Transcript WWII/Part II - Saint Paul Public Schools

WWII/Part II
The last time we took notes…


September 1,
1939.
German
invasion of
Poland, WWII
officially
begins.
Before we move on from
Poland:



Kristallnacht--The Night of Broken Glass
(Nov. 9, 1938)
A massive coordinated attack on the
Jews of the German Reich
All Jewish owned businesses had
windows that were smashed and the
contents of the stores taken.
Before we move on from
Poland:


In the course of my life I have very often been a prophet, and have
usually been ridiculed for it. During the time of my struggle for power, it
was in the first instance only the Jewish race that received my
prophecies with laughter when I said that I would one day take over the
leadership of the state and with it that of the whole nation and that I
would then among other things settle the Jewish problem...but I think
that for some time now they have been laughing on the other side of
their face. Today I will once more be a prophet: if the international
Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the
nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the
Bolshevising of the earth and thus the victory of Jewry, but the
annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!".
Adolf Hitler - Speech to the Reichstag - 30th January 1939
Before we move on from
Poland:



Mussolini takes over Albania
Hitler also looks to Lithuania
August 23, 1939--the Soviet Union and
Germany sign a treaty of nonaggression and friendship. This
essentially divides Poland between the
two countries.
Hitler moves on…



Hitler and Stalin divide up Poland
The Soviet Union invades Finland
Germany’s busy schedule in the spring of
1940;



Norway and Denmark
Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and
France.
Most of the countries surrender within a month
after invasion.
Germany in France



The allies try to evacuate troops and
equipment from Dunkirk (in France) to
Britain.
June 13/14, 1940--German troops enter
Paris
One week later Hitler makes his official
tour of Paris.
“Hitler Danced with Glee”
The Battle of Britain



Begins September 7th 1940 and bombs
continue to fall for the next 57 nights.
The first bombing was by accident, the
German bombs were meant to be dropped in
the countryside. Churchill immediately orders
the bombing of Berlin.
The bombing was meant to break the moral
of the people, but it had just the opposite
effect.

About 45,000 civilians are killed in the bombing
that lasted about 18 months.
The Battle of Britain
• Inspiration to the
British people:
• King George VI
and Queen
Elizabeth (aka
Queen Mum)
• Refused to leave
London during the
battle
“Blood, toil, tears and sweat”

“Never, never,
never give up”!
The real King George VI-who
really made the “King’s Speech”
King Edward VIII
• Abdicates the throne in
1936
• Marries Wallis
Simpson, a twice
divorced American
• Sympathetic to Nazi
Germany and Hitler
If Edward had remained
King..
• "I am certain through him permanent
friendly relations could have been
achieved. If he had stayed, everything
would have been different. His
abdication was a severe loss for us.”
» Adolf Hitler, on the abdication of Edward
Other notable events of
1940-41




German troops enter Romania
Italy invades Greece
Both Romania and Hungary join the
Axis powers
Yugoslavia and Greece surrender to the
Nazis
Operation Barbarossa

Hitler believed two things prior to his
invasion of the Soviet Union:



That Germans needed more living space
The Soviet Union would fall as easily in the
summer of 1941 as the rest of Europe had.
German troops surround Leningrad and
approach Stalingrad. Stalin threatens to
punish any officer that allows Germans to
take the city.
Operation Barbarossa Cont.



Stalin orders the “Scorched Earth
policy”, leaving nothing for the enemy to
take.
Hitler abandons Operation Typhoon and
his attempt to invade Moscow.
Nazis control most of the countries in
Eastern Europe (including many former
Soviet republics).
“A Date Which Will Live in
Infamy”


The U.S. policy of Lend-Lease:
providing arms, raw materials and food
to powers at war with the Axis.
December 7th, 1941; the Japanese
draw the U.S. into war with the attack
on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. declares war
on December 8th.
The Years of 1942-43

These are tough years for the Allies, although
they do experience some victories;





Eisenhower leads an invasion of Morocco and
Algeria
British forces hold at El Alamein in Africa, the
threat to Egypt is ended
Soviets continue to battle Germany
The Allies capture Sicily and the rule of Mussolini
falls
August 17th, 1942--the first all American air-attack
in Europe.
The Jewish Solution



Beginning September 1, 1941 all Jews
in German controlled territories are
required to wear the yellow Star of
David.
In June of 1942, the first mass killings
begin at Auschwitz.
June 1943, all Polish Jewish ghettos are
liquidated.
The Tide Turns in 1944



Early January, 1944--Soviet troops advance
into Poland
June 6th, 1944--D-Day (Operation Overlord).
The largest amphibious attack in history. The
combination of American, British and
Canadian forces by air, sea and land.
August 25th, 1944, Paris is liberated. At this
point, Germany does not win another
significant battle and begins to surrender.