Practices of WWII

1. Practices of WWII

2. The Years of AXIS Triumph

3. Nazi Europe, 1939-1940: Poland and the Fall of France • German Blitzkreig • Overran Western Poland in one month • One million men • Armored and motorized divisions supported by massive air power (Lutwaffe) • Soviet Occupation of Poland • Began 2 weeks after German invasion • Soviets established military bases in independent countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania • Finland resisted Soviets and Soviets attacked (Winter War) • Resistance effective at first, but Finns are defeated in March of 1940 • Cede some territory, but not their independence

4. Nazi Europe, 1939-1940: Poland and the Fall of France • The “phony war” • No action in winter of 1939 • British had few troops, French were behind the Maginot Line (series of forts along French-German border) • Germans attacked Norway and Denmark on April 9, 1940 • Denmark quickly overrun • Norwegian army surrenders on June 10th • On May 10th, the Germans struck at the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France

5. Nazi Europe, 1939-1940: Poland and the Fall of France • The Fall of France • Allies expected German advance to be through Belgium • Germans instead went through Luxembourg and Ardennes forest, long thought to be impassable to tanks

6. Nazi Europe, 1939-1940: Poland and the Fall of France • The Fall of France • Germans drove deep into Northern France and raced towards the English Channel, cutting off Allied armies in Belgium • Dutch, Belgian and a large portion of the French army surrender • British fell back upon Dunkirk

7. Nazi Europe, 1939-1940: Poland and the Fall of France • The Fall of France • 330,000 Allied troops evacuated from Dunkirk to GB May 27th to June 4th 1940 • Germans drove South and occupied Paris on June 13th

8. Nazi Europe, 1939-1940: Poland and the Fall of France • Vichy France • Germans occupied the Northern two-thirds of the country • Southern third became a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Petain • Collaborated with Nazis by providing slave labor and identifying French Jews

9. The Battle of Britain and American Aid • Britain remained alone against Hitler in 1940 • Churchill replaced Chamberlain in May • American “neutrality” • The U.S. was divided into two camps: isolationist and interventionist • Roosevelt was a definite interventionist • “The Great Arsenal of Democracy” • In June, 1940, U.S. sent small initial arms shipment to GB • A few months later, U.S. sent 50 destroyers in return for right to maintain American bases on British territory • In 1941, Lend-Lease is adopted • During this time, U.S. introduced conscription

10. The Battle of Britain and American Aid • Air War over Britain • German victories so quick that Nazis had no plan for invasion of GB • Hitler hoped that GB would sue for peace, or become an ally • Germans began bombing Britain in summer of 1940 and climaxed in autumn • Germans needed control of the skies to land an invasion force

11. The Battle of Britain and American Aid • British RAF (Royal Air Force) held off the Nazi air force (Lutwaffe) • Used new radar devices to detect Germans • Tens of thousands of people killed • Hitler called off attacks in late October to concentrate on invasion of Russia

12. The Nazi Invasion of Russia: The Russian Front, 1941-1942 • Russians subjugated the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) and seemed intent on driving south towards the Balkans. • Hitler takes the Balkans • Germans checked Russian advance by: • Convincing Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary to join the Axis (becoming lesser partners and occupied by German troops) • Serbia was occupied b/c it resisted, but Croatia became collaborationist • Greece was subjugated too

13. The Nazi Invasion of Russia: The Russian Front, 1941-1942 • The Nazi Invasion of Russia • After securing the Balkans against Russia expansion, on June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the U.S.S.R. • German army consisted of 3 million soldiers along a 2,000-mile front • By autumn, Germans controlled most of Ukraine and began murder of Jews and Bolshevik gov’t. officials • Leningrad in the North was under siege, Crimean peninsula in the South was occupied and the Nazis were 25 miles from Moscow

15. The Nazi Invasion of Russia: The Russian Front, 1941-1942 • The Nazi Invasion of Russia • Stalin recovered from the initial shock, fired some of his commanders and rallied the troops to the defense of the Russian motherland • Germans were overextended and bitterly cold winter set in early • Red Army counteroffensive in winter of 1941 saved Moscow

16. The Nazi Invasion of Russia: The Russian Front, 1941-1942 • The Nazi Invasion of Russia • Disgusted Hitler decided to take over command of the military himself • Focused on the Southern front to gain control of Caucasus oil fields • Within this push, the city of Stalingrad was besieged • Hitler, realizing that the war would not be quickly won decided to put German economy on a more permanent war footing • Hires Albert Speer, as head of armaments and he quickly triples armaments production

17. 1942, The Year of Allied Dismay • The Desert Campaigns • Started in 1940 w/Italian invasion from Libya into Egypt • Control of Mediterranean/Suez Canal at stake • British counterattack swept Italy out of Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia by early 1941 • In spring of 1941, German elite force (Afrikacorps) under General Rommel attacked in Libya and drove British back to Egypt

18. 1942, The Year of Allied Dismay • The Desert Campaigns • British again pushed back to Libya • By mid-1942, Rommel had pushed back the British and penetrated Egypt • British took a stand at El Alamein w/backs to the Suez • Real concern that Nazis would close Middle East in a vise.

19. 1942, The Year of Allied Dismay • Japan and the Pacific • In 1941, Japan had been at war w/China for ten years • In 1940, allied themselves to Germany and Italy • In 1941, signed neutrality treaty w/the Soviets • U.S. placed embargo on export of scrap iron and steel to Japan • Tojo, the Japanese PM declared that GB and US influence in Asia was to be eliminated • December 7, 1941, Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Guam and Malaya

20. 1942, The Year of Allied Dismay • Japan and the Pacific • Japanese captured Singapore, and the Philippines by 1942. • Captured New Guinea, thus threatening Australia • Threatened India • To many Asians, Japanese anti-imperialist, pan-Asia rhetoric was welcome • Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere • The Year of Dismay • By autumn 1942, Germans at Caucasus, and almost at Nile, u-boats were sinking Allied ships at a disastrous rate • Worst period of war, yet no unified Japanese-German strategy