From 1933 to 1945, the Nazis fought two wars: one against the Allies and another for racial purity. At first, the Nazis sent European Jews to concentration camps. Later, they developed horribly efficient killing centers such as Auschwitz and Treblinka. By the time Allied forces liberated the death camps in 1945, the Nazis had murdered nearly two out of every three European Jews during the Holocaust.
World War II was the most devastating war in history. Germany and Japan achieved stunning territorial victories between 1939 and 1942. In 1941 the United States and the Soviet Union entered the war, turning the tide against fascist expansion. New military technology, such as aerial photography, informed the military strategies of both the Axis and Allied powers and changed the way the war was fought.
What will they want you to know next year?
Lesson 1: World War II Begins
The German Path to War
Hitler Violates Treaty
New Alliances
Union With Austria
Demands and Appeasement
Hitler and the Soviets
The Japanese Path to War
War With China
The New Asian Order
Japan Launches Attack
Lesson 2: World War II
Europe at War
Hitler's Early Victories
The Battle of Britain
Attack on the Soviet Union
Japan at War
The Allies Advance
The European Theater
The Asian Theater
Lesson 3: The Home Front and Civilians
The Mobilization of Four Nations
The Soviet Union
The United States
Germany
Japan
The Bombing of Cities
Britain
Germany
Japan
Lesson 4: The New Order and the Holocaust
The New Order in Europe
The Holocaust
The Einsatzgruppen
The Death Camps
The Death Toll
The New Order in Asia
Lesson 5: World War II Ends
The Last Years of the War
The European Theater
The Asian Theater
Peace and a New War
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