Societies undergo political, economic, and social changes that lead to renewed aggression.
Changes in Society: Women
Women’s Roles Change
Women take on new roles during World War I.
This work helps many win the right to vote.
In 1920s, women adopt freer clothing, hairstyles.
Some women seek new careers
Post-WWI Europe
Unstable New Democracies
Fall of kingdoms, empires creates new democracies in Europe.
People have little experience with representative government.
Some form coalition governments—temporary, multi-party alliances.
Frequent changes in government create instability.
The Weimar Republic
Democracy in Germany
Weimar Republic—Germany’s democratic government formed in 1919.
Government has serious weaknesses.
Inflation Causes Crisis in Germany
Value of German currency falls dramatically.
Efforts to End War
Germany and France sign treaty pledging no more war
Many nations sign a similar agreement, the Kellogg-Briand pact.
Nations pledged not to use military force to resolve conflicts.
Goal was to outlaw war.
The Great Depression
Economic Downturn
Great Depression —long business slump of 1930s
Marked by bank failures, loss of savings, mass unemployment, farm crisis
A Global Depression
American economic problems create problems in other countries
World trade falls sharply after US Smoot-Hawley tariffs cause other countries to retaliate by putting tariffs on US goods.
Effects Throughout the World
Germany and Austria suffer greatly, as do Asia and Latin America
The Rise of Fascism in Europe
Economic turmoil, uncertainty about the future, fears, and bigotry drive people to support far right political parties.
Italy Turns Towards Fascism
New Political Movement
Fascism is new, militant political movement.
Emphasizes nationalism, military might, and loyalty to authoritarian leader. Individuals are subordinate to country. No dissenting views allowed: seen as unpatriotic and treasonous.
Mussolini Takes Control
Italians want a leader who will take action
Fascist Party leader, Benito Mussolini, promises to rescue Italy
Italian king puts Mussolini in charge of government
Il Duce’s Leadership
Mussolini takes firm control of politics and economy in Italy and took over media.
Analyzing Key Concepts: Fascism
Fascism is a political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism and militarism. It also includes a denial of individual rights and dictatorial one-party rule. Nazism was the Fascist movement that developed in Germany in the 1920s and the 1930s; it included a belief in the racial superiority of the German people.
Economic:
economic functions controlled by state corporations or state
Social:
supported by middle class, industrialists, and military
Cultural:
censorship
indoctrination
secret police
Political:
nationalist
racist (Nazism)
one-party rule
supreme leader
Basic Principles:
authoritarianism
state more important than the individual
charismatic leader
action oriented
Chief examples:
Italy
Spain
Germany
Hitler Comes to Power
Adolph Hitler: served in WWI and stayed in the army afterwards. Was supposed to infiltrate and spy on German Workers Party but joins it instead. Party is nationalist and anti-Semitic. Hitler rises through the party ranks.
The Rise of the Nazis
Nazism—German brand of fascism
Hitler becomes Nazi leader, plots to seize national power
Mein Kampf—Hitler‘s book detailing beliefs, goals: Germans were “Master Race.” Non “Aryans” are inferior races.
Hitler believes that Germany needs lebensraum, or living space
Germans turn to Hitler when economy collapses
Hitler Becomes Dictator
Hitler’s New Power
Hitler is named chancellor
Turns Germany into totalitarian state
Uses brutal tactics to eliminate enemies
Nazis take command of economy
The Führer Is Supreme
Hitler takes control over every aspect of German life: military, economy, education, media.
Hitler Makes War on the Jews
Though the Jews were a small percentage of the German population, or because of that, Nazis use them as scapegoats for not only losing WWI but for the country’s economic problems. Nazis deprive Jews of rights, promote violence against them
Aggression and Attempts at Colonialism
As Germany, Italy, and Japan conquer other countries, the rest of the world, leery from what happened in WWI, does nothing to stop them
Japan Expands its Empire
Militarists Take Control of Japan
Military leaders take control of country
Want to solve economic problems through foreign expansion
Japan Invades Manchuria
Japan has investments in Manchuria, natural resource rich Chinese province
In 1931, Japanese army seizes Manchuria
League of Nations protests action; Japan withdraws from League
Japan declares war on China in 1937
“Rape of Nanjing”
The Nanjing Massacre occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured the Chinese town of Nanjing. During this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants who numbered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000, and perpetrated widespread rape and looting.
Italy Seeks an Empire
Mussolini Attacks Ethiopia
Italy had gained land from the former Ottoman Empire after WWI but Mussolini wanted more. In 1935, Mussolini attacks Ethiopia, and this time Italy is successful. League of Nations does not stop aggression
In 1939, Italy invades Albania.
Hitler Starts German Expansion
Hitler Defies Versailles Treaty
In 1935, Hitler begins rebuilding German military
On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops marched into the Rhineland and other regions along the Rhine. German territory west of the Rhine had been off-limits to the German military.
Britain urges appeasement, a policy of giving in to aggression
Germany, Italy, and Japan—the Axis Powers— form an alliance
Civil War in Spain
Civil War Erupts in Spain
In 1931, a republic is declared in Spain
In 1936, General Francisco Franco leads rebellion
Hitler and Mussolini help Franco and his Fascists
In 1939, Franco wins Spanish Civil War
Franco becomes Spain’s Fascist dictator
US Becomes Isolationist
United States Follows an Isolationist Policy
Isolationism —avoidance of political ties with other countries: results of seeing what happened in Europe that led to WWI
In 1935, Congress passes Neutrality Acts: ban loans and arms sales to nations at war
Hitler Keeps Going
The German Reich Expands
Hitler plans to expand Third Reich —German Empire
In 1938, Hitler annexes Austria (Anschluss)
Hitler demands the Sudetenland, area with many German people, from Czechoslovakia
Czechs refuse, ask France for help
Britain and France Again Choose Appeasement
Leaders meet at Munich Conference to settle Czech crisis
Britain and France agree to let Hitler take Sudetenland if Hitler stops there.
But in 1939, Hitler still takes rest of Czechoslovakia
Mussolini takes Albania; Hitler demands part of Poland.
A Strange Alliance
Nazis and Soviets Sign Nonaggression Pact
In 1939, Stalin and Hitler pledge never to attack one another
Build up to War
Japan invades China
Italy invades Ethiopia
Germany & Austria united under the Anschluss
Germany annexes the Sudentenland (Czechoslovakia)
US passes Neutrality Act: Won’t sell weapons to countries at war.
Germany builds up military in violation of Treaty of Versailles, but no country has the appetite for another war, so no one does anything about it
Invasion of Poland
Secret Agreement
Nonaggression pact —Germans, Soviets agree not to fight each other
Agreement includes secret deal to invade and split Poland
Germany’s Lightning Attack
September 1, 1939—Hitler launches invasion of Poland
Britain, France declare war on Germany but Poland falls quickly
Blitzkrieg —lightning war—Germany’s new military Strategy. Planes, tanks, infantry used to surprise enemy and quickly conquer
Russia Strikes from the East
Russia moves into Poland from the east and also takes Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. They get stiff resistance from the outnumbered Finnish troops but eventually take Finland.
The “Phony War”
French, British mobilize along French border, wait for German attack, but after many months of no action—the “phony war”
In April 1940 Hitler attacks and quickly captures Denmark, & Norway. In just two years, Germany took Austria, Czechoslovakia, most of Poland, Denmark, and Norway.
France Falls
France had built a fortified barrier on its border with Germany. The Germans, however, went through heavily wooded Ardennes forest and attacked France from the northeast through Belgium and Luxembourg. Germans take The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg along the way.
France Falls, cont.
Miracle at Dunkirk
German forces trap British, French on coast at Dunkirk
British Navy, civilians take ships across Channel to rescue soldiers. Eight hundred fifty ships from civilian fishing boats and yachts to military vessels take part in the rescue over 300,000 allied troops.
France Falls
June 1940—France surrenders to Germany
Charles de Gaulle, French general, organizes opposition to Germany that would operate for the duration of the war.
Battle of Britain
Winston Churchill —Becomes British prime minister, vows no surrender
Germany plans invasion of Britain; begins with air attacks in 1940
British use air force, radar, code-breaking to resist
Battle of Britain —Air war over Britain that lasted until May 1941
After British bomb Berlin, Hitler changes tactics, big mistake. Eventually calls off invasion of Britain
The Mediterranean and the Eastern Front
Axis Forces Attack North Africa
Mussolini, Italy at first neutral
Mussolini declares war on Frace, Britain after German victory
September 1940—Mussolini attacks British in North Africa
Britain Strikes Back
December 1940—British attack and drive Italians back
Erwin Rommel, “The Desert Fox” German general, battles British in North Africa
In 1942, Rommel first retreats then succeeds against British
Hitler’s Second Big Blunder
The War in the Balkans
Hitler plans to invade Soviet Union. Wants the agricultural lands of the Ukraine and oil in the Caucuses.
Hitler invades Yugoslavia, Greece in April 1941; both fall quickly
Hitler Invades the Soviet Union
Germany invades an unprepared Soviet Union in June 1941
Soviet troops burn land as they retreat; Germans move into Russia
Germans stopped at Leningrad, forced to undertake long siege:
Germans almost capture Moscow, but forced to pull back
US Policy
Most Americans want to avoid war
Roosevelt fears that if allies fall, U.S. would have to fight
He hopes to strengthen allies so they can resist Germany
Lend-Lease Act—U.S. loans weapons to countries fighting Germany
Roosevelt and Churchill meet, issue statement of principles
Atlantic Charter —supports free trade, right to form own government
Japan's Pacific Campaign
Pearl Harbor
Japan develops plan for attacks on European colonies, U.S. bases in the Pacific
In 1941 Roosevelt cuts off oil shipments to Japan due to Japanese aggression in Asia and the Pacific
Admiral Isoroko Yamamato plans attack on U.S. fleet in Hawaii
Japan wants to take out US fleet, so US won’t stop Japanese expansion in the western Pacific.
Day of Infamy
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor—U.S. naval base in Hawaii—on Dec. 7, 1941
U.S. declares war on Japan
Japan also attacks Hong Kong, Thailand, and other islands
Gains in Many Places
Japanese attack Philippine Islands defended by U.S., Filipino troops
Philippine islands fall to Japanese in 1942
Japan captures British holdings, including Hong Kong, Singapore
Also conquers Dutch East Indies, rich in minerals
Capture of Burma threatens India, Britain’s main possession in Asia
Japanese forces treat conquered peoples, prisoners of war brutally
Stopping the Japanese
Stunning Raid
U.S. bombers attack Tokyo, other Japanese cities in April 1942
Raid does little damage, but shows Japan it is vulnerable to long-range US air strikes
The Allies Turn the Tide
Battle of the Coral Sea—Americans stop Japanese advance, May 1942
New kind of naval warfare—ships launch planes to fight each other
The Battle of Midway: Turning Point
Bombers used to bomb Tokyo launched from Midway Island: a small island just big enough for a runway.
Japan wants to capture or destroy threat from Midway.
US cracks Japanese code and knows Japan is planning to attack Midway
Battle of Midway —U.S. destroys Japan’s naval fleet, Japan retreats after losing FOUR aircraft carriers and hundreds of planes and pilots. Japanese navy does not recover.
Island Hopping
MacArthur’s Plan
Douglas MacArthur—American army commander in Pacific
Plans to “island-hop” past strongholds, attack weaker Japanese bases
Battle of Guadalcanal—hellish battle that ends in Allied victory
Island Hopping
Island Hopping: the practice of landing on one island, defeating its forces, then quickly moving on to the next strategic target.
The Holocaust
The Nazis and the Jews
Racist Beliefs
Hitler and Nazis say Aryans—Germanic peoples — are “master race” and Jews and others are inferior. Hitler blames Jews for Germany’s loss in WWI
Anti-Semitism
Nazis tap into long-held feeling of many Europeansagainst Jews
1935 Nuremberg Laws take away rights of German Jews
Kristallnacht —“night of broken glass,” November 9, 1938