Download The Second World War

The Second World War
European Theatre
September 1939 - May 1945
Blitzkrieg :





Means lightning war
Tanks, planes and armoured infantry
Shut down communication transportation
Tanks attack in massed columns
Armoured infantry secures ground
captured
Invasion of Poland






Sept. 1st 1939
Danzig and the Polish corridor.
Britain declares war Sept. 3rd, France
Sept. 4th, and Canada Sept. 10th
Sept. 17th the Soviets invade from the
East
Poland Surrenders on Sept. 27th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
FpW9wXJb6ZU
Panzer 6
Tiger 20mm Canon
The Phony War






Hitler started military build up as early as
1934.
For 5 years they built superior tanks and
planes that would deliver a blitz.
Allies focused on Economic reform and
appeasement (not ready for war)
Hitler invades Norway in April 1940
May 1940 Hitler invades France
For 10 months the Allies did nothing
The Invasion of France




They split the French and British armies
in two, with the French encircled and the
British with their backs to the sea.
Captured Paris and swung to the east to
encircle French Army (Schlieffen Plan)
June 25th the French surrender (6 weeks)
Vichy France – puppet government lead
by Marshal Petain
Dunkirk


On June 1st 1940 British evacuate
330 000 men.
Keeps British in the Fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AZO0YfEOQw
The Battle of Britain







Operation Sea Lion (German invasion of
England)
To risky for German troops to invade
English terrain to rough for tanks
Bomb the civilian population to break
morale
British invented the radar
Hitler is losing too many planes
After 10 months Hitler gives up and plans
invasion of Russia
Operation Barbarossa







This will cost Hitler the war
He opens an eastern front with the
Soviets
He should have learned from Napoleon
June 1941 (3 months to late)
His advance is halted by the Russian
Winter
December 1941 Hitler declares war on
the United States
Starts up again in the Spring of 1942
Stalingrad








October 1942 Hitler divides forces and heads for
the Southern oil fields of Crimea
Destination Stalingrad
6th army commanded by Gen. Paulus
First two months capture 85% of the city
(Soviets Surrounded)
Dec. 19th Stalin springs the trap
Germans are surrounded when the Russian army
cuts off their escape route at the rive Donnets
Germans will freeze in the Kessel
300 000 Germans captured
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzVrfuywDcw&feature=related
The Big Three





Left Winston Churchill British Prime
Minister.
Center Franklin Roosevelt U.S. President.
Right Josef Stalin Premier of the USSR
They would be reponsible for the victory
and the Peace that would come after
WWII.
Stalin wants U.S. and Britain to take
pressure off.
Invasion of North Africa






1941 the British have pushed the Italians
back to Tunisia
Spring 1942 Hitler puts Rommel in
command of Afrika Corps
He pushes the British all the way back to
Cairo (Battle of El Alamain)
October 1942 the Americans land on
West Coast (Casablanca and Algieres)
Rommel must fight on Two fronts
May 1943 Germans Surrender (275 000)
D-Day




The idea was to create the two front war to
divide the German forces in Europe.
The British and American air Force had been
bombing German industrial centers for two
years. It was time to deliver the knock out
punch. This would come on the beaches of
Normandy (Saving Private Ryan)
The Allies worked hard at convincing the
Germans that it would come at Calais in he East
some 300 km from Normandy.
The American General Dwight Eisenhower would
be in command.
The landing






June 6th 1944 it begins.
1,273 ships
57500 U.S. troops 75000 British and Can.
13743 air craft
900 armored vehicles and 600 guns.
Five beaches :Utah/Omaha = U.S
Sword/Gold = British
Juno
=
Canadian
The plan




27000 airborne troops would land behind
the German defenses and secure the
strategic towns, bridges, and railways.
130 000 troops would swarm the beaches
at dawn with the protection of the naval
guns as artillery.
The defenses at Omaha were brutal. Over
three thousand Americans would die on
that beach.
By the evening of June 6th the allies had
established the Western Front. The War
would take a rapid turn for the allies.
The Bombing Campaign




US and British Airforces set out to destroy
Germanys ability to make weapons for
the war
Factories and industrial centers are carpet
bombed by Lancaster's and B-17’s
Fire bombing of Dresden – Break German
will to fight by using incendiary bombs
Dresden is not an industrial sity
Bombing Campaign
Dresden
Lancasters
The End of the War
Hitler launches a winter offensive
Christmas 1944 = Battle of the
Bulge. They run out of fuel and the
allies dominate the skies
 Jan. 15th 1945 – The Soviets cross
the German Border in the East
 The U.S. are pushing for Munich and
the Canadians and British are
liberating Holand

Yalta




Feb. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill meet
to discuss the rebuilding of Europe
Germany will be occupied with the Three
powers taking responsibility to rebuild a
sector
Roosevelt wants to make sure that
England and the Soviets help with Japan
Plans for the United Nations are discussed
The Last Days





Roosevelt dies April 15th – Replaced by Truman
Hitler commits suicide April 30th 1945
The Nazi’s believe they can still negotiate
a peace
A big push by both fronts to capture
Germany – You keep what you take
May 8th 1945 Germany surrenders