Download World War Two-Part One - Mr McElhinney`s History Class

World War Two – 1st Part
3rd YR
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Invading Poland
Poland was next after Czechoslovakia
Newly created after WW1
Many Germans lived in the Polish Corridor
Threatened to invade – why? Lebensraum
Britain and France supported Poland
Would declare war on Germany if Hitler invaded Poland
Non-aggression Pact (1)
• Soviet Union – the only country Hitler feared could
stop him
• Hitler’s ultimate lebensraum aim – conquer Russia
• Joseph Stalin – Leader of The Soviet Union
• Stalin despised Hitler and Fascism
Non-Aggression Pact (2)
• But Stalin didn’t trust Britain
and France either – why?
• Because they were also anticommunist (like Hitler)
• Hitler and Stalin signed a pact
promising not to attack each
other for 10 yrs
• Secret part of the pact –
agreed to divide Poland
between them
Non-Aggression Pact (3)
• Stalin avoided war
• Stalin got east Poland and some other eastern European
countries
• Hitler invaded Poland – got West Poland
• Hitler was free to concentrate on fighting France and
Britain
• Hitler didn’t have to worry about fighting Russia on the east
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Poland invaded
Sep 1939 – Hitler’s troops invade Poland
Britain and France demand a withdrawal
Hitler ignored them
3rd Sep – Britain and France declare war on Germany
WW2 has begun
This lasts 6 yrs – from 1939-1945
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Blitzkrieg
‘Lightning War’ – German military tactic
First drop many bombs from the air...
...Followed by a land invasion of troops and tanks
Poland defeated in weeks
Poland divided in two between Germany and Soviet Union
Phoney War
• Nothing happens for several months – why?
• Both sides building up the strength of the army getting
ready for war
• According to the Germans, ‘Sitzkrieg’ (the Sitting war)
• Ends in April 1940
• Germany launches a blitzkrieg attack on Denmark and
Norway
• They quickly surrender
Blitzkrieg in action
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Hitler invades Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg in 1940
Within days, they have surrendered
Hitler looks unstoppable
France is next
Maginot Line
• The French built a line of forts along their border
with Germany
• Why? To protect them from German invasion
• Gap in the line in a huge forest
• Germans poured in through here
• Germans also entered across from Belgium
Maginot line
Dunkirk
• British troops had been
stationed in France to help them
• Now they retreated towards the
English channel
• Trapped at the port of Dunkirk
• Surrounded by the German army
• About to be captured
Operation Dynamo
• An emergency rescue attempt – Operation Dynamo
• Any available British ships crossed the channel and
rescued the troops
• Even yachts and fishing boats manned by normal helped
• Loads of English soldiers rescued
• Why is it so important?
• 1. Allowed Britain to keep fighting the war
• 2. Gave the British a huge morale boost –great
propaganda
France Surrenders
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German troops enter Paris
France surrenders
The Germans split France in two
They take over the Northern Part – it is ruled by Germany
The rest of France was ruled by a French Government who
promised to obey Hitler
• Govt based in a town called Vichy
• This half of France is known as ‘Vichy France’
Vichy France
• Why did the Germans want to control the Northern Half of
France?
• 1. To be able to keep an eye on Britain
• 2. To plan an attack on Britain from there
• Look how close Northern France is to Britain
• Now Britain was the only ally left in Europe against
Germany
• Ireland was neutral
Vichy France
Italy joins
• Mussolini had remained neutral at
the start of the war
• Remem, Italy was fascist
• Had signed Pact of Steel with Hitler in
1936
• June 1940 – after the Fall of France
• When it looked inevitable Hitler
would win,
• Italy joins
Winston Churchill
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New British Prime Minister
He had always criticised appeasement
Famous for giving great speeches
He inspired the British to keep fighting even though
defeat seemed inevitable
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Operation Sealion
The Germans planned to invade Britain
Last country fighting against Germany
But wouldn’t surrender to them
Hitler called it Operation Sealion
The Luftwaffe needed to control the skies over Britain
RAF = The Royal Air Force (British)
Battle of Britain
• A huge battle between the airforces
• Britain had radar – crucial
• Why? It gave early warning of German attacks – where they
were headed
• German planes start bombing English airbases
• British Hurricane and Spitfires fight back
• Dogfights
German Bombings
• 1st German mistake – started to bomb London
• Why? Hitler thought people would be terrified and demand
peace (surrender to Germany)
• The Blitz – the bombing of British cities
• Lasted from Sep 1940 – May 1941
The Blitz
• But the decision to bomb
London allowed the RAF and
their bases to recover
• They fought back
• The RAF won
• Hitler called off Sealion
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Operation Barbarossa (1)
June 1941 – Hitler invades Russia
He wanted lebensraum (living space) for Germany
3 major cities in Russia – Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev
The invasion split into 3 groups
Each group to advance and capture one city
Over 3 million German troops enter Russia
Plan for Barbarossa
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Operation Barbarossa (2)
The Russian (Red) army begin to retreat
Germans capture millions of soldiers
But Russia is huge – the invasion would take so long
The unbearable Russian winter would defeat them
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Battle for Stalingrad (1)
Stalingrad – v important to Hitler
Germany desperately need oil to fight the war
Many oil-fields behind Stalingrad
Aug 1942 Germans attack Stalingrad
Germany led by General Paulus
Marshal Zhukov defended the city
Battle of Stalingrad (2)
• Germany invaded the city
• Started to fight the Red Army
• But Zhukov secretly got 1 million troops to surround
Stalingrad
• The German force was trapped in Stalingrad
• Cut off from the rest of the army
• Not allowed to surrender
• Luftwaffe tried to drop food in
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Battle of Stalingrad (3)
Germans dying from starvation cold
Forced to eat their horses
Eventually surrendered
Hitler’s first major defeat
Turning pt in WW2
Red Army started to drive the Germans back out of Russia
America
• Isolationism =After WW1 America decided to keep out of
European affairs
• America remained neutral in 1939
• But the president, F D Roosevelt, hated the Nazis
• So did most Americans
• So they helped Britain by sending weapons and food
Isolationism
Pearl Harbour (1)
• Japan became an ally of Hitler in 1936
• Japan had conquered some of China and wanted to invade
other countries
• Wanted to set up a Japanese empire (like Hitler’s 3rd Reich)
• America was attacked in Dec 1941 at Pearl Harbour in
Hawaii
• Japan hoped to quickly destroy the American navy
• ...and that this would allow them to invade
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Pearl Harbour (2)
It was a surprise attack
Japanese planes sank warships and killed over 3000
American reaction – similar to 9-11
Declared war on Japan
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America enters European War
Germany declared war on America
Why? Because of the 1936 Pact
Big mistake
He could never defeat America, as well as Br and Russia
America had a distinct advantage over all the other
countries – what?
• Sheer size and numbers of population
The Allies Advance, 1943
• The Americans had
joined the war on the
Allied Side
• They now help the British
in Africa
• From Africa the Allies
invade Italy
• The Allies capture Italy
• Mussolini is captured and
executed
The Allies Advance-1944
• Battle of Kursk – largest tank battle
• Germans defeated
• Russian army now started forcing German soldiers back
from Russia
• Kept forcing them back into Germany
• Russian army invades Germany in 1944
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Operation Overlord
The Allies plan an invasion of Europe
Their aim is to destroy Germany
Codenamed Operation Overlord
The commander of this allied force is General
Eisenhower
• They plan to land in France
• Start by freeing (liberating) France from the Nazis
Operation Overlord (2)
• The invading troops would be a mixture of US, Canadian
and British soldiers
• From here they would move towards Germany
• Surround the Germans in their own country
• This was going to be the ‘second front’
• What was the 1st front against Hitler?