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The last great war. “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British empire and the commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘this was their finest hour’” - Sir Winston Churchill
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The lastgreat war “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British empire and the commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘this was their finest hour’” - Sir Winston Churchill By Christopher LaMack
“when jewish blood flows from our knives, then all will be well” - line from the hos vessel lied In order to support his Deuschen Reich, Adolph Hitler believed he would require a pure Aryan population. Added to this feeling is the fact that he held Jews personally responsible for the loss of the First World War, and Germany’s economic distress. Using these as a pretence, Hitler sold Germany into his shocking “Final Solution”, which called for the systematic execution of minority groups, such as Jews, Serbs, homosexuals, cripples, the mentally disabled, and others. Around 14,000,000 people were murdered.
The rising sun goes to war In 1937, the Japanese Empire launched a full- scale invasion of China. Since 1910, with the conquest of Korea, Japan has proven that she is the dominant power in East Asia. The combative armies of the Emperor have far and away shown themselves to be sharp and capable. But with European and U.S. Forces and interests in the area, Japan is now pitted against the mightiest empire in the world: the British Empire. With English interest on Europe, Japan did incredibly well in China. This is where the fate of the world is sealed into war.
The Blitzkrieg Hitler and his staff, already in control of Austria, the Rhineland, and the Sudetenland, and after demands for the Polish Corridor are not met, decided on a tactic which they would pursue in the coming fight. The mechanical advantages of the Wermacht allowed for a Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, in which Germany would mobilize faster than the Western Allies could react. This is the Blitzkrieg, courtesy of WWII in HD.
“bombsen!”“Bombsen!”“Bombsen Uber engeland!”- bomben auf engeland, German march By June of 1940, Britain was the last world power fighting Hitler. Plans for her invasion were scheduled for 1941; first, the Luftwaffe had to soften English resistance. They bombed major English cities, and as an added measure dusted off a practice from WWI: the use of Untersee Boats to torpedo supply lines to the isles. The Germans never succeeded in occupying England.
Barbarossa In June of 1941, Adolph Hitler broke his pact of nonaggression with Josef Stalin by invading the Soviet Union. However obvious the movement was (Hitler despised communism), Stalin had refused to see it coming. Codenamed “Operation Barbarossa”, the assault began in the summertime, with the understanding that it would be complete by the harsh Russian winter. However, the fight on the Eastern Front lasted throughout the year, for almost three years. Using encirclement tactics, the three German forces easily pushed far into the nation, but fall rains and stiffening resistance slowed them to a halt.
The north African campaign The attentions of both Germany and Italy were on North Africa early in the war, largely due to the rich oil supply in that region, which could fuel the Axis’ war machine. Also, control of the Suez canal meant the quick movement, or lack thereof, of supplies and soldiers. One of the first targets of the Allies, which after December 7, 1941, included the United States, was, quite obviously, North Africa. After early Italian defeats by the Greeks and Brits, the Germans decided to take matters into their own hands. Led by Reichsmarshal Erwin Rommel, the “desert fox”, the German Afrika Korps was “a daring and skillful opponent”, in the words of Sir Churchill. However, at El Alamein, the German force was skillfully bested by British General Bernard Montgomery. Within Months, the Allies had invaded Sicily, and had a foothold in Europe.
“We can wreck Berlin from end to end if the USAAF will come in on it. It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft. It will cost Germany the war.” - Sir Arthur Harris The bombing of Germany was treated as an offensive of it’s own. It was a massive campaign, unequalled in destruction and not matched until the Vietnam War. In the Western Allies version of the Blitzkrieg, the Army Air Corps bombed by day, and the RAF by night, to amount to an unrelenting assault of death from above, from the British Dambusters in ‘43 to Dresden in ‘45.
D- day For the entirety of the German occupation of France, the Allies constantly devised plans for the invasion of Europe. They figured that, whatever the assault, it would be costly. Finally, the Western Allies decided on Operation Overlord. Led by Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower, the attack would be along Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, at Normandy. It would consist of a clever deception for the Germans, then the surprise landing of British, U.S., and Canadian troops on designated shores. The defenders, mostly inexperienced Germans with incomplete defences, were taken unawares. In order to land the troops, the Allies needed a massive amount of landing craft, and a means by which to get supplies from the ships to the shore. They answered the latter problem with “Mullberry Harbours.” Named for a British Soldier who proposed the idea, the harbours were built quickly and easily deployed. After the Allies had a foothold in western Europe, they proceeded to liberate France and begin their push to Berlin.
