Post WW2 Era: Depression, Fascism and Communism

• Postwar Europe relied mainly on America to rebuild their economies
• Working in factories and being support staff for the war effort allowed women to achieve the Right to vote

The Great Depression

• It began in the US
• It was caused by overspeculation and overproduction
• It caused many to lose faith in the ability of democracy to solve modern world problems

Fascism

• Mussolini was the leader of fascist Italy
• Characteristics include violence and terror, censorship, controlling news, and extreme nationalism
• People embraced it because it promised a strong, stable government
• Rise in Germany between World War 1 and World War 2 is often associated with the impact of the global economic depression

Stalin's Soviet Union

• Stalin's goal was for the Soviet Union to become an industrial power
• The first Five Year Plan had the goal of heavy industry
• Stalin's terror tactics harmed the Soviet Union by targeting many intellectual and military leaders

Rise of Communism

• Communist revolutions in Russia and China rose from unequal distribution of wealth between social classes
• The Long March is significant in Chinese history because it established Mao Zedong as a revolutionary leader

Japan's Expansion

• Japan's policy of expansion in the early 20th century was motivated by a lack of national resources
• Japan's invasion of China exposed the weakness of the League of Nations and encouraged fascist governments to expand their military

Road to World War 2

• The Treaty of Versailles and Germany's unhappiness with it contributed to the events leading to World War 2
• Hitler and Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles by remilitarizing Germany and arming themselves
• The conquest of Manchuria by Japan and the annexation of Czechoslovakia by Germany were similar because they demonstrated weakness of the League of Nations
• Appeasement is giving into the demands of an aggressor in order to keep the peace
• Disillusionment with the end of World War 1 encouraged the policy of neutrality in the US
• Hitler wanted a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union mainly to avoid a 2 front war
• The Blitzkrieg was critical in WW2 because it used planes and tanks to rapidly destroy before the allies could respond
• In 1941, severe weather halted invading German forces in the Soviet Union

The US and World War 2

• The Lend-Lease Act was adopted prior to US entry into WW2 primarily because the act would help allied nations without the US getting involved in the war
• Japan attacked the United States because the US was interfering with Japan's plan to expand with the oil embargo
• Gen. MacArthur stated "I shall return" when leaving the Philippines
• Island hopping was the strategy the US used in the Pacific to defeat Japan

The Final Solution

• The Final Solution was Hitler's attempt to exterminate European Jews
• There was a call for a Jewish state as a response to the Holocaust, where nations of the Middle East demanded the establishment of a Jewish state called Palestine because it was clear that the Jews needed a homeland to live safely without the threat of persecution

Allies Win World War 2

• Factors at home that helped the Allies win WW2 include controlling wartime production with massive industrial production of war materials, widespread civilian participation in war efforts, women entering the workforce to fill labor shortages, and the purchase of war bonds
• The 1944 D-Day invasion was important because it meant Germany fought on 2 fronts, enabling American, British, Canadian, French, and other forces to join the Russians in defeating Germany
• The Battle of the Bulge was significant because it was the last German offensive
• The US began the Manhattan Project after entry into WW2 to develop the world's first atomic bomb before Nazi Germany could
• President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb was primarily based on his belief that if the US invaded Japan it would cost more American lives
• Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki