Benito Mussolini Wounded in WWI Former writer & school teacher Kicked out of Socialist Party because of his support of Allies in WWI Angered because of.

Benito MussoliniWounded in WWIFormer writer & school teacherKicked out of Socialist Party because of his support

of Allies in WWIAngered because of Italy’s raw deal in the Versailles

Treaty where they basically got nothing.He joined with other angry Italians to form the

Fascist Party.

MussoliniThe Fascist Party relied on

gangs of violent enforcers called Blackshirts to intimidate and terrorize any opposition.

By 1922, Mussolini had emerged as the leader of the Fascist Party and proclaimed himself Il Duce.

When he threatened to march to Rome, the intimidated King Victor Emmanuel III named him Prime Minister, hoping to appease him.

1st aggressive move was to attack Ethiopia in 1935. WHY?

Adolf HitlerHe was also wounded in WWI.He and most other Germans were

very upset with the Versailles Treaty.

In 1919, he joined the National Socialist German Workers Party more commonly called the Nazi Party.

He quickly rose through the ranks of the Nazi party mostly due to his great speaking abilities.

In 1923, he actually attempted to overthrow the government along with 3,000 men

He was easily stopped, arrested & given a 5 year sentence, but served only 9 months.

HitlerWhile in prison Hitler wrote his

autobiography called Mein Kampf.

Meaning?• The book was his view of the

causes of Germany’s problems and his plans for Germany’s future.

• The book also, for the first time, put most of the blame for the war and their economic problems on the Jewish people.

• And he stated his goal of “purifying” the Aryan race with only blond-haired, blue-eyed German people.

Hitler Germany was in the midst of an even worse depression than we were mostly because of the terms of the Versailles Treaty.

Hitler again rose to power within the Nazi Party and in Germany with the promise to restore the German empire and its economy with an “us against the world” mentality.

By 1933, the Nazi Party was Germany’s largest and voted Hitler as the head of the German State. He soon rose to dictator and gave himself the title of Der Fuhrer or the leader.

German AggressionHitler’s first aggression was moving troops into the Rhineland in Germany on March 9, 1936. This was a direct violation of the Versailles Treaty.

Why didn’t anyone stop him then?

Also in 1936, Hitler & Mussolini signed an alliance that Mussolini referred to as the Axis.

The original intent was to not interfere with each other’s goals between Rome & Berlin. This was also a direct violation of the goals of expansion.

AustriaAfter getting little resistance over the

Rhineland, Hitler then marched into Austria as a “political” takeover in order to “unify” Germany and Austria in March of 1938.

This was yet another obvious violation of the Versailles Treaty, yet still no one stepped up to stop him.

This was the setting for the “Sound of Music”.

* Next, in Sept.1938, Hitler demanded

to have the Sudetenland returned to Germany because the majority of its 3 million people were of German heritage.

Munich Conference A huge conference took place in Munich,

Germany, consisting of Mussolini, Hitler, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain and the French P.M., Edouard Daladier.

Amazingly, they all agreed to allow Hitler to militarily occupy the Sudetenland while Czechoslovakia had nothing to say about it, because their representatives were not even allowed into the meeting by Hitler.

This was all achieved because of Hitler’s promise that this would be the end of his expansion.

Invasion of Poland 6 months after the Munich

Conference, March, 1939, Hitler took the next step and invaded and annexed all of Czech. What did England & France do?

Next Target? Poland and everyone knew it.

Poland had already asked England & France for protection

Aug., 1939, Hitler and Joseph Stalin sign a nonaggression pact with the understanding that Russia would get back the land they had lost after WWI in the Versailles Treaty.

Sept.1, 1939, Hitler invades Poland

BlitzkriegSept. 3, 1939, England & France

declare war on Germany & the war was on.

This was the beginning of Hitler’s Blitzkrieg or “lightning war”.

As Germany attacked Poland from the west, Russia was attacking from the east.

It took one month for Poland to fall.

During that time France and England were attempting a desperate, massive buildup.

The U.S. papers still referred to this as the “phony war”.

BlitzkriegApril 9, 1940, Hitler attacked

Denmark & Norway to the north.May 10, 1940, Hitler attacked

Belgium by going around the massive French army on the border.

Next target? FranceGermany quickly forced back a

combined English & French army to the border of France at the English Channel

BlitzkriegThis is where the “greatest

rescue in history” took place.Over 900 ships of all kinds

carried over 340,000 soldiers across the English Channel under the constant attack of the German Air Force called the Luftwaffe.

By June 14, 1940, German troops had entered Paris & a few days later, France surrendered.

Battle of Britain

England now stands alone against Hitler and thus becomes his next target.

Dec., 1940, the German Luftwaffe began what is known as the Battle of Britain.

As many as 1,000, planes a day would bomb areas of England & especially targeting cities like London.

Battle of BritainEngland’s new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, provided

daily encouragement over the radio to the English people that they would never surrender.

The British countered by flying hundreds of missions with their Royal Air Force to counter the constant bombing

England lost over 900 planes & Germany lost almost 1,700.By June, 1941, Hitler had exhausted his air power & England

had held on.

Results of the Battle of Britain30,000 English people were killed

& another 120,000 injured, including some Americans.

But, finally the U.S. public became aware thanks to radio broadcasts sent to America from England during the bombings by U.S. journalist Edward R. Murrow

Japan???Japan had a rather large population that occupied a rather

small island chain with very little natural resourcesThey knew they needed to expand their borders so they

weren’t so dependent on foreign trade from countries like the U.S.

In 1931, the world learned that Japan had invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria for its vast natural resources, but because of protests from the League of Nations, they just withdrew from it.

JapanAfter little resistance, Japan

again invaded China in 1937, further to the south. (Remember that Hitler began his expansion in Europe in 36.)

The Chinese army was commanded by their famous Gen. Chiang Kai Shek, but the Jap. were still too powerful.

By 1940, Japan had expanded into Southeast Asia and had begun expansion into the South Pacific Islands.

In Sept. of 1940, Japan officially joined the Axis Powers

U.S. Prepares For WarRoosevelt began to build up our navy by 1938.

Next he moved the home of our Pacific Fleet from San Diego, Calif. to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii because it is about half way between America & Asia and closer to the action.

Most Americans still weren’t ready to fight another war and we were still in a depression & had enough problems at home to worry about.

Neutrality Acts

In the 1930s, the U.S. passed a series of laws that were suppose to ensure our neutrality called the Neutrality Acts.

1) We would not give loans to any countries at war.

2) When trading with warring countries, we deal only in cash and they must pick up and deliver their own goods.

(This is called Cash & Carry)

3) Americans could not travel on ships of warring countries

PreparationSept. 1940, Congress agrees to

“loan” England 50 older battleships & destroyers.

Sept. 1940, Congress passed our first peace time draft law, the Selective Service Act which required all males between 21 & 36 to register for military duty.

Election of 1940, Roosevelt wins for the 3rd time against the Republican Wendell Wilkie.

Is this legal??

Lend – Lease ActMarch, 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act which

gave he president the power to send aid to any country he saw fit if he thought it was vital to our country’s safety.

This allowed the president to act without Congress’ approval.It now seemed like a matter of time before we were at war.

Pearl HarborJuly, 1941, Japan

attacked French Indochina. (Vietnam)

The U.S. responded by starting a complete trade embargo against Japan.

This means that Japan will have no more oil, steel, iron, or gas coming in.

Whatever goals they have in the Pacific must happen now.

Pearl HarborJapan continued to

advance in the South Pacific despite our warnings.

In order for them to continue to advance in the Pacific they had to eliminate their only competition, us.

Dec. 7, 1941, 180 Japanese planes arrived at Pearl Harbor undetected, mostly because of miscommunication between the radar operator and his commanding officer.

Pearl HarborFrom 7:00 a.m. until 9:45 a.m.

Japan attacked both the air strips and the main harbor catching everyone completely off guard.

Results:

2,400 Americans killed

1,200 wounded

300 planes destroyed

18 ships sunk or badly damaged

(including 8 of 9 battleships)

Japan lost 29 planes

The only saving grace is that 3 of our aircraft carriers were spared.

Declaration of WarThe next day, Congress declared

war on Japan and Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, as “the date that shall live in infamy.”

3 days later, both Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.

Rose Bowl?

• Within days, hundreds of thousands of volunteers enlisted into the military

• By the end of the war, over 15 million Americans had served in the military.

• U.S. soldiers were simply referred to as G.I.s because everything they owned was Government Issue.

NiseiWe had a very diverse military.

Mexican American: 300,000

Native American: 25,000

Japanese American: 17,000

African American: 1,000,000

Almost immediately after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government began rounding up Japanese-American citizens called Nisei “for their own protection” and began placing them in internment camps in the Arizona and New Mexico deserts.

Women’s Roles in WWIIAbout 250,000 women volunteered

for military service in the different branches, but none in combat roles.

About 1,200 women served as WASPS or Women Air Force Service Pilots. They would either fly planes to their destinations or would fly planes for target practice.

Another 86,000 women became WAVES or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, which was for the Navy.

Women in WWII

The largest number of women became WACS who were the Women’s Army Corps.

They served as clerks, typists, mechanics, and photographers.

SubmarinesFirst priority for us was to

figure out how to break through the German submarine lines.

They did this by sending a huge convoy of ships together, like the Great White Fleet.

This worked until the Germans countered by doing the same with their subs, which were known as wolfpacks.

The peak activity came in June of 1942 when German subs sank 175 ships.

North African Campaign By early 1940,

Germany & Italy had total control of Northern Africa

Since August of 1940, England had been trying to retake it.

A huge turning point took place in Nov. 1942, when the British under the command of Gen. Montgomery defeated the Germans at the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt.

This was the first time that the German army was forced to retreat.

North Africa Montgomery used superior numbers and great diversionary tactics to defeat one of the top German commanders, Field Marshall Rommel. (The Desert Fox)

Rommel wanted to withdraw because he thought it was a lost cause, but Hitler ordered him to continue, which only resulted in more deaths.

This was also huge because Hitler & Mussolini did not want to loose control of the Suez Canal.

North AfricaAt the same time, the U.S. and

British were landing troops at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea under the command of Gen . Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Allied plan was for Eisenhower to push from the west and Montgomery to push from the east and trap Rommel in the middle.

It worked. In May of 1943, the 2 Allied forces met in Tunisia.

Eisenhower had turned over control to Gen. George Patton

RommelPatton had always had a competitive

obsession with Rommel. He had even read his book on military tactics.

When the Allies defeated Rommel, Patton finally has his victory, he thought.

He found out after the victory that Rommel had been called back to Germany before the battle and Patton went into a deep depression.

Rommel was actually involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler that failed.

Because of it, he later committed suicide.

Italian InvasionJuly, 1943, U.S. & British attacked

Sicily.By August 17, the island had fallen &

the Allies had entered mainland Italy.Under heavy pressure Mussolini was

forced to abdicate, was imprisoned, and hanged along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci on April 28, 1945.

German troops continued to fight in the northern area of Italy even though King Emmanuel III and the new prime minister actually declared war on Germany.

They didn’t surrender until the end of the war, almost the same day as V-E-day

U.S. lost 190,000 in Italian campaign.Germans lost almost ½ million.

War in RussiaJune, 1941, after failing in

Southern Europe, Hitler turned his attention towards the east and Russia.

Nonaggression pact??Hitler poured over 3 ½

million troops into Russia.Russia countered with 3

million Red Army soldiers.

Russian tactics were to destroy everything in front & behind them so as to leave nothing behind for Germany as they got buried deep into Russia.

War in Russia

Stalin was begging for help from the U.S. to create another front on the west to take pressure off of them.

But the Soviets did it on their own by winning the Battle of Stalingrad on Jan. 31, 1943.

330,000 Germans died in Russia & another 90,000 were captured.

This was the turning point on the Eastern front.

European Invasion1st part of the plan was to

launch bombing raids directly into Germany.

By late 1943, England, with the U.S., was ready to lead an invasion against Germany.

A massive buildup began in England in preparation to launch an attack against Germany in France.

These troops consisted of U.S., English, Belgian, French, Dutch and Polish troops.

D-Day InvasionGermany began a massive

buildup of troops along the northern coast of France.

Question? When & where to attack.

After several days of bad weather delays, the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944

Simultaneously, over 23,000 paratroopers had been dropped behind enemy lines.

This invasion is called D-Day.

D-Day InvasionThis was the largest invasion

force in history.4,000 ships, 10,000 planes,

and over 150,000 troops were landed that day, suffering very high losses.

Within 1 week, over ½ million soldiers had landed on the 60 mile stretch in Normandy.

By late August of 1944, Paris had been liberated & Germany was again in retreat.

End of the War in EuropeOne last attempt was made by the

German troops to break through the Allied lines at the Battle of the Bulge, near Luxemburg & Belgium in Dec. 1944.

But Patton came to the rescue to help the Allies win the bloodiest battle in Europe.

80,000 U.S. troops died100,000 German troops died or

were captured.

The war is now over!!!!

War Ends in EuropeAs the U.S. and England closed in on

Berlin from the West, Russia was closing in from the East.

Fueled by revenge from losing over 7 million people to Germany, Russia entered Berlin first in April of 1945, hoping to find Hitler.

Hitler, though, had already committed suicide by poisoning both himself and his new bride, Eva Braun, then shooting himself.

He had given orders to have his body burned.

May 8,1945, Germany surrenders.This becomes known as V-E Day, or

Victory in Europe Day.

Yalta ConferenceFeb. 1945 when it became obvious that Germany would fall,

The Big Three Leaders, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt agree to meet in Yalta, Russia, for 3 reasons: 1- To discuss plans for the post-war world.

2- The strategy used to defeat Japan in the Pacific. 3- Decide the fate of Poland.