Rise of Fascism

Unit VIWorld War II

Part IAxis Aggressors on the March1931-1939Militarists Take Control of JapanArmy leaders ruled in thename of Emperor Hirohito.

Militarists were extremenationalists whose goal wasforeign expansion.

Wanted to establish Pacificempire that included China.

1931 Japan Invades ManchuriaJapanese army seized Manchuriain 1931. First direct challenge tothe League of Nations.

League condemned Japaneseaggression, but had no power to enforce its decisions.

Japan ignored League protestsand withdrew from the Leaguein 1933.

1937Japan Invades ChinaJapanese army started all-out war against China in 1937.

Poorly equipped and poorly trained Chinese forces underJiang Jieshi forced to retreat.

Rape of Nanking resulted inkilling of tens of thousands ofcivilians and captured soldiersby Japanese troops.

1935Italy Attacks EthiopiaMussolini dreamed of buildingempire in Africa.

Ordered invasion of Ethiopia in1935.

Ethiopian government appealedto League of Nations for help.League condemned attack, butmembers did nothing.

Hitler Defies Treaty of VersaillesIgnored treatys restrictions and began building up Germanysmilitary. League of Nations didnothing.

Encouraged by Leagues inaction,Hitler sent German troops intothe Rhineland in 1936.

Britain and France adopted policyof appeasement towards Hitler inhopes of avoiding war.

German Occupation of Rhineland Marked a Turning Point in March Toward War. Why?Strengthened Hitlers powerand prestige within Germany.Cautious generals who urgedrestraint now willing to followhim.

Changed balance of power inEurope. France and Belgiumnow open to attack.

Weak response of France andBritain encouraged Hitler toact more aggressively.

1936Axis Alliance CreatedHitler and Mussolini enter intoalliance: Rome-Berlin Axis,

Germany also forms alliance with Japan.

Germany, Italy, and Japan cameto be called the Axis Powers.

1936-1939Spanish Civil WarArmy leaders led by GeneralFrancisco Franco staged revoltagainst the government.

Hitler and Mussolini sent aid toFrancos Nationalist forces.

Western democracies remainedneutral. Only Russia aided thegovernments Republican forces.

War ended with Nationalistvictory. Franco became Spainsfascist dictator.

Hitler and FrancoU.S. IsolationismMany Americans determinednot to get involved in anothercostly war.

Congress passed series of three Neutrality Acts, starting 1935. No loans to nations at war No arms sales to nations at war. No Americans allowed to travel on ships of nations at war.

Dr. Seuss on U.S. Isolationism

March, 1938Hitlers Annexation of AustriaHitler sent the German army into Austria and annexed it.

Britain and France ignoredpledge to protect Austriasindependence.

First step in creation of newGerman empire HitlersThird Reich

September, 1938Hitler Demands the SudetenlandWestern border region of Czechoslovakia with three million German-speaking people.

Czechoslovakia refused Hitlers demand andappealed to France for help.

September, 29, 1938The Munich ConferenceMeeting of France, Britain, Germany, and Italy.

Czechs not invited.

Appeasement at Munich

France and Britain appeased Hitler by giving in to his demands. Allowed him to take the Sudetenland.

Peace for Our TimeBritish PM Neville Chamberlainreturned to London, famously declaring that they had achievedpeace for our time.

Chamberlain forever associatedwith appeasement.

Six months later, Hitlers armiestook all of Czechoslovakia.

Mussolinis armies took Albania.

Hitler Looks Towards PolandHitler demands that Polandreturn port city of Danzig toGermany. Poland refuses andturns to Britain and France for help.

Britain and France guaranteePolands independence, butHitlers convinced that neithernation will risk war.

August, 1939Hitler & Stalin Sign Nonaggression PactStalin mistrusts France andBritain and wants to avoidwar with Germany.

Pact is commitment never toattack one another.

Secret agreement to dividePoland between them.

Also agreed that Russia couldtake Finland & Baltic States.

September, 1939Germany Invades PolandGerman armies invade Polandin lightening strike (Blitzkrieg)Surprise attack marks the startof World War II.

Britain and France declare waron Germany, but too late to savePoland, which is conquered ina month.

Blitzkrieg

German bombers flew 1,150 sorties (missions) and destroyed 84% of Warsaw Incendiary (fire) bombs used.

The Battle for Western Europe1940-1941The Phony WarSeven months of strangecalm following the fall of Poland.

French army stationedalong its heavily fortifiedborder, the Maginot Line,waiting for Germany toattack.

Maginot Line Fortifications

April, May, 1940Germany Invades Western EuropeGerman armies attacked and conquered:NorwayDenmarkHollandBelgiumLuxembourg

Then Germany invaded France.

May, 1940Germanys Invasion of France

- May 26 June 4, 1940 The Miracle of DunkirkFrench port city on theEnglish channel.

British and French armiestrapped there with theirbacks to the sea.

British staged miraculousrescue of 338,000 troops.How?850 shipsAir coverage from the RAFHeavy German bombing

June, 1940The Fall of FranceMussolini declared war onBritain and France andthen attacked France fromthe south.

German army entered Parison June 14.

France surrendered June 22.

France DividedGerman army occupiednorthern France.

Left southern France under control of a French puppet government headed byMarshall Petain (known asthe Vichy French).

The Free French led byGen. Charles de Gaullecontinued to fight the Nazisuntil France was liberatedin 1944.

Henri Petain

Charles de Gualle

The French Resistance

Sept.1940 May 1941The Battle of BritainAfter surrender of France,Britain was all alone.

German Luftwaffe began bombing Britain, planning to destroy the RAF before invading with troops.

Intense bombing campaignof British cities lasted nine months.

Winston ChurchillPrime Minister who inspired and rallied British people as they stood alone against Hitler.

We shall fight on the beaches,we shall fight on the landinggrounds, we shall fight in thefields and in the streets WESHALL NEVER SURRENDER.

Winston Churchill

Sept.1940 May 1941Britains Victory in Battle of BritainBritish use of radar and code-breaking device contributed to eventualBritish victory in Battle of Britain.

Unable to defeat Britain,Hitler calls off Germanattack.

Hitler shifts his focus toEastern Europe and theSoviet Union.

The Eastern Front and the Mediterranean1940-1941Spring, 1941The War in the BalkansBulgaria, Romania, and Hungary pressured to join Axis powers.

Yugoslavia and Greece resisted so Hitler invadedboth countries. Both fell within weeks.

June, 1941Hitler Invades the Soviet UnionHitler launched surprise blitzkrieg attack on theSoviet Union (OperationBarbarossa)

Soviet Union unprepared.Red Army pushed back500 miles.

Russian Army practicedsame scorched earthstrategy it had usedagainst Napoleon.

Sept. Dec. 1941The War in the Soviet UnionGerman army surrounds and lays siege to Leningrad. Morethan 1 million Russians died,but the city refused to fall.

German armies reach outskirtsof Moscow but fail to take thecity. Why?Russian winterRussian counter-offensive

Germans love 500,000 men .

U.S. Neutral in Name OnlyDestroyer Deal (Sept.1940) --FDR transferred fifty old WWIdestroyers to Britain, in return for U.S. military rights to eight defensive base sites.

Cash and carry - NeutralityAct amended to permit anycountry to buy arms from U.S. on a cash and carry basis.How did this law favor Britain?

U.S. Neutral in Name OnlyLend-Lease Act, March 1941.Allows U.S. to lend or leaseweapons and other suppliesto any country whose defenseis vital to U.S. $50 billion allocated$31 billion to Britain alone

U.S. navy escorts British shipscarrying U.S. arms across the Atlantic.

August, 1941The Atlantic CharterSecret meeting between FDR and Churchill onship in North Atlantic.

Issued joint declaration of principles and goals known as the Atlantic Charter.

HMS Prince of Wales

What do the two nations agree to?

How does this put the US one step closer to war?

What ideologies are behind this document?