Download File - Campbell`s Web Soup

World
War
Two
Europe
an
Theatre
How it Began
1. Invasion of Poland 1939






September 1, 1939 – WWII began with German
invasion of Poland
NAZIs used the “blitzkrieg” (“lightning warfare”)
method
Airplanes led attack to knock
out key enemy positions
Immediately followed by tank
& motorized infantry attacks
Attacking forces swept past
enemy, then close in behind,
thereby trapping them
NAZIs swept through Poland,
encountering little resistance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUjrnlMAtQ4
2. Declarations of War
1) France & Britain
immediately declared war
on Germany
2) Canada declared war one
week later (September 10th)



Parliament voted and decided
to join war
NOT automatic like in WWI
Leaders in Quebec supported
Canada’s entry into war based
on PM King’s promise that
conscription (compulsory
military service) would never
be required
Western Front 19391943
3. The “Phony War”
October 1939 – April
1940


Bad weather and
indecision prevented
Germany from
attacking Western
Europe after invasion
of Poland
Called “Phony War”
even though war was
in Czechoslovakia,
Poland, and Finland
?
4. Continental Europe Falls
May 1940-June, 1940



Germany took over Norway, Denmark,
Belgium, and Holland
Then German troops marched into France
France surrendered June, 1940
German Occupation of
France
German Domination of Europe
5. Evacuation of Dunkirk - 1940

British & French troops retreated to the French
beaches of Dunkirk on the English Channel after
fall of Belgium = became trapped
5. Evacuation of Dunkirk –
cont’


Approx. 900 ships
sailed from England
and rescued 340,000
soldiers from Dunkirk
Evacuation significant
because it:


represented a moral
victory for the Allies
Saved the best British
forces to fight later in the
war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKB-ZkWelb0
Battle of Britain
6. Battle of Britain - 1940
Hitler used air attacks on Britain to
prepare for an amphibious invasion
(operating on land and water)
 Aims:




destroy Royal Navy that patrolled English
Channel and protected UK
Destroy British fighter
planes and factories
Destroy morale of
British people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBO61qg-kc&feature=related
6. Battle of Britain – cont’


British Royal Air Force (RAF) and German
Luftwaffe (air force) fought in airspace over
Britain
Individual Canadians served in the RAF
German aircraft
over London - 1940
6. Battle of Britain – cont’

Even though British outnumbered 1:3, had superior
fighter planes and large advantage through use of
radar


Using radio waves,
British could detect
German bomber and
fighter squadrons while
they crossed the
English Channel
Also: Enigma –
German cipher Machine
could decode German
messages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPxbjV4inw
6. Battle of Britain – cont’
anti-aircraft night fire
above several fighter
planes
6. Battle of Britain – cont’ – “The
Blitz”




August 1940 – German bomber squadron got lost
and accidentally bombed civilians in London
In retaliation – British PM Churchill bombed
German capital city of Berlin
As a result – Hitler abandoned assault on RAF
airfields and ordered daylight bombing raids on
London – known as “the Blitz”
This shift cost Hitler the Battle of Britain – allowed
RAF chance to train new pilots and rebuild
6. Battle of Britain – cont’ –
“The Blitz”
6. Battle of Britain – cont’ –


August – September,
1940 – RAF able to regroup & win Battle of
Britain
Significance:


1st time Hitler denied
conquest
Protection of Britain
provided Allies with
springboard from which
to launch invasion of
Europe later in war
Allied Reaction –
Forming of “Bomber Command”




Many Canadian pilots part
of Royal Air Force (RAF)
“Bomber Command”
Mission: it was to set up
an important force ready
for strategic bombing
against Germany
15 Canadian squadrons
(from RCAF) were formed
within Bomber Command
in Great Britain, with
British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan
(BCATP) graduates
the first one was No 405
Squadron in April 1941
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsKDGM5KTBY
European Theatre of War
7. Battle of the Atlantic
1. Longest campaign of
WWII
 Fought for control of
shipping lanes between
North America and
Britain
 Germany’s goal: cut off
all Allied supplies to
Britain in hopes of
starving Britain into
submission
8. Battle of the Atlantic –
cont’
2. German U-Boats


British, Canadian, and
later, American navies
committed to stopping
German submarine
terror
“wolfpacks” – German
groups of submarines
operating out of ports of
occupied countries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtUw_JnmYQ0
 Even
active in Canadian
waters – sank 21 ships
in St Lawrence River
8. Battle of the Atlantic –
cont’
3. Convoy System


Allied merchant supply ships sailed surrounded
by destroyers for protection against U-Boats
Royal Canadian Navy provided much of the
protection with small warships called corvettes
Corvette destroyer
8. Battle of the Atlantic –
cont’
3. Convoy System – cont’


Eventually – Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
provided with long-range bombers that could
cover convoys until their reached British airspace
Development of sonar also helped Allies
• Sonar – works much like
radar works in air, but
uses sound waves
instead of radio waves.
Sound bounces off subs,
alerting Allies to their
presence
Sonar box on
ship’s deck
8. Battle of the Atlantic –
cont’


Depth Charges (explosives)
By 1943, wolfpacks
less effective as they
suffered heavy
damages from
depth charges
dropped by escort
ships and bombs
from Allied planes
U-Boat attacked
from the air
• helped Allies win
Battle of the Atlantic
8. Battle of the Atlantic –
cont’

Canadian Navy




Initially – RCN consisted of 13
ships & 3,000 soldiers
By end of WWII – 370 ships &
100,000 personnel
Over 2,000 members of RCN
died in Battle of Atlantic
Canadian Citizens –
Merchant Marines


Also played large role by
manning freighters that
transported materials to
Europe
Faced great danger as their
ships were only lightly armed
and were easy prey for
German U-Boats
Canadian Naval ship “Haida”
8. Dieppe - 1942


In early 1942 – war not going well for Allies
Although time not right for full-scale Allied invasion on
Western Front, small-scale invasion planned to serve as
rehearsal for real invasion of Europe
 August,
1942
– 5,000
Canadian
soldiers
landed at
Dieppe on
coast of
France
8. Dieppe – cont’


Objective – to take
the beach and
town of Dieppe
back from
Germans
Upon arrival –
soldiers mowed
down on beach by
German fire
8. Dieppe – cont’

By early
afternoon:




900 Canadians
dead or dying
1,000 wounded
1,900 taken prisoner
More Canadian
troops died in these
few hours than on
any other day of the
Second World War
Canadian Prisoners of War from Dieppe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcNI92b6E98&feature=related
8. Dieppe – cont’
Why Dieppe Went Wrong
1. Lost Element of Surprise


Secrecy required for effective attack – but part
of the Allied flotilla of landing craft encountered
an enemy convoy on the way and a noisy fight
ensued - Germans were therefore prepared for
attack
8. Dieppe – What went Wrong cont’
2.No Aerial Bombardment

At last minute, British decided to forgo a planned
aerial bombardment of the Dieppe fortifications,
which would have weakened the Germans for
the attack
8. Dieppe – cont’

Why Canadian
Troops at Dieppe?


PM King looking for
a diversion from the
Conscription Crisis
of 1942
Canadian Troops
considered to be
expendable by other
Allied powers
8. Dieppe – cont’
Lessons


Learned from Dieppe
Taught Allies that heavy
air and sea support would
be required for any future
invasions of France
Many believe lessons
learned helped save lives
on beaches of Normandy
during D-Day invasion
North Africa
9. North Africa 1940 - 1942




Mussolini attacked Egypt Sept 1940
British forces resisted, led by General
Montgomery
German forces – led by General Rommel –
supported Italians
Battle of El Alamein
– October, 1942
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyoZQP5C-Q4
9. North Africa 1940 – 1942 –
cont’
Battle of El Alamein - Turning point

1st time Allies had
defeated the forces of the
fascist countries



Prevented the Germans
from seizing the Suez Canal
Denied Hitler important oil
resources of Middle East
Soon after – USA joined war
– forced Germans into
retreat & eventually defeated
Eastern Front 19391945
10. Invasion of Soviet Union 1941

1)


2)

Motives for invading the USSR:
Lebensraum (living space)
Part of Hitler’s racial program
that stated “inferior” races
should be conquered and
enslaved so that the “superior”
Germans had more living space
Main target of this – Soviet
Union because of its vast
resources that Germany
needed
Ideology
Hitler wanted to destroy his
ideological rival - communism
10. Invasion of Soviet Union
– cont’

Operation Barbarossa - June 1941
1) Hitler broke the NAZISoviet Pact to invade
USSR

3 million German troops
smashed into the USSR,
catching them by surprise
Moscow (capital city)
10. Invasion of Soviet Union
– cont’
2) Stalin’s response: “scorched earth policy”

As the Red Army
(Soviets) retreated,
they destroyed
everything –
livestock, supplies,
and machinery – so
NAZIs would have
nothing to use
3) By Christmas,
1941 – Germans
stopped outside
Stalingrad
11. Eastern Front 1942-1945




Harsh winter of
USSR – took its toll
on German forces
Germans suffered
huge losses
Soviets launched
attack to prove could
fight through winter
Spring – conflict
continued along a
2,000 mile front
11. Eastern Front 1942-1945 –
cont’
Battle
of Stalingrad - 2nd Turning Point






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEh9jlNG0nQ&feature=related
Sept. 1942-Jan 1943
Hitler’s goal – to attack
it because of its name &
to get to the Caucasus
oil fields
Soviets captured or
killed entire German
army in area
Huge boost to Allied
morale
After – Germans
suffered defeat after
defeat on eastern front
Soviet forces moved
closer to Berlin
The Big Three:
The Communist, the Democrat and the Imperialist
Tehran Conference, Dec. 1943
Main Outcomes:
• Opening of a Second Front
• Churchill: Southern Europe
• Stalin & FDR: W. Europe
• Establishment of Polish borders
• Stalin agrees to fight Japanese
• Germany’s unconditional surrender
Key: The conference establishes real, if tenuous, diplomatic relations between the
West and Communist Russia. Stalin remained skeptical of the West, though he
received Lend-Lease aid from the USA, for he suspected the Allies were content to let
the Nazis and Soviets struggle to the death in the East. FDR and Churchill were
unhappy about doing business with Stalin, but he was the lesser of two evils.
Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign



By mid-1943 –
Germans had been
defeated in North
Africa and were in
retreat on Eastern
Front
Allied plan: to take
island of Sicily, then
Italy itself
Crucial step in
liberation of Europe
Italian Campaign –
cont’
1. Landing on Sicily – July, 1943
Designed to:
 take pressure off Soviet
Allies and
 divert Germans from Northwest Europe where attack
on Normandy (re-invasion
of Europe) was planned
 Canadians among Allied
forces who used
amphibious attack
 Captured Sicily in one
month
Italian Campaign –
cont’
Sicily Invasion – cont’
Italian Campaign –
cont’
2)



Taking Italy – Ortona - 1943
Allied troops invaded
peninsula of Italy
Canadian forces
stopped by Germans
at Ortona – vicious
fighting occurred
throughout
December, 1943
Fought & won street
by street, house by
house
Italian Campaign –
cont’
Ortona – cont’
Italian Campaign –
cont’
Ortona – cont’
Italian Campaign –
cont’
Ortona – cont’
Italian Campaign –
cont’
Germans finally driven back by FrenchCanadian unit – the Vandoos



Canadian troops
succeeded in
breaking through
last line of German
defences before
Rome
Continued to free
northern Italy in fall
of 1944
Italian Campaign –
cont’



Italy – some of
toughest fighting in
war
April 1945 –
Mussolini captured
by Italian civilians
Mussolini and
mistress were hung
and “displayed” for
several days in the
streets of Milan
Normandy Landing & End of
War
1)





Normandy Landing – June 6, 1944
“Operation Overlord”
(D-Day)
Allied invasion of Germanheld Europe
Planned to use naval and
aerial bombardment to
knock out German defences
Over 1 year of preparation –
most complex operation
ever attempted
Learned from mistakes at
Dieppe
Normandy Landing cont’






Largest Canadian military operation of WWII
14,000 Canadian soldiers
100 ships
36 bomber squadrons
from Royal Canadian
Air Force
Canadians assigned 1
of 5 beachfront targets
code- named JUNO –
8km of coastline
Normandy Landing cont’



Within 1 week – over 300,000 Allied
soldiers on shores of Normandy
After 1 month – 1 million soldiers &
200,000 Allied military vehicles
Created foothold
in Europe from
which Allies could
push back the
Germans
Normandy Landing cont’



5,000 Canadians
killed at Normandy
200,000 Allied
casualties
German losses:


200,000 killed,
wounded or missing
200,000 taken
prisoner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgKo46X8CI
2. Liberation of Holland - 1945



Canadian troops
distinguished
themselves in a year of
long, hard fighting with
other Allies, pushing the
Germans out of France
& Western Europe
May 5th, 1945 –
Canadians drove NAZIS
out of Holland
Allowed Allies to
continue towards
Germany
2. Liberation of Holland – cont’
End of European War
3. Berlin – April 1945
American & Soviet
forces met in Germany,
south of Berlin
 Soviets – wanted to
demolish the city
4. April 30, 1945 –
Hitler committed suicide
5. May 8th, 1945 –
V-E Day (Victory in
Europe) – German
troops surrendered

V-E Day - 1945