The War in Europe

• The people of Germany were struggling; they were humiliated that they lost WWI and the economy was bad. Hitler promised he would bring Germany back to power.

• He was elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and soon made himself dictator.

• He said the country needed more land or “living space”

• First, he would take over Austria, then part of Czechoslovakia (and no one did anything about it)

• Then he invaded Poland in 1939; finally the other countries knew he wouldn’t stop and Great Britain and France declared war on Germany

For many, World War II began when Hitler’s Nazi Germany attacked Poland.

The War in the Pacific

• Japan wanted to become a strong country and a world power; because Japan was a small island country they had to import many natural resources. Some leaders felt they needed to gain more land by conquering other countries.

• In 1937, Japan invaded China.

• By 1942, the Japanese had taken over much of Southeast Asia

There were two major places where WWII took place. These places are sometimes called theaters of war. One theater of WWII was in Europe, the other was in the Pacific. The Pacific theater of war included Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and many more islands and countries in Southeast Asia.

Attack on Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor happened on December 7th, 1941. Japanese airplanes made a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor. They destroyed many ships and killed many soldiers. It was this attack that forced the United States to enter WWII.

Where is Pearl Harbor?• Located in Hawaii on the island of O’ahu.

Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean between California and Japan. During the time of WWII, Hawaii was not a state, but a U.S. territory.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

• The Empire of Japan was trying to take over much of Asia and was worried about the U.S. Navy in Hawaii. They decided to strike in order to prevent the United States from attacking them.

• The Japanese thought that if they took out the war ships in Pearl Harbor, the US Navy would be crippled and would not be able to attack. They were mistaken! The US declared war on Japan the next day!

The AttackThe attack came as a complete surprise. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes and bombers flew to Pearl and attacked. The bombers dropped bombs and torpedoes on the war ships, while the fighter planes attacked the US fighter planes on the ground so they could not take off and fight back. There were two waves of attacks and by the end of the second wave a number of US ships were destroyed.

The Stats• Approximately 2,400 people

were killed• Approximately 1,180 people

were wounded• 12 ships were sunk or

beached• 9 ships were damaged• 164 aircraft were destroyed• 159 aircraft were damaged• The entire attack lasted

around 110 minutes, just under two hours

• The Japanese attacked on a Sunday morning because they thought the US soldiers would be less alert at the time.

• FDR gave a famous speech after the attack in which he said December 7th would be a “day which would live in infamy”.

Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the largest and deadliest battles in WWII. It was a turning point in the war. After losing the battle, the German army lost so many soldiers and took such a defeat that they never quite recovered.

Stalingrad the City

Stalingrad was located in Southwest Russia on the Volga River. It was a major industrial and communications center for the Soviet Union in the south. Also, it was named after the Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

The Battle• Took place during the last

part of 1942 and early 1943. After months of fighting and finally nearly starving to death, the Germans surrendered on February 2, 1943.

• Both sides had large armies of over 1 million soldiers. They also each had hundreds of tanks and over 1,000 planes. It is estimated that around 750,000 soldiers from the German army died and nearly 500,000 Russians