Transcript WWII_FallofFr - Loudon High School

“One day your life will flash before your
eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”
-?
Salt is the most common seasoning
mentioned in the Bible.
World War II
The Battle of France and
the Battle of Britain
Invasion of the Low Countries:
Netherlands, Belgium, France,
and Luxembourg
www.sitesatlas.com/Maps
/Maps/510.htm
Invasion of the Low
Countries: Operation Yellow
Operation Yellow: Invasion of
Luxembourg and the Netherlands
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May 9, 1940: Germ. invades
Luxembourg.
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May 10: German troops parachute into
the Netherlands catching the ill-equipped
and underprepared Dutch army off guard
(1st large-scale airborne attack in history).
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May 11: Germ. occupies Luxembourg.
Operation Yellow: Invasion of
Luxembourg and the Netherlands
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May 13: Germans reach Rotterdam and give
an ultimatum for surrender.
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May 14: Germany bombs Rotterdam.
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May 15: Netherlands surrender to Germany.
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May 17: German occupation of the
Netherlands begins; Queen Wilhelmina
establishes a government-in-exile in England.
Queen Wilhelmina
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Nazi Invasion of the Low Countries
Operation Yellow:
Invasion of Belgium
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On the same day that Germ. invaded the
Netherlands, Brit. and Fr. forces moved into
Belgium, however, Germ. panzers moved
through the Ardennes and began to encircle
them.
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Although the Belgian forces fought valiantly,
they did not hold out as long as had been
expected. The Germs. were now rolling
through undefended open country.
Retreat to Dunkirk
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May 18-25: With the collapse of the Belgian
army, the Germ. army was able to advance
uncontested toward the English Channel.
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During this advance the Germs. were able to
split the allied armies: Brit., Fr., and Belgium
forces were trapped in the NW corner of Fr.;
Maginot Line to the S.
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The allies were forced to evacuate by sea from
the Fr. port of Dunkirk.
www.harborheroes.org/dunkirk.html
Operation Dynamo:
May 27, 1940
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The Brit. Admiralty evacuated over 300,000
Allied soldiers using 850 vessels ranging from
destroyers and cruisers to trawlers, tugs, yachts,
and fishing boats.
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Despite the fact that this was a successful
operation (esp. when under fire by air and
ground attack) Winston Churchill pointed out
“wars are not won by evacuations.”
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May 28: Belgium surrenders; King Leopold III is
arrested.
King Leopold III
www.answers.com/topic/leopol
d-iii-of-belgium
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Operation Dynamo
France’s Problem

The Maginot Line: a line of concrete
fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery
casemates and machine gun posts and other
defenses which France constructed along its
borders with Germ. and with Italy.

The French established the fortification to
provide time for their army to mobilize in the
event of attack and/or entice Germany to
attack neutral Belgium to avoid a direct
assault on the line.
The Maginot Line
France’s Problem

The Line also had one major weakness: a 50
mile gap in the Ardennes which the Germs.
exploited to surround the allies in NW Belgium.
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The problem with the Maginot Line was that it
caused the Fr. to act defensively instead of
offensively; The Brit. and Fr. forces watched and
waited behind the line.

While the Brit. And Fr. troops were “mobilizing,”
Hitler was launching the massive attack on the
Low Countries.
Operation Yellow:
Invasion of France

While Germ. was invading Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, and Belgium, they also began
invading France.

The best and most modern of the French armies
were eventually cut off in Belgium and had to be
evacuated at Dunkirk.

The greatly depleted Fr. army had no hope for
Allied reinforcement and were stretched along
the 400 mile long front of the Maginot Line.
Operation Yellow:
Invasion of France

May 18-25: During the advance toward the English
Channel, the Germs. were able to break through the
Maginot Line.

June 3, 1940: Germs. bomb Paris.

June 10: Italy declares war on France and the UK and
launch a successful attack against Fr. in the Alps.
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The under prepared Fr. army and confused Fr. gov.
were unable to halt the Germ. advance.
Operation Yellow:
Invasion of France
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June 14: Paris occupied by Germ. troops.
June 25: France surrenders to Germany
Direct Germ. occupation of Paris and 2/3 of Fr.
(NE Fr. and the Atlantic Coast line to the
Spanish border).
Germ. puppet state of Vichy Fr. est. and HQed
in SE Fr.
June 28: General Charles de Gaulle recognized
by Brit. as the leader of Free France.
Charles de Gaulle
Vichy and Free France
Vichy and Free France

HQed in the city of Vichy in S. Fr. under French
Marshal Henri Pétain.

Pétain and other Vichy “officials” collaborated with
the Germs., including their racial policies to an
extent.

In spite of the Vichy gov., resistance movements
(Fr. Resistance) dev. underground to oppose Germ.
occupation.

In Brit., Charles de Gaulle organized the Free
French Gov.
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France

France Gives Up!
The Battle of Britain
(Operation Sealion)

After Fr., Brit. was now the only force left that
stood in Hitler’s way for domination of W.
Euro.

Hitler assumed that Brit. would try to make
peace, however, he was mistaken.

May 13, 1940: Churchill delivers his “Blood,
Toil, Tears, and Sweat” speech to the House
of Commons.
The Battle of Britain
(Operation Sealion)

“You ask, what is our policy? I will say: it is
to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all
our might and with all the strength that God
can give us: to wage war against a
monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the
dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.
That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim?
I can answer in one word: Victory – victory at
all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory,
however hard and long the road may be; for
without victory, there is no survival.”
The Battle of Britain
(Operation Sealion)

After Fr. fell, Hitler
began making plans to
invade Brit; the
invasion depended on
winning air/naval
supremacy over the
English Channel and
destroying Brit.
airfields and vital
industries.
The Battle of Britain
(Operation Sealion)
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Aug. 1940: Luftwaffe began bombing Brit. S.
coast.
4 aircraft factories and 5 Royal Air Force (RAF)
airfields damaged.
Brit. fighter planes, Hurricanes and Spitfires, shot
down 75 German planes.
Aug. 24 – Sept. 6: Göring begins to focus on the
RAF – sends 1,000 planes every day.
RAF: 466 fighters and 103 pilots; Germ: more
than 1700 lost throughout the battle (Brit. radar).
After this, Göring decides to start night-bombing
London in an attempt to be more successful.
Hurricane and Spitfire
The Battle of Britain
(Operation Sealion)
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Sept. 7 – Nov. 3: German bombers pounded
London in its great blitz, or series of air raids.
In one night: 70,000 fire bombs were dropped
killing and injuring thousands of civilians,
damaging light, power, and gas lines and
destroying buildings, roads, and railways.
Despite their efforts, the Luftwaffe was never able
to gain air supremacy due to the efforts of the
RAF and the use of radar: Hitler’s invasion was
blocked.
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
www.skylighters.org/howali
ghtworks/
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
London Bombing
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Public shelters were set
up throughout London
in subway tunnels and
other protected areas.
At the height of the
blitz, 1 out of 7
Londoners slept in a
shelter.
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Many school children
were evacuated to
safer parts of Britain to
escape bombing also.
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London Blitz
During the Bombing
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1940: Am. Congress approves the cash and
carry policy and the Lend-Lease Act.
Aug. 25: Churchill orders the bombing of Berlin
in retaliation for bombing of London.
Sept. 24: Berlin suffers heavy bombing raid by
the RAF.
Sept. 27: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin
by Germ, Italy, and Japan, promising mutual
aid. An informal name, "Axis", emerges.
Sept. 28: Hitler makes plans to invade Russia.