WORLD WAR II
Chapters 24 & 25
• In the 1930’s dictators rise; driven by
Nationalism: desire for more territory and
national pride.

Totalitarianism: Governments who exert
total control over their citizens.

Fascism: A political philosophy that considers
the individual inferior to the interests of the
government. Fascists seek to form a national
unity, usually based on ethnic, cultural, racial,
or religious characteristics.
Failures of the World War I
Peace Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles causes anger & resentment
in Europe.
 Germany resents blame for WWI , reparations
& loss of: colonies, border territories.
 Russia resents loss of lands that was used to
create other nations.
 New democracies in Europe struggle under
social problems & the Great Depression.

RUSSIA
 1917
Lenin establishes the Soviet Union
in a Communist Revolution.
 1924 Joseph Stalin takes over.
 Ends private ownership of farms and
property.
 Millions die from starvation.
 He kills anyone in opposition to him.
 8-13 million are killed!
Joseph Stalin
ITALY
 Benito
Mussolini
 Plays on peoples economic fears and
fears of communism.
 1922 he takes control of Italy and
establishes a totalitarian state.
Benito Mussolini
Il Duce – ―The leader‖
Mussolini Video Clip - 4min
Germany
 Adolf
Hitler leader of the
Nazi party.
 He Wrote Mein Kampf—basic beliefs
of Nazism, based on extreme
Nationalism and Fascism.
 He wants to unite German-speaking
people, and enforce racial
―purification‖.
Adolf Hitler
speaking over the
radio microphone
(May 9, 1934).
 1932,
1 out of 3 Germans were
unemployed.
 Nazis become the strongest political
party; Hitler is named Chancellor.
 Hitler is called: Der Fuhrer (The leader).
 Hitler dismantles the democratic
government and establishes the Third
Reich.
Hitler Video 2:50 min
Japan
In 1931, in a need for ―living space &
natural resources‖ military leaders seize
Manchuria.
 League of Nations condemns the action;
so Japan quits the League.
 Militarists take control of Japanese
government thought the Emperors name.

Japans Invasion of Manchuria 1:50min
Emperor Hirohito
Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo - 3:30 min
Aggression in Europe & Africa
1933, Hitler quits the League of Nations.
 1935 he begins German military buildup.
 Hitler sends troops into the Rhineland,
the League does nothing to stop him.
 1935, League fails to stop Mussolini’s
invasion of Ethiopia.

How do world leaders
respond to Hitler's
aggression?
Appeasement: Policy of giving in to a
dictator to try and avoid conflict.
 Neville Chamberlin – British Prime Minister
 Munich Agreement - 1938
 Gives Hitler Czechoslovakia in return for
Hitler’s promised peace.
 “Peace in our time”
 Did it work? What can we learn from this?

Italy’s Invasion of Ethiopia
Civil War Breaks Out in Spain
1936, General Francisco Franco rebels
against the Spanish Government.

- Spanish Civil War begins.
 Hitler & Mussolini back Franco; Stalin aids
the opposition.

- Western democracies remain neutral.
 War leads to the Rome-Berlin Axis—
alliance between Italy and Germany.
 1939, Franco wins war, becomes Fascist
dictator.

Francisco Franco
The U.S. Responds
Cautiously
Americans Cling to Isolationism.
 1935 Neutrality Acts try to keep U.S. out of
future wars.
 The law outlaws weapons sales & loans to
nations at war.

Open Notes Quiz
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10.
What was the Neutrality Act?
Why was the Spanish Civil War important to
WWII?
What was the League of Nations response to the
aggression by Germany and Japan?
What was the name of Hitler book?
What area of land did Japan invade in 1931?
Who was Joseph Stalin?
Define (in your own words) Totalitarianism?
Who was the leader of Italy in WWII?
What is appeasement?
How did the Treaty of Versailles lead to WWII?
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
1939, Hitler (Germany) posed a NonAggression Pact with Stalin (Soviet Union)
 What does non-aggression mean?
 This shocked the world!

 Soviet
Union = Communism
 Germany = Nazism

Both were completely different…Hmm?
German Invasion of Poland - Sept 1939
What is Blitzkrieg?
USA Response

Cash and Carry – Policy change in 1939
to the 1935 Neutrality Act. Said that
Warring nations could buy weapons from
the U.S. only on a Cash and Carry basis.
Maginot Line
German invasion of Denmark,
Norway, Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg & France -1940
Dunkirk Handout
Battle Of Britain



German Air Raids on London - Aug 24 to Nov 3, 1940
Hitler hoped the devastation would force the English to
surrender. They Didn’t!!!
What new invention helped the English survive?
Atlantic Charter:
Agreement between
Churchill and FDR that
stated their #1 goal was
to make the world safe
for self-determination.
Lend–Lease Act- With Britain out of money to
fight Germany, America allowed ―lending or
renting‖ military supplies.
 This way America could stay neutral and let
England do the fighting.
 Aid eventually went to China & Russia as well.

Churchill Speech – Battle of Britain 3:30min
Then in 1941, Hitler launches an attack on
the Soviet Union, violating the
non-aggression Pact.
 (Russia joins the Allies)


Kristallnacht – “Night of the Broken Glass”





A massive attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the
night of November 9, 1938. Smashed shop windows, looted
stores, ransacked Jewish homes, and killed dozens of Jews.
Twenty thousand Jews were arrested. (hmm?)
Two days later, the German government imposed an "atonement
fine" of a billion marks on the Jews to pay for the property damage
What caused this to occur?
 The attack came after Herschel Grynszpan, a 17 year old Jew
living in Paris, shot and killed a member of the German
Embassy staff there in retaliation for the poor treatment his
father and his family suffered at the hands of the Nazis in
Germany.
On October 27, Grynszpan's family and over 15,000 other Jews,
had been forcibly transported by train in boxcars then dumped at
the Polish border.
For Adolf Hitler, the shooting in Paris provided an opportunity to
incite Germans to "rise in bloody vengeance against the Jews."