Download World War II

World War II
In Europe
The War in Europe
A conflict of Rapid Movement
Blitzkrieg – The Invasion of Poland
September 1939
Full assault by Hitler's panzers
and Luftwaffe
Cut through Poland's defenses
to make way for infantry
Blitzkrieg = lightning war
Germany and USSR
Soviet Union invaded from
the east as agreed by the
Nazi – Soviet pact
Poland defeated; divided
between USSR and Germany
Britain declares war on
Germany/could not help
Poland in time
Germany – invades Denmark
and Norway
USSR – invades Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania, then
Finland
Germany and USSR
Germany and USSR
Denmark and Norway – April 1940
Important for the
Germans – access to iron
ore for German
armaments
The invasions brought
about Chamberlain's
downfall in Britain
May 10 – government
established under
Winston Churchill
Denmark and Norway – April 1940
German
Invasions
May-June
1941
Holland, Belgium
and France
Germany Attacks
Germany invades Holland
and Belgium on May 10
Skirted around tip of the
Maginot Line and invaded
France
Line stopped due to
assumptions about the
Ardennes mountains
Blitzkrieg tactics used –
victories were swift
Germany Attacks
Germany Attacks
Germany Attacks
Germany reaches channel
in six days – only Dunkirk
remained in British hands
300K Brits evacuated from
Dunkirk – serious blow for
allies
Germany Attacks
Paris – captured on June
14th
French government led by
Pétan requested terms for
armistice
Hitler used the same
railway coach that had
been used for the 1918
armistice on June 21
Occupied France
All of France occupied
and demilitarized except
South – eastern France
Unoccupied France was
allowed it's own
government under
Marshall Pétan
No real independence –
collaborated with the
Germans
German Success
Germany achieved more
in two months than the
Kaiser's Germany had
achieved in WWI
By June 1940, Germany
dominated western,
central and northern
Europe.
Italy enters war/USSR
remains friendly with
Germany
Occupied France
The Battle
of Britain
1940
Battle of Britain
Hitler had hoped for
peace with Britain
Churchill opposed to
any negotiation with
Hitler
Hitler astonished that
Britain should continue
to resist
Hitler believed that the
Luftwaffe would be able
to destroy the RAF
Battle of Britain
With RAF, the Luftwaffe would
be able to dominate the Royal
Navy in the English Channel
The battle began in July 1940
London bombed– Known as
the "blitz"
Hitler unable to break the RAF
or Britain's morale
Hitler postpones the invasion
indefinitely – turns his
attention to the conquest of
the Soviet union
How was Britain able to survive?
German bombers were vulnerable once their
fighter escorts had turned for home
Britain had a revolutionary new warning system
– radar. They could tell when enemies were 120
km away
Hitler bombed the cities instead of concentrating
on the RAF airfields
The
Mediterranean
and the Balkans
1940-41
Italy Enters WWII
Italy's entry in 1940 spread the war to the Balkans, Mediterranean and
North Africa
September 1940 – Mussolini sends army from Italian colony of Libya to
Egypt
Italy invades grease from Albania in October
Both Italian offensives fail/British push Italy out of Egypt
The British sank half of the Italian fleet and occupied Crete
Italy Enters WWII
Italy's Defeat
Mussolini's failures brought
Hitler into North Africa and the
Balkans
General Rommel was sent to
Tripoli and regained a lot of
ground
Hitler overran Yugoslavia and
Greece
Greece surrenders/Germany
pushes the British out of Crete
Significance of the Mediterranean Conflicts
Serious setbacks for allies
British troops moved to
Greece weakening Britain in
north Africa/couldn't deal with
Rommel
In going to assist Mussolini
and Greece Hitler's plan to
attack USSR delayed by six
weeks
Germany would have to deal
with the harsh Russian winter
Operation Barbarosa – June 22, 1941
Codename for the attack on
USSR
Hitler's motives for invasion
were mostly ideological
Stalin was caught off guard.
The USSR had more troops
but were surprised
Churchill had warned Stalin
who believed Hitler would
honor the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Operation Barbarosa – June 22, 1941
Germany successful at
the beginning
Leningrad was
surrounded and
besieged
Kiev was
captured/Germany
within 80 km of Moscow
3 million Soviet
casualties or prisoners
of war
Operation Barbarosa – June 22, 1941
The severe Russian winter hit
Germans equipped only with summer uniforms
Thousands experienced frostbite -equipment froze and failed to
function
Moscow saved by a counter-offensive
War in USSR – June 1942
Hitler makes massive
offensive towards southern
Russia and the Caucasus (oil)
By August, Germans reached
Stalingrad – occupied most of
the city by September
Russians surround the
Germans. Germans starved
out – surrender February 1943
Turning point of the war on the
Eastern front
War in USSR
Summer of 1943 – Hitler tries to
launch another major attack
Germans defeated at the battle
of Kursk
German army in retreat for rest
of 1943
1944 – Leningrad
liberated/Germans pushed out of
the Ukraine
1945 – Russian soldiers liberate
Poland and Romania/reach
Berlin May 2
Why were the Soviets able to defeat the German Army?
Germans not prepared for a long campaign – in adequate
supplies and equipment to face the Russian winter
1941- Hitler took over the command of the army
himself/disastrous impact
Germany carried out brutal attacks against the civilian
population – made Russian resistance stronger
Supply lines of the German army became overstretched
German army faced continual losses of aircraft and tanks
that could not be replaced
The Soviet army adapted when German army did not
The Defeat of
The Axis
Powers
Recap
Stalin was fighting a very
bloody ground war in the
Soviet Union
Great Britain and America –
predominantly fighting an air
and sea war
The Soviet Union desperate
for Britain and America to
open a second front to divert
the Germans away from
USSR
Early in the war – USA/Britain
not enough resources to
extend war in Europe
War in El Alamein(1942)
Instead Britain decided to
focus on north Africa
Rommel defeated in
October/November 1942
By 1943 all of north Africa
secured
War in El Alamein(1942)
Important for the following reasons:
Prevented Egypt and the Suez Canal from flowing to Hitler
Gave Allies experience in large-scale Seaborne offenses
Provided a launching position for the next target – Italy
The Fall of Italy
The southern offensive began 10
July 1943
Within six weeks, Sicily in allied
hands
This event caused the downfall of
Mussolini – dismissed by the
Italian king
Mussolini's successor, Marshal
Pietro Badoglio signed armistice
Brought Italy on to the allied side
of the war
The Fall of Italy
Germany determined to hold onto Italy – troops diverted to Italy
and Allies had to fight
Rome captured June 1944
All of Italy under allied control by April 1945
Importance of the Italian War for the Allies:
Fascism ended in
Italy/Germany deprived of
its most important ally
Tied down German
divisions that were needed
in Russia
The Allies could not be
accused by Stalin of leaving
all of the fighting in Europe
to the Soviet forces
Operation Overlord
June 1944
Operation Overlord: D-Day
June 6, 1944
Involved 326,000 British,
Canadian, and American troops
Took place from sea and air
over 80 km stretch of Normandy
beaches
Result of extremely complex
preparations with huge amount
of resources
Kept extremely secret
Operation Overlord: D-Day
Within a month 1 million men had landed in Normandy
In the next few weeks most of northern France liberated
Brussels and Antwerp were freed in September
German forces continue to resist and enjoy success - The Battle
of the Bulge
Ultimately unsustainable for Germany – soldiers not being
replaced
Operation Overlord: D-Day
Dark Days for Germany
First months of
1945 –
disintegration of the
Wehrmacht.
Allies crossed the
Rhine in March
1945
Germany now being
invaded on two
fronts
Dark Days for Germany
In Berlin – April 30, 1945,
Hitler killed himself
Eisenhower refuses to
race for Berlin, therefore
the Soviets get there first
May 7, 1945 – German
government surrenders
unconditionally
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