Post on 24-Feb-2016
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War in Europe
NonAggression pactHitler and Stalin
Agree to divide poland USSR could take over finland,
lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
Hitler starts the WarSept 1 1939
Germany Invades polandSept 3, 1939
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Germany’s Lightning AttackNew military strategy
Blitzkrieg - “lightning war” fast moving planes and tanks Massive infantry forces
Poland falls quickly Germany annexes western half
Soviets move inSept 17
Stalin enters Eastern half of Poland Annexes Estonia, Lithuania, latvia Finland resists
Winter battles March 1940 sheer force of numbers
Finland surrenders
Phony war French and British mobilize along
Maginot line
Maginot Line
Phony War cont.April 9, 1940
“sitting war” ends Hitler attacks Denmark and
Norway Denmark falls in 4 hours Norway surrenders in 2 months
Build bases to attack Britain
Fall of France May 10, 1940
Germans AdvanceNetherlands (Holland)BelgiumLuxembourg
Germany attacks France through Ardennes forestBorder w/BelgiumAvoided Maginot linePushed allied troops to port
city of DunkirkGermans stopped - Why?
Rescue at DunkirkGreat Britain sends fleet of
ships to evacuate allied forcesEvery ship availableAir supportMay 26 – june 4
Saved 338,000 soldiers
France Falls June 14 – Germans take Paris June 22, 1940 – French leaders surrender
– sign Armistice Germans take control of Northern
France Vichy government – puppet Charles de Gaulle
Sets up Free French army & gov’t in London
US Involvement Franklin d. Roosevelt denounces
aggressors Us followed policy of isolationism Passed neutrality Acts
Prevented us from taking sides Fear of getting drawn into war Economic reasons of wwi
Battle of Britain Winston Churchill
“We shall never surrender” Hitler’s plan
1.Knock out Royal air force (RAF)2.Land 250,000 soldiers
B. Of Br. Cont.Summer 1940
Luftwaffe – begins bombing British airfields and aircraft factories
Sept 7 – begin bombing London Break morale
British never waver
RAf fights back Radar Enigma – code breaking machine Germans turned to night bombings
Sept 1940 – Hitler targets cities Allows RAF to rebuild and fight back
End of sept – hitler postpones invasion Nazis could be blocked
MediterraneanFocus on Northern Africa
Mussolini vs. British in Egypt Feb 1941, Br. Swept across N.
Africa Taken 130,000 Italian prisoners
Afrika Korps Erwin Rommel “Desert fox” Defeats British in Egypt
Hitler breaks nonaggression pact
Hitler plans to invade soviet unionPlans for attack in spring 1941
Delayed because of problems in the balkans
BalkansBulgaria, Romania, Hungary join
Axis powers (’41)Yugoslavia, Greece resistApril 1941 – Hitler invades both
Both fall within 3 weeks
Why Attack USSR?Hitler was convinced that British
were expecting soviet support Only reason GB was still in war
Hitler believed Soviet Union had a pitiful army Could be defeated quickly
Soviet unionOperation BarbarossaJune 22, 1941 Hitler invades
USSRSoviets not preparedScorched earth2 months – 2 million Soviet
soldiers captured
LeningradBy Nov. City cut off from rest
of soviet unionHitler tries to starve entire cityCity refuses to fall
1,000,000 died
MoscowHitler impatient
Turns to moscowCounterattacked by SovietsHitler orders “No retreat”
Lines dug in 125 miles west of moscow 1 ½ years
The weather changesEarly winter and soviet resistance
cause problems Halted German advance in
NovemberGerman’s unprepared to fight in
winterDecember 1941 – Soviets
Here Comes America1939 – President fdr asks congress
to allow sale of weapons to Allies Cash and carry
Must pay in cash Transport on own ships
March 1941 – Lend-Lease Act Lend or lease goods vital to US US Navy escorted ships Hitler ordered subs to sink ships
Atlantic Charter Upheld free trade among nations right of people to choose own gov’t Sept 4 1941 – German u-boat fired on US
ship Fdr authorized navy to fire on germans Unoffical entrance into wwII
Back to AfricaBritish and MontgomeryAmericans and EisenhowerOperation Torch
Catch rommel’s Afrikan korps in between
Defeated may 1943
Battle of Stalingrad Aug 23, 1942 Luftwaffe night bombings
Stalin refused to surrender Germans controlled 90% of city
Winter sets in Soviets outside city counterattack Feb 2, 1943
Germans surrendered
Italy 1943 - Allied forces invade Sicily July 25 King Victor Emmanuel III orders
Mussolini arrested Sept 3 Italy signs armistice w/allies September – Germans invade
puppet government w/Mussolini
Victory in EuropeOperation overlord
Invasion of FranceEisenhower commanderSet-up dummy army to look
like invasion at CalaisHitler convinced
D-Day June 6, 1944Allied forces Landed at Normandy
Led by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme allied commander
Stormed fortified beaches 2700 Americans dies one day
Held beaches 1,000,000 additional troops landed
July 1944 - allies reach Paris Led by Gen. George Patton
August – Paris liberated
Battle of the Bulge Final German offensive Wanted to gain port at Antwerp Surprise attack at center of Allied lines –
Dec 16, 1944 January 1945 – heavy casualties on both
sides Allied lines held strong
Engulfed by allied army Forced to surrender
The End of the war in Europe March 1945 – allies cross Rhine River into
Germany April 1945 – Allied army met with Soviets April 27, 1945
Mussolini captured while trying to escape
April 28 - Shot and hung body in town square
Surrender January 1945 – Hitler moves into bunker
under Berlin April 30 – Hitler commits suicide May 7, 1945
Eisenhower accepts unconditional surrender
V-E DayMay 7, 1945