World War II(Part I)

Europe at War (Sept. 1939 – Dec. 1941)

Sept. 1

German Army invades Poland

Sept. 3

Britain and France declare war on Germany

Sept. 17

Red Army invades Poland in accordance with Nazi-Soviet Pact

Sept. 27

Warsaw falls to the Nazis

Nov. 30

Red Army attacks Finland

Dec. 14

Soviet Union kicked out of League of Nations

TIMELINE:1939

HITLER INVADES POLAND:SEPTEMBER 1, 1939

SEPTEMBER 3 1939: ENGLAND AND

FRANCE DECLARE WAR ON GERMANY. WORLD WAR TWO

BEGINS

Left: British Prime Minister Neville

Chamberlian

Tools of the Blitzkrieg

BLITZKRIEG: NEW GERMAN ATTACK STRATEGY THAT USED DIVE-BOMBERS, MECHANIZED (RIDING IN TRUCKS OR HALF-TRACKS)

INFANTRY AND MOBILE ARTILLERY TO SURROUND AND DESTROY ENEMY FORMATIONS

HITLER CONQUERED DENMARK, NORWAY, NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, AND LUXEMBOURG

HITLER SURPRISED THE ALLIES BY HAVING HIS MAIN

INVASION THROUGH LUXEMBOURG AND THE

ARDENNES FOREST, AFTER FEINTING AN ATTACK

THROUGH BELGIUM WHICH DREW THE ALLIED FORCES

NORTH.

Battle of Dunkirk Germans march west through Belgium to

invade France May 26, 1940 – June 4, 1940

HITLER’S INVASION OF HITLER’S INVASION OF NORTHWESTERN EUROPENORTHWESTERN EUROPE

ONEONE

TWOTWO

THREETHREE

THIS MAP ILLUSTRATES HITLER’S PLAN FOR WINNING THE WAR IN NW EUROPE.

ARROW ONE: HITLER’S FIRST ATTACK DESIGNED TO DRAW ALLIED FORCES INTO BELGIUM;

ARROW TWO ALLIED TROOPS MOVE INTO BELGIUM TO FIGHT HITLER’S TROOPS;

ARROW THREE HITLER’S MAIN ATTACK COMES THROUGH THE ARDENNES FOREST, CONSIDERED IMPASSABLE BY THE ALLIES AND DRIVES TO THE COAST THREATENING TO TRAP BRITISH AND FRENCH ARMIES IN BELGIUM.

MAGINOT LINE: a line of concrete fortifications

France built along its borders with Germany &

Italy after WWI

The Maginot Line

The Maginot Line was built to fulfill several purposes: To avoid a surprise attack and to give alarm To cover the mobilization of the French Army (which

took between 2 and 3 weeks) To save manpower (France counted 39,000,000

inhabitants, Germany 70,000,000) To protect Alsace and Lorraine (returned to France in

1918) and their industrial basin To be used as a basis for a counter-offensive To push the enemy to circumvent it while passing by

Switzerland or Belgium To hold the enemy while the main army could be

brought up to reinforce the line

CUTAWAY CUTAWAY VIEW OF THE VIEW OF THE

MAGINOT MAGINOT LINELINE

SITZKRIEG, GERMAN WORD FOR “PHONY WAR” PERIOD OF WW II FROM THE FALL OF POLAND IN SEPT 1939 TO THE INVASION OF WESTERN EUROPE IN MAY 1940.

JUNE 22, 1940, FRANCE SURRENDERED TO GERMANY. GERMANY WAS MASTER OF ALL EUROPE, ITS FACTORIES AND RESOURCES, WITH EXCEPTION OF THE USSR.

GERMAN TROOPS ENTER PARIS

VICHY FRANCE:

PART OF FRANCE THAT HITLER LET THE FRENCH RULE UNTIL 1942 (the rest of France was occupied by Germany)

FRANCE UNDER

GERMAN CONTROL

PETAIN, FRENCH GENERAL WHO BECAME THE LEADER OF VICHY FRANCE AND COLLABORATED WITH THE GERMANS.

FRENCH RESISTANCE FIGHTERS AGAINST

GERMAN OCCUPIERS OF FRANCE

FREE FRENCH, F. WHO FLED TO

ENGLAND AND SET UP RESISTANCE TO

GERMANYCHARLES DE

GAULLE, LEADER OF THE FREE FRENCH

WHO FOUGHT AGAINST GERMANY

DURING WW II

Operation Sea Lion Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom

(Britain) during World War II, beginning in 1940

operation was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940

GREAT BRITAIN GETS A NEW PRIME MINISTER: WINSTON CHURCHILL

WINSTON CHURCHILL: HE BECAME PRIME MINISTER OF THE UK IN 1940 AND VOWED NEVER TO SURRENDER TO HITLER BUT FIGHT ON TO VICTORY. SOUND IS CHURCHILL’S FAMOUS “FIGHT ON THE BEACHES” SPEECH.

To conquer Great Britain, Hitler would have to cross the English Channel. First he would have to destroy the Royal Air Force

(RAF) and gain control of the air.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN: 1940 AIR BATTLE WHERE HITLER'S AIR FORCE (LUFTWAFFE) FAILED TO DEFEAT THE UK’s ROYAL AIR FORCE (RAF) WHICH PREVENTED HIM FROM INVADING BRITAIN. VICTORY THAT SAVED THE UK FROM BEING INVADED BY GERMAN SOLDIERS WHEN THEY (UK) WERE WEAK.

RADAR PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN DEFEATING THE GERMAN AIR FORCE AND

PREVENTING HITLER FROM INVADING BRITAIN

RADAR: USE OF THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY ENABLED THE UK TO DEFEAT GERMANY IN THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN. RADAR GAVE THE BRITISH THE ABILITY TO SEE GERMAN PLANES IN THE SKY LONG

BEFORE THEY WERE VISIBLE TO GROUND OBSERVERS.

BLITZ: 1940-1941 GERMAN BOMBING RAIDS ON BRITISH CITIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING WAR INDUSTRIES AND BREAKING CIVILIAN MORALE.

HITLER BECAME ANGRY WHEN BERLIN WAS BOMBED BY ENGLISH BOMERS AND ORDERED THE LUFTWAFFE TO STOP BOMBING BRITISH MILITARY AIRFIELDS AND START BOMBING LONDON AND OTHER BRITISH CITIES.

THIS WORKED TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THE RAF WHO WERE ABLE TO USE THE RESPITE TO REBUILD AND REFIT THEIR FIGHTER SQUADRONS.

THE RAF EMERGED MUCH STRONGER AND WAS ABLE TO FORCE THE LUFTWAFFE FO BOMB AT NIGHT TO AVOID CRIPPLING LOSSES.

NIGHT BOMBING WAS MUCH MORE INACCURATE AND ONLY LARGE TARGETS LIKE CITIES COULD BE EFFECTIVELY ATTACKED.

THE LONDON BLITZ: THE LONDON BLITZ: GERMANS TURN GERMANS TURN THEIR BOMBERS THEIR BOMBERS

AGAINST LONDON AGAINST LONDON AND OTHER BRITISH AND OTHER BRITISH

CITIESCITIES

AIR RAID WARDEN WATCHED FOR GERMAN BOMBERS ATOP LONDON

BUILDING

FIREMEN BATTLE

RAGING FIRES

LONDONERS SLEEP UNDERGROUND IN

SUBWAY STATIONS TO AVOID THE BOMBS

THE MORNING AFTER AN AIR RAID

CHILDREN IN FRONT OF THEIR DESTROYED HOME.

WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS?

The Battle of the Atlantic

U BOATS; GERMAN WORD FOR SUBMARINE. THE GERMANS WERE USING THEIR SUBS TO SINK BRITISH SHIPPING AND

STARVE THE UK INTO SURRENDERING. THEY WERE SINKING HUNDREDS OF SHIPS AND THE BRITISH NAVY COULD

NOT STOP THEM

JULY 1941: FDR MADE THE DECISION FOR US WAR SHIPS TO CONVOY MERCHANT SHIPS TO ICELAND. MEANT RISK OF WAR WITH GERMANY

CONVOY: SENDING WARSHIPS TO GUARD MERCHANT SHIPS PROTECTING THEM FROM BEING SUNK BY ENEMY SUBMARINES.

AREA OF GREATEST DANGER FOR ALLIED AREA OF GREATEST DANGER FOR ALLIED MERCHANT SHIPSMERCHANT SHIPS

The Eastern Front (June 1941 – July 1943)

IN 1938 HITLER AND STALIN SIGNED A NONAGGRESSION PACT. IN 1938 HITLER AND STALIN SIGNED A NONAGGRESSION PACT. BOTH MEN HATED EACH OTHER AND KNEW THEY WOULD BOTH MEN HATED EACH OTHER AND KNEW THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY FIGHT. STALIN BELIEVED THERE WOULD BE NO WAR EVENTUALLY FIGHT. STALIN BELIEVED THERE WOULD BE NO WAR BETWEEN GERMANY AND THE USSR UNTIL THE MID 1940’S. HITLER BETWEEN GERMANY AND THE USSR UNTIL THE MID 1940’S. HITLER HAD OTHER PLANS.HAD OTHER PLANS.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA:

THE NAME FOR THE GERMAN 1941 ASSAULT ON THE SOVIET UNION.

THE LARGEST LAND BATTLES IN HISTORY TOOK PLACE HERE

BETWEEN 1941 AND 1945.

Although the USSR had more of everything, most of their equipment was out of date and could not stand

up to modern German weapons; however, the new KV1 and T34 Russian tanks in Modern USSR were superior

to German tanks.

USSRUSSR

T34 RUSSIAN MEDIUM TANK

SUPERIOR TO ANY GERMAN TANK AT THE TIME, 1941

THE GERMANS WERE SHOCKED WHEN IN JUNE OF 1941 THEY CAME UP AGAINST RUSSIAN T34 TANKS.

GERMAN SHELLS BOUNCED OFF AND IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO

DESTROY A T34. UNFORTUNATELY THE RUSSIANS HAD ONLY A FEW AND BY

THE TIME THEY CAME INTO FULL PRODUCTION THE GERMANS HAD

TANKS AND WEAPONS CAPEABLE OF DESTROYING THEM.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA

Operation Barbarossa was a three

pronged invasion of the Soviet Union. The goal was to seize all of the USSR up

to the Ural Mountains

including the major cities of Odessa, Kiev,

Moscow, Leningrad and

Stalingrad.

RUSSIAN POSTER ENCOURAGING TROOPS TO DEFEND MOSCOW

THE GERMANS WERE PUSHED BACK BUT THEY REGROUPED AND WERE

READY TO ATTACK THE NEXT SPRING AFTER BEATING

BACK SOVIET COUNTERATTACKS.

RUSSIAN MIXED TANK AND SKI INFANTRY TEAM ADVANCE ON GERMAN POSITIONS.

SOLDIERS KILLED, WOUNDED, CAPTURED OR MISSING SOLDIERS KILLED, WOUNDED, CAPTURED OR MISSING FROM JUNE 1941 TO JAN 31, 1942. USSR NUMBERS FROM JUNE 1941 TO JAN 31, 1942. USSR NUMBERS

INCLUDE 3.35 MILLION SOLDIERS CAPTURED INCLUDE 3.35 MILLION SOLDIERS CAPTURED

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD:

THE GERMANS HAD SEVERE PROBLEMS

CAPTURING THE CITY OF STALINGRAD. IT

WAS A GRITTY, DEADLY BATTLE

WHERE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF

SOLDIERS ON BOTH SIDES WERE KILLED.

FIGHTING IN THE RUINS OF STALINGRAD.

STALINGRAD: A CITY IN RUINS

11

While the Germans were engaged in vicious fighting inside Stalingrad the Russians prepared a counterattack named Operation Uranus, succeeded in

surrounding the German 6th army. Arrow one shows the ultimate goal of the Russian attack: to cut off the German armies fighting in the Caucasus

mountains.

THE RUSSIANS SPRING A TRAP !

HITLER’S TROOPS ARE STOPPED

THE BLUE AREA REPRESENTS THE AREA TAKEN BY THE SOVIET 1942 WINTER OFFENSIVE. THE RUSSIANS CAPTURED OVER 300,000 GERMANS WHEN THEY FINALLY TOOK STALINGRAD BUT IT TOOK SO MUCH TIME THAT THE OTHER GERMAN ARMIES IN THE CAUCASUS HAD TIME TO ESCAPE.

THE GERMANS RETREATED HUNDREDS OF MILES BEFORE THEY HALTED, COUNTERATTACKED AND STOPPED THE SOVIET WINTER 42-43 OFFENSIVE

The end at Stalingrad: The end at Stalingrad: German prisoners, only German prisoners, only

5,000 of the 250,000 5,000 of the 250,000 captured returned after captured returned after

the warthe war

IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1943, HITLER DECIDED

ON ANOTHER OFFENSIVE ON THE EASTERN FRONT. THIS WOULD LEAD TO THE GREATEST TANK BATTLE IN HISTORY, THE

BATTLE OF KURSK.

MAP SHOWS THE SITUATION AFTER THE END OF THE SOVIET

1942 WINTER OFFENSIVE

MAP OF THE KURSK

BULGE. THE GERMAN

GOAL WAS TO

SURROUND AND

DESTROY ALL THE RUSSIAN

ARMIES AND RESERVES

DEFENDING THE AREA

INSIDE THE BULGE.

THE GERMANS USED NEW ARMORED

VEHICLES FOR THEIR KURSK OFFENSIVE

HEAVY TIGER TANK PANTHER TANK, OFTEN CALLED THE BEST TANK OF

WW II

FERDINAND, HEAVY ASSAULT GUN

1500

17500

0

20004000

6000

800010000

1200014000

1600018000

TANKS ARTILLERY

GERMAN

100000

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

100000

MEN

GERMAN

THE GERMANS SUFFERED HEAVY LOSSES AT THE HANDS OF THE SOVIETS AND THEY COULD NOT

RECOVER

NUMBER OF LOST TANKS, ARTILLERY, AND MEN