The Second World War Path to War Hitler’s War: American Involvement:

Road to War 1931: –Japan invades Manchuria –League of Nations fail 1935: –Hitler announces rearmament –Mussolini invades Ethiopia

1936: –Hitler occupies demilitarized zone along Rhineland –Spanish Civil War begins ( ) –Berlin-Tokyo Anti-Comintern Pact –Rome-Berlin Axis 1937: –Japan invades China

1938: –Anschluss: Germany annexes Austria –Munich Conference (March) Appeasement –Germany annexes Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia (per Munich agreement) see map –Japan announces “A New Order in East Asia”

1939: –Germany occupies all of Czechoslovakia –Russo-German nonaggression pact –Italy invades Albania –France & Britain prepare for war –September 1 st Germany & USSR invade Poland (see map) –September 3 rd Britain & France declare war on Germany

Hitler’s War: : Polish Campaign –Use of Blitzkrieg –USSR takes possession of East Poland (per Russo-German agreement) Sitzkrieg, or Phony War –Period of inaction for Germany, Britain, France –Main issue over mining Norwegian waters

Winter War –Soviets demand Finland cede territory –Finland denies –War: USSR took Finland April 1940 –Germany invaded Denmark & Norway

May 1940: Battle of France –Belgium & Netherlands attacked simultaneously –Luftwaffe fly over Maginot Line –‘impassable’ Ardennes Forest (Luxemburg) passed –Allies ‘divided’ –Dunkirk Evacuation –Belgium surrendered May 25 th –Paris fell mid-June

New France (Vichy France) –Marshal Petain led Vichy France (new capital at Vichy) –‘Free French’ fled to Britain – led by Charles de Gaulle Chamberlain criticized –Moved too slow Churchill chosen as new Prime Minister 1940: Italy attacked British in Egypt & lost –Rommel sent to deal with Africa (Afrika Korps)

Hitler’s New Order Mid-summer 1940 Germany & Italy control most of Western and Central Europe (see map) Hitler believed he had won the war Set up puppet governments (Quislings) Gathered asocials, Jews, Communists, Gypsies, etc into labor camps Britain, however, refused to sue for peace

Battle of Britain: Operation Sea Lion Luftwaffe versus RAF Brits had better planes Radar invented by Brits Brits held off German invasion British invasion abandoned

1941: A pivotal year Russian Invasion: Operation Barbarossa –Germany made demands on Eastern Euro countries –June 22, 1941 Hitler invaded USSR –Got within 25 miles of Moscow –Winter and counter-attack turned Germans back

American Involvement Isolationists prior to this year (1941) Did have Cash-and-Carry Policy Lend-Lease Act passed (1941) Economically supporting Allies Began 1 st peace-time draft Looked like isolationism no longer going to work Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

Germany First (Rainbow Plans) Operation Torch 1942: –Montgomery (Brit), –Patton & Eisenhower (USA) –Went after Rommel in Africa Battle of Stalingrad 1942 –Hitler invaded –Weeks of bitter fighting –Germans lost January 1943

Casablanca Jan 1943 –Casablanca Conference –Churchill & Roosevelt talk strategy –Planned Sicily/Italy invasion –Discussed possible Normandy invasion Teheran Conference Nov 1943 –Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt –Normandy invasion plan decided upon –Stalin agreed to invade Germany from East –Eisenhower chosen as leader

Operation Overlord: D-Day: June 6, 1944 (see map) –European invasion –Brits, Americans, Canadians, Poles, Free French –It worked By end of 1944, France was liberated 1944 USSR took –Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria

Battle of the Bulge: Dec 1944-Jan 1945 Yalta Conference Feb 1945 Hitler committed suicide May 7, 1645 V-E Day May 8, 1945 Potsdam Conference July 1945 Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki Aug 1945