The Road to War
World War II Begins
I. THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR II
A. In the 1930s, events throughout the world led to conditions that started World War II
1. High ______, desperation, and feelings of betrayal led to the rise of ______dictators
2. Fascist dictators ______and ______threatened to conquer new territories for Italy and Germany
3. Extreme ______and a need for raw materials led to a desire to expand in Japan under ______
B. By the 1930s, the world was moving towards another war but few nations were in a position to ______war
1. ______and ______were the leaders of the League of Nations, but both wanted to ______another bloodbath like World War I
2. The USA was focused on the ______and wanted to avoid foreign affairs
C. Japan, Italy, and Germany ______in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 1936, Germany, Italy, and Japan formed an alliance called the ______
1. Japanese Expansion
a. In 1931, Japan invaded ______in order to ______its iron and coal mines
b. In 1937, Japan conquered northern ______, then murdered about 300,000 unarmed soldiers and civilians during the “______”
HOW DOES THE WORLD RESPOND TO THIS BLATANT AGGRESSION BY THE JAPANESE?
c. The League of Nations officially condemned the Japanese invasion, but took ______
d. Japan’s response? They withdrew from the League of Nations and ______to take over Manchuria
e. By 1934, Japan was ______, warning other nations to not try to assist China in its conflict with Japan
THE RAPE OF NANKING
a. The Japanese took over the Chinese capital city of ______, driving out Chinese forces
b. Nearly 500,000 Chinese civilians were ______in Nanking
c. Starting in December 1937 and ending in January 1938, the Japanese Army embarked on a six-week ______, torturing, raping, mutilating, and murdering as many as 300,000 Chinese civilians (including children and babies)
d. Japanese soldiers followed the Samurai’s ______called “Bushido”; it demanded unquestioning loyalty to the divine emperor. Death in battle was seen as a ______and was welcomed. Surrender was unthinkable for the Japanese soldier: they felt that citizens or soldiers who surrendered were ______and deserved nothing but humiliation, torture, and ______.
2. The Spanish Civil War: “Dress Rehearsal For World War II”
a. A fascist leader in Spain, ______, started a rebellion against Spain’s government; Hitler and Mussolini sent weapons, planes, and ______to ______Franco
b. Hitler and Mussolini saw this as an opportunity ______their newest ______(and help a fellow fascist, too); for this reason, the Spanish Civil War is called a “______” for World War II
3. Italian Expansion
a. In 1935, Mussolini began his campaign to create a new ______for Italy by invading Ethiopia
b. The Italian army easily ______the Ethiopians
c. The spears, swords, and antique guns of the Ethiopians were ______for Italian airplanes, tanks, guns, and poison gas.
3. The League of Nations ______Japanese and Italian aggression but ______to stop the attacks in an effort to maintain peace in the world
4. German Expansion
a. The ______of the League of Nations to stop Italy or Japan ______Hitler to expand Germany as well
b. In 1935, Hitler ______the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and expanded the size of the German ______
c. In 1936, Hitler moved his army to the ______(which was supposed to be demilitarized)
d. Both times, the League of Nations ______to take action against Hitler in order to avoid war
e. Hitler’s move to reoccupy the DMZ of the Rhineland was a ______of the Treaty of Versailles
f. At this point, the German military was not yet ______to defeat France, if it came to war
g. Hitler took a ______, but he was correct in guessing how badly the French (and their allies) did ______war
h. The horrors and endless ______of ______were still fresh on the minds of the French; they were ______to fight over the Rhineland
i. In 1938, Hitler ______Austria
j. Hitler demanded that the western border of Czechoslovakia, an area known as the ______, be given to Germany
k. The Sudetenland contained many ethnic Germans; Hitler wanted all Germans (and the land they lived on) to be ______by Germany. The Czechs asked Britain and France for ______.
5. The Munich Conference, 1938
a. In 1938, leaders from England and France met with Hitler and Mussolini at the ______in order work out an ______to avoid war
b. Germany was allowed to ______the Sudetenland when Hitler ______to stop expanding
6. Appeasement
a. This so-called “______” came at the expense of Czechoslovakia, but the democratic nations wanted to ______Hitler’s aggression without provoking it
b. As one historian put it: “Munich was surrender on an installment plan. It was like giving a cannibal a finger in hopes of saving an arm.”
c. Within weeks, Hitler told his generals to prepare ______for taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia
d. Britain and France used ______with Hitler: they ______to his demands in order to avoid war
e. Six months after the Munich Conference, Hitler ______and annexed ALL of Czechoslovakia
f. The League of Nations, led by Britain and France, still did ______. However, they promised that ONE MORE aggressive move by Hitler would lead to ______. Hitler did not believe them.
7. The Non-Aggression Pact and Invasion of Poland, 1939
a. In 1939, Hitler demanded that western ______be returned to Germany, but he did not want to provoke a war with the ______before he was ______to do so (one of Hitler’s long-term goals was taking over the USSR).
b. Stalin and Hitler agreed to the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, promising never to ______each other
c. Secretly, Germany and the USSR agreed to ______Poland
d. On September 1st, 1939, Hitler ______the German military to attack Poland
e. In a speech to his military leaders, Hitler leaves no doubt as to his intention with Poland: “Kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of the Polish race or language.” He also said in a public speech: “I shall strike like lightning with the full force of a mechanized army, of which the Poles have no conception.”
8. WORLD WAR II BEGINS
On September 3rd, 1939, Britain and France ______on Germany. World War II had ______.
9. CAUSES OF WORLD WAR II
Many factors played a part in the outbreak of World War II, but it can be broken down to FOUR MAIN CAUSES:
1. The conditions of the ______
2. The ______of totalitarian dictators
3. The failure of the ______
4. The failure of ______