Road to War

1
Road to War

• Causes of World War II

2
Great Depression

• 1929 Collapse of US stock market precipitates
  collapse of global economy
• Why did this occur?
• Why does this one event trigger a global
  depression?
• Significance
• As a result of the misery caused by the
  Depression, most governments are replaced by new
  leadership (such as French Popular Front and
  Roosevelts New Deal in US)

3
Rise of Radical Politics

• Radical Governments
• Italy Mussolini and the rise of the Fascists
• Germany Hitler and the rise of the Nazis
• Japan Rise of the militarists
• Common features
• Rise to power on anger over economy, treatment at
  the end of WWI
• Political Totalitarian single party rule, expert
  propaganda (new media radio), Cult of the leader
• Economic State control of the economy
• Social Belief in racial superiority and
  encouraging of breeding to increase numbers
• Militarism Encourage military spending and
  expansion

4
New Alliances

• Axis Powers
• Germany, Italy, and Japan sign military alliance
• Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
• As a prelude to a partition of Poland, the Nazis
  and Soviets sign an agreement not to attack each
  other

5
New Empires

• Japan
• Review Already controls Korea, etc.
• 1931 Invades Manchuria, a resource rich province
  in northern China
• 1937 Rape of Nanking
• Italy
• 1935 Invades Ethiopia again, this time
  successfully conquering it
• Germany
• Rearms its military, unites with Austria, takes
  land from Czechoslovakia, and moves into neutral
  area bordering France
• Note All actions violate Treaty of Versailles

6
World War II

• 1939-1945

7
War Erupts in Europe

• 1939 Germans blitzkrieg Poland
• Britain and France declare war
• 1940 Denmark, Norway, and FRANCE fall to the
  Nazis
• Only British left to stand against Germany
• Britain under new leadership of PM Winston
  Churchill
• 1940-1 Battle of Britain
• Hitler launches aerial attacks on England

8
Globalization of the War

• North Africa
• 1941 - German advance threatens British control
  of critical Middle Eastern oil supplies
• Soviet Union
• 1941 - Nazis invade Russia, striking deep into
  the country before winter sets in
• Nazi attack forces the British and Soviets become
  allies

9
Globalization of the War

• Southeast Asia and the Pacific
• Japanese establish control of the South Pacific,
  knocking out the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor and
  conquering the Dutch East Indies, U.S.
  Philippines, and British Burma
• United States
• December 7, 1941 - Japan attempts to destroy U.S.
  Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor
• U.S. Congress declares war the next day on Japan,
  Germany soon after, forms alliance with Britain
  and Russia called the Allies
• Europe First - Stalin and Churchill get FDR to
  agree to devote full resources to defeating
  Hitler in Europe before Japan

10
Turning Points

• Midway - June 1942
• U.S. air and naval victory cripples the Japanese
  fleet, completely reversing the direction of the
  war in the Pacific
• El Alamein - October 1942
• British slow the German advance in North Africa,
  and the Americans soon arrive to help push out
  the Germans
• Stalingrad - 1942-43
• Germans get lost in the bombed out city, and they
  are virtually destroyed in the ensuing street
  battles

11
Victory in Europe

• Soviet Advance
• Following success at Stalingrad, Soviets begin
  rapidly pushing the Germans back in the east
• Western Front
• June 6, 1944 D-Day - U.S. and British troops
  attack beaches of Normandy and establish a
  foothold in France
• Allied forces begin rapidly pushing the Nazis
  back in the west
• Germans Surrender
• Hitler commits suicide on April 30th
• May 7, 1945 VE Day - Germany surrenders to the
  Allies, ending the war in Europe

12
Victory in the Pacific

• Island-Hopping
• U.S. forces invade strategic islands to get
  closer to Japan
• Iwo Jima Okinawa - U.S. seize islands within
  bomber range of Japan in very bloody operations
• Atomic Bombs
• August 1945 Hiroshima Nagasaki - U.S. drops
  newly developed atomic bombs on Japan
• Hundreds of thousands are killed instantly or
  from radiation
• Japanese Surrender
• Sept. 2, 1945 VJ Day - Japan surrenders to the
  Allies, ending WWII

13
Pondering WWII

• Major Issues and Effects of the War

14
Crimes against Humanity

• Attacks on Civilians
• Rape of Nanking, German bombing of British
  cities, Allied bombing of German cities, and
  American use of atomic bombs all raise questions
  about rules of warfare
• Ethnic Cleansing
• Hitlers attempts to eliminate the European
  Jewish population during the Holocaust are viewed
  as especially hideous
• Significance
• International movement to call individuals to
  account for violations of human rights committed
  during times of war
• Nuremberg War Crimes Trial Nazi officers held
  accountable for actions that led to genocide

15
Recovery and Reconstruction

• Destruction of Europe and Japan
• Fighting in Europe and Asia destroys countless
  miles of territory
• Governance of Axis countries and territories
• Germany and Japan need to have new governments
  established, in addition to the territories
  controlled by them
• Solution
• Allies divide up territories to provide
  assistance in rebuilding process and supervise
  establishment of free and democratic governments
• Problem Different philosophies and growing
  rivalry between United States and Soviet Union

16
United Nations

• U.N.
• International organization designed to maintain
  peace
• Much stronger than predecessor, the League of
  Nations
• Significance
• Plays crucial role in several key post-war events
• Samples Korean War, Creations of the state of
  Israel

17
Nationalism Decolonization

• Nationalists and World War II
• Many nationalists leaders aid Japanese invasion
  of their country in order to expel Europeans
• Examples Dutch Indonesia, India, British Burma
  (Aung San)
• However, as war progresses, some found Japanese
  conquerors as bad as worse as Euros
• Example Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh)
• War for Democracy
• Allies refer to fight against Hitler as a battle
  against tyranny and oppression
• Significance
• Europe challenged to justify their foreign rule
  over colonies - Encourages anti-colonialism
• Soon after the end of WWII, European powers lose
  control of most of their overseas empires

18
Cold War

• Conflict between the Soviets and Americans
• Soviets and Americans extremely distrustful of
  one another at end of the war
• U.S. aid pours into Western Europe, while Soviets
  establish pro-Soviet Communist dictatorships in
  Eastern Europe
• Significance
• Competition between USA and Soviet Union leads
  both groups to intervene in countries all over
  the world, including East Asia (Korea, Vietnam)
  and Latin America (Cuba, Nicaragua)

19
Coach Lerchs Final Thoughts

• The major developments of global history from
  1945 to 1990 were dictated by the events of World
  War II
• Conflict in the Middle East
• Decolonization
• Cold War
• Economic and Cultural Globalization