Download The European Theatre Battles of WWII

The European Theatre
Battles of WWII
• In your notebook
discuss the origin,
value, purpose and
limitation of the
picture.
1940 Germany
• Invasion of Poland
• The Fall of France
• North Africa
Battles
• Stalingrad
• Battle of the Bulge
• D-Day
• Hitler demanded the Baltic Sea port which was in
Polish control
• Alleged allies such as Britain & France were going
to back Poland’s refusal for the sea port Danzig
• Germany turned to the USSR for support in
invasion of Poland
• Germany attacked from the west and the USSR
from the east as agreed in the Nazi-Soviet Pact
• The warfare became known as blitzkrieg –
“lightening war” using tanks & aircraft(Luftwaffe)
• Poland Fell to German forces on October 5th 1939
• The Maginot line were bunkers built in protection
against Germany
• Hitler simply went around the Maginot line and
invaded through the Netherlands,Belgium &
Luxembourg
• France was caught by surprise leaving the French &
British forces trapped in Belgium
• A miracle occurred at a port called Dunkirk when
German forces halted giving time for evacuation &
saved the country from complete defeat by Hitler
• France surrendered in June 1940
The Battle of Britain
• Hitler expected Britain to make
peace, however, Britain, led by
a new Prime Minister, Winston
Churchill, refused to
surrender.
• Hitler proceeded with invasion
plans. The Luftwaffe began
massive attacks on Britain to
destroy its air defenses.
• Britain held firm during the
Blitz despite devastating
destruction to English cities.
• The British resistance
convinced Hitler to postpone
the invasion but he continued
the bombing attacks.
The Eastern Front
• Hitler had strategic and ideological
reasons for invading Russia
– Strategically he knew that the Soviet Union
and the US were critical to Britain’s
willingness to keep fighting
– He also felt he needed the agricultural and
raw material resources of Eastern Russia
– Ideologically he viewed the Soviet Union as
an amalgamation of his greatest enemies, the
Jews and the Slavs
Operation Barbarossa
• Hitler based his plan on the assumption he could
destroy the Soviet Union within one year
• Critical to his success would be to catch and
destroy the Soviet Army at the border areas
• If that did not occur, the Russians could use their
vast territory to trade space for time and cause
the Germans huge logistical problems
Operation Barbarossa
• On June 22, 1941,
Hitler invaded Russia in
Operation Barbarossa
• The operation
encompassed a total
troop strength of about
4 million men, making it
the biggest single land
operation ever
• Benefiting from initial
surprise, by the end of
July Hitler had
occupied a portion of
Russia twice the size of
France
Operation Barbarossa
Battle of Moscow
• With the Germans’ successes in the north
and south, Hitler assumed that Stalin’s
regime was on the verge of collapse
• He authorized an advance on Moscow
before the onset of winter
• Already however the Germans were
suffering from serious supply shortages
• Because of the cold tempratures they had
to retreat..
Operation Barbarossa : Battle of
Moscow
• As the Russians pushed forward, Hitler
refused to allow a retreat and relieved or
court-martialed generals who did so
• Hitler named himself commander-in-chief
of the army
– Each military service began to operate
increasingly independently and Germany
suffered from a lack of an overall strategy
Why Soviet Defeated Germans
• Germans not prepared for long campaignsupplies and inadequate equipment
• Hitler took control of army
• Germans were brutal to civilians which
inflamed Russian resistance
• Heavy German losses
Strategic Situation
• On Dec 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US at
Pearl Harbor
• In spite of his troubles in Russia, Hitler
decided to support Japan and also declare
war on the US
• Now the US would join with Britain to
adopt a “Europe First” strategy that would
destroy Hitler
• US president Roosevelt invaded Morocco & Algeria to aid
Britain in the fight against Germany in Egypt.
• During The Battle of El Alamein General Erwin Rommel
who lead the German forces planned to trap US and
British forces in between Tunisia and Libya
• US forces did not fare well up against German force
causing 7,000 casualties and losing 200 tanks
• Luckily Both American and British Forces forced
Germany to surrender in North Africa
• One last desperate attempt by
Hitler involved blocking
supplies coming through
Belgium
• Germany caught Americans
surrounding them
• General Patton and troops
saved the Americans by
attacking German forces
• Germany lost the battle with
100,000 casualties
• President Roosevelt and Churchill planned the invasion of
France which was lead by General Eisenhower
• The US forces were going to surprise Germany using
rubber tanks,and dummy landing craft. This completely
fooled Germany while they attacked through Normandy
• 100,000 soldiers by boat
• 23,000 paratroopers
• Soviet troops began a massive attack on German Troops
sending German forces back to Poland
• The Soviets had Germany by the Eastern border and
America had attacked German forces by the Western
border
• This crushed the German forces causing the suicide of
Hitler
• The Surrender of Germany was on May 8th 1945
Key Battles
• In what ways, and with what results for
twentieth century wars, did tactics
change?