Unit 7 Notes 1: Roots of WWII:

Japan, Italy, and Germany

World War II Overview
World War Two began on September 1
st
, 1939
when Germany launched a surprise invasion of
Poland and ended on September 6
th
, 1945 with
Japans surrender to the United States
This war resulted in the deaths of nearly 70
million people (2/3 were civilians)
This number does not include the near decade
of aggressive acts that led up to the war
What is 70 million deaths?
Twice the population of California
9x the population of New York
Greater than the population of 224 countries
11.6 million people every year
972,000 people every month
224,000 people every week
32,000 people every day
1,300 people every hour
22 people every minute
1 person every 3 seconds
In fact, the number one cause of death in the World
between Sept. 1939 and Sept. 1945 was World War II

How does this compare?
If you added the death toll for all of the following conflicts they do
not add up to the amount of people who died in World War II
World War One
American Revolution
French Revolution
Mexican Revolution
Spanish-American War
US Civil War
French-Indian Wars
Vietnam War
Korean War
Iraq War
Afghanistan War
and
Militarists take control in Japan
During the 1920s the Japanese
government grew more and more
democratic
It signed several treaties establishing an
end to war and respect for Chinas
borders
However, in 1930, the government was
blamed for the sharp downturn in the
countrys economy
The military leadership gained support
from the people and took power of the
country

Japans Military Leadership
Emperor Hirohito became the
symbol of Japans power and he was
considered a God to the people of
Japan
To die for the emperor is to live
forever
Believed in extreme nationalism
Would solve Japans economic
problems through foreign expansion
Their goal was to conquer the Pacific
and especially China
Japan Invades Manchuria
In 1931 Japan seized the
Chinese province of
Manchuria
The area was rich in
iron and coal
They quickly installed a
puppet government and
built hundreds of mines
and factories

The League of Nations Response
The League condemned the action but had no
power or will to do anything about it
Japan responded by withdrawing their
membership from the League in 1933
Effects of League Inaction
The Leagues failure to act in defense of Manchuria encouraged
Benito Mussolini (Italys fascist leader) to be more aggressive
Promising a new Roman Empire to his people, Mussolini set
his sights on Ethiopia
Italy wanted revenge for its embarrassing loss to Ethiopia during
the 1890s
Fighting with rifles, spears, and swords the Ethiopians were no
match for Italys airplanes, tanks, machine guns, and poison gas
More League Inaction
The League again condemned the aggression
but did not back it up with force
Moreover, Britain allowed the Italians to use
the British-controlled Suez Canal to send
troops and equipment to Ethiopia
Britain hoped by giving Mussolini parts of
Africa it would maintain peace in Europe
Germany Defies the Treaty of Versailles
Part of Germanys punishment
in the Treaty was that they had
to reduce the size of their
military
In 1935, Hitler announced he
would ignore these restrictions
and begin to build up the
German military
The League of Nations only
condemned these actions
Inaction Leads to More German Aggression
German troops move into the
Rhineland, a buffer zone
created by the Treaty of
Versailles to protect France
and Belgium from German
attacks
Fearing war, France and
Britain did nothing
Effects of Invading the Rhineland
It strengthened Hitlers power and
prestige in Germany
Previously cautious generals, now
fully supported Hitler
France and Belgium were now
open to attack
The weak response of the League
encouraged Hitler to speed up
Germanys military and territorial
expansion
Finally, recognizing each others
power, Germany, Italy, and Japan
created a military alliance known as
the Axis Powers
More German Aggression
Austria (1938)
In 1938 Germany sent
troops into Austria
and annexed the
country
The League of
Nations did nothing,
but most Austrian
citizens did not mind
More German Aggression
Czechoslovakia (Sept 1938-March 1939)
Next Germany turned their attention toward the Czech
region of the Sudetenland
Czechoslovakia had a prosperous democracy, strong
army, AND a defense treaty with France
Hitler said that the people of the Sudetenland had
German heritage and the land should rightfully belong
to Germany
Czechoslovakia refused and turned to France for help
Britain and France Respond!
(Kind of)
Britain and France were preparing for war when Mussolini
suggested a meeting of Germany, Italy, Britain, and France
This became known as the Munich Conference
The result was that Britain and France appeased Hitler
and agreed that Germany could annex the Sudetenland in
exchange for promising no further action against
Czechoslovakia
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain called it
Peace for our time.
Six months later Hitler captured the remainder of the
country


Japan Dominates the Pacific
By 1942 Japan had conquered over 10 million
square miles of land
Countries and territories captured included
Hong Kong, Indochina(Vietnam), Korea, and
Indonesia
Japan tried to win the support of locals with the
slogan of Asia for the Asians, but often
treated the locals with as much brutality as they
did POWs