Transcript World War II: Part 1

World War II
World Studies
January 12
I. Attack on Poland

Germany was very prepared for the
invasion
– Blitzkrieg: lightning war
 Fighter
planes and tanks roared into Poland
from the west
– Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was
signed in 1939 and agreed that Hitler and
Stalin would not stand in each other’s way
and would divide Poland
 Stalin
attacked from the east, as agreed
II. The Phony War

The French know they’re next
– Waiting behind the Maginot Line (a
network of underground tunnels & forts)

The British send troops to back them up
– They sit & wait for over 6 months
– Hitler makes them wait - goes for Norway,
Denmark, Netherlands, & Belgium
– Takes each quickly, then turns to France
III. The Axis Powers Grow

When the Germans come, French aren’t
ready for blitzkrieg
– Expected trench warfare
– The Maginot Line proves worthless as the
Germans attack through Belgium again
– Brits retreat

Italy attacks France from the south


Paris falls in June 1940
Germany controls the north & the
Vichy Government is established in
the south
– Charles de Gaulle leads freedom fighters
in France against both

Fighting in Africa
– General Erwin Rommel (aka the Desert Fox)
was a brilliant leader & pushes the allies out
of their colonies across North Africa

Most of Europe is under Axis control
– Resistance & guerilla fighting throughout
Europe - 1941
IV. Technology continues
to advance

Airplanes play a much larger role in this
war
– More accurate bombing
– Parachuting troops

Radar/sonar make detecting airplanes/uboats more accurate
V. The British

Churchill replaces Chamberlain as prime
minister of Great Britain
– Hitler had hoped for a surrender, Churchill
refused

Operation Sea Lion – massive air strike
against Great Britain
– At first the Germans only attacked military
bases
– Started bombing cities full of civilians when
GB wouldn’t surrender

Encryption was very important since
so many messages were intercepted
– Germans had Enigma, British had Ultra
VI. Russia

When Sea Lion was unsuccessful, Hitler
began Operation Barbarossa – attack
on Russia
– Breaking the non-aggression pact &
beginning a 2 front war
– Germans marched in and took Russians by
surprise
– Germany is on the verge of success – then
winter comes & Germans aren’t prepared

Germans surround the city of Leningrad,
trapping the people for 2 ½ years
– No supplies can get in, Russians starve
– Germans can’t quite win

Stalin looks to the Allies for help
VII. America


Congress passed Neutrality Acts to
keep America out of European troubles
FDR found ways around the laws
– Lend-Lease Act (1941): lending things
which would be returned later
– Secretly met w/ Churchill on a ship
VIII. Japan attacks the US




Japan wants a Pacific empire
– They were greeted as heroes in
colonies, but they were very cruel
Japan purchased its war materials (steel,
oil, etc) from the US
US didn’t want Japan to take over China
The US gave Japan an ultimatum; get out
of China or we are cutting you off
– Catch 22
Withdrawal from China = no empire
 No war supplies = no empire

– Decided to fight rather than give in

General Tojo Hideki orders an attack on
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
– Destroyed 19 ships, all the planes & killed
2,400 people

Four days later the US Congress declares
war
IX. Turning Points

Power shifts in North Africa
– The British stop Rommel’s advance in Egypt
& begin pushing him west
– US troops under Eisenhower enter Morocco
& push east
– The Nazis get surrounded & are forced to
surrender in May 1943

From Africa the Allies can enter Italy
from the south
– The Italians overthrow Mussolini & sign an
armistice
– Hitler refuses to let them & sends his troops
to put Mussolini back in power
– Fighting Italy weakened the Nazi Army

Hitler’s troops are stalled in Leningrad,
so they try to take the city of Stalingrad
– Stalin sends Russian troops to surround the
Nazis
– The Nazis can’t win & can’t get supplies
Germany loses over 300,000 soldiers giving the
Red Army the advantage
 Nazis are pushed out of Russia

X. D-Day

By 1944 the Allies are ready to take back
France & truly open a 2nd front
– On June 6, 1944 (D-day) 176,000 Allied
troops cross the English Channel to
Normandy
In the night others had been dropped by
parachute
 Fight a bloody battle and begin advancing on
Paris


By the end of September the Allies had
regained France
XI. Nazi Defeat

Battle of the Bulge (December 1944)
Germany makes a last stand
– Hitler’s last success; only a delay


Allies marched on Germany from both
sides; meet outside Berlin in April
Germany surrendered May 8, 1945
– V-E Day
XII. Pacific Theater

The Japanese were very successful up
until May 1942
– Battles of Coral Sea and Midway


Allies begin pushing them back
Despite many losses the Japanese
refuse to discuss surrender

By mid-1945 it was clear Japan couldn’t
win
– Still had a dedicated military of 2 million
– Allies planned to invade, but knew it would
cost many lives

Science offers an alternative to invasion
– Truman told Japan to surrender or else
– When they don’t he has atomic bombs
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Japan Surrenders
Holocaust

1933-1939
– Enabling Act
– Nuremburg Laws
– Kristallnacht
– Eugenics Programs

Selective breeding, sterilization programs
– Concentration Camps

Political prisoners, homosexuals, Jehovah’s
witnesses
Holocaust

1939-1945
– Kill handicap patients
– Einsatzgruppen
– Ghettos
– Wannsee Conference
Transit, Work and Death Camps
 “Final Solution”
