Road to World War II & WWII

Terms - Road to World War II:

 Appeasement policy
 Conceding to an aggressive power in order to avoid war
 Here it describes the British policy towards Nazi Germany in the 1930s
 Reasons → aimed to prevent a second war after devastating WWI, they also couldn’t
afford a war economy and military wise
 GB knew Hiterl’s intent from his writings, Chamberlain believed appeasement could
prevent war, didn’t want to provoque Germany
 Factors that influenced appeasement → domestic concerns (Great Depression caused
unemployment and unrest), antiwar sentiment was widespread, fear of war’s impact
and potential decolonisation
 The nazis violated treaties and created concern in the international community,
however the British under McDonald and Baldwin chose negotiation over
punishment
 The anglo-german naval agreement allowed germany a larger navy and aimed to
prevent an arms race → The British government's reason for making the agreement
with Germany was the belief that it was better to have an agreed limit on German
rearmament than to have rearmament with no limit.
 in hope of avoiding war, Britain allowed Hitler to expand German territory
unchecked in the 1930s → failure because it did lead to war
 US isolationism:
 In the aftermath of WWI, there was a strong sentiment to avoid international conflicts
and focus on domestic issues
 This shaped the U.S. foreign policy for much of the interwar period
 German-Soviet-Nonaggression Pact:
 Also known as “Molotov-Ribbentrop-Pact”
 Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, stating that they would
not attack each other and secretly divide the countries that lay between them.
Germany claimed Western Poland and part of Lithuania
 It divided eastern europe into german and soviet spheres of influence
 Did it to avoid a two-front war
 Japanese Militarism:
 The notion that expansion through military conquest would solve Japan’s economic
problems gained currency during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
 Ideology that states that militarism (Militarism is the belief or the desire of a
government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to
use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values.) should dominate the
political and social life of the nation
 Munich Agreement:
 Munich Agreement, (September 30, 1938), settlement reached by Germany, Great
Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland, in
western Czechoslovakia.

Terms - World War II:

 Lightning war/ Blitzkrieg:
 Germany's strategy to avoid a long war in the first phase of World War II in Europe
and to conquer land as quickly as possible
 Fast moving tank divisions and supported by air raids
 This was followed by massive infantry forces to take enemy defenders by surprise
and quickly overwhelm them
 Battle of Britain:
 German air force was defeated by the British under the Churchill government
  the successful defence of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids
conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from July through September 1940,
after the fall of France.
 “Crusade against Bolshevism”:
 Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union in 1941
 communist leaders and millions of civilians (many of them were jewish) died (shot,
starved to death or reduced to slave labour)
 Russia’s industrial and agricultural base was destroyed
 USSR had casualties of 20 million people
 Different from lightning war → driven by want to annihilate and under different
conditions
 Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact. Germany went to Moscow but
the cold temperatures contributed to their loss
 Strategy of “scorched earth”:
 a military strategy of burning or destroying crops or other resources that might be of
use to an invading enemy force like water, food, humans, animals
 Russia’s troops destroyed anything that might be of use to their enemy

Road to World War II

Compare the political, economic, and ideological developments of Germany, Italy, Japan, Great
Britain, USA and USSR prior to WW II.

Soviet Union:
 Economic developments
 They were forced to introduce the concept of war communism due to the Russian
civil war → claiming of peasants’ yields as well as the central planning
 War communism → central planning, requisitioning (claim) of resources, was chaotic
and dysfunctional, farmers only grew rain for themselves since the surplus would be
taken away
 This had catastrophic effects on the economy and caused widespread famines
 In 1921, the government introduced the NEP (New Economic Policy) as a reaction
 NEP → allowed minimal private ownership and small-scale capitalism
 This allowed capitalistic elements in the economy, which helped give a small boost to
the country
 Stalin’s rise to power then introduced the five year plans that were meant to
industrialise the nation, but caused another famine with a massive death toll
 Five year plan → 1928-1932, increase industrialisation, agriculture, collectivisation,
fall in consumer goods, massive famines (man-made famine in Ukraine (Holodomor)
recognized as attempted genocide against Ukrainians)
 Political developments
 Lenin’s government suffered from a lot of opposition → 1918 Russian civil war
between Red army (Bolsheviks, Lenin, Trotsky) and White army (a loosely organised
group of opposing left and right groups)
 After Lenin’s death in 1924, Trotsky was his preferred successor
 But, Stalin used his power as General Secretary to change the party structure and
place supporters in crucial political positions throughout the party → hence he
ensured his victory as head of state
 Stalin established communism
 He killed many people in political purges against those he suspected of being against
him
 Officially, the USSR conducted itself neutrally towards Nazi Germany and signed the
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which partitioned Poland between the two powers, as well
as guaranteeing a policy of non-aggression between the two
  The Soviet Union was drawn into the war in 1941, when they were attacked by
Germany, thus breaking the pact
 Ideological developments
 Communism

Italy:
 Political developments
 Fascist movement born after WWI
 In 1919 Benito Mussolini founded the fasci di combattimento/ Fascist
 During new elections in 1921, 35 Fascists were elected into the parliament
 In November 1921 Mussolini formed his movement into a proper political party →
National Fascist Party (PNF)
 October 1922 “March on Rome” → Fascist squads occupied railway stations and
government offices
 Led to Kind, Victor Emmanuel III, asking Mussolini to form a government on
October 29 → Mussolini became prime minister and headed a coalition government
 In 1923, the electoral law was changed, meaning that a group of parties with the
largest vote would receive an absolute majority of the seats → in April 1924 Fascists
won 64% of votes
 During next 2 years, Mussolini disbanded most of Italy’s constitutional safeguards
against government autocracy → elections abolished, free speech disappeared,
dissolved opposition parties
 It created a one-party state that had an influence over many different sectors like the
economy, education, or one’s private life
 Political alignment with Nazi Germany with the Pact of Steel
 Ideological developments
 By the 1930s the fascist party dominated all aspects of daily life → work, education,
leisure activities
 The ideology already penetrated education in primary schools
 Press was censored with a lot of government propaganda
 Expansionism →Their foreign policy became more expansionist → acquiring
territory in Africa, particularly Ethiopia
 In October 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia and by May 1936 they had conquered the
country
 Anti-semetic laws in 1938
 Economic developments
 After the war, Italy had economic problems, since the government had printed money
to pay for weapons and there was inflation
 Although it had been on the victorious side during WWI, its participation had been
very costly and disproportionate to its size and wealth
 At the end of the 1920s the lira was only worth ⅙ of its value in 1913
 Unemployment rose
 Social unrest grew as workers, peasants, and unions demanded better conditions

Germany:
 Political developments
 Democratic government weakened → the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles
provoked national outrage and severely weakened the new democratic regime, the
German government encouraged the people of the Ruhr area to resist passively (shops
stopped selling to foreign soldiers, coal mines stopped digging for foreign troops,
trams stopped running because they were occupied by the army etc)
 Antisemitism → National Socialists believed that they were superior. When they
came into power, they launched an offensive against Jews. the Holocaust started with
the marginalisation and persecution of Jews.
  Extreme nationalism → small parties were more likely to be admitted to the Weimar
Republic’s parliament because of its electoral system. The rise of political extremism
in Germany during the interwar period was caused by this, together with the fact that
the Great Depression was so severe and that the people blamed the government for it.
The Nazi movement’s leaders convinced the German population that they had a
strategy for regaining Germany’s preeminence. They made, for example, the working
class feel seen, which helped them gain a lot of support.
 Economic developments
 Job creation through government work → Nazis attempted to revive the economy
after the Great Depression by constructing highways and providing public assistance.
A war-centred economy was the main goal of the Nazis. They expanded the military
industry and produced a large number of new jobs. By 1938, rent and salary controls
had started and unemployment had almost completely vanished.
 MEFO Bills → Hjalmar Schacht, the president of the Reichsbank, revealed a
proposal known as the MEFO Act to secretly finance Germany’s rearmament
following the Great Depression and the Treaty of Versailles, which initially forbade
the Nazis from assembling an army. MEFO regulations provide funding of the
military without creating a paper trail because it is done for research purposes.
 National Socialists People’s Welfare → the German government established the
NSV, a welfare, when the Great Depression caused severe unemployment and
poverty among Germans. Unlike many other welfare programs, this one wasn’t
particularly social because it only provided aid to people who fulfilled the criteria for
their race, were able to work, were ‘politically reliable’ (i.e. NSDAP voters), and
were willing and able to reproduce. People who were intentionally jobless, asocial, or
chronically ill didn’t receive welfare since they were ‘not worth the help’ and a
symbol of weakness. Neither did non-aryans. However, it did succeed in integrating
more middle class women who were engaged in social services.
 Ideological developments
 The nazi party’s philosophy was built on racial prejudice against jewish people. They
also bent on stealing the land of other smaller nations in order to expand its
‘Lebensraum’. They wanted to expand the ‘German people’s’ territory. They also
placed a lot of emphasis on the Treaty of Versailles. Many Germans were
disillusioned and sceptical after WWI, but they were given a remedy by the Nazis, as
they made a commitment to return Germany to a prominent place among the great
powers again.

Japan
 Economic developments
 Japan was rapidly modernised under emperor Meiji, after 2 ½ centuries of self-
imposed seclusion from the rest of the world due to Tokugawa Shogunate
 Because of WWI, European products became unavailable
 This led to a boom of the Japanese economy due to increased demand for Japanese
products
 All industries profited
 But most business expansions during WWI were inefficient, excessive and
unsustainable → Japanese products remained inferior to European products
 In 1920, there was a serious price deflation → the price of some products fell by over
50%
 The economic mood was depressing → frequent, short-lived recessions, flexible
prices, and returning and persistent trade deficits
 Furthermore, the military started to become uncontrollable
 The government reacted by rescuing the weakened industries and banks saddled with
bad debt
  The bank of Japan provided emergency loans to ailing banks and industries to avoid
further bankruptcies and unemployment → this was a time bomb that exploded later
on
 There was a strong expansion of heavy and chemical industries
 Broad growth in → steel, chemicals, electrical and general machinery, artificial silk
(rayon)
 By the 1930s Japan could produce most machines domestically
 Japan started to catch up with the world’s great powers in the beginning of the 20th
century but shockwaves of the Great Depression affected Japan by throwing it into a
serious deflation spiral, unemployment rates surged as well as public discontent
 Political developments
 In 1928, they joined the Kellogg-Briand Pact → multilateral agreement attempting to
eliminate war as an instrument of national policy. It was the most grandiose of a
series of peacekeeping efforts after World War I.
 In 1930, the prime minister Hamaguchi signed the London Naval treaty in order to
have cost-saving naval reductions
 Ultranationalists, the navy and army didn’t agree with this, called the treaty a national
surrender and they started to prepare for defence of their budgets
 Emperor Hirohito → he had a lot of power, could appoint and dismiss cabinet
members and generals, was cruel (killed multiple of his own men because they were
‘unsuccessful’), in the beginning he chose to stay away from politics of WWII, he
allied himself with hard line factions in the Japanese military, helped the military
leaders weaken political parties, brutally suppressed political dissidents, promoted
anti-democratic imperial ideology and enhanced his power at the expense of
democracy
 Rise of militarism:
 After the Meiji period, there was a loss of confidence in political parties so instead of
a normal parliamentary government, the right-wing nationalists and militarists took
control over the government
 Militarism was blamed on → worldwide depression, numerous scandals, flaws of
Meiji period
 Ultranationalism was a characteristic of right-wing politicians and conservative
military men
 Militarism → the belief/ desire of a government or a people that a state should
maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national
interests and/or values, may also imply the glorification of the military and of the
ideals of a professional military class and the predominance of the armed forces in the
administration or policy of the state
 During the reign of the Meiji emperor (1868-1912), Japan was being transformed
from a feudal farming society into a modern industrial state
 Japan had sided with the allies in WWI, hoping to win territory in China that was held
by Germany
 By the end of the war Japan had become the most powerful nation in East Asia
 Japanese delegates participated in the peace treaty negotiations with GB, France, Italy
and the USA
 Japan also joined the League of Nations
 However, post war developments in Japan followed a somewhat similar course to
those in Germany and ITaly → once again a fragile democratic system subject to
economic and political stress gave way to authoritarian, militarist forces
 Liberal democracy in the 1920s:
 The postwar period saw a new liberal spirit in Japan
 Political changes introduced before the war during the Meiji restoration seemed to be
leading toward broader democracy
  Most Japanese people had become literate under new education programs, new
technologies led to greatly increased spread of information through radio, movies,
newspapers and magazines
 The Japanese heard increasingly more about the political ideas and fashions of the
West
 They also formed new political parties → democratic, socialist, communist, and
anarchist (were modelled on those of the West)
 In 1918, Hara Kei became prime minister → first Japanese head of government who
didn’t come from military or the noble class ( → sign that democracy was advancing
in Japan)
 1925 → most men received right to vote, it increased Japan’s voting population from
3.5 million to 14 million
 Young people in cities began to adopt western styles of dress and music, but more
importantly they began to resist centuries-old traditions of family authority, such as
marriage arranged by their parents
 Even Japan’s foreign relations in the early 1920s seemed marked by a spirit of
liberal, international cooperation → e.g. their participation in the Washington Naval
Conference and the ‘Open Door Policy’ that the conference supported in China
 Japan also agreed to withdraw its troops from China’s Shantung province
 Despite the signs of liberal change in the 1920s, many Japanese people weren’t
content with the new shape their nation was taking
 Industrialisation and western influence had produced rising expectations for improved
standards of living, yet few Japanese felt that the changes of the past few decades had
benefited them directly
 Discontent among workers, youths, and intellectuals increased during the 1920s →
fuelled tensions between those who wanted broader social changes and those who
embraced traditional ways
 Many Japanese leaders reacted to this unrest with alarm → they believed social
conflict within Japan would weaken the country and threaten its security
 Gradually Japan began to turn away from liberal reform → leaders emphasised
tradition as a source of national strength, they suppressed protest by promoting
traditional Japanese respect for authority and strengthening feelings of nationalism
 Ideological developments:
 Rise of militarism
 As the Japanese government became more conservative, the military gained increased
influence over the country and its civilian rulers
 Japan moved toward a policy of militarism, and the liberalism of the early 1920s gave
way to increasingly authoritarian rule
 The structure of Japanese government, with its roots in tradition, helped encourage
military influence
 Japanese government was set up as an oligarchy in which power was in practice
shared by an emperor, his unelected advisors, a prime minister, and military leaders
 Among these military leaders were cabinet ministers for the army and the navy, who
could directly consult with the emperor directly rather than reporting to the prime
minister → this practice, in some cases, let the military set government policy without
the knowledge or approval of the prime minister
 Members of the government had close ties to the zaibatsu ( huge corporations that ran
most of Japan’s industry and business)
 Zaibatsu families were often active in politics and regularly contributed large sums to
political leaders
 In the 1930s these business leaders also generally agreed with the policies of military
leaders and often worked to increase the power to the latter
 Economic problems in the late 1920s also brought the country closer to military rule
 A financial panic gripped the nation in 1927, followed by depression in 1929
  By 1930, one million Japanese were out of work, many of them returned to their
home villages, only to face famine as crops failed
 Many japanese people threw supported the military, because the military leaders
made clear their sympathy with suffering peasants and because military ideas for
territorial expansion seemed to offer a solution to economic problems
 Changes in foreign policy:
 While military leaders gained more power within Japan, increasing discrimination
against Asians by western nations in the 1920s fed the fires of militarism and turned
the japanese away from international cooperation → e.g. Immigration Act of 1924
 After the worldwide depression began in 1929 the Japanese lost western markets for
silk and other goods and many nations imposed high tax tariffs to protect their own
industries
 In the face of such policies the Japanese felt less obligation to cooperate
internationally
 Expansionist and militarist groups inside and outside of government began to have
stronger voices → if the japanese couldn’t emigrate and if other nations’ tariffs
limited japanese export income, then the nation had only one alternative → territorial
expansion
 The seizure of Manchuria:
 Those in Japan who favoured territorial expansion looked first to Manchuria →
province in northern China, it had mineral resources Japan lacked, rich farmland and
new markets for Japanese products
 In September 1931, a group of Japanese officers stationed in a part of Manchuria
under lease to Japan blew up a section of railroad near the city of Mukden
 Then they blamed the act on troops of the Chinese warlord, who controlled the area
 Using this “Mukden Incident” as an excuse, the Japanese officers directed their
soldiers to attack the warlord’s army and “restore order.” → Japanese forces quickly
took over much of Manchuria.
 When the League of Nations condemned Japan’s seizure of Manchuria, Japan
withdrew from the organisation.
 Within Japan, extreme nationalists began to call moderate leaders who disapproved of
the army’s action “enemies of the state.”
 In 1932, these nationalists began a campaign of terror at home. → Moderate political
and business leaders were wounded or killed. Press censorship was imposed.
Socialists and Communists were suppressed.
 Political unrest and violence at home caused even more Japanese to support strong
military rule, while protests from other countries increased nationalist fervour.
 Military leaders quickly gained effective control over the government, setting up an
authoritarian rule.
 Although the government was neither fascist nor fully totalitarian, its leaders
expected citizens to commit themselves to the state.
 Meanwhile, expansionism seemed to pay off economically. → The production of
arms for military expansion and an increase in production of export materials helped
bring Japan out of depression and put people back to work.
 To many Japanese, nationalism took on an almost spiritual quality.
 Radical nationalists believed the use of force was necessary to return Japan to its
former glory. “Heaven,” they said, had “chosen Japan as champion of the East.”

Great Britain
 Political developments:
 The conservative government aimed to maintain tranquillity and address post-war
challenges, they focused on restoring pre-war conditions through policies
 They emphasised reconciliation via the Locarno Treaties which aimed at international
stability and peace
 There was a shift between far left and far right ideologies
  Ireland and return of conservatives → disorder broke out in southern Ireland in 1919,
home rule was accepted in the north but rejected in the south, compromise led to the
establishment of a dominion government in dublin in 1921, conservative returned
here in power in 1922, relative stability after partition of Ireland
 Despite the desire to avoid war, GB began rearming in the mid 1930s due to the
growing threat posed by Nazi Germany, they wanted to strengthen britain’s military
capability in case diplomacy failed
 Economic developments:
 The interwar period was marked by economic difficulties, high unemployment and a
struggle to regain pre-war economic stability
 These economic challenges had a significant impact on the country’s overall well-
being
 Gold standard decision (1925) → decision to return to gold standard in 1925 at pre-
war parity was pivotal economically, the government aimed to restore pre-war
economic conditions and prosperity through this move
 Efforts to address economic challenges included the expansion of social services
 Introduction of unemployment benefits and old age pensions aimed at addressing
post-WWI economic and social issues
 Impact of Great Depression → country experienced economic depression and felt
repercussions of the Great Depression in the 1930s, economic downturn during this
time period had profound effects on various aspects of society and the economy
 Ideological developments:
 Rise of ideologies like socialism, communism and fascism had a significant influence
on british politics during the interwar period
 Strong desire for peace → trauma of WWI led to a strong desire for peace among the
British
 The government’s “safety first” slogan and actions reflected an ideological focus on
stability and social harmony
 The government’s approach included efforts to reconcile with trade unions, expand
social services and promote peace
 Appeasement → in the 1930s, GB followed a policy of appeasement towards Nazi
Germany, British leaders, including prime minister Neville Chamberlain, believed
that by making concessions to Hitler’s territorial ambitions, they could avoid another
devastating war
 Desire to avoid war → was a driving force behind the policy of appeasement
 Shift in attitude → as Germany’s actions became increasingly aggressive and the
limits of appeasement were exposed, british attitudes began to shift, increased
determination to resist Nazi expansion
USA
 Political developments:
 Women’s suffrage (1920) → the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote,
marking a significant milestone in the women’s rights movement
 The movement of African Americans from the rural south to northern cities led to
significant demographic shifts and cultural changes, Harlem Renaissance was a
flourishing cultural and artistic movement in the African American community
 New deal policies (1933-1940s) → president franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal
programs aimed to combat the Great Depression through various economic and social
reforms, it included the establishment of social safety nets, job creation, and
infrastructure projects
 Neutrality Acts (1930s) → aimed to prevent their involvement in foreign wars by
prohibiting arms sales and loans to nations at war
 Lend-lease act (1941) → to support allied nations without direct involvement, USA
introduced this act, allowing the provision of military aid to countries fighting against
axis power (without insisting on immediate payment)
 Economic developments:
  Great depression (1929-1939) → the stock market crash of 1929 triggered a severe
economic crisis, characterised by widespread unemployment, bank failures and
poverty
 Dust bowl (1930s) → a period of severe dust storms and agricultural devastation in
the Great Plains, causing crop failures and environmental challenges for farmers
 Banking reforms → the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated commercial and
investment banking to prevent another financial crisis
 Industrialisation and urbanisation → in the 1920s one witnessed significant industrial
growth and urbanisation, it contributed to economic prosperity before the Great
Depression hit
 Ideological developments:
 Isolationism → in the aftermath of WWI, there was a strong sentiment to avoid
international conflicts and focus on domestic issues, this shaped U.S. foreign policy
for much of the interwar period
 Red scare and palmer raids → fear of communist infiltration led to government
crackdowns on suspected radicals and immigrants, including the Palmer Raids in
1920
 The global spread of fascist and nazi ideologies in Europe drew reactions and debates
in the USA, influencing international relations and public discourse

Provide possible explanations why the world returned to combat just two decades after World War I.
 Treaty of Versailles
 It imposed heavy penalties on Germany
 Created feelings of discontentment and economic hardships in Germany →
contributed to Hitler/ NSDAP coming to power
 Issues like territorial disputes that weren’t resolved after WWI created feelings of injustice
e.g. in Italy
 Rise of dictators → authoritarian leaders in Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini) and Japan
(militarism), they all had aggressive and expansionist ideologies, they all had territorial
ambitions which created conflicts with other countries
 Economic hardships
 Great Depression of 1930s impacted economies worldwide → unemployment,
poverty, financial instability
 This increased the appeal of extremist ideologies, nationalism and militarism due to a
belief that this would help to address the economic hardships
 Appeasement policies tried to avoid conflict/ war by making concessions to e.g. Nazi
Germany, probably only made them bolder
 The belief of aryan supremacy/ nationalism also added on to their expansionist goals
 League of nations was ineffective

World War II

List the major players of WWII and their aims.

 Axis powers → Germany, Italy, Japan
 Germany ( “Third Reich”)
 goals: living space, hegemony (leadership/ dominance) in Europe
 Dictatorships, totalitarian state
 Ideology: National Socialism
 Leader: Adolf Hitler
 Italy (until 1943)
 goal: “mare nostro” ( → The Mediterranean was called Mare Nostrum (Latin for
"Our Sea") during the centuries of the Roman Empire, an empire that Fascism
intended to recreate after the conquest of Ethiopia in 1936.
 Dictatorship, totalitarian state
  Ideology → fascism
 Leader → Benito Mussolini
 Japan
 goal: hegemony in the Pacific
 Constitutional monarchy with an authoritarian government
 Ideology: Militarism
 The emperor Hirohito was strongly influenced by militarists like General Hideki
Tojo
 Allies → England, USSR, USA
 United Kingdom
 goals: unconditional surrender, occupation of Germany
 Parliamentary democracy with constitutional monarchy
 Prime minister: Neville Chamberlain until May 1940, replaced by Winston Churchill
 USSR/ Soviet Union
 goals: expansion of influence, expulsion of occupying forces
 One-party dictatorship, totalitarian state
 Ideology: communism
 Leader: Joseph Stalin
 USA
 goal: unconditional destruction of Nazi ideology
 Democratic republic
 President → Franklin D. Roosevelt (died shortly before the end of WWII in April
1945, replaced by Harry Truman)

Provide explanations as to why the Allies won WWII (or why the Axis Powers lost).
 Hitler had to send troops in order to help Italy to regions that he didn’t consider important
(Italy was a rather weak ally)
 USA entering the war after Pearl Harbour → most advanced industrial nation in the world,
america’s enormous military and economic strength combined with Soviet manpower finally
led to allied superiority and German defeat
 Stalingrad → loss of 250’000 German troops, major turning point for war, German strategy
now defence
 By 1943, German troops were fighting on four fronts → Italy, east, atlantic, air over germany
 German resources and economic power had been stretched beyond the limits and couldn’t
keep up with the allies huge industrial power
 Senseless strategies in final stages of war → e.g. Volkssturm

Summarise the three phases of WWII by referring to the major battles/ events.
 Phase I → initial victories - the “Blitzkrieg” (1939-1941)
 When German troops invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, its only allies were Italy
and Japan which also wanted to expand their spheres of influence by the use of
military force → formed the Axis Alliance
 Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September and were later joined
by the Soviet Union and the USA → Allies
 Phase I runs from the invasion of Poland to the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941
 It was a period of uninterrupted German successes, during which Hitler’s armies
overran much of Europe
 In the Polish campaign, Hitler achieved his first “Blitzkrieg”/ “lightning war” → fast
moving tank divisions, supported by air raids, raced across Poland and defeated the
Polish army within a few weeks
 Then, in April 1940, Hitler turned against Denmark and Norway to safeguard the
supply of iron ore, which was needed to produce weapons
 Violating the neutrality of the benelux states, German forces conquered France in
June 1940
  France was occupied in the north by the Germans while the pro-German Vichy
government ruled southern France
 Hitler’s next target was Britain
 Despite the German air raids on English cities, which caused tens of thousands of
civilian casualties, the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill resolved to continue
the fight
 The German air force was defeated in the Battle of Britain → this deprived the
German invasion fleet of vital air cover, forcing Hitler to cancel the campaign
 In April 1941, Hitler had to order the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in order to
help Italian forces which had failed in their attempt to get control of the Balkan
region and to secure the oil-fields in Romania (a source of German oil)
 Italy proved to be a weak ally also in North Africa
 To prevent Italian defeat by the British, Hitler had to transfer troops to a region he did
not consider important
 All these events led to a postponement of the invasion of the Soviet Union
 On 22 June 1941 Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
 Three million German troops, supported by Finnish, Romanian and Italian divisions,
crossed a border that stretched 1500 miles from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea
 But this war turned out to be very different from the lightning war in the west
 Although German troops advanced quickly to Leningrad and Moscow, the beginning
of winter with temperatures dropping to -40°C and the stubborn resistance of Soviet
troops shattered the illusion of a swift victory in December 1941
 Also, the character of war wasn’t the same
 Nazi ideology foresaw military conquest but also annihilation (complete destruction)
and racial extermination
 During the “Crusade against Bolshevism” Communist leaders and millions of
civilians among them most of the Jewish population, were shot, starved to death, or
reduced to slave labour
 The country’s industrial and agricultural base was destroyed
 At the end of the war the Soviet Union had suffered casualties of about 20 million
people
 Phase II: Turning of the Tide (1941- 1943)
 In this phase the war became a global conflict and the German armies were forced to
retreat
 The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour (Hawaii) on 6 December 1941 turned the
European war into a world war
 Although the alliance with Japan didn’t oblige Hitler to do so, he declared war on the
USA, the most advanced industrial nation in the world
 The Soviet Union, Britain and the USA formed an anti-Hitler coalition and agreed to
fight Germany until its “unconditional surrender”
 America’s enormous military and economic strength combined with Soviet
manpower finally led to allied superiority and German defeat
 In 1942/43 the Germans suffered significant setbacks → their troops were driven out
of Africa and they lost the battle of Stalingrad
 The loss of about 250’000 troops was a disaster for Hitler and a major turning point
of the war
 From 1943 on German strategy was defensive, its armies retreated
 The Home Front:
 The war also had an impact on Germans at home →The heavy bombing of German
cities like Cologne, Hamburg or Dresden led to destruction and killed hundreds of
thousands of civilians.
 About four million homes were destroyed, factories and infrastructure damaged.
 The German government organised evacuation programmes for children, introduced
ration cards for food and clothes and obliged members of the Hitler Youth to support
the war effort.
  They helped the fire services, collected metals, distributed food and coal or acted as
anti-aircraft auxiliaries (“Flakhelfer”).
 The total mobilisation of all forces also included women, but unlike in Britain, female
conscription was not introduced. However, many women voluntarily served in
auxiliary units (“Nachrichtenhelferinnen”), worked on the fields or in the armament
industry.
 Phase III: towards defeat (1944-1945)
 Includes D-Day/ Operation Overlord and the atomic bombings (Hiroshima, Nagasaki)
 By 1943 German troops were fighting on four fronts → in Italy, in the east, in the
Atlantic, and in the air over Germany
 In June 1944 the landings by the western allies in Normandy added another front and
Germany’s military situation grew more desperate
 The final phase of the war began
 In September, British and American troops reached the Rhine
 In October, Soviet troops were on the German borders to east Prussia
 Hitler’s counter-offensive in the Ardennes in winter 1944/1945 failed and cost the
last reserves of troops
 The final useless effort to defend Germany with the “Volkssturm” → a badly trained
and equipped army made up of men over 60 and boys, some younger than 16, only
increased the number of senseless casualties
 The war was lost, a fact which should’ve been realised as early as 1942
 German resources and economic power had been stretched beyond the limits and
could not keep up with the allies’ huge industrial power
 The american economy alone produced more steel, oil and motor vehicles in 1941
than the rest of the world put together
 However, the fight on several fronts with long supply lines and limited manpower
continued
 Hitler had lost touch with reality and lived in a world of self.delusion
 After his suicide, the German forces surrendered unconditionally on 8 May 1945 →
the war in Europe finally came to an end and left the continent in ruins
 Four months later, after the Americans had dropped two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945
 WWII was the bloodiest and most devastating conflict in the history of mankind
 The number of casualties amounted to about 55 million people

Explain what “Operation Dynamo” was and what role it played in WWII.
 The battle of Dunkirk took place from May 26 to June 4, 1940
 It started shortly after the Phony War ended on may 10, 1940
 The battle began with a surprise move by Nazi Germany → instead of attacking the heavily
fortified Maginot Line as expected, they swiftly entered France through the Ardennes forest.
This cut off communication between northern and southern Allied forces, pushing them
towards Dunkirk
 Dunkirk → its location played a vital role, it’s a small town on the northern coast of France,
near the Strait of Dover, where England and France are only 21 miles apart across the English
Channel → this closeness was significant during the evacuation from Dunkirk
 Operation Dynamo → codename for the evacuation from Dunkirk
 Evacuation
 The evacuation surpassed expectations
 They initially thought that they could save a maximum of 45’000 troops, but the
operation exceeded the estimate
 May 29 → 47’000 British soldiers rescued
 May 30 → more than 53’000 including French forces
 It ended on June 4 → evacuated 338’000 men (198’000 British, 140’000 French)
 About 90’000 Allied troops and a lot of the BEF’s heavy equipment were left behind
as Dunkirk fell to the Germans
  Impact
 Operation Dynamo was a turning point
 Despite Germany’s success in the Blitzkrieg, the evacuation of a significant number
of British troops from the brink of annihilation was a crucial moment for the Allied
war effort
 Germany had hoped that Dunkirk’s defeat would force Britain to negotiate a quick
exit from the war
 However, it became a symbol of British resilience and unity
 Aftermath
 After Dunkirk, thousands of French troops were left behind and captured by Germans
 Abandoned on Dunkirk → ammunition, machine guns, tanks, motorcycles, jeeps,
anti-aircraft artillery
 German army captured the rest of France (Paris fell June 14, 1940, Henri Pétain
signed armistice with Nazis)

Sum up the importance of D-Day for WWII.

 Stands for Decision Day
 6 June 1944
 On the evening before D-Day, thousands of American and British paratroopers were
airdropped behind enemy lines
 The main operation was known as “Operation Overlord” → 150’000 allied forces landed on
the shores of Normandy, France
 Commanding this complex operation were General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who commanded
the American forces, while Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery led the British contingent
 Goal → to free Paris and ultimately all of Europe from Nazi occupation
 They targeted coastal defences, such as bunkers and artillery
 The allied forces attacked multiple segments of the beach through 2 waves
 First wave
 Start at 5 am
 2000 landing boats with about 30 soldiers each
 Most soldiers died because of German defences, which were prepared for the
invasion
 Second wave
 Start at 7 am
 2000 more landing boats
 Expected the area to be secured → goal was to secure the positions on the cliffs
overlooking the beach and pathways to the “Hinterland”
 Delays and slowed progress
 Success thanks to naval vessels offshore
 Both sides suffered heavy casualties
 In the end the Allies were successful → D-Day marked the beginning of the end for the Nazi
regime

Define the “sole survivor policy”.

 The policy protects lone remaining family members from military duty
 Example → Sargent Frederick Niland was one of four brothers who were serving in the U.S.
military during WWII, he was then rescued by this policy in 1944 as he was sent back home
after two of his brothers died in service
 In 1948, this policy was passed into law officially, which states that a lone surviving son
could be exempted from military service if one or more brothers or daughters died

Elaborate on the Battle of Stalingrad and its significance for WWII.

 In June 1942, Hitler launched Operation Blue
 With this he intended to secure Ukrainian farmlands and to capture strategic oilfields
 Initially, the strategy seemed to be successful, e.g. with the swift capture of Voronezh
  However, challenges like scarcity and disease weakened the German Army, making them
easy to defeat in Operation Saturn
 By January 1943, the starved and frozen 6th Army was forced to surrender
 Victory was attained at a significant cost, marked by substantial casualties on the side of the
Soviet Union
 But the Battle of Stalingrad soon after proved to be an important turning point in WWII →
many casualties, Hitler’s plan didn’t work out, it was one of the first battles that he had lost,
they were used to the Blitzkrieg and didn’t expect this much resistance, the Battle of
Stalingrad solidified the Soviet Union as a power and it diminished Hitler’s reputation even in
Germany because he was known as a big strategist, but here he had made a mistake

Describe the despaired state in which Germany was during the last stage of the war.
 By April 1945, the Third Reich faced imminent collapse
 The Soviets had launched their final attack on Berlin, while Western Allied forces made rapid
advances across german territory, systematically occupying one village after another.
 Much of the industrial infrastructure lay in ruins, and many cities were reduced to piles of
rubble due to extensive bombings
 With this grim landscape, the German military consisted of a diverse composition, ranging
from conscripts , which included elderly individuals and fresh young recruits, to
unwaveringly loyal soldiers from the Whrmacht, SS, and Waffen SS
 Fear and severe punishment were used to compel all to continue fighting to the very end