Comprehensive Study Notes on the Beginning of WWII
Hitler's Rise to Power and Motivations
Hitler gained power in 1933.
His primary motivation was Lebensraum, meaning "living space," aiming to expand into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
Hitler viewed Russians and other Slavic people as natural slaves.
The term "Slavic" is linguistically linked to "slaves".
Racial Ideology
Hitler's ideology centered around the concept of the Aryan race, which he falsely claimed Germans descended from.
He ranked races with Aryans at the top, justifying expansion to provide more room for the "Aryan race".
This concept drew from earlier ideas of scientific racism developed during the age of imperialism.
Influence of US Manifest Destiny
Hitler admired the United States' Manifest Destiny, the belief that the U.S. was destined to rule from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
He saw the U.S.'s treatment of Native Americans, including their extermination and cultural assimilation, as a model for his plans in Eastern Europe.
The U.S. committed genocide against Native Americans to create a white country which Hitler wanted to replicate.
Violation of the Treaty of Versailles
By 1935, Hitler began to openly defy the Treaty of Versailles, which had restricted the German military.
He rebuilt the German economy around military expansion, creating jobs and garnering popular support.
Hitler announced the creation of a German air force and initiated military conscription.
The military expanded from 100,000 in 1935 to 4.5 million by 1939.
Appeasement
Britain and France initially did little to stop Hitler's violations, due to a combination of sympathy for Germany and a desire to avoid war.
Many in Britain believed the Treaty of Versailles was unfair.
The Anglo-German Naval Pact allowed Germany to have a navy 35% the size of Britain's and an equal number of submarines. This was the beginning of appeasement.
Appeasement: Giving in to a bully.
Expansion into the Rhineland and Austria
In 1937, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles.
Britain and France did not respond.
In March 1938, Hitler annexed Austria (Anschluss), facing little resistance.
Europeans calmed themselves by pointing out Austrians were ethnically German.
Seizure of the Sudetenland
Hitler then demanded the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with a large ethnic German population.
A meeting in Munich was held with Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, but without Czechoslovakia or Russia.
The Munich Agreement gave Hitler the Sudetenland.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared "peace for our time," believing Hitler would stop there.
Chamberlain was very wrong.
Conquest of Czechoslovakia
In March 1939, Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia.
This marked a turning point, as Britain and France realized Hitler would not stop at incorporating German-speaking territories.
Demands on Poland and the Polish Corridor
Hitler then turned his attention to Poland, demanding the city of Danzig and access to the Polish Corridor.
Britain and France warned that any action against Poland would result in war.
The Polish Corridor was a strip of land that divided Germany and East Prussia.
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
On August 23, 1939, Hitler and Stalin shocked the world by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact.
Secretly, the pact included a plan to divide Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Stalin only agreed to a ten year pact instead of Hitler's original request of a hundred year pact.
Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, triggering World War II.
Britain and France declared war on Germany.
On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Eastern Poland.
Poland was quickly divided between the two powers.
This led to increased persecution of Jews, who were forced into ghettos and later sent to concentration camps.
The Axis Powers
In 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan formed the Tripartite Pact, becoming the Axis Powers.
Japan, like Germany, was undergoing a shift to fascism during the 1930s.
The Phony War
Following the declaration of war, there was a period of inactivity known as the "Phony War" from October 1939 to April 1940.
This allowed Germany to prepare its military for a full-scale offensive.
Blitzkrieg and Conquest of Europe
In April 1940, Germany launched its blitzkrieg (lightning war), an overwhelming military assault.
German soldiers were often given amphetamines, disguised as vitamins, to fuel their advance.
Denmark and the Netherlands quickly fell.
With Sweden's help, Germany was able to then take Norway.
Fall of France
In May 1940, Germany invaded France, which fell in just six weeks.
This unexpected victory shocked the world.
France's defenses were primarily along the Maginot Line, designed to prevent an invasion through the Ardennes Forest.
However, German tanks bypassed the line by going through the forest.
Italy then joined Germany's side.
Battle of Britain
Hitler then attempted to subdue Britain through relentless bombing by the Luftwaffe.
London was heavily bombed for months.
Under the leadership of Winston Churchill, the British people resisted.
After three months, the Nazis retreated, failing to defeat Britain.
Churchill responded to the Blitz by bombing Berlin causing Hitler to bomb London again.
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
The Nazis aimed to seize farmland in Ukraine and gain access to oil resources in the Caucasus and Middle East.
Japanese Expansion in Asia
Japan had been expanding its influence in Asia since the early 20th century, conquering Korea in 1910 and Manchuria in 1931.
In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China, committing atrocities such as the Rape of Nanjing.
Pearl Harbor and US Entry into WWII
In 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as well as the Philippines and Guam.
President Roosevelt focused on Pearl Harbor in his address to the nation because he feared Americans were unaware the US held the Philippines and Guam.
Turning Points
The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific Theater, after the United States discovered that Japan was attacking Midway by breaking their radio code.
The US devastatingly destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers.
In Europe, the Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point.
Soviet forces, at the cost of over a million lives, prevented the Nazis from advancing further.
Allied Counteroffensive
The Allies, including the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, began to push back against the Axis powers.
The United States and Britain attacked North Africa, then invaded Italy.
Mussolini was captured by his own people and executed.
D-Day
On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched D-Day, the invasion of Normandy, France.
Forces from the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia participated in the invasion.
Paratroopers were dropped behind enemy lines to cause chaos.
The allies pushed deeper and deeper into Nazi occupied territory.