Outbreak of WWII

Objectives: •Describe how postwar conditions contributed to the rise of antidemocratic governments in Europe. •Explain why Hitler was able to take over Austria and Czechoslovakia. •Describe the early events of the war and why Britain was able to resist the Nazis.

After World War I, Europe was unstable. Fascists led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy, & Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took control of Germany. Meanwhile, Japan expanded its territory in Asia. As the Nazis gained power, they began a campaign of violence against Jews. When Germany attacked Poland, World War II began. The United States clung to neutrality until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Why It Matters

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THE RISE OF DICTATORS• Treaty of Versailles & economic depression contribute

to rise of antidemocratic governments in Europe/Asia

– Mussolini & Fascism in Italy– Stalin takes over the USSR– Hitler & Nazism in Germany – Militarists gain control of Japan

Benito Mussolini & Fascism in Italy• Italy developed the 1st major dictatorship in Europe.

– In 1919 Benito Mussolini founded Italy’s Fascist Party.– Backed by the militia known as Blackshirts

• Fascism = kind of aggressive nationalism. – Fascists believed that the nation was more important than

the individual, & that a nation became great by expanding its territory and building its military.

– Anti-Communist.

Joseph Stalin and the USSR• Under Lenin, the Russian territories were

renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922.

• By 1926 Joseph Stalin had become the new Soviet dictator.

– In 1927 he began a massive effort to industrialize the country.

– Millions of peasants who resisted the Communist policies were killed.

Adolph Hitler & Nazism in Germany• After WWI, pol. & eco. chaos in Germany led to the rise of new

political parties The Nazi Party was nationalistic & anti-Communist. • Adolf Hitler, a member of the Nazi Party, called for the unification of

all Germans under one government.

– He believed certain Germans were part of a “master race” destined to rule the world, wanted Eastern Europeans enslaved, felt Jews were responsible for many of the world’s problems.

• In 1933 Hitler was appointed prime minister of Germany.

• Storm troopers intimidated voters into giving Hitler dictatorial powers.

JAPAN & MILITARISM• Difficult economic times in Japan after WWI

undermined the country’s political system.• Many Japanese officers & civilians wanted to seize

territory to gain needed resources.

– In 1931 the Japanese army, without the government’s permission, invaded the resource-rich Chinese province of Manchuria.

– The military took control of Japan.

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm

DICTATORSHIPS ALLIANCES FORMED• Rome-Berlin Axis = Hitler and Mussolini agree to

cooperate on several international issues

• Japan allies itself with Germany & Italy when it signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany exchange info. about Communist groups

• Germany, Japan, & Italy become the Axis Powers

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Appeasement of Hitler• Feb. 1938, Adolf Hitler threatened to invade Austria unless

Austrian Nazis were given important gov. posts• March 1938, Hitler announced the Anschluss, or unification, of

Austria & Germany.• Hitler claimed the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia with

a large German-speaking population. – Czechs strongly resisted Germany’s demand for the

Sudetenland.

– France, the Soviet Union, & Britain threatened to fight Germany if it attacked Czechoslovakia.

• At the Munich Conference on Sept. 29, 1938, Britain & France, hoping to prevent another war, agreed to Hitler’s demands in a policy known as appeasement.

• In March 1939, Germany sent troops into Czechoslovakia, bringing the Czech lands under German control.

Appeasement Fails• Hitler demanded the return of Danzig–Poland’s Baltic Sea port &

also wanted a highway & railroad across the Polish Corridor convinced GB & Fr that appeasement had failed

• (May 1939) Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland by the German army.

• Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact: On August 23, 1939, Germany and the USSR signed a nonaggression treaty, with a secret agreement to divide Poland.

BLITZKRIEG IN POLAND• 1939 Ger. & the USSR invaded Poland GB & Fr declared war on

Germany = start of World War II• The Germans used a blitzkrieg, or lightening war, to attack

Poland & quickly wiped out Polish army.

• (1940) German army attacked Norway & Denmark & within a month, overtook both countries

THE FALL OF FRANCE• After WWI, the French built a line of concrete bunkers & fortifications

called the Maginot Line along the German border. – When Hitler decided to attack France, he went around the Maginot

Line by invading the Netherlands, Belgium, & Luxembourg. (DUH!)

• Fr & GB forces quickly went into Belgium, becoming trapped there by German forces.

– “Miracle at Dunkirk” = about 338,000 British & French troops had evacuated Belgium through the French port of Dunkirk & across the English Channel, using ships of all sizes

• (1940) France surrendered to the Germans & Ger. installed a puppet government in Vichy, France under Marshal Philippe Petain.

BRITAIN REMAINS DEFIANT – “KEEP CALM & CARRY ON”• Hitler thought that GB would negotiate peace after FR surrendered

– He did not anticipate the bravery of the British people & their prime minister, Winston Churchill (replaced Neville Chamberlain responsible for appeasement).

– June 4, 1940, Churchill delivered a defiant speech that rallied the British people & alerted the U.S. to Britain’s plight.

• To invade GB (an island), Germany had to defeat the British air force.

– Battle of Britain: the German air force, the Luftwaffe, launched an all-out air battle to destroy the British Royal Air Force. After German bombers bombed London, the British responded by bombing Berlin, Germany.

• British Royal Air Force outnumbered, but used radar. GB resisted invasion. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

REVIEW: WWII Dictators and their régimes

Mussolini – Italy - Fascism

– In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded Italy’s Fascist Party. Fascists believe that the nation is more important than the individual. They believed a nation needed a strong government led by a dictator and that a nation became great by expanding its territory and building its military. Fascism was also strongly anti-communist. Backed by the Blackshirts (a militia), Mussolini took over Rome. Once he had established himself he became known as “Il Duce.”

Stalin – USSR – Communism

– In 1922 the scattered communist governments of Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, they gained loyalty by ruthless suppression and punishment. Lenin died in 1924. In 1926 Joseph Stalin had become the new ruler of the USSR. A year later he began a movement to industrialize the USSR (the five year plans) and any who opposed were eliminated, including 8-10 million peasants.

Hitler – Germany – Nazism (National Socialist German Workers’ Party)

– Many felt Germany was being punished by the Treaty of Versailles with economic and political chaos. The Nazi Party was strongly anti-communist and nationalistic. In November of 1923 the Nazi Party tried to seize power in Munich, Germany. The plan failed and Hitler was arrested. He wrote a book denouncing the Jews as the cause of Germany’s woes. He also talked about a master race of Aryans. He became “fuhrer,” or supreme leader, in 1934, after being given dictatorial powers. Within a year he began to build rapidly industrialize and build Germany’s military.

Militarists – Japan – Nationalist/Military

– Limited economic growth and corrupt politics led the Japanese military to seize control and invade Manchuria without cause or permission. The Prime Minister tried to negotiate for peace and was assassinated. Japan still had a civilian government but they answered to the military and appointed military men as Prime Minister.