 1936 Hitler took over Rhineland (violating the Treaty of Versailles), annexes Austria and part of Czechoslovakia  Other countries practice policy of “Appeasement”: they try to ignore and give in to Hitler in order to avoid war  Japan, Germany, and Italy UNITE to form AXIS POWERS  Soviet Union (Russia), USA, and Great Britain would make up the ALLIED POWERS

 September 1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland, beginning the war  US was still neutral, but passed the Lend- Lease Act: President could send aid to any nation whose defense was considered vital to the US

 The lend-lease program allowed the U.S. to send weapons to Britain if Britain promised to pay rent or return them after the war

 April 1, 1933 Boycott of Jewish Stores  April 7, 1933 – passes laws that state Jews cannot work for the government or be in the army  September 1935 – Nuremberg Race Laws Established who was “Jewish” Took citizenship away from Jewish people  Into the 1940s- “Final Solution” leads to concentration camps and extermination camps

 Jews were considered socially inferior and unfit to live by the Nazi party  Hitler’s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem” was mass genocide (systematic killing of a race of people)  Roughly 6 Million Jews died during this episode in history known as the HOLOCAUST

 By 1944, the Allies had control over European skies and began to plan a land invasion of Axis controlled Europe

 The Allies chose to attack the Germans in France on the coast of Normandy  100,000 soldiers and 23,000 paratroopers participated in the attack ---Saving Private Ryan D-Day Clip The invasion of France caught the Germans by surprise. Looking at the map, where do you think the Germans thought the invasion would land? Why?

 Though the D-Day invasion caught the Germans by surprise, heavy American casualties occurred at Omaha Beach  The invasion was the turning point of the war in Europe: within two months the Allies had over a million troops in France days#d-days

 As American, British and Russian armies began to close in on Berlin, Hitler, the leader of Germany, committed suicide  Within a week the German army surrendered, ending the war in Europe (known as V-E Day)