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Time Period 4: 1914 - present

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Post-WW2 Conflicts & Developments

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Map # 1: Europe

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World War 1:

ww1

Causes & Build-up of World War 1

Initial Nationalist Rivalries & Alliances

Germany was becoming most powerful nation in Europe, threatening other nations
- France was defeated in 1871 (after Franco-Prussian war), so Germany sought to further weaken it
- Otto von Bismarck (Germany) formed alliances with Austria-Hungary & Russia to isolate France
- As William II (new German emperor) fired Bismarck in 1890, he repealed the alliances
- France thus allied w/ Russia in 1894 against Germany
Britain also hated growing German power
- German industrial power was approaching that of Britain
- German military was threatening British navy
- German colonial expansion was threatening British colonies
- Britain thus improved relations w/ US & Japan, signed alliance w/ France in 1904
Germany declared French Morocco a free territory in 1905 to test the response of other nations
- Britain, France, Russia opposed Germany, became known as Triple Entente (Allies)
- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy formed alliance, known as Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
People believed war was heroic & good
- Wanted to test their nation's nationalist response, often stimulating national pride
- Ruling classes wanted to pursue a war to distract the lower classes from domestic issues

Official Start of War

Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was visiting Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina province

Gavrilo Princip, member of Serbian independence terrorist group, shot Ferdinand

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after Serbia refused to allow Austria-Hungary to investigate the crime

Germany refused to respect Belgian neutrality, so Britain declared war on Germany

Germany declared war on Russia & its ally, France. Wanted to attack France through Belgium

Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary to protect the Slavs. Later declared war on Germany as it allied with Austria-Hungary

Initial War Plans

All nations were initially happy about war
- Believed war would be a quick victory
- Common saying: "the boys will be home by Christmas" (the war started in August)
- Nations formed specific timetables of when to attack whom, assuming the war would be quick
Schlieffen Plan was German military plan
- Would initially attack France through Belgium
- Then would attack Russia after defeating France
- This failed as beating France took long
Germany used submarines to sink British boats, while Britain imposed a naval blockade on Germany

Battles of World War 1

German Battle on Western Front (with France)

Germany tried attacking France through Belgium (according to Schlieffen Plan)

France stopped Germany at River Marne. British also helped Belgian army attack Germans. Later attacked Germans at Battle of Somme

Battle was a stalemate for 4 years

Italy Joined Allies & Battle of Caporetto

Britain & France got Italy to join Allies in 1915, promised to give them Austria-Hungary if Allies won

Italy lost miserably at Battle of Caporetto (1917) against Austria-Hungary

Britain & France helped defend Italy from further invasion

German Battle on Eastern Front (with Russia)

Germany & Austria-Hungary invaded Balkans

Russia invaded Prussia to help Balkans

Germans invaded Russia, causing Russia to lose miserably

Germany acquired many Russian-occupied territories (present-day Poland, Belarus, Baltic nations). Russia still continued to fight

Trench Warfare & New Battle Techniques

Trench warfare was used on the Western Front
- Soldiers would stay in dug-up trenches & occasionally come up and fire machine guns
- No Man's land was between trenches, very deadly as opposing side would easily fire machine guns & kill you
- Trenches were dirty as disease spread easily
- Trench warfare caused endless stalemates as no one would advance forward from their trench
New weapons were developed
- Barbed wire was used to guard & fence trenches
- Chemical weapons (poison/mustard gas) were used, caused harm to lungs & eyes of opponents
- Airplanes were invented but mostly used during World War 2
- Submarines were used by Germans to sink British boats

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Home Front & Death Toll

Government needed maximum production of resources, so it took full control of economy
- Imposed production quotas, wages, prices
- Put government control in all private enterprise, abolished laissez-faire economics
- Formed many unemployed people to work
- Labor unions got more power & were able to campaign for better rights
Many women went to work as men were at battle
- Some worked as police or postal services
- Worked as physicians, nurses, communications clerks at battle
- Some worked in munitions industries & were exposed to dangerous conditions
Nations manipulated propaganda to support war
- Portrayed enemies as weaker
- Suppressed those who were against war effort
To control the home front, nations imposed military dictatorships
- German generals Paul von Hindenburg & Erich Ludendorff removed chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg from office
Many people also revolted against war efforts
- German socialists rioted in Berlin against the war
- Irish nationalists declared independence from Britain in Easter Rising of 1916 (actually got independent a few years later)
- French prime minister Georges Clemenceau suppressed anyone who opposed the war
- Many soldiers became tired of war & mostly central powers were collapsing
Many people died from the war
- 8 million soldiers, 7-10 million civilians died
- 20 million died from the influenza pandemic of 1918 that followed the war
- Germany had the worst fate as 10% of its civilians died
- Many people were left orphaned or widowed
- Many suffered from shell shock (PTSD)

Japan's Entry into World War 1

Japan wanted to remove German ships from East Asian waters. Japan also wanted to annex German-controlled Jiaozhou peninsula

Germany refused to comply

Japan declared war on Germany, joined Allies in August 1914. Took over German-controlled islands in Pacific

Battle of Gallipoli (1915-1916)

Britain wanted to take over Ottoman-controlled Dardanelles strait to get easy access to Russia

Britain lost miserably after attacking Ottomans at Dardanelles

Britain tried again, this time attacked Gallipoli Peninsula. Used troops from British colonies

Britain lost miserably. Led to weakened control over British colonies

War in the Middle East & Africa

Ottoman Empire & Bulgaria joined the war with Central Powers against Allies
Armenians (last major non-Muslim ethnic group in Ottoman Empire) sought Russian help to liberate them from Ottoman rule
- Ottomans were against the Russians in the war, so Ottomans ordered mass deportation of all Armenians
- Ottomans killed millions of Armenians
British allied with Arab states against the Ottomans, liberating them from the Ottomans
- Hussein ibn-Ali, chief magistrate of Mecca, allied with British
- British freed Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine from Ottoman rule
European nations also got people from their African colonies to help in the war
- Many served in the army, others served as porters to carry equipment

End of World War 1

US Joins the War

Woodrow Wilson (US president, 1913-1921) initially opposed the war
US economy boomed as it exported munitions to Allies powers (Britain & France mostly)
- US also gave loans to Allies
- Only made financial sense for Allies to win, so US joined the war to help the Allies (1917)
German submarines sank British ship Lusitania, killing 128 US citizens
- This was one reason why US joined the war against Germany
The main reason why US joined the war against Germany was because of Zimmerman telegram
- Zimmerman telegram was sent from Germany to Mexico, asking Mexico to declare war against US so US wouldn't declare war on Germany
- In exchange, Germany would help Mexico gain back its territories lost in Mexican-American War
- However, US intercepted the telgram & declared war on Germany
US intervention was the only reason Allies won

End of the War

British imposed a naval blockade on Germany, preventing food from reaching there. There were many German protests for more food

France also had a protest among soldiers, but Germans didn't hear it due to censorship

Germany decided to give one last attack westward to France

Bulgaria, Ottomans, Austria-Hungary, and Germany surrendered to the Allies (1918)

France easily defended, Germany ran out of resources

Paris Settlement & Treaty of Versailles (1920)

Woodrow Wilson (US), Lloyd George (UK), George Clemenceau (France) led meeting at Paris
- 28 nations were invited, none of Central Powers
- Meeting was in chaos due to conflicting views
- Discussed how to punish Germany for the war
Wilson's 14 Points
- Wilson previously drafted 14 Points, a document entailing potential post-war peace treaties
- Suggested reduction in armaments production, equal naval trade, self-determination (independence) for some colonies, etc.
They established the League of Nations, an organization of nations to promote security
League of Nations failed as it relied on collective security (nations agree to maintain security with each other)
Eventually they passed Treaty of Versailles (1920)
- Made Germany pay reparations for the war
- Made Germany reduce armaments production
- Restricted size of German military
- Banned Germany from having air force & navy

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Peace Settlement in the Middle East

When Britain & France allied with Arabs against Ottomans, they made vague promise of independence
In Sykes Picot Agreement (1916), Britain & France would establish mandates (protectorates) over the Arab states instead of giving independence
- Britain had Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq
- France had Lebanon, Syria, South Turkey
In Balfour Declaration (1917), Britain would create a Jewish state in Palestine
- Eventually, as Palestinians revolted, this plan was canceled (the UN later created Israel in 1948)
Arab nationalists hated the mandate system & created General Syrian Congress (1919)
- French hated this & took over Syria
Britain & France occupied parts of Turkey, and Greece also took some Turkish territory
Mustafa Kemal founded modern nation of Turkey
- Treaty of Lausanne (1923) recognized nation of Turkey (Ottoman empire disintegrated)
- Kemal was known as Ataturk ("father of the turks")
- Made Turkey a secular nation
- Kemal was a military general & helped defend Turkey from Britain & France

Revolution in Austria-Hungary & Germany

Austria-Hungary broke apart into Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, & Romania
- A Serbian monarchy (under Austro-Hungarian control) became Yugoslavia
Germany experienced a radical democratic revolution
- German republicans & liberalists crushed William II's authoritarian regime, established democratic Weimar republic
- German socialists didn't take power because German SPD wanted gradual decline of capitalism & still wanted to retain civil liberties
  - Communism does not have civil liberties while republicanism does
Radical socialists Karl Liebknecht & Rosa Luxemburg attempted to seize power during Spartacist Uprising in Berlin (Jan 1919)
- German democratic gov killed Liebknecht & Luxemburg, causing lots of protests
- Communists & socialists depised the gov for murdering the 2 socialist leaders
- Nazi party believed Germany didn't actually lose WW1 but was deteriorating due to German socialists

Russian Revolution

Fall of Tsarist Regime & Creation of Provisional Government

Germany defeated Russia in WW1, causing Russians to lose a lot of resources. Russia had weak leadership as tsar Nicholas II fled to battlefield, leaving his wife, Alexandria, in charge

In Mar 1917, Russians marched in St. Petersburg, wanting more food. WW1 wasted many resources, causing food shortages. Russian soldiers were ordered to attack the protestors but instead joined them

Duma (parliament) wanted more power, so Alexander Kerensky declared a provisional Russian government, and Nicholas II abdicated. Established basic civil liberties & supported participation in WW1

Ordered Summer Offensive (Jul 1917) against Germany (last Russian attack in WW1). Russia lost miserably, peasant soldiers were seizing land upon return, creating an anarchy

Soviets put military power in ordinary soldiers instead of officers, decreasing military power

A rival government, Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (Soviets) opposed participation in WW1. Acted as a parallel gov, weakened power of provisional gov

Lenin, Bolshevik Revolution, Russian Civil War

Lenin supported socialism & wanted to impose it in Russia. Wanted a violent socialist revolution with efficient human leadership

Other communists (Mensheviks "minority group") believed revolution should be led by a large group. Lenin's peers (Bolsheviks "majority group") believed revolution should be led by small group of elites

Lenin was exiled in Switzerland. Went to Russia & mounted coup on Russian provisional gov. Appealed to peasants & soldiers with promises of peace, land, bread

Allowed peasants to seize property & reform land. In Nov 1917 elections, Bolsheviks didn't win majority in Constituent Assembly, so Lenin declared Bolshevik dictatorship

At Congress of Soviets, Bolshevik majority put Lenin as leader. Lenin became leader due to efficient leadership, appeal to peasants, and Russian anarchy

Leon Trotsky led Bolsheviks against other communists. Built Bolshevik army, took over buildings in St. Petersburg, arrested members of provisional gov

Lenin signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) w/ Germany, removing Russia from WW1. Gave Western territories (Poland, Belarus, etc) to Germany

Some Russians (White Army) hated Bolsheviks (Red Army), started Russian Civil War (1917-1922). Reds had strong army, "Red Terror" campaign executed all dissidents. Whites failed to receive efficient foreign aid

Reds initiated "War Communism," an economic policy mobilizing the entire home front for the civil war (nationalized all business). Reds won in Spring 1920, gained many territories previously ceded to Germany

Interwar Period:

Great Depression

US Stock Market Crash of 1929

In 1929, people were buying stocks on margin. They'd buy stocks & sell them after making a slight profit

People believed stocks would go down in price, so they all sold all their stocks

On Black Thursday (10/24/1929), all prices plummeted significantly, stock market crashed. People lost their life savings

Spread of Great Depression throughout Europe

After stock market crash of 1929, people lost confidence in the market, causing economic downfall
- People bought less goods, so the price of goods fell, causing people to become poor as they couldn't make enough money from selling goods
- Industrial goods had little demand, so factories produced less, so they fired more people
  - Thus, more people became unemployed & couldn't buy goods, causing factories to produce less & fire more people
Economic downfall spread from US to Europe quickly
- US gave many loans to Europe during & after WW1
- US bankers sought to repeal their loans & reclaim their money after this crises
- Thus, Europeans had to quickly pay their loans, causing economic crisis
Austrian bank collapsed in 1931
Many European nations abolished gold standard for currency to decrease price of money
- This actually led to more inflation
Nations increased tariffs to protect domestic industry, causing global trade to decline
As unemployment grew, marriages were delayed, fertility decreased, mental illness became more common

Responses to Great Depression

In the US, Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal to combat the Great Depression
- Devalued the dollar to raise prices, allowing farmers to earn more
- Promoted public works projects to employ people
Scandinavian countries were the most successful in combating the Great Depression
- Social Democratic leadership allowed these nations to be successful
- Very cooperative with their community, promoted public works projects to employ people
- Increased social welfare benefits
Britain was also successful in combating the crisis
- At first, it was unsuccessful as the unemployed people received few social welfare benefits
- Later, they raised tariffs to protect domestic industry, & abolished gold standards for currency, which actually boosted domestic industry
- While industrial goods like coal & textiles declined, other goods like automobiles & electrical appliances boomed
France was unsuccessful in combating the Great Depression due to political conflict within France
- Had steady decline until 1935, later recovered slightly but never fully
- French republican gov was challenged on both sides: Communists & Fascists competed for influence
- Communists, Socialists, Radicals formed alliance called Popular Front against Fascists
  - Led by Leon Blum, initiated social reform programs (paid vacation, 40-hour work week, etc.)
  - This failed due to inflation & because Fascists and conservatives hated this
- During Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), French communists supported Spanish republicans, while French conservatives supported Spanish fascists
- All of this dissension within France caused its economy to recover slower than other nations

Problems in Germany & France

German Reparations

Germany didn't want to pay the WW1 reparations listed in the Treaty of Versailles. France needed these reparations for economic recovery

France allied with Central European nations against Germany because France needed German reparations

Germany agreed to pay $33 billion in reparations in annual installments of $2.5 billion

Germany told people of Rhine-Ruhr to stop working so French would leave. French sealed Rhine-Ruhr from rest of Germany (only allowing food to pass through) & forced inhabitants to pay war reparations

French & Belgian armies conquered Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany, forced them to pay reparations

Germany payed reparations in 1921 & 1922 but then called for 3 year moratorium. Britain accepted but France didn't

German economy was collapsing, printed paper money, which actually caused inflation. New German foreign minister Gustav Stresemann called for reexamination of Germany's ability to pay

French PM Raymond Poincare agreed. American banker Charles Dawes made Dawes Plan (1924), said reparations are proportional to German economic output

France & Germany accepted common border in 1925. In 1928, 15 nations signed Kellogg-Briand Pact, agreeing not to have war

Developments in Governance in Interwar Period

In Germany, the fascist regime was gaining momentum
- Adolf Hitler sought to have a socialist revolution, but the German gov heard about this plan & imprisoned Hitler
- Still, Hitler's regime attracted anti-Semites and extreme German nationalists
In Britain, the government became more socialistic
- Ramsay MacDonald led the Labour Party, which advocated for workers
- Unemployment was really high in 1926, so the Labour Party made policies in favor of them
- Labour Party moved gradually to socialism
In 1922, Britain gave Southern Catholic colonies of Ireland autonomy after a guerilla war

Cultural, Artistic, and Intellectual Developments

Uncertainty & Pessimism

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche attacked human progress
- Believed we overused rationality & were entering a period of darkness
- Believed religion was useless
- Believed human society was meaningless
Still, Christianity experienced a revival
- People believed you need to interpret the Bible to understand science & humanity
- Believed people needed to use religion in times of anxiety & depression
New discoveries in physics proved the uncertainty of truth
- Albert Einstein discovered theory of special relativity
  - Taught that time and space are relative to the viewer and not the same for everyone
- Werner Heisenberg created the uncertainty principle
  - Taught that it's impossible to know the exact position & velocity of an object
- These discoveries questioned the uncertainty of truth
Sigmund Freud created psychoanalytic theory
- Believed human mind was irrational & governed by a subconscious mind
- Promoted the idea of dreams

Developments in Art, Architecture, Literature, Music

Architects stressed function over form
- Believed a building should focus on its functions & purposes rather than design
- Bauhaus was a German architecture school that stressed this idea
- Led to creation of tall glass buildings seen in in modern city skylines
Many artistic developments happened
- Abstract art developed because since cameras were invented, real paintings were useless
- Dadaism developed in Switzerland where artists made completely useless paintings to show how useless society is
- Impressionism was a movement where artists used sensory impressions & often drew quick blurry scenes (rarely added their own feelings)
- Some artists depicted the unconscious self, as seen in Freud's psychoanalytic theory
Literature depicted the uselessness of society
- Often rejected society, talked about the truth of society
- Some used monologues to depict the human soul & inner subconscious (psychoanalytic theory)
Composers used dissonant/random sounds in music, just like abstract art was full of random drawings

Consumer Revolution

Consumer culture became more popular
- With more factories, goods were produced at cheap prices, allowing more people to buy them
- People produced variations of goods, and department stores sold all kinds of products
- More women's products like perfume became common
Cinema & Radio also became common
- Cinema was common in Europe, especially Britain
- In some places, people went to the movie theatre once a week
- By late 1930s, most households had a radio
- Radios were used by communist leaders to broadcast messages
  - Sometimes used by democratic leaders as well to gain popularity
- Cinema was sometimes used to show patriotism & spread propaganda

Rise of Totalitarianism

Definition of Communism & Fascism

Conservative authoritarianism was used before
- Used bureaucracies to control society
- Would jail or exile dissidents, sometimes didn't have the ability to jail all dissidents
Now, radical totalitarian regimes took power
- These used violent methods of repressing dissidents
Communism & Fascism are on opposite sides of political spectrum
- Both abolish parliament, civil liberties, etc.
- Both suppress dissidents & censored mass media
- Communism believes in abolishing class differences & having one social class rule the world
- Fascism believes in having one race (still having multiple social classes) rule the world
- Communists & fascists were very different, leading to ideological clashes & WW2

Rise of Stalin in Communist Russia

Lenin instituted New Economic Policy, allowing small businesses to be private

Lenin's death in 1924 led to struggle for power between Stalin & Trotsky: Stalin was good organizer & bad speaker, but Trotsky planned Bolshevik revolution & civil war victory

Stalin became Bolshevik's Central Committee's general secretary in 1922. Believed Russia could build communism on its own, while Trotsky believed rest of Europe also needed communism

Peasants revolted against collectivization of agriculture, so Stalin allowed families to own small plots of land for their own food

Created First Five-Year Plan. Promoted collectivization of agriculture (no private ownership of land) and heavy industry (steel, iron)

Stalin's view of communism (Russia could build communism on its own) appealed to Russians, so Stalin ordered his allies to crush Trotsky. Stalin gained power in 1927

Life During Stalin's Regime & "Great Purge" in Communist Russia

Stalin was very cruel in his reign
- Suppressed labor unions, forced peasants to work in the cities (if not needed in farms)
- Suppressed all dissidents
Life in cities was very bad
- Families lacked housing, few families had one room for the entire family
- Workers got social welfare benefits
- Workers liked this lifestyle as they believed capitalism was bad
Skilled laborers had an advantage as their skills were needed
- Often got higher salaries than unskilled factory workers
Women had equality but were still exploited
- Women were regarded as equal to men
- Women were still required to work as men's wages weren't enough for a family
All political dissidents were tortured, especially during "Great Purge" (1936-1938)
- Sometimes used false evidence to accuse people
- Tried 6 million people, murdered 1-2 million

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Mussolini's Regime in Fascist Italy

Italy was in chaos during WW1
- Italy promised universal male suffrage, but the Catholic church opposed it, creating tension
- Italy promised land reform but failed to gain land during WW1
- Many different political parties all opposed the Italian liberal government
Benito Mussolini created fascism
- Fascism was a combination of socialism & nationalism, means "a union of forces"
- Gained support from conservatives & middle-class as he opposed socialism
- Created an army known as Black Shirts, removed Socialists from Northern Italy
- Mussolini became known as a savior of order & property in Italy, became a mass movement
In Oct 1922, Mussolini's army marched into Rome to take over
- King Victor Emmanuel III, who hated the Italian liberal gov, peacefully gave Mussolini power
Mussolini passed repressive policies
- Abolished basic civil liberties
- Arrested political dissidents
- Held Fascist rallies & sporting events
- All propaganda portrayed Mussolini as a leader
- Disbanded labor unions, controlled Italy's schools
- Used military to portray Italian power
  - Invaded Ethiopia in Oct 1935, won in 1936
  - Made close ties with Nazi Germany in 1937, passed anti-Semitic laws in 1938
Mussolini was forced to compromise his power with Italian elites
- Didn't intervene in big businesses
- Didn't implement land reform
- Forced to sign Lateran Treaty (1929), recognizing Vatican City as an independent territory
- Thus, he never created totalitarian support as he compromised his authority for some elites

Rise of Hitler's Regime & His Policies

Adolf Hitler was racist & believed Germans were superior
- Went to Vienna, became exposed to ideals of racism & anti-Semitism
- Joined extremist German Workers' Party in 1919
- Believed Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, etc. were the causes for German loss in WW1
In 1923, Hitler organized armed uprising to take over German Weimar Republic, but he failed & was jailed
Hitler later gained followers by preaching German superiority
- His party was National Socialist German Workers' Party (known as Nazi)
- During Great Depression, he promised economic recovery
- Many believed Weimar Republic was corrupt as it stopped gov spending in Great Depression
- Appealed to lower classes through ideals of anti-capitalism
- Appealed to middle class through ideals of racism
By 1930s, Nazis had more seats in Reichstag (German parliament) than other parties
- Communists & Social democrats combined outnumbered Nazis but couldn't prevent Nazi takeover as they fought among each other
- Hitler was appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg in 1933
After taking control, he created one-party dictatorship
- Abolished communist party & jailed its members
- Executed or imprisoned all political dissidents
- Put Nazi control of all German institutions
Hitler persecuted Jews & promoted German nationalism
- Passed Nuremberg Laws in 1935, which persecuted Jews from German society
- In 1938, his allies looted many Jewish businesses at night (known as kristallnacht or "night of broken glass")
- Forced Jews to give their jobs to Germans
- Sought to create a people's community among Germans
  - Created volkswagen (people's car)
- Forced women to return to subordinate roles
  - Forced them out of their careers, promoted births & banned abortions
- Nazis used eugenics to promote the births of Germans and mandate the abortions of "racially inferior" people

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World War 2:

ww2

Causes & Start of World War 2

Initial German Aggression

Nazi Germany's main goal was aggression: They wanted to create a union of all German-speaking places
- Nazis also sought to kill all the Jews ("racially inferior people") to create more living space for Germans
- Signed alliance with Fascist Italy in 1936 (Rome-Berlin Axis)
- Also signed alliance with Fascist Japan
- Germany, Japan, Italy were Axis powers
- US, Britain, France, China, Russia were Allies powers
- Signed nonaggression pact with Stalin's Russia in 1939
- Nazis first sought to conquer German-speaking Austria
  - Austria allowed Nazis to control part of it
- Nazis later looked to Sudetenland, a region in Western Czechoslovakia with ethnic Germans
  - Britain & France didn't want war, so they agreed to let Hitler take it (1939)
Later, Nazis sought to conquer the rest of Europe
- First wanted to conquer Danzig in Poland
  - Wanted to remove the Jews there to create more living space for Germans
  - France & Britain agreed to protect Poland, so once Nazis invaded Danzig, France & Britain declared war on Germany (WW2 had started)

Battles of World War 2

German Victories Throughout Europe

After invading Poland, Germany rapidly conquered the rest of Europe
- Took over Poland while Russia invaded East Poland & Baltic States
- Took over Denmark, Norway, Netherlands
- Broke into France through Belgium in 1940
  - Germans trapped British army on French beach of Dunkirk
- This war technique was known as blitzkrieg or "lightning war," where Germany quickly conquers other lands
By 1940, Hitler ruled most of Europe and sought to conquer Britain
- He used his air force to bomb London & other British industrial cities
- Britain thus produced more planes & had 3x more planes than Germany
  - Britain thus successfully defended against Germany
- Still, Britain was devastated due to the damage caused by German planes
In 1941, Hitler broke his pact with Stalin and invaded Russia
- Germany conquered Leningrad, Moscow, Ukraine
  - Known as Operation Barbarossa
- After conquering Moscow, Hitler's army wasn't prepared for Russian wintertime, causing many German soldiers to die of cold & starvation

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Nazi Administration Throughout Europe & Holocaust

Nazis cruelly ruled their conquered lands & forced them to support German war effort
- Ruled each land based on racial hierarchy
- France was divided into 2 parts
  - North was ruled by Nazis
  - South was ruled by Vichy regime (founded by WW1 veteran Marshal Henri-Philippe
    - South supported Nazi war effort & supplied all Jews to Nazis
- Nazis stole goods & crops from these lands
- Nazis forced these lands to pay for war cost & the cost of the Nazi governance itself
- Nazis bought luxury goods for low prices and sent it to Germany to increase their standard of living
- Often destroyed cities & factories
Nazis encouraged Germans to settle in these areas
Few resistance groups fought back because the different resistance groups weren't united among themselves
- Nazis censored Polish press to remove any anti-Nazi propaganda
- Still, Polish people had underground network of newspapers
  - A group of these people exiled in London would give German secrets to the Allies powers
Nazis initiated the Holocaust as they sought to kill the Jews
- Most Jews were in Western Poland
- Nazis enslaved Ukrainians, Russians, Poles
- Forced Jews to live in communities called ghettos, which were poorly built & maintained
- Later, Nazis came up with the idea of sending all Jews to concentration camps to kill them
  - Nazis sent Jews to one of 6 concentration camps
  - Largest camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, killed 1 million Jews
- In total, 6 million Jews died

Japanese Entry into War & Pearl Harbor Attack (1941)

German military victories inspired Japan

Japan conquered many places in Southeast Asia, including French Indochina

US imposed oil embargo on Japan to protect the French. Germany, Britain, Dutch supported embargo

US allied with Britain & USSR (Allies powers) against Germany, Italy, & Japan (Axis powers)

Germany & Italy responded by declaring war on US

Japan renounced tripartite pact (with Germany & Italy) and attacked Pearl Harbor in US (1941)

End of World War 2

Allies Victories

US, Britain, and Russia created Grand Alliance (China & France were also part of it later on)
- Sought to kill the Nazis, then Japan
Germany started expanding into North Africa
- At 2nd Battle of El Alamein in North Africa, Allies beat Axis, preventing further Axis expansion (known as "hinge of fate")
US & Britain took over Italy & overthrew Mussolini, but Germany rescued him & occupied North Italy
- Thus, Allies had Southern Italy & Axis had Northern Italy
US & Britain developed sonar technologies to detect German submarines
- German submarines previously would sink Allies ships, preventing food from reaching Allies
US & Britain also boosted their industrial production & bombed German industrial centers
Russian army later defeated Germans at Stalingrad, causing Germans to retreat

Allied Victory & Axis Surrender

On D-Day (6/6/1944), US & British troops landed in Normandy, France
- 2 million troops & 500,000 army vehicles from Allies pushed the German front lines all the way to the German border
- By 1945, the Allies forces had crossed the Rhine into Germany
- Also, Allies forces pushed Germans out of Italy in 1945
  - The same year, Italian communists executed Mussolini
Meanwhile, Russian forces defeated Germans & pushed westward into Germany
- In 1944, the Polish underground army took over Warsaw (Warsaw Uprising), but Soviets didn't enter Warsaw as they predicted the uprising
- Thus, Germans crushed the Warsaw Uprising & allowed Soviets to freely advance
- Soviets took over Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary
- Soviets entered Germany from the east in Jan 1925 & met US & British forces there
Germans were forced to surrender on May 8, 1945
- Hitler committed suicide a week earlier
In the Pacific, US took over many Japanese Pacific Islands & dropped atomic bombs in Hiroshima & Nagasaki
- Japan surrendered in Sep 1945
Overall, WW2 killed 50 million people

Cold War:

Origins of Cold War

Legacy of World War 2 & Peace Settlement

World War 2 left lots of cities destroyed & costed many lives
- 50 million people died
- Many people were homeless
Many people fled to escape violence but now had to return home
- These people (Displaced Persons) needed food & shelter
- Shelters were put in place for some Displaced People, but many struggled
Many Jews that fled were unwelcome in their home land
After World War 2, the 4 Allies (USSR, UK, US, France) would occupy Germany & Austria to prevent them from becoming powerful again
- USSR was ruthless & confiscated all industrial machinery & railroads & sent it to the USSR
- The 4 Allies held the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946) where they tried high-ranking Nazi officials for war crimes, often sentencing them for year in jail
In Feb 1945, US, UK and USSR met in Yalta in Crimea to discuss post-war peace settlement
- US & UK sought to hold off on peace settlement until this time because they didn't want conflict with communist Stalin
- The 3 Allies decided that USSR will occupy nations in Eastern Europe & impose free elections
  - Known as Yalta Compromise
Later, Yalta Compromise started falling apart
- Communist regimes started taking root in some Eastern European nations
- At Postdam Conference (Jul 1945), Stalin changed his mind about Yalta Compromise
  - Stalin sought to impose communism in the other Eastern European nations
- US sought to prevent the spread of communism & impose capitalism (free elections) there
This was the start of the Cold War: An indirect war between US & USSR over spreading capitalism vs communism

Developments in the West Bloc (US & its Allies)

US president Truman issued Truman Doctrine, stating that he seeks to contain the spread of communism
US initiated Marshall Plan, a bill giving $13 billion in aid to Western European countries
- Allowed Western European nations to recover their economy
- These Western European nations were anti-communist (capitalist)
US aided anti-communist forces in Greek Civil War (1946-1949), allowing the anti-communist forces to win
US prevented Soviet expansion in Turkey
US created NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), an organization of US's anti-communist allies
- Included US & most of Western Europe as well as Turkey & Greece

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Developments in the East Bloc (USSR & its Allies)

Stalin sought to promote the spread of communism, sometimes by force
Stalin initiated COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), an organization giving aid to East Bloc nations
- Allowed Eastern European nations to recover their economies
- Similar to Marshall Plan of the US
Created Warsaw Pact (1955), a treaty organization of all communist nations of Eastern Europe
- Included USSR as well as 7 other communist nations in Eastern Europe
  - These nations included Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria