World War II History: From Appeasement to War

1. World War II Section One: From Appeasement to War

2. Terms • Collective Security: • What was needed to defend common interests against enemy attack • Sanctions: • Measures designed to stop trade & other economic contacts

3. Terms, cont. • Appeasement: • Granting concessions to maintain peace

4. Japan • Invaded Manchuria in 1931, League of Nations condemned action- so Japan left the League • By 1937- controlled eastern China

5. Italy’s Conquest of Ethiopia • Ethiopia bordered Italian controlled Samaliland • October 1935 Mussolini invaded Ethiopia • Italy annexed Ethiopia in 1936 • League imposed sanctions- ineffective

6. Spanish Civil War • 1931- King Alfonso abdicated • After years of political & economic chaos • Republic was formed • Reforms included redistributing land from wealthy to peasants and ending Catholic Church’s education of youth

7. Right-winged groups opposed reforms and staged an uprising • Francisco Franco led Nationalists

8. Intervention • Soviets- supported Republic • Germans & Italians supported Nationalists • Both sides were joined by volunteers from throughout the world • Other governments refused to get involved fearing a European war

9. Germany’s involvement • Hitler • Strengthen ties with Italy • Secure supply of Spanish iron ore and magnesium • Prevent spread of Communism • Herman Goering, head of air force, or Luftwaffe • Saw Spain as a testing ground for soldiers and weapons

10. End of Spanish Civil War • USSR stops funding Loyalists (Franco) • March 1939 Franco entered Madrid, ending the civil war • Results • +500,000 Spanish dead • Country lay in ruins • Franco, fascist dictator, did NOT ally himself with Hitler or Mussolini.

11. Germany • Germany was forbidden to occupy the Rhineland, a buffer zone between Germany and France in the Treaty of Versailles • In 1936, Hitler did it anyway • Nobody responded, unwilling to risk war- appeasement

12. Why appeasement? • France- political problems • Britain- didn’t want to take on Hitler • Some thought Hitler’s response to the Treaty of Versailles was appropriate • Hitler & fascism were better than communism • Great Depression • Pacifism- opposition to all war • US was not part of League of Nations- no power behind the organization

13. Axis Powers • Rome-Berlin Axis, October 1936 • Alliance between Hitler and Mussolini • Anti-Communist Pact • Germany, Italy, and Japan (Axis Powers) • Alliance against Soviet Community • Stalin urged west to united against Axis • West refused for fear of war & distrust of Stalin & communism

14. Germany continues aggression • Why? • No one stopped him • Believed Germans were superior to others • Needed ‘living space’ • “I have the right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin’

15. Austria • Anschluss- joining of Austria and Germany • Hitler sent troops into Austria, declared it part of Germany • Some resisted & were quickly ‘silenced’ • West refused to respond- fear of war

16. Czechoslovakia • Formed by Treaty of Versailles • Only Democracy in central Europe • Internal ethnic issues • September, 1938 Hitler demanded Germans in Czech (living in an area called Sudetenland) be given right of self-determination

17. The Munich Conference • Hitler, Chamberlain (British Prime Minister), French Premier, & Mussolini met to discuss Czech. • Results • Sudetenland became part of Germany • Hitler agreed to not take any more European territory • Chamberlain said, we have ‘ensured peace in our time.’ • Example of Appeasement

18. Hitler Reneges • March 15, 1939 Hitler takes control of western Czech. • Eastern part, Slovakia, is controlled by a puppet gov’t. What is a puppet gov’t? • Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact • Signed by Germany & USSR • West still mistrusting of Stalin

19. World War II Begins • September 1, 1939 • Hitler invades Poland • September 4, 1939 • France & Great Britain declare war on Germany( both countries had promised to help defend the Polish borders if necessary)

20. The Axis Advances Section Two

21. Terms • Blitzkrieg- lightning war • Blitz- series of air raids • Cash-and-carry policy- US policy where Britain traded cash for supplies • Lend-Lease- allowed President to lend military equipment to any country whose defense was vital to US national security.

22. Terms, cont. • Scorched-Earth Policy • Destroying everything that could be of use to an enemy • Holocaust • Mass destruction of the Jewish people based on racial grounds- 6,000,000 Jews and 6 million others including: Slavs and Gypsies

23. Genocide • The deliberate, carefully planned killing of an entire people on the basis of race, politics, or culture • Embargo - ban

24. Prior to 1940, update • Germany • Invades and occupies Poland • USSR • Secures its western border by occupying Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland

25. 1940 • April- Allies mine waters off Scandinavia to protect from Hitler • Hitler invades Scandinavia • Wins but a great cost, loss of destroyers and cruisers • Winston Churchill replaces Chamberlain as PM (Prime Minister)

26. Germany attacks Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium • Evacuation at Dunkirk • Brits and French get push back to the English Channel. The Brits call for every boat/ship available to rescue the armies. End up leaving machinery behind, but save lives • Invade and take France in June • Via Lux. & Belgium - Maginot Line- no help • Armistice- puppet gov’t- Vichy, France • Free French (the French Resistance) • Resistance fighters (resisted Germans) led by Charles de Gaulle

27. Battle of Britain • Germany’s attempt to invade Great Britain- Operation Sea Lion • August 1940 • Blitz for 57 consecutive nights on London- September • Much of London was destroyed, many died • Much damage was prevented by Royal Air Force

28. Africa & the Balkans • Balkans- Peninsula including: Greece, Yugo., Bulgaria, Albania, Romania • Italians (w/ German help) invaded Egypt • Occupied Greece & Yugoslavia • Strong resistance thru-out war • Bulgaria & Hungary joined Axis Powers

29. British-American Cooperation • US policy • Neutrality Acts- prohibited shipments, loans, and credit to belligerent nations. • FDR(Franklin Delano Roosevelt) • Gave British 50 destroyers in exchange for bases in Newfoundland & West Indies • Cash-and-Carry policy • Lend-Lease

30. Atlantic Charter • Freedom of trade, right of people to choose their own gov’t • “final destruction of Nazi tyranny”

31. Spring of 1941 • Germany controlled almost all of western Europe • Great Britain the lone Allied Power • Japanese controlled Manchuria and most of Chinese eastern border

32. Invasion of the Soviet Union • Hitler believed conquering the USSR was the only way to increase the ‘living space’ vital for Germany’s future • June 22, 1941- OperationBarbarossa • A massive attack on the USSR- violating the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact

33. Stalin was surprised • Germans almost completely destroyed the Soviet air force, disabled 1000’s of tanks, & captured 500,000 soldiers

34. Stalin reacts • Appealed to people to resist • Issued the Scorched-Earth Policy • November 1941 • Germans had captured Kiev, began a siege of Leningrad and were on the outskirts of Moscow

35. December 2, 1941 • Germans began an assault on Moscow • Soviets counterattacked and forced the Germans to retreat • Russian winter helped defeat the Germans

36. The Nazi Order • Hitler’s Plan • The Nazis would rule Europe and exploit its resources • Enslave the conquered people • Exterminate undesirables (Jews, Slavs) • Every day of WWII in Europe

37. Plan began • Plundering conquered countries of art, raw materials, and factory equipment

38. Cont. • Forced millions into labor and concentration camps • Between 1939-1944 • About 7.5 million people were deported and put to work in fields, factories, and mines

39. The Holocaust Beginnings and Final Solution

40. The Holocaust- Beginnings • 1935- Nuremberg Laws • Stripped Jews of citizenship • And right to hold public office • Barred Jews from schools and destroyed Jewish businesses

41. Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) • Nov. 9-10, 1938 • Nazis attacked Jews and vandalized Jewish businesses, homes, and synagagues • Gestapo- Secret Police • Shot resisters or sent them to concentration camps

42. Mid- 1940 • Nazis began persecuting Jews in conquered lands • Forced Jews to wear yellow Star of David • Jews were sent to concentration camps like Dachau • Largest # of Jews in occupied territories lived in Poland and the Soviet Union • Germans forced them to live in designated areas called ghettos

43. Life in the Ghettos • Unsanitary housing • Contagious diseases spread rapidly • Germans deliberately tried to starve them • 10,000’s died of hunger, disease, and the cold • One of most famous ghettos was Warsaw-500,000 Jews were housed there

44. The Killing Squads • June 1941 • Nazis turned from forced immigration to mass killing • Killing Squads moved with German army and killed all Jews on sight • Total Deaths- +1,000,000 Jews and 100,000’s of others • Babi Yar, Ukraine • 35,000 Jews killed in 2 days

45. The Final Solution • January 1942 • Nazi leaders agreed on the final solution to the Jewish question in Europe • Defined- genocide of the Jews

46. Began in Summer 1942 • Germans rounded up Jews and sent them to death camps like Auschwitz in Poland • Death was carried out by gas chambers, starvation, disease or cruel medical experiments

47. Response and Resistance • Most were unaware • Jews fought back • Warsaw Ghetto Uprising • Some helped the Nazis (France, Italy, Hungary) • Switzerland(neutral) accepted & profited from money & valuables stolen from Jews

48. Most people did nothing- thinking it wasn’t their problem • Anti-Semitic (Against the Jews) feelings were widespread

49. Response, cont. • Demark, alone, actively resisted the Nazis removal of the Jews • The Allies knew what was going on but thought the best way to help was to defeat Germany • They did not know the full horror of the Holocaust until the camps were liberated in 1945

50. Japanese Expansion