Objective Students will comprehend political views of major world leaders during WWII and how they gained popularity by analyzing key speeches made by them

The Origins of WWII Cult of Personalities

Benito Mussolini Italian Fascist Violent youth Blackshirts Il Duce Took over the government in a coup

Joseph Stalin Russian Communist Responsible for the death 15 to 20 million of his own people

Adolph Hitler Austrian but German leader Nazi party Resented the Allies and Treaty of Versailles Responsible for the death of millions

Hideki Tojo Japan Military leader Became the Prime Minister Invaded Manchuria and China Responsible for many deaths

Franklin D. Roosevelt American Democrat You know the rest Didn’t actively kill anyone

Winston Churchill British Prime Minister - Conservative Also didn’t actively kill anyone

Authoritarian Government When the government has complete control of the people and demands complete obedience Run by a dictator

Fascism or Communism? Communism –complete equality in society through class warfare Power to the people Fascism –nationalistic right wing focused on suppression of opposition Strong government control

WWII Begins 1935 Hitler began to defy the Treaty of Versailles Started building up the air force and draft Europe tried to negotiate rather than go to war Thought Hitler’s demands were reasonable and that he would back off and want peace too. Hitler wanted to unify all German speaking people

Hitler takes more land Hitler believed in Anschluss and Lebensraum Wanted to expand to Austria who grudgingly accepted but wanted to put it to a vote Hitler was afraid they wouldn’t vote in his favor so he invaded instead

Munich Crisis Hitler claimed Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia Britain and France said they would go to war with Germany if they invaded September 1938 Britain, France, Italy, and Germany all met in Munich to decide Czechoslovakia’s fate Agreed to Hitler’s demands Appeasement Czechoslovakia had to give up Sudetenland or fight alone

Appeasement Fails March 1939 Germany sent troops into Czechoslovakia Divided it into Slovakia and Czech lands Slovakia was “independent” but under German control Czech lands became a German protectorate

Demand for Danzig Around the same time Hitler demanded Danzig Polish city that was 90% German but belonged to Poland since WWI He also wanted highways and railways through Poland Britain and France said they would help Poland defend its territory Everyone prepared for war

Nazi-Soviet Pact Germany proposed a non- aggression treaty with Russia Stalin agreed hoping to turn capitalist nations against each other Shocked the world but everyone soon realized it was because Germany wanted to be able to fight the West without Russia to its back

Invasion of Poland and the Fall of France September 1st 1939 Germany invaded Poland Blitzkrieg -Lightning War Western Europe waited for a direct German attack May 1940 Germany invaded Belgium and smashed through the northern French line France was taken

Miracle at Dunkirk German troops drove Allied forces toward the English Channel Port of Dunkirk became the Allies’ only way out For some insane reason Hitler ordered the German troops to stop This gave troops a chance to escape to England Around 338,000 British and French troops were saved

Battle of Britain Hitler though Britain would surrender after France fell Winston Churchill was defiant “We shall never surrender” Luftwaffe vs. The British Royal air Force London was bombed so Britain bombed Berlin Radar Hitler cancelled his invasion plans

But what about the rest of the world? Japan rarely gets mentioned before Pearl Harbor Invasion of Manchuria and China The Rape of Nanking Terrible atrocities were inflicted on the people of China and Korea

American Isolationism Determined not to get involved again Depression was on and people were preoccupied Not much more to say about America at this time

And that’s just the beginning!