blitzkrieg = “ lightning war” 1. new war fighting tactic developed by nazis 2. combined use of...
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BLITZKRIEG
Blitzkrieg = “ lightning war”
1. New war fighting tactic developed by Nazis
2. Combined use of armored infantry/tanks/Panzers + air power
3. Focus on speed and smashing force
THE EARLY WAR 1939-1940
THE PHONY WAR = period of no fighting in fall/winter of 1939-1940
THE MAGINOT LINE = concrete and steel fortifications the French built along border with Germany
APRIL 1940 - Hitler attacks and conquers Denmark and Norway
June 1940 – Hitler attacks France
THE NAZI CONQUEST OF FRANCE
June 1940 – Hitler attacks France1. German forces outflank Maginot Line2. DUNKIRK = 330,000 British soldiers are
evacuated across the Channel on all boats3. France surrenders4. Nazis occupy northern 3/5’s of country5. VICHY FRANCE = southern France est. a
collaborationist puppet state led by MARSHAL HENRI PETAIN
6. THE FREE FRENCH = French government in exile is led by Charles de Gaulle
WINSTON CHURCHILL
1. May 1940 replaces Chamberlain as PM
2. Against appeasement in the 1930’s
3. Advocated standing up to Hitler in 1930’s
4. Inspiring leader/great speaker
5. Refused to make any kind of deal with Hitler ever
CHURCHILL INSPIRES THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
“... we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
Winston Churchill 1940
THE BATTLE OF BRITAINAutumn 1940
1. Hitler’s air war against Britain
2. LUFTWAFFE = German air force
3. RAF = British air force4. Ultra and radar5. “the blitz” – terror
bombing of English cities
6. Battle of Britain fails for the Nazis
NORTH AFRICA
1. German forces invade N. Africa
2. Erwin Rommel = leader of the German “Afrika Korps”
3. Bernard Montgomery = leader of the British forces – “the desert rats”
OPERATION BARBAROSSA
June 1941 Hitler invades the Soviet Union
By Nov. 1941 the Germans are right outside Moscow and Leningrad
Then comes the Russian winter!
THE WAR IN ASIA
Imperial Japan Japanese invasion of Manchuria December 7, 1941 – attack on Pearl
Harbor Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere =
the Japanese empire in the Pacific Naval war
THE TURNING POINT OF THE WAR
1942 1943
1. German forces advancing in N. Africa
2. Battle of the Atlantic = nazi subs attacking allied ships
3. Nazi advance into southern Russia
1. Germans stopped in N. Africa at Battle of El Alamein
2. American invade N. Africa3. Stalingrad – nazi forces
stopped in Russia 4. Battle of Coral Sea –
Japanese forces stopped5. Battle of Midway –
Americans destroy Japanese fleet
THE GRAND ALLIANCE
THE ALLIES UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER
Britain – Winston Churchill
Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin
United States – Franklin D. Roosevelt
The leaders of the Allied powers agree to demand the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan no special deals or agreements
THE NORMANDY INVASION = D-DAY
1. The Allied invasion of France2. Organized by Eisenhower3. Attack across the English Channel land
forces on the Normandy coast of France
THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR
June 1944 – Normandy invasion
Aug. 1944 – Paris is liberated
Winter 1944/45 – the Battle of the Bulge
Jan. 1945 – Soviets occupy Warsaw
Mar. 1945 – Anglo-American armies cross Rhine
April 1945 – Soviets enter Berlin
April 30, 1945 – Hitler commits suicide
May 7, 1945 – Germany surrender/V-E Day