1 / 10

World War II

World War II. 1939-1945. Initial German Success (1939-40). on Sept. 1, 1939 , German air force & army invaded Poland from the west

zorita-battle
Download Presentation

World War II

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. World War II 1939-1945

  2. Initial German Success (1939-40) • on Sept. 1, 1939, German air force & army invaded Poland from the west • blitzkrieg, or lightning warfare; Polish forces were completely overwhelmed (Hitler annexed Poland, as result of Nazi-Soviet Pact, USSR got Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Eastern Poland) • First six-months called “Phony War” and “Sitzkreig” because little fighting happened • April 1940, Hitler took Denmark and Norway • Conquest of France • Germans bypassed Maginot Line and went through Belgium to get into France • British retreated to Dunkirk, French resistance collapsed and went south

  3. Vichy France • French surrendered, Germans occupied N. France • Southern France left under a puppet government called Vichy France under Marshal Henri Pétan • In GB, French General Charles de Gaulle set up a Free French movement

  4. Britain Stands Alone • PM Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain • Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe bombed Britain nightly for 3 months • “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” • The RAF (Royal Air Force) used the new invention Radar to detect and hold off the invasion

  5. US “Neutrality” • When France fell in 1940, Americans realized that Britain stood alone against the Fascist aggressors • President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress began military buildup to “all measures short of war” • Selective Service Act 1940: first peacetime draft • Lend-Lease Act of 1941: lend goods to any nation whose defense necessary to defense of US (i.e. Britain) $50 Billion

  6. Axis Makes Two Mistakes (1941) • German Attack on USSR • Hitler wanted grain, oil, iron; thought he could quickly take over • Stalin had stayed out until this point, Soviets used “scorched-earth policy” • Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor • December 7, 1941, “date that will live in infamy” • 7:00 AM the Japanese launched a surprise attack &w/I 2 hrs., Japan had destroyed 19 ships included 8 battleships, 188 airplanes & killed 2400 Americans w/only the Japanese losing 29 planes & 1 submarine • Forced US into war; “waking the sleeping giant” • Axis believed that if US forced into a Pacific war, the would stop aiding GB

  7. Victory in Europe (1942-45) • North Africa to Italy (Operations Torch and Husky) • Oct. 1942, British beat Germans and Italians at El Alamein, Egypt; began pushing west • Nov. 1942, US under command of Dwight D. Eisenhower invaded French N. Africa and moved East • Allies crushed Axis forces • 1943 Allies crossed Mediterranean into Sicily • Mussolini’s Government collapsed • Mussolini tried to escape dressed as a soldier, but taken in N. Italy and hung

  8. Russian Counteroffensive (1943) • Battle of Stalingrad; turning-point in the war; Russians annihilated a 300,000 man Nazi Army • Pushed the Nazis out of USSR through Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland • 1945 Russians reached Germany and stormed Berlin

  9. D-Day (June 6, 1944) • Needed to open a second front in Europe • General Eisenhower led Allied troops across English Channel into Normandy • Operation Overlord • Beaches: Omaha, Juno, Gold, Sword • Largest waterborne (amphibious) attack in history • Met a large Nazi army, but drove them back from France

  10. V-E Day (Victory in Europe) • 1945 Allied armies crossed Rhine into Germany • Met Russians coming from the East • Hitler and new wife Eva Braun committed suicide • May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally

More Related