Download Grade 10 History – WWII

Grade 10 History – WWII
Allied Strategy in Europe
Information from WWII European Theatre 1939-1942
http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/ww2/europeantheater.htm
Task

To design a strategic military plan to defect the Nazi advance in Europe
Methods
 Using the information provided below, an atlas and a map of Europe, find how Hitler advanced
through Europe at the start of WWII and the greatest extent of German-held territory
 Once you have identified the country or region occupied by the German forces, colour the country
or the region.
 NOTE: Use the same colour for each occupied territory. You want to quickly identify the
size and location of German-occupied lands
 NOTE: The German forces advanced into Russia, but they did not control or defeat
Russia. The German advance nearly reached Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad. You
should only colour to the limit of the German advance. DO NOT colour all Russia.
 Hitler (Nazi Germany) and Mussolini (Fascist Italy) were allies. Colour the Italian advancement
and occupied land(s) the same colours as the German-held land.
 Once you have completed the map, you will have a picture of Europe prior to the Allied
counterattacks. What would you do? Develop a military plan to stop the Nazi takeover. Use
your imagination…think “outside the box.”
 NOTE: You must use the technology of the period. For example, you do NOT have
atomic bombs, stealth fighter planes, computer-controlled drones, smart bombs, X-box,
etc.
German Advance
1. Germany and Poland sign Non-Aggression Pact (26 January 1934)
2. Italy invades Ethiopia (1935)
 Using Hitler’s excuse that his troops were attacked, Mussolini attacks Ethiopia
3. Germany occupies the Rhineland (7 March 1936)
 In violation of the WWI Treaty of Versailles, Hitler’s army enters the Rhineland
(…demilitarized zone between France and Germany)
4. Germany annexes Austria (March 1938)
 Following Nazi violence and hoping to avoid a German takeover, Austrian Chancellor
Schuschnigg agrees to unification with Germany. Austrian Nazis are appointed to key
government positions.
 Within one week of the agreement, Hitler declares Germany “is no longer willing to
tolerate the suppression of ten million Germans along its borders."
 On 12 March 1938, Germany troops enter Austria. The SS destroys any political
resistance.
5. Germany annexes Czechoslovakia Sudetenland (September 1938 – April 1939)
 The Munich Agreement is signed by Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy on 29
September 1939. The agreement allows Germany to annex the Sudetenland in
exchange for peace (appeasement). Hitler argues that he must protect the Germans
living in the area from violence and persecution.
 Czechoslovakia was not invited to the negotiations. Czechoslovakia had a military
alliance with France and Great Britain. It fled betrayed.
 In March 1939, Slovakia seceded from Czechoslovakia and became a separate state.


Hitler staged a military march into other states of Czechoslovakia to create an armed
conflict and provide an excuse to “offer protection.”
By April 1939, Czechoslovakia has been efficiently absorbed into the German Third
Reich.
6. Germany invades Poland (1 September 1939)
 Hitler launched the blitzkrieg tested three years earlier during the Spanish Civil War upon
Poland. Poland's two million man army was easily defeated, many of whom were on
horseback against German tanks.
 The Soviet Union attacked from the west on September 17 according to the Nazi-Soviet
Non-Aggression Pact signed a month earlier.
 Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3.
7. Germany invades Denmark and Norway (9 April 1940 – Operation Weseruebung)
 Hitler used the excuse that he had to protect Denmark and Norway.
 In spite of a treaty Hitler had with Denmark, he rolled his tanks across its borders.
 Norway's government was headed by Vidkun Quisling, whose name would later become
equated with "traitor."
8. Germany invades Holland and Belgium
 Hitler moved 136 divisions against Holland and Belgium on 10 May 1940. The Dutch
were helpless against the blitzkrieg, which was once again predicated on the possibility of
a British attack. On May 14, the Dutch port city of Rotterdam was bombed into
submission with no provocation. Queen Wilhelmina escaped to England where a
government-in-exile was established. The Dutch suffered 100,000 casualties before
surrendering. Hitler placed the Dutch under the rule of Artur von Seyss-Inquart, an
Austrian who had helped in the Nazi coup there.
 The same fate awaited Belgium. A fortress at EbenEmael fell within 36 hours of the blitz
on Belgium. King Leopold refused to escape, and many saw this as a form of
collaboration with the Germans. He was forced to step down from his throne after the
war. Belgium surrendered on 27 May 1940.
9. Dunkirk Evacuation (May-June 1940)
 The British forces were trapped. The only means of escape back to England was the port
of Dunkirk on the French coast.The British Armed Forces called upon its civil population
to donate any small ships that were available to move men and equipment from the
European mainland. From May 26 to June 4, 1940, Operation Dynamo was put into
action -- 887 ships of all sizes dangerously crossed the English Channel to rescue
338,226 men and bring them to England. The Allied forces were battered, but they were
intact enough to fight another day.
10. Germany invades France (June 1940)
 The first air raids on Paris began on 3 June1940. Following the air attack, 2000 tanks
moved toward the capital at lightning speed. The French government fled Paris on June
11.WWI hero Marshal Henri Petain took control and surrendered to the Germans. The
French signed an armistice at Compeigne on June 22 in the same railway car that
Germany signed its humiliating armistice to end WWI.
11. Battle of Britain (September 1940 – June 1941)
 Hitler planned to bomb Great Britain into submission. Led by Luftwaffe chief Herman
Goering’s Operation Sea Lion, the German Luftwaffe air force dropped bombs on London
and the other major Great Britain cities. In total, 1 million bombs were dropped. Over
40,000 British civilians were killed, but Germany lost over 1,700 aircraft. German aircraft
were eventually detected by early forms of RADAR.
 When Hitler launched his attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, the plan was stopped
12. Italy invades Sudan and Somali (September 1940)
13. Italy invades Egypt (September 1940)
 Mussolini is keen to flex his muscles in a show of strength to Hitler. Mussolini orders the
Italy troops to attack Egypt, but his army is poorly trained and equipped.
 The British stop the attack before it reaches Cairo
14. Germany invades Romania (November 1940)
 The attack is fierce and Romania falls quickly
 Romania allies with Hitler
15. Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria join Axis (November 1940 – January 1941)
16. Rasch Ali Gailani seizes power in a coup in Iraq and joins the Axis (March 1941)
17. German invades Yugoslavia (6 April 1941)
 Once again using the excuse that he needed to protect Germans living in different
countries, Hitler attacked Yugoslavia.
 Once defeated, Yugoslavia was divided up among the victorious Axis powers. However,
the Yugoslav resistance was fierce and a thorn in Hitler’s side throughout the war.
18. Italy invades Albania (April 1941)
 To demonstrate his support to Hitler, Mussolini invades Albania
19. Germany invades Greece (April 1941)
 Hitler attacked Greece.
 If Germany controlled Greece, the British feared neutral Turkey would align with the Axis
forces and provide Hitler a path to the oil-rich Middle East.
 Supported by Australian and New Zealand forces, the Greek resisted and slowed the
German advance. However, the Allies were eventually pushed back. Nearly 43,000
troops were evacuated to Crete and Egypt.
20. Germany attacks Russia
 Hitler placed three army groups along the eastern frontierpointed towards the three major
cities: Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad.
 By October 1941, the Germans reached the outskirts of the Soviet capital, Moscow. Hitler
attacked using mostly infantry. Fighting for their survival, the Russiansdefended Moscow
with theirbare hands. Their resistance was fierce. Stalled, the Germans had to withstand
the Russian winter. They were poorly equipped, and many men died due to severe
exposure. Via fighting and weather, the German losses were massive, and they were
defeated.
 In August of 1942, the German 6th Army attacked the poorly armed Soviet defences at
Stalingrad. Thousands of Russian citizens and soldiers died each day in severe houseto-house fighting. After losingover 800,000 soldiers, the Germans stopped their attack.
The Russian lost over 1.5 million people including 500,000 civilians. It was a stinging
defeat for the Germans. NOTE: Germany losses included 107,000 taken prisoner…only
6,000 survived and returned from prison in 1955.
 The German supply lines were too long, and their troops could not be effectively and
expediently supplied at three battle locations. In February 1943, the German advance
was halted, and soon afterwards, the Russian army counterattacked and forced the
Germans to retreat.
NOTE: Japan attacks the USA at Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941
21. Battle of the Atlantic (1941 – 1943)
 German U-Boats patrolled the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to cut off Britain's imports
and military supplies from America. U-boats operated in groups of 10 called "wolf
packs." Initially, it was total unrestricted submarine warfare, and in one 1942 month,
the Germans sank 108 Allied freighters. The Allies developed a convoy system
where merchant ships were guarded by destroyer escorts. The British developed a
system for detecting U-boats that resembled radar -- a development giving the Allies
an edge in the Battle for the Atlantic. By May 1943, most of the German submarine
force is destroyed.