Introduction to WWII

WORLD WAR I WAS TO BE THE WAR TO END ALL WARS….OR WAS IT?

2

TIMELINE OF WWII

1939

Sept.1 - Germany invades Poland (official start to the war)

Sept. 3 -Britain &

France declare war on

Germany

Dec. 7 – Japan

bombs Pearl Harbor; US enters the

war

1941

Aug-Sept. - Atomic

bombing of

Hiroshima &

Nagasaki; Japanese surrender

1945

May - Germans surrende

r

•1939-1945

•US involvement 1941-1945

1944

June 6 –

D-Day

1943

Feb- USSR defeats Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad

3

WHO FOUGHT IN THE WAR?

Allies Axis

Great Britain

France(note: France surrendered to

Germany in 1940 (after 6 weeks of fighting)

United States

Soviet Union (USSR)

GermanyItaly

Japan

(major powers)

(major powers)

4

Major Leaders

Adolf HitlerNazi Germany

Benito MussoliniItaly

5

Major Leaders

Winston ChurchillBritish Prime

Minister

Hirohito

Emperor of Japan

Charles De GaulleFrench Prime

Minister

6

Major Leaders

Harry S Truman

US President

Joseph StalinRussian Leader

Franklin Delano

Roosevelt

US President

7

Why? (underlying causes of WWII)

1. Treaty of VersaillesA. Germany lost land to

surrounding nations

B. War Reparations

1) Allies collect $ to pay back war debts to U.S.

2) Germany must pay $57 trillion (modern equivalent)

3) Bankrupted the German economy & embarrassed GermansLloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson

during negotiations for the Treaty

8

Why? (underlying causes of WWII)

2. World-wide DepressionA. The Depression

made Germany’s debt even worse

B. Desperate people turn to desperate leaders

1) Hitler seemed to provide solutions to Germany’s problems

1923 - Wallpapering with German Deutchmarks

9

Why? (underlying causes of WWII)

2. World-wide Depression

2) Hitler provided scapegoats for Germany’s problems (foreigners, Jews, communists, gypsies, mentally ill)

10

Major Events during WWIIPearl Harbor: “December 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy”

USS Arizona Sinking in Pearl Harbor

What?

•Surprise attack by the Japanese on American forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Effect? •US declares war on

Japan and other Axis powers

11

The Battle of StalingradWhat?

A battle between Germany and the Soviet Union for the Soviet city of Stalingrad that took place between August 21, 1942 and February 2, 1943. The Soviets won.

Effect:

It is often considered the turning point of World War II.

12

D-Day, the Battle of NormandyJune 6, 1944

What?

A major battle on the beaches of France in which the Allies took control of Western Europe.

13

Leading up to the end of WWII

* On April 27, as Allied forces closed in on Milan, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was captured and executed. His body was then taken to Milan and hung for public display.

• On April 30, realizing that all was lost, German dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker along with Eva Braun, his long-time companion and wife.

•In May 1945 German forces surrender.

14

What about Japan?•President Truman had given Japan an ultimatum for surrender.

•Japan did not meet the conditions of the ultimatum.

•on August 6, 1945, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed on August 9, 1945, by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are the only uses of nuclear weapons in warfare.

•On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, marking an end to WWII