WWII

I. Development of the world between WWI and WWII

A. The Boom and Great Depression
i. 1920s are a period of frenzied spending and growth in the US and parts of Europe
ii. bubble economy of the 1920s collapses in 1929 stock market crash
iii. financial panic becomes the Great Depression as credit markets freeze and governments
pursue protectionism, shutting down much of world trade
a) in the US, many veterans weren't paid for medical treatments post WWI, leading to
riots
• this, and a general fear of another war, led to passing Neutrality Acts
B. Economic disaster and postwar disillusionment lead to radical changes
i. US, Britain, France, and Scandinavia expanded governments rapidly, using taxation and
public spending to redistribute wealth and promote growth
ii. Germany, Italy, and Russia (and elsewhere) revolutionary movements emerge and try to
take power
C. Communism in Russia
i. Vladimir Lenin took over in 1917, leading to a new idea called “Leninism” (extreme
socialism- Communism)
a) after his death in 1924, many leading figures in different areas of government
attempt to take power by gaining the support of the people
• Joseph Stalin is the best at this, not only defeating his opponents but totally
stripping them of political power
• anyone who opposed him was labeled as against Leninism
• after taking power in 1929, Stalin nationalized all property into the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
ii. Stalinism before WWII
a) bases rule on rapid, forced collectivism
• peasants are driven off of farms, land becomes giant collective state farms
• those who resist are class enemies- arrested, killed, or deported
• pushes industrialization and state ownership of all factories, plants, stores, etc
• his policies lead to a disastrous famine in 1932, causing the death of over a
million people by starvation (mostly in Ukraine)
b) programs run according to massive 5 year plans that set targets for the entire
economy
• these plans were not based upon available resources, but on “needs”
• this made targets generally unreachable, but government told everyone they
were meeting targets
• anyone unable to meet target was labeled a class enemy or spy
• these were arrested, put in labor camps, exiled to Siberia, or shot
• this led to a system that was generally corrupt, where managers regularly
cheated or falsified production statistics
• focused on quantity instead of quality
• could denounce a rival for revenge or career advancement
c) creating “new Soviet man and woman”
• expected to think, feel, and behave according to Communist ideology
• cut off foreign influence, outlawed opposition political parties, instituted mass
 campaign against religion, used schools and youth organizations to indoctrinate
people with Communist ideology
d) industrialization
• in just 10 years, the USSR caught up with capitalist industrial powers
• also increased literacy rates and improved health care for most
• despite problems, most people believed in socialism and thought Stalin was a
national hero
e) 1934-1938
• rapid industrialization and collectivism meant the entire society was in almost
constant crisis
• hunting for enemies became more deadly each year
• secret police formed and were used extensively
• hundreds of thousands of innocents were put to death
• the terror destroyed much of the leadership of the universities and the
scientific community, the army, and the government
• there are no exact numbers, but estimates put deaths between 3-8 million
• most people refused to believe the reports and still thought Stalin was a
hero
D. Fascism in Italy and Germany
i. like Russian Communism, Fascism is totalitarian
a) focused on nationalism
b) state controlled economy, but with private property and government alliance with
private industry
c) power imposed with violent police state
ii. Italy
a) 1922, Benito Mussolini seizes power, seeking to recapture Roman imperial glory
iii. Germany
a) 1933, Adolph Hitler gains power, seeking to restore German imperial might in the
context of an imagined racial purity
• uses original ideas of “good German” vs “un-German”
• focuses rhetoric on “stab in the back” argument made after WWI
iv. other countries
a) similar political movements spread to western Europe, and fascist sympathizers
appear in Britain, France, US, and elsewhere
b) Spain erupts in civil war that brings the militarist Francisco Franco to power in 1936
• Germany and Italy send aid in 1936 to the Fascist side of the war, leading to
Franco solidifying power and remaining the leader until 1975
• he didn't join WWII though, because he saw no advantage
c) Japan is highly militaristic
• invades Manchuria 1931, then spreads power further into China over years
• League of Nations condemns the action, but does nothing
• Japan pulls out of the League, proving how useless it is
• Hitler follows the example and pulls out in 1933, then begins to secretly
build up his military
• this directly leads to economic recovery, making him more popular
E. Moving Pieces
i. Italy invades Ethiopia 1935
 a) at the time, Italy was opposed to Hitler's rising power, so despite sanctions passing,
they were not heavy
b) England and France needed Italy to keep Hitler in check, so they didn't want to press
too far with Italy
• Hitler noticed this and realized the international community was too afraid of
war to enforce peace
• 1936 Italy joined with Germany into the Axis Powers after both helped Spain's
Fascists to power
• again the League was unable to do anything about this
ii. Germany reoccupies the Rhineland 1936
a) direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles
b) Rhineland is a region between the border of France and Germany that had been
demilitarized in the Treaty
• this region was supposed to be a buffer between France and Germany
• Hitler was convinced the League would do nothing
c) France was still more powerful than Germany, but was unwilling to enforce the
Treaty without British aid
• Britain was still dealing with the memories of WWI, and therefore were in a
period of Pacifism
• by the mid 1930s, many in Britain believed Germany had been unfairly
treated by the Treaty of Versailles
• Germany therefore had troops near the French border unopposed
iii. Japan invades China 1937
a) again the League watches without action
iv. Germany annexes Austria March 1938
a) Hitler threatens to attack Austria unless the Austrian Chancellor resigns, which he
does
• Austrian Nazi party takes control and requests to be annexed by Germany
• Germany takes the area without firing a shot
b) British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rejects joining an alliance with France
and Russia
• believes it was too aggressive diplomatically and it might lead to problems
negotiating with Hitler later
• as a result, the international community does nothing in response to Germany
taking over Austria
v. Czechoslovakia
a) Sudetenland
• region speaks German, so Hitler demands it become part of Germany to unite all
German peoples- threatens war
• Czechoslovakia refuses
• had well defended borders and France as an ally
b) Munich Conference September 1938
• Neville Chamberlain arranges the conference
• attended by Germany, France, Britain, and Italy
• Czechoslovakia and Russia weren't invited
• Chamberlain adopts policy of appeasement
• make concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid war
 • backed by Pacifist sentiment in Britain and France
• Czechoslovakia was forced to give away the Sudetenland
• Germany agreed to guarantee the independence of Czechoslovakia
• Czechs were shocked that the fate of their country was determined by
other countries
• Hitler promised he wouldn't make any more territorial demands in Europe
• if Czechoslovakia refused, it would receive no military support from Britain
or France
• Chamberlain returned to Britain a hero claiming he achieved “peace in our time”
c) Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia March 1939 (6 months after
conference)
• Hitler double-crossed Chamberlain
• Czechoslovakia didn't resist the invasion
• in one year, Germany had taken Austria and Czechoslovakia without war
II. World War II begins
A. Invasion of Poland
i. one week after taking Czechoslovakia, Hitler demands the Baltic port city of Danzig in
Poland
a) claimed German people there were being mistreated and he was there to protect
them
b) Chamberlain threatened war if Germany attacked Poland
• Hitler feared a two front war like in WWI
ii. German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact August 1939
a) Hitler guaranteed non-aggression with Russia to ensure Germany only had to worry
about the west and offered to split Poland with Soviets (this part was secret)
b) Hitler and Stalin hated each other, and the world was shocked that Stalin agreed
• Stalin would also get the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
• France and Britain had offered Stalin military risk without gain; Hitler had
offered Stalin territorial gain without risk
c) Stalin knew who he was dealing with and fully expected Hitler to betray him, so he
used the time to build up the army and prepare for the eventual war
iii. Germany invades Poland September 1, 1939
a) marks the beginning of WWII
b) September 3 Britain and France declared war on Germany
B. Germany's Conquests 1939-1941
i. Blitzkrieg
a) “lightning war”
• new form of warfare used to quickly divide and defeat an enemy
• focus attack in one area, break through and surround enemy
• used coordinated attack with air force, tanks, and artillery
• wanted to avoid trench warfare
b) Poland falls in about a month
• USSR attacked from east
• Stalin invaded Finland 1939
• annexed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania 1940 to create buffer zone against
Germany
c) for 7 months the fighting stopped, causing some to say WWII was an overreaction
ii. 1940
a) April
• Hitler invades Denmark, Sweden, Norway
b) May
• Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg
c) June
• France
• fell in less than 6 weeks
• Dunkirk
• thousands of French and British soldiers were trapped on the beaches of
France, but just before Germany swept in British vessels were able to
evacuate them
• these troops would return and fight all the harder for it
• Vichy France
• puppet government created in southern France because Hitler didn't want
to waste time subduing all of France
• worked with Germany until they were finally taken over by Hitler later in
the war
d) Tripartite Pact
• Japan added to the Rome-Berlin axis for mutual defense and military support
iii. Battle of Britain
a) Hitler offered Britain peace if it accepted Germany's control of western Europe
• Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had replaced Chamberlain, flatly refused
b) Hitler then planned a massive invasion of England
• tried to soften them up with wide-spread aerial bombings
c) August
• Luftwaffe (German air force) was ordered to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF)
• Britain was able to effectively use radar to detect air attacks
• Hitler then orders the bombing of London (the “Blitz”)
• fatal error on his part- unites people of the world against him
• RAF able to recover and ultimately defeat the larger Luftwaffe
• Germany lost 2,433 planes; RAF lost 900
• Blitz continued until May 1941, but Hitler was unable to actually invade
the island and remove Britain from the war
• now had to deal with a future two front war
• D-Day would launch in 1944 from Britain
iv. German invasion of the Soviet Union June 1941
a) Hitler had always intended to invade Russia
• greatest mistake of the war
b) Scorched Earth policy
• Soviets destroyed anything of value as they tactically withdrew to deprive
German army of resources; thousands of towns in the USSR were destroyed
c) by winter, Germans were at the gates of Moscow while laying siege to Leningrad
(St. Petersburg)
d) Atlantic Charter
• Churchill and US President Franklin Roosevelt met secretly after the invasion of
the Soviet Union
 • agreed that once the Axis Powers were defeated, there would be no territorial
changes against the wishes of inhabitants (self-determination)
• called for “a permanent system of general security”
• becomes United Nations
• Stalin endorsed the agreement soon after
• US remained militarily neutral until December 1941
• Neutrality Acts in 1930s prevented FDR from drawing US into the war
• Lend-Lease Act (1941) gave large amounts of money and supplies to
help Britain and Soviets; effectively ended US neutrality
• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 resulted in US entry
into war
v. Hitler declares war on US on December 11
a) another fatal blunder
b) instead of focusing on Japan, the US and Britain focused on defeating Germany first
• US sent Navy to fight Japan island to island while army stormed Axis holdings
in Africa
vi. Grand Alliance
a) formed 1942, consisting of Britain, the Soviet Union, and the US as well as two
dozen other countries
III. Nazi Empire in Europe
A. German holdings by end of 1941
i. controlled all of western Europe (except for neutral Switzerland and Sweden)
a) includes Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Norway, and western Russia
ii. Spain allowed Germany to use their ports, but remained neutral
iii. German allies
a) Italy, Japan, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria
iv. Britain isolated and holding the western fight alone, but with significant help from US
B. Nazi “New Order”
i. exploited new territories for economic value to fund war machine
ii. Nordic people (Dutch, Norwegians, and Danes) were treated better since they were
racially related to Germans
iii. Hitler heavily taxed the French as “inferior” Latin people; mostly tolerated as a race
though
iv. Slavs in eastern Europe were seen as “subhuman”
a) took men and women for slave labor to work in German factories
b) Hitler planned that Poles, Ukrainians, and Russians would be enslaved and forced to
die out, while Germanic peasants resettled the resulting abandoned lands
c) Polish workers and Soviet prisoners of war were transported to Germany where they
did most of the heavy labor and were systematically worked to death
• 80% of Soviet prisoners did not survive the war
C. Genocide of Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and captured communists
i. Businesses and property were confiscated
a) this began as early as 1933 as Hitler consolidated power
b) much of his argument for this centered around the idea of complete conformity to
the German way, which by their very nature Jews and others were not German
• also reiterated the blame for the loss of WWI on those who didn't conform,
specifically the Jews
 • "If at the beginning of the War and during the War twelve or fifteen thousand
of these Hebrew corrupters of the people had been held under poison gas, as
happened to hundreds of thousands of our very best German workers in the
field, the sacrifice of millions at the front would not have been in vain"
ii. gradually restrictions tightened, keeping many from seeing what was happening until it
was too late to respond
a) Jews (and others) were required to wear identification (yellow ID stars on their
chest)
b) 1935 outlawed Aryans marrying Jews, blacks, Gypsies, and others
c) then stripped citizenship from any non Aryan
iii. in Poland, Jews were forced to live in segregated communities, which were gradually
walled in (Ghettos)
a) deprived of adequate supplies
b) several families crammed into a single apartment
c) forbidden contact with the outside world
iv. “Final Solution” to the Jewish Problem
a) begins late 1941
b) six death camps built in Poland in addition to hundreds of concentration camps
• Auschwitz most notorious
c) 6 million Jews (about 2/3 of pre-war Jewish population) killed
d) between 5-6 million others also murdered
• included political prisoners, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Gypsies
e) many were also used as test subjects for “scientific progress”
• subjected to high altitude conditions for development of jet airplanes
• tested new biological agents
• used for developing vaccinations
• especially liked using the disabled and twins for their studies
v. Hunger Plan
a) Nazis also planned to starve over 30 million people in the east by burning crops and
cities for later colonization by Germans
• this policy led to the death of an estimated 19.2 million in the east
D. Underground Movements
i. spring up in various areas- increased as the war went on
ii. sabotaged Nazi supply depots, derailed trains, blew up bridges
a) French Underground is most well known example
iii. supplied Allies with valuable information and aid: detailed troop movements, published
secret newspapers, hid escaped Allied prisoners and downed Allied pilots
IV. Turning points in the war
A. El Alamein 1942
i. in July British forces were able to halt the German advance in Egypt
ii. by November, British forces drove Germans out of Egypt entirely
a) Germans were pushed westward across North Africa
iii. Operation Torch
a) US and British forces landed on the beaches of Morocco and Algeria and engaged
retreating German forces
b) by May 1943 the Germans were surrounded by Allied armies and defeated
• Axis suffered massive casualties and lost many as prisoners of war
iv. this loss ties to Hitler's mistake in attacking the USSR instead of finishing Britain
 v. Allied victory opened the door for the invasion of Italy in July 1943
B. Stalingrad November 1942-February 1943
i. critical battle of the eastern front
a) first German land defeat in Europe
ii. Hitler tried to take the industrial city of Stalingrad on the way to take control of Soviet
oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains
a) this battle is one of the single largest and bloodiest in human history
b) overall, 1.7-2 million were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner between soldiers and
civilians, who were targeted by German air attacks
• soldiers hid in houses and killed any German who walked by, requiring the
Germans to go through every building to clear them out as they advanced
c) Axis Powers didn't surrender until they'd run out of ammunition
• greatest loss by Germany, who never returned to full strength after this
iii. German armies were eventually surrounded by Soviet forces
a) Hitler refused to allow the German forces to surrender and thus the bulk of the
German army in Stalingrad was killed
iv. after this battle, the Soviets began a 2 ½ year campaign to push the German army back
to Berlin
v. Battle of Kursk (July 1943)
a) largest tank battle in human history ending in a Russian victory
vi. by February 1945 Soviet armies were just outside Berlin
C. D-Day, Operation Overlord, June 6, 1944
i. 120,000 troops crossed the English Channel from southern England and invaded France
in an amphibious assault on Normandy (northern French coast)
a) largest sea invasion in human history
b) battle was set up by using false information and broken German communications to
coordinate
• Hitler deployed the bulk of his forces miles away at a less defended area that was
a more logical target
c) Allied forces landed on 5 beaches, but strong winds pushed two groups into much
heavier defenses
• German casualties: 1,000
• Allied casualties: 10,000
d) success of D-Day demonstrated how important the Battle of Britain had been in
1940 when Germany failed to defeat the RAF and invade England
ii. western front established
a) beginning of the end of Nazi domination in Europe
b) Paris liberated one month later
c) Hitler now fighting 3 fronts
• east against Russians, west against US and Britain (and French), and in Italy
against US and Britain
d) by fall, Allied troops reached the German border and were preparing to invade
D. Battle of the Bulge, December 1944
i. Hitler made one more attempt to drive the Allies from Germany's western border
a) hoped by defeating 4 Allied armies in one push, he would have enough momentum
to gain advantage in a peace treaty so he could focus on the eastern front
ii. brutal fighting in winter resulted in high casualties, especially for US
a) numbers vary based on who you ask, but
 • German: 67,000-125,000
• US: 75,000-108,000
• British: 1,400
iii. Germans surprised the Allied forces and put almost everything they had into the battle,
but US troops were able to absorb the attacks and turn them on the enemy
a) part of the front line retreated inwards, leaving the overall line looking like a bulge-
American troops then were able to catch many Germans in a crossfire
iv. after the German loss, Allied forces quickly pushed deep into German territory in 1945
E. Fall of Berlin April-May 1945
i. Berlin was surrounded by British, American, and Soviet troops
ii. Hitler was down to a very small defense force, and turned to Hitler Youth to continue the
fighting
a) even awarded them medals before they went to die fighting the Soviets
iii. Hitler tried negotiating with Britain and America after FDR died (April 12), but the
Allies were unwilling to take anything but unconditional surrender
iv. Hitler ordered a “scorched earth” policy
a) meant to kill all leftover Jews and destroy industrial centers to keep them out of
Allied hands, but the minister entrusted with this secretly disobeyed the order
v. he then ordered a two pronged attack by separate forces, but the commander of one
knew it was a waste and didn't attack
a) when Hitler found out, he raged that his commanders were incompetent and that all
was lost, so he would stay in Berlin and shoot himself before capture
b) others attempted to negotiate peace and take power from Hitler on the sly, so he had
them arrested and stripped of power
vi. while Berlin was under siege, Hitler married his longtime mistress, Eva Braun, then
dictated his will
a) later that afternoon, he learned of Mussolini's painful and public execution at the
hands of his people who he'd mistreated over the years
b) April 30- when the Soviets were within a block of his location, Hitler shot himself
and Braun bit into a cyanide capsule
• their bodies were put in a bomb crater, doused with petrol, and set on fire
• by the time the Soviets got there, they found only a jaw bone that they used
with dental records to identify Hitler
• over the years the remains were buried and exhumed many times, until
finally the Soviets took the boxes with the ashes, burned them, crushed them,
and scattered them in a river
F. End of the war against Japan August 1945
i. US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
a) before dropping the bombs, the US demanded total surrender and that the emperor
step down, and Japan refused
b) after dropping the bombs, Japan surrendered, but still kept their emperor
• some conclude we only dropped the bombs to ensure the Soviets didn't start
anything right after the war
V. Diplomacy during the War
A. Casablanca Conference 1943
i. FDR and Churchill decided here on demanding the unconditional surrender for “all
enemies”
ii. Italy would be invaded first before opening a second front in France
 a) Stalin never forgave the Allies for putting off an invasion of France until 1944
because it ensured the Russians would have to fight the brunt of the German army
alone
B. Tehran Conference 1943
i. First meeting of the “Big Three”- Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin
ii. Allies agreed to invade the west in 1944
iii. Stalin reaffirmed the Soviet commitment to enter the war against Japan once Germany
fell
iv. Stalin insisted the Soviets control eastern Europe and divide Germany with the Allies
a) Churchill demanded free governments in eastern Europe and a strong Germany after
the war to preserve balance in Europe
b) Roosevelt acted as a mediator and believed he could work with Stalin to achieve
post-war peace within the United Nations
C. Yalta Conference 1945
i. Big Three again
ii. Stalin agreed to enter Pacific war within 3 months after Germany surrendered
a) agreed to a “Declaration of Liberated Europe” which called for free elections
iii. called for United Nations to meet in US beginning in April 1945
a) US, Britain, USSR, France, and China were named permanent members of the
Security Council with the power of veto
iv. Germany to be divided into occupied zones and a coalition government of communists
and non-communists was agreed to for Poland
v. USSR allowed to keep pre-1939 territory plus some conquered land in eastern Asia
D. Potsdam Conference July 1945
i. Stalin, Truman, and Clement Attlee
ii. issued warning to Japan of unconditional surrender or face utter destruction
a) during conference Truman ordered to drop the bomb
iii. Stalin reversed his position on eastern Europe stating there would be no free elections
iv. the three agreed on war-crimes trials and demilitarization and de-Nazification of
Germany
v. Reparations from Germany could be taken from each respective zone
VI. Results of the War
A. losses- about 55 million dead (includes those missing)
i. 22 million in the USSR alone
ii. Holocaust resulted in deaths of 6 million Jews and 6 million others
B. millions left homeless and millions relocated
C. much of Europe in ruins
i. took years to rebuild
ii. led to mass immigration looking for jobs
D. women played even larger role in the economy than before, therefore gaining more rights
after the war
E. US and Soviet Union emerged as the two dominant powers in the world
i. competition for dominance (esp in Europe) resulted in the Cold War
VII. Why did Germany lose?
A. Three front war: Russia, France, and Italy
i. German army stretched across entire continent
a) eventually ran out of soldiers and had to use children and older men to fight
B. Blunders
i. allowed Britain to remain intact after the Battle of Britain
 ii. invasion of Soviet Union (and later to engage at Stalingrad)
iii. Hitler's declaration of war against the US immediately after Pearl Harbor guaranteed the
US and Britain would focus first on Germany before Japan
C. Industrial capacity couldn't match Allies
i. US out produced all Axis powers combined
ii. Allied bombing of German cities focused on destroying factories
iii. use of slave labor not very effective (workers unable and unwilling to work very hard)
iv. much of Germany's economic energy spent on “Final Solution” instead of war
v. Germany didn't shift to “total war” until 1943 and were already being severely out
produced
D. Axis alliance proved a liability
i. Italy's failures in Greece and Yugoslavia drew Germany into Balkans when it could have
focused elsewhere
ii. German forces eventually had to take control of Italy after Allies began to invade
a) Mussolini caught and executed by his own people in 1944
iii. Japan's attack on the US drew Germany into war against the US
E. Grand Alliance proved overwhelming
i. included US, Britain, Russia, and over 40 other countries
ii. Alliance worked together to achieve unconditional surrender from Germany