How did the French Popular Front government respond to threats of a rightist coup in the 1930s quizlet?

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Franco-German tensions: As a result of the lack of a defensive alliance promised by the United States and the overall weakness of the League of Nations, France sought security through a strict enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles. After Germany failed to make a payment of reparations, French troops were deployed to occupy the Ruhr. The German policy of nonviolent resistance towards French occupation, financed by printing more money, intensified inflation and drove Germany into economic collapse. However, this disaster would lead to a reassessment of the reparations issue, and more conciliatory approaches to Germany.
Disarmament question: While the disarming of nations was promoted in the Treaty of Versailles and agreement of the League of Nations, few nations actually followed through, as states proved unwilling to trust their security with anyone but their own military. Numerous armament conferences achieved little, and efforts of the League of Nations to promote disarmament were largely ineffective.
Great Depression: As a result of a downturn in domestic economies and the collapse of the American stock market, an economic disaster spread across Europe from the central European states. Unemployment would be a huge consequence, as 40% of the German labor force would be out of work, and industrial production would plummet by half in the United States and Germany. The Great Depression would also have severe political repercussions, as it led to a renewed interest in Communism, and helped to give rise to a new movement known as fascism.

After World War I, Britain lost many of its markets to Japan and the United States, contributing to a decline in industry, leading to a rise in unemployment. As both Lloyd-George and MacDonald proved unable to resolve the problems, the conservatives under Stanley Baldwin led Britain through an era of recovery from 1925-1929. However, this recovery was largely insignificant, as unemployment remained high, and industries, especially the coal mining industry, continued to suffer. During the Great Depression, Liberals and Conservatives joined together in a coalition to resolve the crisis, mostly employing the traditional policies of balanced budgets and protective tariffs. As a result, unemployment dropped dramatically by 1936.

Social conflict: Postwar societies were especially divided along class, gender, and socioeconomic lines. Classwise, while the working-class and elites were strengthened during World War I, the middle-class found themselves in decline as a result of inflation and the curtailing of consumer industries, isolating them from the largely prospering other classes. On gender lines, while many women were forced out of jobs they wished to retain, and others were left with no marital prospects following the deaths of so many young men, male political leaders increasingly encouraged them to return to wife and motherhood in fears of a declining population, increasing hostility between men and women, but more importantly, between women and the current political system. Lastly, socioeconomic conditions brought about by the Great Depression made increasing numbers of people feel victimized, emphasizing the social conflict as people looked for scapegoats. These divisions, in combination with the postwar political trends of emphasizing conflict and downplaying compromise, led to a decline in centrist, democratic parties as people moved farther and farther apart on the political spectrum.
Great Depression: In addition to its economic toll, the Great Depression had serious political repercussions which contributed to the retreat from democracy. The Depression created a renewed interest in Marxist doctrine, as Marx predicted capitalism would destroy itself through overproduction, increasing the popularity of Communism. Additionally, the attractiveness of simple, dictatorial solutions to the crisis with strict economic control led to an increase in popularity in the new fascist movement. However, the failure of democratic institutions such as the Weimar Republic to deal with the depression effectively ultimately led to the retreat from democracy towards more radical solutions.

The fascist Italian dictatorship under Mussolini was totalitarian to some extent, as it was headed by a single ruler, opposing political parties were outlawed, individual freedoms of speech and press were abolished, individual legal rights were abolished, and a secret police force known as the OVRA was established. While Mussolini attempted to implement further government control in Italian society, they were not particularly successful. Propaganda use failed to achieve major goals, secondary schools, the armed forces, and monarchy maintained considerable independence from the Fascist state, and activities of youth organizations such as the Young Fascists were awfully unpopular among teens of a country with little to no military tradition. Ultimately, the Fascist regime never achieved a degree of control that would consider it a pure, totalitarian regime.

The Nazi German dictatorship under Hitler was totalitarian to a large degree, as it was led by a single ruler, all political parties were outlawed except the Nazis, mass rallies were employed to excite, unify the public, controls over labor, churches, schools, and universities were set in place, secret police forces were established under the control of the SS, and youth organizations such as the Hiter Youth were set up to indoctrinate the young. Ultimately, the Nazi regime achieved an impressive degree of control over the main political and social institutions, and achieved the support of much of the public through taking credit for solving the economic crisis, employing enthusiastic rallies, propagandizing the public, and indoctrinating the youth, considering it to be a totalitarian regime.

The exuberant pop culture of the Roaring Twenties added new dimensions to mass culture, with its dance crazes, and popularization of Jazz music. Berlin would become the entertainment center of Europe with its theaters, cabarets, cinemas, and jazz clubs.
With their ability to provide an immediate shared experience to a wide audience, radio and cinema added new dimensions to mass culture. The Nazi Regime immediately took interest in the radio, and when it became apparent Hitler's speeches could have as much impact on people even when heard from radio, they encouraged radio listening, urged manufacturers to produce cheap radios, and constructed loudspeaker pillars in the streets. The Nazis ultimately saw the radio as a powerful device to keep the public informed and actively involved. The Nazis also took a keen interest in cinema, as a special film section in the Propaganda Ministry was created. They created documentaries and feature films to convey the Nazi message to the public. Both Germany and Fascist Italy exploited newsreel content in this manner.
As a result of new work patterns post World War I, the amount of free time available to the public was dramatically expanded, resulting in the further development of activities such as sports, with increased stadium building and the establishment of the World Cup, and tourism, with the development of commercial air travel and more affordable travel opportunities, adding new dimensions to mass leisure.
The Italian Dopolavoro and the Nazi Kraftdurch Freude were recreation agencies established to exploit mass leisure activities, and establish further control over the general population.

World War I broke down many traditional middle-class attitudes, leading to social insecurities and new views towards sexuality. As a result, the women's physical appearance changed with shorter skirts and hair, stressing exposure of their bodies. This was accompanied by more open discussions of sexual matters.
Art saw the rise of avant-garde movements such as German Expressionism, which focused on the devastating impact of World War I, Dadaism, which conveyed the purposelessness of life, and Surrealism, which sought to portray a reality in the world of the unconscious. For the development of their artistic expression, artists and musicians began to involve themselves in the new mass culture, began searching for a new popular audience.
Architecture saw the rise of functionalism, the idea that function should determine design and materials, and music saw the beginnings of atonal music. An increased interest in the unconscious also manifested itself in literature, as authors began applying a 'stream-of-consciousness' technique, emphasizing the characters' innermost thoughts. A worldwide acceptance in Freudian theory took place, and the uncertainty principle in physics proposed an entirely new worldview, and shattered confidence in predictability.

Europe faced an extreme unemployment crisis, industrial production plummeted, and the unemployed, homeless filled the streets of cities throughout advanced industrial cities.
Reversal of gender roles: Women were often able to secure low-paying jobs as servants or house cleaners, while many men remained unemployed, either begging on streets or staying home to perform household tasks. Resentful of this reversal of gender roles, many unemployed men became open to simple, dictatorial solutions to the economic crisis.
Gangs: The high unemployment rates among young men often led them to join gangs that gathered in public places, arousing fear among local residents.
Political repercussions: One reaction to the crisis was increased government activity in the economy, even in countries such as the United States, which had strong laissez-faire tradition. Another reaction was the political radicalization of the public. Communism took on a new popularity, especially among workers and intellectuals, as Marx predicted that capitalism would destroy itself through overpopulation. The simple, dictatorial solutions offered by the new Fascist movement also took on popularity. As the public moved farther left and right on the political spectrum, Europe would experience a retreat from democracy.

Kemal, or Ataturk, led Turkish forces in creating a new republic of Turkey in 1923. He sought to modernize Turkey along western lines, putting a democratic system in place, although he did not tolerate opposition. He introduced a state-run industrial system, westernized Turkish culture by using the Latin alphabet in writing rather than the Turkish language, introduced popular education, and abolished old aristocratic titles. Turkish citizens were forced to adopt family names in the European style, the authority of the Islamic religion was severely curtailed, new laws gave women equal rights with men in aspects of marriage and inheritance, women's suffrage would be granted in 1934.

The chaos and disorder of postwar Italy was accompanied by industrial and agricultural strikes, especially alarming to members of the middle-class. Industrialists were fearful of this growing working-class agitation, and landowners objected to ongoing agricultural strikes. Their fears were exacerbated when the threat of a Communist revolution, though exaggerated by Mussolini, appeared to be a real possibility. The Italian middle-class was generally extremely anticommunist, as they were afraid their property may be seized, and Communists were often anti-Catholic or anti-religious, a problem in a predominantly Catholic country. To a very frightened middle-class, Mussolini's anticommunist and anti-strike activity policies, and his powerful squadristi, which targeted socialist institutions, offered a newfound sense of security, one that had been lost in the current state of chaos.

Since the Fascists only constituted a small minority in parliament, Mussolini was forced to move slowly. The April 1924 election saw a huge victory for the Fascists, as they won 65% the votes. While elections were conducted in an atmosphere of fraud, force, and intimidation, the size of the victory indicated a legitimate growth in popularity of the Fascists. By 1926, Mussolini had established his Fascist dictatorship, with press laws giving the government the right to suspend any publications that fostered disrespect for the Catholic Church, monarchy, or state, prime minister made head of government with the power to legislate by decree, a police law giving policy the authority to arrest or confine anybody without due process of law, and the government given the power to dissolve political and cultural associations. All anti-Fascist parties were outlawed, a secret police known as the OVRA was established, and Mussolini officially ruled Italy as "Il Duce".

Fascists portrayed women as the basic foundation of the family, and family as the pillar of the state. Mussolini saw women as homemakers and baby producers, reinforcing traditional social attitudes, and viewed population growth as an indicator of national strength. Fascists believed human emancipation was 'un-Fascist', and employment outside the home was an impediment distracting women from producing children. These attitudes were evident as families with many offspring were offered supplementary pay, loans, pizes, and subsidies, a national "Mother and Child" holiday would be celebrated, with prizes awarded for fertility, and decrees were passed that set quotas on the employment of women, though this largely failed to accomplish their goal.

Following their defeat in World War I, Germany was already experiencing financial difficulties. These economic problems would be magnified by huge war reparations and the hyperinflation crisis of the 1920s, only made worse by the effects of the Great Depression. The unemployment and social discontent resulting from the Depression, and the failure of the democratic Weimar Republic to deal with the ever-worsening situation, increased the attractiveness of political parties which offered simple but extreme solutions to the crises, such as those of the Nazi Party. In addition, the economic crisis in Germany also had serious social repercussions, as the middle-class, who lived on fixed incomes, saw their lifetime savings disappear as a result of hyperinflation. These economic losses increasingly pushed the middle-class to extreme, right-wing parties most hostile to the Weimar Republic.

On the day a fire broke out in the Reichstag building, supposedly set by the Communists, Hitler was able to convince Hindenburg to issue a decree that gave the government emergency powers. This decree would suspend all basic rights of citizens for the duration of the emergency, enabling the Nazis to arrest anyone without redress (compensation). In March 1933, since they still did not hold an absolute majority in the Reichstag, the Nazis sought the passage of an Enabling Act, which provided the legal basis for Hitler's subsequent acts, and he would no longer need either the Reichstag or President Hindenburg. Afterwards, the Nazis acted quickly to enforce Gleichschaltung, or the coordination of all institutions under Nazi control. The civil service was purged of Jews and democratic elements, concentration camps were established for opponents of the new regime, the autonomy of the federal states was eliminated, trade unions were dissolved and replaced with the Labor Front, and all political parties were abolished except the Nazis. By the end of the summer of 1933, Hitler and the Nazis had established a powerful control over Germany.

A Nazi instrument of terror and repression, which came to control all of the regular and secret police forces. Led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS functioned on the basis of terror and ideology. Terror included the instruments of repression and murder, including the secret police, criminal police, concentration camps, and later, the executions squads and death camps. To Himmler, the SS was an order whose primary goal was the further the Aryan master race. SS members, who constituted a carefully chosen elite, were thoroughly propagandized in racial ideology.

To the Nazis, men were warriors and political leaders, while women were destined to be wives and mothers. Motherhood was exalted in an annual ceremony, when Hitler awarded the German Mother's Cross to a select group of German mothers. The Nazis hoped to drive women out of heavy industry and other jobs that may hinder them from bearing healthy children, as well as other professions considered inappropriate for women, including university teaching, medicine, and law. Instead, they encouraged women to pursue professional occupations with direct practical application, such as social work and nursing. In addition to employing restrictive legislation against females, the Nazis pursued a campaign against working women with poster slogans such as "get hold of pots and pans and broom and you'll sooner find a groom". However, Nazi policy towards female workers remained inconsistent, as after the rearmament boom and increased conscription of males resulted in a labor shortage, the government began to encourage women to work, even in areas previously dominated by males.

The Nazis quickly translated anti-Semitic ideas into anti-Semitic policies. In April 1933, the Nazis initiated a two-day boycott of Jewish businesses. A series of laws soon followed that excluded non-Aryans, or anyone descended from non-Aryans, from certain occupations. In September 1935, the Nazis announced new racial laws known as the Nuremberg Laws, which excluded German Jews from German citizenship, forbade marriages and extramarital relations between Jews and German citizens. Discrimination against Jews soon turned to violence as the assassination of a secretary in the Parisian German Embassy by a Jew became an excuse for a Nazi-led destructive rampage known as Kristallnacht, in which synagogues were burned, thousands of Jewish businesses were destroyed, and at least a hundreds Jews were killed. Additionally, tens of thousands of Jewish males would be sent to concentration camps. Kristallnacht also led to further drastic steps, as Jews would be barred from all public buildings, and prohibited from owning, managing, or working in any retail store. Afterwards, under the direction of the SS, Jews would be encouraged to emigrate from Germany.

The civil war in Russia ended by the beginning of 1921, and the victories of the Red Army guaranteed the survival of the Communist regime. Under Lenin's policy of war communism, the government nationalized transportation, communication facilities, and banks, mines, factories, businesses that employed more than ten workers. The government also assumed the right to requisition food from peasants, who often resisted fiercely by slaughtering their own animals and destroying their crops, though without much success. Hunger resulted in an untold number of deaths throughout the countryside, and a drought added to the problem, causing a great famine between 1920-1922, claiming millions of lives.

Stalin held the dull bureaucratic job of party general secretary, while other Politburo members held positions that enabled them to display their oratorical abilities. The general secretary appointed the regional, district, city, and town party secretaries, and in 1922, Stalin had made some 10,000 appointments, many of them trusted followers who's holding of key positions proved valuable in the struggle for power. While Stalin at first refused to support neither Left nor Right, he came to favor the goal of socialism in one country rather than world revolution. Stalin used his post as party general secretary to gain complete control of the Communist Party. He expelled Trotsky, eliminated the Old Bolsheviks from the Politburo, and established a powerful dictatorship.

During the 1920s, Communists advocated equality of rights for women, made divorce and abortion easy to obtain, and encouraged women to work outside the home, liberate themselves sexually. However, under Stalin, who praised the family in which parents were responsible for instilling values of duty, discipline, and hard work, abortion was outlawed, and divorced fathers who did not support their children faced heavy fines. A new divorce law of June 1936 imposed fines for repeated divorces, and homosexuality was declared criminal activity. The Communist regime praised motherhood and urged women to have large families as a patriotic duty. However, by this time, many Soviet women worked in factories, spent many additional hours waiting in line to purchase increasingly scarce consumer goods. Despite the change in policy, no dramatic increase in the birthrate occurred.

Spain's parliamentary monarchy was unable to deal with the social tensions generated by the industrial boom and inflation that accompanied World War I. Supported by Alfonso XIII, General Rivera led a successful military coup in 1923, and created a personal dictatorship. However, a faltering economy as a result of the Great Depression and widespread lack of support for the monarchy led to the collapse of Rivera's regime in 1930. A year later, Alfonso XIII left Spain, and a new Spanish republic was instituted, governed by a coalition of democrats and reformist socialists. Political turmoil ensued as control of the government passed form leftists to rightists, until the Popular Front, an anti-fascist coalition composed of democrats, socialists, Communists, and other leftist groups, took over in 1936. To senior army officers, the Popular Front was unacceptable, and led by Francisco Franco, Spanish military forces revolted against the government, beginning the Spanish Civil War.

A brutal conflict that began when military forces under Francisco Franco revolted against the Popular Front government. The country was split between left and right. The left consisted of republicans who supported the Popular Front, and were largely concentrated in urban areas. They favored modernization, workers' rights, expansion of manufacturing, a civilian army, and secularization. The right consisted of nationalists who supported Franco's military coup, the monarchy, the military, an agrarian economy, and the Catholic Church. In the end, Franco's forces prevailed in March 1939 when the right captured Madrid.

In 1936, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union signed a Nonintervention Agreement, declaring they would not provide economic or military support for either side. Germany and Italy quickly rejected the agreement, and sent troops, weapons, and military advisers to assist Franco. Hitler saw the Spanish Civil War as an opportunity to test the new weapons of his revived air force. Since Britain and France adhered to the agreement, the Republicans turned to the Soviet Union for aid, who sent tanks, planes, and pilots. The Republicans also gained assistance from international brigades of volunteers, including one from the United States.

Under the Roosevelt administration, the United States pursued a policy of active government intervention in the economy known as the New Deal, which created a variety of agencies designed to bring relief, recovery, and reform. However, the efforts were providing a slow recovery at best, and when his policies fell under increasing criticism, Roosevelt launched the Second New Deal, which included a stepped-up program of public works. The Roosevelt administration also enacted a number of welfare legislations to launch the American welfare state. While the New Deal provided some social reform measures that averted the possibility of social revolution in America, it did not solve the unemployment problems, and only World War II and the subsequent growth of armaments industries brought America back to full employment.

A decreased respect for the autocracy: Tsarina Alexandra had fallen under the influence of a Siberian peasant named Rasputin, who she regarded as a holy man. His influence made him a power behind the throne, and he did not hesitate to interfere in government affairs. Amidst a series of economic and foreign policy disasters, many believed Rasputin was corrupting the royal family, or even attempting to destroy Russia. In the period of World War I, it did not help that Alexandra, a German-born princess, had forged a close relationship with Rasputin. This scandal ultimately tarnished the image of the tsarist autocracy, and brought respect for the royal family to a new low.
Foreign policy disasters: After a humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia needed a victory to boost public morale and recultivate a sense of nationalism. However, poorly armed and led, Russian armies sustained incredible losses during the period of 1914-1916 in World War I, and the outcome was not looking good. As leader of the armed forces, Nicholas II bore the brunt of the blame for recent losses, and the Russian public increasingly saw him as unfit to rule.
Lower-class dissatisfaction: Russian industrialization came with a new class of urban industrial workers who faced poor working and living conditions. This, in addition to the enormous demand for wartime products during World War I, led to riots and strikes against their oppression by the tsarist autocracy. Additionally, peasant discontent increased as conditions worsened, on top of being forced to make redemption payments to the state, leading to peasant revolts with the goal of achieving true ownership of their land. Ever-worsening conditions and long lines for bread rations culminated in a series of riots beginning on International Women's Day, sparking the Russian Revolution.
Liberal dissatisfaction: The middle-classes and liberal aristocrats long hoped for the development of a constitutional monarchy in Russia, and were frustrated with the tsar for revoking political concessions made following the Revolution of 1905. Military and economic disasters fueled their desire for liberal institutions, and following the abdication of the tsar, liberals established a provisional government on the basis of a parliamentary democracy.

The Bolshevik Red Army was a well-disciplined fighting force, thanks to the organization of Trotsky, and was inspired by their single vision of a socialist order. As a result, soldiers of the Red Army were fiercely determined and filled with revolutionary fervor. In contrast, the White army was not a unified force, and held vast political differences and goals, preventing effective cooperation. Bolshevik control of the Russian industrial heartland, coupled with Lenin's War Communist policies, ensured that the Red Army would be properly and regularly supplied. Lastly, Allied backing of the White army enabled the Bolsheviks to appeal to patriotic Russians using the force of nationalism, arguing that foreigners were attempting to take control of the nation.

- Hitler first sought to undo most provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. He was convinced he could do so without serious British and French opposition, as they hoped to maintain the international status quo and avoid another war. When Hitler announced the creation of a new air force and introduced a military draft, France, Great Britain, and Italy all condemned Germany's action, but only a warning against future aggressive steps was issued, nothing more. As Britain began to lean towards open acceptance of German rearmament, Hitler sent troops into the demilitarized Rhineland. An accepting Franco-British response convinced Hitler they were weak nations unwilling to use force. Hitler would continue rearmament at a staggering pace from 1933-1939 to prepare his forces for a new type of warfare, blitzkrieg, that he hoped would ensure quick and decisive victories against future opponents.
- Hitler made new alliances to forward his foreign policy goals, one with Italy agreed in the Rome-Berlin Axis, which recognized their common political and economic interests, and one with Japan in the Anti-Comintern Pact, in which they agreed to maintain a common front against communism. With ongoing rearmament and new alliances secured, Nazi power had increased enough that Hitler felt he could pursue a more daring foreign policy.
- Hitler began his expansion in 1938, when he annexed Austria. As it was done on a peaceful and seemingly legal basis, the Western powers were mostly unopposed. Later that year, Hitler focused on Czechoslovakia, and demanded the cession of the Sudetenland to Germany. At the Munich Conference, virtually all of Hitler's demands were met, and they would be permitted to occupy the territory. The conference assured Hitler the Western democracies would not fight, and he decided to continue into Czechoslovakia, occupying Bohemia and Moravia. Hitler's aggressive expansionism finally had the Western powers concerned, and after he demanded the cession of the Polish port of Danzig, Britain made it clear any aggression towards Poland would mean war. To prevent a two-front war, Hitler made a surprising alliance with Stalin, giving him the freedom to attack Poland. Upon invading in 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany, beginning World War II.

In 1938, Hitler demanded the cession of the Sudetenland, the northwest border area of Czechoslovakia that was home to millions of ethnic Germans. While the Czech republic seemed well-protected by a pact with France, the French made it clear they would only act if the British supported them. Britain refused to do so, and at the hastily arranged Munich Conference, the British, French, Germans, and Italians reached an agreement that essentially met all of Hitler's demands. German troops would be allowed to occupy the Sudetenland as the Czechs, abandoned by their Western allies, stood helplessly. Hitler promised Chamberlain that this was his last demand, and all other European problems could be settled by negotiations. The Munich Conference confirmed Hitler's perception that the Western democracies were weak and would not fight. He became increasingly convinced of his rightness, and he had by no means been satisfied at Munich. Using internal disorder he deliberately fostered, Hitler occupied the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia, while the Slovaks, with Hitler's encouragement, declared their independence from the Czechs and became a puppet state of Nazi Germany, Slovakia. Hitler's naked aggression made clear to the Western states that his promises were utterly worthless.

In the early 1930s, Japan was in a state of crisis. Their population was exploding, and the ability to feed their population and pay for raw materials depended on the manufacture of heavy goods and textiles. However, Western nations implemented protectionist policies to protect their economies from the effects of the Great Depression, and as a result, Japan was economically devastated. This led them to seize the Chinese territory of Manchuria, which contained natural resources Japan desperately needed. The aggressive action would cause relations with old Western allies to deteriorate, and led Japan to withdraw from the League of Nations. After clashes broke out between Chinese and Japanese troops, Japan launched another invasion deep into China, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese hoped to force China to join a Japanese-dominated new order in East Asia, that would be powerful enough to eventually seize the resource-rich Soviet Siberia, and guide other Asian nations on the path to prosperity. However, after Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact with Stalin, Japan began to refocus southwards to the vast resources of Southeast Asia, as they were not strong enough to take on the Soviets alone. However, such action would inevitably bring war with the European colonial powers of Britain, France, and the United States. In 1941, Japan went ahead anyways, and took military control of south Vietnam. In response, the United States cut off sales of vital natural resources to Japan. To prevent any further and potentially more aggressive American response, Japanese military leaders decided to launch a surprise assault on their Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, bringing World War II to Asia.

Great Britain and France expected another war of attrition and economic blockade, and refused to go on the offensive. In April 1940, after a period known as the phony war, Hitler launched a blitzkrieg attack on Denmark and Norway. Britain landed forces on Norway, but were eventually driven out, and Norway surrendered in June, securing Hitler's northern flank. In May, the Germans would launch their attack on the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Netherlands fell in just 5 days, devastated by German bombers. Hitler pushed into Belgium like they did in World War I so as to trick the enemy, and launched their main assault through Luxembourg and the Ardennes, a move completely unexpected by British and French forces. Panzer divisions broke through weak French defenses there, outflanked the Maginot Line, and reached the English Channel, splitting the Allied armies. Belgian forces surrendered shortly after the Germans reached the channel, and the Allied forces were now trapped at Dunkirk. After a miraculous evacuation there, Germany launched another offensive into southern France, and Mussolini, believing the war was over and eager to obtain some of the rewards, finally declared war on France and invaded from the south. France was shocked by the speed of the German offensive, and unable to mount adequate resistance. They would surrender in late June.

Hitler had hoped that the British could be persuaded to make peace, so he could move forward with his plans in the east, but Britain, under Churchill, who believed there could be no compromise with Nazism, refused, and Hitler was forced to prepare for an invasion of Britain. He realized an amphibious invasion would only be possible with control over the air, so by August 1940, the Luftwaffe launched a major offensive against British air and naval bases, harbors, communication centers, and war industries. Britain fought back with the support of an effective radar system that gave them early warning of German attacks, and the Ultra intelligence operation, which broke German military codes, giving the British RAF information about the targets of German air attacks. In retaliation for a British attack on Berlin, Hitler ordered a shift from military to civilian targets, and the massive bombing of cities to break British morale. This allowed for the British to rebuild their air strength quickly, and they soon began to inflict major losses on Luftwaffe bombers. After a decisive victory in the Battle of Britain, Hitler reluctantly decided that the invasion of Britain had to be postponed, though the bombing of British cities would continue. Afterward, he pursued a possible Mediterranean strategy, which involved capturing Egypt and the Suez Canal, closing the Mediterranean to British ships, cutting off their supply of oil. However, his commitment to this strategy was low. He planned to let the Italians secure the Balkan and Mediterranean flanks and defeat the British in North Africa, but this plan failed as Britain ended up getting the upper hand there. While he did send some troops to North Africa, he concentrated his efforts on the acquisition of living space in the east.

Mussolini, who thought of the Balkans as within the Italian sphere of influence, was considerably upset over Germany's gains there. To ensure an extension of Italian influence in the Balkans, Mussolini launched an attack on Greece in 1940, but they were militarily unprepared, and the invasion was a failure. Hitler was furious as Mussolini's disastrous invasion exposed his southern flank to British air bases in Greece, and to secure that flank, he invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, and after their surrender, smashed Greece in a matter of days. Mussolini's failures in Greece put Italian military ineptitude on full display, and forced Hitler to delay his invasion of the Soviet Union.

Hitler decided that Stalingrad, a major industrial city, should be taken before concentrating on the Caucasus. The German advance towards Stalingrad encountered fierce resistance, as Stalin issued a war order called "Not a Step Back", but Hitler was determined to capture the city named after the Soviet dictator for symbolic purposes, in hopes it would crush the remaining morale of the Soviet people. The Germans destroyed much of the city, but the Soviets used bombed-out buildings as defensive positions, and a brutal street conflict evolved, in which both sides suffered severe losses. By November, the Soviets had surrounded the German forces, but Hitler commanded the Sixth Army to stand firm, and forbade any attempts to break out of the encirclement. Soviet attacks and the harsh winter forced the Germans to surrender in February 1943, and the entire German Sixth Army was lost. By this time, German forces were pushed back their positions of almost a year earlier, and Hitler realized they would be unable to defeat the Soviet Union.

Allies: Planned an invasion from Britain to France, and Allied deception tactics tricked the Germans into thinking the invasion would come on the flat plains of northern France
Allies under the direction of Dwight D. Eisenhower actually landed in the Normandy beaches in June, in a great amphibious invasion
An initially indecisive German response enabled the Allies to establish a beachhead, and within three months, they landed millions of men, pushed inland and broke through German lines
Allied troops liberated France by the end of August, their advance was slowed by an unsuccessful, desperate offensive by German troops in the Battle of the Bulge, but nevertheless, Allied forces crossed the Rhine, advanced into Germany
April 1945: Allied forces in northern Germany crossed the Elbe River, where they linked up with the Soviets

One of the most significant factors in the Allied victory was the entrance of the United States into the war. American forces greatly increased arms exports to Britain and the Soviet Union, American assistance helped to push Axis forces out of Africa, and major American contributions to the D-Day landings and Italian campaign put Germany in a dangerous two-front situation. American entry into the war had an even greater impact in the Pacific Theater, as they were responsible for crippling the Japanese navy in a series of hard-fought battles, and their unconditional surrender with the drop of the atomic bombs.
Another reason for Allied victory was Hitler's impatience and military incompetence. In the invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler refused the possibility of retreat, despite a harsh winter. A similar order was given to the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. These decisions would result in heavy German losses, especially at Stalingrad, and contributed to the collapse of German forces in the Eastern Front. Another example of Hitler's military ineptitude was when he went against his generals, and gambled with using heavy tanks to stop the advancing Soviets. The resulting Battle of Kursk was a decisive Soviet victory, and was responsible for the loss of many of Germany's best panzer divisions. Hitler's pursuit of victory as quickly as possible, likely due to fears for his health, played a major role in his downfall.

Nazi empire: Stretched across continental Europe from the English Channel to the outskirts of Moscow, but it was not organized systematically or governed efficiently
Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey: Remained neutral, outside the empire
Germany's allies: Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland kept their independence but found themselves increasingly restricted by the Germans as war progressed
Remainder of Europe: Either directly annexed by Nazi Germany and made into German provinces like western Poland, or administered by German military or civilian officials, combined with varying degrees of indirect control from collaborationist regimes, like in most of occupied Europe

The Nazis' plan for their conquered territories. It included the extermination of Jews and others considered inferior, ruthless exploitation of resources, German colonization in the east, and the use of Poles, Russians, and Ukrainians as slave labor. Racial considerations: Played an important role in how conquered peoples were treated in the new order, as civil administrations were established in Norway, Denmark, Netherlands because the Nazis considered their peoples Aryan, and hence worthy of more lenient treatment
"Inferior" Latin peoples, such as the occupied French, were given military administrations

Since the conquered lands in the east contained the living space for German expansion and were populated by racially inferior Slavic peoples, Nazi administration there was considerably more brutal
Himmler, a strong believer in Nazi racial ideology and leader of the SS, was put in charge of German resettlement plans in the east
Himmler was tasked with evacuating the inferior Slavic peoples and replace them with Germans, first applied to the new German provinces created from the lands of western Poland
One million Poles would be forced out and dumped in southern Poland
Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans, or descendants of Germans who had migrated years earlier from Germany to various parts of southern and eastern Europe, were encouraged to colonize designated areas in Poland
Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler spoke to his intimate circle of a huge project of social engineering in which Poles, Ukrainians, Soviets would become slave labor, German peasants would settle on the abandoned lands and Germanize them (fill them with Germans)
The Nazis involved in this planning were well aware of the human costs, as Himmler believed the destruction of 30 million Slavs was a prerequisite for German plans in the east

Hitler's worldview, his foreign policy, and the Holocaust were all dedicated to the creation of a Nazi racial empire, whereby Germany would lead the Western Aryan populations to becoming a great civilization. Hitler's worldview was the foundation of this empire. He saw the German Aryan people as the superior race, with other Aryan peoples subordinated to them, then the other racially inferior peoples, such as the Slavs, and lastly, worst of which to him, were the Jews, parasites that were trying to destroy the Aryans. Hitler's foreign policy was largely based on the desire to bring his worldview to life. His racial state could not develop without an aggressive foreign policy that would leave Europe under Nazi domination. To Hitler, the Holocaust was a necessary undertaking if the Aryan race wished to prevail. The Jews could have no role in the Nazi New Order, and to ensure this, he ordered them exterminated. In the end, Hitler's worldview, his foreign policy, and the Holocaust all played a role towards the fulfilling of Hitler's ideal Aryan civilization.

The Einsatzgruppen approach to solving the Jewish problem was soon perceived as inadequate, and the Nazis opted instead for the systematic annihilation of the European Jewish population in specially built death camps
The plan: All Jews in Nazi-occupied countries would be packed into freight trains and shipped to Poland, where extermination centers were constructed
Auschwitz-Birkenau: The largest and most infamous of these extermination centers
Experts of the T4 Program: Provided assistance for the constructions of camps, which were responsible for the execution of tens of thousands of alleged racially unfit mental and physical defectives in Germany between 1938-1941
Medical technicians chose Zyklon B, or hydrogen cyanide, as the most effective gas for quickly killing large numbers of people in gas chambers, designed to look like shower rooms to gain the cooperation of the victims
After gassing, the corpses would be burned in specially built crematoria
The shipment of Jews to death camps depended on the cooperation of Germany's Transport Ministry, and despite desperate military needs, railroad cars were prioritized for the execution of the Final Solution
Even the military argument that Jews could be used to produce armaments was overridden by the demands of extermination
After they have been gassed, the victims' goods, even their bodies were used for economic gain
Female hair was cut off and turned into mattresses or cloth, some inmates were also subject to cruel and painful 'medical' experiments

Nazis also considered the Gypsies as a race containing alien blood, and they were systematically rounded up in death camps
About 40% of Europe's Gypsies were killed in death camps
Leading elements of the 'subhuman' Slavic peoples, including the clergy, civil leaders, judges, and lawyers, were arrested, deliberately killed
Additional millions of Poles, Ukrainians, and Belorussians lost their lives as slave laborers for Nazi Germany, and millions of Soviet POWs were killed in captivity
Homosexuals were also singled out for persecution, and thousands would lose their lives in concentration camps

By 1944, more than half of the British population were mobilized, either serving in the armed forces or engaging in civilian war work. Women were called on to do work as well, and they would hold half of all civil service positions, and the number of women in agriculture, a career field typically undertaken by men, surged. As Britain faced food shortages, the government urged civilians to grow their own food in a campaign known as Dig for Victory. The British government also extended their authority, creating a ministry to control the coal industry, and a ministry to oversee supplies for the armed forces, all of which largely accepted by British citizens in this time of total war. The British home front was also subjected to nightly German air raids, which targeted towns and cities. Nevertheless, British morale held firm, and war production was little affected by the Blitzes.

Stalin created a system of supercentralization, in which he would have direct control over all political and military affairs, and all civil and military organizations would be subject to the control of the Communist Party. As the Germans advanced, factories in the Western part of the Soviet Union were shipped eastward, where workers lived in horrible conditions, often sleeping in dugouts. Soviet women were also encouraged to work, and the number of women in industry increased almost 60%. Soviet harvests would decline significantly throughout the war as a result of German occupation, causing extreme hardships for many people, and peasants would be forced to work on collective farms for long hours with no pay. Dramatic increases in spendings on war materiel only exacerbated the desperate food and housing situation, resulting in a huge decline in civilian food consumption. On the home front, propaganda was utilized not to encourage people to fight for Communist ideology, but for the preservation of Mother Russia, arousing patriotic sentiment.

The US government financed new industries, created a new government office which provided funds for universities and scientists to create new products, and cooperated in the Manhattan Project. Old factories were also converted to produce war goods, and many new factories were built. Such mobilization brought about an expansion of the American economy, and brought an end to the Great Depression. Mobilization also led to an increased government role in the economy, with the establishment of the War Production Board, War Labor Board, and Office of Price Administration. New factories created rapid population growth in cities, leading to a shortage of houses, health facilities, and schools. Rapid population growth and new factories also led to the transformation of small towns into large cities, which often brought about a breakdown in traditional social mores, evident in an increase in teenage prostitution. More than a million African Americans would migrate from the south to the industrial cities of the north, and their presence led to racial tensions and sometimes even riots. Additionally, on the West Coast, many Japanese Americans were forcibly moved to camps surrounded by barbed wire. Public officials claimed this policy was necessary for security reasons, but no similar treatment of German or Italian Americans ever took place, increasing racial tension.

Hitler believed a collapse of the home front caused Germany's defeat in World War I, and he was determined to avoid a repetition of that experience. As such, he refused to convert production from consumer goods to armaments in the early stages of the war, and instead used the factories, food, and raw materials of conquered countries. A total mobilization of the economy would only be implemented in 1944, dedicating all resources for the production of materiel. Nazi resistance to female employment would also decline as the war progressed, though the number of women working in industry, agriculture, commerce, and domestic service only increased slightly. Germany was also subject to constant bombing raids, which added an element of terror to circumstances already made difficult by growing shortages of food and fuel. Germany ultimately suffered enormously from bombing raids, with millions of buildings destroyed and nearly half a million civilians dead. However, German morale was maintained, often by the simple desire to live, and industrial capacity was little affected. However, the resulting destruction of transportation systems and food supplies made it difficult for the new materiel to reach the German military. In the end, many Germans understood the home front was a battlefront, and they would fight on it just as the soldiers fought on theirs.

The Japanese government established control over all natural resources by setting up a planning board to control prices, wages, the utilization of labor, and the allocation of resources. Japan also experienced a revival of bushido during the nationalistic fervor of the 1930s, or the old code of morality of the samurai, which emphasized the obligation to honor and defend emperor, country, and family. The system would culminate in the final years of the war, when young Japanese men were encouraged to volunteer en masse as kamikaze pilots. Female employment would only increase in areas where women traditionally worked, and since Japan was not keen on mobilizing women on behalf of the war effort, they brought in Korean and Chinese laborers to meet labor shortages. Many of Japan's factories and dwellings were destroyed in American air raids, and the dropping of two atomic bombs caused incredible destruction and an equally incredible amount of casualties.

The costs of World War II were enormous, with at least 21 million soldiers dead and around 40 million civilian deaths, most of whom Russian or Chinese. The war created millions of displaced persons, who often had a hard time returning home. For instance, millions of Germans were expelled from the Sudetenland and former east-German territories that would be turned over to Poland, seemingly reasonable demands from people who suffered so much at the hands of the Germans. Cities lay in devastation everywhere, but especially in eastern Europe, China, the Philippines, and Japan, from years of conflict and air raids. The total monetary cost of the war was around 4 trillion dollars, and the economies of most belligerents, with the exception of the United States, were left drained.

As a champion of self-determination, the United States under the Roosevelt administration sought free elections for newly liberated eastern European nations so that they could determine their own political systems. However, the Soviet Union under Stalin envisioned a buffer zone comprising of Communist, pro-Soviet eastern European states to protect them from possible future Western aggression. These drastically different visions of a postwar society led to major suspicions of each other's motives, especially as each side began to commit subtle acts of hostility. For instance, the United States disregarded a Soviet request for reconstruction loans, exposing their desire to keep the Soviets weak, and the Soviet Union began to install Communist puppet regimes in various eastern European nations, a clear violation of the Declaration on Liberated Europe agreed upon at Yalta. These acts would severely deepen the distrust between the two nations. Stalin viewed Soviet actions as legitimate security measures and saw American policy as pursuing global capitalist expansionism, while many in the West interpreted Soviet policy as part of a worldwide Communist conspiracy. With such vast differences in the idea of an ideal postwar Europe, compromise was impossible, and Churchill declared an iron curtain has descended across the continent, dividing Germany and Europe into two hostile camps, ushering in the era of the Cold War.

Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill, the leaders of the Big Three of the Grand Alliance, met at Tehran in 1943 to decide the future course of the war
Their plans were concerning the final assault on Germany, and after much deliberation, they decided on an American-British invasion of the Continent through France
The acceptance of this plan had important consequences, however, as it meant that Soviet and British-American forces would meet in defeated Germany along a north-south dividing line and that, most likely, eastern Europe would be liberated by the Soviet Union
The Allies also agreed to a partition of postwar Germany, but differences over questions like the frontiers of Poland were carefully set aside
In the end, Roosevelt was pleased with the accord with Stalin

Grand Alliance: Approved the Declaration on Liberated Europe, a pledge to assist liberated European nations in the creation of democratic institutions of their own choice, and liberated countries were to hold free elections to determine their political systems
At Yalta, Roosevelt sought Soviet military support against Japan, as the atomic bomb was not yet assured, and American military planners feared the possible loss of many men in assaults on the Japanese home islands
Thus, Roosevelt agreed to Stalin's price for military assistance against Japan, which was possession of Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands as well as two warm-water ports and railroad rights in Manchuria
Creation of a United Nations: A major American concern at Yalta, as Roosevelt hoped to ensure the participation of the Big Three powers in a postwar international organization before difficult issues divided them into hostile camps
After a number of compromises, Churchill and Stalin accepted Roosevelt's plans for a United Nations organization, set the first meeting for San Francisco in April 1945
The three powers reaffirmed that Germany must surrender unconditionally and four occupation zones were created
Churchill, though objected by the Soviets and Americans, insisted the French be given one occupation zone, carved out of the British and American zones
German reparations would be set at 20 billion
It was agreed that a provisional government would be established in Poland, with members of both the Lublin Poles (Polish Communists living in exile in the Sovet Union) and the London Poles (Polish non-Communists exiled in Britain)
However, the issue of free elections in eastern Europe caused a serious rift between the Soviets and Americans, as the principle was that eastern European governments would be freely elected, but they were also supposed to be pro-Soviet

Roosevelt was succeeded by Harry Truman upon his death, and during the conference, he received word that the atomic bomb was successfully tested
Many argue that this knowledge resulted in Truman's stiffened resolve against the Soviets
No matter the reasons, there was a new coldness in the relations between the Soviets and Americans
At Potsdam, Truman demanded free elections throughout eastern Europe, but Stalin responded that a freely elected government in any eastern European country would be anti-Soviet, and they could not allow that
After a bitterly fought war, Stalin sought absolute security, and to him, it could be gained only by the presence of Communist states in eastern Europe
Free elections may result in governments hostile to the Soviets
By the middle of 1945, only an invasion by Western forces could undo developments in eastern Europe, and after the world's most destructive conflict ended, few people favored such a policy