WORLD WAR II

2 Sides:Axis Powers Allied Powers

•Germany (includes Austria)•Italy•Japan•Bulgaria•Hungary

•Britain•France•Soviet Union•China•U.S.•45 other nations

Poland September 1939 Nazi forces stormed into

Poland Blitzkrieg – lightening war.

German planes bomb everywhere including screaming dive bombers

Then fast-moving tanks & transports roar in. Polish army unsuccessful in defending While Germany attacked from west, USSR

attacked from east Take lands agreed to in Nazi-Soviet pact After a month, Poland ceases to exist

Soviet Aggression

Not only Poland Winter 1939 invades

Baltic States: Estonia Latvia Lithuania part of Finland

From Phony War to Blitzkrieg September 1939 Britain & France declare war

on Germany after invasion of Poland Winter 1939 – French & British wait at Maginot

Line Reporters refer to as “phony war” until April 1940 Hitler launched blitzkrieg against Norway & Denmark (which fell) Soon after Netherlands & Belgium

Miracle at Dunkirk May 1940 British forces

pouring into France British trapped between

advancing Nazis and English Channel

British send all available boats (even fishing/pleasure) to rescue stranded troops on beaches of Dunkirk & Ostend

Successful in moving 300K troops to safety

Raised British morale

  German Army British rescue boats British troops

news.bbc.co.uk/.../default.stm

Waiting to be Rescued

Rescued at Last

France Falls Germans head south toward Paris 1940 Italy declares war on France and attacked

from South June 1940 France surrenders. Hitler avenged

defeat of 1918 in same RR car in which Germany signed WWI armistice

Vichy “puppet” gov’t set up in Southern France Government-in-exile – led by Charles de Gaulle & escaped French officers set up in Britain

General Charles de Gaulle, BBC radio broadcast London (18th June, 1940)

Germans Take Paris

The victorious German soldiers went marching through France on the main boulevard called the Champs Elysees on June 21. It was all over; Hitler and Germany had won again. The Germans had succeeded in taking over a very powerful country in a matter of days. If the Germans had tried to fight through the Maginot Line without the blitzkrieg France would have most likely won the battle. The blitzkrieg had been new to the French, and they did not know how to fight it. The question was could Germany ever be stopped?

French citizens watch the Germans occupy Paris in June 1940. Photo: U.S. National Archives.

Africa & the Balkans

September 1940 Italy invades Libya & Egypt German General Erwin Rommel – “desert fox”

pushed British back to Cairo October 1940 – Italian forces invade Greece,

stiff resistance so Germans send reinforcements

Yugoslavia also taken Bulgaria & Hungary join Axis powers

Technology of World War II Air power takes prominent role Luftwaffe – German Air Force perfected

methods of bombing targets Radar – detect planes Sonar – detect submarines

Battle of Britain & the Blitz Britain alone in Western Europe Hitler thinks Britain will sue for peace Winston Churchill replaced Neville

Chamberlain Churchill staunch hardfast opponent against

Germans Hitler plans Operation Sea Lion – invasion of

Britain Begins with massive air strikes

The London Blitz August 1940 Germans begin daily bombardment of

Southern Coast British Royal Airforce fights off Changes tactic from military targets to civilian

targets in cities September 1940 Relays of aircraft shower

explosives & fire bombs over city Continued for 57 nights. Much of the city destroyed & 15K killed Did not break – Parliament still met, citizens continued daily lives taking shelter in bunkers when necessary

Failure of the Blitz Continued on/off until June 1941 Contrary to Hitler’s hopes, British morale not

destroyed but more determined Instead turned to new target, Russia Saved Britain & was one of Hitler’s costliest

mistakes

Operation Barbarossa June 1941 Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa –

the conquest of the Soviet Union 2 Reasons:

Natural resources Crush Communism & defeat rival Joseph Stalin

Planning Operation Barbarossa

German Advance New blitzkrieg 3M Germans pour into Soviet union Caught Stalin unprepared – army still suffered

from Great Purge that eliminated top officers 2.5M Russians killed in defense Forced to retreat – scorched earth By autumn poised to take Leningrad & Moscow Problem: like Napoleon’s army, the Germans are

unprepared for Russian winter so thousands freeze

Siege of Leningrad

September 1941 2.5 year siege of Leningrad begins

Enormous Russian hardships 2 pieces bread/day – desperation eating wallpaper

and leather briefcases 1M+ die, rest struggle to defend city Stalin begs Churchill to open 2nd front in West; agree to work together

Life in Leningrad Leningrad was expected "to fall like a leaf" (Hitler). The Germans, flushed with the initial success of 'Barbarossa', decided that they would

not storm the city. Hitler had stated to his generals that once Leningrad had been surrounded and bombarded from the air and by artillery on the ground, the resolve of the city to continue the fight would disappear. German bombers also dropped propaganda leaflets on the city - claiming that the population would starve to death if they did not surrender.

The ruling elite of Leningrad had imposed martial law in June - a reaction to the success of 'Barbarossa'. Authority to govern the city was handed to Lieutenant-General Popov, commander of the city's garrison, A. A. Zhdanov, head of the local party committee and P. Popov, head of the city's Soviet Executive. 

Zhdanov told the people of Leningrad:"The moment has come to put your Bolshevik qualities to work, to get ready to defend Leningrad without wasting words. We have to see that nobody is just an onlooker, and carry out in the least possible time the same kind of mobilization of the workers that was done in 1918 and 1919. The enemy is at the gate. It is a question of life and death."

Many in Leningrad had expected the Germans to attack and occupy the city. However, a resolute Russian defense and inadequate German manpower, meant that the Germans could not successfully achieve this - hence the siege. By September 8th, German tanks were just 10 miles from Leningrad and the city was cut-off from the rest of Russia by any form of land communication. Supply lines existed in the air and by river - but both were under constant attack. The Germans continually bombarded the city, putting out of action power stations that supplied Leningrad with electricity. The city also quickly became short of food

When the Germans invaded Russia in June 1941, the population of Leningrad was about 2,500,000. However, as the Germans advanced into Russia, a further 100,000 refugees entered the city. The area that the city authorities controlled produced just 1/3rd of what was needed for grain, 1/3rd of what was needed for coal, 1/12th of what was needed for sugar and half of what was needed with regards to meat - if the supply lines could be kept open. On September 12th, those in charge of the city estimated that they had the following supplies: flour for 35 days cereals for 30 days meat for 33 days fats for 45 days sugar for 60 days

The Siege lasted for 900 days.

People collapsed in factories and on the streets - and died. The city organised mass burials to cope with the number who died. When not enough grave diggers could be found, explosives were used to blow a hole in the ground and the bodies were simply thrown in with the expectation that snow would simply cover them up. Where people died in the street, there was a scramble for their ration card."If this happened, there was an immediate scrabbling for the dead one's ration card - not because anyone wanted to steal it but because everyone realized that a ration card handed in to the authorities meant an infinitesimal portion more food for all. Such were the indignities we suffered." "I watched my father and mother die - I knew perfectly well they were starving. But I wanted their bread more than I wanted them to stay alive. And they knew that about me too. That's what I remember about the blockade: that feeling that you wanted your parents to die because you wanted their bread."

In November 1941, while the siege was in its early stages, 11,000 people died of what the authorities called 'alimentary dystrophy' (starvation) - over 350 a day. However, this number greatly increased as the winter took a hold on the city.

U.S. Involvement Grows

Although isolationist, American sympathy for Allies grows

Arsenal of Democracy Early 1941 FDR persuades Congress to pass

Lend Lease Act allowing sale/lending of war materials to “any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States”

Not drawn into war, but “arsenal of democracy” by supplying arms to those fighting for freedom

Atlantic Charter August 1941 Roosevelt & Churchill

meet secretly on warship in the Atlantic

Issue Atlantic Charter – goals for war: “the final destruction of Nazi

tyranny” Support “the right of all peoples to

choose the form of government under which they will live” Called for “permanent system of general security”

What’s going on in this cartoon?What does it mean?

Japan

Since late 30s trying to conquer China (only partially successful)

With war in Europe, sees chance to take European colonial possessions in SE Asia to gain raw materials (oil, rubber, tin) to help fight Chinese War

Growing Tensions 1940 Japan advanced into French Indochina &

Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) U.S. tries to halt Japanese aggression by

banning sale of war materials (iron, steel, oil) to Japan

Angered Japanese but talks held General Tojo Hideki – extreme militarist gains

power and wants foreign expansion US interfering with plans

Attack on Pearl Harbor Talks at standstill General Tojo ordered attack on American fleet

at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii December 7, 1941 Japanese planes destroy

American Pacific fleet and kill 2,400 people Next day FDR told nation “date which will live

in infamy” Asked Congress to declare war on Japan December 11 Germany & Italy, as Japan’s

allies, declare war on US

Nakajima B5N2 "Kate"

Before the attack…

USS Arizona burned for two days after being hit. The wreck remains at bottom of Pearl Harbor and is a war memorial leaking a quart of oil a day.

The Japanese left Pearl Harbor in chaos.

There was 2,403 dead, 188 planes, 1178 people were wounded and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships.

In one swift stroke the Japanese action silenced the debate that divided Americans ever since the German defeated France, left England alone to fight against the Nazi terror. 

Result of Pearl Harbor Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor serious

mistake like Hitler invading Russia At first, Japanese successful in taking

American & European possessions in Pacific E.g. Philippines taken and British colonies of Hong

Kong, Burma, Malaya, more of Dutch East Indies and Indochina

Japanese empire now stretches throughout Southeast Asia to Western Pacific

Beginning of 1942 – Axis powers reach their height of successes

Japanese Empire at its peak in 1942.