Bell Ringer Who were some of the Axis Powers in WWII?

Who were some of the Allied Powers in WWII?

Germany Italy Japan Bulgaria Hungary

Britain United States Soviet Union France Poland

Hitler, Mussolini & the buildup to WWII • Germany-Italy Fascist states form post-

WWI • Oct 1922 Mussolini, marches on Rome • 1933 Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor

of Germany • 1934 Paul Von Hindernburg dies & Hitler

takes over • 1934 = The Night of Long Knives (1934)

Hitler purges his party & political rivals • 1938 “Anschluss” Hitler annexes

Austria • 1935 Nuremburg Laws are set up

which restrict occupations for the Jews, some are even stripped of their citizenship.

• Nov. 1938 Kristallnacht = Germans attacking Jewish people in the streets and vandalizing their businesses.

Munich Conference -Germany insists that Czechoslovakia turn over to Germany the Sudentenland, a strategically important area comprised largely of ethnic Germans. France and Great Britain allow Hitler to enter this area (appeasement). Hitler promises not to take anymore territory, but in 1939 the German army seizes the rest of Czechoslovakia. Signed by Germany, Italy, UK and France

Invasion of Poland • August 1939, Hitler & Stalin

(USSR), negotiate the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.

• Germany/USSR agree NOT to attack each other; secretly they divide Poland among themselves.

• Sept.1, 1939 German forces attack Poland from the west in a blitzkrieg (high concentration of motorized ground support & infantry along with air support), and the Soviet army attacks Poland from the east.

• In short order, France and Great Britain (who are allied with Poland) declare war on Germany.

• World War II has begun!

Fall of France (1940) -All is calm for several months after the

invasion of Poland “Phony War” BUT, in May 10, 1940 Germany attacks

France through Belgium (thereby going around France’s heavily-defended Maginot Line; by June 25, France is defeated and British troops there are forced to flee via Dunkirk

-N. France is occupied by Germans; S. France (Free-Zone) is controlled by French forces loyal to the ultra-conservative Field Marshall Petain; they cooperate w/Germans & switch the capital to Vichy, formerly a resort town.

- Great Britain (led by Winston Chuchill), is now alone; the U.S. remains officially neutral even if it sympathizes w/the British.

Germany occupies France for 4 years & a resistance movement develops in France, but those who decided to cooperate w/Germans were called collaborators. -General De Gaulle, in exile in Great Britain, organizes Free French forces under his leadership

Battle of Britain 1940 • Hitler prepares for an

invasion of Great Britain by ordering an air assault.

• This attack devastates Great Britain, but ultimately the British fend of the Luftwaffe (German air force)

• Hitler is forced to call off his plans to invade Great Britain.

The Victory of the Royal Air Force (RAF), although costly in terms of men and aircraft, inspires the British people.

Operation Barbarossa: Invasion of U.S.S.R. (1941)

• Hitler turns his attention to the east

• Due to his low opinion of the Slavs, Hitler breaks his treaty w/Stalin and attacks Russia in June 1941.

• At first, Hitler is very successful. Much Soviet territory is conquered by the Wehrmacht (German army).

• However, by winter, Hitler’s

forces are stalled @ Leningrad in N. Russia and @ Stalingrad in S. Russia

• Eventually, many Soviets and Germans will lose their lives in in these battles before the Wehrmacht Is finally defeated.

Dec. 7, 1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor • Pacific Japanese decide upon a risky

strategy towards U.S. • After defeating British, French & Dutch forces

in the region, the Japanese launch a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base @ Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii

• It is militarily successful, but fails the knockout blow the Japanese hoped for.

• Japanese occupation of the Philippines is successful in short-term, but is not permanent.

• W/in the next 2 years, the U.S. will defeat the Japanese navy @ Coral Sea (May 1942) and Midway (June 1942)

• Historians consider the Battle of Midway the turning point in the war.

• The U.S. fight a series of brutal land battles w/the Japanese as they take back the islands that had fallen under Japanese control.

• Eventually U.S. marine, army, & naval forces will bypass some fortified islands (in a strategy called island-hopping) as they approach the Japanese home territory.

General Hideki Tojo • Japanese leader, prime

minister from 1941-1944, had ordered his men to stand fast & defend Japanese-held islands to the last man!

• The brutal fighting on Iwo Jima & Okinawa, undertaken by Tojo’s successors, reflects this policy.

• Eventually Tojo was forced to give up power.

• After the war, Tojo was convicted as a war criminal & executed by the Allies in 1948.

D-DAY (6 June 1944) • The Allies launch an

amphibious landing in Normandy, France & the attack is successful!

• In less than a year, the Allies take back France, Belgium, Holland, & advance on Germany.

• Other allied armies advance on Germany from Italy and from the East Storming the beaches of Normandy!

Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945) • “The Big 3” – Churchill

(U.K.), Roosevelt (U.S.) & Stalin (U.S.S.R.) meet in Yalta (a resort in U.S.S.R) to discuss the fate of Europe/Asia in the event of an Allied victory, which now seemed likely.

• FDR was weak @ the time and died within two months, he was replaced as U.S. leader by Harry Truman, the former vice president.

• After Nazi Germany’s defeat, “The Big 3” will meet at Potsdam.

End of War in Europe

• The Allies will converge on Germany

• Hitler orders retreat, but eventually he is surrounded in Berlin & decides to commit suicide on April 30, 1945

V-E DAY May 8, 1945

• The fighting in Berlin & other parts of Germany is very bloody, but Nazi Germany is compelled to surrender.

• Victory in Europe is declared on 8 May 1945 also known as V-E Day.

The Holocaust & Concentration Camps in Europe

• After the war, the full extent of Nazi atrocities becomes known

• A network of concentration & death camps is discovered

• In these camps & in other parts of Europe, aprrox. 6 million Jews were killed

• The systematic & purposeful execution of the Jews, a genocide, was part of Hitler’s plan; leading Nazis referred to it as The Final Solution

The Pacific Theater of WWII (including Island Hopping)

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• U.S. President Harry Truman issues Japan an ultimatum to surrender unconditionally

• The Japanese reject! • Truman orders the

dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945)

Atomic Bomb

• The U.S. atomic bomb resulted from researches involved in the top secret Manhattan Project

• The Soviets, however knew of the project from their network of spies (Klaus Fuchs, e.g.)

Emperor Hirohito (1901 – 1989) • After the 2 atomic

bombs fell the emperor, revered by the Japanese as divine, ordered his countrymen to lay down their arms and surrender

• General Douglas MacArthur took over in Japan as commander of U.S. occupying forces

Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946) • German leaders accused

of war crimes were put on trial after WWII.

• Many were found guilty & sentenced either to death (Joachim von Ribbentrop, e.g.) or to long prison terms (Rudolf Hess & Albert Speer, e.g.)

• Similar war crimes trials were conducted in Tokyo after the war

Bell RingerHitler, Mussolini & the buildup to WWIIInvasion of PolandFall of France (1940)Battle of Britain 1940Operation Barbarossa: Invasion of U.S.S.R. (1941)Dec. 7, 1941 – Attack on Pearl HarborGeneral Hideki TojoD-DAY (6 June 1944)Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945)End of War in EuropeV-E DAY May 8, 1945The Holocaust �& Concentration Camps in EuropeThe Pacific Theater of WWII (including Island Hopping)Hiroshima and NagasakiAtomic BombEmperor Hirohito (1901 – 1989)Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)