World War II

Europe Goes to War

1. 1936 - German troops occupy the Rhineland

2. 1938 – Germany annexes Austria – Anschluss

3. Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) Germany needs lebenstraum Munich 1938 – appeasement Neville Chamberlain gives in

4. Germany takes rest of Czech.

Europe Goes to War

5. Germany signs non-aggression pact with USSR 1939

6. Sept. 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland

WWII begins

Europe Goes to War Blitzkrieg (“lightening

war”) Hitler crushes Poland Stalin takes half of Poland

for Soviet Union (communist)

French build up Maginot Line - defenses

April 9, 1940 – Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium fall Takes Paris on June 14,

1940 Evacuation at Dunkirk

War cont.

Battle of Britain Luftwaffe vs. Royal

Air Force (RAF) June 1940 – June

1941 – 30,000 Londoners killed

Winston Churchill rallies England

Hitler’s first defeat

Japan

Japan Builds an Empire Invades Manchuria; other

Pacific Islands 30’s & 40’s American Response

FDR moves Pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Threatens Japan’s expansion

America remains neutral Embargo; Japanese

assets frozen Japan Attacks Pearl

Harbor December 7, 1941 – “a date

which will live in infamy” U.S. enters World War II

Pearl Harbor

Fighting in Italy and North Africa

German General Erwin Rommel – “Desert Fox”

Leads Afrika Corps Panzer units (tanks) Defeated by GB at

Battle of El Alamein

George Patton takes Sicily

Bloody Anzio Italy surrenders Mussolini killed by

anti-fascists

War in the Soviet Union

3.6 million Germans attack in 1941

Scorched earth policy Bitter winter Battle of Stalingrad Red Army launches

massive assault; victory for USSR

Turning point in war

Invasion of Western Europe

Build up of troops in GB D-Day (June 6, 1944)

Largest landing force in history invades Normandy, France

Dwight D. Eisenhower – Supreme Allied Commander

Battle of the Bulge 1944 – Hitler’s last

chance to defend Germany

Patton stops Germans

War Ends in Europe

The Soviets Advance Move on Berlin

U.S. moves from west Soviets move from east

Soviets take Berlin in April 1945

Germany Surrenders Hitler commits suicide

on May 1, 1945 Germany surrenders on

May 8, 1945 V-E Day (Victory in

Europe Day)

War Ends in Europe cont.

The Yalta Conference Stalin, Churchill,

and FDR (the big three)

Split Germany Stalin promised to

enter war in the Pacific

War in the Pacific The Japanese

Advance The Philippines Fall General Macarthur

forced to leave (“I shall return”)

Bataan Death March The Battle of Coral

Sea First aircraft carrier

battle Prevented attack of

Australia

War in the Pacific

Allied Victories Turn the Tide

The Battle of Midway Iwo Jima and

Okinawa Kamikaze fighters Key victories Island hopping to

Japan

War Ends in Pacific

The Manhattan Project – secret project to develop an atomic bomb

FDR dies – Truman makes decision to drop the bomb

August 6, 1945 - “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima

August 9, 1945 - “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki

Sept. 2, 1945 – Japan signs surrender

Hiroshima

VJ Day – August 15, 1945

Liberation

Soviet and American troops come upon Nazi concentration camps

World begins to learn about the Holocaust

Genocide