and Joseph Stalin.
Eventually, Stalin
seizes power and
becomes a dictator
over USSR—imposing
a totalitarian state.
He begins a Five Year
Plan to increase
industrialization and
collectivize agriculture
in the Soviet Union.
The Red Scare
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After the Russian Revolution, fear of a
similar revolution in the United States by
communists from Russia led to a period
known as the Red Scare.
Attempted assassinations of Attorney
General Mitchell Palmer and John D.
Rockefeller led to the Palmer Raids—in
which suspected communists were
arrested and more than 500 immigrants
deported.
This led to increase fear of immigrants
and restrictions on immigration were
passed by Congress.
New Leaders Emerge
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In Italy, a new fascist
government emerged
in 1922 under Benito
Mussolini. He rose
to power using
propaganda, brutality,
and intimidation—
promoting an ultranationalist Italy and
himself as Il Duce
(“the Leader”).
Fascism in Germany
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In 1921, Adolf Hitler took
control of the National
Socialist German Worker’s
Party—better known as the
Nazis.
He became chancellor of
Germany in 1933 and
eventually claimed the title
Fuhrer (guide of Germany)
and established himself as
dictator over the Third
Reich.
Leadership in Japan
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Japanese Emperor
Hirohito began his
reign in Japan in
1926. He did not
exercise absolute
control over the
government.
Instead, an army
general, Hideki Tojo,
assumed the role of
Japan’s premier –
leading it through
World War II.
Authoritarian Government
and Totalitarianism
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Authoritarian Government is ruled by a
single person or party interested in
political power.
Totalitarianism is a government which
seeks to control not only political power,
but the economy, culture, and social life.
These governments often use terror and
fear--utilizing propaganda and controlling
access to information such as the press
and education. (Examples: Italy,
Germany, & USSR)
Aggression in Asia
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1931—Japan
Invades Manchuria
Japan leaves the
League of Nations
By 1938, Japan
has control of
major cities along
Chinese coast
German Expansion
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Hitler begins rebuilding German military
and marches troops into the Rhineland
(lost in WWI)
Germany annexes Austria and claims
parts of the Sudetenland
Great Britain and France pursue policy of
appeasement—rather than challenge
Hitler’s aggression
In 1939, Hitler invades Poland
Britain and France declare war on
Germany—thus beginning World War II
The Holocaust
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Hitler’s policy of Nazi racism
targeted Jewish people and
fed on European antisemitism
Hitler viewed Jews as a
national enemy and began
implementing his Final
Solution—elimination of
Jewish people by sending
them to concentration camps
as slave laborers and then
executing them in gas
chambers
The extermination of nearly 6
million Jews, as well as
Gypsies, Slavs, and other
people deemed undesirable
came to be known as the
Holocaust
World War II --1940
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April, 1940--Germany Invades Denmark
and Norway
May, 1940 – Germany takes control of
Belgium, Netherlands, and France
July-October, 1940 – Battle of Britain,
German planes bomb Britain in
“blitzkriegs” (night air raids).
British Royal Air Force help fight off
German air assault and prevent invasion.
Axis Powers
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1940,Germany, Italy and Japan form an
alliance known as the Axis Powers
US Neutrality before World War II
1935— Neutrality Act passed by
Congress to stay out of European
conflicts
 1940 -- U.S. imposes embargo on
Japan after its invasion of China
 March, 1941– Congress passes
Lend-Lease Act to allow President
Roosevelt to send aid to Great Britain
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Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
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Dec. 7th 1941—Japan launches surprise
attack on U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii
U.S. joins Allies in World War II
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After Pearl Harbor,
the U.S. declares
war on Japan and
joins Allies (Great
Britain, USSR, and
French resistance)
against the Axis
Powers
Domestic Wartime Policies of US
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Roosevelt establishes War Production
Board –redirecting production of civilian
consumer goods to war materials
Revenue for funding the war was
generated through withholding income tax
from paychecks and selling war bonds
The Government began rationing of
resources—such as tires and food items
Women join domestic war effort
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Many women filled
industrial jobs that
had been held by
men who were
sent overseas
A popular symbol
of these women
was Rosie the
Riveter
Suspicion of Germans, Italians and
Japanese in U.S.
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Since the U.S. was
at war with these
countries,
suspicion of
citizens with
origins in
Germany, Italy and
Japan led to their
removal to remote
internment
camps.
Allied Powers meet at Tehran
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In 1943, leaders of
the three major
Allied Powers
(Churchill—Britain,
Roosevelt--US,
Stalin-- USSR)
met in the Tehran
Conference to
discuss plans for
defeating Germany
D-Day
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At Tehran, the
leaders planned an
amphibious invasion
of Normandy
(occupied by Nazis)
named Operation
Overlord –headed
by supreme allied
commander Dwight
D. Eisenhower
The Yalta Conference
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Roosevelt, Churchill
and Stalin met in
February, 1945 at the
Yalta Conference to
discuss plans of
dividing up Europe
anticipating the defeat
of Germany
Germany was divided
and most of Eastern
Europe was controlled
by the Soviet Union
The Potsdam Conference
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The Allied leaders met
after the defeat of
Germany in July,1945 at
the Potsdam Conference
to discuss plans for
defeating Japan and its
unconditional surrender
President Truman (who
succeeded Roosevelt after
his death) learned of the
successful tests of the
Atomic bomb while at the
conference
The Atomic Bomb
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Led by Robert Oppenheimer,
the Manhattan Project
successfully produced two
Atomic bombs at Los
Alamos, New Mexico (called
Fat Man and Little Boy)
On August 6th, 1945 a B-29
bomber called the Enola Gay
dropped the first Atomic
bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
Three days later, a second
bomb exploded over
Nagasaki
Japan surrendered on August
14th, 1945—thus ending
World War II and beginning
the Atomic Age