WWII events

WWI end to WWII beginning Germany felt that the war guilt clause was unfair Lost oversees colonies which meant no raw goods to fuel local economy Reparations were impossible to pay League of Nations was weak Weak govt. (Weimar Republic)  Used to autocratic leadership

Germany rises from the dust Who led? – Adolf Hitler  Austrian native  Tried to join an art academy but was rejected  Read anti-Semitic literature while in Vienna Austria How did he do it?  Joined the Nazi party and rose to the top since he was a good public speaker  Arrested and wrote Mein Kampf  Discussed need for a “superior” Aryan race to rule  Comes back and rises to top of Nazi party again  Lots of public works projects  Idea of Lebensraum (living space)

Origin of the Holocaust Hitler needed some enemy to “defeat” to demonstrate hope for his struggling country Rise of an Aryan nation  Nordic peoples (Germanic) less to do with appearance more with bloodline Longtime anti-Semitic feelings in Eastern Europe including Germany-Austria Since 600 BC the Jews had been a race without a home

Origins of the Holocaust Nuremburg laws  All Jews were to be identified with a star of David  Jews could not become citizens or just convert  Jews could not marry non-Jews to limit population growth  Created racial tensions in Germany Kristalnacht 9-10 Nov  “Night of Broken Glass”  Carried out by members of the SA “stormtroopers”  30,ooo men were captured and brought to concentration camps  Eventually women and children were taken  Portrayed as work camps to separate Jews and Germans

Holocaust “Final Solution” Execution of Reinhard Heydrich led to death camps 1942  Once Hitler had people hating the Jews he determined the only solution would be a mass extermination  Crematoriums  Gas chambers killed more than 6 million Jews and other minority groups seen as “unfit” for the Aryan nation  Under the direction of Heinrich Himmler and Einsatzgruppen a branch of the SS (Schutzstaffel)

Hitler on the Move Lebensraum was an idea that motivated expansion When Hitler starts taking territories Chamberlain (British) urged use of appeasement  Hitler takes the Rhineland  Takes Austria with Anschluss  Takes the Sudetenland with Munich Agreement  Makes a Non-Aggression pact with the Soviet Union  Invades Poland Sept. 1939

Hitler continues conquering Blitzkrieg Warfare (lighting)  Luftwaffe used to bomb from the air and then Panzer division (tanks) stop the rest Hitler defeats France and begins bombing Britain Hitler invades the Soviet Union  Battle of Stalingrad is the key victory in the East!

America becomes involved Pearl Harbor is attacked Dec. 7, 1941  Japanese military leaders like Yamamoto and Fuchida are angry because they did not start a land invasion of the US.  Really just angers the Americans Battle of Midway turns the war around in the Pacific  Americans are able to sink a number of aircraft carriers giving them naval superiority in the Pacific  Island hopping all the way to Japan

D-Day American forces decide to land on the beaches of Northern France in Normandy Amphibious assault Able to deploy thousands of soldiers once a beachhead is established Continual push of German forces back to Germany

How to defeat Japan Americans destroy Tokyo by firebombing Americans destroy more than 67 other large Japanese cities but the Japanese refuse to surrender America decides to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to force their submission  Is this a terrorist act? Was it necessary?