WWII

Causes of World War II

  • German resentment of Treaty of Versailles

  • Worldwide Great Depression

  • Increase in German, Japanese, and Italian nationalism

  • Appeasement and weak League of Nations

  • Militarism & aggression by Japan and Germany

  • Rise of totalitarian leaders

Years following WWI:

  • Treaty of Versailles hits Germany hard

  • German currency (the mark), dropped in value; printed more money to get out into the public’s hands which devalued it and made it worthless

  • Great Depression hits Europe hard

  • Many countries give up rights for security or sacrifice standing up for peace

  • New political ideas:

    • Fascism (undivided loyalty to the leader & country; starts in Italy, spread to Germany, Spain, Hungary, Argentina, other nations in Eastern Europe)

    • Totalitarianism (total control of every aspect of the country, usually run by a dictator; most fascists were totalitarianists)

Fascism in Italy

  • Benito Mussolini “Il Duce”

  • Comes to power with his “Black shirts” and proclaims he wants to bring Italy back to glory of Roman Empire

  • Takes power in 1922, outlaws all other parties and takes control for himself

  • Secret police jails opponents; becomes a model for all other fascist leaders of Europe

  • Eventually moves to making Italy worldwide power

Nazism in Germany

  • The National Socialist German Workers Party

  • Blend racism with fascism to create a party intent on making a strong Germany that excludes certain groups (mostly Jews); violently anti-Bolshevist

  • Uses propaganda greatly in an attempt to convince people that Germany is a powerful nation, should be powerful again, and should punish enemies (internal and external) who have betrayed Germany

  • Adolf Hitler

    • Gains support during economic free fall of Great Depression

    • Takes control in 1933, goes on spree eliminating all who pose a threat, including those who once supported him

    • Violently racist but a dynamic orator

    • Rallies German people behind him

Flight of the Jews

  • Many Jews wanted to leave Germany

  • Quotas kept many Jews out

  • During WWII, less than 30,000 Jews a year reached the US, some turned away

  • SS St. Louis, “Ship of Fools” 936 Jews seek freedom

    • 288 of the passengers disembarked in England

    • Remaining 619 passengers disembarked at Antwerp; 224 accepted into France, 214 into Belgium and 181 into Holland, safe until German invasion of these countries

    • Est. 180 of the St. Louis refugees in France, plus 152 in Belgium and 60 in Holland survived Holocaust, total of 706 est and 227 killed of original 936

Communism in Soviet Union

  • Joseph Stalin

    • Harsh ruler from 1928-1953

    • Makes political alliances, assumes control of Communist Party, eliminates all threats

    • Constantly purges military and executes those he feels are not loyal

    • Ruthless, bloody, pushes Soviets towards industrialization during 5-year plans

    • Kills 7 million during Ukrainian “famine”

    • Wants to spread communism, fears West is out to get him

    • Hates Hitler

Militarism in Japan

  • People in the government who are either in the military or support the military

  • They support having a strong military presence in the government and in international affairs

  • Militarists took over Japan’s government after assassinating prime minister Inukai Tsyoshi in 1932

    • Wanted to dominate Asia. “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”

  • When the military took over in 1932, Emperor Hirohito became puppet form which they could control Japan

  • Hideki Tojo becomes prime minister in 1941 after a decade of encourage Japanese imperial growth in escalating tensions with the US

Axis Powers

  • Treaty signed in October 1936

    • Rome-Berlin Axis, alliance between Italy and Germany

    • 1940: Japan joins alliance

Aggression begins

  • “Lebensraum”: living space in German

  • Major theme in Mein Kampf

  • According to Hitler:

    • Germans needed room to expand because they will become overcrowded

    • Should first unite lands Germany used to own (parts of Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, etc)

    • Afterwards, should expand eastward into Poland, Ukraine, and Russia and use the farming lands as a base of supply for food

    • Slavic populations will be converted to slaves

  • Lebensraum will be cornerstone for what Hitler called “The Third Reich”

  • “Master Race”

Prelude to WWII: Spanish Civil War

  • Army leaders who wanted fascist style government, supported Francisco Franco

  • Others who supported the new republican style government that has tried to keep order in the five years that it has ruled

  • Germany and Italy step in and give aid to Franco by bombing cities, support troops, and personnel

  • The Germans test their weapons and new tactics in Spain

  • 1939: Republicans fall in Madrid and Franco becomes dictator

  • Guernica: Town in northern Spain

    • April 26, 1937: German Condor Legion flew over and bombed town. First time in history civilians would be targeted for aerial bombardment

    • Est. 1500 people died

Appeasement Cycle

  • Germany senses weakness in the Allies

  • Germany makes demands, threatens war

  • Allies meet with Germany

  • To prevent war, Allies agree to German demands

Hitler’s Aggression:

  • Remilitarized the Rhineland in violation of Versailles treaty

  • Forced union with Austria

  • Bullied Czwchoslovaki into ceding the Sudetenland

  • Annexed all of Czechoslovakia

  • Demanded Poland surrender “Polish Corridor”

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

  • Signed August 23, 1939

  • Promises that Nazi Germany & Soviet Union would not fight

  • Also included secret protocol, where signers divided up Poland in half

  • Soviet Union also allowed to dominate the independent countries of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania in any way they saw fit

  • Treaty would help give Hitler the means to invade Poland

  • Stalin signed because he thought the West or Germany was gearing up for a war with him

China

  • Japan invaded Manchuria 1931, created puppet state

  • Promoted Japanese colonization of the region

  • Japanese invade China 1937, capture Beijing, Shanghai, Nanking, other coastal cities

  • Chinese weakened by years of civil war, easy prey

  • 1937-1945: Chinese lose 3.2 million killed, Japan lose more than a million

  • Another 17.5 million Chinese will die in Japanese atrocities committed by the military

  • Rape of Nanking: December 1937 to January 1938

    • Japanese go crazy, rape women and children and go on murder spree

    • In six weeks, genocidal acts will kill 300,000

US Isolationism

  • Years following WWI, US stays out of European affairs while dealing with Depression

  • Wanted to avoid the same death and destruction of WWI

  • Combined with Appeasement, it will help Germany branch out

The Road to World War II

  1. 1935: Mussolini invades Ethiopia

  2. 1936: Hitler remilitarizes the Rhineland

  3. Hitler and Mussolini aid Franco in Spanish Civil War

  4. 1938:

    1. Hitler:

      • Annexes Austria

      • Demands the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia

      • Is given the Sudetenland in September

  5. 1939:

    1. Hitler takes over rest of Czechoslovakia & divides it with Hungary

    2. Mussolini takes over Albania

    3. Hitler demands Poland surrenders the Polish Corrido

    4. Hitler and Stalin sign non-aggression pact in August

    5. September 1: Hitler invades Poland

War in Europe

  • “Blitzkrieg” lightning war

  • Sept. 1939 Germany and USSR divide up Poland

  • Spring 1940, after phony war, Hitler invades Western Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway all fall quickly)

  • Germans reached French coast of English Channel in 10 days

    • French fall back and fall apart

    • June 22, 1940: French surrender

  • Western Europe has fallen to the Nazis

  • Dunkirk rescue

  • Winston Churchill

  • Starting July 10: Luftwaffe sent to smash up British defenses in prep. for Operation Sea Lion (invasion of England)

  • RAF (Royal Air Force) outnumbered, 2900 plans vs 4500

  • Night of August 25: RAF bombers in retaliation are sent to bomb a munitions plant in Germany; miss and bomb Berlin instead

  • Furious Hitler orders London + other cities to become targets

  • RAF regroups & attacks

  • Luftwaffe is defeated and ends campaign on October 31, 1940

  • British saved from invasion, Nazi aggression in West over

Invasion of Russia

  • June 22, 1941: Operation Barbarossa, German codename for invasion of Soviet Union

  • Hoped invasion would get Nazis the oil fields of Caucasus, the farmlands of Ukraine and the industrial regions of Western Russia

  • Hitler moved 3.2 million men to Soviet border

  • Germans push deep into Russia, cold catches them off guard

  • Germans, by the end of 1941, will be within 20 miles of Moscow

  • After 3 years, Germans will begin to fall back and be overwhelmed

  • Hitler’s greatest mistake

Election of 1940

  • Because of looming war, Democrats nominate FDR for a third term

  • Republicans nominate Wendell Willkie on a platform that the New Deal is falling and that FDR will get us into war

  • FDR cruised into third term

  • Lend Lease Act

    • 1941: Congress passes act

    • Initially would cost $7 billion but eventually $50 billion

    • “Arsenal of Democracy”

    • We would lend weapons and money to Allies (mostly Britain, France, China, Australia, and later on USSR)