World war II

Before and after US involvement

Rise of totalitarianism and ultra
nationalism
Rise of dictatorial regimes in the 1930s directly related to he coming
of World War II
By 1939 only two major European powers remained Democratic
(France and UK)
Rise of ultra nationalism in Japan
Rise of totalitarianism in Germany, Italy, and Russia
-Totalitarianism is defined as a radical dictatorship that greatly extends
the functions and power of the central state. Fascism, Nazism, Communism all fall
under the title of totalitarian states.
Totalitarianism
-All used modern propaganda to conquer hearts and minds of their
subjects
-Controlled politics and economics
-Controlled societal, intellectual, and cultural aspects of life
-Led by single leader and single party
-Police controls (Nazi SS, Soviet Secret Police)
Rise of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
Born and raised in Austria
Dispatch carrier for Germany during WWI
Blamed Jews and the Marxist for Germans loss
Attempted an uprising against the Weimar
government in 1923 and failed
Hitler was then thrown in jail
Mein Kampf (my struggle) written while Hitler was in prison and
spoke about his personal ideologies
Extreme German nationalist
Military ambitions
Socialist Darwinist theory taken into his own hands
Europe at War
Germany invades Poland September 1, 1939
Blitzkrieg lightning war agaisnt Denmark
and Norway April 9, 1940
Attack on Netherlands, Belgium, and France
May 10, 1940
Battle of Britain, Fall 1940
Invasion of the Soviet Union, June 22, 1941
Japan and the West
Japanese leaders followed the war in Europe
very closely
German-Japanese Alliance, September 1940
Japan immediately invaded French Indochina
US warned Japan it would cut off sale of oil
and scrap iron unless Japan withdrew
Japan relied on the US for 90% of oil
Japan began planning attack on Pearl Harbor
US and WWII
December 7, 1941, a day which will live in
infamy
US Naval base of Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii
is attacked by Japanese forces
Surprise attack claimed the lives of more than
2,300 troops
December 8, 1941 US Congress declares a
state of war with Japan
D-Day and beyond
June 6, 1944
Crucial and much delayed, 2
nd
front opened by
US and Great Britain in France
August 1944, Paris was liberated
Battle of the Bulge: Hitlers last stand
11 months, 1 day after Normandy landing
European war ended

War in the Pacific
The war in the pacific continued for four more
months after the end of the war in Europe
Island hopping tactics
Battle of Midway
Manhattan Project
Hiroshima, August 6, 1945
Nagasaki, August 9, 1945
Japan surrenders on August 15, 1945