SPANISH CIVIL WAR

SETTING THE STAGE  Aggressive rulers throughout Europe  Hitler - Germany  Mussolini – Italy  Popularity of military conquests  Democratic nations want to continue peace like times  Many countries relied on the League of Nations

CIVIL WAR ERUPTS IN SPAIN  Monarchy until 1931  Government run by liberals and socialists  In July 1936, army leaders stage a coup  Favored fascists governments  Francisco Franco  Joined the army to start a civil war

CIVIL WAR ERUPTS IN SPAIN  Other countries send support to Franco  Supports of fascist governments  Rebels now have a full army  Within three years they have taken the capital  Leads to mass violence and killings in Spanish countryside

NATIONALISTS TAKE OVER  Hitler and Mussolini send troops, tanks and airplanes  Rebels now called the Nationalists  The opponents received very little support  Known as republicans  Western democracies remained neutral  Soviet Union only country to help  By 1939 the Republicans collapse  Franco becomes Spain’s fascist dictator  Assumes total power  Executes over 100,000 rivals  Is friendly with Hitler and Mussolini

GUERNICA – APRIL 1937

GUERNICA

SPAIN UNDER FRANCO  Consolidates political parties into one  Assumes authoritarian role – not true fascism – more of a “monarchy”  Does not enter WWII  Spain remains mediocre  Looks better than it really is  Dies in 1973  Spain returns to the crown and royal families

WWII: THE BEGINNING

HITLER RISES TO POWER  Looked up to Mussolini  Volunteer for the German Army  Twice awarded for bravery  Wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles  Formed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party  Nazi for short  Nazism, swastika  His success led him to be chosen as der Fuhrer of the Nazi Party  Arrested for treason – spent 9 months in prison (Mein Kampf)  Germany’s economy collapses and many turn to Hitler for leadership

HITLER BECOMES CHANCELLOR  Nazi’s become the largest political party by 1932  President Hindenberg named Hitler Chancellor (prime minister)  Believed they could control him and use him  Once in office:  Called for new elections  Reichstag building burnt down, blamed communists  Turn Germany into totalitarian state  SS (Schutzstaffel)  Control of the economy (authority of business and labor)  Fuhrer is supreme  Propaganda, Hitler Youth, burned books  Starts to make war on the Jews

HITLER VIOLATES VERSAILLES TREATY  In 1935, Hitler announces they will no longer obey the treaty  League of nations only issues minor condemnations  Hitler was only more convinced to continue with his plans  Forbidden to enter the Rhineland  30 mile wide zone  Buffer between Germany and France  Industrial zone  1936, German troops moved into the area  France was unwilling to risk war  Britain urged appeasement  Giving into an aggressor to keep peace  BAD IDEA!

HITLER VIOLATES VERSAILLES TREATY  Hitler claims he would have backed down if challenged  Turning point towards war  Strengthened Hitler’s power and prestige  Balance of power changed in his favor  Felt it was necessary to speed up his expansion  Convinced Mussolini they should ally together  Rome-Berlin Axis  Fight communism  Axis Powers  Germany, Italy and Japan

THE THIRD REICH  1937, Hitler announces plans to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia  “Living Space”  1938, Hitler annexed Austria  Anschluss  France and Britain did nothing to help Austrian independence

SUDETENLAND  Hitler then turned to the western border of Czechoslovakia  Sudetenland  Heavily fortified area  only defense against the Germans  The Czechs refused to give into Hitler's power  asked France for help  France will again, pick appeasement

MUNICH CONFERENCE  Meeting between:  Germany, France, Britain and Italy  Conference held in September of 1938  Chamberlain (Britain) believed he could preserve peace by giving into Hitler’s demands

MUNICH CONFERENCE  Britain and France agreed to let Hitler have the Sudetenland  Hitler pledged to respect Czechoslovakia’s new borders  6 months later…Hitler violates the borders  Hitler realized he could take any country he wanted  France and Britain were not going to risk war

HITLER AND STALIN SIGN NON-AGGRESSION PACT  Britain and France wanted the Soviet Union to help them stop Hitler  Stalin was playing both sides  Stalin upset he was not invited to the Munich Pact  Fascist Germany and Communist Russia come to an agreement  August 1939  Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact  Secretly agreed to not fight if one went to war  Equally divide Poland

INVASION OF POLAND  After a union with Stalin, Hitler moves ahead with plans to take Poland  Surprise attack happens on September 1, 1939  France and Great Britain declare war on Germany  However, Hitler was able to take Poland before any opposing military response

INVASION OF POLAND  Germany used a new military technique known as blitzkrieg  “lightning war”  Fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces  Stalin makes his move  Occupies eastern half of Poland  Annex Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia  Eventually took Finland

THE WAR BEGINS

BATTLE OF THE BATTLES

BRAINSTORM…  Teaching Methods

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