causes of wwii - lcps

Causes of WWII

1. Political Instability and Economic

problems in Europe from World War

I.

- World wide Depression

- Germany’s high World War I debt

(remember Treaty of Versailles and

reparations)

- High inflation – the value of money

goes down over time.

- Massive unemployment

Causes of WWII

2. Rise of Fascism: a political philosophy

in which total power is given to a dictator.

– Germany

– Italy

– Japan

• Dictators of these countries became known as the

Axis Powers

FascismWhat is it?

Extreme

nationalism

and racism

Individual

freedoms

are deniedCensorship/

government

controls the

media

Government

controls the

economy

Use of

violence

and terror Strong

military

3. Isolationism in Europe and

the United States

• The United States and

other European countries

did not want to get

involved in other

government’s disputes

because of the Great

Depression and the legacy

of World War I

• Appeasement = giving in

to Hitler’s actions to avoid

war

United States Great Britain

USSR – United Soviet Socialist Republic

FDR

Truman

Joseph StalinWinston Churchill

Major Leaders of the War

Franklin D. Roosevelt (Allied Power)

• U.S. President

– Elected in 1933 during the Great Depression and leads until his death in 1945.

• Enters war after attack on Pearl Harbor

• Dies three weeksbefore the end of the war


Harry Truman

(Allied Power)

• U.S. President after the

death of President

Roosevelt

• Important at the end of

the war by dropping

atomic bomb and giving

aid to worn-torn

countries


Winston Churchill

(Allied Power)

• Prime Minister of Great

Britain

• Strong stand against

Hitler

• His speeches kept

British morale high


Joseph Stalin

(Allied Power)

• Soviet Union (USSR)

Dictator

• Led communist party

• Ruled for 30 years by

fear and terror

• Helped defeat Nazi

Germany

“The Big Three”

Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill

Japan

Italy

Germany

Adolf Hitler

Hideki Tojo

Hirohito

Mussolini


Adolf Hitler (Axis

Power)

• Fascist dictator of

Germany

• Leader of the Nazi Party

• Rose to power through

propaganda

• Started the “Third

Reich” (Reich = empire

in German)

• Preached hatred of Jews


Benito Mussolini (Axis

Power)

• Fascist dictator of Italy

• Aligned with Hitler

• Fired by King of Italy in

1943 but is reinstated

days later after Hitler

takes control of Italy


Hideki Tojo (Axis

Power)

• Japanese General –

leader of the military

• Ordered attack on

Pearl Harbor

• Executed at the end of

the war


Hirohito

• Emperor of Japan

• Viewed as a divine

figure (God gave him

the power to rule)

• Japan’s military gained

political influence during

his rule

1939 - 1945

1. German Invasion of Poland:

Sept. 1, 1939

Blitzkrieg -―Lightning War‖ – swift military

offense, usually combining land and air forces

• Germany invaded Poland, setting off war in

Europe

• The Soviet Union also invaded Poland and

the Baltic nations

• NAZI SOVIET PACT:1939, Germany

and Soviet Union signed a pact to invade

and control Northern and Eastern

European nations.

German troops marching into Warsaw, Poland (1939)

2. Germany invaded France

and captured Paris (1940)• Italy invades France from the South and Germany

takes over from the North – France Surrenders

The Free French

General Charles

DeGaulleThe Maquis

Examples of groups organizing French resistance from Germany

SOME FRENCH OPPOSED THE NAZIS and the Vichy Gov.

Now Britain Is All Alone!

3. Battle of Britain (1940)

• Germany bombed

London.

• Massive air strikes

between the two

countries

• Germany was defeated

• Also known as:

Operation Sea Lion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkVhov2GeWY

Battle of Britain excerpt:

4. Lend Lease Act – United States

gave war supplies to Britain

• At the start of the war, the United States remained

neutral; however, were closely allied with Great Britain

• The United States gave Britain war supplies and old

naval warships in return for military bases in Bermuda

and the Caribbean

5. German Invasion of the

Soviet Union

• Operation Barbarossa – Hitler’s Biggest

Mistake

(Hitler breaks his treaty with Stalin)

5. German Invasion of the

Soviet Union

• Hitler’s biggest mistake because now he is

fighting on TWO FRONTS!

Operation Barbarossa: June 22, 1941

y 3,000,000 German

soldiers.

y 3,400 tanks.

6. Japanese Attack on

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

Known as:

“The day that will live in infamy”

Pearl Harbor

USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor from the

Cockpit of a Japanese Pilot

Japanese Kamikaze Planes:The Scourge of the South

Pacific Kamikaze

Pilots

Suicide

Bombers

• After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the US declared war

on Japan, so Germany declared war on the US

• In response, the US declared war on Germany and Japan

Pearl Harbor Memorial

• 2,887 Americans Dead!

― I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping

giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.‖

Stalin switches sides & the U.S

enters the war. The ―Big

Three‖ is now created

Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin

7. Battle of Midway – June 4-7,

1942• US Navy destroyed Japan’s naval strength

• Japan’s navy never recovered and was on the defense after

this battle

• Turning point of the

war in the Pacific

Battle of Midway – June 4-7,

1942

8. Battle of Stalingrad (July

1942 - February 1943)

• Long battle

between Germany

and USSR

• Deadliest battle of

WWII – 1.5

million casualties.

• Germany lost

• Turning point of

the war in

Eastern Europe

9. D-Day - Operation Overlord (Allied invasion of Europe – June 6, 1944)

Led by General Eisenhower and the allied forces

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

• Allied troops

ferried across the

English Channel

and sailed from

Britain to the

beaches of

Normandy,

France –

Germans retreat

Normandy Landing

(June 6, 1944)

German Prisoners

10. Atomic bombs dropped

on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima – August 6, 1945

© 70,000 killed

immediately.

© 48,000 buildings.

destroyed.

© 100,000s died of

radiation poisoning &

cancer later.

“Little Boy”

Nagasaki – August 9, 1945

© 40,000 killed

immediately.

© 60,000 injured.

© 100,000s died of

radiation poisoning

& cancer later.

“Fat Man”

Japanese A-Bomb Survivors

Outcomes of WWII1. After the war, Britain and France were broke

2. Establishment of two major world powers:

The United States and the U.S.S.R.

3. War Crime Trials

• The Nuremberg War Trials:

Crimes Against Humanity

• Japanese War Crimes Trials

General

Hideki Tojo

Trial against SS German Officers

Mussolini & His Mistress,

Claretta Petacci

Are Hung in Milan, 1945

Those that did not make it to trial…

The Führer’s

Bunker

Cyanide

& Pistols

Mr. & Mrs.

Hitler

4. Division of Europe – Iron Curtain

• Line through Europe

separating West

Germany with East

Germany (through the

city of Berlin)

• Line also separated

democracy and

communism in Europe

5. Creation of the United Nations

• Replaces League

of Nations

• Purpose: settle

disputes and

keep world

peace

6. The Universal Declaration of

Human Rights

• Provided a code of conduct for the treatment of people under the protection of their government

7. Marshall Plan

• Established by George

Marshall (United States)

• Gave money to

European democratic

countries to rebuild

• Its goal was to stop the

spread of communism

8. Formation of the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) and Warsaw Pact

NATO

• Military alliance

between U.S., Canada,

and 9 western

European nations

• Pledged to help one

another if attacked

WARSAW PACT

• Formed in response to

NATO

• Alliance between U.S.S.R.

and 7 Eastern European

countries

WW II Casualties: Europe

Each symbol

indicates 100,000

dead in the

appropriate theater

of operations

WW II Casualties: Asia

Each symbol

indicates 100,000

dead in the

appropriate theater

of operations

WW II

Casualties

Country Men in war Battle deaths Wounded

Australia 1,000,000 26,976 180,864

Austria 800,000 280,000 350,117

Belgium 625,000 8,460 55,5131

Brazil2 40,334 943 4,222

Bulgaria 339,760 6,671 21,878

Canada 1,086,3437 42,0427 53,145

China3 17,250,521 1,324,516 1,762,006

Czechoslovakia — 6,6834 8,017

Denmark — 4,339 —

Finland 500,000 79,047 50,000

France — 201,568 400,000

Germany 20,000,000 3,250,0004 7,250,000

Greece — 17,024 47,290

Hungary — 147,435 89,313

India 2,393,891 32,121 64,354

Italy 3,100,000 149,4964 66,716

Japan 9,700,000 1,270,000 140,000

Netherlands 280,000 6,500 2,860

New Zealand 194,000 11,6254 17,000

Norway 75,000 2,000 —

Poland — 664,000 530,000

Romania 650,0005 350,0006 —

South Africa 410,056 2,473 —

U.S.S.R. — 6,115,0004 14,012,000

United Kingdom 5,896,000 357,1164 369,267

United States 16,112,566 291,557 670,846

Yugoslavia 3,741,000 305,000 425,000

1. Civilians only.

2. Army and navy figures.

3. Figures cover period July

7, 1937 to Sept. 2, 1945,

and concern only Chinese

regular troops. They do

not include casualties

suffered by guerrillas and

local military corps.

4. Deaths from all causes.

5. Against Soviet Russia;

385,847

against Nazi Germany.

6. Against Soviet Russia;

169,822

against Nazi Germany.

7. National Defense Ctr.,

Canadian

Forces Hq., Director of

History.

causes of wwii - lcps

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