Introduction to World War II and Hitler’s Initial Success

Lesson 15

Resources

• http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/dhistorymaps/WWIIPages/WWIIEurope/WWIIEToC.htm

• http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/dhistorymaps/WWIIPages/WWIIPacific/WWIIAToC.htm

What we’ll cover

• Introduction

• North Africa and Italy

• Normandy

• Pacific and Beginnings of the Cold War

Allied Political Leaders

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin

Axis Political Leaders

HirohitoMussolini and Hitler

German Generals

Guderian Rundstedt

RommelKesselring

Allied Leaders

MarshallEisenhower

Allied Leaders (Europe)

MontgomeryBradley

Allied Leaders (Europe)

PatchHodgesPatton

Allied Leaders (Italy)

DarbyClark

Lucas

Allied Leaders (Airborne)

Ridgway Taylor Gavin

Allied Leaders (Pacific)

MacArthurKing

Greatest Extent of Axis Control

Surrender of Germany

Greatest Extent of Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere

Surrender of Japan

Aftermath

• Divided Europe

• Marshall Plan

• Cold War

Divided Europe

Marshall Plan

Hamburg's Moenckebergstrasse in the business district at the end of the war (left) and in 1950 (right).

Cold War

Adlai Stevenson showing aerial photographs at

the UN during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962

Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This

Wall!”speech in 1987

Cold War and American Society

World War II:Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”) and

the Eastern Front

Rise of Hitler

• Treaty of Versailles was very punitive to Germany

• Unemployment and other issues created conditions conducive for Hitler to rise to power

Dec 21, 1931

Rebirth of Germany

• Hitler reinstituted conscription (after France doubled the length of its conscripts’ service) and in March 1936 was strong enough to reoccupy the Rhineland

• In June 1934, Hitler purged many of his paramilitary and the SS rose up to replace them

Germany’s Increasingly Militaristic Approach

• In Nov 1937, Italy joined Germany in an alliance against the Soviet Union

• In Mar 1938, Hitler forced Anschluss (union) with Austria

• On Sept 29-30, the British and French foreign ministers attempted to appease Hitler by acquiescing to his demand for the Sudentenland under the understanding Hitler would make no more territorial demands– In March 1939 Hitler seized the

western part of Czechoslovakia

Neville Chamberlain

Continued Aggression

• Britain and France now knew appeasement wouldn’t stop Hitler and they pledged to defend Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Poland against German aggression

• On Aug 22, 1939, Russia and Germany signed a non-aggression pact– In the event of a German-

Polish war, Russia could annex eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania

• On Sept 1, Hitler invaded Poland

Russia and Finland

• On Nov 30, Russia attacked Finland and on Mar 12, 1940, the Finns finally surrender– Russia’s army did not

perform particularly well which made Hitler think the Russians would not be much of a challenge if Germany invaded

Finnish infantry passing a destroyed Russian tank

French and German Plans forthe Battle of France 1940

• France anticipated the Germans attacking through the north as they did in World War I so they developed the Dye Plan to counter such an attack

• Built the Maginot Line in the south to protect the border

Maginot Line

• A line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along her borders with Germany and Italy

• The fortifications did not extend through the Ardennes Forest which was considered “impassable”

Surprise in the Ardennes

• On May 12, 1940 Germany attacked through the weakly held Ardennes region

• Penetrated Allied defenses and then began to envelop them

Guderian Breaks Through at SedanBattle of France: May 14, 1940

Hoth Breaks Through at DinantBattle of France: May 14-15, 1940

Penetration

• With Hoth’s and Guderian’s successes, the Germans had a 40 mile breakthrough from Dinant to Sedan

– Pushed through seven armored divisions toward the English Channel

Sedan

Dinant

Ardennes

The Panzer's Race To The ChannelBattle of France: May 14-24, 1940

Dunkirk was the last evacuation port available to the Allies.

Dunkirk

Moving in for the Kill

• German forces pressed the Allied armies trapped in the north, from south and east, into the English Channel.

• Meanwhile, German infantry divisions reinforced the southern flank of the German penetration.

• But….Dunkirk Harbor ablaze from German bombing

Halt Order

• Hitler halted the German armor– German armor had suffered heavy losses and

would be needed to conquer the rest of France– Luftwaffe called upon to finish the job

• Luftwaffe unable to destroy the British and French– Bases in western Germany were further away

from Dunkirk than British planes were from their bases on the British Isles

• 340,000 Allied troops were evacuated

The Weygand Line CollapsesBattle of France: June 4-14, 1940

Consolidation• On June 16, French asked for an armistice.• Battle of Britain began.

– “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” (Winston Churchill)

Italy Joins the Axis

• On June 10, 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France and four months later invaded Greece

• Mussolini will end up being a troublesome ally for Hitler

The Eastern Front

• On June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded Russia in Operation Barbarossa

• The operation encompassed a total troop strength of about 4 million men, making it the biggest single land operation ever

• Benefiting from initial surprise, by the end of July Hitler had occupied a portion of Russia twice the size of France

• However, by the time the Germans reached the outskirts of Moscow in December, the Russian winter had set in

Operation Barbarossa

The Eastern Front

• Ultimately enormous logistical shortcomings made Barbarossa a failure– Germany proved capable of fighting battles very well, but was

less capable of fighting a war of prolonged duration

• In the total four years of fighting on the Eastern Front, an estimated 4 million Axis and 9 million Russians were killed in battle

• 20 million Soviet civilians were killed as a result of extermination campaigns against Jews, communists and partisans, casual massacres, reprisal killings, diseases, and (sometimes planned) starvation.

Stalingrad (Aug 1942-Feb 1943)

Stalingrad

Stalingrad

Stalingrad

Greatest Extent of Axis Control

Auftragstaktik• German interwar doctrine emphasized:

– decentralized, mission-oriented orders (Auftragstaktik)

– speed and exploitation of enemy weaknesses maximized by troop commanders taking the initiative (understand commander’s intent)

– close integration and cooperation between combat branches (mobile warfare required armor, infantry, and artillery)

– leadership from the front

US Mobilization Efforts

• The US Army had deteriorated in the interwar period– “The Army during the 1920s and early 1930s may

have been less ready to function as a fighting force than at any time in its history.” (Russell Weigley)

– Professional military education had moved forward especially at the Command and General Staff School where the key military leadership of WWII was trained

US Mobilization Efforts

• Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, a large number of Americans felt the growing war was not their concern

• A peacetime draft was initiated in the summer of 1940, but it had many opponents

• In a Dec 29, 1940 radio address, Roosevelt argued that the war was of concern to the US and declared, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”

US Mobilization Efforts

• In March 1941, the Lend-Lease Act permitted the President to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article.”

• America was still divided, but after Pearl Harbor it rallied behind the President and began to translate its economic and personnel strength into military power

• At first there were severe shortages as US industry shifted its focus to meet military demands, but by 1943 the dividends of the economic mobilization had become apparent

Nationwide food rationing was introduced in 1942

Next

• North Africa and Italy