*World War II

Appeasement Tryingtoavoidwarwithanaggressivenationbygivingintoitsdemands

Conscription Requiredmilitaryservice

Anschluss TheunificationofGermanyandAustria(1938)

Sudetenland ThewesternpartofCzechoslovakiathathasalargeGerman-speakingpopulation.

Rome-BerlinAxis AlliancebetweenItalyandGermany– theywantedtobethe“axis”aroundwhichtherestofEuroperevolved.

Blitzkrieg “lighteningwar”– thenameGermanmilitaryattacksthroughoutEurope.(Hitthemhardandfastwitheverythingyou’vegot).

NeutralityActs AseriesofU.S.lawspassedinordertohelpkeeptheUnitedStatesoutofwar.

SovietNon-AggressionPact

AgreementbetweenHitlerandStalinnottoattackoneanother.(August1939)

AxisPowers Italy,Germany,andJapan

AlliedPowers GreatBritain,UnitedStates,SovietUnion,France(intheformoftheFrenchResistance,ledbyCharlesdeGaulle)

MunichConference MeetingamongHitlerandtheleadersofFranceandBritain.HitlerpromisesnottotakeoveranymorelandinEurope.FranceandBritainpledgetotakemilitaryactionifhedoes.(September1938)

BattleofBritain NamegiventotheairbattlesoverEnglandbetweentheRoyalAirForce(RAF)andtheLuftwaffe(GermanAirForce).RAFsuccessforcesHitlertogiveupplansforalandinvasionofEngland.

D-day NamegiventotheAlliedinvasionofFranceonthebeachesofNormandy,June6,1944.

Islandhopping U.S.strategyoffightingagainsttheJapaneseinthePacificWarwheretheU.S.attackedcriticalsmallislandsandskippedoverlargerislandsheldbytheJapaneseinordertogetclosertotheJapanesemainland.

Kristallnacht “nightofbrokenglass”– November9,1938.TheNazisburnedsynagogues,Jewishbusinessesandhomes.BeginsthepurgeofJewsfromGermany.

ghetto ClosedneighborhoodswhereJewswereforcedtoliveindeplorableconditions.

genocide Thekillingofapeoplefromthesameracial,political,orculturalgroup.

Holocaust TheplanneddestructionoftheJewsofEurope.ThiswasHitler’s“FinalSolution.”

Concentrationcamps Prisoncampswhereprisonerswereworkeduntildeath.

Deathcamps(exterminationcamps)

Beginsin1942,Jewsandother“undesirables”weresentthereandreceivedimmediatedeathuponarrival.Auschwitzwasthelargestofthesecamps.

NuremburgTrials TrialsafterWW2forNaziofficialschargedof“crimesagainsthumanity.”

*Italy

*Wants to build an empire*Invades Ethiopia in East Africa *The League of Nations imposes sanctions (penalties), but it does not stop the Italians.*Ethiopia annexed (made a part of another country) in May 1936.

*Hitler and the Treaty of Versailles

*Used conscription (required military service) to increase the military.*Moved troops into the Rhineland (area in

Western Germany near France.*Annexed Austria in 1938 (the Anschluss).*Demanded the Sudetenland in Western

Czechoslovakia in 1938.*Invaded all of Czechoslovakia in 1939

(despite the Munich Agreement).

*Response to Germany and Hitler

*The U.S. chose to be isolationist (turning inward and not focusing on problems outside of one’s own country).*The U.S. passed a series of Neutrality Acts

prohibiting it from loaning money or selling weapons to countries at war.*The U.S. was hoping to keep from being

drawn into another conflict.

*Response to Germany and Hitler

*The British and French chose to appeasement as the way to deal with the Germans and Italians.*Appeasement means to give in to

“reasonable demands.”*They were hoping that loosening the reigns

a little on Hitler would make him happier.*“You give someone an inch and they take a

mile!” *Munich Pact (1938): Hitler agreed to stop

taking additional land in Europe.

*The Beginning of a War

*Germany, Italy, and Japan joined together to form the Axis Alliance in 1936.*While Germany is re-claiming lost territory

in Europe, Japan is continuing to invade China (1937) and the French Indo-China (1941). (French Indo-China was French controlled countries of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia.)* This creates two theaters (areas) of war:

Europe and the Pacific.

*Stalin and Hitler

*Stalin is worried about Hitler. He is afraid of losing the rich farmland in Western Russia. He tries to warn the other European leaders, but they ignore him because they don’t like Communism.*Stalin decides to become

allies with Germany. Hitler and Stalin sign the Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (1939) which promises the countries won’t attack each other. They also create “spheres of influence” in Europe.

*Poland*Despite the Munich Pact,

an invasion of Poland was planned (September1939). Germany invaded from the west, and the Soviet Union invaded from the east. They planned to divide Poland.*Rapid invasion and

surprise attacks used by the Germans known as a “blitzkrieg” or lightning war.*Great Britain and France

declare war on Germany.

*Europe Falls

*Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands were swiftly attacked by Hitler in early 1940. *France and Great Britain

sent their best troops to protect Belgium. After hard fighting, a massive evacuation of 300,000 Allied troops occurred at Dunkirk.*France is in chaos as the

Germans race their army to Paris. An armistice is signed on June 14 and Germany controls France.*In Southern France, Vichy

France was a puppet government of the Nazis.

*Battle of Britain

*Great Britain is the only unoccupied country in Europe.*Hitler tries to conquer Britain by:

1. Bombing Southern England (factories)2. Air war between the German Luftwaffe and the British

Royal Air Force (RAF)3. Heavy bombing of London, knownastheBlitz. (As a

symbol to the British people, the Royal Family stayed in Buckingham Palace during the bombings). Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister, said the British will never surrender.

RAF defeats the Luftwaffe with the help of RADAR, and Hitler does not invade Great Britain. Instead, he begins focusing on conquering Eastern Europe, including Yugoslavia, Greece, and the Soviet Union.

*North Africa

*The British send troops to stop the Italian advance in North Africa. The British push the Italian back to the coast of Libya.*The Germans, under the leadership of Rommel,

save the Italians in Libya, but the British kick the Italians out of Somalia and Ethiopia.*The Germans work to capture the Suez Canal

and Egypt because this is the gateway to the oil resources in the Middle East.

InthewarsbeforetheoutbreakofWWII,

Americanswereafraidthattheriseofdictators wouldcauseanotherwar

CongresspassedaseriesofNeutralityActs(1935-1937)

that,incaseofawar,madeitillegalforcompaniesto

sellweapons ortransportgoodstoanynationatwar

PresidentFranklinRooseveltwantedamoreactiveresponsetostopdictators,butfailedtoconvinceworldleadersto

“quarantine”aggressornationsin1937

Whenthewarstarted,Congressamended theNeutralityActsandallowedU.S.companiesto

sellweapons totheAlliesona“cashandcarry”basis

Thecash-and-carrypolicyallowedtheUSAtoaidtheAllieswhileremainingneutral andavoidthecausesofAmericanentryintothefirstworldwar

AlliednationscouldbuyU.S.-madewargoods buthadtopayincash andhadtotransportgoodsontheirownships

RememberGermany’sunrestrictedsubmarinewarfare?

However,U.S.entranceintothewarin1941helpedtheAlliesturnthetideanddefeattheAxisby1945

FDR&ChurchillagreedthatdefeatingHitlerwasthetoppriority,butAmericantroopswouldbe

deployedtofightJapanatthesametime

TowininEurope,theU.S.hadtosecurethe

trans-AtlanticsupplylinesagainstGermansubmarines

TheAllieswontheBattleoftheAtlanticbybreakingGermany’s

codedcommunications

Meanwhile,theSovietarmystoppedtheGermanattackatMoscow&Leningradin1942

TheSovietsdefeatedtheGermanarmyattheBattleofStalingrad

TheSovietvictoryatStalingradwasaturningpointinWorldWarIIbecausetheRussiansbeganpushing

towardsGermany fromtheEastby1943

TheNormandy invasionwasdeadly,buttheAlliedvictorycreatedaWesternFront…

POSSIBLY:we’llwatchaclipofSavingPrivateRyan afternotes

By1944,theAlliesdecidedtoopenaWesternFrontby

invadingNazi-occupiedFrance

OperationOverlord(calledD-Day)inJune

1944wasthelargest land&seaattackinhistory

OnMay9,1945,theGermangovernment

signedanunconditionalsurrender totheAlliesTheworldcelebrated

V-EDay(VictoryinEurope)