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HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 13

HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 13. The Nazi War of Annihilation. Discussion Questions. Were the crimes committed under the National Socialist regime unique in modern history? What is the Holocaust? What lessons, if any, can be learned from the Holocaust?.

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HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 13

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  1. HI136 The History of GermanyLecture 13 The Nazi War of Annihilation

  2. Discussion Questions • Were the crimes committed under the National Socialist regime unique in modern history? • What is the Holocaust? • What lessons, if any, can be learned from the Holocaust?

  3. The Polish Campaign, 1-28 Sept. 1939 Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich

  4. Blitzkrieg

  5. Campaigns in western Europe and the Mediterranean, April 1940-April 1941 Source: The Encyclopaedia of the German Army in the 20th Century

  6. The Battle of Britain • Air superiority necessary if Germany to mount an invasion of the British Isles. • Reasons for failure to do so: • German aircraft had limited range and were designed to support land forces • Superior British fighter planes • Greater British fighter production • Radar • Change of tactics Paul Nash, Battle of Britain (1941)

  7. Europe, Dec 1941

  8. Operation Barbarossa • Largest land invasion ever seen • Three Army Groups made up of German, Italian, Hungarian and Romanian troops • Objective was to capture key strategic areas: oil fields of the Caucuses (South). • Baltic coast and Leningrad (North) • Ukraine & Moscow (Centre) • oil fields of the Caucuses (South). • Intended to be a repeat of Blitzkrieg in the West • Armies covered vast distances but didn’t achieve their objectives • Flaws: • Operation started too late • Deep penetration into Russia left supply lines exposed Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich (1996)

  9. Map of Concentration Camps and Death Camps

  10. WWII Offensives

  11. The Home Front • Continued provision of leisure & entertainment • “A reluctance to ask the public to bear sacrifices” (Craig), initially led to limited state interference in the economy & a failure of mobilize the full resources of the state • Women not brought into the war effort on ideological grounds • Surveillance of the population – the security forces on the look-out for signs of defeatism • Intensification of propaganda & cult of the Führer • Exploitation of occupied territories and forced labour

  12. The War Economy • The Nazis less successful of mobilizing their economy than the Allies. • Corruption, inefficiency and disorder marred their efforts. • April 1942: Central Planning Board set up – attempts to rationalise the economy & make better use of resources & manpower. • Within 6 months production had increased by 59% • But too little too late – ideological concerns still led to wasting resources and manpower. Albert Speer (1905-1981), Minister of Armaments, 1942-45

  13. Source: R. Overy, Russia’s War (1997) Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich

  14. The ‘New Order’ in Europe • Germany exploited occupied territories, expropriating assets, raw materials, art treasure, etc. • Foreign workers used to solve the labour shortage – 7 million foreign workers in Germany, and a further 7 million in the occupied territories by 1944. • Ambitious plans to colonize the east – ghettoization & ‘liquidation’ of Jews, Slavs etc. to make way for colonists. Poster inviting Dutchmen to join the SS

  15. ‘The Turning of the Tide’, 1942-43 • 7 Dec. 1941: Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbour. • 11 Dec. 1941: Hitler declared war on the USA, globalizing the conflict. • 5 Sept. 1942: German forces reached the Russian city of Stalingrad. • 23 Oct. – 5 Nov. 1942: Battle of El Alamein – the British 8th Army defeated the Germans in North Africa and pushed them into retreat. • 8 Nov. 1942: Anglo-American forces invaded Morocco & Algeria, cutting off the German retreat and trapping them in Tunisia. • July-August 1943: The British & Americans invade Sicily. • Sept. 1943: Anglo-American forces move onto the Italian peninsula. Germany occupies Italy.

  16. Stalingrad: A 900-day Siege • Confrontation between the two dictators over the ‘City of Stalin’ – neither would give in. • Russian counter-attack in November 1942 encircled the German 6th Army. • The Germans lost 750,000 men (killed or missing) and 91,000 were captured. • A turning point in the war – after Stalingrad the Germans did nothing but retreat on the eastern front.

  17. Russian soldiers wave the ‘Hammer & Sickle’ flag from the roof of the Reichstag building, Berlin, May 1945

  18. Reasons for Defeat • The role of Hitler • Fighting on multiple fronts • The failure to fully mobilize the population and the economy • Flexibility • Morale • Key texts: • Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich at War (2008) • Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won (2006)

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