World History
I. Origins in Europe
Hitler rearms, seeks territory lost in 1919
Isolationism; hope of appeasement
Blitzkrieg: Hitler’s hopes for quick, decisive war against status powers (Britain, France)
“Lightning war”
Lessons of WWI: avoid long war, use stockpiles, series of short wars, knock-out rivals
Rapid strikes, penetrate and envelope
Multiple enemies and long war=disaster
1939: Poland and Non-Aggression Pact; France and Great Britain declare war on Germany
1940: Frances falls in six weeks
II. “A Day Which Will Live in Infamy”: The United States Enters the War
Dec. 7, 1941: Pearl Habor
Dec. 8 Congress declared war on Japan
Dec. 11 Germany declares war on the United States
II. War in Europe
First U.S. land troops in North Africa (1942)
1943 attack Italy, uprising deposes Mussolini
First major involvement begins D-day,
June 6, 1944
August 1944 Paris liberated, push into Germany
III. End of War
Early 1945 Allied victory assured
March 1945 U.S. troops invade Germany, Hitler commits suicide
May 8, 1945 V-E Day
In Pacific, 1944 America retakes Guam, Philippines, move closer to Japan
Negotiations begin with Japan
Demand for “unconditional surrender”
Hiroshima
1944 FDR dies in office, Harry Truman takes over
U.S. successfully tests atomic bomb in July 1945
August 6, 1945 U.S. drops bomb on Hiroshima
The Postwar Age Dawns
Cold War Rivalry
Atomic, Nuclear Age
Decolonization and Decline of Europe
Nationalism and Modernity