1940-1945

World War II

CausesWorld War I didn’t

settle differencesHarsh terms of Treaty

of VersaillesEspecially on Germany

Economic instability following First World War

Italy and Germany look to Fascist dictators Solve ProblemsReturn to Glory

Aggressions of Axis Powers Italy, Germany, Japan formed

Axis Powers by 1940 Italy conquered Ethiopia

(1936)Hitler repeatedly violated

Treaty of Versailles (1934-1938)

Germany annexed Austria (1938) Conquered Czechoslovakia and

Poland (1939)Hitler also broke Munich

and Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pacts

Japan invaded Manchuria (1932) China (1937) French Indochina (1941) Bombed U.S. Pacific Fleet at

Pearl Harbor (1941) Wake Island (1941)

Great BritainFrance (until 1940)United States (1941)Soviet Union (1943)China (1943)Italy joins in 1943Many smaller nations

Allied Nations

Improvements made to:TanksMachine guns/riflesArtillerySubmarinesBattleships & Destroyers

Aircraft used more effectively:German LuftwaffeBritish RAFU.S. Army Air Corps

Air Craft CarriersBy 1942, dominated naval

warfare

Weaponry

German word for “Lightning War”

Fast moving tanks (Panzers) and ground forces

Mixed with air cover Luftwaffe

Effectively used against: Czechoslovakia Poland Holland Denmark Norway Belgium France Soviet Union

Blitzkrieg

Great Britain: Prime Minister Winston Churchill

United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Free-French Forces: General Charles De Gaulle

Soviet Union: Premier Joseph StalinNationalist China: General Chiang Kai-

chekGermany: Adolf HitlerItaly: Benito MussoliniJapan: Emperor Hirohito &

Prime Minister Hideki Tojo

War Time Leaders

April: Germany invades Denmark and Norway

May: Germany invades Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg

September:U.S. begins military draftBegins building air and naval fleetBegins aiding AlliesJapan joins Axis (Tripartite Pact):

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis formed

November: President Franklin Roosevelt elected to third term

1940

Invades in June of 1940German Blitzkrieg goes around

French Maginot Line Along French-German border

Invades through BelgiumSplits Allied lines in twoHalf of Allied forces fled to

Dunkirk Churchill has them rescued

Rest of Allied forces surrender in weeks Including Paris

Germans install French Vichy government Lasts until Allied liberation in

August of 1944

Germany Conquers France

Battle of Britain Lasts from August through

September 1940 Fought in skies over Britain Original plan:

Luftwaffe bombs RAF spitfires on the ground

Then bomb RAF radar towers Then bomb major British cities Force British to surrender

without invasion Luftwaffe gets bored Begins bombing London and

major cities Causes much damage & loss

of life Winston Churchill wills his

people to “never surrender” British RAF holds off

Luftwaffe Forces Hitler to abandon

plans of invasion Moral victory for British Bombing would continue

intermittently through out war

Lasts from 1940-1945British and U.S. Navy

(Atlantic Fleet) square off against German fleet

Used battleships, destroyers, submarines

Aircraft Carriers make an appearance later in war

Allied forces eventually prevail

Battle of Atlantic

March: Lend-Lease Act passedU.S. would lend used

ships and planes to British

Helped U.S. economyAugust: Atlantic

Charter proposed and endorsed by Churchill and RooseveltLed to creation of

United Nations in 1945

1941

Blitzkrieg begins early on the morning of June 22, 1941

Called Operation Barbarossa

Violated the non-aggression pact

September: German forces had reached the gates of Leningrad in the north Smolensk in the center

and Dnepropetrovsk in the south

German units reached the outskirts of Moscow in early December

Germany invades Soviet Union

Yet after months of campaigning, the German army was exhausted Germans expected a rapid

Soviet collapse Planners failed to equip their

troops for winter warfare Speedy German advance had

caused the forces to outrun their supply lines

Like Napoleon, Hitler’s forces got trapped in a Russian Winter

In December, the Soviet Union launched a major counterattack against the center of the front Driving the Germans back

from Moscow in chaos

December 7, 1941 Plan was to knock out U.S. Pacific

Fleet Would allow Japan to expand into

Central and South Pacific First wave attacked at 7AM Japanese sunk USS Arizona,

Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and other battleships

Bombed planes at nearby Hickam Field

Third wave wasn’t launched because Japanese felt element of surprise was gone

Failed to hit oil tanks on Ford’s Island

Failed to hit U.S. aircraft carriers: Lexington, Hornet, Enterprise Were at sea

U.S. and Great Britain declares war on Japan on December 8

Germany declare war on U.S. on December 9

Japanese also captured Guam on that December 7th

Japan bombs Pearl Harbor

August 21-February 2, 1943: Battle of Stalingrad Hitler’s forces try and take the strategic city on the

Volga River Then would march south into the oil fields of the Middle

East Germans have success in early months Soviets get reinforcements By February, Soviets force German army to retreat 1st large-scale defeat for Germans in Europe

October 23-November 5: Battle of El-Alamein Rommel’s Afrika Korps tries to take Egypt and Suez

Canal from British British under General Bernard Montgomery hold off

Germans and secure EgyptNovember 8: Operation Torch--U.S. forces land in

North Africa North African Campaign begins U.S. troops to aid British in liberating Morocco, Algiers,

Tunisia

1942 Europe

1942 PacificJanuary 7-April 9: Battle

of Bataan American-Filipino forces

hold on for months against Japanese invasion

FDR demands that Allied Commander Douglas MacArthur evacuate to Australia

Allied troops finally surrender in April

Prisoners are taken on Bataan Death March through the jungle

May 6: Corregidor falls to Japanese Island fortress in Manila

Bay Japanese occupy Philippines

April 18: Doolittle Raid U.S. bombers attack Japanese home island of Honshu Showed Japanese were vulnerable to air attack Retaliation for Pearl Harbor

May 7-8: Battle of Coral Sea--indecisive 1st battle completely fought by aircraft carriers Japanese sink more ships than Allies But Allies force Japanese to abandon plan to invade Australia

June 3-6: Battle of Midway U.S. learns of Japanese plan to invade Midway Island Sink 4 Japanese carriers Turning point of war for U.S. Navy

June 6-7: Allies begin campaign to retake Aleutians from Japanese

August 21: Battle of Guadalcanal begins Allied strategy of “island hopping” begins Japanese had taken island to build airbase there for Australian

invasion Japanese hold on for six months against Allied invasion One of bloodiest battles of Pacific theatre Allies take island on February 9, 1943 Begins Allies Solomon Island Campaign

February 20-22: Battle of Kasserine Pass Rommel’s Afrika Korps defeats Allied forces

May 12-25: Casablanca Conference Churchill and Roosevelt meet Discuss Sicilian and Italian Campaigns

May 13: Allied victory in Tunisia End of the North African Campaign

July 9-August 17: Allied invasion of Sicily Allies liberate from Axis control

September 3: Allies land at Reggio di Calabria Italian campaign begins Southern Italy surrenders to Allies; Northern Italy remains in Axis

control September 9: 1st wave lands at Paestum September 10: Allies land at Salerno September 12-14: 2nd wave lands at Paestum October 1: Allies land at Naples October 13: Italy declares war on Germany November 28-December 1: Allied leaders meet at Tehran

Conference Joseph Stalin meets with Churchill and Roosevelt for the first time Stalin demanded a Second Front be opened Discuss Allied invasion of western Europe

1943 Europe

November 21-24: Battles of Tarawa and Makin atolls Tarawa one of the bloodiest

conflicts U.S. Marines invasion helps

liberate island Allies liberate Gilbert Islands

1943 Pacific

January 22: Allied invasion of Anzio Beach

February 14-March 31: Battle of Anzio Allies pinned down on beach for

weeks Finally force Axis retreat

May 11-18: Battle of Monte Cassino Germans take refuge in ancient

monastery Allies bomb and cause major

destruction June 4: Allies liberate Rome June 6: D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy, France Operation Overlord Landings at Omaha, Utah, Sword,

Gold, Juno beaches Allies finally come ashore and take

coastal region and towns Takes them several months to

“breakout” from coast

1944 Europe

August 15: Allied invasion of Southern France Operation Anvil/Dragoon Allies liberate France and

march toward German border

August 25: Allies liberate Paris

December 16-January 31, 1945: Battle of the Bulge Germans launch massive

offense against Allied lines in Belgium

Near town of Bastogne Cause a “bulge” in Allied

lines Allies get reinforcements Within weeks, drive

Germans back Force German retreat Last German offensive of

war

1944 PacificOctober 23-26:

Battle of Leyte GulfLast major naval

encounter in Pacific

Victory allows Allies to land in Philippines

Campaign would last until May 8, 1945

1945 Europe February 4-11: Allies

leaders meet at Yalta Last time Roosevelt

would meet with Churchill and Stalin

Discuss plan for end of the European war

Getting the Soviets involved in Pacific war

February-March: Allies liberate Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands

March: Allies cross the Rhine River

April 12: President Roosevelt dies Harry S. Truman

becomes president April 29: Italian Campaign

ends in Allied victory

April 30: Hitler commits suicideMay 2: Berlin surrendersMay 4: Germany surrendersMay 8: V-E DayJuly 17-August 2: Allied leaders meet

at Potsdam ConferenceTruman and British Prime Minister

Atlee meet Joseph Stalin for 1st timeDiscuss ending Post-war Europe

and war in Pacific

February 19-March 16: Allies take Iwo Jima

March: Allies begin massive firebombing of Japanese cities

March 3: Allies liberate Manila April 1-June 21: Allies take Okinawa May 8: Philippines Campaign ends August 1: Soviet Union declares war on

Japan Invades Manchuria and Korea

August 6: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima

August 9: U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki

August 15: Japan surrenders V-J Day

September 2: Treaty ending war in the Pacific signed on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay

1945 Pacific