WORLD WAR II

May 10, 1933

“When one burns books, one will, in the end,

burn people.”

-German poet Heinrich Heine

One century before Hitler

First they came for the Socialists, and I did

not speak out --

Because I was not a Socialist. Then they

came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not

speak out --

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not

speak out --

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no

one left to speak out for me.

-Martin Niemoller (German Protestant

minister)

Main Ideas

• World War II lasted from September 1, 1939 to

September 2, 1945. It was the most devastating war in

human history - 55 million people killed (military and

civilians). The world would never be the same.

• WWII left a new world order dominated by United States

and Soviet Union = “Cold War”

Key Events

• Adolph Hitler’s philosophy of Aryan superiority led

to World War II in Europe and also was the source

of the Holocaust

• Two separate and opposing alliances, the Allies

and the Axis, waged a worldwide war.

• World War II left lasting impressions on civilian

populations and irrevocably changed human

society.

The Impact Today

• By the end of World War II, the balance of power

had shifted away from Europe.

• Nuclear weapons pose a threat to all nations

• Post-war conditions created the Cold War, which

in many respects is the single factor most

responsible for the state of the world today (US=

only major superpower/rise of radical Islam/troubles

in Eastern Europe & Balkans etc.)

Germany’s Path to War

• Hitler & Nazi Party rise to

power:

– Desire to avenge the Treaty

of Versailles

– Dream of creating a master

race (Aryan) empire (Third

Reich)

– Need to attain more living

space (lebensraum)

– Great Depression

• These factors all but

assured world wide war

Appeasement

• In 1935, Hitler created a new air force (Luftwaffe) and began military draft (conscription), which violated Treaty of Versailles

• Hitler believed European nations would not use force to stop him because of Great Depression (appeasement)

• In 1936, Hitler sent troops into demilitarized zone, the Rhineland, again European nations did nothing to stop him

Hitler’s Allies

• Hitler allied with Italy’s fascist dictator, Benito Mussoliniwho invaded Ethiopia in 1935 with the help of German troops.

• Hitler also signed the Anti-Comintern Pact (1936) with Japan forming an alliance against communism

Hitler’s Invasions

• In 1938, Hitler annexed Austria and demanded the Sudetenland be given to Germany – once again Britain & France gave in to Hitler’s demands at the Munich Conference (Soviet Union not invited)

• In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia

“Peace in Our Time” Churchill Warning

"...the settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has

now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger

settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I

had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and

here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine

(waves paper to the crowd - receiving loud cheers and "Hear

Hears"). Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it

contains but I would just like to read it to you ...".

-Neville Chamberlain

Later that day he stood outside Number 10 Downing Street

and again read from the document and concluded: '"My good

friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime

Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with

honour. I believe it is peace for our time.“

Speech

Non-Aggression Pact

• Britain & France prepared to contain Hitler by attempting to ally with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin

• Hitler, fearing Soviet intervention, signed a Nonaggression Pact with Stalin

• Hitler now clear to invade Poland on September 1, 1939 – WWII begins

“….Munich turned out to be surrender on an installment plan.

It was like giving a cannibal a finger in the hope of saving an

arm.”

-Historians Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy

“I saw my enemies at Munich, and they are worms.”

- Adolf Hitler

Japan’s Path to War

• In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria,

which League of Nations

condemned so Japan withdrew

from the League

• In 1937, Japan seized Chinese

capital city of Nanjing

• Japan planned to seize Soviet

Siberia for its abundant natural

resources, however, Hitler’s Non-

Aggression Pact with Stalin forced

Japan to seek its raw materials in

Southeast Asia

Japan’s Path to War

• In 1940, Japan demanded right to

attain natural resources in French

Indochina

• United States threatened Japan with

economic sanctions, which could

severely harm Japan’s imperialist war

plans

• Japan, led by its militant leaders,

decided to launch a surprise attack on

the United States to protect its

interests in the South Pacific

Europe at War

• Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland took just four

weeks – the speed & power of Germany’s army

“stunned the world”

• Strategy known as blitzkrieg (lightning warfare)

• On Sept. 18, 1939 Germany & Soviet Union divided

Poland

France Surrenders

• In 1940, Hitler invaded Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France

• Britain narrowly escapes defeat at Dunkirk

• On June 22, France was forced to sign an armistice with Germany who occupied 3/5 of France

• A French regime, under German control, named Vichy Francewas established in the southern part of France

• Germany now controlled nearly all of Europe, only Britain remained undefeated

VICHY

FRANCE

United States Isolationism

• Britain pleaded for U.S. assistance,

however, a series of neutrality acts

passed in the 1930’s prevented U.S.

involvement

• U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt

wanted to repeal the neutrality acts &

enter the war, however, U.S. public

opinion was strongly against it

Battle of Britain

• Hitler believed the key to

defeating Britain was to crush its

will to fight

• In 1940, the German air force

(Luftwaffe) began bombing British

military targets, later the attacks

shifted to civilian populated cities

• The bombing raids caused

devastating damage but only

strengthened Britain’s resolve

Battle of Britain

On 15 October 1940, the

BBC is bombed during a

news bulletin. Seven

people died, thousands of

records are destroyed

and studios are badly

damaged. But the

unflappable Bruce

Belfrage - after a short

pause - continues to read

the news as if nothing

has happened.

Hitler Plans to Capture

Soviet Union

• Hitler was convinced Britain

would be forced to surrender

if Soviet Union was defeated

• Hitler planned to invade

Soviet Union in spring of

1941, however, his plans

were delayed (6 weeks) in

Balkans by seizing Greece &

Yugoslavia, which Mussolini

had failed to capture

• The Eastern Front will

become the largest theater of

war in human history.

“We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten

structure will come crashing down”—Adolf Hitler on the

invasion of the Soviet Union

“Russia is never as strong as she looks. Russia is never

as weak as she looks.”-proverb (attributed to many,

including Talleyrand, Metternich, and Churchill)

Hitler Invades Soviet Union• In June (1941), Hitler invaded the Soviet Union

(Operation Barbarossa) and captured 2 million Russian

soldiers by November – troops came within 25 miles of

Moscow

• “Barbarossa” remains the largest military operation in

terms of manpower, area traversed, and casualties in

human history.

Hitler Invades Soviet Union

• Winter came early in 1941:• German troops had inadequate

clothing

• supplies slow to arrive from 1,800

miles away

• Russian troops put up strong

resistance

• This marked first time Hitler’s

army had been stopped and in

December, the Soviet army

counterattacked

Eastern Front estimates:

War went on for 4 years

Soviet military deaths= app. 7

million

Soviet civilian= app. 20 million

German military deaths= app. 4

million

Japan at War

• On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked

the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii

• The attack caught U.S. off guard but

luckily U.S. aircraft carriers were not in

port

• Japan hoped defeat of U.S. naval fleet

would force the U.S. to accept

Japanese domination in the Pacific,

however, it had the opposite effect

• December 8, 1941 – The U.S. declared

war on Japan & entered WWII, 4 days

later, Hitler declared war on the United

States

The Allies Advance

• Grand Alliance (Great Britain,

Soviet Union, and United States)

all agree to fight until Axis

Powers (Germany, Japan, &

Italy) surrender unconditionally

• Decision made at Tehran

Conference (November, 1943) –

The Big Three

European Theater

• By fall, 1942 War turns against Germany• Britain pushes back Germany in North

Africa forcing German troops to retreat • Defeat of General Erwin Rommel (The

Desert Fox)• In May, 1943 – Germans surrender at

Stalingrad after failed attack

Pacific Theater

• Low point was U.S. surrender in the Philippines, April, 1942 (Bataan Death March)

• General Douglas MacArthur's famous line “I shall return.”• By May, 1942 the battles in the Pacific turned in Allies favor:

• Coral Sea• Midway Island• Guadalcanal• Okinawa• Iwo Jima

Pacific Theater

• By fall 1942, Allied forces implement two plans against Japan:• First – led by Douglas

MacArthur, move into South China from Burma through Indonesia

• Second – move across Pacific capturing islands ending with land invasion of Japan (Island Hopping)

Last Years of WWII

• By early 1943, Axis forces

surrendered in Tunisia & later

Allied forces invaded Italy, which

British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill called the “soft

underbelly” of Europe

• After Allies captured Sicily, Benito

Mussolini was removed from office

– Hitler rescued him (Operation

Oak) and set him up as dictator of

a puppet German state in northern

Italy (Italian Social Republic)

D-Day

• Allies planned to invade France

from Great Britain across the

English Channel

• June 6, 1944 (Operation Overlord)

– Allies storm the beaches at

Normandy, France – led by U.S.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Germans offered stiff resistance,

however, Allies broke through

German lines

• Paris liberated in August, 1944

Germany’s Surrender

• July 1943, Soviets advanced westward, defeated troops at Battle of Kursk, occupied Ukraine, Baltic states, and Warsaw, Poland

• July 20, 1944 Assassinationattempt on Hitler fails

• January, 1945 – Hitler moved to underground bunker to continue commanding war

• April 30, 1945 – Hitler commits suicide, two days earlier Mussolini was assassinated

• May 7, 1945 – (VE Day) Germany surrenders

Japan’s Surrender

• By 1945, Allies moved across Pacific and neared Japan, however, both Allied and Japanese troops suffered heavy casualties

• U.S. President Harry S. Truman feared invasion of Japan would result in thousands of needless deaths

• Manhattan Project –• August 6, 1945 – U.S. dropped

Atomic bomb on Hiroshima• August 9, 1945 – U.S. dropped

second bomb on Nagasaki• Destruction

• Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945 (VJ-Day)

Holocaust

• By 1942, the Nazi’s controlled Europe from

English Channel in west to near Moscow in

east

• Heinrich Himmler, SS leader, put in charge

of German resettlement (lebensraum)

• By 1944, 7 million Europeans enslaved in

Germany, another 7 million enslaved in

their own countries

• Hitler believed Jews were greatest threat to

his Aryan Empire, Himmler in charge of

Final Solution (genocide)

..the first and only industrialized genocide. It stands

without parallel as the most wicked act in all history:

“Other regimes had perpetrated mass murder. ... Yet

there was something qualitatively different about the

Nazis’ war against the Jews and the other

unfortunate minorities they considered to be

‘unworthy of life.’ It was the fact that it was carried out

by such well-educated people ... perpetrated under

the leadership of a man who had come to power by

primarily democratic means. The Nazi death machine

worked economically, scientifically and

euphemistically. ... It was very, very modern.”

-British historian Niall Ferguson

Concentration Camps

• Special unit of the SS called

Einsatzgruppen carried out

Final Solution

• Death camps established to

exterminate Jews, 6 in

Poland, largest was

Auschwitz

• Nazi’s killed 5-6 million Jews

and 9-10 million non-Jews

Mobilization of Peoples

• WWII was total war = mobilization resulting in economic & social change

• Soviet Union – over 1 million died due to food shortages, in 1943 55% of national income went to war materials

• United States – industrial might provided Allies with military equipment to defeat Axis powers, women entered workforce, African-Americans moved North & West to fill jobs, Japanese-Americans placed in internment camps

Mobilization of Peoples

• Germany –Hitler did not cut production

of consumer goods trying to keep public

morale high, later policy changed &

Germany tripled military production after

1942 under leadership of Albert Speer

• Japan – citizens encouraged to sacrifice

everything for nationalistic cause,

kamikaze (divine wind) pilots

Yalta Conference

February, 1945:• Big Three met at Yalta (Russia)

• Roosevelt & Churchill realized Soviet army

controlled much of Eastern & Central Europe,

therefore, they advocated policy of self-

determination for postwar Europe

• Stalin did not trust the West & wanted buffer zone

between Europe & Soviet Union

• Allies agreed to establish a United Nations – first

met in 1945 (San Francisco) – later established a

Jewish state (Israel)

• Allies agreed Germany would be divided into 4

zones occupied & governed by Allied Powers

Potsdam Conference

July, 1945:• Roosevelt died on April 12 & was replaced

by Vice President Harry Truman

• Truman wanted free elections in Eastern

Europe (self-determination), Stalin refused

demanding military security for Soviet

Union

• Allies agreed leaders who committed

“crimes against humanity” would be put on

trial – Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)

Beginning of Cold War

• Western leaders believed Stalin & Soviets

wanted to spread communism around the

world, especially in Asia and Eastern Europe

• In March, 1946 – Winston Churchill declared

an “iron curtain” had “descended across the

continent” to which Stalin replied was a “call

to war with the Soviet Union”

• Cold War ensued & would dominate world

politics for next 45 years

WWII Propaganda