Political Cartoon Analysis

Think About:

Who is being depicted in the cartoon?

What is occurring in the cartoon?

What are the main ideas of the cartoon?

What do you think the author of this cartoon is trying to say?

The Road To World War II

Thinking back…

A. What treaty ended WWI?

B. How did the Germans feel about this treaty?

Question

If you’re a nation in a depression, why would having a leader with total control be easier to accept and follow?

Problems of WWII caused by WWI

Treaty of Versailles Reduce military to 100,000 War reparations (pay other nations) Accept guilt for war

People turned to strong leaders for support

Dictators took over…with big plans

A Totalitarian Government is….

A form of government that restricts personal

freedoms and prohibits political opposition.

A Totalitarian Dictator is….

The leader of a totalitarian government which does

not allow political opposition and seeks to

control all areas of society and citizens’ lives.

What is ideology?

Dictionary defines as: The doctrines, opinions, or way of thinking

of an individual, class of people, etc.

Example:- Mom is “Person of the Year”- Respected- Hard working- Defended by child

Totalitarian Governments & Leaders

Benito Mussolini - Italy Unemployment and poverty made

lower classes of Italy look to communism for savior.

Mussolini comes to power promising to “protect them from Communism”

Fascism

Fascist Ideology Emphasizes nationalism. State over individual. Uses power to control property owners. Citizens are expected to support the

government. Everything serves the government:

businesses, schools, the media.

Totalitarian Governments & Leaders

Adolf Hitler - Germany Germans humiliated after World War I.

Massive Poverty and Inflation. Treaty of Versailles – War Guilt

He was a great Speaker Socialist (Nazi)

Socialist (Nazi) Ideology Extreme nationalism. State over individuals and human rights. Control all aspects of German society. Redistribute wealth, welfare state,

nationalism & pride through propaganda.

Sought ownership of key industries: banks, schools, Germany’s healthcare system, segments of the church.

Nazism

In Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler discussed his goals (write anything in red!):

"Every manifestation of human culture, every product of art, science and technical skill, which we see before our eyes today, is almost exclusively the product of Aryan creative power." Unite all Germans (Aryan = blonde

hair, blue eyes) Very anticommunist

Other goals

"The external security of a people is largely determined by the size of its territory." Expand territory

“To secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth” Lebensraum: living space

Final goal "Jewish youth lies in wait for hours on end

satanically glaring at and spying on the unconscious girl whom he plans to seduce, adulterating her blood with the ultimate idea of bastardizing the white race which they hate and thus lowering its cultural and political level so that the Jew might dominate." Racial purification (all races not German) Aryan (blue-eyed, blonde-haired)

Check for understanding

How do the political ideologies of the United States and Nazi Germany differ?

Genocide is….

The attempted extermination of a race

of people.

Who did Hitler want to exterminate?

Totalitarian Governments & Leaders

Joseph Stalin Soviet Union Communist Country by 1924

Communist Ideology Workers unite to overthrow

capitalism. Economy is run strictly by the

government Becomes 2nd biggest economic

power in the world. People share resources to

survive. Welfare of state over individuals. State owned nearly all property;

limited personal freedoms and rights.

Germany Invasions, Pre-1939Rhineland--------March 1936

Austria-----------March 1938

Sudetenland----September 1938

Bohemia-Moravia------March 1939

Slovakia----------March 1939

Countries Invaded By Germany, Pre-1939

Meeting at Munich, 1938

A treaty was signed agreeing to Hitler’s capture of Sudentenland in exchange for his promise not to invade anymore territories.

Such an approach is known as appeasement, the practice of giving aggressors what they want and hoping they will be satisfied and stop the aggressive behavior.

What time is it…

America had a choiceMany people believed the US should

get involved in Europe Isolationists believed US should

focus on “America First”During 1930s books said US went to

WWI because of rich bankers and arms dealers

Steps toward war

Munich Appeasement: empowers Hitler Allies gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler if he

“promised to stop there” (1938)

“Cash and Carry” Countries could buy weapons from US if

they paid cash and carried them with their own ships (1939)

Steps toward war (cont.)Lend-Lease Plan:

Allies ran out of cash Lend or lease arms to “countries whose

defense was vital to the US” (1941)

Atlantic Charter: Meeting between Roosevelt and

Churchill (Britain) to set up a world post WWII (1941)

Became basis for the Allies

Steps toward war (cont.)

First Peacetime Draft (Selective Training and Service Act 1940) Aimed to build up army in case of war 16 million were registered, 1 million were called

July 1941 US and Britain cut off oil supplies to Japan

(Manchuria) Japan could leave China or try to get resources in

Pacific

Which form of Government is besT?Number off 1-4 throughout the class.

Get into your respective groups.

You will create a list of arguments why your form of government would be best for society (regardless of if you think it is best. PROVE IT IS!!!)

1. Democracy

2. Communist

3. Dictatorship / Totalitarian

4. Anarchy

Meeting at Munich, 1938

Who were the three signers of the Munich treaty?

Germany

France

Great Britain

Meeting at Munich, 1938

Leaders:

Center: Adolf Hitler, Germany

Left: Neville Chamberlain, Great Britain

Right: Edouard Daladier, France

Winston Churchill Prime Minister of Great

Britain during WWII.

Said after the Meeting at Munich (when he was a member of Parliament): “Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war.”

Japanese Aggression

Natural Resources are the main reason Japan decided to conquer territory in the South Pacific.

Japan invaded Manchuria, a province of China, in 1931.

Japanese Aggression

Between 1937 and 1939 Japan tried to seize the rest of China. They were successful along the coast, but not in the countryside.

In 1940 Japan allies with Germany and Italy to form the Axis Powers.

Japanese Aggression in China

U.S. Policy: Isolation & NeutralityDespite the concerns caused by

aggressive dictators in Europe and Japan, the United States continued to practice isolationism, the policy of:

The U.S. staying out of any alliances that could drag it into war in Europe or Southeast Asia.

U.S. Policy: Isolation & NeutralityResponding to the isolationist

sentiment, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935. The Act:

Prohibited the sale of weapons to warring nations and was meant to keep the U.S. from forming alliances that might drag the nation to war.

U.S. Policy: Isolation and Neutrality

President Roosevelt—

Knew that it would be difficult for the U.S. to stay out of a conflict in Europe.

U.S. Policy: Isolation and Neutrality

Video Clip:

PBS American Experience: FDR on Policing The World

Video: FDR on Policing the World: Hitler's Threat | Watch American Experience Online | PBS Video

World War II Begins in Europe

Hitler believed the German people needed lebensraum, which means “living space”. He intended to achieve this goal by conquering the Soviet Union, use its land for the German people, and control its rich natural resources.

*[This is why Hitler invaded the Soviet Union!!]

WWII Begins in Europe

Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin. The pact was an agreement that neither country would attack the other. Both men believed the pact was a strategic move: Hitler saw it as a way to keep the USSR from attacking Germany, while Stalin saw it as a way to provide the USSR with time to prepare for Germany’s inevitable invasion.

WWII Begins in Europe

In September 1939 Hitler’s army invaded Poland. The new type of military strategy the Germans used is called blitzkrieg (meaning “lightening war”). This strategy involved striking fast and hard with tanks and airplanes, catching other nations off guard and allowed Germany to quickly overwhelm the nations it invaded.

The Lend-Lease Act 1941: Roosevelt is convinced that the U.S.

cannot stay out of the war much longer, even though most citizens favor neutrality.

March 1941: Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act, which enables the president to send aid to any nation whose defense is considered vital to the United States’ national security. This enables the U.S. to aid Great Britain.

The Lend-Lease Act

One of the greatest dangers to the U.S. Lend-Lease policy was the German U-boats, which were submarines that traveled underwater and could torpedo and sink ships believed to be carrying weapons and supplies to Great Britain.

The Lend-Lease Act

To help carry out Lend-Lease trade, the United States manufactured Liberty Ships, which were cargo ships especially for the purpose of transporting U.S. goods to Great Britain to support its war effort against the Nazis.

The U.S. Enters War: Pearl Harbor

The U.S. Enters War: Pearl Harbor

Japan had become an imperialist force in Eastern Asia. Its military invaded foreign territories in the region with the goal of gaining resources.

In 1941, when Japan set its sights on conquering more of Eastern and Southeast Asia, the United States imposed an embargo on oil and steel. After the embargo, Japan set its sights on going after the rich natural resources of the Dutch East Indies.

The U.S. Enters War: Pearl Harbor

Japan viewed the U.S. naval fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as a threat to its ability to conquer the territories it wanted.

The U.S. Enters War: Pearl Harbor Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

devised a plan to sail six (6) aircraft carriers across the Pacific undetected. Once in place, these carriers would launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese ships maintained radio silence on their way to Hawaii.

The U.S. Enters War:Pearl HarborThe United States believed the

Japanese would attack but did not know where. They believed that the waters of Pearl Harbor would be too shallow for Japanese planes to drop torpedoes.

December 7, 1941

Japanese airplanes began the first wave of bombings on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

United States military personnel detected the incoming planes on radar, but they ignored the warning because they thought it was U.S. planes arriving from the mainland.

December 7, 1941

In less than two hours, the Japanese air attack sank or seriously damaged a dozen (12)naval vessels, destroyed almost two hundred (200) warplanes, and killed or wounded nearly three-thousand (3,000) people.

December 8, 1941

President delivers a speech. He describes December 7, 1941 as:

“a day which will live in infamy!”

WWII in HD — Attack on Pearl Harbor — History.com Videos

December 8, 1941

Both houses of Congress approved a declaration of war against Japan and later against Germany and Italy as well.

December 8, 1941