The Second World War

Hitler’s Aims1. Reverse the Treaty of Versailles2. Unite all German speaking peoples

• Greater Germany including all Germans into one homeland Germans in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc...

3. Lebensraum (“living space”)• Greater Germany would include +85 million people

would need more land to provide enough food and raw materials

4. German rearmament

Hitler’s Land Gains

Hitler’s Successes• Reoccupation of the Saar region• Saar under occupation of the League of Nations for

15 years after WWI• Vote held in 1935 90% of population voted to be

reunited with Germany• Reoccupation of the Rhineland• 1936: Hitler marches troops into Rhineland; takes

control back from the French who had received Rhineland under the Treaty of Versailles• Met with no resistance – French unwilling to fight• Later 98% of population voted for German

reoccupation

Hitler’s Successes• Anschluss with Austria• 96% of Austrians spoke German;

Hitler was born in Austria; strong Nazi party in Austria• March 1938: German troops march

into Austria; Austria made a province of Germany• Nazis later claimed that 99% of

Austrians voted for Anschluss

Hitler’s Successes• Sudetenland:• Mainly a German–speaking area given to Czechoslovakia upon

its creation post-WW1• Pro-Nazi Sudeten leader strongly supported• Czechoslovakia thought it would be protected by the League.• British Prime Minister (Chamberlain) did not want a war over

Sudetenland met with Hitler, Mussolini and French Prime Minister in Munich and they agreed that Hitler would have the Sudetenland if he promised to stop expanding• Chamberlain met privately with Hitler and they promised never

to go war with each other again

New tactic: ‘Bliztkrieg’

• Meaning ‘Lightning Storm’, the Blitzkrieg tactic allowed Germany to quickly take over territories in Europe.

• Use of tanks and other motorized vehicules to rapidly cover ground and achieve victory.

Poland

• Demanded the return of Danzig and Polish Corridor.• Signed a treaty with Italy to help each other should there be a war.• Signed a pact with Russia prevent war on 2 fronts• Russia would not object to a German invasion of Poland• Russia and Germany would divide Poland between them

• Germany invaded Poland British and French issued an ultimatum that Germany must leave or risk war Germany did not reply Britain declares war on Germany

Major points of WWII

• By April 1940, Denmark and Norway were occupied.• June 1940: Netherlands, Belgium and France were occupied.

Conflicts in Mediterranean and North Africa.• June 1941: German invasion of USSR• December 1941: Japanese attack on Pearl harbour.

The Axis Powers

Propaganda associated to Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy and Japan.

Empire of Japan

Imperial Japan

• In 1927, Japan enters a period of radical nationalism.

• They wanted to expand ‘co-prosperity sphere’

• Invasion of China in 1937.

• Occupation of French-Indochina in 1940.

Nazi occupation of Paris

German Invasion of Soviet Union 1941

(Operation Barbarossa)

• Germany invaded the Soviet Union; now seen as a threat.

• Ended with Soviet victory; pushed back German troops.

Victory at Stalingrad

Operation Torch in 1942: Allied Invasion of North Africa

Italian Campaign

• After the take over in North Africa, Allies move to land in Sicily and spread northward up Italy.

• Slow going, tough battles.

End of the War in Europe

• June 1944: Operation Overlord. Anglo-American invasion of northern France.• By April 1945, Russians had reached Berlin by the east and

other Allies flanked Germany to the south and the west.•Many German cities were devastated from Allied air

bombings.

Bombing of Dresden

The Pacific Front•June 1942: Americans won battle of Midway Island.

American dive bombers attacking Japanese cruiser Mikuma

The Pacific Front (continued)

• The American attempts to capture Japanese held islands was costly. • Example: Americans losses of roughly 85, 000 during whole

of Battle of Okinawa in April 1945.

American soldiers at the Battle of Okinawa

The Pacific Front (continued)

• On August 6th 1945, a B-29 dropped a uranium bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.• This resulted in 80, 000 deaths and 70, 000

injuries.On August 9th , a plutonium bomb was dropped on

Nagasaki killing 40, 000 people and injuring 25, 000.

On September 2nd 1945, Japan surrendered.

Ruins of Hiroshima after bombing

Potsdam Conference (Summer 1945)

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Harry S. Truman, and General Josef Stalin