The Contemporary Period, c. 1914 to the Present: Content Summary 6.4: World War II and the Origins of the Cold War

The League of Nations condemned these invasions, but it had no practical way to intervene.

The League of Nations condemned these invasions, but it had no practical way to intervene.

Economic difficulties and trends in public opinion also contributed to British and French appeasement policies.

As these countries demonstrated little will to enforce the Treaty of Versailles, Germany began to ignore the treaty’s terms and successfully rearmed its military, occupied the Rhineland, and annexed Austria in the late 1930s.

Stalin opposed Hitler’s desire to annex German-speaking regions of Czechoslovakia, but British and French leaders saw fascist regimes as a way to stop the spread of world communism and were more willing to make concessions to Hitler.

Stalin opposed Hitler’s desire to annex German-speaking regions of Czechoslovakia, but British and French leaders saw fascist regimes as a way to stop the spread of world communism and were more willing to make concessions to Hitler.

In the Munich Agreement (1938), British and French leaders agreed to allow German occupation of the Sudetenland in exchange for German promises for no future expansion.

Aerial bombings of cities and the scorched-earth destruction of agricultural areas ensured that millions of civilians died either as a direct result of military attacks or indirectly from famine and disease.

Aerial bombings of cities and the scorched-earth destruction of agricultural areas ensured that millions of civilians died either as a direct result of military attacks or indirectly from famine and disease.

New military technologies increased this human toll.

Firebombing (e.g., in Dresden), blitzkrieg, and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki contributed to large numbers of civilian deaths.

The Nazis used new industrial technologies to commit mass and methodical murder, targeting Jews in particular.

As many as 17 million people were killed by the regime, including Roma, homosexuals, and political opponents in addition to Jews, all targeted on the basis of Nazi theories of racial and moral supremacy.

War atrocities such as the Rape of Nanjing and the Katyn Massacre were another product of the extreme nationalism and racism that manifested during this period.

War atrocities such as the Rape of Nanjing and the Katyn Massacre were another product of the extreme nationalism and racism that manifested during this period.

Though the U.S, Britain, and the Soviet Union were military allies during the war and worked together to defeat the Axis powers in Europe and the Pacific, prewar tensions between the communist Soviet Union and the capitalist and democratic Britain and the U.S. persisted.

Stalin felt betrayed by the signing of the Munich Agreement, while British and French leaders felt the Nazi–Soviet pact (1939) helped Hitler sweep through Western Europe.

The decisions of Roosevelt and Churchill to delay the invasion of France until 1944, and to regularly hold summits without the Soviets present, contributed to tensions and suspicions.

Competing visions for rebuilding Germany in the late 1940s marked some of the earliest clashes in what became a global ideological conflict between the two growing superpowers.

Competing visions for rebuilding Germany in the late 1940s marked some of the earliest clashes in what became a global ideological conflict between the two growing superpowers.