World War II

Totalitarian Governments Italy – Fascist Party - Benito Mussolini Il Duce – The Leader Blackshirts Germany – Adolf Hitler Nazi Party Der Fuhrer – The Leader Beer Hall (Munich) Putsch 1923 – attempts to take over govt. In jail, writes Mein Kampf (My Struggle) Consolidates power (over Weimar Republic) Black Shirts, Brown Shirts, Gestapo Chancellor in 1933 Terror and intimidation; propaganda (Joseph Goebbels), Hitler youth, education, media german-capital german-capital

USSR & Japan Joseph Stalin (Man of Steel) Control over industry, farms 5 Year Plans to industrialize Great Purge – destroys Millions die under forced labor, collective farms, prisons Japan – Emperor Hirohito Heideki Tojo – military Invades Manchuria, China, Territorial expansion

Europe Goes to War German troops occupy the Rhineland – Germany annexes Austria – Anschluss 3. Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) Germany needs lebenstraum Munich 1938 – appeasement Neville Chamberlain gives in 4. Germany takes rest of Czech.

Europe Goes to War 5. Germany signs non-aggression pact (Nazi-Soviet Pact) with USSR Sept. 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland WWII begins

Europe Goes to War Blitzkrieg (“lightening war”) Hitler crushes Poland Stalin takes half of Poland for USSR (communist) French build up Maginot Line - defenses April 9, 1940 – Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium fall Takes Paris on June 14, 1940 Evacuation (“Miracle”) at Dunkirk to England

War cont. Battle of Britain Luftwaffe vs. Royal Air Force (RAF) Great acts of individual bravery June 1940 – June 1941 – 30,000 Londoners killed Winston Churchill rallies England Hitler’s first defeat

Americans Debate Was WWI a mistake? Was it about big industries making money off war? Isolationists debate the interventionists Neutrality Act 1939 Cash & carry – nations could buy from U.S. if they paid cash & used own ships (pro ally) Lend Lease Act - loans to allies Atlantic Charter – deepening alliance w/Britain; self determination of nations Hitler orders attacks on U.S. ships

Japan Japan Builds an Empire Invades Manchuria; other Pacific Islands 30’s & 40’s American Response FDR moves Pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Threatens Japan’s expansion America remains neutral Embargo; Japanese assets frozen Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 – “a date which will live in infamy” U.S. enters World War II hd/videos/attack-pearl-harbor hd/videos/attack-pearl-harbor

Pearl Harbor

Fighting in Italy and North Africa German General Erwin Rommel – “Desert Fox” Leads Afrika Corps Panzer units (tanks) Defeated by GB at Battle of El Alamein George Patton takes Sicily; North Africa “Bloody Anzio”, Italy Italy surrenders Mussolini killed by anti-fascists

War in the Soviet Union 3.6 million Germans attack in 1941 Operation Barbarossa Scorched earth policy Bitter winter Battle of Stalingrad Red Army launches massive assault; victory for USSR Turning point in war

Invasion of Western Europe Build up of troops in GB D-Day (June 6, 1944) Operation Overlord Largest landing force in history invades Normandy, France Dwight D. Eisenhower – Supreme Allied Commander story-of-us/videos/d-day-invasion story-of-us/videos/d-day-invasion Battle of the Bulge 1944 – Hitler’s last chance to defend Germany Costly for U.S. Patton stops Germans

War Ends in Europe The Soviets Advance Move on Berlin U.S. moves from west Soviets move from east Soviets take Berlin in April 1945 Germany Surrenders Hitler commits suicide on May 1, 1945 Germany surrenders on May 8, 1945 V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day)

War Ends in Europe cont. The Yalta Conference Stalin, Churchill, and FDR (the big three) make postwar plans Potsdam Conference Divided Germany (4 zones) Stalin promised to enter war in the Pacific

War in the Pacific The Japanese advance The Philippines fall General Macarthur forced to leave (“I shall return”) Bataan Death March The Battle of Coral Sea First aircraft carrier battle Prevented attack of Australia

War in the Pacific Allied victories turn the tide The Battle of Midway Destroy Jap. ships Iwo Jima and Okinawa Key victories ows/wwii-in- hd/videos/battle-iwo-jima Kamikaze fighters Island hopping to Japan

War Ends in Pacific The Manhattan Project – secret project to develop an atomic bomb Los Alamos FDR dies – Truman makes decision to drop the bomb August 6, “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima August 9, “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki Sept. 2, 1945 – Japan signs surrender

Hiroshima

Liberation Soviet and American troops come upon Nazi concentration camps World begins to learn about the Holocaust Genocide hd/videos/concentration-camp-liberation hd/videos/concentration-camp-liberation