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World War II
20 Things You Should Know
about World War II
1. Who, When and Where?
• Who: Most of the world was involved in this
conflict in some way.
– Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan
– Allies Powers: Britain, Soviet Union, and USA
• Many nations participated, such as France and China
• Where: Two Theaters of War:
– Europe / North Africa
– Pacific Theater
• When: Sept. 1939 – Sept. 1945
2. Leaders
•
•
•
•
•
Allies
Winston Churchill of
Great Britain
Joseph Stalin of the
Soviet Union
President Franklin
Roosevelt of the U.S.
Charles DeGaulle of
France
Chiang Kai-shek of China
Axis
• Adolf Hitler of Germany
• Benito Mussolini of Italy
• Emperor Hirohito of
Japan
3. The First Attack: Poland
• Although Germany had adopted a
policy of expansion (Rhineland,
Austria, Sudetenland, and
Czechoslovakia), only after the
invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939
do Britain and France declare war on
Germany to stop their expansion.
• Poland falls to Germany
• 1939 – summer of 1940 is known as
the “Sitzkrieg”, or Sitting War, since no
fighting takes place at this time.
4. Blitzkrieg
• The biggest difference between
WWI and WWII is speed.
• WWI is a very stationary war,
revolving around one major
front, with trenches being the
dominate feature.
• World War II is a war of
movement, fast sweeping
action with mechanized armies,
supported by airplanes that
strike deep into enemy territory.
• Blitzkrieg is German for
“Lightning War”, which
describes new strategies of fast
moving war.
5. Battle of Britain
• In 1940, Germany marched past the
Maginot Line (France’s main
defense) and conquered France in
six weeks, leaving Britain to fight
Germany alone.
• Germany attempts to bomb Britain
into submission before launching a
cross channel invasion.
• The Royal Air Force (RAF) fights off
the German Luftwaffe for one year
and Hitler cancels the invasion.
6. Battle of the Atlantic
• Although not an actual battle, the continuous fight
between the British navy and the German submarines
was important for the allied war effort to maintain the
British supply lines.
• The United States was able to assist Great Britain
through the Lend Lease Program.
7. Germany invades Russia
• Considered Hitler’s greatest
mistake!
• Although he has a NonAggression Pact with the
Soviet Union, Hitler is
confident and eager to begin
his policy of Lebensraum, or
living space for Germany in the
East.
• The initial invasion is a great
success, but winter sets in
before he takes Moscow.
8. Pearl Harbor
• The United States had been
opposing Japanese expansion
in the Pacific and Far East by
denying them needed
resources.
• In order to secure the needed
resources, Japan attacks the
U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii in order to cripple the
only obstacle in their takeover
of vast amount of territory.
• It worked! After the Pearl
Harbor attack, Japan takes
over French Indonesia, British
Singapore, and the U.S. held
Philippine Islands.
9. Battle of Midway
• The Japanese carrier strike force sought to complete the annihilation
of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific by forcing the U.S to commit there
aircraft carriers in a major battle at Midway Island.
• Thanks to many critical factors, such as breaking the Japanese
code, the U.S carriers are able to destroy four Japanese carriers
and end any further major Japanese offensive action in the Pacific.
• This battle was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
10. Battle for North Africa
• First the Italian Army and then the
Germans, led by General Rommel
of the Africa Corp, invaded Africa
to take the Suez Canal, a valuable
British possession.
• The British were able to stop the
German advance at El Alamein.
This was the first British victory of
the war after two years of fighting.
• U.S. soldiers were first deployed
against the Germans in North
Africa and drove them out of
Africa.
11. Stalingrad and The Eastern Front
• The worst of the fighting of the war occurred on the Eastern Front
(Germany v. the Soviet Union).
• In 1942, Germany launched an attack on Stalingrad and southern
regions of the Soviet Union to control the oil resources.
• Germany conquered Stalingrad, but was quickly surrounded by
another Soviet Army and forced to surrender an entire army.
• Turning point of the war in Europe and major setback for Germany.
12. Air Warfare
• Using new technology, both sides
used bomb raids against the military
and industrial targets of the enemy.
• Later the civilian population will be
targeted and Germany will use the V1 and V-2 rockets against Britain.
• Allies use fire bombs to obliterate the
cities of Dresden and Tokyo.
13. War in the Pacific
• The United States, facing
enemies in both Europe
and the Pacific chose to
divert the vast majority of
their resources to the war in
Europe.
• The Pacific war revolved
around the concept of
island hopping, amphibious
invasions, and naval air
combat.
• Famous confrontations
include, Guadalcanal, the
Marianas‘ Turkey Shoot’,
Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
14. Invasion of Sicily / Italy
• Launching from North Africa, the Allies attacked the “Soft
Underbelly” of the Axis powers.
• Italy overthrew Mussolini and surrendered to the Allies, but
Germany quickly sent in troops to oppose the advancing
American army.
15. The Allied Conferences
• Churchill and Roosevelt met
many times to coordinate the
efforts of the British and
American armed forces in their
attack against Germany.
• The Casablanca Conference led
to the agreement that all would
fight to an unconditional
surrender.
• The Teheran Conference was the
height of Allied cooperation as
the three leaders planned the
invasion of Europe.
16. D-Day: Invasion of Normandy
• This invasion was the largest
amphibious invasion in the
history of the world, as the
Allies landed massive
numbers of ground troops on
the coast of France.
• This began the push towards
Germany to end the war.
• Shortly after this invasion the
Soviet Union launches an
attack on the Eastern Front
and begin their drive to
Germany.
17. Fall of Germany
• In December of 1944, Germany
launches a final counter attack
know as the Battle of the Bulge,
but it fails to achieve its
objective.
• Germany is falling back on all
fronts.
• In April 1945, Adolf Hitler
commits suicide and soon after
the German government
surrenders unconditionally to the
Allied forces.
18. Yalta Conference
• The Big Three (Churchill,
Stalin, and Roosevelt) met
to discuss the future of
Europe now that the fall of
Germany was imminent.
• The cooperation of the past
was now over as each
nation sought to expand
their influence and ideology
into the remains of the Nazi
Empire.
19. Atomic Bomb
• After three years of development
and two billion dollars invested in
the creation of the atomic bomb,
on August 6, 1945, the “Little Boy”
was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
in order to avoid losing lives in an
invasion of the Japanese
homeland.
• A second bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki three days later.
• The use of atomic energy as a
weapon ushered in a new age in
the history of the world and the
Cold War.
20. Holocaust
• “Crimes against Humanity”
This was the charge created
for the Nazi Leaders who
planned and participated in
the attempted genocide of the
Jewish race in Europe at their
trial in Nuremberg.
• Over six million Jews and
four million other nondesirables, such as Gypsies,
Slavs, and homosexuals
were systematically murdered
by the Nazi SS in labor and
death camps located in
Poland and Germany.