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Mr. Peña AP World History
WORLD WAR II: CAUSES, CHARACTERISTICS
“Nature is cruel, so we may be cruel, too… I have the right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin”
-Hitler
Adolf Hitler
CAUSES OF WWII
Political instability & economic devastationDepressionHigh war debt owed by GermanyHigh inflationMassive unemployment
Rise of FascismFascism = militarist, dictatorialGermany – Adolf HitlerItaly – Benito MussoliniJapan – Hideki Tojo*Became the Axis Powers (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo
Axis)
Rise of HitlerNazi Party organized, 1920s
Nazi party largest in Germany, 1932
Hitler voted as chancellor, 1933New parliament created
450, 000 membersLarger than German army
Benito Mussolini in ItalyFascist leader who took
control of Italy in 1922Wanted to create another
Roman EmpireInvaded Ethiopia in 1935
Japanese ExpansionSought total control
of Pacific (resources)1931- military
occupation of Manchuria
1936- Japan signs Pact with Germany, Italy
Nanking Massacre- December 1937
Immediate Causes of WW II
In Germany Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 as a fascist dictator.
Hitler Hated the Treaty of Versailles and violated it. First he built up the German military. Then he sent troops into the Rhineland. This was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which said in 1919 that Rhineland was a demilitarized zone.
Immediate Causes of WW II
Hitler wanted to conquer whoever he felt was inferior to the Germans or Aryans. He wanted “living space” for the Germans in Eastern Europe.
On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland without a declaration of war. This starts World War II.
Immediate Causes of WW II
Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
Italy declared war on France and Britain on June 10, 1940.
“Blitzkrieg”In German blitzkrieg means “lightning war”.
Hitler used blitzkrieg during his invasion of Poland.
Blitzkrieg included surprise attacks, rapid advances into enemy territory, and massive air attacks that struck and shocked the enemy.
Germany achieved most of its victories in World War II with the Blitzkrieg tactic.
Blitzkrieg
“Phony War”
Britain sent troops to wait with the French down behind the Maginot Line.
Reporters called this quiet time of not much action the “phony war”
Maginot LineThe Maginot Line was a defense for France against
an invasion of Germany.
The Maginot Line was established after World War I.
The line showed to be little use in 1940 when Germany invaded France for the third time.
Maginot Line
“Blitzkrieg: German soldiers being parachuted into Holland - May 10, 1940”
Early Axis TriumphsIn April 1940 the quiet time of the war exploded
into action.
Hitler launched a series of blitzkriegs.
Norway and and Denmark both fell.
Germany had overrun the Netherlands and Belgium.
Germany along with Italy forced France to surrender.
World War II in 1939/1942
Fall of France
Hitler’s Major BlunderThe Germans invaded France in May 1940.
Retreating Allied forces made it to Dunkirk and found themselves trapped between the advancing Nazis and the English Channel. The British sent every boat they could get across the English Channel to pick up troops off the beaches of Dunkirk.
Miracle at DunkirkThe event at Dunkirk is called a miracle because
the retreating allies had lost hope and then the British pulled through for them and rescued 338,000 men.
France Surrenders (June 22, 1940)On June 22, 1940 France signs an armistice with
Germany in occupied France.
An armistice is a cease fire or a truce.
The Franco-German Armistice divided France into two zones. One zone was under German military occupation and the other was under French control.
In 1942 Germans occupied all of France
June 22, 1940
Battle of Britain The Germans developed two plans to take Britain
Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious landing on the British coast A great air offensive to gain air superiority and destroy the British
industrial base “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if
the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” (Winston Churchill)
WAR IN THE PACIFIC
Japanese aggression in the East (China)
December 7, 1941 – Pearl HarborU.S. attacked without warning
U.S. declared war on JapanGermany declared war on the
United States
Pearl Harboris attacked on Dec. 7, 1941
U. S. Involved In War
World War II in the Pacific Japan mounted combined operations in 1941 in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and across the Pacific, opening a war front from the borders of India to Hawaii. This supremely aggressive move was meant to secure the resources and markets needed to sustain the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” It proved impossible to defend: Chinese resistance, a daring US island-hopping campaign in the Pacific—culminating in the explosion of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and Soviet assaults on Manchuria defeated Japan completely.
The Eastern Front (in Europe)Hitler had strategic and ideological
reasons for invading RussiaStrategically he knew that the Soviet Union
and the US were critical to Britain’s willingness to keep fighting
He also felt he needed the agricultural and raw material resources of Eastern Russia
Ideologically he viewed the Soviet Union as an amalgamation of his greatest enemies, the Jews and the Slavs
Operation BarbarossaHitler based his plan on the assumption
he could destroy the Soviet Union within one year
Critical to his success would be to catch and destroy the Soviet Army at the border areas
If that did not occur, the Russians could use their vast territory to trade space for time and cause the Germans huge logistical problems
Operation BarbarossaOn June 22, 1941,
Hitler invaded Russia in Operation Barbarossa
The operation encompassed a total troop strength of about 4 million men, making it the biggest single land operation ever
Benefiting from initial surprise, by the end of July Hitler had occupied a portion of Russia twice the size of France
Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
Despite dropping temperatures and critical supply shortages, the German high command pressed on with the attack
The German soldiers were still in summer uniforms and suffered terribly
German soldier during the battle of Moscow
Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
By Dec 4 the Germans had clawed their way to Moscow’s outskirts, but they could not continueThat night
temperatures were -25 degrees Fahrenheit
One infantry regiment suffered 300 frostbite casualties
On Dec 6 the Soviets counterattacked
Stalingrad (1942)On June 28 the
Germans launched their summer offensive
The Germans made good headway with one advance moving east toward Stalingrad and the Volga River and another moving south into the Caucasus
In August Hitler’s erratic attention swung from the Caucasus to Stalingrad
StalingradOn Aug 24 the Germans
attacked Stalingrad’s suburbs and began fighting their way into the city
Hitler began shifting forces from the Caucasus to Stalingrad
The nature of the urban fighting favored the defenders and the Soviets mounted a stubborn defense
Stalingrad began to drain the German army but Hitler would not back off
Stalingrad
Stalingrad
Stalingrad
Stalingrad
Stalingrad
StalingradOn Nov 19 the Soviets
launched a massive counterattack north of Stalingrad
Hitler’s overly centralized and completely out-of-touch command system broke down in the face of the Soviet onslaught
The Soviets encircled Stalingrad and Hitler ordered his commanders to stand fast anyway
By this point in the war, no one was willing to confront Hitler
Stalingrad (1943)
All attempts to breakout or break through failed and on Feb 2 the Germans surrenderedOut of 250,000
soldiers trapped in the Stalingrad pocket, approximately 90,000 became prisoners
Barely 5,000 survived the war
German POWs
Greatest Extent of Axis Control
The Eastern FrontUltimately enormous logistical shortcomings
made Barbarossa a failureGermany proved capable of fighting battles
very well, but was less capable of fighting a war of prolonged duration
In the total four years of fighting on the Eastern Front, an estimated 4 million Axis and 9 million Russians were killed in battle
20 million Soviet civilians were killed as a result of extermination campaigns against Jews, communists and partisans, casual massacres, reprisal killings, diseases, and (sometimes planned) starvation.
Battle of Stalingrad Losses
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1st Qtr
Germany
Soviet Union
Allies push back into Europe
D-DayJune 6, 1944 - Landing on Normandy Beach
Normandy Invasion,D-Day June 6, 1944
Allies United:U.S.S.R, England and The U.S.
Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, & Winston Churchill
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