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World War II

World War II. 1939-1945. Initial German Success (1939-40). on Sept. 1, 1939 , German air force & army invaded Poland from the west

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World War II

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  1. World War II 1939-1945

  2. Initial German Success (1939-40) • on Sept. 1, 1939, German air force & army invaded Poland from the west • blitzkrieg, or lightning warfare; Polish forces were completely overwhelmed (Hitler annexed Poland, as result of Nazi-Soviet Pact, USSR got Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Eastern Poland) • First six-months called “Phony War” and “Sitzkreig” because little fighting happened • April 1940, Hitler took Denmark and Norway • Conquest of France • Germans bypassed Maginot Line and went through Belgium to get into France • British retreated to Dunkirk, French resistance collapsed and went south

  3. Vichy France • French surrendered, Germans occupied N. France • Southern France left under a puppet government called Vichy France under Marshal Henri Pétan • In GB, French General Charles de Gaulle set up a Free French movement

  4. Britain Stands Alone • PM Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain • Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe bombed Britain nightly for 3 months • “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” • The RAF (Royal Air Force) used the new invention Radar to detect and hold off the invasion

  5. US “Neutrality” • When France fell in 1940, Americans realized that Britain stood alone against the Fascist aggressors • President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress began military buildup to “all measures short of war” • Selective Service Act 1940: first peacetime draft • Lend-Lease Act of 1941: lend goods to any nation whose defense necessary to defense of US (i.e. Britain) $50 Billion

  6. Axis Makes Two Mistakes (1941) • German Attack on USSR • Hitler wanted grain, oil, iron; thought he could quickly take over • Stalin had stayed out until this point, Soviets used “scorched-earth policy” • Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor • December 7, 1941, “date that will live in infamy” • 7:00 AM the Japanese launched a surprise attack &w/I 2 hrs., Japan had destroyed 19 ships included 8 battleships, 188 airplanes & killed 2400 Americans w/only the Japanese losing 29 planes & 1 submarine • Forced US into war; “waking the sleeping giant” • Axis believed that if US forced into a Pacific war, the would stop aiding GB

  7. Victory in Europe (1942-45) • North Africa to Italy (Operations Torch and Husky) • Oct. 1942, British beat Germans and Italians at El Alamein, Egypt; began pushing west • Nov. 1942, US under command of Dwight D. Eisenhower invaded French N. Africa and moved East • Allies crushed Axis forces • 1943 Allies crossed Mediterranean into Sicily • Mussolini’s Government collapsed • Mussolini tried to escape dressed as a soldier, but taken in N. Italy and hung

  8. Russian Counteroffensive (1943) • Battle of Stalingrad; turning-point in the war; Russians annihilated a 300,000 man Nazi Army • Pushed the Nazis out of USSR through Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland • 1945 Russians reached Germany and stormed Berlin

  9. D-Day (June 6, 1944) • Needed to open a second front in Europe • General Eisenhower led Allied troops across English Channel into Normandy • Operation Overlord • Beaches: Omaha, Juno, Gold, Sword • Largest waterborne (amphibious) attack in history • Met a large Nazi army, but drove them back from France

  10. V-E Day (Victory in Europe) • 1945 Allied armies crossed Rhine into Germany • Met Russians coming from the East • Hitler and new wife Eva Braun committed suicide • May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally

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