World War II Lecture Causes of the War

World War II Lecture

Causes of the War

The Path to War • Causes of the war • Failed Treaty of Versailles • Actions of Aggressors • Hitler’s invasion of several countries-1938 -on • Japan’s invasion of Manchuria and Eastern China-1931 -on • Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia-1935 • League of Nations was ineffective in stopping these aggressors • Policy of Appeasement was ineffective • Munich Conference-1938 German Pre-War Expansion Map

The Path to War—German Aggression • Aggressors formed the Axis Powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan • Agreed to fight communism • Agreed to not interfere with each other’s ambitions • Nazis invade • • Rhineland (remilitarized the demilitarized zone)--1936 Austria--1938 Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia)--1938 Czechoslovakia--1939 • Hitler’s False Promises • Pact of Steel (1939) • Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939) • Concordat with Rome (1933) and that’s just to name a few. . .

European Theater

European Theater: Invasion of Poland • Film clip: German invasion of Poland, 1939 • September 1, 1939—Hitler invaded Poland • Hitler had been looking for a war as an excuse to take territory • His goals: race and space • Poles fought valiantly, but Nazis had more military power • Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later

German soldiers marching into Poland

Civilian Poles surrendering to Germans

“Group portrait of soldiers in the Polish Berling Army. ” ushmm. org

European Theater: Treatment of the Poles • Hitler showed his true plan for all of Europe: control and cleanse, using Poland as an experimental area • Hitler targeted Jews as well as all others seen as unfit—Slavs, Communists, Gypsies (Roma and Sinti), the handicapped, homosexuals, the mentally ill, and other groups • Millions of people (including Christians) were forced to move • Non “Aryans” were robbed, beaten, tortured, enslaved, and killed in order to make space for Germany “Aryans”

European Theater: Treatment of the Poles • German experimentation in Poland, 1939 -1940 • “Euthanasia” program that had been piloted in Germany was put into place in Poland • Use of gas vans • Problems with gas vans • Groups affected • Map of German "Euthansia" Centers

European Theater: Treatment of the Poles • The Attack • Luftwaffe—aerial bombing • Army on the ground surrounding and forcing Polish forces to surrender • Soviet Union attacked in the east, Germany in the west • Partition of Poland • German annexed western part • Soviet Union annexed eastern part • Another portion, the General Government, was occupied by Germany as well (lots of the camps were located in this area) Map of Poland

European Theater: Other Countries • Early 1940—Hitler conquered Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium • Dunkirk rescue

European Theater: Invasion of France • June, 1940—Hitler and Mussolini conquered France • Northern part went to Germany • Southern part became a puppet government (Vichy France)

European Theater: The Blitz • August, 1940—Germany starts the blitz, bombing British cities for 57 nights in a row and didn’t end until May, 1941 • • Germany unsuccessful in taking Britain Huge amount of damage Many lives lost— 40, 000 civilians Children sent out of London to the countryside

European Theater: The Balkans • Nazi goal—get Romania to gain access to their oil • Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary were allied with Germany already by 1941 • Germany wanted Yugoslavia and Greece as well • Took Yugoslavia in 1941 • Invaded Greece in 1941 to help the Italians conquer it

European Theater: Operation Barbarossa • German invasion of the Soviet Union in June, 1941 —Operation Barbarossa • Soviets lost 2. 5 million soldiers • Hitler’s mistake of having his soldiers stay into the winter • Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) lasted 2. 5 years • Stalin began talks with Churchill and pushed for help from the Allies

African Theater

African Theater • After initially losing to the Germans, the British defeated them at El Alamein in 1942 • Rommel (“the desert fox”)

Pacific Theater

Pacific Theater: Pearl Harbor and U. S. Involvement • On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the U. S. Naval fleet in Pearl Harbor and the U. S. declared war on Japan • President Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy” • President Roosevelt's speech • Causes: • U. S. had been trying to stay neutral, but had been secretly supplying arms to the Allies, so this angered the Japanese • Before Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, and because of that, the U. S. refused to sell war materials to Japan

Pacific Theater: Pearl Harbor and U. S. Involvement • U. S. interned Japanese Americans in concentration camps in California and several other states • U. S. was worried that they would be spies or somehow endanger the war effort • After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese conquered many Pacific islands at the beginning of the war and it looked like they might win the Pacific campaign

Allies Change the Course of the War 1942 -1943

Allies Change the Course of the War: 1942 -1943 • Turning point of the war happened during 1942 and 1943 • Allies began to win: Pacific, North Africa and Italy, Soviet Union, and France • In the Pacific: Allies won the Battle of Coral Sea (May, 1942) and the Battle of Midway Island (June, 1942) and stopped the Japanese offensive

Allies Change the Course of the War: 1942 -1943 • North Africa and Italy: • Forced Rommel to surrender in North Africa in May, 1943 • The Allied strategy was to surround Rommel with forces on the east and on the west at the Battle of El Alamein (major turning point) • Forced Italians to surrender in July, 1943

Allies Change the Course of the War: 1942 -1943 • Soviet Union: Soviets defeated German troops at the Battle of Stalingrad in January, 1943 • Stalingrad had been involved in a long siege • After this battle, the Russians had the upper hand

D-Day

D-Day—June 6, 1944 • Allied invasion of France on the beaches of Normandy • Effective because the Allies were willing to lose many lives in order to take the land • All of France was free by September • Allied bombing of Germany continued

The End of the War

Yalta Meeting—February, 1945 • Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met and discussed terms They agreed that. . . • Soviet Union would enter war against Japan 3 months after Hitler’s surrender • Soviets would get Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, and a zone in Korea • Germany would be divided into four zones—British, American, French, and Soviet • Soviets would hold free elections in Eastern Europe after the war

Victory In Europe • Mussolini was executed and Hitler committed suicide • May 8, 1945, was V-E Day

Victory in the Pacific • By 1944, Allies trying to push the Japanese back to Japan • 1945—Battle of Iwo Jima, a key turning point • Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb • Hiroshima—August 6, 1945 • Nagasaki—August 9, 1945

Minorities in the War

African Americans in the War • Almost 1 million fought in the war • Most notable group was the Tuskegee Airmen, an elite group of Air Force pilots • Their valiant service helped to cause • Integration of the Armed Services in 1948 • The escalation of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950 s • Others who were not soldiers helped as well • • Support services Many women volunteered Worked in factories and in government agencies Entertained troops

Women’s Roles • Production--Rosie the Riveter—U. S. • Auxiliary roles--British and American—ambulances, nurses, flying planes, decoding, communications • Resistance—French woman Marie Fourcade helped Allied pilots • Combat—Soviet pilot Lily Litvak “shot down 12 German planes before she herself was killed” (Ellis 940).

The Holocaust

The Holocaust—An Overview Animated Map of the Holocaust

The Holocaust • Goal of Hitler’s genocide: rid the German empire of Jews and other “asocials” who were not genetically pure • First, Hitler experimented with killing centers in Germany, but it was hard to keep them secret • Then, he sent the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) to the east while experimenting with gas vans in Germany and Poland

The Holocaust • Jews in occupied countries starting with Poland were forced to move into ghettos, in which horrible sanitary conditions as well as mandatory labor killed many. • The most notorious ghettos were Warsaw and Lodz in Poland

The Holocaust • Nazis developed the “Final Solution” and built 6 killing camps • Jews were kept in labor, concentration, and killing camps. • Although the killing camps had as their special purpose to kill as many Jews as possible, Jews as well as other victims died in each of these 3 types of camps. • Major Deportations to Camps

The Holocaust • Resistance in the Holocaust • • • Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Work slow downs Armed resistance in the camps—example—Sobibor Partisan groups Resistance groups in London as well as most countries Map of Resistance in ghettoes and camps