Download ETO - European Theatre of Operations

ETO – European
Theatre of
Operations
I. Poland (1, September 1939)
A.
B.
The Plan: German prisoners were dressed in
Polish Army uniforms & taken to the
Polish/German border. The prisoners were shot
& killed by the SS. Hitler claimed that the Poles
had attacked a German radio outpost
Blitzkrieg: “lightning war” Combination of
aircraft, tanks, artillery and infantry designed to
overwhelm the enemy creating a quick and
sound defeat
Poland Cont.
C.
Outdated Polish military
1.
2.
D.
Poles led cavalry charges against German
tanks
Polish weaponry & tactics were outdated, low
supplies, poor training, no airforce
Soviet Union (German – Soviet NonAggression Pact)
1.
2.
Attack simultaneously from the east
Poland divided between Germany & USSR
II. Sitzkrieg
“cold war” – no shots were fired for
several months; no combat takes place
Armies massed in stand off
A.
B.
•
French & German armies mobilize & gather
along the French/German border
III. Germany attacks
Belgium, Norway, Netherlands
A.
•
B.
These countries either lie between Germany
and France, or are needed for strategic
purposes. They fall to Germany very quickly.
France
1. Maginot Line: Stationary line of defenses
(French/German border). Series of concrete
bunkers & pillboxes w/ artillery, machine guns,
mines, etc.
Germany attacks cont.
France cont.
B.
2.
German Plan
a.
Paratroopers – Airborne infantry
•
•
b.
Panzers – German tanks
•
•
c.
Jumped in behind the Maginot Line
Attempted to surround and cut off the French Army
Frontal assault on the Maginot Line
Squeeze the French against the paratroopers in the west.
Folly at Dunkirk
•
•
Hitler calls off the ground assault to let the Luftwaffe finish off
the French and British armies at Dunkirk.
Luftwaffe fails due to poor weather conditions
• France is defeated and falls in ONE WEEK
IV. Operation Barbarosa
German invasion of Soviet Union – 1941
Why?
A.
B.
1.
2.
Natural resources (oil, minerals, farmland)
Hitler’s grudge



3.
4.
Hated Stalin
Hated Communism
Felt the Russians were sub human
Bad Idea
Brutal fighting

examples