The World in Crisis

Chapter 12.1

Agenda for Today

• Return Test

• 12.1 Slide Show

• Homework

• Read Section 12.2 of textbook

Warsaw, Poland 1939

Warsaw, Poland 1944

How could this happen?

ObjectivesAt the end of this lesson, you

should be able to:

• Identify Adolph Hitler and his background

• List reasons for German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles

• Give examples of who supported the Nazis and why

How did the Treaty of Versailles (ended WWI) punish Germany?

• Germany had to:

• Pay reparations

• Lost territory

• Had to disarm

• Forced to sign War Guilt Clause

Who was Adolph Hitler?• Born in Austria (1889)• Fuhrer (leader) of Germany from

1933-1945• Struggling artist in Munich &

Vienna (early 1900s) • Fought for Germany in WWI• Developed hated for “November

Criminals” and the “Stab in the back”

• Joined small German Workers party (Nazis) in 1921– Anti-Semitic– Anti-Communist– Anti-Versailles– Pro Germany

• Imprisoned for coup on Weimar government in 1923

• Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

How did Hitler gain power? Who supported him?

• Read the case study you were given and write:

• The author’s social class or occupation

• Reasons why he supports Hitler and the Nazis

Describe Hitler’s methods of propaganda.

Herman Struts

• A German Army Lieutenant

• Deeply resents Treaty of Versailles– Weimar Republic

• Can’t get promoted

• Army disrespected

Karin Hauptman

• Union worker in a Textile Factory

• Fears communism

• Wants stronger unions that respect seniority

• Wants stable economy

Eric von Ronheim

• Factory Executive

• Resents Treaty of Versailles (reparations)

• High taxes

• Crippled German economy

• Fears communist takeover

Karl Schmidt

• Ruhr Valley Steelworker

• Wants a job

• Resents French occupation of Ruhr

• Resents wealthy capitalists

Lotte von Kohler

• Attorney

• Resents demeaning attitude of the Allies (French) towards Germany

• Wants German race and culture recognized for its greatness

Wilhelm Schultz• East Prussian Peasant• Resents Versailles for

loss of “Polish Corridor”• Cuts him off from

relatives• Poles mistreat

Germans• Hinders trade• Fear communist will

take land

Hitler’s Rise

Hitler’s Rise to Power

Describe the steps Hitler took to become the totalitarian dictator of Germany by

August of 1934.• 7/1932 Nazis won most seats in

Reichstag• Hitler appointed Chancellor Jan

1933• Got Hindenburg (the president) to

suspend civil rights• Got Reichstag to give him power to

make his own laws• Got military to swear allegiance to

him• Aug. ’34 abolished presidency and

declared himself Fuehrer (supreme leader)

Describe the NAZIS program.• NAZIS- National Socialist German

Workers Party• Eliminate differences between

rich and poor• Ignore Treaty of Versailles• Preached Germans (Blond-haired,

blue-eyed) Aryans were chosen people (Master Race)

• Jews and ‘undesirables’ were to be eliminated

• Germans under foreign rule to be reunited with the Fatherland

• Lebensraum (living space) acquired

Germany’s Economic Recovery

German Rearmament

How did Hitler justify the murder of his political enemies?

• Used occasion of a fire at Reichstag to blame his political enemies

• Referred to them with words like “traitor, poison”

• Said he did it to save the “German people and the German Reich”

• Used the S.A. (Storm Troopers) to intimidate, imprison, murder political foes

Fire at the Reichstag

Describe FDR’s foreign policy in 1933?• Americans were too

preoccupied with the GD to pay attention to Hitler

• Continued isolationist posture

• Good Neighbor Policy (1933)

• US pledged not to interfere with internal affairs of Latin American countries

• Non-interventionists wanted America to stay out of Europe’s troubles

Describe how Benito Mussolini and the fascist created a totalitarian dictatorship in Italy? How did Italians and

Americans view him?

• Wounded vet of WWI• Order, efficient government that would

restore Italy’s rightful place as dominant power of Mediterranean

• Called himself ‘IL Duce’ (the leader)• Fascist- party that preached the nation and

race above individual• Black Shirts -used intimidation to gain

power• Totalitarian Dictatorship- complete control

over all facets of Italian life• Viewed by many as ‘model of strength and

determination’• Created new social and economic programs• Trains ran on time, 400 new bridges, 4

thousand miles of roads• Invaded and took over Ethiopia

Mussolini 1933 by Diego Riverafrom DR Museum

Mussolini and Fascism

Hitler Becomes Chancellor

Why did many Americans fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War?

• 1931 monarchy replaced by democratically elected left wing government

• Fascist opposition from Anti-Communist Francisco Franco

• Civil War breaks out• Mussolini and Hitler send aid to

Franco and test new weapons.• 3, 000 Americans (Abraham Lincoln

Brigade) join democratic gov.• Feared the spread of fascism

– “And after France?”

• Foreshadowing of fascist aggression to come.

Guernica, Picasso

What aggressive moves did Hitler make in 1938? How did he justify this?

• March 1938 he took Austria• Aug. 1938 he said he was

going to take the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia

• Said he wanted to defend German speaking people against the oppression of the Czechs

• What would the French and British do?

What is appeasement and what would Winston Churchill think of it?

• England and France gave in to Hitler’s demands in return for peace (Appeasement)

• Munich Pact (9/1938) British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain allowed Hitler to have Sudetenland in return for no further territorial acquisitions

• “Peace for our time”• 51/2 months later Hitler took all

of Czechoslovakia

What was the Nonaggression Pact? Why was it important to Hitler?

• Called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

• Treaty between Germany and USSR in which each country pledged not to attack the other (Aug. 23, 1939)

• Would free up Hitler’s troops from fighting a two-front war

• Treaty secretly divided up Poland between Germany and USSR

Why did Japan want to expand its borders into the Asian mainland?

• Wanted to make Japan self-sufficient

• Lacked land for agriculture, raw materials (wheat, petroleum, rubber, coal, iron, timber)

• Wanted living space for growing population

• Military most honored members of Japanese society

• Viewed conquest as heroic deed

• Manchuria was poorly defended and rich in natural resources– Occupied “Manchukuo” by

9/1932

Hitler’s Road to War

1918 1921 1923 1928 1931 1933 1938 1939 1941

Hitler leads unsucessful

Coup

-NAZI party gains seats in

Reichstag-Wall Street

Crashes (1929)

Hitler appointed Chancellor-Becomes

Fuehrer when Hindenburg dies

-Germany signs Non Aggression Pact with USSR-Hitler invades

Poland

-WW I Ends-Treaty of Versailles

German economy in

hyperinflation-Mein Kamf

General Franco seizes power

from Socialists in Spain

-Hitler later sends military

aid

Hitler takes Austria and

SudentenlandMunich Pact

brings “Peace for our time.”

NOT

Hitler invades Russia

Why was America against Japan’s invasion of China?

• American public sympathized with Chinese peasant (hardships popularized in The Good Earth)

• Japan would become an economic threat

• Close Chinese market to American business (lose $100 million in cotton sales)

• Rape of Nanking (China Incident) viewed by Americans as “barbaric, disgraceful”

What were the Neutrality Acts and what did FDR think of them?

• Laws that prohibited the sale of American weapons to warring nations

• Tried to prevent Americans from traveling to those countries

• FDR didn’t like them but American public was isolationist

• Military not ready for a fight yet

• Ranked 18th in the world (behind Belgium)

“Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war.”

Winston Churchill

What happened on September 1, 1939?

• In Aug. ’39 Hitler demanded the Polish Corridor (large German population)

• Poland refused• Hitler invaded Poland• Began World War II• First time Blitzkrieg

“Lightning War” was used• Why did he think he could

get away with this? What events led to this moment?

WWII Begins