
World War II 1939-1945
D. Imperialism (Axis Aggressions) • 1931 Japan takes Manchuria and port of Shanghai • 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia • 1936 Germany retakes Saar Valley (Rhineland) • 1938 Germany annexes Austria • 1938 Munich Conference- Germany gains Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia
Aggressions cont’d • 1937 Japan invades China • 1939 Germany takes rest of Czechoslovakia • 1936-39 Germany helps Spanish fascists in Spanish Civil War- Franco comes to power. • 1939 Hitler and Stalin sign Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact • September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland. World War II officially starts.
A. Germany 1939-1942 • Blitzkrieg tactics • By Fall of 1940, Germany had conquered most of western Europe. • Began the “Blitz” of Britain to try and remove them from the war. • June 1941 Germany violated Non-Aggression Pact and invaded Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
B. Japan 1937-1942 • 1937 Invaded China • 1941 Bombed Pearl Harbor/ Invaded Philippines and Vietnam • 1942 Invaded Singapore and islands south to New Guinea thus threatening Australia • 1942 Also took some Aleutian Islands (US territory)
C. Axis Successes by 1942 • Held all of western and most of eastern Europe • Controlled most of the Mediterranean area • North Africa • Most of China and Southeast Asia • Controlled large areas of Russia
III. Allied Turning Points 1942-44 • 1942 Battle of Midway • Partisans in Europe • August 1942 Stalingrad • Spring 1943 US and British forces defeat Germany in North Africa • August 1943 Invade Sicily • Fall of 1943 Invade Italy • Summer 1943 Battle of Kursk • June 6, 1944 Normandy Invasion • Winter 1944 Battle of the Bulge
A. Allied Victory Europe • After the battles of the Bulge and Kursk, the German army was on the run. • Massive Allied bombing of Germany in 1944 and 1945 • Hitler commits suicide in April 1945 as Soviets enter Berlin.
B. Allied Victory Japan • After Midway, General Douglas MacArthur begins “island hopping” campaign. • By Spring of 1945, Allied forces had recaptured most of Pacific and after battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa could now launch bombing raids on Japan. • August 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed by atomic bombs.
V. Conferences • 1941 Atlantic- Churchill and Roosevelt meet to set war aims • 1943 Tehran- Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill meet to discuss opening second front in Europe and to agree to cooperate in war effort. • Feb. 1945 Yalta- Big Three meet again to discuss post war Europe, UN creation, agreement to defeat Japan together. • July 1945 Potsdam- Big Three (Truman now president of US) re-affirm Yalta agreements, US hints at atomic bomb development.
VI. Results of WWII • 2191 days of warfare • 17 million soldiers killed • 44 million civilians killed-12 million in Nazi death camps • Most expensive war in history • United Nations formed • 2 power world emerges- US vs. USSR • Cold War begins