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Goose Stepping Through Europe The effective use of Blitzkrieg • German word meaning “Lighting War” • Innovative military technique • First used by the Germans in WWII • Tactic based on speed and surprise Blitzkrieg: Overview • Tactic was based around the WWI ‘Schlieffen Plan’ • Which was focused on a quick military victory • Further developed in Germany based on the new technologies • Light tanks, air planes (dive bombers), and infantry (foot soldiers) • It was combined with the traditional Germanic tactic of penetration and bypassing of the enemy through weak points to encircle and destroy the enemy forces Blitzkrieg: The Strategy • First used when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 • Resulted in the British and French armies being pushed back in just a few weeks to the beaches of Dunkirk • The strategy was also pivotal in the German Army’s devastation of Russian forces Blitzkrieg: Use The Holocaust Overview and Aftermath • The Jewish population in Europe, starting in Germany would come under attack during the years 1933-1945 • Of the 11 million Jews that lived in Europe during this time the Nazis would murder over 6 million Jews • This genocide is known as the Holocaust Overview • 1933 Hitler is appointed to Chancellor • 1933 Enabling Act is passed- giving Hitler the power to rule by emergency decree • 1933 March Nazis open Dachau concentration camp near Munich, to be followed by Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, Sachsenhasen near Berlin in northern Germany, and Ravensbruck for women. • 1933 April Germans told to boycott Jewish Shops • 1934 The Night of long knives occurs as Hitler, Göring and Himmler conduct a purge of the SA (storm trooper) leadership • 1935 Nuremburg laws are passed • Jews no longer allowed to be German citizens • Jews not allowed to have sexualrelationships with non Jews • Jews not allowed to marry non-Jews • 1936 Jews banned from ‘Professional’ jobs • 1937 Jews banned from working in any political or governmental job • 1938 Germany and Austria are unitedAustrian Jews now persecuted all Jewish passports stamped with a Red J • 1938 Kristallnacht- Night of Broken Class • • • • • Night of violence towards Jews 100 Jews murdered 20,000 Jews sent to concentration camps Synagogues, homes and businesses burned Jews forced to pay a fine for Kristallnacht • 1938 Jews banned from state schools/cinemas/ public places • Jews forced to close down and sell their businesses • 1939German occupation of Czech starts • Germany invades Poland • Jews in Poland and Czech begin to be persecuted • All Jews in Nazi controlled territory forced to wear yellow start • 1940 Germany invades Holland and Denmark, Belgium and Norway • Persecution in these countries begins • Auschwitz opens • Warsaw Ghetto is sealed off in Poland 400,000 Jews inside • 1941 Germany invades USSR • All Jews now have to wear yellow star • Western Jews deported to Polish Ghettos • Gassing of Jews start at Chelmno- first death camp • 1942 Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka and Auschwitz Death camps begin mass murdering Jews • Mass deportation of Western Jews to Auschwitz • 1943 Death camps at Chelmno and Treblinka finish their work – camps are torn down and replanted with trees • 1944 Hungarian Jews begin to be deported to Auschwitz • 1945- Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz • British and American forces liberate western Concentration camps • The single most important thing to keep in mind when attempting to document numbers of victims of the Holocaust is that no one master list of those who perished exists anywhere in the world. • What follows are the current best estimates of civilians and disarmed soldiers killed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. • These estimates are calculated from wartime reports generated by those who implemented Nazi population policy, and postwar demographic studies on population loss during World War II. • National Holocaust Museum Death toll of the Holocaust • Number of Deaths • Jews: up to 6 million • Soviet civilians: around 7 million (including 1.3 Soviet Jewish civilians, who are included in the 6 million figure for Jews) • Soviet prisoners of war: around 3 million (including about 50,000 Jewish soldiers) • Non-Jewish Polish civilians: around 1.8 million (including between 50,000 and 100,000 members of the Polish elites) • Serb civilians (on the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina): 312,000 Death toll • People with disabilities living in institutions: up to 250,000 • Roma (Gypsies): 196,000– 220,000 • Jehovah's Witnesses: Around 1,900 • Repeat criminal offenders and so-called asocials: at least 70,000 • German political opponents and resistance activists in Axis-occupied territory: undetermined • Homosexuals: hundreds, possibly thousands (possibly also counted in part under the 70,000 repeat criminal offenders and so-called asocials noted above) With regard to the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust, best estimates for the breakdown of Jewish loss according to location of death follow: • Auschwitz complex (including Birkenau, Monowitz, and subcamps): approximately 1 million • Treblinka 2: approximately 925,000 • Belzec: 434,508 • Sobibor: at least 167,000 • Chelmno: 156,000–172,000 • Shooting operations around southern German-occupied Poland (the so-called Government General): at least 200,000 • Shooting operations in Germanannexed western Poland (District Wartheland): at least 20,000 • Deaths in other facilities that the Germans designated as concentration camps: at least 150,000 • Gas wagons at hundreds of locations in the German-occupied Soviet Union: at least 1.3 million • Shooting operations in the Soviet Union: approximately 55,000 • Shooting operations and gas wagons in Serbia: at least 15,088 • Shot or tortured to death in Croatia under the Ustaša regime: 23,000– 25,000 • Deaths in ghettos: at least 800,000 Jewish Loss by Location of Death • Get into groups 5 or 6 • For each activity there will be a central question that your group must answer • Along with the Central question, you will need to answer all the other questions. • Areas to be discussed • Where did they go? • Holding Nazi high ranking officials accountable • Impact on the World. Aftermath of the Holocaust The Eastern Front Patriotic War 1941-1945 • Stalin as a military leader • Purging the Red Army • USSR: Relationship with Germany • Disregarded signs of Nazi invasion • Soviet Soldier Life • Nazi Germany v Communist Russia Overview • Soviet Victory • Weather • Women • Will to fight (or death) • • • • • Key Battles War Crimes The Cost Recap Questions • As commander in chief, Stalin presided over the Supreme Command headquarters charged with… • supervision, planning, and coordination of all military operations. • Stalin possessed certain characteristics that helped and hurt him in being a Military leader • including a sharp memory, the ability to get to the root of the matter, and tremendous willpower • he lacked formal military education and military experience • Stalin relied on the crude tactics of throwing masses of soldiers into frontal attacks that resulted in the waste of manpower Stalin as a Military Leader • His goal of uniting the nation with him as the leader grew to frightening heights • Stalin enacted a series of purges known as “Stalin’s Terror,” • whereby millions of people were sent to forced labor, assassinated, or publicly executed, out of fear that they were enemies of the state • State police the NKVD • Were at the helm of the purges • It was found out after his death that Stalin had been suffering from atherosclerosis (fatty tissue build-up in the arteries) of the brain, possibly explaining his deranged “terror.” Stalin as a leader • For decades, the ‘Tukhachevsky Affair’ was recognized as the start of the Red Army purge • Approximately 35,000 military personal would be “lost” over the course of 1937 and 1938 • The numbers of rank-and-file affected are unclear. • Although the upper ranks were certainly hit harder by the purge, • Soldiers and NCOs suffered as well. • As was true for the violence of the wider Great Terror, much of the military purge was driven by a wave of denunciations from below. Red Army Purge • The two countries entered into ‘friendly relations” through a nonaggression pact • It was signed on 23 August 1939 in Moscow, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister, and Vyacheslav Molotov, the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs • The news of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, came as a great surprise to the Soviet public who were use to propaganda that was anti-fascists • Caused great concern for the Western European countries as well USSR: Relationship with Germany • The German invasion is said to be one of the largest surprise attacks in Military history… • Stalin was warned about it • Hitler saw the Russians as an inferior race • He saw Russia as the perfect area to grow the German race • Russian spies gave several warnings to Stalin in the months leading up to the invasion • He did not listen to the warnings • He did not become concerned even when the German Military was moved to the Russian border • He also was not worried when Nazi spy plans were “accidentally” flying in Russian air space Disregard for warnings about the Nazi Invasion • What is missing on the Soldiers that are on the boats? • What else do you notice that happens in the following scene Click for Video Life of a Soviet Soldier Fight on land • Operation Barbarossa, June 22, 1941 • German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe struck Soviet forces across a wide front along the German-Soviet frontier • The attack would also bring in Romanian, Hungarian, Italian and Spanish forces • Axis military enjoyed 5 months of victories • Pushed deep into the Soviet Union • Taking large rich industrial areas • Winter hits the Axis troops • Stop and freeze through the winter • Germany resumed the offensive in 1942, only to suffer a major defeat at Stalingrad. • The Battle of Kursk, in 1943, ended the Wehrmacht’s offensive ambitions. • 1943, 1944, and 1945 saw the pace of Soviet conquest gradually accelerate, with the monumental offensives of late 1944 shattering the German armed forces. Nazi Germany vs. Soviet Union Fight in the Air • Russia launched a few sorties against German cities in the first days of the war • German Luftwaffe concentrated on tactical support of the Wehrmacht. • Germany did launch a few large air raids against Russian cities, but did not maintain anything approaching a strategic campaign Fight at Sea • Soviet and Axis forces fought in the Arctic, the Baltic, and the Black Sea for most of the conflict • In the north, Soviet air and naval forces harassed German positions in Norway. • Black Sea, German and Romanian ships struggled against the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, • In the Baltic, Russian submarines and small craft fought a guerilla conflict against Germany and Finland for the first three years Nazi Germany V Soviet Union • Hitler’s plan called for the conquering of the Soviet Union before the winter months hit • This did not happen • When Nazi troops began their invasion it was warm, muggy and summer • When their progression into the soviet union slowed, winter was coming, the Nazi troops had out maneuvered their supply lines • Nazi Troops were physically tired, low on food, ammunitions and most importantly did not have the proper clothing for the winter • By the end of 1941 100,000 cases of frostbit had been reported by soldiers Soviet Victory: Weather • German machinery had never been tested in the unbearable cold of Russia • The weather caused the tanks and jeeps not to start • Guns and artillery would be frozen and not fire • The soviets had special designed weapons, guns and heavy machinery that could function perfectly in the cold • The soviets also had camouflage that allowed for them to continue fighting even in the worst of conditions Soviet Victory: Weather • Nearly one million Soviet women took up arms and served on the front lines of World War II as anti-aircraft gunners, snipers, partisan guerillas and even fighter pilots. • Female troops eventually earned a reputation as some of the fiercest fighters on the Eastern Front. The Night Witches… Click for Video • Anxious to prove their worth in combat, women regularly signed up for some of the most hazardous combat positions Soviet Victory: Women • August 1941, Stalin issues “ Order No.270” • Any troops that surrendered or allowed themselves to be captures would be seen as traitors in the eyes of the Soviet government and would executed if the returned to Russia • July 1942, “Order No. 227” • “not one step backward”… cowards would be shot on sight • Created special units that would be at the back of an army to shoot and kill any retreating Soviet troops • They would kill as many as 150,000 soviet soldiers • Around 15,000 at the Battle of Stalingrad Soviet Victory: Ordered to Fight • Lasted almost two and one-half years and cost the lives of an estimated 1,000,000 city residents • It began on September 8, 1941 when German troops completed their encirclement of the city. • Hunger and cold became the city's greatest enemies • Food supplies were cut. • By November, individual rations were lowered to 1/3 of the daily amount needed by an adult. • The Russian winter • Froze Lake Ladoga to the city's east and created a life-line over which caravans of trucks hauled a meager amount of food and supplies. • It also provided an evacuation route for thousands of the city's weak and elderly. • The loss of population through death and evacuation decreased the strain on the remaining inhabitants. • Food rations were increased and the city's situation stabilized. • By January 1944, the Red Army had pushed the German army beyond Leningrad allowing the city to celebrate the end of its siege. Key Battles: The siege of Leningrad • Turning point in the Eastern Theater • Key Victory of the Allies and extremely humiliating loss for the Axis power • Specifically Hitler • Nazi 6th Army moves to take Stalingrad (September 3rd 1942) • Red Army is fortified within the city • Late September Nazi Army raises flag over the middle of the city • Cannot eliminate the Red Army from the industrial district • November Nazi’s are low on men and supplies • • • • Red Army counterattacks and surrounds the city Hitler says they are not allowed to retreat Air supplies is cut off to Nazi troops Any hope of fighting out of the encirclement is dashed • February 1943 The remaining men of the Nazi 6th armies surrenders, • 91,000 Nazi with losses in the 150,000 range Key Battles: Stalingrad Video Clip! • Some 6,000 tanks, 2 million men and 5,000 aircraft clashed in one of the most strategically important engagements of World War II • An unsuccessful German offensive against Soviet forces in 1943 • Germans had almost broken the Soviet’s down by March of 1943 but the Spring thaw happened causing the armies to halt and regroup • German forces went on the attack in July • The goal was to wreck the Soviet forces • Soviets had fortified their defenses and waited for the Germans • On July 5, the Germans struck on both sides of the salient to begin the biggest battle of World War II. • Ninth German Army, after initial success, became entirely bogged down in its attack from the north • The South campaign saw success but it too became bogged down • German armor failed to gain operational freedom; instead, Soviet defenses tied the Germans into a massive battle of attrition not only on the ground but also in the air. • At great cost, including the loss of much of their armor, the Germans had failed, • The operational balance on the Eastern Front had swung entirely in favor of the Soviets Key Battles: Kursk • The struggle for the Eastern Front was bigger and costlier than the fighting in the West, • but it was also significantly more brutal • Both sides flouted international law and practiced institutionalized acts of cruelty against enemy troops, prisoners and civilians. • The Germans wiped out villages during their advance through Russia • Jews and other minorities were regularly rounded up and shot or poisoned in mobile gassing vans. • Other cities were looted or starved into submission most famously Leningrad. • The Red Army responded by giving no quarter during the Soviet push to Berlin in 1945, • hundred of thousands of German civilians were shot, burned alive in buildings, crushed by tanks and even crucified. • According to some studies, Soviet troops may have also been responsible for the rape of some two million German women during the last days of the war War Crimes: Germany & Soviet Union • Soviet side, some seven million soldiers died in action, with another 3.6 million dying in German POW camps • The Germans lost four million soldiers in action, and another 370,000 to the Soviet camp system • Around 15 million Soviet civilians are thought to have been killed. • in part because of the horrific occupation policies of the German (and the Soviets), and in part because of a lack of food and other necessities of life. • ***Statistics of this magnitude are inevitably imprecise, and scholars on all sides of the war continue to debate the size of military and civilian losses.*** • There is little question, however, that the war in the East was the most brutal conflict ever endured by humankind. • There is also little question that the Red Army provided the most decisive blows against Nazi Germany, causing the vast majority of German casualties during World War II as a whole. The Cost Recap! • Describe the relationship between Nazi Germany and The Soviet Union prior to 1941. • Describe the leadership of Stalin. • Explain the impact of the Allied victory in the Eastern Theater and how that changed the outcome of WWII. • What helped the Soviet Union win the Eastern Theater? • Compare and contrast the Eastern European theater to the Western European theater. Answer these questions • Andrews, Evan. 8 Things You Should Know About WWII’s Eastern Front, History Channel , 2014, www.history.com/news/history-lists/8things-you-should-know-about-wwiis-eastern-front. Accessed 14 Nov. 2016. • Chubarov, Alex. allrussias.com www.allrussias.com/soviet_russia/ war_1.asp. Accessed 14 Nov. 2016. • Farley, Robert. The Most Horrific War of All Time: Russia vs. Germany5 Oct. 2015, nationalinterest.org/feature/the-most-horrific-war-alltime-russia-vs-germany-14026. Accessed 14 Nov. 201 • Staff, History.com. Battle of Stalingrad, History Channel , 2014, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad. Accessed 14 Nov. 2016.