1. The Roots of War

2. Treaty of Versailles, 1918 Created a set of small new nations in Eastern Europe = vulnerable to aggression from larger neighbors (Germany & Soviet Union) Italy & Japan = failed to recognize their stature as world powers Germany = betrayed (Stab in the back myth) rather than defeated (this leads to the unconditional surrender demand), harsh war reparations and loss of lands

5. 1920’s & 30’s Economic crisis and political instability fueled the rise of right-wing dictatorships that offered territorial expansion by military conquest as way to redress old rivalries, dominate trade, and gain access to raw materials (Hitler, Germany; Mussolini, Italy; Franco, Spain; Stalin, Russia; Emperor Hirohito, Japan)

6. Japanese Nationalism Wanted to expel Europeans and Americans from Asia and create a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (Asia controlled by Japanese) Japanese ambition in Asia was to create a Pan-Asian empire with Japan at the center as an imperial power and a defensive ring of 500 miles to protect the homeland. Most of Japanese territorial gains would be in China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands Earliest national aggression in WWII was when Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 In 1937 Japan launched a brutal invasion of China

8. European Nationalism Expansion of territories through military aggression Italy: conquest of Ethiopia in 1935 & intervention in Spain in support of Gen. Franco Germany: Hitler made himself the German Fuhrer, 1934 (absolute leader) Thousand Year Reich – combined historic German interest in eastward expansion with tradition of German racial superiority Lebensraum (living space) created by taking land from the Russian Slavic peoples

9. European Nationalism Genocide (systematic murder) of the Jewish people of Europe Nuremburg Laws, 1935 denied civil rights to Jews NAZI government took Jewish property and excluded Jews from most jobs Concentration Camps were prisons created by the Nazis to punish political dissidents, Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and other ethnic groups considered undesirable The camps evolved into harsh labor camps and finally into extermination camps

10. Rome-Berlin Axis, 1936 Alliance between Germany & Italy Grew into the Tripartite Act, 1940 which included Japan Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan became known as the Axis Powers (aggressor nations)

11. Hitler’s War in Europe

12. Pre-War territorial expansion 1936 – re-occupied the German Rhineland, violated terms of Versailles by re-militarizing Germany 1938 – annexed (added) Austria Sept. 1938 – Munich Agreement = forced Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Germany March 1939 – Germany occupied the majority of Czechoslovakia

14. German invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939 triggered start of WWII in Europe Blitzkrieg invasion “lightening war” included armored divisions with tanks and motorized infantry rapidly seized control of territory (new form of warfare which made trench warfare of WWI obsolete) Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1939 – cleared the way for Hitler’s invasion of Poland with Germany & Russia splitting the country between them

16. War in Europe: 1939-1941 May 1940 -German invasion of Denmark & Norway to the North May & June 1940 – German invasion of Netherlands, Belgium, and France to the West Defeat of France led to the narrow escape of British soldiers from the beach at Dunkirk back to England Vichy French (Pro-Nazi) government established under French Gen. Marshall Petain to govern southern France during the war General Charles de Gaul – continued to lead the French forces

17. War in Europe: 1939-1941 Summer of 1940 –German aerial attack of Great Britain (Battle of Britain) Failed to subdue Great Britain who would continue the war against Germany May 1941 –Germany enlisted Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria as allies and conquered Yugoslavia and Greece to the South in the Balkans June 1941 = unable to knock Great Britain out of the war, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in the East Invasion caught Soviets off-guard due to the non-aggression pact Heavy losses by the Soviets coupled with deep penetration of German, Italian, and Rumanian forces into the Soviet Union led to the near capture of Moscow and other strategic cities