World War II

World War I

"The war to end all wars"

World War II

Most destructive

Most widespread

Europe N. Africa Asia Pacific

Hitler's goals

Unite German "race" (volk)

Living space (Lebensraum)

Prelude to War

Disarmament renounced, March 1935

Invasion of Austria, March 12, 1938

*Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Sept. 1938

*"Appeasement"

Fear of Soviet Union and war

*Blitzkrieg

Invasion of Czechoslovakia, March 1939

Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact, August 23, 1939

German invasion of Poland, September 1, 1939

Britain and France declare war, Sept. 3

Soviet invasion of Poland & Baltic States, Sept. 17

Germans invade Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spring 1940

Hitler Gets Greedy

Invasion of Soviet Union, June 22, 1941

Siege of Leningrad and Moscow, Nov. 1941

Soviets desperate

2 million of 4.5 million Russian troops left

700 of 15,000 tanks left

“General Snow” and “Captain Winter”

Japan's goals

*"Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"

Colonial Empire

Political and economic independence from the West

Japan's Road to War

Invasion of Manchuria, 1931

Invasion of East China, 1937-9

Tripartite pact (Japan, Germany, Italy), 1940

U.S. and Dutch Indonesia oil embargo, 1941

90% of Japan's supplies

*Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941

Invasion of SE Asia and Pacific islands, 1942

*Total War

All people and productive forces mobilized

Propaganda to promote nationalism

Radio

Films

Print media

Study Questions Lecture

1. Why was World War II a war of movement?

2. What role did propaganda play in the war? Why did new technologies make propaganda more effective?

3. Why were so many people killed in World War II?

4. Why was the Russian campaign the turning point in the war for Germany?

Study Questions Reading

Hansen 844-51, 856-7

1. Why were German and Japanese troops successful in the early stages of World War II?

2. Why was racial stereotyping a common aspect of war propaganda?

Kim 116-142

1. How did the Koreans react to Japanese colonialism? How did Koreans collaborate with or resist the Japanese?

2. How did the Japanese use propaganda toward the Koreans? How effective was it?

3. At one point the boy thinks to himself that the Japanese are all alike. (p. 130) Is this true? Is it true of Koreans?

4. How did the Japanese occupation affect the Korean economy during wartime? (Also consider, pp. 87-115)

5. Why does the boy cry at the end of the chapter, "An Empire for Rubber Balls"?