World War IIChapter 15 Section 2

World War II

The Big Idea

Problems in Europe led to World War II, the deadliest war in history.

Main Ideas

• Economic and political problems troubled Europe in the years after World War I.

• World War II broke out when Germany invaded Poland.

• Nazi Germany targeted the Jews during the Holocaust.

• Allied victories in Europe and Japan brought the end of World War II.

Main Idea 1:Economic and political problems troubled

Europe in the years after World War I.

Economic Problems• World War I destroyed

factories and farmland all over Europe.

• Many European countries borrowed money from U.S. banks.

• In 1929 a U.S. stock market crash began the Great Depression.

• American banks had no money to loan to Europe, so European economies declined.

Political Problems• Many Europeans blamed

weak government for their economic troubles. They wanted strong dictators to run their countries.

• In Russia Vladimir Lenin formed the Communist Soviet Union.

• Benito Mussolini took power in Italy.

• Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany.

Main Idea 2:World War II broke out when

Germany invaded Poland.

Italian and German aggression led to World War II:• 1935

Italy invaded Ethiopia. Italy and Germany formed the Rome-Berlin Axis.

• 1938Germany annexed Austria. Britain and France protested the annexation, but did not try to stop it.

• 1938–1939Germany conquered Czechoslovakia, over the objections of many other countries. Italy invaded Albania.

• 1939Germany invaded Poland, which Great Britain and France had sworn to protect. In response to the invasion, they declared war on Germany. This began World War II.

World War II Begins

fought

The Axis Powers• Germany• Italy• Japan

The Allies • France• Great Britain• Soviet Union

Early in the war the Axis Powers were successful.

• After defeating Poland, Germany conquered much of Western Europe, including France.

• The German air force launched attacks against British cities and other targets, hoping to force the British to surrender.

• Germany invaded Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, while Italy invaded North Africa.

• Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Main Idea 3:Nazi Germany targeted the Jews

during the Holocaust.

• The Holocaust was the attempt by the Nazi government during World War II to eliminate Europe’s Jews.

• The Nazis believed that Germans were a superior race, and they tried to destroy people they thought were inferior, especially the Jews. Their efforts began even before World War II.

• During the war the Nazis used mass executions and death camps, such as Auschwitz in Poland, to murder millions of Jews.

• Some Jews resisted the Nazis. Some non-Jews, such as Oskar Schindler of Germany, also tried to save Jews from the Nazis. Few were able to avoid the Holocaust, though.

• By the end of World War II, some 6 million Jews and millions of non-Jews had been killed by the Nazis.

Main Idea 4:Allied victories in Europe and Japan

brought the end of World War II.

• More than 50 million people died.

• The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the war as the world’s strongest countries.

• The United Nations was formed.

End ofthe War

• The United States joined World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• In 1943, American and British troops forced Italy to surrender. Soviet troops forced Germany to retreat.

• The D-Day invasion of 1944 allowed the Allies to advance into German territory.

• In May of 1945 Germany surrendered.

• In August of 1945 the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, which then surrendered.

Results ofthe War