A Second World War WHAP/Napp

“The world Depression in the early 1930s fostered anxiety and a premonition of chaos. On these fears Hitler thrived. Many Germans saw in Hitler and his Brownshirts the welcome upholders of law and order. Fear of communism won Hitler increasing support from small farmers and shopkeepers. He and his oratory appealed to Germany’s pride and exploited the widespread resentment that Germany had been defeated unfairly in a game in which it had long excelled – the game of war.

In the elections of 1930, Hitler’s party enlarged its vote. In 1932 it doubled its vote again, becoming the largest German political party. In January of the following year it joined a coalition of smaller right-wing parties, and Hitler was formally appointed chancellor. Soon he became in effect a dictator. The persecution of Jews, suppression of trade unions and crushing of civil liberties were under way. In 1934 the aged president died, and Hitler, by popular consent, took complete control. His enemies were at his mercy.

Believing he could restore Germany’s power, Hitler seemed to feel that he was guided by a mysterious force stronger than himself: ‘I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleepwalker.’ In fact he was ill-prepared for power; he did not like administration or deskwork. Until he came to office his most senior official post had been as a humble corporal in the army. He knew little of Europe; he had not visited Paris or Rome, and he must have been a considerable age before he even set eyes on the sea. He believed ardently that the Germans were the finest race in the whole world, a world of which he had seen little, and that the Jews were the most dangerous race. Hitler claimed, with scant supporting evidence, that the Jews as well as the socialists in Germany had stabbed the nation’s warriors in the back.

Joseph Stalin was not the real name of the ruler of Russia. An organizer and agitator who had served sentences in Siberian prisons as punishment for his political activities, he took the name of Stalin, meaning ‘man of steel,’ soon after the victorious revolution of 1917. As editor of the communist newspaper Pravda he was an insider, and increasingly powerful. He became secretary of the central committee of the Communist Party and then head of government, after the death of Lenin in January 1924. He began to eliminate personal and imaginary rivals. He set out to strengthen the armed forces, and for the economy he launched his bold Five Year Plans in 1928. Though the new Soviet Union still suffered from many economic ills and discontents, it experienced no official unemployment, and ensured that virtually all idle hands were put to work. The Nation escaped the Depression, and that was a marvelous boost to its prestige.” ~ A Short History of the World

Main Points of Passage:

Notes:
  1. Movement towards Conflict
  1. During 1930s, Japan too moved toward authoritarian government
  2. Launched an aggressive program of territorial expansion in East Asia
  3. Yet ironically during the 1920s, Japan seemed to move towards greater democracyuniversal male suffrage in 1925
  4. But fear of a Russian-style revolution led to Peace Preservation Law (1925), prison sentences or even death to anyone who organized against government
  5. But like Germany, Great Depression paved way for more authoritarianism
  6. And huge industrial enterprises called zaibatsu dominated economy
  7. Common featuredissatisfied states (Germany, Italy, Japan)
  8. World War II began in Asia before it occurred in Europe
  9. Japanese seized Manchuria in 1931; puppet state called Manchukuo
  10. Action infuriated Western powers, prompting Japan to withdraw from League of Nations and in 1936 to align more closely with Germany and Italy
  11. Then a full-scale attack on heartland China in 1937
  12. In 1940-1941, Japan extended its military operations to Indochina, Malaya, Burma, Indonesia, and Philippines in an effort to acquire natural resources
  13. Then Japanese attack on U.S. at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941
  14. In response to American oil embargo was imposed on Japan in July 1941
  15. U.S. entered war; ended with atomic bombs; Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945
  16. Germany, Italy, and Japan (the Axis powers) were pitted in a single global struggle against the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union (the Allies)
  17. Germanymajor rearmament program began in 1935, then demilitarized Rhineland invaded, then annexed Austria, then when British policy of appeasement failed, invaded Poland  start of World War II (1939)
  18. Nazis quickly defeated French
  19. 1941Nazis invaded Soviet UnionGerman tactic of blitzkrieg or “lightning war”initially successful but Soviet Union vast and cold
  20. Soviets25 million casualtiesdefeat for Germany in 1945
  1. Impact of War
  1. Most destructive conflict in history, with total deathsaround 60 million
  2. Infamous Rape of Nanjing in 1937-1938, some 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed and countless women were sexually assaulted
  3. Dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  4. Most haunting outcomes of the war was the Holocaust
  5. “Final Solution”Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, and other concentration campssix million Jews perished
  6. Millions more whom the Nazis deemed inferior, undesirable, or dangerous also perished Germany’s efforts at racial purification
  7. As the war ended, Europe was impoverished – Europe’s dominance finished
  8. Colonies achieved independence after World War II
  9. A further outcome of World War IIextension of the communist world
  10. Communists, dominated by Soviet Union took power across Eastern Europe
  11. Even more important was a communist takeover in China in 1949
  12. United Nations (UN), established in 1945 as a successor to League of Nations
  13. In late 1945World Bank and International Monetary Fund, to regulate global economy, prevent another depression, stimulate economic growth
  14. U.S.A.  New Superpower and of course, start of Cold War
  15. Marshall Planeffort funneled into Europe some $12 billion, together with numerous advisers and techniciansrebuild Western Europe
  16. In 1951, Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg created European Coal and Steel Community
  17. In 1957, six countries deepened cooperation by establishing European Economic Community (EEC), more widely known as the Common Market, whose members reduced tariffs and developed common trade policies
  18. In 1994, the EEC was renamed the European Union (EU)
  19. In 2002, twelve of its members adopted a common currency, the euro
  20. Military and political alliance known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949
  21. Parallel process in Japan, under American occupation between 1945 and 1952rebuilt, revitalized”economic miracle”democratic constitution

Complete the Review Quilt Below (Place Key Points in Each Box):

Great East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere: / Zaibatsu: / Authoritarianism: / Failure of League of Nations:
Manchukuo: / Rape of Nanjing: / U.S. Embargo: / Pearl Harbor:
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: / Appeasement: / Hitler’s Aggression: / Holocaust:
United Nations: / Marshall Plan: / European Union: / Euro:

Questions:

  • How did Japan's experience during the 1920s and 1930s resemble that of Germany, and how did it differ?
  • In what way were the origins of World War II in Asia and in Europe similar to each other? How were they different?
  • How did World War II differ from World War I?
  • How was Europe able to recover from the devastation of war?

  1. The term appeasement best applies to which of the following episodes?
(A)The Soviet support of the Spanish Republic against Franco’s revolt in 1936
(B)Ethiopia’s resistance to Italy’s in 1935 invasion
(C)France’s and Great Britain’s 1938 agreement with Germany at Munich, regarding the Sudetenland
(D)France’s and Britain’s willingness to defend Poland in the fall of 1939
(E)The Soviet takeover of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in 1939 and 1940
  1. What was the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere?
(A)As association of British colonies in Southeast Asia
(B)A Military alliance that resisted the Japanese attack on Southeast Asia
(C)A Free-trade zone whose economic activity was disrupted by Japanese invasion
(D)The name given by the Japanese to the Asian empire they conquered in the 1930s and during World War II
(E)The formal name of the Dutch colony of Indonesia /
  1. The failure of collective security convinced Stalin to
(A)Resign all his political posts
(B)Sign a treaty of neutrality with Nazi Germany
(C)Declare war on Nazi Germany
(D)Conclude an alliance with Poland
(E)Take over Czechoslovakia in an effort to protest the Soviet border
  1. What city experienced the worst siege not just of World War II, but of the entire modern era?
(A)Leningrad
(B)Krakow
(C)Stalingrad
(D)Dresden
(E)Nagasaki
  1. If the Axis Powers had won World War II, which of the following Allied operations would they most likely have punished as a war crime?
(A)British and U.S. strategic bombing of German and Japanese cities
(B)The D-Day landings in northwestern France
(C)Soviet conduct during the battle of Kiev
(D)The U.S. and British takeover of Sicily
(E)The sinking of Japanese aircraft carriers by U.S. pilots at Midway.

Thesis Statement: Comparative: Causes: World War I and World War II ______

______