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Download SECTION 2: THE WAR FOR EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA
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Early Events of the War Rhineland Austria Sudetenland Munich Czech Poland****** Sept 1, 1939 Sitzkrieg – Belgium, Lux, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands • Russia – Estonia, Lat, Lith, trying for Finland France Battle of Britain Formation of Axis Alliance Eastern Europ. Join axis War Plans December 22, 1941: Churchill and Roosevelt met for three weeks to work out war plan Despite the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Decision to strike against Hitler first because Germany and Italy were seen as a greater threat than Japan Why? The Battle of the Atlantic Allies depended on supplies from U.S.; After America’s entry into the war, Hitler was determined to prevent food and war supplies from reaching Britain and the USSR Hitler ordered submarine (wolf packs) attacks against supply ships while the Allies organized convoys of cargo ships with destroyer and airplane escorts In the first seven months of 1942, German U-boats sank 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic Only in 1943 do the Allies make gains because of the increased effort in US ship building ALLIES ATTACK U-BOATS U-426 sinks after attack from the air, January 1944. Almost two-thirds of all Uboat sailors died during the Battle of the Atlantic. War with Russia http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoo rs/in-depth/stalin-stands.html THIS WEBSITE IS AWESOME MUST UPDATE ALL EASTERN FRONT NOTES!!! Operation Barbarossa 1941–1945 German invasion of USSR June 22, 1941 largest invasion in the history of warfare: • 3.9 million troops, 600,000 motor vehicles, and 2,700 aircraft invaded 1,800 mile wide front • involved a total of nine million troops • Germany encroached 1,240 miles to the east • In the first month, 90% of Russian tanks destroyed • Captured 3 million Soviet POWs • 65% of Allied military casualties on eastern front But basically a failure for Germany • For every five German soldiers who died in WWII, four of them died on the Eastern Front. Soviet Union counterattacks and eventually pushed German army back 1,550 miles to Berlin 3 Major Events in Barbarossa Moscow Leningrad Stalingrad Siege of Leningrad September 8, 1941 – January 27, 1944 900 days siege of civilian city • Hitler cut off the city from food and supplies and razed to the ground. • 1942: Using frozen Lake Ladoga Soviet trucks brought in food, fuel, and troop reinforcements, and evacuated 850,000 But thousands froze to death or died from starvation or disease while being bombarded continually by German artillery. By the time the Russian Army finally broke through in January 1944, more than 640,000 had died. Battle of Moscow October 2, 1941 – December 1941 Operation Typhoon, Germany’s full-scale attack on Moscow Under a "state of siege," 500,000 men and women dug 5,000 miles of trenches around the city Stalin had 900,000 troops • Commanded them to die defending the city Battle of Moscow October 2, 1941 – December 1941 Mid-November: Germans within 20 miles of Moscow suburbs, but were soon struggling with temperatures as low as -40°C and blizzard conditions December 5: USSR counterattacked. • pushed the Germans back almost 100 miles from the city. • first Soviet victory against Hitler. Turning point of the war: Battle of Stalingrad Russia at war against Germany since 1941 Stalingrad: a major industrial center in Russia • Hitler wanted to capture Caucasus oil fields and destroy Stalingrad August 1942: series of bombing raids sets much of the city on fire; this was followed by weeks of hand-to-hand combat in the city Then winter set in: • Germans unprepared: wearing summer uniforms / short on food • Soviet army brings in fresh supplies and surrounds the city cutting off German supply lines • Germans now were on the defensive The Germans surrendered in January 1943 Soviets begin to move west on the offense BATTLE OF STALINGRAD •The Soviets lost more than 1 million men in the battle (more than twice the number of deaths the U.S. suffered in all the war) •Stalin never forgave Roosevelt and Churchill for not helping out • THE NORTH AFRICAN FRONT “Operation Torch” Invasion of Axiscontrolled North Africa in 1942 Led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower Allied troops land in Casablanca, Oran and the Algiers in Algeria Fought Afrika Korps led by German General Edwin Rommel (“the Desert Fox”) into Egypt Germans surrender in May 1943 Map at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldw ars/wwtwo/launch_ani_el_alamein.sht ml CASABLANCA MEETING FDR and Churchill met in Casablanca • 1) Plan amphibious invasions of France and Italy • 2) Only unconditional surrender would be accepted ITALIAN CAMPAIGN Allies easily took Sicily in 1943 King Emmanuel III stripped Mussolini of his power and had him arrested • Germans rescued him by dropping 100 parachutists at his mountain prison and flying him to Munich. • Mussolini is captured April 28,1945 by Italian partisans. • They shot him and hung his body upside down in Milan Square. Hitler’s forces continued to resist the Allies in Italy; Hitler’s strategy: he would rather fight in Italy than on German soil Not until 1945 and the collapse of Germany was Italy secured by the Allies http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/w wtwo_map_italy/index.shtml ALLIES LIBERATE EUROPE the Allies left fake clues, set up phantom army, and sent fake radio messages to make it look like the invasion would take place near Calais D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944 D-Day was an amphibious landing – soldiers going from sea to land “Operation Overlord” Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower Also called “DDay,” June 6, 1944 Largest land-seaair operation in military history Established a second front for the war D-Day (Operation Overlord) Allied forces landed at Normandy in Northern France • 3 divisions land via parachute behind German lines Remaining British, American, and Canadian forces landed at beaches named Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and Omaha • 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of • 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion • more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded • Despite heavy losses, Allies hold the beach Within a month, the Allies had landed 1 million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies and 170,000 vehicles Map at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/launch_ani_overlord_cam paign.shtml OMAHA BEACH 6/6/44 Landing at Normandy Planes drop paratroopers behind enemy lines at Normandy, France FRANCE FREED After bombing roads, bridges, and German troops there was a gap in enemy defense line General George Patton led Third Army through the gap and liberated Paris on August 25, 1944 By September 1944, the Allies had freed France, Belgium and Luxembourg That good news and the American’s people’s desire not to “change horses in midstream” helped elect FDR to an unprecedented 4th term General George Patton (right) was instrumental in Allies freeing France The Battle of the Bulge October 1944, Allies captured first German town, Aachen Battle of the Bulge - Germans final counter attack on the western front • Hitler hoped breaking through the Allied line would break up Allied supply lines • December, German tank divisions and 200,000 German troops attacked Allies • The Germans drove 60 miles into Allied area creating a “bulge” in the line • reinforcements arrived and the allies were able to push the Germans back • Battle a turning point: Germans were now on the defensive in the Eastern Front too American soldiers photographed in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. BATTLE OF THE BULGE Little seemed to have changed, but in fact the Germans had sustained heavy losses: 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and 1,600 planes Firing Bombing of Dresden February 13, 1945 series of Allied firebombing raids on Dresden, Germany killed as many as 135,000 people (real number unknown). 8 square miles of city destroyed. It was the single most destructive bombing of the war LIBERATION OF DEATH CAMPS While the British and Americans moved from the west to the east into Germany, the Soviets moved from the east to the west into German-controlled Poland The Soviets discovered death camps that the Germans had set up within Poland • Find thousands of starving prisoners and extensive evidence of the murders • Stunned Soviets call it a “murder camp” The Americans also liberated Nazi death camps within Germany Liberation of the Death Camps General (later US President) Dwight Eisenhower inspecting prisoners' corpses at a liberated concentration camp, 1945 FDR DIES; TRUMAN PRESIDENT •On April 12, 1945, FDR suffered a stroke and died– his VP Harry S Truman became president ALLIES TAKE BERLIN; HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE By April 25, 1945, the Soviet army had stormed Berlin Hitler hid in his underground headquarters in Berlin On April 29, he married girlfriend Eva Braun then wrote a last note in which he blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it The next day he gave poison to his wife and shot himself; bodies were then burned V-E DAY General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day – victory in Europe Day The war in Europe was finally over American soldier celebrating the end of the war Unconditional Surrender V-E celebration in New York City
