 Who do you believe is responsible for WWII?  Keep this question in mind as we go through this chapter.

 What do you already know about WWII?  What would you like to learn about WWII?  I’m going to try to include some of your responses in the next few chapters if I can. Try to compose thoughtful responses.

 During the Great Depression, Germany was hit extremely hard.  In addition to losing jobs, Germany was still repaying reparations from WWI.

 Adolf Hitler took this opportunity to violate the Treaty of Versailles from WWI.  He began by building up the German army by more than 100,000 men allowed.  Hitler argued that he needed a bigger army to defend Germany.

 The League of Nations did nothing to stop Hitler.  2 years later: Hitler invades Alsace- Lorraine, which was given to France after WWI.  Nothing happened.

 Germany then annexed Hitler’s homeland of Austria.  Hitler said that he needed to unite all German speaking people.  The League of Nations grants this request.

 Hitler then adds the Sudetenland, which is a German speaking region of Czechoslovakia.  This region is also a coal producing region, which was very important.  The world powers also allow this to happen.

 Hitler then wanted to annex all of Czechoslovakia.  Neville Chamberlain was the British PM at this point.  Chamberlain was responsible for appeasement.

 Appeasement: yielding to someone’s demands in order to keep the peace.  Chamberlain and Hitler met and signed the Munich Pact.  It basically said that Hitler could take over Czechoslovakia, but no more countries could be invaded.

 Hitler became very popular with Germans.  Germany hated the Treaty of Versailles.  Germany allowed Hitler to take control of Germany and become a dictatorship.

 Who is really to blame for starting WWII?  In your opinion, could WWII have been avoided? How so?

 Totalitarianism: a system in which the government controls everything.  This includes the economy.  The Soviet Union under Vladimir Lenin was an example of a totalitarian government.

 Lenin was a Communist.  Josef Stalin was Lenin’s successor.  Josef Stalin used brutal methods to gain control of the Soviet Union.  He had people who opposed him arrested and executed.

 Fascism: based on extreme nationalism in which the state comes before personal freedoms.  Italy became a dictatorship under Benito Mussolini.  He was a fascist.  He banned outlaw unions and censored the press.

 Nazism: Nazis believed that Germans and other Nordic people were physically and morally superior to all other races.  Hitler called them Aryans.  Nazis wanted to purify Germany by removing other races, especially Jews.

 Hitler laid out the Nazi philosophy in his autobiography, Mein Kampf.  He basically outlined his plan for taking over the entire world.  Germany’s economic depression gave Hitler the opportunity to spread his views.

 In 1932, Hitler was named chancellor of Germany.  He quickly replaced the German government with a totalitarian one.  His government passed laws targeting Jews.

 Jews were barred from holding certain jobs.  They were allowed to be persecuted in the streets.  Kristallnacht occurred during this time, which destroyed Jewish shops and temples.

 Finally, Jews and other undesirables were sent to concentration camps.

 You have an idea of how Jews were treated in Germany during WWII.  What would you have done if you were persecuted in this manner?  Would you have attempted to help Jewish families, even though it could have meant sending you and your family to concentration camps?

 During this time, Japan wanted to expand its empire.  It took over a part of China, Korea, Taiwan, and several small Pacific islands.

 During this time, the U.S. remained neutral.  Isolationism: staying out of other countries’ affairs.  Neutrality acts: laws passed by Congress to keep the U.S. out of potential war in Europe.

 Do you think that it was a good idea for the U.S. to remain neutral at this time?  Why or why not?

 In August 1939, Hitler and Stalin (leader of the Soviet Union) signed a non- aggression treaty.  This meant that Germany and the Soviet Union wouldn’t fight each other.

 Hitler wanted to take over Poland, but Britain and France warned Hitler that if he tried, there would be war.  Hitler couldn’t fight the war on 2 fronts. Germany would lose just like they did in WWI.  The Soviet Union despised Hitler and the Nazis, but could strengthen their borders and protect themselves.  However…Hitler secretly planned to attack the Soviet Union anyway. Stay tuned.

 September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland.  September 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany.  WWII had begun.