Transcript File

The War in Europe
The Axis and the “Phony War”
• The alliance of Germany, Italy (1939) and Japan (1940)
became known as the Axis.
• September 1, 1939: The Nazis invade Poland and WWII
begins
– Once war was declared (Sept. 3), the Allies (France,
Poland, Britain, British Commonwealth of Nations)
raced to get organized and prepared for battle.
• The Allies did not go to the aid of Poland, and German
Nazi armies crushed Poland in less than a month by
using dive bombers and tanks in a Blitzkrieg (lightning
war)
• Allies were quickly stationed along the France/Germany
border waiting for Germany to make the next move.
– Nothing happened for seven months. This period was
known as the “Phony War.”
Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”)
• The blitzkrieg was a powerful and successful
war tactic: surprise attacks with lightning speed,
• German tanks would crash through enemy lines,
while war planes would roar through the skies,
bombing the enemy below.
• After Poland and the “phony war” Blitzkrieg
turned into high gear.
• The Germans captured Denmark and Norway
(April 1940), Belgium and the Netherlands (May)
and France (June).
Blitzkrieg
Axis & Allies
• The Axis powers:
– Germany
– Italy
– Japan
• The Allied powers:
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Britain
France
Canada
USSR
America
Other Commonwealth
Countries
• World Map with the participants in World War II.
– The Allies depicted in green (those in light green entered
after the Attack on Pearl Harbour),
– The Axis Powers in orange
– Neutral countries in grey.
Evacuation at Dunkirk, 1940
• The Germans pushed through Belgium and on to
France, and surrounded the Allied (mostly British)
forces in the French port of Dunkirk.
• Britain was in danger of having to surrender hundreds
of thousands of troops, so the Allies tried an
evacuation by sea (English Channel), on May 26th,
1940.
– Two days later, the German air force bombed the port of
Dunkirk, making the evacuation even more difficult.
• Miraculously the British government was able to
evacuate over 340,000 soldiers to Britain on 900 ships
in only a week.
– Moral victory: saved well-trained British forces
• Unfortunately for the Allies, France was easily taken
as a result of the pull out, and on June 22, 1940,
France surrendered to Germany.
The Battle of Britain (1940-41)
• By 1940 almost all of Europe was in the hands
of Germany and Italy. Hitler’s next goal was
Operation Sea Lion: the invasion of Britain.
• In an attempt to force the British to surrender,
Hitler begins the Battle of Britain. Hitler’s air
force (Luftwaffe) attacks the island of England,
bombing both civilian and military targets
• German planes bombed London and other
cities, killing civilians and destroying buildings
and streets. These raids became known as “The
Blitz.”
Fighting Back
• The British Royal Air Force (RAF), along with
many Canadian pilots, fought back until the
German air raids ceased.
– British planes outnumbered 3:1 but had advantage
due to radar: radio waves used to detect squadrons
• This battle lasted 8 months and cost the lives of
40 553 men, women and children.
• It failed in its purpose to demoralize the British
people and had the opposite effect instead the
allies became even more devoted to the concept
of “Total War”
Defending Britain
• The sophisticated British radar system gave
them early warnings of German air raids.
• They used Spitfires and Hurricanes: fighter
planes that were extremely effective defence
planes.
• In May 1941, Hitler gave up his plans to invade
Britain.
– The first time Hitler was denied a conquest
– The failure of Germany to dominate this battle is
known as one of the biggest mistakes in the war
which enabled support to arrive and the British to gain
morale.
The Hurricane Fighter Plane
Britain’s New Prime minster
provided much needed
Leadership During the BLITZ
The War Spreads - 1941
• Shortly after Germany’s defeat in the
Battle of Britain, Hitler launched
“Operation Barbarossa” (“red beard”),
the invasion of the USSR (June 22, 1941).
• Even though Germany and the Soviet
Union had agreed (in 1939) not to invade
each other:
– Hitler needed to conquer the USSR to fulfill
his plans of a German Empire.
– He needed to destroy his ideological rival:
communism
Operation Barbarossa, 1941
• The Soviets were surprised and unprepared for the
attack by 3 million German troops
• At first, the Germans were able to push the Soviet army
deeper and deeper into the Soviet Union.
– The German troops were unprepared for the long and cold
Soviet winter, and soon lost their advantage.
– Stalin used the “Scorched Earth” policy: they retreated and
destroyed everything so the NAZIS would have nothing to use
• In 1942, the German troops launched another offensive
in the USSR, and they got as far as Stalingrad. They
were once again stopped by the severe winter.
• In early 1943, the German army surrendered, the Soviet
army went on the offensive, and took back much of the
land that they had lost.
Invasion of USSR
The Dieppe Raid, August 1942
• By 1942, the Allies were making plans to
retake Europe
• To accomplish this, the Allies launched a
series of raids across the English Channel
• One of these raids was against the French
town of Dieppe which was in enemy hands
• Canadian troops’ objective: Capture the
town at night under the cover of air
bombings and tank landings.
Dieppe: The Problems
• On the morning of August 19th, 1942, one of
the ships carrying Canadian soldiers to
Dieppe unexpectedly met a small German
convoy.
• They engaged in a brief sea battle, and the
noise alerted German troops on shore.
• Delays caused the ships to land on the
beach during daylight, and Canadian
soldiers were easily machine-gunned by the
waiting German soldiers.
Dieppe: The Problems
• Commanders in the boats could not see what
was happening, and communication was poor,
so they continued to send reinforcements onto
the beach, who were unable to retreat.
• Of 4,963 Canadians who landed, 2,853 were
killed or captured
• More Canadian soldiers died in those few hours
at Dieppe than in any other day of the war
Battle of the Atlantic
• By 1941, the Battle of the Atlantic was in full
force.
• Britain was almost completely dependent on
Canada’s and the US’s food and military
supplies, but the Allied ships bound for England
were being sunk by German U-boats in “wolf
packs” patrolling the Atlantic.
• To protect these ships, Allies sailed in convoys
where warships escorted and protected vessels
carrying supplies.
– The Royal Canadian Navy provided much protection
with their corvettes: small warships
Battle of the Atlantic
• Initially, things weren’t looking good for the Allies
in the Battle of the Atlantic, German submarines
were sinking Allied convoys at a rapid pace.
• But, by May 1942, the British had cracked the
German naval code, and the Allies could now
track German submarines with sonar (sound
waves bounced off enemy submarines to alert).
• The Allies were now creating ships faster than
they were getting destroyed.
– Beginning of WWII: RCN = 13 ships, 3 000 sailors
– End of WWII:
RCN = 370 ships, 100 000 sailors
Canadians in the Air
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The Royal Canadian Air Force grew
quickly after the war began, and played
many important roles.
Canadian Air crews participated in
bombing raids in Britain, North Africa,
Italy, Northwest Europe, Southeast Asia
and did night bombings over Germany.
Lieutenant George Flater
The Tide Turns
• In 1942, the Allies gained strength with the
US declaring war on Japan.
• They began to win the Battle of the
Atlantic and made important advances in
the Pacific.
• The Allies had cleared the Axis forces out
of North Africa and now wanted to focus
on Europe.
The Invasion of Italy
• British PM Winston
Churchill felt that the
best way to attack
Europe was through
Italy and Sicily.
– Amphibious attack
– “Soft Underbelly”
• In 1943, the Allies
invaded Sicily, and
were successful after
two weeks of fierce
fighting.
The Invasion of Italy
The advances were slow, fighting was
often house by house and it could take
weeks to take a city.
 Perhaps the most important CanadianAxis conflict was Ortona, where
Canadians fought for a month, and lost
1372 soldiers before the Germans
withdrew.
The Invasion of Italy
• The Allies advance through Italy was difficult, but
eventually they took Rome on June 4th, 1944.
• The fighting continued in Italy until the spring of
1945.
– April 1945: Mussolini hung and displayed in the
streets of Milan
• Over 75,000 Canadians were active in Italy
during the campaign.
• Significance: required many German troops
making them unavailable for the attack on
Normandy
April 1945: Mussolini hung and displayed in the
streets of Milan
Normandy Landing (D-Day)
• D-Day was June 6th, 1944.
• “Operation Overlord” was launched on D-Day, and was
the biggest Allied invasion of the war: an attack on
Europe across the English Channel.
• The Allies had learnt from their mistakes made at
Dieppe, and this invasion involved almost one million
soldiers.
– Had been planned for over a year
• British, American, and Canadian troops stormed ashore
along the entire coast of the French province of
Normandy.
– Largest Canadian military operation of WWII: 14 000
soldiers, 100 ships, 36 bomber squadrons
Operation Overlord
• There were five landing points along an 80
km stretch of beach: Sword, Juno, Gold,
Omaha, and Utah.
• Juno Beach was the Canadian Objective
Juno Beach and Beyond
• Within 1 week there were over 300 000 allied soldiers on
the shores of Normandy
– Although the Germans had anticipated an attack, they did not
expect the Allies to attempt in such bad weather.
• Canadian troops struck at first light, pouring out of their
landing craft and advancing across the sand up into the
town of Caen
• The Allies had taken back part of the French soil:
– D-day marked the beginning of the end for Germany
• Canadians continued to fight for months in order to also
take back all the French ports along the English Channel
– 5 000 Canadians killed and 200 000 allied casualties
– 200 000 German soldiers killed, wounded or missing
Liberating the Netherlands
• One of the most important moments in the
history of World War II for Canadian Soldiers.
• Canadian troops had been fighting in France,
Italy, Belgium, and in Germany since the D-Day
landing.
– These troops were moved to the Netherlands to push
the German troops occupying the northeast back to
the sea and to drive German troops in the west back
into Germany.
• May 5, 1945: Canadian forces drove the NAZIS
to retreat from Holland and surrender
• Important results due to the Canadians’ efforts:
– The Dutch people were freed.
– Allied troops could continue forward toward Germany
The Final Stages of the War in Europe:
Germany Surrenders
• Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945.
– More details on this next lesson