1. World War II Basics
Leaders-
Germany-1. Weimar Republic
2. Adolf Hitler
Italy-Benito Mussolini
Spain-Francisco Franco
Soviet Union (Russia)-Joseph Stalin
Great Britain (England)-1. Neville Chamberlain
2. Winston Churchill
United States-Franklin Roosevelt
Japan-Hideki Tojo

2. The Two Sides
Allied Powers AxisPowers
England- Great Britain Germany
France Italy
China Japan
Soviet Union (later) Soviet Union (at first)
United States (later)

3. Adolf Hitler Comes to Power in Germany
-Germany humiliated by Treaty of Versailles
-suffering 50% unemployment and terrible inflation
Hitler and the Nazi party slowly gains power
-builds military
-puts people back to work
-speaks of Germans as the “master race”
-promises to destroy Germany’s enemies
and bring world domination
-has a plan to exterminate European Jews
-becomes Der Fuhrer- the leader
-calls Germany the Third Reich or
Third Empire
**As Hitler builds his military machine, he invades and occupies,
the Rhineland, Austria, and Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia)

4. Benito Mussolini Comes to Power in Italy
**Although Italy was on the winning side of WWI, it did not receive
all that was promised.
-only gained a small area of land from Austria
-national debt was staggering
-no raw materials for industry
-no markets for industry
-no jobs for returning veterans
**Mussolini creates the Fascist Party
-Fascism- -a political philosophy advocating the glorification of
the state, a one-party system, one strong, leader, and an
aggressive form of nationalism.
- -cause of the nation advanced at all costs
- -war and conquests were glorified to achieve national goals

5. **Mussolini wanted to restore Italy to the strength and glory of the
ancient Roman Empire.
Mussolini as Dictator
-first named prime minister
-uses violence of the “black shirts” to ensure Fascist representatives are
elected to parliament
-began to call himself Il Duce- -the leader
-anyone who dared to speak out were beaten, arrested, or murdered
-put people back to work by building up military
-at first, most Italians
supported Mussolini

6. The Beginning of WWII in Europe
**Britain and France become concerned with the growing military might
of Germany. When Hitler invades Sudetenland, a pact is signed.
The Munich Pact
-agreement between Germany, Italy, France, Britain
-Germany can keep Sudetenland but promises not to invade any more
nations or territories
-signed Sept. 1938
-6 months later Hitler takes the rest of Czechoslovakia
-Mussolini takes Albania
-Hitler begins to threaten Poland
**Realizing that appeasement had failed, Britain and France make an
alliance with Poland.

7. Hitler and Stalin sign a Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
-Germany and Soviet Union pledge not to attack each other
-Soviet Union gets control of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and
part of eastern Poland
-Hitler now invades Poland
-France and Great Britain declare
war on Germany
-WWII begins in Sept. 1939

8. France and Britain Respond to Invasion of Poland
-Britain sends more than 300,000 troops across English Channel to
northern France
-France begins to strengthen fortifications
Nations Falling to Hitler in 1940
-Denmark
-Norway
-Belgium
-Luxembourg
-Netherlands
-Poland
-France

10. Hitler Invades France
-Takes northern France
-Southern France, the Vichy Regime, cooperates with the Nazis
-Hitler forces France to sign armistice as an act of humiliation
-an underground “resistance” begins to build in France
-several French leaders escaped to Britain to plan the resistance.

11. Hitler Turns his Sights to Britain
**The Battle of Britain
-Hitler bombs London homes, businesses, factories as well as
military targets
-He believed Britain would seek peace with Germany
-He underestimated the resolve of Churchill and the British people.
-British lose 1,000 planes Germans lose 1,700 -

12. “You ask, what is our policy
“You ask, what is our policy? I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never, surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. This is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however hard and long the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
-Winston Churchill
**When Hitler realizes he cannot defeat Britain, he turns his sights
to the east - -toward the Soviet Union.