1. The Outbreak of WWII
Neville Chamberlain
Mussolini & Hitler

2. Japan under Hideki Tojo
Wanted to solve economic problems with territorial expansion
Invaded Manchuria (northern China) in 1931.
Invaded China proper in 1937.
horrible atrocities committed
----> Rape of Nanking
The only coherent resistance force was
Mao Zedong and his Communist guerrillas.

5. In response, the U.S. cut Japan off from vital natural resources.

6. The Italian army easily defeated the Ethiopians
In 1935, Mussolini began his campaign to create an Italian Empire by invading Ethiopia
The Italian army easily defeated the Ethiopians
Ethiopian soldiers defending their country from the Italian military

7. In 1936, Hitler moved his army to the Rhineland
The failure of the League of Nations to stop Italy or Japan, encouraged Hitler to expand Germany too
In 1935, Hitler defied the terms of the Treaty of Versailles & expanded the size of the German military
In 1936, Hitler moved his army to the Rhineland
Both times, the League of Nations refused to stop Hitler in order to keep peace in Europe

8. In 1938, Hitler achieves Anschluss
The failure of the League of Nations to stop Italy or Japan, encouraged Hitler to expand Germany too
In 1938, Hitler achieves Anschluss
Next, Hitler demanded that the western border of Czechoslovakia, an area known as the Sudetenland, be given to Germany

9. The Sudetenland Crisis!!

10. In 1938, leaders from England & France met with Hitler & Mussolini at the Munich Conference in order work out an agreement to avoid war

11. The policy of Appeasement
Germany was allowed to have the Sudetenland if Hitler promised to stop expanding
The policy of Appeasement
“Peace in our time!”

12. Six months after the Munich Conference, Hitler broke his promise & annexed all of Czechoslovakia

13. What should France and Great Britain do?

14. On August 23, 1939 Nazi Germany and
the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact.

15. Stalin and von Ribbentrop
In secret, Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Poland and Scandinavia between themselves.
Stalin and von Ribbentrop

18. Germany invades Poland.
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland.
First use of Blitzkrieg or “Lightning War.”
Quick attack from the air followed with heavy tanks and massive infantry forces.
On September 3, Britain & France
declared war on Germany.

20. The War in Europe Battle Animation

21. Invasion of Poland “Phony War” “Winter War” SU invades Finland Denmark
Norway
Fall of France
Evacuation at Dunkirk

22. Dunkirk Animation @ the BBC

23. FALL OF FRANCE
On June 22, 1940 France signed an armistice with Germany, agreeing to German occupation of northern France and the coast.
Britain now stood alone against Germany.

27. VS BATTLE OF BRITAIN! “The Blitz” Luftwaffe R.A.F. German Air Force
British Air Force

28. British Ministry of Information Poster Series, 1940

29. Germany invades the Soviet Union!
Operation Barbarossa!
June 22, 1941
Germany invades the Soviet Union!

30. 3 million men advance across a 2,000 mile front

31. Turning Points on the Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad
August 1942 – February 1943
Battle of Kursk < - - largest tank battle in history!
August—1943

32. Jump to the Pacific Theater !
December 7, 1941, the Japanese bomb the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Sunk 19 ships.
Killed 2,877 Americans.

34. Turning Point in the Pacific
Battle of Midway, Dec. 1941
US Navy ambushes Japanese fleet at Midway
US begins “Island Hopping.”

36. Kamikaze pilots
October

37. June 6, || D-Day

39. D-Day June 6, 1944

40. Planes drop paratroopers behind enemy lines at Normandy, France

42. Victory in Europe
Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7, (V-E Day).

43. Churchill
FDR
Stalin

44. Manhattan Project
Los Alamos, NM
Robert Oppenheimer
July 16, 1945

45. Hiroshima – August 6, 1945 70,000 killed immediately.
48,000 buildings. destroyed.
100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

46. Nagasaki – August 9, 1945 40,000 killed immediately. 60,000 injured.
100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

49. Legacy of WW2 The bifurcation of Europe; Europe divided into 2
US and Soviet Union are only World Super Powers
Decline of European power
60 million dead.
World has to face realities of the atrocities committed on all sides.
Nuclear Age!

51. 38th Parallel