WW2

Historical Context
- The rise of Nazi Germany is a significant lead-up to World War II in Europe.

Why did the 1929 Great Depression affect Europe?
- A) Global economic linkages challenged the governments of industrialized capitalist countries.
- B) The US took out a great loan from Great Britain, which it could not pay back, triggering a ripple effect throughout Europe.
- C) It did not.
- D) European countries had invested heavily in South American markets, and when those markets collapsed, the European economies also fell into decline.

Select all that apply:
- A) Focus on class conflict
- B) Idealized goal of the state “withering away” to eventually form a class-less society
- C) Efforts to eliminate religion
- D) Encouragement of individuals to maintain their own farms and property; promoting the ideology of “stronger individuals, stronger nation.”

Textbook Definition: Political ideology that considers the conflict of nations to be the driving force of history; marked by intense nationalism.

Definition: Germany’s democratic government after World War I (1919-1933).
It was deeply affected by the Great Depression.
- Example: Metropolis by Otto Dix (1928).

Key Dates:
- January 30, 1933: Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany.
Nazi Party Background:
- The Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) was small and marginal in the early 1920s but grew after the crises of the 1930s.
- Promised to:
  - Fix the economy,
  - Return Germany to its status as a world power,
  - Regain territory,
  - Create a strong government.
Hitler’s Ideology:
- Expressed violent racist views in Mein Kampf (1925-26).
- Outlined anti-Semitic and militarist views for Germany’s future.
- Key Term: Lebensraum (living space) essential for Germans to fulfill their destiny as the “master race.”

Propaganda opportunity for Nazi Germany to project a vision of Aryan superiority.
Film: Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia— Festival of Nations (1936) revolutionized sports broadcasting.
Events leading to the outbreak of war:
- September 1939: Germany defeats and occupies Poland.
- April 1940: Denmark and Norway occupied; Belgium falls in May 1940.
- European offensive continues: Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.
- May 1945: Defeat of Germany.

Timeline: September 1-27, 1939.
Characterized as a war of annihilation, described by Hitler as “with the greatest brutality and without mercy.”
Objectives:
- Plans of “cleansing” the Jewish population and reducing ethnic Polish to a small group of slave laborers.
- Involved extreme violence and murder, leading to the creation of extermination camps.

Definition: Systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of around 6 million Jewish people by Nazi Germany and its collaborators from 1933 to 1945.
Included widespread persecution of other groups: people with disabilities, Communists, LGBTQ+, and various other minorities.
Impact: Unprecedented genocide with varying experiences for Jews under Nazi rule.

Non-violent German resistance group comprised of students who actively opposed the Nazi regime.
Notable Quote:
- "The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive.’ … Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves." - Sophie Scholl, age 21.

Notable Quotes:
- "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." — Tribute to the Royal Air Force.
- "Let us brace ourselves to our duties … this was their finest hour." — House of Commons.
Historical Impact:
- British Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945.
- Major events:
  - Spring 1945: Allied forces cross into Germany.
  - April 30, 1945: Hitler commits suicide; Germany surrenders unconditionally shortly after.
  - May 8, 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe).