WORLD WAR II World War II Causes of

WORLD WAR II

World War II �Causes of World War II �Major Events �Leaders of WW II

Causes of World War II �Failure of Treaty of Versailles �Appeasement �Nationalism �Militarism �Alliances �Isolationism & Pacifism �League of Nations

Treaty of Versailles Germany Had to take BLAME (War Guilt Clause) � Had to PAY ($33 Billion USD) � NO submarines and NO Air Force � �Only 6 battle ships �Limit to Army of 100, 000 men �No troops in the Rhineland (50 mile strip of land near France) � LOST territory in Europe �Colonies given to Britain and France

Failure of Treaty of Versailles � Not enforceable � Germany has no choice but to try and break it…why? ? ?

Appeasement - “if we don’t get involved in small fights, we’ll avoid a big fight” � Munich Conference – 1938 �England France give in to some of Hitler's demands in the hopes that he will not take more

Nationalism � Germany �Prove its superiority and get revenge for Treaty of Versailles � Italy �Return to the glory days of Rome when Italy was powerful � Japan �Establish its dominance in Asia

Militarism � Germany �Annexes surrounding areas �Creates the "Third Reich“ � Italy �Invades Ethiopia � Japan �Invades Manchuria, Korea, and China

Alliances � Axis �Germany �Italy �Japan � Allies �Great Britain �France

Isolationism & Pacifism � U. S. �Avoid involvement in European conflict � Europe �Avoid another war and continue to recover from WWI

League of Nations � Unable to back up demands -no military strength

Major Events � German Blitzkrieg � Fall of France � Battle of Britain � Holocaust � Invasion of Soviet Union � Pearl Harbor � D-Day � Atomic Bombs

German Blitzkrieg � Lightning warfare �fast-moving troops combined with damaging weapons

Fall of France � "Occupied France" - northern half of the country, controlled by Germany � “Vichy France" - southern portion of the country, remains somewhat independent � Charles de Gaulle - French general that escapes to England continues to fight the Germans

Battle of Britain � German "Luftwaffe" vs. British “Royal Air Force” (RAF) � First use of radar � British defeat Germans, despite being outnumbered

Holocaust � Caused because of German "anti-Semitism" � Hitler believed in a master race - "blondhaired, blue-eyed Aryans" were genetically superior � Phase 1: Kristallnacht - night of broken glass - attack on Jewish businesses and synagogues � Phase 2: segregation of Jews in "ghettoes" � Phase 3: Genocide - mass extermination using concentration camps (Auschwitz), firing squads, gas chambers and crematoriums

Invasion of Soviet Union � "Non-Aggression Pact" Germany and Russia sign a truce at beginning of war � Hitler breaks treaty and invades after France is conquered � Russians use "scorched earth" in defense � Battle of Stalingrad - turning point in war - Russians defeat Germans

Pearl Harbor � December 7 th, 1941 - "a date that will live in infamy" � Surprise bombing of American naval fleet by Japanese military � Forces U. S. Into the war

D-Day � June 6 th, 1944 - Allied invasion of France � Allows Allies to begin pushing back the Germans

Atomic Bombs � Bombs were named “Little Boy" & “Fat Man" � Bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki � Kills 110, 000 Japanese � U. S. Believed bombs would save American lives by not having to invade Japan

Leaders of WW II � Russia � Germany � United States � Great Britain � Japan � Italy

Russia � Joseph Stalin - replaces Lenin as ruler of Russia � Executes over 2 million Russian citizens during his rule

Germany � Adolf Hitler "Führer" of Germany and leader of Nazi party � Josef Mengele Known as the "Angel of Death", he performed medical experiments on Jews in concentration camps

United States � Franklin D. Roosevelt - President during most of the war � Harry S. Truman - FDR's Vicepresident, takes power after his death, drops the bomb on Japan � Dwight Eisenhower - led the D-Day invasion � Douglas Mc. Arthur - led Pacific campaign against Japanese

Great Britain � Neville Chamberlain - Prime Minister who believed in appeasement � Winston Churchill - Prime minister after Chamberlain, refused to surrender to Hitler

Japan � Hirohito - Emperor of Japan � Hideki Tojo - General of Japanese military

Italy Mussolini - Known as “Il Duce", he was the dictator of Italy and allied himself with Hitler � Benito