Origins of World War II and the HolocaustUnit 10

Origins of World War II

Guiding Questions

•What economic and political conditions following World War I encouraged dictatorship?

•How did European nations try to prevent war?

Terms to Know

•Fascism•Totalitarianism•Appeasement•Exploit•Dictator

Rise of Dictators

•Anti-democratic governments rose in both Europe and Asia following World War I▫Aided By:

Treaty of Versailles Economic Depression

•Countries would soon break the various provisions of the Treaty of Versailles

European DictatorsITALY SOVIET UNION GERMANY

Leader Benito Mussolini Joseph Stalin Adolph Hitler

Type of Government

Fascist Communist Nazi (Fascist)

Characteristics

- Aggressive nationalistic movement

- Nation more important than individuals

- Order in society and national greatness comes from dictator who led a strong government

- Strongly anti-communist

- Took power by force

- Government owns all means of production

- Family farms combined into collectives, government-owned farms

- Target political enemies, artists, and intellectuals

- Between 15-20 million died under Stalin’s rule

- Called for Germany to expand its borders and to reject terms of Treaty of Versailles

- Anti-Semitic (Anti-Jewish)

- Germans belong to the master Aryan race

- All Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe were to be made slaves

- Jews to be punished for causing world’s problems

Militarist Gain Control of Japan• Depression weakened Japan’s political system• High tariffs hurt Japanese economy• Military leaders argued expansion was needed to

get required resources▫Sept. 1931- Japanese invaded Manchuria

• Japanese Prime Minister asked Minister of War Hideki Tojo to withdraw troops from China▫Wanted to avoid conflict with U.S.▫Tojo refused and threatened to bring down

government• In October 1941, Tojo took over as prime minister

Hitler Breaks Versailles Treaty• In 1935, Hitler began breaking the provisions

of the Treaty of Versailles▫Began building a new air force▫Began a military draft to expand its army

• European leaders tried to reason with Hitler instead of threaten war▫Did not want to repeat WWI▫Thought most of Hitler’s demands were

reasonable▫Believed Nazis would want peace once they

had taken over more land

Anschluss and Appeasement• Austrian Anschluss (unification)

▫Late 1937, Hitler called for German speaking people to be united

▫Sent troops into Austria and announced the anschluss of Austria and Germany

• Munich Conference▫Began policy of appeasement- given in to an

aggressors demands to prevent conflict▫September 29, 1938- Allies agreed that Czechoslovakia

must give up the Sudetenland or fight Germany itself ▫March 1939, German troops invaded the rest of

Czechoslovakia

Hitler Demands Danzig

•Hitler demanded the Polish city of Danzig be returned to German control in Oct 1938▫90% German▫Part of Poland since WWI

•March 31, 1939 Britain and France announced it would defend Poland should Germany declare war on them

•May 1939, Hitler ordered German army to prepare to invade Poland

The Non-Aggression Pact•Signed by Germany and Soviet Union on

August 23, 1939▫Agreed not to fight or go to war with each other▫Divided Poland amongst them

•Allowed Germany to focus on a 1 front war should it invade Poland

•Agreement stunned the world▫Hate towards communists by Nazis▫Stalin thought the best way to protect

communism was by having capitalist nations fight each other

World War II Begins

Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invades

Poland

Sept. 3, 1939: France and

Britain Declare War on Germany

Sept. 3, 1939: France and

Britain Declare War on Germany

Oct. 5, 1939: German blitzkrieg allows Germany to

capture Poland

May 10 1940: Germany launches

blitzkrieg into Netherlands and

Belgium

June 4, 1940: Miracle at Dunkirk- British and French

troops evacuate Belgium

June 22, 1940: France surrenders

to Germany

Aug./Sept. 1940: Battle of Britain

Discussion Questions

From Neutrality to War

Guiding Questions

•Why did many Americans support isolationism and why did President Roosevelt support internationalism?

•How did President Roosevelt assist Britain while maintaining U.S. neutrality?

•What led to the United States’ involvement in World War II?

•How did the United States respond to Japanese Americans?

Terms to Know

•Internationalism•Strategic materials•Isolationism•Neutral

American Neutrality and Isolationism

• Many Americans supported isolationism after WWI▫Discouraged by rise of dictatorships and

militarism in Europe Felt like efforts during WWI were pointless

▫Depression and inability of European nations to repay U.S. war debts

▫Nye Committee Report Details about huge profits made by U.S. arms

manufacturers Made it appear as if businesses influenced the

decision to go to war

Legislating NeutralityNeutrality Act of 1935

Neutrality Act of 1936

Neutrality Act of 1937

• Made it illegal for Americans to sell arms to any country at war

• Made it illegal for Americans to sell arms to any country in a civil war

• Response to the Spanish Civil War

• “Cash and Carry”• All countries at

war buying nonmilitary goods from the U.S. had to pay in cash and transport the goods on their own ships

• Designed to keep U.S. transport ships from being attacked

Roosevelt’s Internationalism•Roosevelt did not agree with Neutrality Acts

but did not veto the bills▫Believed in internationalism

Trade between nations created wealth and helped prevent wars

▫Felt Neutrality Acts would actually force the U.S. into war

•Approved sale of weapons to China after the Japanese invasion in 1937▫Japan had not declared war▫Did not violate the Neutrality Acts

Neutrality Tested

Neutrality Act of 1939

Destroyers-for-Bases (Spring 1940)

Lend-Lease Act (Dec.

1940)

Atlantic Charter

(Aug. 1941)

Shoot on Sight

• Allowed the sale of weapons to warring nations on the “cash-and-carry” basis

• Britain asked for destroyers to replace losses

• FDR sent 50 ships to Britain in exchange for right to build American bases on British-controlled land

• Allowed the U.S. to lend/lease arms to countries that were important to the defense of the U.S.

• Easily passed Congress

• FDR and Winston Churchill agreed to a commitment by both nations to a postwar world of democracy

• German submarines fired on a U.S. destroyer radioing the U-boats position to British

• U.S. navy was ordered to shoot German U-boats on sight

Deteriorating U.S./Japanese Relations

• In July 1940, Congress allowed Roosevelt the power to stop the sale of strategic war materials to Japan (embargo)▫Designed to stop Japan’s aggressive expansion in

Pacific▫ Japan signed alliance with Germany and Italy

• In 1941, Roosevelt began sending lend-lease aid to China to help stop Japanese invasion▫Was not successful

• Summer 1941, FDR froze Japanese assets in U.S., reduced oil shipments to Japan, and sent Gen. MacArthur to Philippines

Japan Plots Attack

•Japanese military planned to attack British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia▫Needed resources to save war effort in

China▫U.S. Navy would not allow this expansion

•Japan also decided to take over Philippines and attack American fleet at Pearl Harbor▫Set out for Hawaii in late Nov. 1941

Japanese Sneak Attack• Japan prepared for attack while continuing

negotiations with U.S.▫Thought to be in good faith▫U.S. intelligence decoded Japanese messages that

Japan was preparing for war▫U.S. military leaders could not figure out where attack

would take place• Dec 7., 1941 – A Day Which Will Live in Infamy

▫ Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor▫Great casualties and military losses for U.S.

2,403 Americans dead, 1,178 injured 8 battleships, 3 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 6 other vessels

were sunk or damaged

U.S. Enters WWII

•Dec. 8, 1941- FDR asks Congress for declaration of war against Japan▫Overwhelming support

82-0 vote in Senate 388-1 vote in House

•December 11, 1941- Germany and Italy declared war on the United States

Discussion Questions

•What geographic factors might have encouraged the United States to remain isolationist?

•What is the cause-and-effect relationship between the embargo on Japan and the Pearl Harbor attack?

The Holocaust

Guiding Questions

•Why did many Jews remain in Nazi Germany within Axis-controlled areas of Europe?

•How did the Nazis try to exterminate Europe’s Jewish Population?

Terms to Know

•Holocaust•Concentration Camp•Extermination Camp•Genocide

Nuremberg Laws• Passed in September 1935-1938

▫Took citizenship away from Jewish Germans▫Banned marriage between Jews and non-Jewish

Germans▫Barred Jews from holding public office or voting▫ Jews with German sounding names had to adopt

“Jewish” names▫Passports were marked with a red J▫Banned Jews from practicing medicine, law, and

running a business• Many Jews still remained

▫Did not want to give up lives they had built▫Felt conditions would get better after time

Kristallnacht• Anit-Jewish violence that erupted in Germany and Austria on

Nov. 9, 1938▫ “Night of broken glass”▫ In response to a Jewish refugee killing a German diplomat in Paris▫ Hitler organized attacks to look like a public reaction to the news

of the murder• Massive destruction

▫ More than 90 Jews dead▫ 100’s more injured▫ More than 7,500 Jewish businesses and synagogues destroyed

• Gestapo (Nazi secret police) arrested about 30,000 Jewish men in the following days

• Took insurance payments owed to Jewish owners of destroyed businesses

Jewish RefugeesLimits on

ImmigrationInternational

ResponseThe St. Louis Affair

• More than 250,000 Jews escaped Nazi Germany between 1933-1939

• Waiting list of more than 100,000 Jewish refugees trying to enter US

• High unemployment in US made immigration unpopular

• Anti-Semitism in US• No exception for

quotas given to refugees or victims of persecution

• European countries met in 1938 to discuss issue

• Most stated regret with their inability to take in refugees

• Hitler said he would gladly send all German Jews to any country who wanted them

• Many Jews left ships in 1939 with forged visas; Were denied admittance

• 930 Jewish refugees sailed to Havana, Cuba ; Arrived on May 27, 1939

• Were not allowed to come ashore; Documents were not proper

• Hoped to enter the U.S. eventually

• Ship circled the coast of Florida but was never granted permission to dock

• Sailed back to Europe unloading the refugees in France, England, Holland, and Belgium

The Final Solution

•Wannsee Conference▫January 20, 1942▫All Jews in Nazi-controlled Europe would

be taken to detention centers Concentration camps

Healthy individuals served as slave labor Worked until dead from exhaustion, disease, or

malnutrition Extermination Camps

Elderly, sick, and young Killed in large gas chambers

Concentration Camps

•First started in 1933▫Served as jails for political opponents▫Built throughout Europe after beginning of

WWII•Buchenwald

▫One of the largest▫More than 200,000 prisoners working 12

hour shifts▫100’s of prisoners died every month from

exhaustion and horrible living conditions

Extermination Camps

•Built beginning in late 1941•Auschwitz

▫Estimated 1,600,000 killed in Auschwitz gas chambers 1,300,000 Jews

▫Bodies were burned in giant crematoriums

Holocaust Factors (How did it Occur)

•Germany’s sense of injury after WWI•Severe economic problems•Hitler’s control over the German nation•Lack of strong tradition of democratic

government in Germany•Fear of the Gestapo•Long history of anti-Jewish prejudice and

discrimination in Europe

Discussion Questions

•Why might Jewish people have believed that conditions would improve, not worsen?

•Why might the Great Depression have been a deterrent to Jewish immigration from Europe?