Splash Screen. Chapter Intro Could World War II Have Been Prevented? In the 1930s, global economic problems brought dictators to power in Europe and Japan,

Splash Screen

Chapter Intro

Could World War II Have Been Prevented?In the 1930s, global economic problems brought dictators to power in Europe and Japan, and another world war erupted. Many Americans, disillusioned by World War I, wanted to remain neutral, but when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States was forced to join the war.

• What problems do you think WorldWar I created that contributed tothe outbreak of World War II?

• Do you think different Americanpolicies in the 1920s and 1930scould have prevented World War II?

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Section 1

The Rise of Dictators

Dictators took control of the governments of Italy, the Soviet Union, Germany, and Japan.

The Rise of Dictators, 1922–1933


Section 1

• In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded Italy’s Fascist Party.

− Fascism was an aggressive nationalistic movement that considered the nation more important than the individual.

− Once in office, Mussolini worked quickly to set up a dictatorship.

The Rise of Dictators (cont.)

Italy Invades Ethiopia, 1935


Section 1

• After the Russian Revolution, the Communist Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, established communist governments throughout the Russian Empire.

− In 1922 they renamed these territories the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).



Section 1

• By 1926, Joseph Stalin had become the new Soviet dictator.

− Family farms were combined and turned into collectives.

− Between 8 and 10 million people died during Stalin’s rule, which lasted until his death in 1953.



Section 1

• One of the new political parties in Germany was called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or the Nazi Party.

− The party was nationalistic and anticommunist, calling for Germany to expand its territory and not abide by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

− They were also anti-Semitic.



Section 1

• After Adolf Hitler’s first plan to seize power in Germany failed, he focused on getting Nazis elected to the Reichstag.

− By 1932, the Nazis were the largest party in the Reichstag.

− The following year, the German president appointed Hitler as chancellor.

− In 1934, Hitler became president, giving himself the title of Der Führer.



Section 1

• In Japan, difficult economic times helped undermine the political system.

• Japanese military leaders and their civilian supporters argued that seizing Manchuria was the only way Japan could get the resources it needed.


− The Japanese prime minister was assassinated when he tried to stop the war by negotiating with China.

Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931


Section 1

• Japan’s civilian government supported the nationalist policy of expanding the empire and appointed a military officer to serve as prime minister.


Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931


A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 1

A B C D

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Which of the following dictators wrote Mein Kampf?

A. Benito Mussolini

B. Vladimir Lenin

C. Joseph Stalin

D. Adolph Hitler


Section 1

American Neutrality

Most Americans did not want to get involved in another European war, despite Roosevelt’s emphasis on internationalism.


DFS Trans 1


Section 1

• Isolationist ideas became stronger in the early 1930s for two reasons:

− In 1934, all of the debtor nations except Finland announced they would no longer repay their war debts.

− The Nye Committee documented the huge profits that arms factories had made during the war, creating the impression that these businesses influenced the decision to go to war.

American Neutrality (cont.)


Section 1

• Worried that the actions of Italy and Germany might lead to war, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935.

− Later, they passed the Neutrality Act of 1937, which required the countries at war to pay cash and to send their own ships to pick up any nonmilitary supplies.


The Neutrality Acts, 1935–1937


Section 1

• Germany, Italy, and Japan became known as the Axis Powers, although they did not formally become military allies until September 1940.

• FDR supported internationalism and authorized the sale of weapons to China after Japanese forces launched a full-scale attack.



A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 1

A B C D

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The Neutrality Acts prohibited which of the following?

A. Engaging in war with any nation

B. Speaking to any dictators

C. Selling arms to any country at war

D. Importing goods from warring nations


Section 2

Path to War

European nations tried to prevent war by giving in to Adolf Hitler’s demands.


Section 2

• Europe’s leaders believed that a deal could be reached with Hitler and war could be avoided for three reasons:

− They wanted to avoid a repeat of the bloodshed of World War I.

− Some thought most of Hitler’s demand were reasonable.

− Many people assumed that the Nazis would be more interested in peace once they gained more territory.

Path to War (cont.)


Section 2

• In late 1937 Hitler called for the unification of all German-speaking people, including those in Austria and Czechoslovakia.

− Hitler sent troops into Austria in March 1938 and announced the Anschluss of Austria and Germany.

Path to War (cont.)

The Causes of World War II in Europe, 1935–1939


Section 2

• Hitler next announced German claims to the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia with a large German-speaking population.

− At the Munich Conference, on September 29, 1938, Britain and France agreed to Hitler’s demands, a policy that came to be known as appeasement.

Path to War (cont.)



Section 2

• However, in March 1939 Germany sent troops into Czechoslovakia and divided the country.

− The Czech lands became a German protectorate.

Path to War (cont.)


• A month after the Munich Conference, Hitler demanded control of Danzig, a part of Poland.

− He also requested a highway and railroads across the Polish Corridor.


Section 2

• On March 31, 1939, Britain announced that if Poland went to war to defend its territory, Britain and France would come to its aid.

• Poland refused to give in to Germany’s demands.

• Germany and the USSR signed a nonaggression pact on August 23, 1939.

Path to War (cont.)


A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D

Section 2

A B C D

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What was Hitler’s initial act that eventually led to war?

A. Declaring war on Poland

B. Defying the Treaty of Versailles

C. Dividing Czechoslovakia

D. Aligning with Russia


Section 2

The War Begins

After Poland and France fell to the Nazis, the British evacuated thousands of trapped troops from Dunkirk.


Section 2

• By October 5, 1939, the Germans had defeated the Polish military.

• The Polish army was outdated; plus, the Germans used a new type of warfare called blitzkrieg.

• Rather than risk their troops by attacking, the French preferred to wait behind the Maginot Line for the Germans to approach.

The War Begins (cont.)


Section 2

• This decision proved to be disastrous for two reasons:

− It allowed Germany to concentrate on Poland first before turning west to face the British and French.

− Hitler decided to go around the Maginot Line, which protected France’s border with Germany, but not France’s border with Belgium.



Section 2

• As soon as the attack began, British and French forces raced north into Belgium.


− When the Germans reached France, the British and French were still in Belgium and could not move back quickly enough.

− The Germans began to drive them toward the English Channel.


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Section 2

Britain Remains Defiant

Despite the bombing of London and other major cities, Britain’s Winston Churchill stood firm against the threat of Nazi invasion.


Section 2

• On June 4, 1940, Winston Churchill delivered a defiant speech in Parliament, vowing that Britain would never surrender.

• The Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force battled from June 1940 into the fall of 1940, an air battle that became known as the Battle of Britain.

• On August 23, German bombers accidentally bombed London.

• In return, the British bombed Berlin.

Britain Remains Defiant (cont.)


Section 2

• Although the Royal Air Force was outnumbered, the British used a new technology called radar to detect the arrival of German planes.

• The British fighters inflicted more losses on the Germans than they suffered themselves, and on October 12, 1940, Hitler canceled the invasion of Britain.

Britain Remains Defiant (cont.)


Section 3

Nazi Persecution of the Jews

Nazi laws stripped Jews of citizenship and full fundamental rights; immigration restrictions in other countries made leaving Germany difficult.


Section 3

• During the Holocaust, the Nazis killed nearly 6 million European Jews.

− The Hebrew term for the Holocaust is Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”

Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)

• Although the Nazis persecuted anyone who dared oppose them, as well as the disabled, Gypsies, homosexuals, and Slavic peoples, they reserved their strongest hatred for the Jews.


Section 3

• After the Nazis took power, they quickly moved to deprive German Jews of many established rights.


− In September 1935 the Nuremberg Laws took citizenship away from Jewish Germans and prohibited marriage between Jews and other Germans.

− Soon, other rights, such as the ability to work in certain professions, were taken away as well.


Section 3

• On November 7, 1938, a young Jewish refugee named Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed a German diplomat in Paris.


− In retaliation, Hitler ordered his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to stage attacks against the Jews that would seem like a spontaneous reaction to news of the murder.


Section 3

• The anti-Jewish violence that erupted throughout Germany and Austria that night came to be called Kristallnacht, or “night of broken glass.”


− Following the night of violence, the Gestapo arrested at least 20,000 wealthy Jews, releasing them only if they agreed to emigrate and surrender all their possessions.


Section 3

• Between 1933, when Hitler took power, and the start of World War II in 1939, some 350,000 Jews escaped Germany.


− However, many Jews remained trapped in Nazi-dominated Europe.


Section 3

• Several factors limited Jewish immigration to the United States:


− Jews could not take more than about four dollars out of Germany, and American immigration laws forbade granting a visa to anyone “likely to become a public charge.”

− High unemployment rates in the 1930s made immigration unpopular.

− Some Americans were anti-Semitic.


Section 3

− The existing immigration policy allowed only 150,000 immigrants annually.

• At an international conference on refuges in 1938, several European countries, the United States, and Latin America stated their regret that they could not take in more of Germany’s Jews.

• The SS St. Louis, with 930 Jewish refugees on board, was denied permission to dock in Cuba or the United States and turned back to Europe.



Section 3

The Final Solution

Nazi atrocities included sending millions of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, the disabled, and others to concentration camps and extermination camps.


Section 3

• On January 20, 1942, Nazi leaders met at the Wannsee Conference to determine the “final solution of the Jewish question.”

− They decided to round up healthy Jews from the vast areas of Nazi-controlled Europe and take them to detention centers known as concentration camps.

The Final Solution (cont.)

The Holocaust, 1939–1945


Section 3

− Most others, including the elderly, the infirm, and young children, would be sent to extermination camps.

− Some camps include Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and Treblinka.

The Final Solution (cont.)

• In only a few years, Jewish culture, which had existed in Europe for over 1,000 years, had been virtually obliterated by the Nazis in the lands they conquered.

The Holocaust, 1939–1945


DFS Trans 3


Section 4

FDR Supports England

President Roosevelt favored changes in American neutrality laws, although Americans remained divided about the war and American involvement.


Section 4

• Soon after the war began, Roosevelt called Congress into a special session to revise the neutrality laws.

− Under the Neutrality Act of 1939, warring nations could buy weapons from the U.S. only on a “cash-and-carry” basis.

− He used a loophole in the neutrality act to send 50 old American destroyers to Churchill in exchange for the right build American bases on British-controlled Newfoundland, Bermuda, and islands in the Caribbean.

FDR Supports England (cont.)


Section 4

• A heated neutrality debate took place during the 1940 presidential election campaign.

• There were three committees with different viewpoints:

FDR Supports England (cont.)

− The Fight for Freedom Committee

− The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies

− The America First Committee


Section 4

Edging Toward the War

In 1940 and 1941, the United States took more steps to provide aid to Great Britain.


Section 4

• By December 1940, Great Britain had run out of funds to wage war against Germany.

Edging Toward the War (cont.)

− Roosevelt proposed the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the United States to lend or lease arms to any country considered “vital to the defense of the United States.”

− After Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, this act also helped them.


Section 4

• Because the United States was still technically neutral, Roosevelt could not order the U.S. Navy to protect British cargo ships.


− Instead, he developed the idea of a hemispheric defense zone.

− He then ordered the U.S. Navy to patrol the western Atlantic and reveal the location of German submarines to the British.

Aiding Britain, 1939–1941


Section 4

• In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on the text of the Atlantic Charter.


− By late September, an additional 15 anti-Axis nations had signed the charter.

• In early September 1941, a German U-boat fired on an American destroyer.

− Another U-boat sank the Reuben James, killing 115 sailors.

− As the end of 1941 drew near, Germany and the U.S. continued a tense standoff.


DFS Trans 4


Section 4

Japan Attacks

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led the United States to declare war on Japan.


Section 4

• As German submarines sank British ships in the Atlantic, the British began moving warships from Southeast Asia, leaving India and other colonial possessions vulnerable to the Japanese.

− FDR applied economic pressure to hinder Japanese aggression.

Japan Attacks (cont.)


Section 4

• In July 1940 Congress gave the president the power to restrict the sale of strategic materials to Japan.

− Furious, the Japanese signed an alliance with Germany and Italy, becoming a member of the Axis.



Section 4

• In 1941, Roosevelt began sending lend-lease aid to China in hopes of enabling the Chinese to tie down the Japanese and prevent them from attacking elsewhere.

− This strategy failed, and Japan sent military forces into southern Indochina.



Section 4

• Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the United States, reduced the amount of oil being shipped to Japan, and sent General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines to build up American defenses.


• The Japanese then planned a series of attacks, including in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

• Congress voted in favor of declaring war on Japan.


Section 4

• On December 11, Germany and Italy both declared war on the United States.



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Documents

Splash Screen. Chapter Intro Could World War II Have Been Prevented? In the 1930s, global economic problems brought dictators to power in Europe and Japan,