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Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
-followed path similar to Mussolini
- wanted to enforce radical "purification"
-in his view, Germans (especially bue-eyed, blond-haired "aryans") formed a "master race" that was destined to rule the world
-"inferior races" such as Jews, Slavs, and all nonwhites, were deemed fit only to serve the Aryans
-great depression helped Nazis come to power
-many unemployed men joined Hitlers private army(storm troopers)
-German people were desperate, turned to Hitler as their last hope -
Mein Kampf
-written by Hitler
-in it he set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi partu
-Nazism: the German brand of fascism that was based on extreme nationalism -
Storm Troopers
-Hitler's private army
-also known as the Brown Shirts
-due to war debts and dependence on American loans and investments, Germany's economy was hit hard
-around 6 million Germans were unemployed
-many men who were out of work would join Hitlers army -
Third Reich
-aka the Third German Empire
-once Hitler was appointed chancellor (prime minister) of Germany, he dismantled Germany's democratic Weimar Republic and established the Third Reich in its place -according to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a "thousand-year reich" - it would last for a thousand years -
Hitler's Military build-up in Germany
-1933, Hitler pulled Germany out of the League
-1935, he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles
-year later he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles
-League did nothing to stop Hitler -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
-when Mussolini began building his new Roman Empire, his first target was Ethiopia, one of Africa's few remaining independent countries
-by fall of 1935, tens of thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on Ethiopia
-Leagues response to the invasion was an ineffective economic boycott
-by May 1936, Ethiopia had fallen -
Francisco Franco
-1936, group of Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco rebelled against Spanish republic
-revolts broke out; Spanish Civil War began
-about 3,000 Americans formed Abraham Lincoln Battalion and traveled to Spain to fight against Franco
-western democracies remained neutral
-soviet union sent equipment & advisers, Hitler & Mussolini backed Franco's forces
-loss of about 500,00 lives
-Franco's victory in made him Spain's fascist dictator
-totalitarian govt ruled in Europe -
Rome-Berlin Axis
-the war forged a close relationship between the German and Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis -
Munich Agreement
-Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia to provide more living space for Germany
-charged that the Czechs were abusing Sudeten Germans & began massing troops on Czech border
-France & Great Britain promised to protect Czech
-Hitler invited Edouard Daladier & Neville Chamerlain to meet him in Munich
-when they arrived the fuhrer said annexation of Sudetenland would be last territorial demand
-chose to believe him
-Sep.30, 1938, they signed Munich Agreement which turned Sudeten land over to Germany -
Nonaggression Pact
-1939, Hitler charged that Germans in Poland were being mistreated and needed his protection
-as tensions rose over Poland, Stalin suprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler
-August 23, 1939, fascist Germany and communist Russia now committed never to attack each other
-Germany and Soviet Union also signed a second, secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland between them -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
-April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion on Denmark and Norway in order to protect those countries freedom and independence
-in truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain -
Hitler's Invasion of the Netherlands
-after invading Denmark and Norway, Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg which were overrun by the end of May
-the phony war had ended -
Marshal Philippe Petain
-headed the Nazi-controlled puppet government set up at Vichy in southern France by Germans -
The Battle of Britain
-summer 1940, Germans began assembling invasion fleet along French coast
-Germany launched air war on Britain at same time bc its naval power couldn't compete with that of Britain
-Luftwaffe began making bombing runs over Britain
-goal was to gain total control of the skies by destroying Britain's Royal Air Force
-August 15, around 2,000 German planes ranged over Britain
-bombers pounded London every night for 2months
-Battle of Britain raged on through summer & fall
-Hitler called off invasion -
Pearl Harbor attack
-there had been peace talks for about a month
-Dec.6, 1941, Roosevelt received a decoded message of instructed Japan's peace envoy to reject all American peace proposals
-early on Dec.7, 1941, a Japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl Harbor (largest US naval base in Pacific)
-bomber was followed by over 180 warplanes
-last plane soared off around 9:30 AM
-Japanese had killed 2,403 and wounded 1,178 Americans
-losses constituted greater damage than the US navy had suffered in all of WW1 -
Internment
-internment, or confinement
-after attack on Pearl Harbor, citizens feared that the Japanese would soon attack the US
-people believed false rumors that Japanese Americans were committing sabotage by mining coastal harbors and poisoning vegetables
-1942,W ar Department called for mass evacuation of all Japanese Americans from Hawaii
-General Delos Emmons was forced to order internment of 1,444 Japanese Americans
-Feb.19, 1942 Roosevelt signed order requiring removal of Japanese from California -
Korematsu v. United States
-supreme court case where it was decided that the governments policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of "military necessity" -
Battle of the Atlantic
-Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along America's east coast
-German aim in Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and Soviet Union
-Hitler knew if he cut Britain's sea lifeline, they would be starved into submission
-7 months into 1942, Germans had sunk 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic
-Allies responded by organizing cargo ships into convoys
-mid-1943, tide of the Battle of the Atlantic had turned -
U.S. convoy system
-convoys were groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection, as they had done in WW1
-convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater
-also accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean's surface -
Battle of Stalingrad
-November 1941, the cold had stopped Germans outside the Soviet cities of Moscow and Leningrad
-summer of 1942, Germans took offensive in southern Soviet Union
-Hitler wanted to wipe out Stalingrad, a major industrial center on the Volga River
-German army approached Stalingrad in August 1942
-by end of September, they had controlled nine-tenths of the city
-Soviet army counterattacked during a cold winter and trapped the Germans
-Soviets lost total of 1,100,000 soldiers -
Operation Torch
-British-American invasion of French north-Africa
-November 8, 1942
-Soviet Union had pressed the US and UK to start operations in Europe and open a second front to reduce pressure of Germans -
Unconditional surrender
-Casablanca conference in January 1943 when American President Franklin D. Roosevelt sprang it on other Allies and the press as objective of the war against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan
-term also used at end of World War II when Japan surrendered to the Allies
-Winston Churchill & Joseph Stalin disapproved of the demand for unconditional surrender, as did most senior U.S. officials. -
Bloody Anzio
-January 22, 1942
-important battle of the Italian campaign
-operation commanded by U.S. Army Major General John P. Lucas -
D-Day
-Eisenhower planned to attack Normandy in northern France
-Allies gathered force of nearly 3 million British, American, and Canadian troops with military equipment and supplies
-Allies set up huge phantom army with its own headquarters and equipment to keep their plans secret
-made up orders in radio messages they knew the Germans could read
-June 6, 1944, first invasion -
Death of Hitler
-Hitler prepared for the end in his underground headquarters
-April 29, he married Eva Braun
-in his last address to the German people, Hitler blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it
-the next day, Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison
-in accordance with Hitler's orders, the two bodies were carried outside, soaked with gasoline, and burned -
V-E Day
-a week after Hitlers death, General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich
-May 8, 1945, Allies celebrated V-E Day- Victory in Europe day
-war in Europe was finally over -
Lend-Lease Act
-1940, Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy
-Roosevelt tried to help by suggesting a new plan that he called lend-lease policy
-under this plan, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to "any country whose defense was vital to the
United States"
-isolationists argued bitterly against the plan but most Americans favored it
-passed in March, 1941 by congress -
Harry S.Truman
-President Roosevelt didn't live to see V-E Day
-April 12, 1945, while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia, the president had a stroke and died
-that night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation's 33rd president -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
-military's work force needs were so great that Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall pushed for the formation of a Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
-under this bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions
-the bill establishing the WAAC became law on May 15, 1942
-law gave WAAcs an official status and salary but few of the benefits granted to male soldiers
-July 1943, the US army dropped the auxiliary status and granted WACs full US armies benefits -
War Production Board
-government encouraged Americans to use their extra cash to buy war bonds
-as a result, inflation remained below 30% for the entire period of WW1
-war production board assumed the responsibility of ensuring that the armed forces and war industries received the resources they needed to win the war
-WPB decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries
-WPB organized drives to collect scraps for recycling into war goods -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
-nationalistic military leaders were trying to take control of the imperial government of Japan
-these leaders shared a belief in the need for more living space for a growing population in common with Hitler
-militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of Manchuria in 1931
-within several months, Japan troops controlled the entire province
-League of Nations sent representatives to Manchuria to investigate
-their report condemned Japan, who in return quit the League -
Hitler's Anschluss
-Austria was Hitler's first target
-Paris Peace Conference following WW1 had created the relatively small nation of Austria out of what was left of the Austro-Hungarian EMpire
-majority of Austria's 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with Germany
-March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed
-a day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or "union" with Austria was complete -
Blitzkrieg
-Sep.1, 1939, German air force (Luftwaffe) roared over Poland, raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, &cities
-German tanks races across the Polish countryside
-this invasion was first test of Germany's newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightening war
-it made use of advances in military technology to quickly crush all opposition with overwhelming force
-September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany
-by the end of month, Poland ceased to exist & WW2 had begun -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
-Hitler's generals sent their tanks through the Ardennes, a region in northeast France
-German offensive trapped around 400,000 British and French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the French side of the English Channel
-few days later, Italy entered war on side of Germany and invaded France from the south
-June 22, 1940, at Compiegne, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender
-Germans would occupy northern France & Nazi-controlled puppet govt would be set up at Vichy -
The Battle of the Bulge
-October 1944, Americans captured first German town, Aachen
-Hitler responded with desperate last-gasp offensive
-ordered his troops to break through Allied lines and recapture Belgian port of Antwerp
-German tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines that gave the battle its name
-battle raged for a month
-Germans lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and assault guns, and 1,600 planes -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
-wanted to focus on creating model communism state
-abolished all privately owned farms and replaced them with collectives-govt owned farms
-1928, outlined first of several "five-year plans"
-all economic activity placed under state management
-Stalin was responsible for an estimated 8-13 million deaths
-by 1939, Stalin had firmly established totalitarian govt that tried to exert complete power over citizens
-in totalitarian state, individuals have no rights & the govt suppresses all opposition -
Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
-Mussolini establishing totalitarian regime in Italy
-1921, had established fascist party-stressed nationalism & placed interests of state above individuals
-fascists argued power must rest with single strong leader
-October, 1922, Mussolini marched on rome w/followers aka "Black Shirts"
-Italian king appointed Mussonlini head of govt
-gradually extended fascist control to every aspect of Italian life
-crushed all opposition & made italy totalitarian state -
Britain and France decalre war on Germany
-September 3, 1939, Britain and France declare war on Germany after the terror, blitzkrieg, in Poland
-major fighting was over in 3 weeks, long before France, Britain, and their allies could mount a defense
-in last week of fighting, the soviet union attacked Poland from the east, grabbing some of its territory -
Phony war
-several months following the fall of Poland, French and British troops sat on the Maginot line staring into Germany while German troops sat a few miles away on the Siegried Line and stared back
-the blitzkrieg had given way to what the Germans called the sitzkrieg (sitting war) and what some newspapers referred to as the phony war -
Manhattan Project
-1941, Roosevelt created the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) to bring scientists into the war effort
-most significant achievement of OSRD was creation of atomic bomb
-Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Roosevelt warning that Germans could use their discovery to construct a weapon
-Roosevelt responded by creating an Advisory Committee on Uranium to study the new discovery
-Manhattan Project became code name for research work that extended across the country -
Office of Price Administration
-Roosevelt responded to the threat of prices shooting upwards by creating the Office of Price Administration (OPA)
-OPA fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods
-congress also raised income tax rates and extended the tax to million of people who had never paid it before
-higher taxes reduced consumer demand on scarce goods by leaving workers with less to spend
