World War II (1939-1945)

A. Long Term Causes

  1. Great Depression - spread worldwide and caused many countries to look for new leaders

  2. Imperialism (1930s) - powerful nations invaded or took over nations that were not as strong

    1. Germany - Austria & Czechoslovakia

    2. Italy - Albania & Ethiopia

    3. Japan - China & Manchuria

  3. Dictatorships in Germany, Italy, and Japan

  4. Weaknesses of the League of Nations - the league was not strong enough to stand up to Hitler

  5. Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis (Axis Powers) - alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan

  6. Hitler

B. Hitler

  1. Violated Treaty of Versailles by:

    1. “anschluss” - annexation of Austria by Germany

    2. Remilitarizing Germany and starting the draft

  2. Promised revenge against Allied Nations who punished Germany after WW1

  3. Tried to take over most countries in Europe

  4. Munich Pact - Hitler and Mussolini met with leaders of England and France to discuss land and peace

    1. result: Hitler was given Sudetenland in return for Czech independence

    2. England and France practiced “appeasement” when dealing/negotiating with Hitler

    3. appeasement - giving into demands in order to keep peace

  5. Final Solution - Hitler’s plan to eliminate the Jewish population of Europe

  6. Holocaust - systematic murder of Jewish people by the Nazis

    1. Nazis forced Jewish people into concentration camps

    2. Genocide - over 6 million Jewish people were killed

  7. Nazi-Soviet Pact - non-aggression agreement between Hitler and Stalin

    1. Result: they agree to not attack each other and divide Poland

    2. significance: Hitler could attack Poland without Soviet interference

  8. 9/1/1939 - Germany invaded Poland - WW2 began and England and France declared war on Germany 2 days later

C. Outbreak of War

  1. Blitzkrieg - “lightning war” - German strategy of using air raids and armored attacks to quickly defeat their targets

  2. 1940 - Germany defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands

  3. Dunkirk Evacuation - Germany trapped thousands of Allied troops on the coast of France

    1. over 300,000 were rescued and brought to England

  4. June 1940 - France was defeated and England was alone

  5. Battle of Britain - 4 month attempt by Germany to defeat England

    1. result: England fought off the attacks and was able to extend the war

  6. Winston Churchill - Prime Minister of England who refused to surrender to Hitler and turned to the U.S. for help

D. United States

  1. Neutral for the first two years of the war

  2. Neutrality Acts - series of laws passed by Congress to outlaw the sending of weapons or supplies to nations at war

  3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) - felt the U.S. should be ready to help England if they faced a major crisis

    1. FDR quote: “we must be the great arsenal of democracy”

  4. Lend-Lease Act 0 gave the president the authority to provide weapons or supplies to any nation whose defense was vital to the defense of the U.S.

  5. Atlantic Charter - goals of FDR and Churchill for the Allies if the U.S. would enter the war

    1. main goals: stop Hitler and the Nazis and establish a system of world security

  6. U.S. and Japan had a dispute over Japan’s occupation of China so the U.S. cut off oil to Japan

  7. Pearl Harbor - 12/7/1941 - U.S. navy base in Hawaii was attacked by Japan

    1. U.S. Pacific Fleet was destroyed

    2. 2500 Americans were killed and over 2000 were injured

    3. FDR quote: “A date which will live in infamy”

    4. U.S. declared war on Japan and entered the war on the Allies’ side

E. Pacific

  1. General Douglas MacArthur - leader of U.S. forces in the Pacific

  2. island hopping - U.S. strategy of defeating islands in the Pacific one by one on the way to Japan

  3. Battle of the Coral Sea - U.S. stopped Japan’s advance on Australia

  4. Battle of Midway - first major turning point for the U.S. against Japan when they (U.S.) defeated them (Jpn) and stopped their advance toward Hawaii

  5. Battle of Guadalcanal - major Allied offensive against Japan that eliminated many of their bases and stopped their expansion

F. Europe

  1. Hitler’s mistake - broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact and invaded the Soviet Union

  2. Operation Barbarossa - invasion of Soviet Union by Germany that was the longest in history

  3. Battle of Stalingrad - most destructive battle of WWII

    1. Result: Soviet Union won and stopped Germany’s advance in the east

    2. over 2 million casualties on both sides

  4. D-Day - June 6, 1944 - Allied invasion against Germany in Normandy, France

    1. over 150,000 troops invaded - largest sea invasion in history

    2. led by U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower

    3. significance: ended Nazi rule in France

  5. Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944) Allies defeated Germany along the borders of Belgium and France

    1. Led by U.S. General George Patton

    2. Result - Hitler’s last offensive