World War II Notes

• 1937 Germany
• Nazi party rallies lead by Adolph Hitler
• Hitler had been in power for 4 years, his troops were waging war in Europe
• targeted civilians from the air
• Germans fought along Franco's army to overthrow Spanish government
• wanted to fight against Bolshevism
• 1939
• Franco was victorious
• US and Britain failed to intervene
• 1937 Britain
• coronation of George VI
• wanted to avoid future wars
• 1936 Germany
• meeting between Hitler and Lloyd George from Britain
• Lloyd was very impressed with Hitler
• he thought they did not have the desire to invade any other lands
• 1939 US
• US was coming out of the Great Depression
• did not want to get involved in European problems
• 1939 Germany
• Nazis were strong
• annexed Austria and seized land from Czechoslovakia
• not much of a response from Western Europe
• Germany is blossoming, people are working
• industry is getting stronger
• jobs come from industry which comes from the Nazi party
• Germany and Russia sign a treaty that they will not take up arms against each other
• they had an agreement to carve up easter Europe
• Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939
• 1939 Summer in Britain
• Britain sent an ultimatum to Hitler to withdraw from Poland, but he did not respond
• they went to war in response
• Germany had conquered Poland, Warsaw was left in ruins
• Hitler turned his attention to the west
• Britain prepared for the worst
• air raid drills were conducted in schools
• the war seemed quiet at first
• the things that they expected never came
• people began to call it the Bore War/the Phony War
• France 1940
• German troops invaded
• Denmark and Norway had fallen
• British troops were retreating
• the Blitzkreig consumed Europe
• people were afraid of the troops
• civilians abandoned their houses as refugees
• French troops were taken prisoner by the German troops
• the German troops lived the good life
• by May, the French allies were defeated
• the last of the British allies leave France
• France is split into North and South
• North is called Vichy
• hotbed of the French resistance movement
• fought against the Germans
• Winston Churchill was the prime minister of England
• lead them through the war
• Britain created a new defense force with volunteers
• London 1940
• the bombings had begun
• September 1940 and May 1941 was the time of heaviest bombing
• the worst was over
• the Blitz knocks out the infrastructure of British cities and terrorizes the city
• Hitler is having trouble crushing Britain
• Hitler decides against a land invasion
• he decides to invade the Soviet Union
• Bavaria, Germany 1941
• he decided to break the non aggression act with Russia
• he calls it Operation Barbarossa
• troops began moving to the east
• troops did not know what was going on
• June 22, 1941
• German troops crossed the border
• over 3000 tanks attacked
• the German advance was rapid around 40 miles a day
• there is much tragedy on both sides
• was as approaching central Russia
• over 3 million Soviet soldiers were captured
• German troops were allowed to kill prisoners of war
• 600,000 Soviet prisoners of war were killed
• Hitler visited the Eastern front
• German tanks were approaching Moscow
• there was fear of total collapse
• Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• this is the reason the US entered WWII
• anti-Japanese sentiment spread through the US
• Roosevelt ordered that the Japanese Americans be detained in concentration camps
• similar to ghettos rather than concentration camps
• everyone's lives were changed by this total war
• American convoys traveled to Europe
• the US was supplying the industrial capacity for Britain even though they had not officially entered the war
• this is why Hitler declares war on the US
• Stalingrad, Russia
• there was no surrender among the both sides of troops
• around 600,000 dead/2,000,000 casualties
• Soviet troops surrounded the city and Nazis were trapped inside
• Nazis had better weapons, but there were more Soviets
• this was the turning point of the war
• there is a worldwide depression when Hitler comes to power
• the King of England, Edward abdicated the throne because he fell in love with someone from Baltimore
• Nazis gained enormous power between 1933-37
• Hitler solidifies and centralizes power with himself
• Reichstags Fire in Germany
• Hitler takes emergency measures saying that Parliament is barred and he has full leadership control
• he becomes the Fuhrer, or the leader
• works on industrialization of the country
• the entire republic is required to relate any benefit in their life to him
• to be an enemy of the Fuhrer is to be an enemy of the Fuhrer
• tanks are used in WWII
• British government lead by Lloyd George appeases Germany
• does not want to go to war because of the results of WWI
• Franco comes to power in Spain and his plan is to crush the republicans in the country, the Spanish Civil War
• republicans are backed by the rest of western Europe
• US and England never formally declare war on Franco
• English army never went into Spain
• Fascists win the war and Franco takes power
• Hitler annexes Austria in 1939
• most Austrians were in favor of this
• Hitler makes references to Jews in speeches, and calls them the problem in Mein Kampf
• Hitler is anti-socialist
• western European powers see that Hitler may not be the guy they thought he was
• Hitler said that he would keep the German borders where they were, but he didn't
• warnings say that Hitler is going to invade Poland
• he takes Poland in one week
• the Polish army was not prepared for this
• Hitler creates the Hitler Youth in order to indoctrinate children in to the Nazi party
• Stalin had killed around 5 million of his own people by the time of WWII
• Erwin Rommel was put in charge of defending Nazi Europe from a British invasion
• US troops wanted German civilians to see the concentration camps
• the citizens said that they were blameless
• Dachau
• 30,000 prisoners were liberated
• guards posed as prisoners as to not be punished
• there were only 70,000 Jewish survivors in the camps
• the Battle for Berlin was won for the Red Army in 1945
• the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• over 40,000 people were killed from the bomb
• people were severely wounded and even got cancer
• it is unknown how many people died from these injuries
• August 6, 1945
• these was the result of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor
• the battle of Midway occurred
• the atomic bomb was created and used in this bombing
• April 12, 1945
• Franklin Roosevelt died
• he had brought them out of the economic depression
• before he died he was laying the foundation for WWI in Yalta
• Harry Truman becomes President
• tensions begin between Soviet Union and US
• has to do with Poland
• Germany had invaded Poland in the beginning of the war
• the US wanted a democracy in Poland
• Russia wanted a government that would be a friend of Russia
• in Japan, US bombers had been targeting cities
• wiped out part of Tokyo
• thought the war would be over by fall of 1945 because of all the bombings
• few factories were left in Japan
• Japan was helpless
• Japanese politicians realized that their country could not hold on much longer
• Nuremberg Trials
• Nazis had to attest to their crimes
• many Nazis chose suicide
• charged for crimes against peace and humanity
• to lay down a foundation for the future of European politics and world politics
• laws and definitions surrounding genocide
• Cuba had been a Spanish colony
• Cuban Missile Crisis- nuclear missiles were being built up in Cuba by the Soviet and Cuban government
• we were close to a nuclear war
• the Soviets back down and the missiles are removed
• there is still an embargo on Cuba- no goods can be sold to Cuba, and people are not allowed to visit Cuba
• this occurred during Kennedy's presidency
• Boris Pasternak
• protested what was happening in the Soviet Union with Stalin
• poet and novelist
• anti-Soviet
• wrote Doctor Zhivago
• popularized Russian literature in the US
• KGB- secret police in the Soviet Union
• Nikita Khrushchev
• led the Soviet Union during the Cold War
• Perestroika
• political movement with the Communist Party of the USSR
• Soviet leader Gorbachev
• restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system
• Yeltsin took over after Gorbachev
• his reign ended in a coups
• the end of the Soviet Union
• the Soviet Union was reorganized into the Russian Federation
• all of the countries involved with the USSR became independent
• fighting the Soviet-Afghan war at the end of the USSR
• the US directly funded the Afghan troops, and then they turned on us
• Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
• the foundation of the nuclear draw down movement between the Soviet Union and the US
• Sputnik
• spacecraft missions launched by the US
• the US got behind so they made an investment in public education in math and science
• Arab League
• a regional organization of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia
• major player in the talks related to Palestine and Israel
• politics surrounding oil production
• Tito was the leader of Yugoslavia
• extremely brutal
• genocide broke out; Muslims were killed
• Ghana- first former British colony in Africa to become independent
• Post-Colonialism
• Gandhi leads the independence movement in India
• assassinated by Hindu nationalists
• the death of Gandhi resulted in the Muslims moving north into Pakistan
• Iran-Iraq War
• Iran- Persian, Shiite Muslims
• Iraq- Arabs, Sunni Muslims
• Iraq does not want to be an Islamic state
• after WWII there were moves of Jews out of Europe into Palestine
• called the Zionist Movement
• Margaret Thatcher
• force in British politics through the 80s
• anti-communist
• force in the Cold War against the Soviet Union
• Nelson Mandela
• first South African President
• fought against apartheid
• whites made sure that blacks received terrible educations so they could not rise up against them
• he was jailed for his works
• after he was released he became president
• Pervez Musharraf
• Pakistani President
• Solidarity
• the movement in Poland to break from the Soviet Union
• Lech Walesa- leader
• Poland won against the Soviet Union

World War I DBQ

World War I, " the Great War," involved all of the great powers of Europe and killed more than eight million soldiers.  Discuss the reasons which led to the rising international tensions that sparked World War I.


World War I, which began in 1914, was the largest and greatest war that the world had ever seen up until this time period.  There were millions of soldiers killed along with millions of civilians.  This war took place between all of the major powers in Europe including, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, France, Britain, Italy, and Siberia.  These countries made up separate alliances of their own, in order to bring more power and make themselves stronger.  World War I was sparked by several different factors including the fact that the European countries were not unified, and there was no higher power that kept them unified, as well as the fact that there was extreme racism among the people, but the cause for tension that directly began World War I was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Hungary, in Serbia by the Black Hand, an organization for the union of all Serbian people.


By the time of World War I, Germany and Austria-Hungary were already in an alliance.  Serbia allied with France and Russia, which were majors powers during the time period.  Britain allied with France, Russia, and Serbia, and Italy allied with German and Austria-Hungary because of their connection with Austria-Hungary through the Church.  These were the major powers that fought during World War I.  "Should, contrary to their hope, and against the loyal desire of the two High Contracting Parties, one of the two Empires be attacked by Russia the High Contracting Parties are bound to come to the assistance one of the other with the whole war strength of their Empires, and accordingly only to conclude peace together and upon mutual agreement" (doc 1).  This excerpt was taken from the agreement between Austria-Hungary and Germany to be in an alliance, and to defend one another if one was attacked by Russia.


The time period before World War I was filled with strife and fighting amongst the European countries.  This was because of the fact that the countries were not in anyway unified with each other.  "The states of Europe were like individuals living in a primeval state of nature marked by incessant strife between one and another.  They acknowledged no higher authority that might have forced them to keep the peace" (doc 5).  Each individual country wanted to be Europe's leading power, which caused much fighting and disagreement amongst the countries themselves.  The countries also fought amongst each other because of the fact that there was such racism in Europe.  Houston Stewart Chamberlain, an author during this time period, stated, "The races of mankind are markedly different in the nature and also in the extent of their gift" (doc 3).  This author clearly did not think that all men were created equally, and he could have had an influence on the thoughts of the people at this time.


Franz Ferdinand was murdered in Siberia, causing the tension to spill over and beginning World War I.  In a letter from William II to Tsar Nicholas II states, "The unscrupulous agitation which has been going on for years in Servia, has lead to the revolting crime of which Archduke Franz Ferdinand has become a victim" (doc 8).  Franz Ferdinand was killed due to the anger and disagreement that has been ensuing between Serbia and Austria-Hungary.  Franz Ferdinand was killed by and organization called the Black Hand which worked for the unification of all Serbian people.  The laws of the Black Hand state, "This organization prefers terrorist action to intellectual propaganda, and for this reason it must remain absolutely secret" (doc 6).  The Black Hand believed that they were working for the common good of all Serbian people by assassinating Franz Ferdinand.  They did not realize that it would be the beginning of one of the largest wars to date.


The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the event that sparked World War I.  There were tensions already built up among these leading European powers, due to several reasons.  The racism in Europe and the disconnect among the countries were the things that lead up to the beginning of World War I, but Franz Ferdinand's death was the event that started it all.  It pushed Austria-Hungary over the edge, and they declared war on Serbia for the death of Franz Ferdinand primarily causing World War I.

Second Draft of Term Paper

Joseph Stalin was the brutal leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 until his death in 1953.  He was a Communist ruler, who was responsible for the deaths of millions of Russian people.  He led the Soviet Union through World War II, in which he played a major role in defeating the German Nazi army.  Stalin executed or imprisoned anyone who opposed his regime, making him an extremely tyrannical leader.  “He took absolute control of nearly every aspect of Soviet life.  He dictated where people lived, who held political office, which movies were made, what books and newspapers were published, and what education Soviet children received” (Márquez, 2004).  Although Stalin protected Russia by fending off the Nazis, he was an extremely oppressive leader in Russia’s history in the sense that he killed three million Russian people and caused their suffering for many years, which is why Stalin was ultimately more harmful to Russia than beneficial.

            Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1878 in Gori, Georgia.  His parents, Vissarion and Ekaterina, were serfs when he was born.  His father later became a cobbler, and was prosperous for a short time.  Vissarion began to work at a shoe factory when his business as a cobbler had failed.  Stalin was a young child when his father left his home, never to be seen again by his family.  Ekaterina was forced to take small jobs in order to support her family of two.  Stalin had been beaten by both his mother and his father, which could attribute to the way he chose to run his regime once he became ruler.

Stalin was the best student at his childhood school in Gori, but he would at times get into trouble.  He graduated from school in 1894, and his mother urged him to become a priest.  He entered the Tbilisi theological seminary at the wish of his mother.  Stalin was extremely dedicated to his studies while in the seminary and received excellent grades.  However, there were very strict rules in the seminary, and the things that Stalin could read were greatly limited.  Stalin himself commented on his experience in the seminary saying, “The whole atmosphere round me was saturated with hatred of Tsarist oppression, and I threw myself whole-heartedly into revolutionary work” (Murphy, 1945).  In order to act out against these rules, he created a secret socialist group within the seminary.  Stalin’s grades began to fail at the seminary, and he began to act out more and more.  He was eventually expelled from the seminary before his sixth and final year could begin because he failed to take the required exam that would advance him forward.  This is when he first chose to become a Marxist.  Stalin’s difficult early life and restrictive education are what led him to become the tyrannical leader that he was in the twentieth century.

In 1917, the Russian Revolution took place in which the Bolsheviks, a Russian revolutionary group, rose up against the Russian government.  Stalin became a member of the committee for the Bolsheviks; they supported Lenin’s view of wanting to overthrow the government.  The Bolsheviks rebelled against the government, and the government fought back.  Lenin, being the leader, feared for his life during this time period.  Stalin’s major role in the Russian Revolution was convincing Lenin to run away to Finland in order to avoid being killed.  Stalin was portrayed, through books and pictures from that time period, as having a large and important role in the October and February Revolutions that made up the Russian Revolution; although he really did not even have a role.

In 1918, the Russian Civil War broke out between Lenin’s Red Army and the White Army, an alliance of anti-Bolsheviks.  “The Civil War began in Russia.  Stalin commanded the forces in Tsaritsyn and St. Petersburg” (Naik).  Stalin killed thousands of people who opposed the revolution.  He also killed innocent people by burning down villages in order to scare people into cooperating with him.  Lenin was disappointed in Stalin for causing so many unnecessary deaths.  The Bolsheviks won the civil war in 1919.  “He [Stalin] dreamed of the electrification of all Russia, and began to make it come true in the midst of the famine and desolation of the years of civil war” (Murphy, 1945).  Stalin was beginning to become more powerful throughout this time period.  He still did not have a huge role in the Russian Civil War, but he was working his way up to the top.

The Polish-Soviet War took place in 1920.  Stalin was determined to capture the Polish city of Lviv.  He refused to assist anyone else with their battles, and would only work towards gaining Lviv.  Stalin ended up losing the city of Lviv, and Trotsky lost the city of Warsaw because Stalin would not assist him in the battle.  Stalin was blamed for both of these losses, and resigned from his military position.  It was later agreed on by everyone involved that this war was a mistake, and it should have never happened.

Stalin quickly rose to power once Lenin had appointed him to be General Secretary in 1922.  The Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute said:

On Lenin’s motion, the Plenum of the Central Committee, on April 3, 1922, elected Stalin, Lenin’s faithful disciple and associate, General Secretary of the Central Committee, a post at which he has remained ever since (Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute, 1947). 

Stalin was now able to appoint his own allies to have government positions.  In 1924, Lenin died, and Stalin could officially call himself the leader of the USSR.  Before Lenin died, he had a falling out with Stalin, and he criticized him in a letter to Congress saying, “Stalin, having become General Secretary, consolidated his immense power, and I’m not sure whether he will always care enough to use that power” (Lenin, 1924).  Stalin continued to gain more and more power throughout his time as leader, and before Lenin died, he feared that Stalin would not be able to handle such a great deal of responsibility.

            Joseph Stalin continued to rise in power, and “had eliminated all likely potential opposition to his leadership by late 1934” (Repression and Terror).  Stalin actually expelled people, such as Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev, who he thought threatened him, from the Communist party.  Stalin was the “unchallenged leader of both party and state” (Repression and Terror).  By 1939, Stalin had brought the public and the party to a state that was submissive to his rule.  The Soviet people were so fearful of Stalin that he no longer had to threaten them with mass arrests; he was the absolute dictator.  This was all that Stalin had ever wanted, and this was the highest point in Stalin’s long and oppressive rule over the Soviet Union.

            Stalin’s reign over the Soviet Union was comprised numerous major changes to Soviet society.  One of the largest changes to society was the tremendous increase in secret police throughout the Soviet Union.  The secret police group was in charge of arresting and executing all those who opposed Stalin’s regime.  They were also used to spy on the other members of the Communist party and oust those who went against Stalin’s reign of the Soviet Union.  According to the article, “Secret Police,” from the Library of Congress Web Site stated:

Under party leader Joseph Stalin, the secret police again acquired vast punitive powers and in 1934 was renamed the People’s Comissariat for Internal Affairs, or NKVD.  No longer subject to party control or restricted law, the NKVD became a direct instrument of Stalin for use against the party and the country during the Great Terror of the 1930s (Secret Police).

The secret police was the most powerful and the most feared change that Stalin had brought to society.  The NKVD led to the creation of the KGB, the secret police group after Stalin’s time of rule.  The secret police is the main example of the changes Stalin made to society and the way that he took his power to the extreme.

            Another one of the major changes that Stalin made to the society of the Soviet Union was his cult of personality.  Stalin was surrounded by people who promoted him and made him seem like such a great person.  In the book, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Squealer was the assistant to the leader Napoleon.  Squealer was constantly speaking to the people and persuading them into believing that Napoleon was a strong and powerful leader, when he really was not.  Squealer was Napoleon’s cult of personality.  Without these people surrounding Stalin, people would have seen his weaknesses and not treated him with the respect that they gave him at the beginning of his reign.  Anna Louise Strong said:

Stalin’s own personality began to be more widely known. His picture and slogans became so prominent in the Soviet Union that foreigners found this “idolatry” forced and insincere. Most Soviet folk of my acquaintance really do feel tremendous devotion to Stalin as the man who has built their country and led it to success. I have even known people to make a temporary change of residence just before election day in order to have the chance to vote for Stalin directly in the district where he was running, instead of for the less exciting candidate from their own district.

Stalin was portrayed as this exciting new leader who would bring the country to greatness.  This was the job of his cult of personality.  Stalin used this to gain the support of the people and rise in power.  He then became the worst nightmare of the people as an absolute dictator, who controlled everything that went on in Soviet society.