Interwar period/WW2

Interwar period

Unstable political conditions, communist dictatorship by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin into the Soviet Union

_ led to unstable political conditions

Economic dislocations following world war 1 led to

Worldwide depression in the 1930s provided opportunities for the

Rise of dictators in the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan

The treaty of Versailles worsened

Economic & political conditions in Europe and led to the ride of toleration regimes in Italy & Germany

U.S.S.R Joseph Stalin

Entrenchment of communism, stalins policies (5 year plans, farm collectives, secret police) , great purge

Germany- Adolf Hitler

Inflation & depression, democratic government weakened, anti-semitism, extreme nationalism, Nazism, German occupation of nearby countries

Italy- Benito Mussolini

Rise of facism, ambition to restore the glory of Rome, invasion of Ethiopia

Japan- Hirohito & Hideki Tojo

Militarism, industrialization of Japan, leading to drive for raw materials, invasion of Korea, Manchuria, and rest of China

Economic and political causes of WW2

Aggression by totalitarian powers(Germany, Italy, Japan), nationalism, failures of the T.O.V, weakness of L.O.N, Appeasement, tendencies towards isolationism and pacifism in Europe and U.S.

Major events of WW2

German Invasion of Poland, fall of France, Battle of Britain, German invasion of Soviet Union, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, atomic bombs

Outcomes of WW2

European powers' loss of empires, establishment of 2 major powers in the world, war crime trials, division of Europe, United Nations, Marshall plan

Efforts for reconstruction of Germany

Democratic govt. installed in West Germany & West Berlin, Germany and Berlin divided among 4 allied powers, emergence of west Germany as economic power in postwar Europe

Efforts for reconstruction in Japan

U.S. Occupation of Japan under MacArthurs administration, democracy and economic development, elimination of Japanese military, emergence of Japan as dominant economy in Asia

Genocide

The systematic and purposeful destruction of a racial, political, religious or cultural group

Hitter jailed from 1923-1924

For uprising at beer hall

Dictators in Italy, Germany, and Japan pursued

Ambitious goals for their empire while leaders of the west were haunted by memories of the Great War

Spurred by voters who demanded no more war, western leaders

Used diplomacy to try to avoid war; during 1930s the 2 sides tested each other's commitment and will

Japan seized _ in 1931 while _

Manchuria, the League of Nations condemned the aggression, Japan withdrew from it

Japan's easy success strengthened the & in 1937

Militarists, Japanese armies overran much of eastern China, once again western protests had no effects

In 1935 Italy invaded

Ethiopia, they resisted but their weapons were outdated, Ethiopian king Haille selasie appealed to the L.O.N for help , Italy conquered

Hitlers challenge

Built up military in defiance of TOV, sent troops into Rhineland next to France, western democracies denounced his popularity, policy of appeasement

Policy of appeasement

Giving into the demands of hitler in order to keep peace

Some people in Europe saw hitter as a defense against

A worse evil- the spread of the soviet communism

As war clouds gathered in Europe in 1930s US

Passed neutrality acts (pacidism)

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis

Italy, Germany, and Japan formed this and agreed to fight the soviet communism & not get in each others way

Spanish civil war

Communists/leftist demanded radical reforms, General Francisco Franco led a revolt, hitler & Mussolini sent forces

Francisco Franco was

Foe of democracy and socialism, Britain, France, and U.S. Remained neutral

The nazis used innocent communities to

Experiment with new planes

In 1939, Francisco had

Triumphed, fascists dictatorship like hitler and Mussolini

Hitlers third reich rules

"Nature is cruel, we must be cruel too.. I have a right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin

Hitter sent troops to Austria to

Preserve order, wanted to form Anschluss-union of Austria and Germany

After Austria, hitter went after

Czechoslovakia, one of the 2 remaining democracies left in Eastern Europe (Finland Is other)

Munich conference in 1938

British and French leaders chose appeasement, persuaded the Czechs to surrender the Sudetenland without a fight, thought agreement, Winston Churchill knew better

In Munich conference French leader Eduard daladiersaid

The fools why are they cheering?

As Winston predicted

Munich did not bring peace, Europe plunged to war. Promised to protect Poland

Hitter formed pact with

Stalin (head of the Soviet Union) divided Poland

Nazi feared communism as Stalin feared

Facism . Also did not want to fight western democracies and Soviet Union at same time

When hitter and Stalin invaded polsnd

British declared war because of their promise to Poland

Who all wanted to change TOV

Germany, Italy, Japan, and Soviet Union

Blitzkrieg

Hitters lightning storm into Poland

Germany attacked Poland from _ Stalin from _

West, east

In WW2 hitter launched a blitzkrieg against

Norway and Denmark, Netherlands & Belgium

Miracle of Dunkirk

Allies forces running from nazis and stuck by English Channel, British sent every warship, rescued 300,000

France falls

Germany headed towards Paris, Italy attached from the south, France surrendered

Hitter forced France to sign

Surrender document and then Germany took northern, in south set up a "puppet state"

French officers escaped England to

Set up a government in exile, led by Charles de Gaulle, the free worked to liberate their homelands and harass Germans with guerrilla tactics

Nazi technology

Air power, the Luftwaffe- German airfield perfected its methods of bombing civilians, fast moving ranks

Hitler was sure that British would surrender but Winston churchill

Replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister

Hitter ordered the operation sea lion

The invasion of Britain, launched massive air attached against the island nation, starting the battle of britain

Winston Churchill said about britain

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" British fought bravely, by 1941 British made hitter leave and go to Russia

The British were worried the Germans would take control of

Suez Canal, cutting them off from India.

In 1940 after the Battle of Britain Italy invaded .

Greece, hitler came to help Greece and Yugoslavia added to the axis empire

Operation barbarossa

Conquest of the Soviet Union, wanted to gain land and crush Stalin and communism, caught Stalin unprepared, hitler declared war was over but died through Russia's general winter

Siege of Leningrad

2 and a half year siege of Leningrad had begun, food was short, more than one million leningrads dies during the German siege

Growing American involvement

FDR convinced congress to pass the Lend Lease act, FDR and Churchill met secretly to discuss Atlantic charter

Lend lease adt

To lend or sell war materials to any country whose defense deems vital to ours

Atlantic charter

Goals to destroy nazi Germany

Japan attacks

Bombed Pearl Harbor Hawaii, FDR asked congress to declare war on Japan, 3 days later Germany and Italy declare war on US

After Pearl Harbor the Americans

Weakened Japan at the battle of the coral sea and midway island

Battle of midway

Aircraft carriers and plans, after the U.S. Took the offensive. general Douglas MacArthur landed at Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands (first step in island hopping)

On the captured islands, the americans

Built air bases to enable them to carry the war closer to Japan, Japanese would not surrender

Hitler set up _ governments manned by

Puppet all over Europe , Aryans or related races

Slavs were

Inferior to race, shoved aside to provide living space for hermans

Hitler forced Jews to live in

Ghettos in Poland, then death campus like Auschwitz

Collaborators

Who helped nazis hunt down Jews shipped thousands of Jews to death

The big three

FDR, Churchill, Stalin.. Agreed to finish the war in Europe before turning to Asia

The British under Montgomery

Finally stopped Rommels advance during the long battle of El Alamein

Victory in North Africa let

Allies leap across the Mediterranean into Italy

Mussolini was overthrown and

Rescued by hitler. Later killed

Italians wanted

To give up and the new govt. signed an armistice, weakened Germans cause thy had to fight on another front

Battle of midway

Gave the allies an opportunity to get closer to the war in japan

D Day

General Dwight Eisenhower was made supreme allied commander, largest amphibious attack in history

Battle of the bulge

Both sides lost, Germans drove the allies back but could not break through, FDR dies, Harry Truman takes over

V-E day

Hitler commits suicide

Defeat of Japan

Americans issued a warning to surrender, they didn't, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Warned him again, bombed Nagasaki

When was the war over

After bombing of Hiroshima and nagasaki