1. World War II

2. What was WWII Largest war in human history
Involved countries, colonies and territories around the entire world
By the end over 70 million were dead
It lasted from

3. How it started
Fascist dictators began to take over in parts of Europe in the 1920’s and 1930’s due to bad economic conditions created by WWI and the Great Depression.
This included: Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and Stalin the Soviet Union

4. Europe Moves Toward War
Hitler began rearming Germany and sent German troops into the Rhineland.
This was prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles.

5. More Steps Toward War March 1938: Germany annexed Austria.
Sept. 1938: Munich conference: Hitler forced the British and French to give him the Sudetenland in return for a promise not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
March, 1939: Hitler took over Czechoslovakia

6. War in Europe Begins
March 31, 1939: Britain and France agreed to protect Poland in case of a German invasion.
August, 1939: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Sept. 1, 1939: Hitler invaded Poland, starting WWII.
Sept, 3, 1939: Britain and France declared war on Germany and Germany and Italy declared war on them.

7. Alliances Axis Allied Germany, Italy, Japan
France, Britain, Soviet Union, United States

8. What came next…
After Germany invaded Poland, they invaded France and used a method of war called “blitzkrieg” = lighting war
They used this tactic on Britain but never broke under the blitz
Eventually Hitler would break the non-aggression pact and invaded the Soviet Union

9. The Japanese Empire
Japan wanted to expand to meet the land needs of a growing population and to obtain more raw materials and markets for its industries.
1931: Japan seized Manchuria
: Japan seized most of E. China
Sept. 1940: Japan joins the tripartite pact, becoming an ally of Italy and Germany.

10. America and WWII
America initially stayed out of the war, but began a naval build up in the Pacific to counter the expansion of Japan.
1939: FDR moved the Pacific fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor.
The Great Depression contributed to the popularity of isolationism in America.

11. The Atlantic Charter
August 1941: FDR and Winston Churchill met secretly on a ship off the coast of Newfoundland to agree on war goals, since both foresaw US joining the Allies, soon.
They agreed to ensure national sovereignty for all nations and drew up the outline for the United Nations. This was the Atlantic Charter.

12. America gets closer to war
Mid 1941: Japanese forces seized French territories in Indochina.
Americans began to crack the Japanese secret code and intercepted messages saying that Japan was planning to seize more islands in the Pacific.
In response, the US froze Japanese assets in the US and cut off all trade with Japan.

13. Pearl Harbor Japanese negotiators agreed to meet with US diplomats.
While they met, the Japanese decided to sent a fleet to Pearl Harbor to destroy the US Pacific fleet.
Dec. 7, 1941: Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor killing 2,400, wounding 1,200, and destroying 300 Am. Planes, 18 warships, and 8 of the 9 US battleships.

14. WAR
Dec. 8, 1941: FDR delivered a war message to Congress. Within 3 days, the US was at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy.

15. Japanese Victories
Months after Pearl Harbor Japan captured the Philippines and seized other American islands across the pacific
By the beginning of 1942 the Japanese empire stretched from Southeast Asia to Western Pacific Ocean
It wasn’t until America would drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that Japan would realize they made a serious mistake

16. Turning Points
Invasion of Italy 1943: Allied invaded Italy, and Italians overthrew Mussolini
Soviet Union drove out Germany at Stalingrad
D-Day: Invasion of France (1944)

17. The Battle of the Bulge
Dec. 1944: Germany launched its last offensive in the war attacking Americans in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Patton arrived a few days later with 250,000 men.
This was the largest battle ever fought by the US army and the largest battle of WWII.

18. The Battle of the Bulge
The US won the battle. Over 800,000 Americans fought here and 80,000 Americans died.
Germany fought with over 2 million soldiers, and lost about 200,000 men.
After this battle, the Germans realized the war was lost.

19. German Surrender
The Americans continued to bomb Germany and attack from the Western front, while the Soviets continued their attacks on Germany from the East.
May 8, 1945: V-E Day: Germany surrendered.

20. The Yalta Conference
Feb. 1945: The “Big Three” met at Yalta in the USSR to plan the post-war world.

21. Yalta Conference
All agreed to split Germany into 4 zones of occupation and to also split the capital city, Berlin.
Stalin promised to allow free elections in the nations his army liberated from Germany.
Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan soon after the German surrender.

22. Japanese Expansion
Japanese forces continued to expand and were not stopped by allied forces until the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, 1942.
This battle fought entirely with planes from aircraft carriers. Enemy ships never came within sight of one another.

24. Island-Hopping
From February 1943 on, the US forces began to selectively attack enemy-held islands in the Pacific.
The Japanese fiercely defended their positions and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

25. Japanese Kamikazes
Japanese kamikazes were suicide pilots who crashed their planes which were heavily loaded with bombs into allied ships.
During the war, the US experienced about 4,900 kamikaze attacks which destroyed 57 American ships and damaged about 650 others.

26. The Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle for this 14 square mile island was one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
25,000 Japanese protected the small rocky island and it took over 110,000 Americans to defeat them. Only 216 Japanese surrendered--the rest died.
More US medals of honor were given for this battle than any other single battle of the war.

27. Marines Raising the US Flag at Iwo Jima

28. The Bombing of Hiroshima
August 6, 1945: On President Truman’s orders, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.
It destroyed about 90% of the city and killed about 140,000 people.

30. Nagasaki
When the bombing of Hiroshima did not elicit a surrender from the Japanese government, a 2nd atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9,
The bomb on Nagasaki was equally destructive and led to a Japanese surrender.

32. V-J Day August 14, 1945: Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender.
The formal surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, officially ending WWII.

33. World War II Allied Deaths

34. World War II Axis Deaths