Hitler, WW1 and WW2

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Contents 1 WW1 2 WW2 2.1 Reasons 2.2 Hitler 2.3 (RASP) 2.4 WW2

WW1

• Started:1914 Ended:1918
• Lasted for four years
• Central Powers (Turkey, Austria, Germany) - Lost
• Allies (France, Italy, Britain, United States, Russia) - Won
• Russia: Tsar, Communism, Lenin
• Germany: Kaiser, Republic
• Austria: Empire, split into new countries (Czechoslovakia)
• Ally leaders met in Palace of Versailles - prevent another war

WW2

Reasons

• Germany - angry with Versailles treaty, Fascism
• Russia - Communist revolution, weakness of league of nations caused war
• In the treaty Germany lost: 1/8 territory, 10% population, airforce, tanks, submarines. They had: 6 battleships in navy, army of 100,000, war guilt clause and reparations which damaged the economy.
• Italians had been promised Mediterranean land - did not get it
• Woodrow Wilson proposed league of nations to: be a neutral place to discuss problems, and to protect little countries (Collective security)
• Other leaders had borrowed money from him so they agreed to the league
• League failed. America wouldn’t join, Germany couldn’t because of the guilt clause, Russia couldn’t because of communism, and league had no army.
• Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas 2nd, he joined with Britain and France in the war, shortage of guns and food, tsar was blamed, people rose against him, Russia became republic, new government just did the same as the tsar and became unpopular.
• Communists want equality, no private property, workers control the government and economy
• Lenin led the BOLSHEVIK party which overthrew the new government and changed name to communist party.
• They: renamed Russia the Soviet Union (soviet is a council of workers). Communists actually controlled Russia, not workers. They: confiscated all private property, it all now belonged to the state. They said the USSR was now atheistic and persecuted religions.
• They weren’t democratic, only 1 party allowed, secret police spied, disagreement led to execution, people did not know of democracy so they still hoped communists would make life better
• Lenin died, Joseph Stalin became ruler
• He: seized farms and made collective farms to make farming better and feed the people, he made 5 year plans that set production targets for industries, which worked
• Kulaks (wealthy peasants) wouldn’t give up their land and were sent to labour camps as slaves
• The secret police arrested critics who died in labour camps
• No one knew how cruel Stalin and Lenin were due to propaganda stating workers owned the property, had good working conditions and free health and education which impressed poor people elsewhere.
• They joined their local communist groups, all wanting to overthrow their governments
• But communism scared business men, farmers and people with religions. These people didn’t want democracy, it was too weak to stop communism. They wanted a strong leader
• Fascists were people who were so afraid of communism but didn’t want a democracy, were fascist which means: they wanted to make their country strong (shame of Versailles treaty), wanted to get rid of communism, wanted to get rid of democracy - it was too easy on communists and could let it take over, believed their race was the best - which led to bad treatment of other races
• Fascism started in Italy with Benito Mussolini who was in the army in WW1, was injured and left it.
• Prices and unemployment was up in Italy causing strikes and riots and a strong following of communism
• Mussolini set up fascio di combattimento which promised to improve economy, stop riots and end communism
• They dressed in black shirts and got money from businessmen to stop strikes. They attacked communist meetings and had many street fights with them
• The black shirts often started it but Mussolini said it showed that democracy was too weak to keep order and only fascism could
• He announced a march on Rome to seize power, the prime minister asked victor Emmanuel (king) to stop them but he refused, the prime minister resigned and king gave position to Mussolini.
• Mussolini started to develop a dictatorship; he had black shirts in the police so they would only arrest his enemies, he banned communists and then all parties and called himself il duce-the leader
• He used propaganda to show himself as heroic and only let good things be said
• The secret police (OVRA) watched everyone and beat anyone suspicious.
• Teachers had to take a loyalty oath to teach fascism. Children belonged to the Balilla - fascist youth movement
• Mussolini wanted Italy great again and built up his army. He was friendly with France and Britain and sided with them when Hitler came to power
• He planned to conquer Ethiopia, a member of the league. Ethiopia asked the league for help who told people to stop trade with Italy. Hitler was the only one who supported Italy
• Mussolini sided with Hitler and made the ROME-BERLIN AXIS (strengthened with the PACT OF STEEL in 1939)
• Start of WW2, Italy stayed neutral, Germany defeated France so Mussolini joined with Hitler (feeling safe)
• But Italy’s army were defeated in Greece and had to be rescued by Germany, defeated by Britain (north Africa) and Rommel was sent to help them
• Britain and America defeated Rommel there and invaded Italy, king sacked Mussolini, new government made peace and joined up with the allies
• Germany tried to rescue Mussolini and made him ruler of northern Italy (Germany controlled), war continued
• The Germans had lost: Mussolini was captured by anti-fascists, and shot.

Hitler

• Germany surrendered in WW1. The Kaiser had to flee and Germany became a republic.
• Politicians met in Weimar to set rules for the republic (thus known as the Weimar republic)
• The republic was democratic, men and women could vote for parliament (the Reichstag) which made the laws, taxes and elected government and had a president who was allowed rule by decree in emergency
• The government HAD to sign the Versailles treaty. Some believed it was a betrayal (Stab in the back theory), which was a bad start for democracy
• War damaged German economy, people were unemployed, hungry and cold so some became communists
• Communists had revolts around Germany, none successful and riots between communists and their opponents happened often
• Just when things started to quieten, the government got a demand for the 6.6b reparations. It caused inflation (prices rising fast) which destroyed Germans savings and was bad publicity for democracy
• During the inflation, Adolf Hitler (Austrian) tried to rebel against the government, failed and was imprisoned. He had been an artist in Vienna and was anti-Semitic. He joined the German army in WW1, was wounded twice, got iron cross for bravery (Unusual for a soldier)
• He then returned to Munich where the army sent him to spy on a new political party called THE GERMAN WORKERS’ PARTY. He liked it and joined it and renamed it the Nazi party. He was known as fuhrer-leader
• He formed a private army (SA-Stormtroopers) under Ernst Rohm and dressed in brown shirts. They were violent, protested nazi meetings and broke up communist meetings
• And the SS-protection squad, Hitler’s personal bodyguard under Heinrich Himmler
• After the rebellion and in jail, Hitler wrote mein kampf-my struggle which showed his aims: to create an Aryan race under 1 leader, to destroy Versailles treaty, to conquer land for lebensraum (living space) and to destroy enemies (mostly Jews)
• When he got out, Mussolini had got a dictatorship, so he changed his tactics to peaceful ones. But at the time the Weimar republic was doing well, Germans were happy with it and didn’t want to vote for the nazis
• Germany got American loans. But stocks and share values fell in wall st and America needed their money which caused depression in Germany with unemployment. The government didn’t know what to do and people turned to the Nazis or communists. People scared of communism supported fascism
• The more unemployment, the more support they got
• The president (Paul von Hindenburg) used the rule by decree to appoint a chancellor. He didn’t like Hitler but Hitler had a lot of support so he appointed him chancellor
• Hitler had an election, the SS and SA attacked other parties and meetings and burned the Reichstag building, and Hitler blamed it on the communists and arrested many of them.
• Yet the Nazis only got 45% of votes. So Hitler scared the Reichstag with communism and they gave him the enabling act meaning he could deal with communism and make himself dictator.
• Night of the long knifes was when Hitler got power, so did the SA, and its leader, Ernst Rohm too.
• He wanted to turn the SA into an army which German generals didn’t like. Hitler wanted the generals to like him and didn’t like Rohm’s power so he got the SS to destroy him and other SA leaders and opposites. This night got rid of all opposition.
• Most Germans backed Hitler because: propaganda, led by Joseph Goebbels convinced Germans that Hitler was good for Germany (rallies, marches, radio, TV, cinemas)
• Hitler cured unemployment and built up German services and economy and he destroyed the Versailles treaty (restored pride)
• The secret police of the Nazis, the GESTAPO, rounded up any opposition and put them in concentration camps (Dachau) which the SS guarded. Jews, political prisoners, homosexuals and gypsies were put in these camps
• Hitler blamed Jews for all Germans problems. The nazis organised boycott of Jewish businesses and the Nuremberg laws took away their citizenship and they couldn’t marry Germans
• A polish Jew shot an official, Nazis attacked Jews everywhere. Their businesses and synagogues were destroyed. This was kristallnacht (night of the broken glass)
• The nazis decided to finish off the Jews, done by the SS under Himmler, Jews were put in ghettos and taken to extermination camps and sent to gas chambers or became slaves and died of overwork, starvation.
• 6 million Jews killed in WW2

• Hitler wanted to destroy Versailles, unite all Germans and create the 3rd Reich and to conquer lands for lebensraum and his master race
• Hitler destroyed Versailles by; adding more to their army (breaking rules), at first secretly, then announced conscription and the luftwafffe (German air force)
• The French were afraid of him, didn’t want to stop him alone but Britain didn’t want to interfere because; many British felt the treaty was unfair, some feared communism and thought fascism was at least better than communism and they didn’t want to start another war. So Britain and France gave appeasement which meant they gave Hitler what he wanted in hopes of preventing another war

(RASP)

1. Rhineland- Mussolini attacked Ethiopia and the league condemned him. During all this commotion, Hitler sent troops into Rhineland, which was forbidden in the treaty. France wanted to stop him but Britain continued appeasement. General Franco (fascist) in Spain got power. Hitler and Mussolini helped and all 3 made the ROME-BERLIN AXIS. Neville chamberlain became prime minister in Britain, he supported appeasement, Britain agreed (feared war)
2. The Anschluss-hitler wanted to unite Austria and Germany, known as Anschluss. Treaty forbade it. He got the German Austrians to demand Anschluss and they tried to overthrow their government, but failed. Hitler forced the Austrian prime minister to have Nazis in the government, when the pm tried to stop this spread, Hitler sent in troops. He won, the French and British hadn’t tried to stop it
3. Sudetenland-hitler wanted Czechoslovakia now, a part with many Germans, the Sudetenland. He got those Germans to demand a union with Germany. He made it clear he was going to conquer it. The Czechoslovaks (allied to b and f) asked them for help. Chamberlain met with Hitler twice asking him to stop. But no. Mussolini held a conference were b, f, g and I met (Munich). B and f let Hitler take the Sudetenland as long as he didn’t touch the rest of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain said they had got peace but Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia and chamberlain realised appeasement wasn’t working.
4. Poland-Poland was also set up after WW1 and there were lots of Germans in the Polish Corridor in danzig. Hitler accused the poles of mistreating these Germans and demanded danzig. He hoped the poles would refuse (an excuse to invade) he expected appeasement again but f and b said they would start war if he invaded Poland. F and b were far from Poland to help so they asked Stalin. He feared Hitler as he hated communism and wanted to get Russia. But he didn’t trust f or b as they were anti communist too

• Britain and France talked with Stalin but nothing. Then Stalin and Hitler (enemies) signed a non-aggression pact; they agreed to divide Poland, didn’t have to worry about others plans to conquer their land. Hitler hoped this pact would stop Britain going to war with him, he invaded Poland, WW2 began.

WW2

• Lasted almost 6 years, started 1939, ended 1945, killed 40 m
• When Germany invaded Poland they used blitzkrieg in which the airforce bombed and tanks came in to crush. It easily defeated the polish and Stalin and Hitler divided it.
• Britain and France sent their armies to German border but there was no fighting. (this is the phoney war)
• Do Nothing But Notice Failure
• Germany blitzkrieged Denmark and Norway and defeated them
• Germany then blitzkrieged Belgium, the Netherlands and France. France were well guarded but had a gap in the hilly Ardennes (tanks couldn’t get in here?!) but that’s how they came and chased Britain towards the English Channel and trapped them at Dunkirk. Code named OPERATION DYNAMO sent any English ship and saved them so they could keep fighting Hitler
• But France went south, Germany entered Paris and France surrendered
• Germany took north France and a French government, who liked fascism, had the rest. It was called the Vichy regime
• When Mussolini saw Hitler get France he joined on his side
• British blamed Chamberlain for appeasement and got a new pm- Winston Churchill who had always opposed the nazis and appeasement and wanted to resist Hitler always
• Hitler started OPERATION SEALION to invade Britain. The royal air force (RAF) and the Luftwaffe fought in the skies. British had radar though (warning). The BATTLE OF BRITAIN started when German attacked radar and airfields. The German ME 109s and 110s fought the British HURRICANE and SPITFIRES
• Then Germans changed to bombing London and cities, Hitler thought they would demand peace, but the British rebuilt their radars
• The London bombing was the BLITZ. Hitler couldn’t defeat Britain. He called off operation sealion and was confident in invading Russia. Stalin did not believe Hitler would invade (non aggression pact)
• OPERATION BARBAROSSA was when Germany crossed the Russian border, the RED ARMY retreated and were captured, Germany sent in 3 armies:
  • The northern army - got to Leningrad, killed many people, Russians held out, Germans failed.
  • Central army - got to Moscow, weren’t prepared for cold, died, Russians regrouped and stopped Germans from getting into Moscow.
  • Southern army - was going to get the Russian oilfields (NL, CM, SO)
• Germany was low on oil, Hitler needed the Russians oilfields but Stalingrad was in the way.
• The red army under marshal Zhukov defended it and Stalin told them to hold it no matter what
• The German 6th army under general von paulus attacked, battled for months, Zhukov brought in fresh troops, Germans surrenderd. Hitler wouldn’t let them surrender, tried to bring supplies by Luftwaffe but failed, von paulus surrendered.
• Stalingrad was turning point in WW2. Now Germany had lost twice in a row.
• The Nazis were still in France, General Charles de Gaulle asked allies to free his country. They got a big army-OPERATION OVERLORD and landed at Normandy. The Germans thought they would come at Calais, the shortest route.
• It was American, British and Canadian troops under General Eisenhower. They: built tanks to destroy beach defences (FUNNIES), built a pipeline in the sea to provide fuel (PLUTO), and made fake harbours to land troops and tanks (MULBERRIES)
• 6th June 1944 (D-day), ships sailed to Normandy, fighter planes and bombers controlled the sky. Hitler still felt the real attack would come at Calais and wouldn’t send tanks to Normandy.
• When he did, the allies were ashore. The Germans surrendered Paris.
• Germany was losing, army officers tried to kill Hitler by planting a bomb in his HQ; someone moved it and Hitler lived. The Gestapo executed 5,000 in revenge.
• Germany was surrounded, Hitler wouldn’t give in, he had V-1 and V-2 rockets but they didn’t really change the state of the war.
• He tried one last time by going to the Ardennes region, bad weather kept allies on the ground, Germany advanced.
• This was the BATTLE OF THE BULGE. But Germans were short on fuel, Americans got them at BASTOGNE.
• Germans had lost; Hitler committed suicide rather than surrender.
• The allies now found the concentration camps and tried (25) leading nazis (Donitz, Ribbentrop, goering, Hess) at Nuremberg, found guilty, 11 hanged, rest had long jail sentences

America kept out of European fights (isolationism) and remained neutral. But many, including Franklin d. Roosevelt, hated Hitler and nazis and tried to help Britain with weapons and food America worried about Japan because it had got parts of china and wanted more. America opposed and banned exports (steel and oil) to Japan who really needed them. Japan destroyed pearl harbour, sank 18 ships and brought America to war.

The Japanese got Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Burma and pacific islands. After the BATTLE OF MIDWAY, America got some islands, Japan wouldn’t surrender and used KAMIKAZE pilots (honour to die for emperor)

Japans navy was destroyed and their cities in ruins but they wouldn’t surrender. Roosevelt died; Harry Truman became president and did not want to invade Japan. They had been working on the atomic bomb and Truman said to use it to end the war. A bomber plane , Enola gay, dropped the bomb ‘Little Boy’ onto Hiroshima (80,000 died and radiation)

A 2nd one, ‘Fat Man’ dropped on Nagasaki (60,000 died) Japan surrendered WW2 was over!