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World War II. Retaking Europe. ALLIES: Great Britain (and commonwealths of the British empire) Australia Canada India South Africa Soviet Union (Russia) United States of America France (Free France)
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World War II Retaking Europe
ALLIES: Great Britain (and commonwealths of the British empire) Australia Canada India South Africa Soviet Union (Russia) United States of America France (Free France) [The French government had fallen to Nazi Germany in the spring of 1940 and was called ‘Vichy France’] AXIS: Germany Italy Japan Miscellaneous conquered countries World War II
The Atlantic Charter • August 1941 • British Prime Minister: Winston Churchill • U.S. President: Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) • Declaration of Principles to guide the United States and Great Britain during the course of the war. • No territorial gain for US and Britain • No territorial changes without peoples consent • Territorial self-determination • Safe boundaries in Europe • Formation of an organization of world nations
Americans enter the War • Battle of Britain (1940) German bombing of England • Nazi Germany controlled nearly all of western Europe • Nazi Germany had invaded the Soviet Union (USSR or Russia) • Japan attacked US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands
Battle of the Atlantic • Food and supplies from U.S. to Britain destroyed by Nazi submarines = “wolf packs” • U.S. established convoy system • Development of “SONAR” to locate vessels underwater • Essentially victory for the Allies by 1942
Map 26.1 World War II in the North Atlantic, 1939–1943 (p. 752)
North Africa Campaign • Germans invaded North Africa with goal of reaching oil fields of the Arabian peninsula • German General Erwin Rommel (“the Desert Fox”) • November 1942, Battle of El Alamein (Egypt) - British victory • Americans came in June of 1942 • Allies defeated Axis in North Africa by May,1943. • Casablanca (Morocco) Conference in January 1943 - Allies planned to deal with Europe first
Allied Invasion of Italy • Allies invaded Sicily, July, 1943 • Mussolini removed as fascist leader of Italy (1943) • Brutal fighting • Heavy American losses • Famous battles: • Anzio • Monte Cassino • Allies captured Rome, May 1944 • Nazis surrendered in N. Italy, April 1945
War in the Soviet Union (USSR, Russia) • Nazis invaded USSR in June 1941 • Needed oil and food • Germans at first welcomed as liberators, later hated - executed Russian citizens • Germans almost captured Moscow, never did • Germans besieged Leningrad for 3 years • Battle of Stalingrad (Enemy at the Gates - movie) • USSR victorious • German casualties - 300,000+ • Russian casualties - est. 1.1 million
Allied Air War B-29 Bomber • Long-range bombing missions • Pinpoint bombing of factories and war related industries, railroads, etc. • Some ‘saturation’or carpet bombing later in the war to destroy enemy morale
Invasion of Western Europe • Planned for spring of 1944 • Code named: OPERATION OVERLORD • More famously known as D-Day • June 6, 1944
D-Day, June 6, 1944 • Supreme Commander: General Dwight D. Eisenhower • 150,000 Allied troops invaded the French coast of Normandy • Heavily defended by Nazi soldiers and defenses (the Atlantic Wall) • Famous places: • Omaha Beach, Caen (France), Ste. Mere Eglise • Movies: • Saving Private Ryan • The Longest Day
Liberation of France • French Resistance (to the Nazis) helped • August 25, 1944 - Paris liberated • Most of Western Europe liberated by late 1944
Battle of the Bulge:(the Ardennes Forest) • December 1944 • Last desperate German counter-offensive • Temporarily isolated small units of the American Army • Largest battle in Western Europe • Casualties: • US - 80,000 • German - 100,000
End of World War II in Europe • March 1945 - Allies crossed Rhine River • Soviet troops advanced from the east, captured Berlin • USSR - lost 11,000,000 troops • Germany - lost 3,000,000 troops • April 25, 1945 - Russian and American troops met at the Elbe River in Germany
Germany Surrenders • Hitler commited suicide, April 30, 1945 • German surrender, May 8, 1945 - Victory in Europe (V-E Day • Yalta Conference - Feb. 1945 • FDR died in April 1945 - Vice-President - Harry Truman became president
Yalta Conference (in the Soviet Union) • February, 1945 • FDR, Churchill, Stalin • Divided defeated Germany, divided Berlin into 4 zones • Stalin broke all his promises from Yalta: • dominated Eastern Europe (not free) • No free elections • Not enter war against Japan in the Pacific