Transcript World War II in Europe

WW II
1939-1945
The War in Europe
THE WAR IN EUROPE: SEPT 1939-May 1940
A. Invasion of Poland: Sept 1 – Sept 29, 1939
-Hitler unleashes Blitzkrieg or “Lightening War” (Sept. 1 '39)
> Blitzkrieg: Strategy based on new offensive technologies:
planes, tanks
> Planes attacked first causing havoc, tanks/motorized
infantry would follow and outflank the enemy, trapping
them in a “pincer” action.
German attack on Poland:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfpg9unh_Fs
(from beginning to 4:00 min.)
2nd video is better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnS39cJIb
DY
(beginning to 5:20)
A. Invasion of Poland: cont.
- No more Poland (by Sept. 29 1939)
> Why was Poland defeated so quickly?
* Large army (over 1 million), but very few
motorized divisions, small air force
* Soviet army joined the attack on Poland
Sept. 17. (remember Nazi-Soviet Agreement).
B. Phoney War: Sept 30, 1939 – April 1940
- No fighting on Western front. British/French
troops wait for Hitler’s attack
- Sporadic aerial patrols & attacks on German
ships > dangerous
- Leaflet “bombing” over German cities
C. Invasion of Western Europe: 1940
- Hitler invades:
a) Norway – April 8
b) Denmark- April 9
Vidkun Quisling
c) Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France- May 10
C. Invasion of Western Europe: cont.
d) Belgium: fortified with over 200 000 British
troops – falls in 18 days
– Result: British troops trapped – look to escape back to
England. Flee to beaches of Dunkirk.
– Sitting ducks for Germans, but Hitler does not
capitalize. Why?
– Miracle: May 27-June 4: 340 000 troops evacuated by
British navy/small craft owners. Called Operation
“Dynamo”
– “Miracle of Dunkirk”
Dunkirk (BBC documentary)
Deliverance
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep64ePz
q9rc
Start at beginning,
Skip to 20:00 – 25:00
52:00 - end
Miracle of Dunkirk – Operation Dynamo
Significance:
i) Military defeat for Britain, but moral victory
ii) Best of British troops live to fight another day
e) France: Blitzkrieg so effective that French
forces are virtually useless.
– June 14th: Germans enter Paris
– June 22nd: France surrenders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JRhk9xFvYQ
Start at 47:00 – 51:00 (end)
How/Why did France fall so quickly?
- Maginot Line (remember?) useless – Germans
bypass it through Bel/Lux.
- French use of tanks – mixed with infantry = slow.
Internal divisions: Extreme right (Fascists) and
extreme left (Communists) opposed the war.
French Terms of Surrender:
1. Northern France occupied by German troops
2. French army demobilized
3. Southern France – becomes Vichy France:
-> Semi-independent government with no real
independence
-> Run by Marshall Petain
->Collaborated with Nazis
* Side note: British sink French fleet so Germans can’t have it.
You need DeMarco for today’s class:
Battle of Britain
• July to Sept, 1940
• “Operation Sealion” was plan to invade Britain
But first:
• Destroy Royal Navy,
Royal Air force
• Destroy the morale of
the British people
RAF log book – video – attack on
Britain
• http://www.rafbombercommand.com/timelin
e/logbook2_v2.html
5 Stages of Battle of Britain:
1. Goering, commander of Luftwaffe, concentrated
attacks on Channel shipping and ports (July-Aug.
1940)
2. concentrate on bombing radar stations and forward
fighter bases – meant fighters were often unable to
use their damaged bases; radar masts difficult
to destroy - gave up trying to take them out
3. Hit inland fighter bases and aircraft factories
(significant)
4. Attempt to bomb London to submission
> “The Blitz”
- gave RAF time to repair bases & get fighter
numbers up
- launch final major air assault - 60 German
planes shot down
- then, 57 consecutive nights of bombing on
London
Pictures from the Blitz over London
St. Paul’s Cathedral
The Blitz
• The Royal Air Force defeats the Luftwaffe
• Hitler has to abandon plans to invade
England
5. 'Operation Sealion' postponed indefinitely Sept. 17, 1940
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6lUCVU
x-CA
• Start – 20min
The War Spreads: North Africa
Why did war spread to North Africa in 1940? Two
major reasons:
1) The Suez Canal: Control of North Africa = control
of the Suez Canal, the vital British shipping
connection to the Middle East, India, and Asia.
2) Oil: Control of North Africa could lead to control
of Middle East oil resources.
RAF reconnaissance over Suez Canal 1940
• September 1940: Mussolini’s forces attacked
Egypt, which was a British colony.
– Despite a sizeable advantage in numbers,
Italian forces and the Italian navy suffered
humiliating defeats to the British in North
Africa.
– Hitler: had to bail Mussolini’s forces out. Sent
one of, if not his best Field General, and four
divisions in early 1942:
February 1942:
General Erwin Rommel
(the Desert Fox)
assumed command of the
German Afrika Korps.
VS.
General Bernard
Montgomery
(Monty)
lead his British
“Desert Rats”
*Showdown: El Alamein – October, 1942
– About 60 miles from the Suez Canal
– Whoever won would control the Suez Canal
– Montgomery’s Desert Rats victorious (but
had the numerical advantage – 2x as many
troops and tanks).
• Significance of El Alamein:
-British maintain control of the Suez Canal
-Hitler denied access to oil in the Middle East
-Proved to the allies that Hitler’s best troops
could be beaten
After El Alamein:
• Rommel is forced to begin a retreat across
Northern Africa
• Nov 8, 1942, Americans land in Morocco led
by General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike).
Americans would advance from the west
(Operation Torch)
• Germans trapped. Rommel and approx 1000
men make it back to Europe.
Significance of the Allied Victory in North Africa:
• Prepared the way for the liberation of Italy
• First American action in alliance with Britain in
the war.
Animated Map of North Africa
Campaigns:
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/ani
mations/wwtwo_map_n_africa/index_embed.
shtml
The Battle of the Atlantic
Battle of the Atlantic
= The ongoing struggle of the British to keep
open its sea lanes to North America and its
empire.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill later stated:
"The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating
factor all through the war. Never for one
moment could we forget that everything
happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the
air depended ultimately on its outcome..."
German U-Boats:
- caused the most damage
- hunted merchant shipping in “wolf packs”
By 1942: Hitler was sinking Allied ships faster
than the Allies could build them
Turning point: Spring 1943
• In a single 20-day period, German submarines
would sink 107 Allied ships
Allies needed to reverse the trend. How?
1. Radar started to be used on ships, which
transmitted messages to aircraft with longrange flight capability
2. Allied shipping was reorganized into safe
convoys. Ships would cross the Atlantic
together in groups protected by warships
• Result: Between June-August 1943, 79 Uboats sunk. More than half sunk by aircraft
– U-boats ceased to play a role in the Atlantic
– By May 1944 only 3 U-boats in the North
Atlantic – to report the weather
FILM recommendation: Das Boot
The Eastern Front: 1939-1941
Eastern Front = Nazis vs. Soviets
Scale of war much greater than Western Front
(War in the East the ‘main event’)
• Numbers of men in battle
• Number/intensity of large battles
• Casualty numbers
Operation “Barbarossa”:
• Operation “Barbarossa” (Red Beard): name
given by Hitler to his attack on Soviet Union
Goals:
Hitler wanted:
1. Lebensraum for German Aryan people
(master race)
2. Wheat fields - Hitler envied the “breadbasket
of Europe” – the Ukraine, and the vast
resources of the Soviet Union
3. Oil supplies - from the Caucasus Mountains
4. Destroy his ideological arch-rival once and for
all – communism
Attacks:
• June 22, 1941: Hitler violates the Nazi-Soviet
Pact - double crosses Stalin
• Attacks the USSR on a front stretching from
the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea (2000 mile
stretch).
• Hitler sends 153 divisions east making up 3
million men attacking USSR
3 pronged attack:
1. Army Group North under General Leeb was
to defeat Leningrad
2. Army Group Centre under General Bock was
to capture Moscow
3. Army Group South under General Rundstedt
was to capture the Ukrainian wheat- fields
then the oil in the Caucasus region.
Results:
- Stalin was caught by surprise (wasn’t ready)
despite numerous warnings from Churchill
during the months before June.
- Germans dominate early because:
1) Blitzkrieg works extremely well against
Soviets
2) Red Army suffered from lack of experienced
leadership (Stalin’s Purges 1930s)
Results during first months of Barbarossa:
• Germans take hundreds of thousands of red
army prisoners –figure will eventually reach
close to 2 million
• Soviet people briefly view Nazis as liberators –
but Nazis are viscous to civilian population (in
most cases worse than Stalin/Communists
have been).
• Nazi forces had laid siege to Leningrad 800,000 Leningrad citizens lost their lives in a
3 year German siege of that city.
• Captured Kiev (capital of Ukraine)
• Almost captured Moscow - diverted by the
Soviet defense led by General Zhukov
Stalin's Reaction – becomes desperate:
• Appeals to Soviet people to fight for “mother
Russia”
• Adopts infamous “scorched earth” policy –
retreating forces and civilians destroy
everything they leave behind (leave nothing
for Nazis)
– Villages and crops burned, animals
slaughtered, wells poisoned
Hitler's errors up to this point:
1. He underestimated Russian numbers by half
2. He did not prepare his troops for the Russian
winter (Ex -- 100 000 cases of frost bite and
16 winter coats per 800 men)
3. He could not control Russian industry - Stalin
moved 1500 factories eastward
Stalingrad - The turning point:
-Hitler decided to concentrate effort to the
south for Caucasus oil fields - also wants
Stalingrad
Major Error - Why?
- means splitting forces: could end up gaining
neither
- Stalingrad had no real military value
-General Von Paulus ordered to take Stalingrad
> Russians fought desperately for each
street and building
> Germans would gain ground in day, then
be pushed out at night
> Film "Enemy at the Gates“
- Soviet General Zhukov launched offensive with
two pincer attacks from north and south of city.
Paulus's army of 250 000 men surrounded and
cut off from help. Hitler would not allow retreat
or surrender. Eventually Paulus did surrrender.
• Significance: Germans forced to retreat from
the south - oil fields escaped capture
WWII: America Gets Involved
Remember: America was isolationist
1935-1939
- Only driving force behind foreign policy: to
avoid war
- Neutrality Act (1935): Congress gave the
president the authority, in the event of war, to
place an embargo (stop trading) with both
sides involved in the hostilities.
But, FDR was able to help Britain while keeping the US
“neutral” in the following ways:
1) Traded 50 destroyers to the British for naval bases in
British colonies around the world
2) Cash and Carry: USA sold war materials/resources to
Britain, but not to Germany.
3) March 1941: FDR signs Lend Lease Act allowing the
Americans to give materials to countries who were
fighting in causes friendly to America. Several billion $
went to Britain and USSR under this plan.
Things change Dec 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl
Harbour
> Dec 8: USA and Britain declare war on Japan
> Dec 11: Germany, Italy declare war on USA
(Remember Tripartite Agreement)
> FDR would now be able to wage war in Europe with
the endorsement of Congress/public.
Retaking “Fortress Europe”
By mid 1943: Stalin upset that allies had not opened
a second front against the Germans in Europe.
– The Allies were not ready for a massive invasion of
Northern Europe – tried instead to attack through
the “soft underbelly” of Europe: Italy.
July 9, 1943: Invasion of Italy beginning with Sicily
– Italians fought poorly – but quickly reinforced by
Nazi troops
– Fighting in Italy would be some of the toughest in
the war – very little progress made. Does not end
until May 1945.
April 1945 – Mussolini was captured, hung, and
displayed by partisans along with his mistress in the
streets of Milan.
Invasion of Europe: 1944
Spring 1944, the Western Allies were ready to invade
France
• Needed to hurry – Soviets were storming trough
Eastern Europe.
• Had been preparing for Operation Overlord for
more than a year.
• Supreme commander = Dwight Eisenhower
(American)
• 3 million man invasion force prepared
• Goals: 1)liberate France,
2)march to Berlin to meet the Soviets.
D-Day:
June 6, 1944: Allies take beaches – but at the
cost of 10 000 allied lives.
Only one month after the invasion, 1 million
allied troops had been landed
• Artificial floating harbours called mulberries
were constructed to unload supplies
• Fuel for the invasion was provided by the
construction of PLUTO (pipeline under the
ocean)
Liberating France:
• Fighting remained fierce after Normandy
invasion: “Hedgerow Fighting”
• August 25th: Allied forces allow Charles De
Gaulle to lead the march triumphantly into
Paris
Final Drive to Berlin:
• December 15, 1944: Germans launch one last
offensive and found a weak spot in the Allied front
at Ardennes.
• Attack became known as the Battle of the Bulge
• Germans would advance 60 miles before being
stopped on Christmas Day.
Germans also make last ditch efforts with newly
developed “revenge weapons”
• With no hope of winning the war, launched
V1 or buzz-bombs (unmanned flying bombs).
• Also launched V-2’s: a ballistic missile which
flew at supersonic speeds
April 1945: American and Soviet troops met in
Germany south of Berlin.
– Soviets turn their attention to demolishing Berlin
Downfall
April 30, 1945: Hitler commits suicide
May 2, 1945: Berlin falls to the Russians
May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders unconditionally
parody