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World War II

World War II. 1940-1945. Causes. World War I didn’t settle differences Harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles Especially on Germany Economic instability following First World War Italy and Germany look to Fascist dictators Solve Problems Return to Glory. Aggressions of Axis Powers.

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World War II

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  1. World War II 1940-1945

  2. Causes • World War I didn’t settle differences • Harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles • Especially on Germany • Economic instability following First World War • Italy and Germany look to Fascist dictators • Solve Problems • Return to Glory

  3. Aggressions of Axis Powers • Italy, Germany, Japan formed Axis Powers by 1940 • Italy conquered Ethiopia (1936) • Hitler repeatedly violated Treaty of Versailles (1934-1938) • Germany annexed Austria (1938) • Conquered Czechoslovakia and Poland (1939) • Hitler also broke Munich and Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pacts • Japan invaded Manchuria (1932) • China (1937) • French Indochina (1941) • Bombed U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor (1941) • Wake Island (1941)

  4. Allied Nations • Great Britain • France (until 1940) • United States (1941) • Soviet Union (1943) • China (1943) • Italy joins in 1943 • Many smaller nations

  5. Weaponry • Improvements made to: • Tanks • Machine guns/rifles • Artillery • Submarines • Battleships & Destroyers • Aircraft used more effectively: • German Luftwaffe • British RAF • U.S. Army Air Corps • Air Craft Carriers • By 1942, dominated naval warfare

  6. Blitzkrieg • German word for “Lightning War” • Fast moving tanks (Panzers) and ground forces • Mixed with air cover • Luftwaffe • Effectively used against: • Czechoslovakia • Poland • Holland • Denmark • Norway • Belgium • France • Soviet Union

  7. War Time Leaders • Great Britain: Prime Minister Winston Churchill • United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt • Free-French Forces: General Charles De Gaulle • Soviet Union: Premier Joseph Stalin • Nationalist China: General Chiang Kai-chek • Germany: Adolf Hitler • Italy: Benito Mussolini • Japan: Emperor Hirohito & Prime Minister Hideki Tojo

  8. 1940 • April: Germany invades Denmark and Norway • May: Germany invades Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg • September: • U.S. begins military draft • Begins building air and naval fleet • Begins aiding Allies • Japan joins Axis (Tripartite Pact): • Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis formed • November: President Franklin Roosevelt elected to third term

  9. Germany Conquers France • Invades in June of 1940 • German Blitzkrieg goes around French Maginot Line • Along French-German border • Invades through Belgium • Splits Allied lines in two • Half of Allied forces fled to Dunkirk • Churchill has them rescued • Rest of Allied forces surrender in weeks • Including Paris • Germans install French Vichy government • Lasts until Allied liberation in August of 1944

  10. Battle of Britain • Lasts from August through September 1940 • Fought in skies over Britain • Original plan: • Luftwaffe bombs RAF spitfires on the ground • Then bomb RAF radar towers • Then bomb major British cities • Force British to surrender without invasion • Luftwaffe gets bored • Begins bombing London and major cities • Causes much damage & loss of life • Winston Churchill wills his people to “never surrender” • British RAF holds off Luftwaffe • Forces Hitler to abandon plans of invasion • Moral victory for British • Bombing would continue intermittently through out war

  11. Battle of Atlantic • Lasts from 1940-1945 • British and U.S. Navy (Atlantic Fleet) square off against German fleet • Used battleships, destroyers, submarines • Aircraft Carriers make an appearance later in war • Allied forces eventually prevail

  12. 1941 • March: Lend-Lease Act passed • U.S. would lend used ships and planes to British • Helped U.S. economy • August: Atlantic Charter proposed and endorsed by Churchill and Roosevelt • Led to creation of United Nations in 1945

  13. Germany invades Soviet Union • Blitzkrieg begins early on the morning of June 22, 1941 • Called Operation Barbarossa • Violated the non-aggression pact • September: German forces had reached the gates of Leningrad in the north • Smolensk in the center and Dnepropetrovsk in the south • German units reached the outskirts of Moscow in early December

  14. Yet after months of campaigning, the German army was exhausted • Germans expected a rapid Soviet collapse • Planners failed to equip their troops for winter warfare • Speedy German advance had caused the forces to outrun their supply lines • Like Napoleon, Hitler’s forces got trapped in a Russian Winter • In December, the Soviet Union launched a major counterattack against the center of the front • Driving the Germans back from Moscow in chaos

  15. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor • December 7, 1941 • Plan was to knock out U.S. Pacific Fleet • Would allow Japan to expand into Central and South Pacific • First wave attacked at 7AM • Japanese sunk USS Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and other battleships • Bombed planes at nearby Hickam Field • Third wave wasn’t launched because Japanese felt element of surprise was gone • Failed to hit oil tanks on Ford’s Island • Failed to hit U.S. aircraft carriers: Lexington, Hornet, Enterprise • Were at sea • U.S. and Great Britain declares war on Japan on December 8 • Germany declare war on U.S. on December 9 • Japanese also captured Guam on that December 7th

  16. 1942 Europe • August 21-February 2, 1943: Battle of Stalingrad • Hitler’s forces try and take the strategic city on the Volga River • Then would march south into the oil fields of the Middle East • Germans have success in early months • Soviets get reinforcements • By February, Soviets force German army to retreat • 1st large-scale defeat for Germans in Europe • October 23-November 5: Battle of El-Alamein • Rommel’s Afrika Korps tries to take Egypt and Suez Canal from British • British under General Bernard Montgomery hold off Germans and secure Egypt • November 8: Operation Torch--U.S. forces land in North Africa • North African Campaign begins • U.S. troops to aid British in liberating Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia

  17. 1942 Pacific • January 7-April 9: Battle of Bataan • American-Filipino forces hold on for months against Japanese invasion • FDR demands that Allied Commander Douglas MacArthur evacuate to Australia • Allied troops finally surrender in April • Prisoners are taken on Bataan Death March through the jungle • May 6: Corregidor falls to Japanese • Island fortress in Manila Bay • Japanese occupy Philippines

  18. April 18: Doolittle Raid • U.S. bombers attack Japanese home island of Honshu • Showed Japanese were vulnerable to air attack • Retaliation for Pearl Harbor • May 7-8: Battle of Coral Sea--indecisive • 1st battle completely fought by aircraft carriers • Japanese sink more ships than Allies • But Allies force Japanese to abandon plan to invade Australia • June 3-6: Battle of Midway • U.S. learns of Japanese plan to invade Midway Island • Sink 4 Japanese carriers • Turning point of war for U.S. Navy • June 6-7: Allies begin campaign to retake Aleutians from Japanese • August 21: Battle of Guadalcanal begins • Allied strategy of “island hopping” begins • Japanese had taken island to build airbase there for Australian invasion • Japanese hold on for six months against Allied invasion • One of bloodiest battles of Pacific theatre • Allies take island on February 9, 1943 • Begins Allies Solomon Island Campaign

  19. 1943 Europe • February 20-22: Battle of Kasserine Pass • Rommel’s Afrika Korps defeats Allied forces • May 12-25: Casablanca Conference • Churchill and Roosevelt meet • Discuss Sicilian and Italian Campaigns • May 13: Allied victory in Tunisia • End of the North African Campaign • July 9-August 17: Allied invasion of Sicily • Allies liberate from Axis control • September 3: Allies land at Reggio di Calabria • Italian campaign begins • Southern Italy surrenders to Allies; Northern Italy remains in Axis control • September 9: 1st wave lands at Paestum • September 10: Allies land at Salerno • September 12-14: 2nd wave lands at Paestum • October 1: Allies land at Naples • October 13: Italy declares war on Germany • November 28-December 1: Allied leaders meet at Tehran Conference • Joseph Stalin meets with Churchill and Roosevelt for the first time • Stalin demanded a Second Front be opened • Discuss Allied invasion of western Europe

  20. 1943 Pacific • November 21-24: Battles of Tarawa and Makin atolls • Tarawa one of the bloodiest conflicts • U.S. Marines invasion helps liberate island • Allies liberate Gilbert Islands

  21. 1944 Europe • January 22: Allied invasion of Anzio Beach • February 14-March 31: Battle of Anzio • Allies pinned down on beach for weeks • Finally force Axis retreat • May 11-18: Battle of Monte Cassino • Germans take refuge in ancient monastery • Allies bomb and cause major destruction • June 4: Allies liberate Rome • June 6: D-Day • Allied invasion of Normandy, France • Operation Overlord • Landings at Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold, Juno beaches • Allies finally come ashore and take coastal region and towns • Takes them several months to “breakout” from coast

  22. August 15: Allied invasion of Southern France • Operation Anvil/Dragoon • Allies liberate France and march toward German border • August 25: Allies liberate Paris • December 16-January 31, 1945: Battle of the Bulge • Germans launch massive offense against Allied lines in Belgium • Near town of Bastogne • Cause a “bulge” in Allied lines • Allies get reinforcements • Within weeks, drive Germans back • Force German retreat • Last German offensive of war

  23. 1944 Pacific • October 23-26: Battle of Leyte Gulf • Last major naval encounter in Pacific • Victory allows Allies to land in Philippines • Campaign would last until May 8, 1945

  24. 1945 Europe • February 4-11: Allies leaders meet at Yalta • Last time Roosevelt would meet with Churchill and Stalin • Discuss plan for end of the European war • Getting the Soviets involved in Pacific war • February-March: Allies liberate Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands • March: Allies cross the Rhine River • April 12: President Roosevelt dies • Harry S. Truman becomes president • April 29: Italian Campaign ends in Allied victory

  25. April 30: Hitler commits suicide • May 2: Berlin surrenders • May 4: Germany surrenders • May 8: V-E Day • July 17-August 2: Allied leaders meet at Potsdam Conference • Truman and British Prime Minister Atlee meet Joseph Stalin for 1st time • Discuss ending Post-war Europe and war in Pacific

  26. 1945 Pacific • February 19-March 16: Allies take Iwo Jima • March: Allies begin massive firebombing of Japanese cities • March 3: Allies liberate Manila • April 1-June 21: Allies take Okinawa • May 8: Philippines Campaign ends • August 1: Soviet Union declares war on Japan • Invades Manchuria and Korea • August 6: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima • August 9: U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki • August 15: Japan surrenders • V-J Day • September 2: Treaty ending war in the Pacific signed on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay

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