Download How was Germany defeated in WW2? Key events and reasons

How was Germany defeated in WW2? Key events and reasons...
Germany had been fighting on 2 fronts from early 1942...
- Allied advances against Germany from the West... D-Day Landings had started the Allied push
against the German army towards Berlin. Hitler made a last attempt to defeat the Allies that
resulted in the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944). This was a huge and devastating defeat for the Nazis
and led to the Allies breaking into Germany and the Soviet Army attacking Berlin.
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Developments against Germany from the East... By 1943 the German army was completely
outnumbered by the Soviet army. By the end of 1944 there were no German troops in the Soviet
Union. The final Soviet attack on Berlin started on 16 th April 1945. Berlin was surrounded by 24th
April – the main line of defence was people in the Volkssturm or Hitler Youth who stood little
chance of success against the Soviet army.
This led to the surrender of Germany because they could not maintain the war on two
fronts, meaning that Berlin was captured by the Allies. This prompted the surrender of
Germany on 8th May 1945.
Death of Hitler, 30th April 1945...
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Hitler was in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery while Berlin was being attacked. By the end of
April he accepted the war could not be won, so made his final plans.
28th April: Hitler married Eva Braun
Following the wedding he wrote his political testament claiming that the war and Germany’s
problems had been caused by international Jewry. He expelled Himmler and Goering from the Nazi
Party for betrayal. He planned for other leading Nazis to run Germany, for example making
Goebbels Head of Government and Chancellor.
30th April: Hitler and Evan Braun committed suicide. Their bodies were burned.
This led to the surrender of Germany because they no longer had their leader, meaning
no one was standing in the way of surrendering. By this point it was clear the war was
over.
Strength of the Allied forces = other reasons for the defeat of Germany...
The Allied forces had destroyed industrial complexes, roads, bridges, railways and
munitions factories. Bombing had destroyed many towns and cities. The infrastructure of
Germany had been destroyed. Compared to the industrial resources of the Allies, the
German army couldn’t compete.
- The war at sea was a failure for Germany. Technical developments meant the Allies could
replace ships destroyed by German U-Boats.
- Growth of resistance groups against the Nazis, especially in France. They worked with the
Allies to gain essential intelligence that helped the Allied war effort.
- Compared to the powerful leaders of Britain, USA and Soviet Union, Hitler did not inspire or
maintain loyalty from the German population throughout the long war. He also made
mistakes, for example refusing to allow the German troops to retreat from Stalingrad.
These factors together led to the surrender of Germany because compared to the Allied forces,
the German army could not maintain the level of progress they had made at the start of the
war. This meant that by May 1945, Germany was destroyed and left with no other choice but
to surrender.
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Example questions to have a go at...
- Describe Hitler’s final days in the Reich Chancellery bunker (4 marks).
- Describe the war on the Eastern Front from 1943 (4 marks).
- Describe how Allied advances in the West contributed to the end of war in
Europe (4 marks).
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Use Source ** and your own knowledge to explain why Germany surrendered in
May 1945 (6 marks) – in the exam, a question like this would include a source, you would
have to select one reason from the source and develop your answer with other reasons and
your own knowledge. You could imagine that a statement from the boxes above is a ‘source’
and develop your answer from that.
You could also apply your knowledge to a Q3 style question / answer...
To what extent was the death of Hitler the most important reason in leading to the
surrender of Germany in May 1945? (12 marks, plus 3 SPaG).
Remember...
2 paragraph plus conclusion structure = P1 would look at the death of Hitler and why
this led to Germany’s surrender. P2 would need to show other factors that led to
the surrender of Germany.
Conclusion = give a clear answer – do you agree that Hitler’s death was most
important, or was it another reason?
This question could be altered – any of the reasons on page 1 could be added as the
most important reason (where it is underlined in the question above). You would
just need to change which factor you discussed in paragraph 1.