Transcript WWII: The Middle Years

WWII: The Middle Years
In Europe:
 By mid-1942, it was becoming clear that the
Germans were losing their early advantage.
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Hitler’s war against the USSR was continuing.
The Allies were winning the war at sea in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Allies were winning the war in North Africa.
The USA had joined the war against Germany.
By this point, Stalin was getting restless:
 He was tired of having to fight the Germans by
himself in Europe.
 He pressured the Allies into opening a second front
by invading German-held Western Europe.
Result:
 The Allies decided to test the German defences in
Western Europe by launching a series of small raids.
 In August of 1942, the Canadian troops that had been
sitting in Britain for 2 years were finally given a chance to
fight during the Dieppe Raid.
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This raid turned into a disastrous failure for the Canadians, as most
of them were killed, wounded or captured.
 By early 1943, the Allies had taken all of North Africa
from the Axis powers.
 It was then decided that they would create their “second
front” by attacking Hilter’s biggest ally, Italy.
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Churchill referred to Italy as the “soft underbelly of Europe”.
Why did Churchill think that this was a
good idea?
 The Italian army was weaker than the German army
 He hope to knock Italy out of the war
 He believed he would catch the Axis powers by
surprise.
The Invasion of Italy:
 This invasion was launched from North Africa in
July of 1943.
 The Allies moved from the southern tip of Italy
(Sicily) towards the North.
 Over 23,000 Canadians were involved in the fighting
on this front!
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The most important battle in Italy for Canadians was the Battle
of Ortona in 1943. Canadians (Vandoos) managed to capture
this town by pushing the Germans out in house to house
fighting.
Door to door
combat!
Consequences in Italy:
 Mussolini became very unpopular in Italy.
 As the Allies continued to advance, he was deposed
and put in prison.
 The new Italian government asked for a ceasefire in
September of 1943.
 The next month, the Italians declared war on
Germany.
German reaction:
 The Germans quickly invaded Italy and captured the
northern half.
 They also rescued Mussolini from prison and set him
up as a puppet dictator in Northern Italy.
 Italy was now divided in two, and the Allied invasion
was stalled.
What did the Allies do next?
 Churchill and American President Roosevelt,
decided not to invade Western Europe yet.
 Instead, they decided to focus on bombing strategic
targets in German-held Europe.
 Their goal was to weaken the Germans by destroying
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Communication
Transportation
Industry
Power plants
Cities where aircraft were produced
Canadians were heavily involved in the bombing of
German-held Europe
 Being part of the Royal Canadian Airforce’s Bomber
Command was the most dangerous job a Canadian
could have in WWII.
 Over 10,000 Canadians were killed while bombing
German targets.
 Their sacrifice was significant because they helped to
win the war by hurting the Germans:
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German ability to produce weapons was weakened ;hundreds
of thousands of German civilians were killed by bombs.
BUT... The moral of the German people was as strong as ever.
At the same time...
 In eastern Europe, the USSR was beginning to gain a
huge advantage over the Germans!