Download Course of WWII

The
European Theater
Chapter 19 Section 2-4
North Africa (Operation Torch)
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US invades Morocco and Algeria – 1942
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French territories under German control
Commanded by Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Battle of Kasserine Pass
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Ground troops in Morocco led by George Patton
1st time US troops fought German troops
US outmaneuvered and out fought, but…
By May 1943 German and Italian troops in
Africa surrendered to the Allies
Stalingrad (1942-1943)
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Hitler wants to take Stalingrad
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City in SU that controlled the Volga River and a
major railroad junction
The capture of Stalingrad would cut the Soviets off
from the resources they needed to stay in the war
Stalin orders troops to hold the city at all costs
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Retreat was forbidden
Battle takes place in the winter
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November 1942 – February 1943
A Turning Point!
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Soviet troops surrounded German troops
in Stalingrad cutting off their supply lines
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91,000 Germans surrendered
Only 5000 survived the prison camps and
returned home after the war
Major turning point in the war!!!!!
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Battle of Stalingrad put the Germans on the
defensive for the rest of the war
The Grand Alliance
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By fall of 1942 the war had turned against
the Germans
Grand Alliance
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Three major allies  Britain, US, Soviet Union
1943 – they agree to fight until the Axis Powers
give their unconditional surrender!!!
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Unconditional surrender – Axis powers had to
surrender w/o any favorable conditions
The Holocaust
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Holocaust – Hitler and the Nazis try to rid
Europe of all Jews
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Final Solution – name of the plan to rid Europe
of all the Jews
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Other “undesirable” groups of people were also
exterminated
Decided at the Wannsee Conference (Jan. 20, 1943)
Genocide – physical extermination of a group
of people
The Camps
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Concentration camps
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Where the healthy people were sent to work as
slave labor until they dropped dead of exhaustion,
disease and malnutrition
Extermination camps
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Where people were sent who were unable to work
due to age, health, or handicaps
They were executed usually in mass gas chambers
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Attached to concentration camps
Hitler at a large political rally
Hitler’s Youth
(German Boy Scouts!)
Jews being “selected for death” upon reaching the
concentration camp. (see woman w/baby)
Prisoners fight for food in the camp
Children were not spared from starvation
Mass grave of prisoners
Mass grave
Crematorium
Crematorium
Casablanca Conference (Jan. 1943)
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FDR and Winston Churchill (Britain) meet
in Casablanca, Morocco
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They agree to step up the bombing of Germany
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Goal - the progressive destruction of the German
military, industrial, and economic system and the
undermining of the morale of the German people
They also agree to attack Sicily to hopefully get
Italy out of the war
Invasion of Sicily
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Allies invade Sicily in July 1943
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By August the Axis had evacuated the island
This creates a crisis in the Italian govt.
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Mussolini is removed from office and placed under
arrest
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The Italian govt. b/g negotiations w/ the Allies
Sept. 8, 1943 Italian govt. announces Italy’s surrender
But…Hitler refuses to lose Italy to the Allies
Surrender of Italy
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German troops seize control of Italy and
put Mussolini back in power
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German troops and the Allies fought for almost
two years, but…
In May 1945 German troops surrendered
April 1945 – Mussolini is captured,
executed, and hung upside down in public
Mussolini in Death
Tehran Conference (Nov. 1943)
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1943 – FDR, Churchill, Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran
Agreements made…
1. Stalin to launch a full scale offensive against Germany when
the Allies invade France in 1944
2. Stalin to help the US defeat Japan once Germany was
beaten
3. FDR and Stalin agree to break up Germany after the war –
so it can never threaten the world again
4. Stalin accepted FDR’s proposal to create an international
organization to help keep peace after the war
Operation Overlord
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D-Day – Invasion of France from Great
Britain across the English Channel
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June 6, 1944 – Allied forces land on the beaches of
Normandy (Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, etc.)
Under US General Dwight D. Eisenhower
History’s greatest naval invasion
Utah Beach went well
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German defenses were weak
W/i 3 hours Allied troops captured the beach
suffering less than 200 casualties
Omaha Beach
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Allied troops under intense German fire
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Troops landing under Omar Bradley
Allies suffered huge losses & almost retreated,
but…slowly Allied troops b/g to knock out German
defenses
Nearly 2,500 Americans were killed or wounded,
but the invasion succeeded
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This invasion is what you see at the b/g of the movie
Saving Private Ryan!
Omaha Beach - France
Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944)
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Hitler’s last desperate offensive
Goal – to cut off Allied supplies coming
through Antwerp, Belgium
Allies are caught by surprise
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As German troops race west their lines bulge
outward (Battle of the Bulge), but…
By Jan. 1945 German troops were beaten and b/g
to withdraw
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The Allies will now enter Germany
The war is pretty much over for Germany
Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945)
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FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet in Yalta (Southern
Russia)
They discuss…
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Stalin suspicious of western power and wants
buffer states to protect the Soviets from future
western aggression
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FDR wants self-determination in western Europe
 Self-determination – allow the countries to decide for
themselves what kind of govt. they want
Yalta Continued…
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They discussed…
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FDR wants the creation of the United Nations
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Post-war Germany would be divided into 4 zones
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Churchill and Stalin agree to the UN
Each zone governed by a different Allied country
The future of Poland and Eastern Europe was a
split b/w FDR and Stalin
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Stalin wants control of Poland
FDR wants free elections in Poland
Allies Invade Germany
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Soviets into Eastern Germany, US into
Western Germany
April 30, 1945 – Hitler Dies!
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Hitler was in his bunker 55 feet under the city of
Berlin
He and his new wife Eva Braun committed suicide
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Hitler shot himself
Eva poisoned herself
His secretary pulled Hitler and Eva Braun’s body
outside and burned it
V-E Day!!!
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May 7, 1945 Germany surrenders to the
Allies unconditionally!
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May 8, 1945 is declared V-E Day
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Victory in Europe Day
WWII is over in the European Theater,
but…
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Now on to the Pacific Theater!