Download American Entry into World War II

Nazi Germany vs. Soviet Union
Soviet Union
• After taking France, Hitler
turned his attention to
Britain.
– Battle of Britain & The Blitz
• When Hitler cannot break
Britain, he turns against
the Soviet Union.
• Non-Aggression Pact?
• Believes he can quickly
defeat them.
• Then Britain would truly
have no allies.
Soviet Union
• Late 1940 – Early
1941 - Hitler secures
Greece and
Yugoslavia.
– Needs to secure them
to secure his route
into Soviet Union.
– Italy had failed to do
it.
Operation Barbarossa
• Hitler cannot invade Soviet
Union until June 1941.
– Still thinks he can defeat
them before winter.
• By winter, Hitler only has
Leningrad under siege
– Has not reached Moscow or
Stalingrad
– German army is not
prepared for winter
• Germans are particularly
brutal to the
Russian/Slavic civilians
Stalingrad
• In spring 1942, a new
German offensive pushes
to Stalingrad.
– High point of the German
advance into Soviet Union
• Hitler is determined to take
it…
• Stalin is determined to
defend it…
– The German Army will
ultimately be forced to pull
back.
Entrance of the United States
• After Pearl Harbor…
– United States declared war
on Japan
– Germany and Italy
declared war on the
United States.
• The USA had to fight a
war on two fronts.
• Arcadia Conference
– “Europe First”
Problem: Where to attack
Europe?
War in North Africa
• Why North Africa?
– Gain experience before taking
on the main German army.
• British troops had begun
fighting in North Africa in
1940.
– Fight back Italian troops in
their colonies of Egypt and
Libya.
• Hitler sends General Erwin
Rommel, “The Desert Fox.”
• Afrika Korps
– Pushed British back into Egypt.
War in North Africa
• Nov 1942, American troops
land in Morocco.
– Led by US General Dwight
Eisenhower.
• Push Afrika Korps back and
trap 240,000 Italian and
German troops.
Problem: Where to go next?
Italian Peninsular Campaign
• “The soft underbelly of
Europe” – Churchill.
• July 1943, Allies invade
Sicily, then Italy.
– As Allied forces invade
mainland Italy, Italy
declares war on Germany!
• Mussolini is overthrown and
arrested.
– Eventually found and
killed in 1945
– Allies do not take all of Italy
until April, 1945.
Italian Peninsular Campaign
• “The soft underbelly of
Europe” – Churchill.
• July 1943, Allies invade
Sicily, then Italy.
– As Allied forces invade
mainland Italy, Italy
declares war on Germany!
• Mussolini is overthrown and
arrested.
– Eventually found and
killed in 1945
– Allies do not take all of Italy
until April, 1945.
The Second FronT…
• The Soviet Union was
losing thousands of
lives a day while they
hold the Nazis at bay.
– Nov 1943 - Tehran
Conference
• Roosevelt and Churchill
agree to help Stalin’s
Soviet Union by
opening up a new front.