World War World War IIII

The The Invasion of Invasion of PolandPoland

September 1, 1939 German forces invaded from

the west, while Soviets invaded from the east

The attack forced Britain and France to honor their alliance with Poland and declare war on Germany

By the end of September, however, Poland had been conquered

The Soviets also moved against Finland and the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia)

BlitzkriegBlitzkrieg During the invasion of

Poland, the Germans debuted a new military tactic

Blitzkrieg, or "Lightning War,” German tactic of striking with tremendous speed and force, with the intention of knocking out your enemy before they can react to your attack

Germany’s Next Moves

To secure their northern border, Germany invaded both Norway and Denmark, winning easy victories in the spring of 1940

By late spring, Hitler turned his attention west and invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in preparation for attacking France

US responded by Destroyers for Bases

Deal Spring 1940: US agreed to trade 50 surplus destroyers (small warships) to Britain, who needed them to protect shipping, in exchange for allowing the US to build naval bases in British-controlled territories

The Miracle at Dunkirk

Allied forces had moved into Belgium to meet the German advance, but quickly found themselves cut-off and surrounded

Allied forces raced to reach the port of Dunkirk on the English Channel, their only means of escaping defeat & capture

The British were able to safely evacuate over 300,000 men to England by using every available ship in Great Britain, but were forced to abandon all of their heavy equipment

The Fall of France The evacuation of

Allied troops across the English Channel left France undefended

Germans took Paris on June 13th and the French government formally surrendered on June 22nd, 1940

Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill 1874 – 1965 (life)1874 – 1965 (life) 1940-45 & 1951-55 (British 1940-45 & 1951-55 (British

Prime Minister)Prime Minister) Although Britain now stood Although Britain now stood

alone against Germany, alone against Germany, they remained defiant, they remained defiant, with Churchill vowing “… with Churchill vowing “… we shall defend our Island, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”never surrender”

The The Battle of Battle of BritainBritain

To be able to invade Britain, Germany would first need to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) and soften beachhead defenses through aerial bombing

From June to October of 1940, an air battle was waged between the RAF and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force)

Despite being outnumbered, the British managed to win the air battle, forcing Hitler to abandon his plans to invade Britain

“Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few.” - Churchill

““The Blitz”The Blitz” Sept. 1940 – May 1941 Sustained bombing campaign

by Germany against major British cities, targeting British civilians

London was bombed 57 nights in a row

43,000 civilians killed German objective was to

instill fear in the British people in hopes that they would sue for peace; instead the British grew more determined to win the war

British retaliated with fire-bombing raids on German cities

Lend-Lease Act March 1941 US declared that it

would lend or lease (since it couldn’t sell due to the Neutrality Acts) weapons to nations considered “vital to the defense of the US”

US went on to send $40 billion in weapons to Allies over the course of WWII

Hemispheric Defense Zone

To help protect British shipping, FDR declared the entire Western Atlantic to be part of the Western Hemisphere and thereby under the protection of the US per the Monroe Doctrine

FDR then ordered the US Navy to patrol this part of the Atlantic, leading to several deadly encounters between US destroyers and German U-boats

The Atlantic Charter

August 1941 FDR met with British

Prime Minister Winston Churchill to lay out a post-war plan for economic prosperity

Many question whether or not this is where FDR promised Churchill that he would find a way to get the American people to support the US entering the war

The Axis in the Mediterranean

In The Balkans: Italian and German forces seized control of most of the Balkan peninsula by late 1941, but still had to deal with partisan uprisings, especially in Greece & Yugoslavia, throughout the war

In North Africa: Axis forces fought mostly British troops in back-and-forth battles throughout most of 1940, 1941, & 1942; Germany’s inability to decisively win on the “Southern Front” of the war would prove costly

Operation Operation BarbarossaBarbarossa

In June 1941, Germany broke In June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and attacked the Soviet Unionattacked the Soviet Union

Stalin was not prepared for the Stalin was not prepared for the German attack and the German attack and the Wehrmacht (German Army) had Wehrmacht (German Army) had made deep advances into Soviet made deep advances into Soviet territory by Decemberterritory by December

Soviet forces resorted to a Soviet forces resorted to a ““scorched earthscorched earth” campaign, ” campaign, burning everything of use to the burning everything of use to the Germans as they retreated Germans as they retreated across the Ukraineacross the Ukraine

Finally, the harsh Russian winter Finally, the harsh Russian winter stalled the Germans, buying the stalled the Germans, buying the Soviets time to regroup and stop Soviets time to regroup and stop the German advancesthe German advances

SiegeSiege of of LeningradLeningrad

Sept. 1941 – Jan. 1944Sept. 1941 – Jan. 1944 Hitler was obsessed with Hitler was obsessed with

capturing the Soviet city of capturing the Soviet city of Leningrad due both to its Leningrad due both to its symbolical importance as the symbolical importance as the “City of Lenin” (Lenin had led “City of Lenin” (Lenin had led the Bolshevik Revolution) and the Bolshevik Revolution) and its military importance as a its military importance as a naval port on the North Seanaval port on the North Sea

1.5 million Soviets died during 1.5 million Soviets died during the siege, mostly from the siege, mostly from starvation and disease; the starvation and disease; the population resorted to eating population resorted to eating sawdust, boiled leather, rats, sawdust, boiled leather, rats, pets, horses, and, eventually, pets, horses, and, eventually, each other!each other!

Battle of Stalingrad

July 1942 – February 1943July 1942 – February 1943 Bloodiest battle in historyBloodiest battle in history 1.5 million killed1.5 million killed Vicious urban warfare as the Vicious urban warfare as the

Germans and Soviets fought Germans and Soviets fought street by street, building by street by street, building by building for control of the citybuilding for control of the city

Soviets eventually encircled Soviets eventually encircled the German army, which was the German army, which was forced to surrender en masseforced to surrender en masse

500,000 Germans 500,000 Germans capturedcaptured, but few of them , but few of them survived being imprisoned in survived being imprisoned in the brutal Soviet gulags the brutal Soviet gulags (prison camps)(prison camps)

The Wannsee Conference

Jan. 20, 1942 Nazi leaders met to

determine the “final solution of the Jewish question”

Formalized the process for rounding up and exterminating the Jewish population of Europe through the use of concentration camps and deth camps

The Holocaust By the time the war

was over, more than 12 million people had died in the concentration camps, about half of them Jews

The other half were a mix of other groups the Nazi’s considered “undesirable”: Gypsies, Poles, Russians, uncooperative Catholic priests, homosexuals, the mentally ill, & the physically or mentally handicapped

Japan Takes Advantage

1940 - 41: As war raged in Europe, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia) and positioned itself to threaten British colonies and the US-controlled Philippines

US Embargo of Japan

In response, US cut off Japan’s access to critical war materials such as steel and oil (both of which Japan bought almost entirely from America) to put pressure on Japan to make peace with China and Britain

Japan considered this an act of war and began to plan an attack on US military facilities in Hawaii and the Philippines

Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise Japan launched a surprise

attack against US naval attack against US naval base in Hawaiibase in Hawaii

4 battleships destroyed, 4 4 battleships destroyed, 4 more seriously damaged, more seriously damaged, but Japan failed to destroy but Japan failed to destroy US aircraft carriersUS aircraft carriers

Support vessels and Support vessels and facilities suffered massive facilities suffered massive damagedamage

2403 Americans killed, 2403 Americans killed, 1178 wounded1178 wounded

Japanese lost only 29 Japanese lost only 29 aircraft and 65 menaircraft and 65 men

US Declares War Dec. 8, 1941: US and

Britain declared war against Japan

Dec. 11, 1941: Germany and Italy declared war against the US, believing that by helping Japan against the US, Japan would help them against the Soviets

Japan Keeps Rolling

Japan immediately launched successful attacks against US colonies at Guam and the Philippines and British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Singapore, as well as the independent nation of Thailand

Japan in the Philippines

US forces in the Philippines were forced to surrender by May 1942

US Gen. Douglas MacArthur was ordered to evacuate to Australia, but vowed “I shall return”

Japanese forced prisoners to march 65 miles in tropical heat without food, water, or medical care, and while enduring physical abuse, to a prison camp – about 18,000 of the 78,000 prisoners died on this “Bataan Death March”

Doolittle RaidDoolittle Raid April 18, 1942 American bombers,

under the command of Col. James Doolittle, mounted a daring mission to launch from aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo in retaliation for Pearl Harbor

Mainly a public relations move to improve morale; bombings did no major damage

Battle of Battle of Coral Coral SeaSea

May 4 – 8, 1942May 4 – 8, 1942 US Navy had broken US Navy had broken

Japanese codes and learned Japanese codes and learned of Japan’s intention to seize of Japan’s intention to seize New Guinea as a step New Guinea as a step towards attacking Australiatowards attacking Australia

US sent 2 aircraft carriers US sent 2 aircraft carriers to intercept the Japanese in to intercept the Japanese in the Coral Seathe Coral Sea

First naval battle in history First naval battle in history fought entirely with aircraftfought entirely with aircraft

U.S. lost an aircraft carrier, U.S. lost an aircraft carrier, but prevented the Japanese but prevented the Japanese invasioninvasion

Battle of Midway-Battle of Midway-turning point in turning point in war in pacific!war in pacific! June 4 – 7, 1942

Japanese attack on U.S. island of Midway was intercepted and turned back

4 Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk, a loss from which Japan would never recover

Japan would not be able to mount any offensive attacks for the remainder of the war – they would have to try to defend what they held from US invasion