WWII and the End of the European World Order. Causes of WWII Gradual militarization of Japan and imperialistic tendencies (seized Manchuria in 1931.

WWII and the End of WWII and the End of the European World the European World

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Causes of WWII

Gradual militarization of Japan and imperialistic tendencies (seized Manchuria in 1931 and proclaimed it the independent state of Manchukuo)

Nazi party in Germany gaining in success, Hitler’s policy to dismantle the political system set up in Versailles

Hitler’s success emboldened Mussolini to go on military adventures of his own, i.e. Ethiopia

Hitler and Mussolini realized that the western powers weren’t going to do anything in defense of the small states

Beginning of WWII

Japanese military actually moved first in 1937 to launch an attack on China. By 1938 controlled quite a large area

Japan had entered the war without coordination of allies, Germany and Italy (only signed pact in 1940)

Germany had its eyes on the east 1939 non – aggression pact with Soviet Union Sept. 1, 1939 invasion of Poland, Soviets then

take over eastern half of Poland

Nazi Blitzkrieg and Retreat

Blitzkrieg “lightening war” rapid penetration of enemy territory quickly overwhelmed the Poles, French, British. 

Weak French leadership. By 1940 Germans had north and central France and set up puppet regime in Vichy

Britain driven from continent but was able to fend off Germans in London at Battle of Britain under the leadership of Winston Churchill

Mid-1941 Germans controlled most of European continent-  used conquered nations for supplies, labor

1941 drove Soviet forces out of central Europe and then moved onto Soviet Union but winter stalled them.  1942 spring renewed attempt on Soviets . Failure to capture Stalingrad in 1942 and 1943

1943 Soviet armies went on the offensive and took back central Europe

Holocaust: Hitler’s War Against the Jews

1942 final solution at Wannsee conference

The more war turned against Hitler, the more he turned against the Jews

12 million deaths (about 7-8 million Jews and 4 million others)

Intensified plight of Zionists for place of their own

End of European War

U.S. entered to counter German U-boat attacks, then helped British fight Germans in N. Africa

1944-45 Battle of the Bulge Allies invading Germany from the East and Soviets from the east

April 30, 1945- Hitler committed suicide and two weeks later the military surrendered

Rise and Fall of Japanese Empire in the Pacific

Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack U.S. base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii

Japanese attacking colonial holdings in ChinaBattle of the Coral Sea 1942- Japan abandons

hope of taking over portsMidway 1942 U.S. defeats Japan March 1945 mass bombardment of vulnerable

Japanese cities

Japanese Americans Imprisoned

Propaganda against Japanese- Americans Feb. 1942 internment program March Japanese-Americans sent to camps

(31,275 total in five years)

Aug. 6 and 9 Hiroshima and Nagasaki- U.S. President Truman drops the atomic bomb on two cities and Japanese surrender unconditionally

Facts about the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima

Ground Temperatures 7000 degrees F. Hurricane Force Winds 980 mph Energy released 20,000 tons of TNT Buildings destroyed 62,000 Killed immediately 70,000 Dead by the end of 1945 140,000 Total deaths related to the A-bomb 210,000

Allies and Axis Costs of WWII

Country Military Killed/missing

Civilians Killed

United States 292,131 -

Great Britain 271,311 60,595

France 205,707 173,260

USSR 13,600,000 7,720,000

Germany 3,300,000 2,893,000

Japan 1,140,429 953,000

Cold War: 1940s-1980s

Arose over Allied Powers’ disagreement in postwar settlement- who would get which territory

Tehran 1943- strategy to defeat Germany Yalta 1945- plan for governing postwar

Germany Potsdam 1945- division of Poland

Nationalism and Decolonization

WWII further destroyed the myth of white superiority

Total war drained resources so Europeans couldn’t hold on to colonies anymore

Atlantic Charter 1941- right to self-determination

Independence in South and Southeast Asia

WWII destroyed alliance between Indian National Congress and Britain

1947 India divided on religious lines- India- Hindu and Pakistan – Muslim

Sri Lanka and Burma later got independence Dutch and French pull out of Indonesia and

Vietnam Philippines given independence by U.S.

Liberation of Africa

Western-educated individuals led independence movements in Africa (Nkrumah in Ghana)

By mid-1960s the British, French, Portuguese and Belgian nonsettler colonies were free

Settler Colonies in Africa and S. Africa

Algeria, Kenya, Southern Rhodesia- bloody fighting to get independence

Only white minority in S. Africa able to maintain power after 1980

Apartheid

Arabs, Israelis, and Palestine

Strains of nationalism conflicted in Palestine

Warfare over Palestine after WWII Zionists better armed, had world

sympathy, and expanded U.N. sanctioned territory