THE SECOND

W O R L D WA R
 CAUSES OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
• The totalitarian
regimes´ desire for
war:
– The expansionist policies of
the Nazi Germany and the fascist
Italy
– Intense arms race
– Growing of the national
sentiment and aggressive
foreign policies
CAUSES OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
• ESCALATING AGRESSION:
– Japan occupied Manchuria (1931)
and invaded China in 1937
– Italy took possession of Ethiopia in
1935 and invaded Albania
– Italy and Germany took part in the
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
– Germany developed a policy of
territorial expansion:
• Remilitarised the Rhineland
• In March 1938 occupy Austria
(Anchluss)
• In September 1938 hand over the
Sudetenland (Sudetes) from
Czecholovakia
CAUSES OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
 THE WEAKNESS OF THE
DEMOCRACIES
 Some democracies insulate
themselves from the world´s
problems: USA
 Other focused their attention on
domestic issues: France and UK
 Weakness of The League of
Nations
 The Munich Conference in
1938: Hitler gained approval from
France and Great Britain to
occupy Sudetenland
CAUSES OF THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
• THE FORMATION OF ALLIANCES:
– In 1936 the Rome-Berlin Axis (Eje
Roma-Berlín) was renewed in 1939
under the name Pact of Steel
– November 1936 the Anti-Comintern
Pact: Germany and Japan
– 1939 France and Great Britain pledged
Poland their military support if
necessary
– Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939) Hitler and
Stalin, after Germany began the
invasion of Poland (September 1939)
– Allies (France and Great Britain)
declared war on Germany
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE WAR
AXIS VICTORIES (1939-
1941)
• After the invasion of Poland
(September 1939) Hitler launched
Blitzkrieg (Guerra relámpago):
armoured division (Panzer) and aerial
support
• Poland was divided between Germany
and the USSR
• 1940 Germany army invaded most of
western Europe: Denmark, Norway, the
Netherlands, Belgium and France
• Battle of Britain with the Luftwaffe
(Germany´s air force)
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE WAR
AXIS VICTORIES (1939-
1941)
• Great Britain resist the attack and Hitler
ordered the blockade of the British Island:
the Battle of the Atlantic
• German African Corps (Rommel)
conquered North Africa
• Yugoslavia and Greece fell in April 1941
• June 1941 Hitler launched the Operation
Barbarossa to attack Russia, in response
the USSR joined the Allied Forces
• In December 1941, Japan destroyed the
US fleet in Pearl Harbor, the US entered
the war
 ALLIED OFFENSIVES (1942-
1945)
• The entrance of USA and the USSR
changed the course of the war
• June 1942 the USA stooped Japanese
advances in the Pacific (Battles of
Midway and Guadalcanal)
• North Africa: the British defeated
the Germans in El Alamein and the
allies defeated the Germans in Tunisia
(May 43)
• Germans assault on Stalingrad
(August 42- February 43) after
several months of siege the Soviets
went on the attack and recovered
Ukraine
 ALLIED OFFENSIVES (1942-
1945)
• Normandy landings by British and
American troops (June 44)
• They advanced from the west
liberating France and entering Germany
• At the same time, the Russians moved
in from the east pushing Germans out
of Poland, Romania and Bulgaria
• Both Allied armies occupied Germany
and met at the River Elbe on 26 April
1945
• Hitler committed suicide on 30 April
and, on 8 May, Germany surrender Soviet soldiers in Berlin,
• The war in Europe day by day April 45
 END OF THE PACIFIC WAR

• In the Pacific, the Americans had

reconquered most of the territories
occupied by the Japanese
• Japan continued its defence with the
Kamikazes
• To force Japan to surrender, US
President Truman decided to use the
atomic bomb (Hiroshima and
Nagasaki August 1945)
• 150.000 people died
• Japan surrender on 2 September 1945
 GLOBAL SCOPE

• The WWII was a total war:

– Geographical dimension:
• more countries involved than any
other war
• Involved people from the five
continents and military operations
took place also in Africa, Asia and
Oceania
– Human resources:
• 50 million soldiers
• Almost 100 millions if we include all
types of troops, police, militias, etc.
MOBILISATION OF THE POPULATION AND
ECONOMY FOR MILITARY PURPOSES

• The conflict affected the civilian

population as a result of the bombings:
– Demoralise the population
– Destroy the enemy´s industrial
organisation
– Punishment for the defeat
• State intervention to mobilise
production, science and technology for
military purposes
• UK, USA and Japan: mobilisation of
women as workforce
• Germany: exploitation of foreign
workers
• Rationing in the consumer goods that
stimulated the black market
 AN IDEOLOGICAL BATTLE

• To mobilise peoples´ consciences:

promote patriotic values an
encouraged hatred of the enemy
• Allied campaigns praised democratic
values over dictatorships
• The Axis Powers advocated the
superiority of the Aryan race and the
Jewish and Communist conspiracy
• Use of mass media: radio, newscast,
film, propaganda poster…
 WOMEN AND THE WAR
EFFORT
• Greater extent than in the WWI
• They joined the workforce in
all sectors, particularly in the
war industry
• Also served as doctors and
nurses
• USSR: they fought in the Red
Army, represented 10% of the
mobilised troops
• They enlisted in militias and
became involved in espionage
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE
WAR:
HUMAN AND ECONOMIC
• Over 50 million people died in
LOSSES
the war, the largest proportion
were from the USSR, Germany
and Poland
• The weapons, bombs and
aeroplanes during the war
increased the capacity of
destruction
• Civilian victims represented
more than a half the total
numbers of deaths (In the WWI
only 5% were civilians)
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE
WAR:
HUMAN AND ECONOMIC
• Destruction of property: cities, means

LOSSES
of communication and industrial facilities
• Looting of cities, the practice of burning
crops and woodland
• The countries that stayed out of the
dispute (Canada, Australia, Sweden etc.)
became suppliers and experienced
economic growth
• Population displacement: 30 million
Europeans
• Europe was materially and morally
destroyed.
• Two new powers emerged: USA and the
USSR
Berlin, 1945
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE
WAR:
THE MORAL IMPACT
• The WWII questioned of the moral and
political values of European civilisation
• Culture of violence during 6 years
• Discovery of the
concentration camps
• The atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
• Massacres carried out by the Soviets
in Poland
• Profound moral trauma and
questions about the barbarism of
western civilisation
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE
WAR:
THE NUREMBERG TRIALS
• The victors of the war created a
tribunal that would define a new
concept in international law:
crimes against humanity
• Nuremberg Trials (1945-46),
put 21 Nazi leaders on trial that
evaluated the Nazi atrocities and
set a precedent to ensure that
crimes against humanity would
not go unpunished in the future
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE
WAR:
CONFERENCES BEFORE THE
• The three major Allies (UK, USA
WAR
and USSR) met in November
1943 at the Tehran Conference
(Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) to
speed up the end of the war
• In February 1945 in Yalta, this
meeting agreed:
– Denazification
– The partition of Germany in four
occupied zones and Berlin also
was divided in four parts
– The creation of the United Nations
Yalta Conference, Feb.
 CONSEQUENCES OF THE
WAR:
PEACE CONFERENCES
• The third conference between the
Allies was after the defeat of the
Axis in Potsdam (August 1945)
– New leaders: Atlee, Truman and
Stalin
– Returned all the European territories
annexed by Germany
– Separate Austria from Germany
– Dismantle the military industry
– Punish the Nazi leaders
• Peace treaties with Germany´s other
allies were drawn during the Paris
Peace Conference in 1946
 THE CONFRONTATION
BETWEEN THE USSR AND
USA
• Two different economic and political
views separating the great powers
– USA: capitalist economy and
parliamentary democracy
– USSR: communism and a single-party
political system
• Europe was divided into two areas of
influence:
– East: liberated by the Soviet army
– West: liberated by the Americans and
British
• The post-war world was marked by this
rivalry between this two powers (USA
and USSR) with the beginning of the
Cold War
 THE CREATION OF THE
UNITED NATIONS
• Need of an organisation to replace the
discredited League of Nations
• The organisation was created in the
San Francisco Conference (April-
June 1945)
• The Charter of the United Nations
(UN) was signed by 46 founding states
• Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was adopted in 1948
• Since 1950 the UN headquarters are in
New York
• Nowadays the UN is made up of 193
countries