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Battle of Stalingrad
• Read “The Battle of Stalingrad” on p. 846848.
• 1. Why was the Battle of Stalingrad a turning point
in the European Theater of WWII?
• 2. What was the significance of attacking
Stalingrad?
• 3. What did the Germans lack as the battle neared
an end?
• 4. How many Soviet lives were lost?
• 5. What was Hitler’s position on surrender?
World War II
Fighting in Europe 1939-41
• blitzkrieg (lightning war)
– conquered Poland (4 weeks)
– used armored tanks w/air support
• Maginot Line– French built concrete/steel fortifications called
• May 1940- Germans attacked through
Belgium/Luxembourg (Ardennes Forrest)
– took French/British by surprise
• Germans trapped Allied forces around Dunkirk
(on coast)
– British navy evacuated them
• June 22, 1940- France signed armistice
– Germany directly controlled most of France, set up
puppet gov’t called Vichy to govern rest
Maginot Line
Dunkirk
Battle of Britain
• GB appealed to US, but US very isolationist
• August 1940:
– Hitler began Battle of Britain by bombing British
airfields, factories
– British retaliated by bombing Berlin, Hitler so mad,
switched from bombing military targets to bombing
London
• British rebuilt Royal Air Force (RAF)
– gained control of airspace
• Hitler attacked USSR
– planned for Spring 1941, delayed till August
• Germans successful, but Soviets pulled in,
Germans unable to cope with Russian winter
Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
Fighting in Asia 1941-42
• December 7, 1941– Japan attacked US at Pearl Harbor
– Also attacked European colonies in SE Asia
• Japanese thought American fleet in Pacific
destroyed, US wouldn’t respond b/c weak
– unified US on Allied side
• Germany declared war on US
• 1942 Japan controlled all of SE and East Asia
– US surrenders The Philippines
– Bataan Death March (Philippines)– US soldiers
captured, beaten, marched to prison camp
• (70,000 prisoners marched- not all US)
Pearl Harbor
Bataan Death March
Fighting in Europe 1942-45
• US, GB, USSR put aside political differences to
concentrate on war
– Required unconditional surrender from Axis Powers
– Stalin screaming for US, GB to open front v. Axis Powers
• 1942- Rommel “Desert Fox,” Afrika Korps
controlled Egypt
• hoped to cut off oil
• British forces stopped Rommel
– battle of El-Alamein
• Nov. 1942-Feb. 1943- Battle of Stalingrad
– Germany invaded b/c major industrial center
– Russians counter attacked, Germany’s best army lost surrendered
El Alamein and Rommel
Battle of Stalingrad
Turning Point in Western Europe
• D-Day June 6, 1944 Allies landed at
Normandy beach
– commanded by Dwight Eisenhower
• Allies freed Paris- August 1944
– into Germany- March 1945
– resistance fighters joined Allies
• April 1945– Soviets entered Berlin first
• Hitler at Eagle’s Nest
– committed suicide April 30, 1945
• German commanders surrendered
– May 7, 1945 called V-E Day (victory in Europe)
D-Day
D-Day
V-E Day
Fighting in Asia 1942-45
• turning point in Pacific Battle of Midway 6/4/42
– decisive defeat for Japan
• Allied strategy “island-hopping” push Japanese back to Japan
– Allies won major battles at Iwo Jima, Okinawa
•
FDR died- April 1945
• Truman became president, use atomic bomb?
– (Manhattan Project)
• Truman decided to use the bombs
– dropped one on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945; Japan didn’t
surrender
– US dropped other bomb on Nagasaki a few days later
• Japan surrendered August 14, 1945 called V-J day (victory
over Japan)
The atomic bomb was not just for Japan, but
also to send a message to the Soviets of new
US capabilities in the future.
Battle of Midway
Nagasaki
V-J Day
Conferences
1. Yalta Conference – Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet in
Feb. 1945 to discuss the Post War world
– United Nations –world organization to maintain peace
– Division of Germany and Berlin – 4 zones occupied by
France, Great Britain, US, USSR
– Promise to defeat the Japanese
– Stalin promises free elections –occupied Eastern Europe
2. Potsdam Conference – Churchill, Truman, Stalin meet in Aug.
1945
– Ultimatum to Japan – demanding unconditional surrender
– Tensions between Stalin and Truman begin over the future
of Europe
– Stalin has not begun free elections as promised