April 4-8

Monday: Took notes

Tuesday: Took notes about Germany

Wednesday: No class

Thursday: Germany notes

Friday: Germany notes

AXIS POWERS

Italy 

*Italy after WWI

  • Italy was allied powers in WWI
  • They were very displeased with the Treaty of VersaillesItaly joined the League of Nations and was a member from 1919 until they withdrew in 1937
    • wanted to get more land than they got

*Washington Naval Conference

  • 5 Power pact
    • Designed to prevent an arm's race
    • It limited construction of battleships, aircraft cruisers
    • Did not restrict cruisers, destroyers, or submarines
  • 9 Power Pact
    • Guaranteed Chinese independence
    • Upheld the Open Door Policy
  • Kellogg-Brian Pact
    • Countries pledged not to use war as a way to settle disputes

*March on Rome - Oct. 1922

  • Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party marched through Rome
  • They won and took over Italy

*King Victor Emmanuel

  • Did not fight Mussolini's take over in Italy
  • Wanted to avoid a civil war and also wanted to keep communists out of Italy

*Established Fascism in Italy

  • A government led by a strong dictator
  • Stresses strong nationalism, militarism, and imperialism
  • Uses intimidation to get what they want

               "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." - Benito Mussolini

*Land and Ethiopia

  • Mussolini wanted more land, down in North Africa
  • Wanted the old Roman empire
  • They lost Ethiopia, was an embarrassment 
  • In 1935 they send large forces into Ethiopia and win

*Generalissimo Francisco Franco

  • Hitler and Mussolini sent troops and weapons to help Franco win the civil war against the communists
  • This war served as an important training ground for Hitler's and Mussolini's troops
    • Gave them experience with war and controlling troops

*Italy's goals in WWII

  • Make a new Roman Empire
  • Make the Mediterranean an "Italian Lake"
  • Take over northern African colonies of British and France-especially Egypt
  • Take over southeastern Europe, Greece, and Albania
  • Take over parts of the Middle East

*Italy's defeat - 1943

  • As soon as the U.S. move troops into Italy they surrender
  • Join Allied powers
  • German control for 2 more years
  • Why did they lose?
    • Italy was not prepared militarily to fight a prolonged war (Germany had to constantly bail them out)
    • Italian troops were spread to thin- they were everywhere 
    • The people of Italy were not prepared to fight or motivated to fight. They were forced to
    • Overall, Italy was just a weak country
  • Mussolini was hung by his own people
    • They believed he ruined the country

*Impact WWII had on Italy

  • 410,000 dead - 330,000 military deaths
  • Spent $94 billion
  • Italy had joined the allies by 1943 so the big concern for the U.S. was making sure Italy became a democracy after the war and not fall to communism
  • U.S. gave millions of dollars to Italy (Marshall Plan) to help rebuild after the war
  • Became a member of NATO in 1949
  • Became a member of the United Nations in 1955

Japan

  • Aren’t happy with how they are treated at the Paris Peace Conference

  • Signed the 4,5 and 9 Power pacts

  • Areas Japan controlled in WWII

    • Parts of China

    • French Indochina

    • Hong Kong

    • Thailand

    • British New Guinea

    • Philippines

    • Guam

    • Dutch East Indies

    • Malaya

  • Attacked but didn’t capture

    • Australia

    • British Columbia

    • United States

    • Indian Islands

  • Invasion of Manchuria

    • Start of WWII

    • Part of China

    • League of Nations condemned the action but could not take action because they didn’t have a military force

    • Japan dropped out of the LoN

    • Messages sent to aggressive countries was that a major power could get away with using force because France and GB didn’t want war

  • Rape of Nanking

    • Killing of Chinese people

    • 300,000

    • Mass raping of Chinese women and girls

    • Mass looting and arson

    • War crimes trial after the war

  • Tripartite Pact is signed forming Axis Powers

  • Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact

    • Japan considered breaking this once Germany invaded the USSR

    • The USSR broke the treaty when they declared war on Japan after Hiroshima

  • Admiral Yamamoto

    • Came up with the Pearl Harbor attack plan

    • Wanted to knock us out of the war before we got in it

    • Supposed to result in trade

  • Turning points- 1942

    • Coral Sea- neither side won, considered US victory

    • Midway- destroyed Japan’s navy, MAGIC

    • Guadalcanal- First offensive battle
    • Iwo Jima - Mt. Sirubachi
    • Okinawa - U.S. win
  • Preparing for the Invasion of Japan 
    • Operation downfall
    • Estimated to have over 1 million casualties
    • Didn't take place because of atomic bombs
    • Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  • VJ Day - September 2, 1945
    • Emperor got on Radio, ordered everyone to put down weapons
    • Signed on the USS Missouri
  • Potsdam Conference - July 26, 1945
    • Dismantle the current govt.
    • The allies will occupy Japan
    • Japan will consist of only the major islands, will lose all territory gained in the war
    • Japanese military forces will be disarmed and allowed to return home
    • There will be war crimes charged
    • Democracy will be promoted
    • Japan will be allowed to have industry to make money
    • Allied power
    • Occupation of Japan will end once Japan accomplishes all the above points
    • The alternative is prompt and utter destruction

Germany

*Treaty of Versailles

  • Germany lost land to:
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Denmark
    • Czechoslovakia
    • Poland
  • Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men; the army was not allowed tanks
  • Germany was not allowed an air force
  • Germany was allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines
  • The Rhineland was made into a demilitarized zone (DMZ)
  • Had to pay 33 billion to the allies
  • Land lost was a big blow to the economy, plus war reparations put Germany in a bad place
  • Had to admit full responsibility for starting the war "War guilt clause"
  • Forbidden to Unite with Austria
  • League of Nations set up to keep world peace

*The German Reaction to the Treaty of Versailles

  • There was anger throughout Germany when the terms were made public
  • The Treaty was seen by many Germans as being forced on them and the Germans had no choice but to sign it
  • German representatives in Paris knew that they had no choice as Germany was incapable of restarting the war again
  • Many right wing groups such as the Nazis believed in the Dolchstoss Theory (Stab in the back theory)
  • Blamed the "November Criminals" (Weimer Republic) for accepting treaty

*Adolf Hitler

  • Born in Austria in 1889
  • Struggled in school, was abused by his Father
  • Moved to Vienna Austria to try to become a painter in art school
  • Struggled to survive, didn't have much money
  • Moved to Germany to join army - found his calling militarily
  • Joined the Nazis, his speaking skills led him to be leader of the Nazis

*Beer Hall Putsch - 1923

  • Nazis gave all of their speeches in German beer halls
  • This is now when Nazis try to overthrow gvt. - unsuccessful
  • Has a trial, spoke of German nationalism and pride
  • Judge bought it and gave him 5 years in prison

*Hitler in Prison

  • Only served 9 months, was let out for good behavior
  • Wrote a book called "Mein Kampf" (My struggle) 
    • Was a book about anti-semitism
    • Against communism, Jews

*Hitler rise to Power

  • Appointed Chancellor in 1933
  • President Paul Von Hindenburg dies shortly after and Hitler dissolves the Weimer Republic
  • Early actions of Hitler:
    • Drops out of League of Nations
    • Starts rearming Germany
    • Rearms the German Rhineland area

*Anschluss with Austria - 1938

  • Austria wanted to be a part of Germany after WWI
  • Britain and France let him take over

*Sudetenland Crisis - 1938 

  • Re-uniting German speaking peoples
  • Munich Conference - 1938
    • Hitler was given the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia
    • Hitler promised that he was done taking over territories
    • Hitler wanted to re-unite all German speaking people
    • Became known as the "Policy of Appeasement"
      • Britain and France kept giving Hitler land to appease him, wanted to avoid war
      • Winston Churchill opposed appeasement, criticized Chamberlain

*Hitler takes over all of Czechoslovakia - 1939

  • Now they know that Hitler is lying and making false promises
  • Said the next thing he does is going to result in war

*Soviet-German non-aggression Pact

  • Russia gave raw materials to Germany in exchange for money and weapons
  • Both agreed to stay neutral if the other entered the war
  • Secretly agreed to invade and split Poland
    • Germany would get the western half and USSR the eastern half
    • Russia would get Finland, Estonia, and Latvia
    • Germany would get Lithuania
  • How did the world react?
    • Shocked 
    • Poland was scared
    • Hitler thought it would force Great Britain and France to back out of their promise to help Poland if attacked

*Soviets invasion of Poland - Blitzkrieg

  • Blitzkrieg - "Lightning war"
  • Made them believe they didn't stand a chance, and they surrendered quickly
  • Came in with airplanes, bomb high populated spots, bring in tanks, infantry
  • Poland was taken over in a couple of weeks 

*Sitzkrieg - The Phony War

  • Everyone declared war, but nothing was going on
  • Troops were preparing for a war, and waiting out winter months
  • America thought the war was fake

*The "Phony War" ends

  • 1939 - Poland, Czechslovakia 
  • 1940 - Netherlands, Belgium, Luxenberg, France, Norway, Denmark
  • Paris was taken over in a month
  • France's Maginot Line - impenetrable line, focused on defensive tactics

*Miracle of Dunkirk

  • Dunkirk city in Belgium
  • Hitler orders his troops to stop and wait for tanks
  • It allowed thousands of France and British soldiers to evacuate and get back home

*Divided France

  • France surrenders June, 1940
  • Vichy France 
    • Hitler allowed them to rule this part of France
    • This group was allied with the Nazis
    • Helped Japanese as well
  • The Free French
    • Fled to Great Britain
    • Based out of London
    • Were our allies
  • The Maquis
    • Individual forming a secret society of resistance
    • Put up a better fight than all the other French

*Axis Occupation of the Balkans

  • Taken over, had concentration camps there as well

*Nazi Goals for Battle of Britain

  • Destroy the Royal Air Force (before invasion was possible-hopefully by 9-15)
  • Attack and destroy the British Navy
  • Attack British troops
  • Once air control was gained, the invasion of Great Britain would begin
    • Germany never succeeded in achieving in #1
    • Germany bombers did so poorly against the RAF that they started bombing at night only
    • Britain was aided by the radar and Ultra
  • RAF - Great Britain Air Force,saved Great Britain
    • "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"
  • Luftwaffe - German Air force
  • Results
    • Germany decided to focus on attacking British ships and ports and thus stopped attacking cities
    • British losses - around 40,000 civilians dead, 46,000 to 139,000 injured
    • German losses - 3,363 aircrew and 2,265 aircraft
    • Britain won by the fact that Germany did not achieve their goals

*German Invasion of Soviet Union - June, 1941

  • By winter of 1941 to Leningrad, Stalingrad, Moscow
  • Stalin ordered to not retreat, they will die if they retreat
  • Scorched Earth policy
    • Burn everything that Hitler could use
  • The Russian winter sets in and it makes a huge turning point in the war
  • Battle of Stalingrad 
    • Worst battle in history
    • Around 2 million total casualties
  • Siege of Leningrad
    • Germans surrounded the city
    • 641,000 people died of starvation
    • Finally a successful Russian counter-offensive at Stalingrad drained necessary resources the Germans needed to continue to blockade
    • Germans never took Leningrad but t was a costly conflict

*North Africa Campaign - 1942-43

  • Where United States fought Germans and Italians first
  • U.S. defeats Germans after 10 months
  • North Africa is freed, U.S. moves into Italy

*The Italian Campaign

  • Italy quickly surrendered to U.S.
  • Italy was not freed, Germany was in Italy

*The Atlantic Wall

  • Built by Germany
  • Ran from France - Norway
  • Bunkers, machine guns, posts, barbed wire
  • Didn't work, but caused damage and slowed us down

*D-Day - June 6, 1944

  • Crossed the Atlantic Channel and Invaded France
  • Had help from other countries

*July 20, 1944 - Assassination Plot

  • Massive assassination attempts of Hitler
  • German people knew they wouldn't win, thought he was destroying the country
  • Hitler killed or imprisoned his experienced Generals, because they thought his decisions were poor
  • Major Claus von Stauffenberg
    • Meeting where he would plan to kill Hitler
    • Was going to be  brief case with a bomb in it
    • Hoping the German military would rally behind him
    • These people would rise up and overtake Hitler
    • They thought Hitler died from the bomb, Hitler was alive 

*The Liberation of Paris

  • August 25, 1944
  • 2 1/2 months later Paris is free after D-Day

*Battle of the Bulge

  • Hitlers last offensive
  • Generals knew it wouldn't work
  • U.S.'s worst battle in WW2
  • Didn't work for Germany, waste of lives

*April 25, 1945

  • Soviets and U.S. shake hands at the Elbe River in Germany
  • Hitler commits suicide 5 days later (April, 30)
    • Got married to Eva Braun shortly earlier
    • Took cyanide pills and shot himself
    • Stayed in his bunker in Berlin a lot at the end of the war
    • Conspiracy that he escaped to Argentina

*May 8, 1945 war ends

*Nazi Propaganda

  • Influence on the people

*The Holocaust

  • The genocide of approximately 6 million European Jews during World War II
  • A program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany throughout Nazi-occupied territory
  • Approximately 2/3 of the population of 9 million Jews who had lived in Europe before the Holocaust died
  • Some say that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' killing of millions of people in other groups from Germany and other occupied territory
  • By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims would be between 11 million and 17 million people
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