Transcript PPT

From North
Africa
to the
Eastern Front
World War II:
1939-1945
World War II: an overview
War Fought in Europe but also Asia and Africa
- ‘Allied Powers:’ Britain, France, Poland supported by
African, Indian, Commonwealth (Canadian, Australian,
New Zealand, South African) troops
- Soviet Union joined 1941 (after initial co-operation with
Germany – 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact)
- China also joined 1941
1942: ‘direction’ in hands US, Britain, Soviet Union
World War II: an overview
War Fought in Europe but also Asia and Africa
- ‘Axis Powers:’ Germany, Italy, Japan (grew from mid-1930s
Com-Intern Pact)
- included support of several ‘puppet’ states in eastern
Europe, Asia
- meant Japanese Occupied: Manchukuo, Burma, Philippines,
Indochina (Vietnam)
World War II: an overview
War Fought in Europe but also Asia and Africa
- ‘Axis Powers:’ following Fall of France
- French North/West Africa: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria
- Italy’s North African colony: Libya
World War II: an overview
Overview: German Aggression ‘blitzkrieg’
- 1939: officially ‘War in Europe’ began in when Germany
invaded Poland, Britain and France responded by
declaring war on Germany
-1940: Germany occupied Denmark, Norway, followed by
Belgium, the Netherlands
-finally France
Only now did British ground forces engage [Textbook 939-42]
The Momentum of War
April-May 1940
World War II: Fall of France
Occupation of France 1940:
- French forces backed by British allies fell to Germans in
seven weeks (spring)
- British forces scrambling to escape: many losses
- country divided: Military Occupation (north); ‘Vichy
government’ (south) – 1942-44 whole country occupied
- French colonies North/West Africa became by extension
‘Vichy’: supported Germany [ ‘War in North Africa’, below]
World War II: Fall of France
World War II: Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain: July-October 1940
- Germany launched air attack on Britain
- battle between RAF and Luftwaffe first major military
battle fought in the air
- crucial for Hitler’s plan to control English Channel
(military traffic) and invade Britain
World War II: Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain: July-October 1940
- targeted shipping, airfields: British RAF had many
advantages (home ground, radar)
- terrorized civilians: towns indiscriminately bombed
- by mid-September, Luftwaffe clearly ‘out- gunned’: lost
1700 planes (to RAF’s 900)
World War II: Battle of Britain
After that: Hitler no longer looking to invade
- focused bombing on large cities, centres industry, ship
building: e.g. Coventry, Plymouth
- Hardest hit: London -- largely destroyed during Battle of
Britain
- [see Photo ‘London Bomb Shelter 1940’, Textbook p940]
Battle of Britain:
Programme of shipping
children out of cities
like London into
countryside ‘to safety’
Images of Devastation: London
during the Battle of Britain
“Never, in the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to
so few.”
Sir Winston Churchill
(speaking of British RAF during
the Battle of Britain)
World War II: North Africa
The War in Greece and North Africa
- Italy took advantage of fall of France: entered war with
Axis powers
- late autumn/winter 1940-41: invaded Greece
- disaster: Britain became involved
- new ‘front’ opened up against Germany in Greece
World War II: North Africa
The War in North Africa
- part of German invasion of Britain had included Italian
attack from Libya into Egypt
- when British invasion was sidetracked in 1940, Mussolini
ordered forces to attack anyway
- Italians numerically superior but British highly mobile
- campaign a disaster: by December Italian forces in North
Africa on verge of collapse
World War II: North Africa
Germans in North Africa:
February 1941:
German General Field
Marshal Rommel
arrived to provide
more firepower
and new leadership
became known
as the “Desert Fox”
World War II: North Africa
- new, more suitable Italian troops and
equipment lent support
Italian Tank on Tunisian Frontier
World War II: North Africa
Rommel’s ‘Afrika Korps’: took firm root in North Africa –
invited Allied engagement
- Tobruk (Libya): following Italian defeat 1940, British
forces took Tobruk 1941
- saw several major battles over next two years
- finally remained in Allied hands after 1942
World War II: North Africa
British Engaged in ‘Cat-and-Mouse’ Chase with Rommel
World War II: North Africa
El-Alamein and ‘Operation Torch’: 1942
- Battle of El-Alamein (Oct. 23 - Nov. 3): most decisive battle
in North African Campaign [Textbook p.948]
- British force twice as strong, Rommel not at beginning of
attack: overwhelming Allied victory
- turning point for hugely successful ‘Afrika Korps’
specializing in surprise attacks and outflanking maneuvers
Word War II: North Africa
El-Alamein and ‘Operation Torch’
- “Operation Torch” (Nov. 8): British and US sea invasion
French North Africa (Morocco)
- 100,000 men, over 600 ships: among the largest amphibian
invasions in history
- faced more resistance than expected from Vichy French
colonies
Word War II: North Africa
El-Alamein and ‘Operation Torch’
- drew German forces needed in Europe into Tunisia:
defeated
- May 1943: Allied forces controlled 1000 miles North
African Coast
World War II: North Africa
Operation Torch November 1942: successful Morocco, Algeria.
‘Agreement’ left Vichy administration in place but colonists ordered to
support Allies. Germany sent troops to prop up Tunisia. Fierce fighting
continued until May 1943 when German troops finally surrendered.
World War II: North Africa
Importance of War in North Africa:
- showed weakness of Italian colonial adventure (adding
British and French colonies to Libya)
- failure forced Germany to ‘come to the rescue’: turned
into large-scale, long-term conflict
- weakened much-needed German efforts elsewhere in
Europe: defeat costly
- first involvement of US in European theatre
World War II: Eastern Front
The War on the Eastern Front:
- during same period, Germany also turned eastward:
“Operation Barbarossa” – would open up new ‘homeland’
for German settlement [Textbook 941]
- June 1941 began long-planned invasion Soviet Union
(three-pronged attack ): 4 million soldiers
- anticipated easy victories: initially achieved
- swift progress, deep into Soviet heartland
World War II: Eastern Front
World War II: Eastern Front
Plan to complete conquest by onset of winter: failed
- country too large to control all forces
- winter: brutal – men, equipment bogged down;
temperatures unbearable
- Russians determined to fight, no matter what the costs:
both soldiers and local partisans
World War II: Eastern Front
Battle for Moscow:
- November: civilians dug 5000kms trenches around city
- kept German troops mired in place: vulnerable to
partisan harassment
- in three weeks, lost 85,000 men: as many as had been
lost in “Operation Barbarossa” to date
- Hitler stopped the offensive: stalemate over the winter
The Battle for Moscow:
German forces kept
several kilometers
from city
World War II: Eastern Front
Taking German
soldiers as POWs
Civilian-built
barricades,
Moscow
World War II: Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad: 1942-43
- next summer, operations shifted south
- Stalingrad: centre Russian communications,
manufacturing; stood between Germany and oil fields of
Caucuses
- critical to both Stalin and Hitler: neither would step back
Both armies told no retreat, surrender possible – no
matter what!
World War II: Eastern Front
World War II: Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad: 1942-43
- initial attack August: German air bombings set city on
fire: 40,000 inhabitants died
- oil spill set Volga River on fire
- looked like quick victory: wrong
- became “one of deadliest single battles in history”:
lasted six more months and over another winter in Russia
[see ‘The Road to Berlin – Stalingrad’, Add’l Rdgs.]
World War II: Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad: 1942-43
- one of most brutal of in War: hand-to-hand daily
conflict; both sides used snipers
- city bombed-out shell: fighting took place street-bystreet, building-by-building
- “what Germans took by day, Russians took back by night”
Street Fighting, Stalingrad
Word War II: Eastern Front
Russians Defending Positions, Stalingrad
World War II: Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad: 1942-43
- November: Soviets used 1million soldiers to surround
city, trapped 300,000 Germans
- Hitler would not permit escape attempt: siege
continued
- both armies suffered but Germans less able to cope with
temperatures, lack of heat, shortages food: army dying of
starvation
Germans surrendered end of January 1943
Word War II: Eastern Front
Soldiers in Winter, Stalingrad
World War II: Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad: 1942-43
- in addition to complete Army lost, 91,000 taken prisoner
- losses manpower, equipment left Germany unable to
resist Russian forces when they returned the attack
- Germany in retreat through 1944
- Hitler declared national day of mourning: not for the
men lost but for the shame brought upon Germany by
surrender! [filmed in video ‘Road to Berlin’]
World War II: Eastern Front
Of 91,000 prisoners, half died en route to concentration camps;
only 5-6000 returned home alive .