Introduction to WWII

1
Introduction to WWII

• Adapted from
• http//worldhistory.pppst.com/ww2.html

During World War II, many women took over factory
jobs while the men were called into the military
2
When?

• 1939-1945
• US involvement 1941-1945

1939
1941
1945
Sept. 3 -Britain France declare war on
Germany
Dec. 7 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor US enters the
War
May - Germans Surrender
Aug -Sept. - Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
Nagasaki, Japanese Surrender
Sept.1 - Germany invades Poland (official start
to the war)
3
Quick Facts
Human Costs
50 million people died (compared to 21 million in
WWI)

• 21.3 million Russians (7.7 million civilians)

• 11 million died as a result of the HOLOCAUST(6
  million Jews 5 million others)

4
Who?
Axis
Allies
(major powers)
(major powers)
United Kingdom
Germany
Russia
Italy
United States
Japan
France (note France surrendered to Germany in
1940 after 6 weeks of fighting)
5
Major Leaders
Adolf Hitler Nazi Germany
Benito Mussolini Italy
6
Major Leaders
Winston Churchill U.K. Prime Minister
Hideki Tojo Japanese Prime Minister

• Charles de Gaulle
• French Leader in Exile

7
Major Leaders
Joseph Stalin Russian Leader
Franklin Delano Roosevelt US President
8
Why? (underlying causes of WWII)
1. Treaty of Versailles
A. World War I ended in 1918. As a result of WW I
Germany lost land to surrounding nations
B. War Reparations
1) Allies collect to pay back war debts to
U.S. 2) Germany must pay 57 trillion (modern
equivalent) 3) Bankrupted the German economy
embarrassed Germans
Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow
Wilsonduring negotiations for the Treaty
9
Why? (underlying causes of WWII)
2. World-wide Depression
A. The Great Depression in the 1930s made
Germanys debt even worse
B. Desperate people turn to desperate leaders
1) Hitler seemed to provide solutions to
Germanys problems
1923 - Wallpapering with German Deutchmarks
10
Why? (underlying causes of WWII)
2. World-wide Depression
2) Hitler provided scapegoats for Germanys
problems. He blamed Jews primarily, but also
other eastern Europeans as well as the mentally
ill. 3) Kristallnacht - vandalism
destruction of Jewish property synagogues
11
Why?

• 3. Rise of Totalitarian Regimes

A. In a Totalitarian country, individual rights
are not viewed as important as the needs of the
nation
Communist Dictatorship (USSR)
Fascist Dictatorship (Germany, Italy)
Fascism military government based on racism
nationalism with strong support from the business
community
Totalitarianism
Military Dictatorship (Japan)
12
Why?

• 4. Isolationism of Major Powers

A. Why was the U.S. Isolationist? 1. Great
Depression (problems at home) 2. Perceptions
of WWI
a. WWI did not seem to solve much b. People
began to think that wed got into WWI for the
wrong reasons
13
Why?

• 4. Isolationism of Major Powers

B. This led to policies of Appeasement
1. Appeasement give dictators what they want and
hope that they wont want anything else
2. Begins with Japanese invasion of Manchuria,
Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and continues with
Hitler . . .
14
So What Was Hitler Asking For?

• He claimed that Germany was not big enough
  Lebensraum or Living Room

• Austria - Peacefully Annexed in 1938

German Troops Parade in Streets of
Czechoslovakian Town, ca. 1939
15
So What Was Hitler Asking For?

• Munich Conference - Great Britain France give
  part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler in return for
  peace
• Hitler then invades the rest of Czechoslovakia

German Troops Parade in Streets of
Czechoslovakian Town, ca. 1939
16
Major Events of WW II

• September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland

• Great Britain France declare war on Germany

Hitler's triumphal entry into Danzig, Poland 1939
17
How Did Hitler Make War?

• Blitzkrieg Lightning War Moving tanks and
  troops extremely fast to surprise and out
  maneuver the enemy.

• In the next year, (1940) Hitler invades and
  conquers
• Denmark
• Norway
• The Netherlands,
• Belgium
• France

Hitler in Paris
18
Europe - 1939
19
Europe 1941
20
Major Events of WW II

• Dunkirk, France May 1940
• Germany invaded France so rapidly that some
  350,000 British and French troops were trapped on
  the beach at Dunkirk. Along with their Navy,
  hundreds of British citizens bravely took boats
  across the English Channel and rescued the
  trapped soldiers. In this picture, British
  fishermen rescue sailors and troops while being
  fired upon by German aircraft.

21
Major Events of WW II

• The Battle of Britain
• July September 1940
• German planes drop bombs on many cities and
  military targets in England. However Germany does
  not try to send troops in. Many buildings were
  destroyed, but the military targets were not
  badly damaged.

22
Major Events of WW II

• We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on
  the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields
  and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills
  we shall never surrender, we shall prove
  ourselves once more able to defend our Island
  home, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if
  necessary for years, if necessary alone.

Inspiring speech given by Prime Minister Winston
Churchill during the Battle of Britain
23
US Assistance

• Roosevelt provided aid to the Allies

Lend-Lease - 1940

• US loaned war materials to cash-strapped Great
  Britain

Atlantic Charter

• US secretly meets with England to commit to
  defeating Germany

London Firefighter Tackles an Air Raid Blaze
24
Major Events of WW II

• Germany Invades the Soviet Union (Russia) June
  1941 Germany sent more than 4,000,000 troops.
  The invasion reached near Moscow in December of
  1941, but stalled when the harsh Russian winter
  set in. Thousands of German troops froze to
  death.

25
Major Events of WW II

• Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941 a date which
  will live in infamy

What?

• Surprise attack by the Japanese on American
  forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Effect?

• US declares war on Japan.
• Germany and Italy declare war on the United States

USS Arizona Sinking in Pearl Harbor
26
Major Events of WW II

• The Holocaust During the war, Germany continued
  carrying out its policy of executing Jews
  wherever they found them. Often they were sent to
  slave labor camps until they died. But others
  were sent to concentration camps where they were
  quickly executed by poison gas.

• Empty poison gas canisters used to kill inmates
  and piles of hair shaven from their heads are
  stored in the museum at Auschwitz II.

27
Major Events of WW II

• The Holocaust Hitler hated Jews. He convinced
  the German people that Jews were to blame for all
  of the countrys problems.
• At the end of the war, Allied soldiers were
  shocked to discover the horror of the
  concentration camps

28
Major Events of WW II

• 1942 1945 Bombing of Germany After the U.S.
  entered the war, Allied bombing raids over
  Germany begin hitting cities and military
  targets. This was a major blow to Hitler because
  he had promised the German people that they would
  never be bombed.

29
Major Events of WW II

• War in the Pacific While the U.S. was fighting
  in Europe against Germany, we were also fighting
  against Japan in the islands of the Pacific
  Ocean. Some major battles were at Guadalcanal,
  Guam, and Iwo Jima

• The flag is raised on Mt. Suribachi on the island
  of Iwo Jima

30
Major Events of WW II

• D Day June 6, 1944 Allied forces in England
  launched a massive invasion against German
  positions in Normandy, France. Many of the
  invading troops were the same ones rescued from
  Dunkirk in 1940.

31
Major Events of WW II

• Germany Surrenders May 1945 After the
  Invasion of Normandy, U.S., British, and French
  troops begin pushing the Germans out of France.
  At the same time, Russian troops were pushing the
  Germans out of the U.S.S.R. After the war, these
  four countries will retain control of Germany for
  several years.

32
Major Events of WW II

• Japan Surrenders August 1945 The Atomic
  Bomb, a horrific new weapon, is dropped on the
  Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The
  Japanese Emperor Hirohito agrees to the surrender
  terms.

33
Major Events of WW II

• Kissing the War Goodbye Americans celebrate the
  end of World War II

34
The End of WW II

• American War Casualties
• 405,399 Dead
• 670,846 Wounded
• 30,314 Still Missing

35
Our Response -

• We remember and honor those who risked their
  lives to fight for the freedom that we enjoy.
  Without their efforts, the world would be a much
  different and more frightening place.

36
Kilroy Was Here

• James Kilroy from Halifax, Mass. was a 46-year
  old shipyard worker during the war. He worked as
  a checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy.
  His job was to go around and check on the number
  of rivets completed. He put his checkmark on each
  job he inspected, added KILROY WAS HERE in
  king-sizedletters next to the check, and
  eventually added the sketch. Kilroys inspection
  trademark was seen by thousands of servicemen
  who boarded the troopships the yard produced. His
  messageapparently rang a bell with the
  servicemen, because they picked it up and spread
  it all over Europe and the South Pacific.

• delontin1.wordpress.com/.../21/kilroy-was-here/

37
(No Transcript)