Rise of Dictators, Axis Powers, and Hitler's Goals

Rise of Dictators and Aggression

• Japan: Invaded Manchuria (1931) and China (1937).
• Germany: Hitler became Chancellor (1933), invaded Rhineland (1936), annexed Austria (Anschluss, 1938), Sudetenland (1938), and the rest of Czechoslovakia (1939).
• Italy: Invaded Ethiopia (1935).
• Soviet Union: Invaded Finland (1939).

Axis Powers

• Germany, Italy, and Japan formed an alliance.
• Their agreement included fighting Soviet communism and not interfering with each other's territorial expansion.

Hitler's Goals

• Lebensraum (living space) for Germans in Eastern Europe.
• Unifying all German-speaking people in the Third Reich.

Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

• Francisco Franco (Nationalists) vs. Republican government, with Germany and Italy supporting Franco and the Soviet Union supporting the Republicans.
• Britain, France, and the US remained neutral.
• Resulted in Franco's victory and a fascist dictatorship in Spain and served as a "dress rehearsal" for WWII.

Western Response: Appeasement

• A policy of giving in to demands of aggressors to preserve peace.
• The Munich Agreement (1938): Britain and France allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland.
• Reasons for appeasement: fear of another war, pacifism, faith in diplomacy, misreading Hitler's intentions, economic weakness, and fear of communism.

US Response

• Passed Neutrality Acts to avoid involvement in European conflicts.

Path to War

• Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939): Non-aggression agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union.
• Germany invaded Poland (September 1, 1939).
• Britain and France declared war on Germany (September 3, 1939).

Key Terms

• Appeasement: Giving in to an aggressor's demands.
• Pacifism: Opposition to war.
• Neutrality Acts: US laws designed to avoid war.
• Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan.
• Francisco Franco: Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces.
• Anschluss: Union of Austria and Germany.
• Sudetenland: Region of Czechoslovakia.
• Nazi-Soviet Pact: Non-aggression agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union.
• Lebensraum: Living space.
• Munich Agreement: Agreement allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland.

Geographical Areas

• Rhineland, Austria, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Prussia, Polish Corridor, Danzig (Gdańsk).

Critical Thinking Questions

• How did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to WWII tensions?
• Why did Western democracies choose appeasement?
• How did the Spanish Civil War serve as a "dress rehearsal"?
• What were the consequences of the Munich Agreement?
• How did the Nazi-Soviet Pact change the European balance of power?
• Why was control of the Polish Corridor important to both Germany and Poland?

Axis Powers Advance

Key Terms and People

• Blitzkrieg: German tactic of a swift attack using tanks and airpower.
• Luftwaffe: German air force.
• Dunkirk: Site of the evacuation of British troops from France.
• Vichy: Location of Germany's puppet government in southern France.
• Erwin Rommel: German general, "Desert Fox".
• Concentration camps: Nazi detention and killing centers.
• Holocaust: Nazi genocide of European Jews.
• Lend-Lease Act: Allowed the US to sell/lend war material to Allies.

Major Events Timeline (Partial)

• 1939: Germany invades Poland; divides Poland with the USSR.
• 1940: Spring: Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium conquered. May: Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk. June: France surrenders. September: Germany bombards Britain ("The Blitz").

Key Concepts

• German Military Strategy: Blitzkrieg tactics (speed, surprise, concentration of attacks); use of tanks and air support.
• Hitler's "New Order": Belief in Aryan supremacy; displacement of local populations; establishment of concentration camps.

US Involvement Before Pearl Harbor

• Officially neutral but supportive of Allies.
• Implemented Lend-Lease Act to supply Britain.

Japan's Expansion

• Conflict with the US over Pacific expansion.
• Attack on Pearl Harbor brought the US into the war.

Important Battles/Operations

• Invasion of Poland, Dunkirk evacuation, Battle of Britain ("The Blitz"), Operation Sea Lion (failed invasion of Britain), Operation Barbarossa (invasion of the Soviet Union), Pearl Harbor attack.

Essay Questions

• How did Blitzkrieg contribute to early German successes?
• Why was the Dunkirk evacuation significant?
• How did the US become increasingly involved before Pearl Harbor?
• What were Hitler's motivations for invading the Soviet Union?
• How did the Pearl Harbor attack change WWII's course?

Allies Turn the Tide

Axis and Allied Strategy

• Axis goals: Hitler (Europe), Mussolini (empire), Tojo (Western Pacific).
• Allies focused on defeating Germany first ("Europe First").

Key Battles in Europe

• Battle of the Atlantic: Allies protected sea routes against German U-boats using convoys and radar.
• Eastern Front: Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union stalled by the harsh winter; Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point, with the German army surrendering.
• Italy Campaign: Allies invaded Sicily, then mainland Italy, leading to Italy's surrender in September 1943.
• Air War: British used saturation bombing at night; US used strategic bombing during the day.

Battles in North Africa

• Led by Dwight Eisenhower against Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox); Germany retreated due to supply shortages.
• George Patton took control of US forces.

Battles in the Pacific

• Battle of Midway: Crucial US naval base; US victory sinking 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, turning point in the Pacific war.

Important People

• Adolf Hitler (Germany), Benito Mussolini (Italy), Hideki Tojo (Japan), Dwight Eisenhower (US), George S. Patton (US), Chester Nimitz (US).

Key Terms

• Axis Powers, Allied Powers, U-boats, Convoy, Radar, Saturation bombing, Strategic bombing.

Victory in Europe and the Pacific

Planning Germany's Defeat

• Operation Overlord: Invasion of France in November 1943; goal was to invade France and move into Germany; Normandy, France, location. Involved over 4,400 ships and landing crafts; Allies mislead Germans with a fictional army.

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

• German defenses (trenches, artillery, mines). High initial US casualties. Within a month, over 1 million Allied troops landed in Normandy.

Liberation of Europe

• Two-Front War: Allies move into Germany from multiple directions.
• July 20, 1944 Assassination Attempt: Bomb plot at Hitler's headquarters, failed assassination attempt; Rommel committed suicide.
• Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's counterattack, initially successful but exhausted German troops.
• Fall of Berlin: Allies surrounded Berlin; Hitler committed suicide (April 30, 1945); V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day).

War in the Pacific

• Island Hopping Strategy: US took islands to move towards Japan.
• Kamikaze Attacks: Japanese suicide missions.
• Key Battles: Iwo Jima, Okinawa.
• Bombing of Tokyo (March 1945): Japan experienced devastating casualties.

The Atomic Bomb

• Manhattan Project: Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer; first test: July 16, 1945.
• Decision to Use the Bomb: Made by President Truman. Fears of Axis bomb development.
• Bombing of Japan: Hiroshima (August 6, 1945); Nagasaki (August 9, 1945); VJ Day (Victory in Japan Day) August 15, 1945; Official surrender on September 2, 1945.

Key Facts

• FDR died before war's end; President Truman succeeded him; Mussolini captured and executed.
• Estimated WWII deaths: approximately 60,000,000 (mostly civilians).

Study Questions (from the guide)

• Answered in the summaries above.

Holocaust

Introduction

• Holocaust: Mass murder of Europeans, especially Jews, by the Nazis during WWII.
• Key Dates: 1933: Nazi rise to power; 1935: Nuremberg Laws; 1938: Kristallnacht; 1939: WWII start; 1942: Wannsee Conference, "Final Solution"; 1945: Camp liberation, WWII end.

Nazi Ideology and Actions

• Nazi Beliefs: Antisemitism, Aryan superiority, Lebensraum.
• Early Persecution: Nuremberg Laws (stripped Jews of citizenship), boycotts, forced wearing of the Star of David, Kristallnacht.

The "Final Solution"

• Wannsee Conference (January 20, 1942): Nazi officials coordinated Jewish genocide.
• Concentration and Death Camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Dachau; forced labor, imprisonment, mass murder.
• Methods: Gas chambers (Zyklon B), mass shootings, starvation, disease, forced labor.

Victims

• Primary Targets: Jews (6 million).
• Other Groups: Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Slavs, homosexuals, disabled, political opponents, Jehovah's Witnesses.

Resistance and Rescue

• Jewish Resistance: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, partisan groups.
• Non-Jewish Resistance: Danish rescue of Jews, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (France), Oskar Schindler.

Liberation and Aftermath

• Liberation of Camps: Allied forces discovered atrocities.
• Nuremberg Trials: Prosecution of Nazi war criminals.
• Establishment of Israel (1948): Jewish state established in response to the Holocaust.

Holocaust Remembrance and Education

• Importance: Preventing future genocides, combating hate, understanding authoritarianism.
• Holocaust Denial: Efforts to deny or minimize the Holocaust; importance of preserving evidence and survivor testimonies.

Examine the rise of dictators in Japan, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, including invasions and annexations. Explore the formation of the Axis Powers and Hitler's goals of Lebensraum and unifying German-speaking people. The Spanish Civil War is also discussed.