Skip to Main Content

World War II: Introduction

Key Words

Conflict - a struggle or clash between two opposing forces

Consequence - a result or effect of some previous occurrence

Global - relating to the whole world

Identity - who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group that make them different from others

Legacy - an event or period of history is something that is a direct result of it and which continues to exist after it is over

Nation - an individual country considered together with its social and political structures

World War II Flags

Allied Flag, AKA Flag of United Nations (Included United States, Britain, Russia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Belgium and Greece)

Axis Power Flag (Germany, Italy, Japan and Hungary)

Focus

  • the economic, political and military circumstances in Germany at the end of WWI and how those circumstances contributed to the rise of Nazism
  • the democratic changes under the Weimar Government and reasons for its failure to deal with social, political and economic problems
  • the reasons for the Nazi Party’s rise to power, including the Treaty of Versailles, the impact of the Great Depression; the nature of Nazi ideology and hostility to communism; the ability of Hitler and the Nazi Party to utilise popular fears; and the Party’s organisational and tactical skills
  • the nature and effects of key aspects of the Nazi state, including military mobilisation, Lebensraum (living space), propaganda, terror and repression (SA and SS), the Hitler Youth, social policies on religion, women, education, trade unions, and the nature of opposition to the Nazis
  • Nazi policies of anti-Semitism and the promotion of the Aryan race, resulting in efforts to exterminate minorities in German-controlled lands and the Holocaust
  • the role and impact of significant individuals in Weimar and Nazi Germany, for example, Adolf Hitler, Gustav Stresemann, President von Hindenburg, Leni Riefenstahl, Alfred Krupp, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring and Albert Speer
  • the legacy of Nazism after WWII

World War II

Second World War, 1939-1945

On 3 September 1939 Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies announced the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station in Australia.

World War II, 1939-1945

Australia's involvement abroad and at home.

Definitions