German Agression

2. German Agression • Hitler’s Blitzkrieg-lightning war • Poland • France • Great Britain • North Africa • Balkans • Soviet Union

3. Blitzkrieg • “Lightning War” • Fast attack using planes to bombard cities followed by tanks and massive troop invasions on the ground • The goal is to hit so hard so fast the enemy doesn’t have a chance to resist

5. Conquering Poland • Sept 1939 – • German warplanes bombed Polish cities • Troop trucks rumbled across the border with more than 1.5 million men • The Non-aggression Pact with USSR gave Hitler the opportunity to invade Poland from the west while Stalin invaded from the east

6. Conquering Poland • The full scale invasion of Poland was the start to WWII • For Great Britain and France, Poland was the final straw • France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on Sept 3, 1939 • But Poland fell before any assistance arrived • Hitler annexed the western half of Poland

9. Conquering Poland • The Soviets turn • Sept. 17, 1939 – Stalin sent Soviet troops to occupy the eastern half of Poland. • He also began annexing Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland

10. The “Sitzkrieg” • After the invasion of Poland the Allies built up their defenses along the Maginot Line and waited for the German attack into France • For 7 months no attack game • Newspapers began calling it the “sitzkrieg” • Hitler was just biding his time

11. The Western Front • April 9, 1940 – Hitler launched his surprise attack • He went for Norway and Denmark first, he intended to establish bases from which to launch a later attack on Great Britain • Denmark fell in 4 hours and Norway 2 months later

12. Battle for France • May 1940 – Hitler began his sweep through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg toward France • While the Allies were distracted in those countries, Hitler sent forces directly into France through Luxembourg and the Ardennes Forest • (Remember the Lost Battalion, same place)

14. Battle for France • Through the gap in the Ardennes German forces invaded and moved across France to the coast in 10 days • Belgium was now surrounded and surrendered • The Allies were trapped against the English Channel at Dunkirk

16. Battle for France • Dunkirk Evacuation • Great Britain set out to rescue the Allied army stranded at Dunkirk • Royal Navy, yachts, lifeboats, motorboats, paddleboats, fishing boats and steamers joined the rescue effort • Between the end of May and beginning of June, the makeshift armada under heavy German bombardment saved 338,000 soldiers

18. France Falls • After the Dunkirk evacuation France was doomed • June 10, Mussolini, sensing victory, joined forces with Hitler and declared war on GB and France • Italian troops then attacked from the south while German troops moved on Paris from the north

24. France Falls • Germany claimed Northern France • The Germans set up a puppet government in southern France headed by an old WWI hero Henri Petain based in Vichy • French General Charles De Gaulle fled to London and established the true French government in exile and planned his liberation of France

26. Great Britain Attacked • Great Britain was now the last man standing • Winston Churchill was the new Prime Minister and swore to never give in to the Nazis • Hitler began planning “Operation Sea Lion”

27. Great Britain Attacked • Operation Sea Lion • 1st take out the Royal Air Force • Then land 250,000 troops on the shores of England • Summer 1940 – The Luftwaffe began its bombing campaigns • First on British aircraft factories and airfields

30. Great Britain Attacked • The Luftwaffe then began bombing British cities, especially London to break British morale • With the bombing focused on the cities, the RAF rebuilt and organized a counterattack

38. Great Britain’s Defense • The RAF had 2 advantages over the Germans • Radar - They knew the speed, direction and number of German planes coming their way • Enigma – the British smuggled a German code breaking machine they used to open German communication • The Battle for Britain lasted for almost an entire year. The Allies began to hope for survival

40. The Eastern Front • The resistance of Britain changed Hitler’s strategy • He turned his attention east to the Balkans and eventually the USSR

41. North Africa • The Axis powers went for North Africa to benefit Italy • Italian forces invaded North Africa through Libya Sept. 1940 (while Germany was bombing GB) • His goal was the British controlled Suez Canal in neighboring British controlled Egypt to get to the oil fields of Arabia • The Italian advance was halted in Egypt by British forces

42. OIL Libya Egypt

43. North Africa • By December 1940 the British fight back and push the Italians out of Egypt and back into Libya • Hitler was forced to step in and save his Axis partner • In Feb. 1941 – Hitler sent Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox” to Libya • Mission – establish the Afrika Korps and take control of Egypt and the Suez canal • Fought with the British for the next few months in the Africa campaign (back and forth fighting)

44. Balkans • Hitler planned his invasion of the USSR through the Balkans • Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary all cooperated by joining the Axis powers early in 1941 • Yugoslavia and Greece resisted and were invaded, they both gave up in less than a month

46. The Soviet Union • Operation Barbossa • June 1941 – Blitzkrieg invasion of the USSR • Stalin had not prepared for the attack • The Red Army was not equipped or well trained (remember the purges) • The invasion rolled through the Russian countryside burning and destroying everything in its path