THE WORLD WAR II OUTLINE 1939 - 1945 I. CAUSES A. Germany unstable after WWI 1. Weimar Republic weak a. coalition government i. made up of many parties ii. no one party had enough power to control the gov't b. signed the hated Treaty of Versailles (had no choice!) c. lacked the support of the people b/c Germany lacked a democratic tradition 2. Economic problems a. Hyper-inflation due to reparations payments b. rising unemployment c. middle class was wiped out financially d. economic problems blamed on the already unpopular Weimar gov't e. Great Depression caused banks to fail & economy to worsen 3. Political problems a. growing communist movement & threat of communist revolution b. growing popularity of Nazi movement c. there was no middle ground politically, just the 2 extremes, the Nazis and the communists B. Growing appeal of fascism 1. Promised to punish those responsible for current political and economic troubles a. Jews and communists were targets 2. Germany, Italy & Spain lacked democratic traditions and fascism made sense to them 3. Promised to recapture past glory a. a Third Reich in Germany b. a new Roman Empire in Italy c. a strong, powerful Spain that would again be a world leader 4. Promised quick action to solve the nation's problems a. democracy was just too slow & ineffective C. The Rise of Mussolini 1. Italy was suffering high unemployment and inflation a. taxes raised significantly after WWI to pay for war 2. Many Italians feared the idea of communist revolution a. revolution would destroy religion & government
3. Brought into government legally by the King a. thought Mussolini could be controlled D. Rise of Hitler 1. Promised to solve economic problems a. Weimar gov't moving too slowly & ineffectively 2. Promised to tear up Treaty of Versailles a. would rearm Germany b. would unite with Austria c. would reoccupy the Rhineland 3. Promised to obtain Lebensraum (living space) for Germany a. would attack Poland and Russia for this space b. Germany needed this space or it would die 4. Promised to punish Germany's enemies a. Jews b. communists 5. Promised to create a newer, stronger Germany a. created Third Reich which was to last 1000 years b. all Germans were to be united in this new Reich
II. EVENTS LEAD TO WAR A. Asia 1. Militarists gain control of Japan a. wanted to return to traditional style of government i. Emperor Hirohito was head of state b. wanted to create the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere i. "Asia for the Asians" c. were extreme nationalists 2. Japan invades Manchuria (1931) a. Japan needed the resources b. China engaged in civil war & distracted 3. Japan invades all of China (1937) a. Marco Polo Bridge Incident i. Japan used this as excuse to conquer all of China ii. WWII really begins here B. Europe 1. Italy attempts to recreate the Roman Empire a. invades Ethiopia 1935 b. League of Nations does not stop Italy's aggression 2. Germany begins to rebuild its military in violation of the Treaty of Versailles i. League of Nations does nothing to stop Germany 3. Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland in 1936
4. Rome/Berlin/Tokyo Axis (alliance) created in 1936 5. The German-Austrian Anschluss (union) is created in violation of the Treaty of Versailles 6. Munich Conference held September 1938 a. Hitler demanded Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia b. Britain & France need to avoid war at all costs c. Czechoslovakia is sold out by Br & Fr is return for Hitler's promise of no more aggression d. Br & Fr use appeasement to avoid war 7. Hitler takes remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 8. Germany & Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact in August '39 a. Germany takes western Poland b. Soviets takes eastern Poland c. Soviets can invade Finland d. Germany and Russia will not attack one another C. Lack of Western Response 1. Britain & France need to avoid war a. memories from WWI 2. League of Nations too weak & ineffective a. US not a member 3. Depression made war risky for any nation 4. US adopts policy of isolationism and does not get involved with the world's problems III. THE WAR A. Europe 1. Germans blitzkrieg Poland on 1 Sept 1939 a. "lightening war" i. used tanks, planes, trucks & artillery to hit Poland hard and fast 2. Phony War or sitzkrieg (sitting war) in the autumn of 1939 3. Spring of 1940 Germany attacks west a. Belgium b. Holland c. Denmark d. Netherlands e. Norway f. France 4. Allies pushed off continent at Dunkirk in June 1940 a. 350,000 men escaped to Britain i. Germany fails to deliver knock-out blow to Allies 5. Summer 1940 Germany launches Battle of Britain, the air campaign to weaken Britain before the German invasion i. Germany fails to break Britain ii. invasion of Britain never happens
6. Operation Barbarossa a. Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union (21 June 1941) b. used blitzkrieg against Russians with great success c. Russians retreated deep within Russia to suck the Germans in and hold them until winter set in. B. Asia 1. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941) a. in response to US decision to cut off oil and scrap iron shipments to Japan b. goal of Japanese was to destroy US Pacific Fleet which included the aircraft carriers c. US declares war on Japan and Germany 2. Japanese strike throughout the Pacific a. Philippines b. Guam c. Wake Island d. Burma e. Hong Kong f. Malaya 3. Japanese conquered 1 million square miles of territory a. 150,000 Allied prisoners taken i. 13,000 US & Filipino prisoners were forced to march 60 miles to prison camps. This is known as the Bataan Death March 4. The US & Allies turn the tide of war a. US bombed Tokyo in April 1942 i. bombs did little damage ii. was a great psychological victory for US b. Japan's attempted invasion of Australia stopped by US aircraft carriers at the Battle of Coal Sea in May 1942 iii. Japanese stopped for the first time c. The Battle of Midway (June 1942) i. US had cracked secret Japanese code & knew that the Japanese would attack Midway ii. US forces waited for attack on the island to begin iii. US attacked Japanese ships while their planes were away and scored huge victory over a much larger force iv. Midway is the turning point of the Pacific War 5. US begins Island Hopping Campaign a. begun after Midway b. designed to go around major Japanese positions and to cut the Japanese supply lines i. the idea was to avoid large battles if possible and focus on the island closer to Japan ii. islands could be used to launch bombers from
C. Victory in Europe 1. Allies launched Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942 i. by May 1943 Axis is pushed out of N. Africa 2. The Russians begin to push the Germans back at the Battle of Stalingrad in Aug - Nov 1942 3. As the Germans are retreating on all fronts, the Allies invaded Italy in the autumn of 1943 and captured Rome by June 1944 4. On 6 June 1944 the Allies launched the invasion of Europe, codenamed Operation Overlord i. invasion is known also as D-Day ii. invasion is a success iii. it is the beginning of the end for the Germans 5. The Germans tried one last attempt to win the war: Battle of the Bulge i. begun in December 1944 ii. US lines bulged but did not break iii. Germans cannot recover from these losses 6. Berlin is surrounded by the Soviet army in April 1945 i. on April 30 Hitler commits suicide 7. German army signs unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 i. V-E Day!! D. Victory in the Pacific 1. Island hopping campaign pushing Japan back i. Japanese navy destroyed at Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in 1944 ii. Japanese forced to use Kamikaze (suicide pilots) 2. As US got closer to Japan, fighting became more bitter i. Iwo Jima (Feb - Mar 1945) ii. Okinawa (Apr - June 1945) Japan lost 110,000 men, US 12,500 3. US uses the Atomic bomb on Japan on 6 & 9 August 1945 i. Japanese did not surrender after first bomb on Hiroshima ii. US dropped second bomb on Nagasaki 4. Japan agrees to surrender on 15 August 1945 i. Japan officially surrenders to the US on 2 September 1945 ii. WWII is Over!!