World War IIWorld War II

An overview of the Major Events and Key

Players.

Key Players in the War

Axis Powers Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo

Allied Powers Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill Charles De Gaulle Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Joseph Stalin

ADOLF HITLER

Brought prominence to the National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI Party)

Head of the 3rd Reich Believed in Master Race –

Aryan Race Unite all German-speaking

people 1933 took power Anti-communist Private property with strong

governmental control Das Fuhrer

BENITO MUSSOLINI

Led fascist movement in Italy

Black-shirt army Totalitarian State under

his rule AKA - Il Duce- The

Chief Anti-communist Private property with

strong government control

HIDEKI TOJO

Militant Japanese general Took control of Japan in

1941 Pushed for vast colonial

empire stretching from China to Thailand

Organized attack on Pearl Harbor

NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN

British Prime Minister at the onset of War

Believed in policy of Appeasement for dealing with Hitler.

Signed Munich Pact to turn over Sudetenland

Believed he obtained “Peace in Our Time”

WINSTON CHURCHILL

Critical of Chamberlin’s policies toward Hitler.

Became Prime Minister During the War (1940)

Strong Ally for the United States

Powerful public speaker he helped to rally his troops to fight German Aggression

CHARLES DE GAULLE

French General Fled to England after

Germany took over France.

Set up government-in-exile

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

President through Much of the War (Died in 1945)

Lend Lease program to aid Allies prior to US entry into the War

Signed order to intern Japanese after Pearl Harbor.

HARRY TRUMAN

VP under FDR Took over Presidency

at the end of the War. Made Decision to

Drop Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

JOSEPH STALIN

Totalitarian Regime in USSR. Awaited world-wide

Communist revolution. Great Purge of the 1930s to

clear out enemies from country 1939 – Signed nonaggression

pact with Germany. (Divide Poland)

Germany broke the pact, opening up the Eastern Front of the War.

Background

Treaty of Versailles (1919) - Harsh treatment of Germany: land losses, reparations, military reductions, and war guilt

League of Nations (1920) – International organization charged with preventing future wars. United States senate refused to allow the United States of America to become a member. The League had neither the will nor the power to check the rising totalitarian governments.

Background

Washington Conference (1922) – Italy, Japan, the United States of America, France, and Britain agree to not build up their navies for ten years

Mussolini takes over Italy (1922) Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) – sixty-two nations agree to

solve problems diplomatically Japan invades Manchuria (1931) Hitler comes to power (1933)

Short Term Causes

Italian, Japanese, and German aggression not stopped by League of Nations

Short Term Causes

Appeasement – Britain and France wanted to avoid war and therefore gave in to Hitler’s demands

Western democracies would not act aggressively– Britain – Sympathetic towards Germany – knew Versailles

Treaty too harsh, wanted to avoid war– France – Would not do anything without Britain– United States of America – Isolation from Europe

Major Events of the War- The Onset of War

Hitler reoccupies the Rhineland 1938 – Hitler unites Austria with Germany 1938 – Signed Munich Pact to Gain control of

Sudetenland (In Czechoslovakia) 1939 – Hitler and USSR sign nonaggression pact

(Agreed to divide Poland) 1939- Blitzkrieg in Poland September 1, 1939 – World War II official start

Major Events of World War II- The War

Inactive Winter 1940 –Britain and France Defend the Maginot Line

1940 – Germany invades Norway and Denmark 1940 – France Falls Summer 1940 – Britain withstands the German

onslaught 1941- Germany broke pact with USSR

– German setbacks- the harsh winters in Soviet Union; Bitter defeat in Stalingrad

Major Events of World War II - American Involvement

Lend-Lease Program to aid Allies Attack on Pearl Harbor – December 7,

1941- A Day that will live in infamy US enters World War II 1942 – War turned in favor of the Allies

– Victories in North Africa versus Germany– Victory in the Battle of the Midway in the

Pacific

Major Event of World War II - Allied Conferences

Tehran (1943) Yalta (1945) Potsdam (1945) - After Victory in Europe

– United States, Britain, and Soviet Union participated

Major Events in World War II – The End of the War

June 6, 1944 – Storming of Normandy December 1944- Hitler lost the battle of

the Bulge Germany surrendered in May 1945 Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki in August of 1945 Japan Surrendered in September 1945