WORLD WAR 2

• World War II


  1939-1945
• Largest war in human history
• Over 70-80 million were dead
• Causes of World War II (H.E.A.T)

  • Hitler
  • Economic Depression
  • Alliances
  • Treaty of Versailles
• Hitler


  • Leader of 3rd Reich (realm) from 1933 -1945
  • Leader and Dictator of the Nazi Party
  • Wishes to expand the German Realm for the German people
• Economic Depression


  • Also known as the Great Depression
  • The crash of the Stock Market in 1929 which started in the U.S. devastated European countries' economies
  • Unemployment skyrocketed
  • Hobos or homeless persons populated the streets
• Alliances


  • Capitalism recognizes the importance of a free market
  • Fascism or Fascist ideology considers that the government is more important than other people
  • Fascists use nationalism and racism
  • Germany and Italy urge Totalitarianism wherein the state has absolute control of the society
• Treaty of Versailles


  • Germany lost territory to surrounding nations and was required to pay significant war reparations
  • This left Germany bankrupt, embarrassed, guilt-ridden and fueled anger among its people
• Lebensraum


  • Hitler wanted to enlarge Germany's territory
  • Lebensraum (Living Space), annexing regions including: Austria, Rhineland, and Sudentenland (Part of Czechoslovakia)
• Appeasement


  • British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain utilized the strategy of Appeasement, conceding Sudetenland to Hitler to appease him and avoid conflict
  • Appeasement (Giving someone something to make them happy and leave you alone)
  • League of Nations failed to do anything
• Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact


  Germany and the USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression agreement signed in Moscow on August 23, 1939
• With these (3) three factors, Hitler invaded Poland
• At 4:45 in the morning on September 1, 1939, Germany launched an invasion of Poland
• Despite requests from Great Britain and France, German troops remained in Poland and did not withdraw
• This event sparked the World War II
• The 2 Main Theaters in World War II

  • European
  • Pacific
• Axis Power


  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Japan
• Allied Forces


  • Great Britain
  • France
  • U.S.A
• Blitzkrieg


  • The Germans used the "Blitzkrieg" tactic, which means "lightning war"
  • It's a military strategy focused on moving fast and surprising the enemy, so they don't have time to get ready
• France surrendered to the German blitzkrieg after 6 weeks from May 10 – June 22, 1940
• The Battle of Britain

  • Germany Invades Britain
  • The German Blitz aimed to attack Great Britain, but it failed because the RAF (Royal Air Force) managed to defeat the German Blitz
• The Holocaust


  • Systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime
  • The term "Holocaust" comes from Greek and means "sacrifice by fire"
  • Jews belonged to a race that was "inferior" and a threat to the so-called German racial community
  • persecuted other groups because of their perceived racial and biological inferiority LIKE "Gypsies" - people with disabilities, some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others), Soviet prisoners of war, and Black people
  • Persecuted also were Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals
• Holocaust Victims


  • Jews (6,000,000)
  • Gypsies or Romani (250,000-500,000)
  • Black People (100)
  • Soviet Prisoners and Criminals (3,300,000)
  • Homosexuals (100-1,000)
  • Mentally Ill & PWD (250,000-300,000)
  • Ethnic Minority (1,800,000)
  • Jehovah's Witness (1,700)
• Forms of Persecution during the Holocaust

  • Forced Labor
  • Ghettos
  • Deportations
  • Discrimination
  • Propaganda
  • Medical Experiments
  • Cultural Suppression
• The Pacific War began when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, a United States naval base in Hawaii, on December 7, 1941
• Kamikaze


  • Means "Divine Wind" in World War II
  • It was a Japanese pilot assigned to crash their plane into a target like a ship
  • It was also a plane filled with explosives flown into a target in a suicide mission
• Operation: Barbarossa


  • The codename used for the German attack on the Soviet Union, which began on June 22, 1941
  • This action violated the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939
  • USSR joined the War
• Operation Overlord (D-Day)


  • The code name for the Allied invasion of Normandy, France
  • It was launched on June 6, 1944. It involved the largest amphibious assault in history, with American, British, Canadian, and other Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy, France
  • The success of Operation Overlord marked a turning point in the war, leading to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control
• Allied forces continued to push into Italy. Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were killed on April 28, 1945, and the Italians surrendered
• VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), Germany surrendered after Hitler committed suicide


  May 8, 1945
• The Japanese aircraft carriers are destroyed in the Battle of Midway
• Atomic Bombs


  • The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II to quickly end the conflict with Japan and prevent further loss of American and Allied lives, while also demonstrating the immense power of their newly developed nuclear technology
  • One was dropped on Hiroshima (Little Boy) on August 6, 1945
  • Another was dropped on Nagasaki (Fat Man) on August 9, 1945
• Manhattan Project


  • A secret initiative by the United States to develop nuclear weapons during World War II, driven by the fear that Nazi Germany might acquire such technology first
  • Led by scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer, the project ultimately culminated in the successful testing and deployment of atomic bombs on Japan in 1945
• VJ-Day (Victory in Japan Day), Japan surrendered in World War II, which ended the war


  August 15, 1945
• Potsdam Conference


  • July-August 1945 in Germany
  • Leaders of the Allies gathered to decide the fate of Germany
  • USA – Harry Truman, Great Britain – Winston Churchill, Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin
  • Demilitarization of Germany, Germany to pay $23 Billion to pay war damages, Division of Germany - West Germany to Great Britain, East Germany to the Soviet Union
• The United Nations Was Born on October 24, 1945, an international organization which aims to protect its members from any aggression to maintain peace, it had 50 founding members