World War II Fact Sheet
 Europe was devastated and destabilized (context clues) by World War I
 World War II essentially grew out of the unresolved issues left over after WWI
o Particularly, the instability in Germany and the resentment toward the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles
 The Treaty of Versailles placed the blame for the entire war at Germany’s feet
o The National Socialist (Nazi) party also came to power during this time
 1933- Adolf Hitler is elected Reich Chancellor
o Hitler quickly consolidated power
 1934- Hitler anointed himself Fuhrer (Where have you heard this name before?)
o Hitler was obsessed race, in particular racial superiority
 He felt that the German Aryan was the ideal human
 All other races, i.e. the Jews, were inferior and could be wiped out
 He held the idea of Lebensraum, “living room”, for the German people
 War was the only way to get enough room for the German people
 Mid-1930’s- Began to secretly arm the German military
o This was in violation of the Treaty of Versailles
o Also signed alliances with Italy and Japan against Russia
 1938-Hitler sent troops to occupy Austria
o Austria welcomed Hitler like a returning hero, they wanted to be occupied (go figure)
 1939- Annexed Czechoslovakia
 Hitler’s open aggression was left unchecked
o The United States and Russia were focused on internal issues
o Britain and France were not eager for a confrontation with Hitler at all
 Late August 1939- Hitler and Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader, signed a nonaggression pact
o The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact induced panic in Britain and France
o The pact insured Hitler of a war on 1 front
o Hitler had dreamed of invading Poland
 The pact would insure that Russia would help divide Poland after Hitler had
invaded
 September 1, 1939- Hitler invaded Poland from the West
o Britain and France declared war on Germany 2 days later
 September 17, 1939- Soviet army invaded Poland from the East
o Being invaded from East and West made Poland easy to conquer
 Early 1940- Poland was a divided nation
o Russia controlled the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia)
 Russia also defeated Finland in the Russo-Finnish War
 Initially, the war was dubbed a “phony war”, due to the lack of action on the part of Germany
and the Allies in the East
o The German and British navies squared off in many battles
 Germany had its deadly U-Boats
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 These submarines sunk merchant shipping
April 9, 1940- Germany invaded Norway and occupied Denmark
May 10- German troops moved through Belgium and the Netherlands
o The term “blitzkrieg” was used to describe Germany’s movements through Europe
 “Blitzkrieg” means “lightening war”
Hitler sent his troops across the Meuse River
o They attacked the French troops at Sedan, on the northern end of the Maginot Line
 The Maginot Line was a chain of fortifications built after WWI
 The fortifications were considered impenetrable barrier
 The Germans used tanks and planes, and broke through the line making
it useless
Late May- German troops advanced through France. The British Expeditionary Force (BFE)
evacuated Dunkirk by sea. The French tried to mount a resistance to the German invasion.
o Benito Mussolini put the Pact of Steel that Italy had made with Germany into effect. He
declared war on France and Britain on June 10.
June 14- German troops entered Paris
o Marshal Philippe Petain, a WWI hero, was in charge of the new government.
 He requested an armistice 2 nights after the Germans invaded
 France was divided into a German-run zone and a French-run zone; the French
zone was run from Vichy
o With France out of the way, Hitler turned to Britain.
 Britain had the advantage of being separated from the rest of Europe by the
English Channel.
 Operation Sea Lion was supposed to be an amphibious (context clues)
invasion of Britain
 Hitler sent bombers to Britain throughout the summer of 1940 to pave
the way for Operation Sea Lion; he also sent bombers on night runs
through London
 When the Royal Air Force (RAF) defeated the German Luftwaffe in the
Battle of Britain, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion.
 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill began receiving aid from the
U.S. when Britain’s supplies were stretched too thin.
Early 1941- Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria joined the Axis
o Germany overran Greece and Yugoslavia in April
o Hitler invaded the Balkans as a precursor to his real goal, invading Russia.
 Russia’s vast territory would give the German people the “Lebensraum” (English
“living room”) Hitler felt they needed as the master race
 Hitler was also starting to move toward the extermination of all the Jews in
Europe
 The Final Solution was introduced around the same time as the Russian
offensive
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Over 4 million Jews were killed in the camps of Poland over the
next three years. How many camps were there total?
June 22, 1941- Hitler ordered Operation Barbarossa to happen.
o Operation Barbarossa was the codename for the invasion of Russia
o Russian technology was largely obsolete, even though Russian tanks and planes
outnumbered German machinery
o The obsolete technology coupled with the surprise of the German invasion helped
German troops to get 200 miles from Moscow by mid-July
o Hitler and his commanders argued over what to do next, delaying the German advance
until October, and then it was stalled by a Russian counteroffensive and the onset of
winter
1941-1943- The War in the Pacific
o The U.S. was the only nation capable of containing the Japanese aggression
 The Japanese had begun to expand their ongoing war with China and seizing
European colonial holdings in the Far East.
o December 7, 1941- 360 Japanese aircraft attack the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii.
 The attack took the Americans completely by surprise and claimed the lives of
more than 2,300 troops.
o December 8, 1941- Congress declared war on Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor served
as a unifying point for American opinion on the war. There was only one dissenting vote
in Congress. Germany and the other Axis powers were quick to declare war on the U.S.
June, 1942- The U.S. Pacific Fleet won the Battle of Midway. This was after a long string of
Japanese victories.
o The Battle of Midway proved to be a turning point in the war.
August 1942-February 1943- The Allies had success on Guadalcanal, a southern island in the
Solomon Islands. This battle helped to turn the tide further toward Allied victory
Mid-1943- The Allies began an island hopping campaign against Japan. The Allies targeted key
Japanese held islands. The Allies moved closer to their target of invading Japan
1943-1945
o British and American forces defeated German and Italian forces by 1943
o The Allies invaded Sicily
o July 1943- Mussolini’s government fell. The Germans and Allies would fight in Italy until
1945.
o Eastern Front- A Soviet (Russian) counteroffensive launched in November, 1942 ended
the Battle of Stalingrad. Approaching winter and dwindling supplies doomed the
German troops.
 January 31, 1943- The last of the German troops in Russia surrendered
o June 6, 1944- D-Day. The beginning of a massive invasion of Europe by the Allies.
156,000 British, American, and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy,
France
o Hitler pooled his resources in the West, ensuring his defeat in the East
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The Russians advanced through Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Hitler
prepared to drive American and British troops out of Germany in the Battle of the Bulge,
December 1944-January 1945. This was the last major German offensive of the war.
o February 1945- The Allies launched an intensive aerial assault and followed it with an
invasion of Germany.
o May 8, 1945- Germany formally surrenders. Russian troops occupied most of the
country.
 Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin on April 30.
July-August 1945- Potsdam Conference. President Truman (Roosevelt’s Vice President for most
of the war), Prime Minister Churchill, and Stalin discussed war with Japan and peace with
Germany.
o Germany would be divided into four zones. The U.S., Russia (aka the Soviet Union),
Great Britain, and France would each control a different zone.
o Since they needed Stalin’s help to continue the battle with Japan, Churchill and Truman
acquiesced to Stalin’s demands on the Soviet Union’s future.
o Iwo Jima (Feb. 1945) and Okinawa (April-June 1945) had brought heavy troop casualties
and Truman feared even more casualties if an invasion of Japan occurred.
 Truman authorized the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
August.
August 10, 1945- Japan formally accepted the terms of the Potsdam Conference
September 2, 1945- U.S. General Douglas McArthur formally accepted Japan’s surrender aboard
the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay
WWII had some lasting legacies:
o It cost 35 to 60 million people their lives
o 6 million of those casualties were Jews
o Millions were injured and more lost everything they had (homes and property)
o Communism spread from the Soviet Union east into Europe and eventually into China
o Global power shifted from Europe to the U.S. and the Soviet Union
 This would lead to the Cold War
World War II Questions
1. Who was Adolf Hitler? Why is he remembered as “the epitome of evil”?
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2. What did Hitler do when he came to power in 1933?
a. He consolidated all of his power
b. He threw a huge party
c. He got married
d. He burned every book in Germany (this actually happened eventually to all of the books
written by Jewish authors)
3. Hitler anointed himself Fuhrer in 1934. What does the word Fuhrer mean in English? (You can
look it up on Dictonary.com)
a. Dude
b. Father
c. Leader
d. Bro
4. What was the first country that Hitler invaded? When did he finally invade this country?
a. Germany, 1800
b. The U.S., 1945
c. Poland, 1939
d. Antarctica, 2015
5. Hitler talked about “The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” in many of his speeches. What
was the “Final Solution”?
a. The answers to his big math test
b. The solution to the New York Times crossword he was working on
c. The pact he made with President Roosevelt
d. The extermination (context clues) of all the Jews in Europe
6. Hitler and his inner circle were obsessed with racial purity in Germany. What was the German
master race called? Who did Hitler think were racially inferior to this master race?
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7. What does the term “Lebensraum” mean in English?
a. Living room
b. Family room
c. Dining room
d. Cooking room
8. What was the code name for the German invasion of Russia?
a. Operation Jack Sparrow
b. Operation Barbarossa
c. Operation Barbosa
d. Operation Jack Daniels
9. How did Truman become President? (you can do a little research on this one)
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10. How many people were killed during World War II? (everyone altogether)
a. 10 to 15 million
b. 20 to 40 million
c. 35 to 60 million
d. 100 to 110 million