World War II and
the Holocaust
1939-1945
Objective
To understand the nature of the Second
World War
To understand the war aims of the Axis
and Allied powers
To understand how end of the Second
World War and its Consequences
To understand the Holocaust
Recap of Causes
Hitler wanted to scrap the restrictions the
Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany
The Allies and League of Nations were
unable to stop Hitler
Lead-up to War
Hitler remilitarizes Rhineland in 1935
Hitler builds up army and air force
Italy invades Ethiopia in 1935; Allies do
nothing
Rome-Berlin Axis formed in 1936
Germany annexes Austria in 1938
Germany dismembers Czechoslovakia in
1938
Spanish Civil War
Prelude to Second World War
Fascists vs. Socialists
Allies did nothing
Spanish Civil War
Guernica
War Leaders
The Allies
– The United States:
• President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (later
succeeded by Harry Truman)
– Great Britain
• Prime Minister Winston Churchill
– The Soviet Union
• Premier Josef Stalin
The Allies
War Leaders
The Axis
– Germany
• Adolf Hitler
– Italy
• Benito Mussolini
– Japan
• General Hideki Tojo
The Axis
The War in Europe
Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939
– Britain and France declare war on Germany
– Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
The War in Europe
Germany invades Western Europe in 1940
– “Blitzkrieg” (lightning war)
– Norway and Denmark conquered in April
– Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg
conquered in May
– France conquered in June
The War in Europe
Hitler targets Britain
– Britain and Empire alone
– Winston Churchill (1874-1965) becomes
Prime Minister in 1940
The War in Europe
The Battle of Britain (1940)
– German strategy: Operation Sea Lion
• Strategy
• Unsuccessful
Blitz over London
The War in Europe
Italy and the war
– Mussolini wants to recreate Roman Empire
– Alliance with Italy becomes a burden for
Hitler
The War in Europe
Hitler turns to the Soviet Union
– Part of Hitler’s overall plan
– Stalin warned of German attack but did not
listen
The War in Europe
Hitler invades Soviet Union June 22, 1941
– Operation Barbarosa
– Stalin taken by surprise
Battle of Stalingrad
The War in the Pacific
Japan becomes a major power in Asia in early
20th century
Japan militarizes in the 1930s
Japan in the 1930s
The War in the Pacific
Japan invades Manchuria in 1931
Japanese aggression makes United States
nervous
The War in the Pacific
Role of the United States
– Neutrality
– Lend-Lease Act, 1941
Neutrality vs. Intervention
The War in the Pacific
Japanese aggression threatened American
interests in the Pacific
US pressures Japan to withdraw from
Indochina
The War in the Pacific
Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941
US declares war on Japan December 8,
1941
The War in the Pacific
Japan takes over Southeast Asia and the
Pacific
US fights Japan alone
Pacific Theater
The Home Front
Total War
– Government control of economy
– Rationing
– Propaganda
Anti-Japanese Propaganda
War Propaganda
Rosie the Riveter
Major Battles
Battle of El-Alamein (1942)
Battle of Midway (1942)
Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
European Theater
The Holocaust
The “Final Solution
– Precedents
– Nuremberg Laws, 1935
– Kristallnacht, 1938
The Holocaust
Construction of concentration camps
throughout Europe
Role of Collaborators
Nazi Concentration Camps
The Holocaust
Six million Jews died in the Holocaust
Other populations also suffered
Allies informed about the Holocaust as
early as 1942
Unable or unwilling to help?
The End of the War
D-Day June 6, 1944
– Second Front
– Operation Overlord
Soviets invade Germany from the East
Germany surrenders on May 8, 1945
The End of the War
Surrender of Germany allows Allies to
focus on Japan
Fierce fighting on islands
Allied War Aims
Atlantic Charter
Unconditional Surrender by Germany and
Japan
The End of the War
Manhattan Project
US drops first atom bomb on Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945
Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945
Atom Bomb over Hiroshima
Atom Bomb over Nagasaki
The End of the War
The Yalta Conference, February 1945
Plans to reconstruct Europe after the war
Yalta Conference
The End of the War
Potsdam Conference, July 1945
Changes in Allied leadership
Borders redrawn
Europe after World War II
The End of the War
Division of Germany
Japan occupied by the United States
World War II officially ends on
September 2, 1945