1. The long-term and immediate causes of WWII
The Road to War
The long-term and immediate causes of WWII

2. Japanese Aggression Needed more space and land for resources
Invade China
League of Nations does nothing
1937 – Assaulted a quarter million citizens

3. Treaty of Versailles After WWI, forced Germany to:
Accept blame for the war
Pay reparations
Reduce military
Give up land

4. Germany’s Desire for Living Space
Hitler and the Nazis needed more land for:
Living space for all European Germans
Resources

5. Italian Aggression - 1935 Italy invades Northern Africa
Ethiopia, Libya and Albania
Later, Italy becomes controlled by Hitler and the Nazis

6. Munich Conference
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain agrees to give Hitler the Sudetenland (a “German” part of Czechoslovakia)
Hitler promised to stop taking any more territory
Appeasement - Great Britain gave in to Germany’s demands to avoid war.

7. Broken Munich Pact
Hitler took over Czechoslovakia immediately after the Munich Pact was signed
Chamberlain did NOT last as Prime Minister
Winston Churchill – a MUCH stronger leader – took over as British leader

8. Soviet Non-Aggression Pact - 1939
Much to the surprise of the rest of the world bitter enemies Germany and the Soviet Union signed a peace treaty – the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact.
They promised to split the land they conquered
Germany was now in alliance with Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union
Democracies were justifiably frightened.

9. German Invasion of Poland - 1939
By the year 1939, Germany had rebuilt its military, occupied the Rhineland, funded a war in Spain, taken over all of Austria by extortion, seized the Sudetenland, captured all of Czechoslovakia, and, in September of 1939, invaded Poland, starting World War II.
Hitler invades Poland in September 1, 1939
This OFFICIALLY begins WWII

10. Soviet Invasion of Poland - 1939
Soviet Union invades Poland and the Baltic nations
Sixteen days after Hitler does

11. Britain & France Declare War - 1939
Horrified by the brutal repression of the Polish people, England and France both declared war on Germany.
Both nations refused to declare war on the equally aggressive Soviet Union. They have a feeling that the Soviet Union would be betrayed by Hitler – and knew they would likely need another ally, no matter their political differences.

12. What goes down in Europe prior to the U.S. joining the war?
Europe at War
What goes down in Europe prior to the U.S. joining the war?

13. German Blitzkrieg
When the war finally came, both Great Britain and France were overwhelmed by the massive German onslaught.
The German blitzkrieg, or “Lightening War,” devastated the advanced forces of the British and French armies so completely that they were forced to retreat.

14. Evacuation at Dunkirk - 1940
The English and French were cornered at Dunkirk, a beach along the English Channel
The people of England organized every fishing vessel to evacuate as many soldiers as possible
Over 300,000 soldiers were evacuated and saved.

15. Fall of France
The attempts are not enough and France surrenders to Nazi Germany
The German army captures Paris, France

16. Battle of Britain
Daily air assault on the British islands by German planes
Tens of thousands of people died
British air force fought against the Nazis
Finally, Hitler gave up

17. Germany Invades the Soviet Union - 1941
Since German Nazism and Soviet Communism were two rival philosophies and each nation had a brutal dictator for its leader, most European observers correctly predicted that the relationship would end in betrayal.
Germany would eventually violate their Pact and they invade the Soviet Union
(Operation Barbarossa)

18. Stalin & Churchill
An unlikely team, Stalin and Churchill must team up to beat a bigger enemy – Adolf Hitler