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World War II - 1939-1945

Ms. Fillingham

Ms. Fillingham / U.S. History

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Axis Powers and Allied Powers

Axis Powers

Germany
Italy
Japan

Allied Powers

France
United Kingdom
Soviet Union
United States

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Communism vs. Fascism

Communism (Soviet Union, post-WWII China & Vietnam)	Similarities of Totalitarianism Rule	Fascism (Italy, Germany, Japan)
antidemocratic	single-party dictatorship	antidemocratic and nationalistic
hopes for international change	state control of the economy	enemies of communists
enemies of fascism	use of police spies and terror for control	supported by business leaders, wealthy landowners and middle class
supported by urban & agricultural workers	strict censorship and government monopoly of the media	all businesses individually owned but state controlled
all businesses state-owned	indoctrination of youth
	unquestioning obedience to a single leader

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Winston Churchill:

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during most of the war, from 1940 to 1945. An early opponent of Hitler, he opposed appeasement of Germany. He was First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of war, then came into power at the start of theNazi invasion of France. During the Battle of Britain, Churchill's speeches boosted the British morale during the darkest moments.

Neville Chamberlain:

Neville Chamberlain, who had formerly led a policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, was Prime Minister during the first stages of the war, taking office in 1937 and resigning on 10 May 1940 after the failed Norwegian campaign. Chamberlain, who remained Conservative Party leader, then became Lord President of the Council. He died of cancer on 9 November 1940, half a year after resigning.

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Petain & de Gaulle - France

left- Petain

Right- de Gaulle

de Gaulle:

Charles de Gaulle was the leader of the Free French (were individuals or military units who joined "Free France" (la France libre), the resistance organization founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1940 in London to continue the struggle against the Axis powers) and as such, became head of the French government-in-exile following the Fall of France (second successful German invasion of France from May 1940 to June 1940). A vehement opponent of collaboration, he eventually took nominal command of the French resistance and headed the French Army of Liberation from its foundation to the war's end.

Petain:

a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français), from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, ranks as France's oldest head of state.

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Stalin (left):

Joseph Stalin was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during World War II.

From 1941 onwards, he was also Chairman of the Committee of the People's Commissars (Premier) of the Soviet Union.

It was during Stalin's reign that the USSR emerged as a superpower that rivaled the United States. As the supreme commander of the Red Army, Stalin led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from Nazi occupation.

Mussolini (right):

He had the role of declaring alliance with Germany and striking against France and the United Kingdom. His ruling ended in 1943 after he was defeated in the Grand Council of Fascism.

Fascism: This is a form of government where the people are led by a dictator, or a small group of people. The dictator has a vision of what he wants his country to be like and pushes the population towards his goals.

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The Road that Led to World War II...

Why WWI Was NOT the War to End All Wars...

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Cause #1

Treaty of Versailles:

Germany is punished

Made to pay reparations

(fines)

Forced to admit guilt
Give up land
Reduce military

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Cause #2

Rival Alliances:

Allies vs. Axis

Britain and France

vs.

Germany, USSR, Italy

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Cause #3

Rise of Dictators:

Hitler - Germany
Mussolini - Italy
Stalin - USSR

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Cause #4

Failure of the League of Nations:

Germany invaded Poland
US never joins
Japan and Germany withdrew
No military to stop Hitler’s aggression

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�This will all lead to the �OUTBREAK �OF WWII

But what was the spark?

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Spark of WWII

Germany invaded Poland
September 1939

Germany invading Poland:

In the eighteenth century Poland was an independent country with its own monarch. Constantly attacked by powerful neighbors it was eventually divided up between Russia, Austria-Hungary and Germany.
Hitler wanted more land, especially in the east, to expand Germany according to the Nazi policy of lebensraum and German speaking people.
The British told Germany they have no rights to invade these countries, but Hitler used harsh limitation such as the Versailles Treaty as a pretext for Germany's right to acquire land where German-speaking people lived.
In August 1939, a group of Nazi operatives were dressed in Polish uniforms, shot and then placed just inside the German border. Adolf Hitler claimed that Poland was attempting to invade Germany.
On 1st September, 1939, the German Army was ordered into Poland.

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U.S. Involvement in WWII

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How the U.S. became involved in World War II: December 7, 1941

Japan attacked the USA Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii because Japan felt that our Pacific fleet was too close (it threatened their expansion).

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Japanese Internment

Japanese-Americans had nothing to do with starting the war
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a cloud of suspicion settled on these loyal citizens

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Japanese Internment

In response to the fears of Japanese American citizens, President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942.

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The Holocaust

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Between 1933 and 1945, the German�government led by Adolf Hitler and the�Nazi Party carried out the systematic�persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews, as well as other groups Nazis thought to be inferior.��This genocide is now known�as the Holocaust.

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Victims of the Holocaust

Jews
Slavic Peoples (like the Poles)
Soviets
Mentally ill
Physically disabled
homosexuals
religious and political dissidents (socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses)

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The Holocaust

Scientific legitimacy
Concentration camps

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The Final Solution

Hitler started a program called the Final Solution which he outlined in his book Mein Kampf (first published in 1925).
Use of euphemistic language throughout the Nazi Party
The first step of this solution called for a boycott (refusal to shop at or use) of Jewish businesses starting on April 1, 1933 at 10:30am.

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Boycott of Jewish Businesses

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Concentration Camps

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Buchenwald, Germany, circa 1938–41

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Robert A. Schmuhl

Concentration camps:

definition: place where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labor or to await mass execution.

Also, the first concentration camp was built in Dachau, Poland for prisoners.

At any point the ghettoes could be liquidated which meant that all Jews in the ghetto would be rounded up and put on a train heading to the concentration camps
There were two different types of concentration camps.

labor camps were set up and the Jews would work in these camps. There were also
death camps; most that were sent to these were put to death. Ultimately, very few people made it out of the concentration camps alive.

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Concentration Camps

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In 1935, any teachers, scientists, government officials, lawyers, doctors, etc. that did not agree with the Nazis were arrested and sent to prison.

Opponents of the Nazi Regime

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Krystallnacht:

“The Night of Broken Glass”

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Memoirs and Stories about the Holocaust

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Restrictions

1939:

Curfews
Turn in valuables
Star of David on clothing

1940-1944:

All German-Jews were deported out of Germany to Poland.
Jews were forced to live in ghettos

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Ghettoes

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American Response to the Holocaust

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Nuremberg Trials

Leading Nazi officials listen to proceedings at the International Military Tribunal, the best known of the postwar trials, in Nuremberg, Germany, before judges representing the Allied powers.

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Creation of the United Nations

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Genocide Did NOT End with the Holocaust

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Essential Question

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Was World War II justified by its results?