* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download World War II
Economy of Nazi Germany wikipedia , lookup
Consequences of Nazism wikipedia , lookup
Attack on Mers-el-Kébir wikipedia , lookup
New Order (Nazism) wikipedia , lookup
Appeasement wikipedia , lookup
World War II by country wikipedia , lookup
Operation Torch wikipedia , lookup
Technology during World War II wikipedia , lookup
Foreign relations of the Axis powers wikipedia , lookup
Home front during World War II wikipedia , lookup
British propaganda during World War II wikipedia , lookup
Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II wikipedia , lookup
End of World War II in Europe wikipedia , lookup
Historiography of the Battle of France wikipedia , lookup
Western betrayal wikipedia , lookup
Allies of World War II wikipedia , lookup
German military administration in occupied France during World War II wikipedia , lookup
Battle of the Mediterranean wikipedia , lookup
Causes of World War II wikipedia , lookup
World War II 1939-1945 Initial German Success (1939-40) • – • • • – – on Sept. 1, 1939, German air force & army invaded Poland from the west blitzkrieg, or lightning warfare; Polish forces were completely overwhelmed (Hitler annexed Poland, as result of Nazi-Soviet Pact, USSR got Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Eastern Poland) First six-months called “Phony War” and “Sitzkreig” because little fighting happened April 1940, Hitler took Denmark and Norway Conquest of France Germans bypassed Maginot Line and went through Belgium to get into France British retreated to Dunkirk, French resistance collapsed and went south Vichy France • French surrendered, Germans occupied N. France • Southern France left under a puppet government called Vichy France under Marshal Henri Pétan • In GB, French General Charles de Gaulle set up a Free French movement Britain Stands Alone • PM Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain • Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe bombed Britain nightly for 3 months • “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” • The RAF (Royal Air Force) used the new invention Radar to detect and hold off the invasion US “Neutrality” • When France fell in 1940, Americans realized that Britain stood alone against the Fascist aggressors • President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress began military buildup to “all measures short of war” • Selective Service Act 1940: first peacetime draft • Lend-Lease Act of 1941: lend goods to any nation whose defense necessary to defense of US (i.e. Britain) $50 Billion Axis Makes Two Mistakes (1941) • German Attack on USSR – – • Hitler wanted grain, oil, iron; thought he could quickly take over Stalin had stayed out until this point, Soviets used “scorchedearth policy” Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941, “date that will live in infamy” • – – 7:00 AM the Japanese launched a surprise attack &w/I 2 hrs., Japan had destroyed 19 ships included 8 battleships, 188 airplanes & killed 2400 Americans w/only the Japanese losing 29 planes & 1 submarine Forced US into war; “waking the sleeping giant” Axis believed that if US forced into a Pacific war, the would stop aiding GB Victory in Europe (1942-45) • North Africa to Italy (Operations Torch and Husky) – Oct. 1942, British beat Germans and Italians at El Alamein, Egypt; began pushing west – Nov. 1942, US under command of Dwight D. Eisenhower invaded French N. Africa and moved East – Allies crushed Axis forces – 1943 Allies crossed Mediterranean into Sicily – Mussolini’s Government collapsed • Mussolini tried to escape dressed as a soldier, but taken in N. Italy and hung Russian Counteroffensive (1943) • Battle of Stalingrad; turning-point in the war; Russians annihilated a 300,000 man Nazi Army • Pushed the Nazis out of USSR through Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland • 1945 Russians reached Germany and stormed Berlin D-Day (June 6, 1944) • Needed to open a second front in Europe • General Eisenhower led Allied troops across English Channel into Normandy • Operation Overlord • Beaches: Omaha, Juno, Gold, Sword • Largest waterborne (amphibious) attack in history • Met a large Nazi army, but drove them back from France V-E Day (Victory in Europe) • 1945 Allied armies crossed Rhine into Germany • Met Russians coming from the East • Hitler and new wife Eva Braun committed suicide • May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally