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 ________.
• September 1, 1939: The Nazis invade _______and WWII
begins
– Once war was declared (_______), the _____(France,
Poland, Britain, British Commonwealth of Nations)
raced to get __________and prepared for battle.
• The Allies did _____go to the aid of Poland, and German
Nazi armies __________Poland in less than a ______by
using dive bombers and tanks in a __________(lightning
war)
• Allies were quickly stationed along the France/Germany
_______________for Germany to make the next move.
– Nothing happened for ____________. This period was
known as the “______________.”
Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”)
• The blitzkrieg was a powerful and ___________
war tactic: surprise attacks with lightning ______
• German _____would crash through enemy lines,
while war planes would roar through the skies,
_____________the enemy below.
• After Poland and the “phony war” Blitzkrieg
turned into high gear.
• The Germans captured __________and ______
(April 1940), _______and the __________(May)
and _______(June).
Blitzkrieg
Axis & Allies
• The Axis powers:
– Germany
– Italy
– Japan
• The Allied powers:
–
–
–
–
–
–
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 __________and on to
France, and surrounded the Allied (mostly British)
forces in the French port of _____________.
• Britain was in danger of having to surrender hundreds
of thousands of troops, so the _________tried an
____________by sea (________Channel), on May
26th, 1940.
– Two days later, the German air force _________the port of
Dunkirk, making the evacuation even more difficult.
• Miraculously the British government was able to
evacuate over ______ soldiers to Britain on ____ships
in only a _______.
– ________victory: saved well-trained British forces
• Unfortunately for the Allies, France was ___________
as a result of the pull out, and on June 22, 1940,
France _____________to Germany.
The Battle of Britain (1940-41)
• By ______almost all of ______was in the hands
of Germany and Italy. Hitler’s next goal was
___________________: the invasion of ______.
• In an attempt to force the British to surrender,
Hitler begins the Battle of Britain. Hitler’s air
force (_________) attacks the island of ______,
bombing both _______and ________targets
• German planes bombed London and other
cities, killing civilians and destroying buildings
and streets. These raids became known as “The
_________.”
Fighting Back
• The British _______________(RAF), along with
many __________pilots, fought back until the
German air raids ceased.
– British planes outnumbered _____ but had advantage
due to ______: radio waves used to detect squadrons
• This battle lasted ________and cost the lives of
__________men, women and children.
• It failed in its purpose to demoralize the British
people and had the opposite effect instead the
____became even more _______to the concept
of “_____________”
Defending Britain
• The sophisticated British radar system gave
them _______warnings of German air raids.
• They used ___________and _________: fighter
planes that were extremely effective defence
planes.
• In _________, Hitler gave up his plans to invade
Britain.
– The _____time Hitler was _________a conquest
– The failure of Germany to dominate this battle is
known as one of the biggest mistakes in the war
which enabled ______to arrive and the British to gain
________.
The War Spreads - 1941
• Shortly after Germany’s defeat in the
Battle of Britain, Hitler launched
“Operation ____________” (“red beard”),
the invasion of the _____(June 22, 1941).
• Even though Germany and the Soviet
Union had _______(in 1939) not to invade
each other:
– Hitler needed to conquer the USSR to _____
his plans of a German _______.
– He needed to destroy his ideological rival:
_______________
Operation Barbarossa, 1941
• The Soviets were ___________and unprepared for the
attack by ___________German troops
• At first, the Germans were able to push the Soviet army
_________and deeper into the Soviet Union.
– The _________troops were unprepared for the long and cold
Soviet _____, and soon lost their advantage.
– Stalin used the “_______________” policy: they __________and
__________everything so the NAZIS would have nothing to use
• In _____, the German troops launched another offensive
in the USSR, and they got as far as ___________. They
were once again stopped by the severe winter.
• In early ____, the German army __________, the Soviet
army went on the offensive, and took back much of the
______that they had lost.
The Dieppe Raid, August 1942
• By 1942, the ______were making plans to
retake _________
• To accomplish this, the Allies launched a
series of raids across the ______Channel
• One of these raids was against the _____
town of Dieppe which was in ______hands
• __________troops’ objective: Capture the
town at _______under the cover of air
___________and tank __________.
Dieppe: The Problems
• On the morning of ______________, one of
the ships carrying Canadian soldiers to
Dieppe unexpectedly met a small German
__________.
• They engaged in a ________battle, and the
noise _______German troops on ______.
• _________caused the ships to land on the
beach during _______, and Canadian
soldiers were easily ______-gunned by the
waiting German soldiers.
Dieppe: The Problems
• Commanders in the boats could not _____what
was happening, and communication was ____,
so they continued to send _____________onto
the beach, who were ________to _______.
• Of ________Canadians who landed: ____ were
killed or captured
• More Canadian soldiers ____in those few hours
at Dieppe than in _________day of the war
Battle of the Atlantic
• By 1941, the ____________________was in full
force.
• Britain was almost completely ___________on
Canada and the US’s food and military _______,
but the Allied ships bound for England were
being ______by German ______ in “________”
patrolling the Atlantic.
• To protect these ships, Allies sailed in _______
where ________escorted and protected vessels
carrying supplies.
– The ___________________provided much protection
with their ___________: 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 _______had cracked the
German ___________, and the Allies could now
track German submarines with ________(sound
waves bounced off enemy submarines to alert).
• The Allies were now _________ships _____than
they were getting ___________.
– Beginning of WWII: RCN = 13 ships, 3 000 sailors
– End of WWII:
RCN = 370 ships, 100 000 sailors
Canadians in the Air
•
•
The Royal Canadian Air Force grew
quickly after the war began, and played
many ____________roles.
Canadian Air crews participated in
_________raids in Britain, North Africa,
Italy, Northwest Europe, Southeast Asia
and did night bombings over Germany.
The Tide Turns
• In ____, the Allies gained strength with the
____ declaring war on _______.
• They began to win the Battle of the
Atlantic and made important advances in
the __________.
• The Allies had cleared the Axis forces out
of North _______and now wanted to focus
on _________.
The Invasion of Italy
• British PM Winston
________felt that the
best way to attack
Europe was through
_____and ______.
– ____________attack
• In 1943, the Allies
invaded Sicily, and
were successful after
____weeks of fierce
fighting.
The Invasion of Italy
The advances were ______, fighting was
often _______by _______and it could take
weeks to take a city.
 Perhaps the most important __________Axis conflict was __________, where
Canadians fought for a month, and lost
_______soldiers before the Germans
_________.
The Invasion of Italy
• The Allies advance through Italy was _____, but
eventually they took ______on June 4th, 1944.
• The fighting continued in Italy until the spring of
1945.
– _______1945: ______________and displayed in the
streets of Milan
• Over _________ Canadians were active in Italy
during the campaign.
• Significance: required ______________ troops
making them ___________for the attack on
Normandy
Normandy Landing (D-Day)
• __________ was ________________.
• “________________” was launched on D-Day, and was
the _________Allied invasion of the war: an attack on
Europe across the English Channel.
• The Allies had learnt from their ___________made at
______, and this invasion involved almost one _______
soldiers.
– Had been planned for over a ______
• British, American, and Canadian troops stormed ashore
along the ______________of the French province of
______________.
– Largest ________military operation of WWII: ______
soldiers, ____ships, ____bomber squadrons
Operation Overlord
• There were ___landing points along an 80
km stretch of beach: Sword, Juno, Gold,
Omaha, and Utah.
• ___________was the Canadian Objective
Juno Beach and Beyond
• Within ______there were over ____________soldiers on
the shores of Normandy
– Although the Germans had ___________an attack, they did not
expect the Allies to attempt in such bad ________.
• Canadian troops struck at first _____, pouring out of their
landing craft and advancing across the sand up into the
town of _____
• The Allies had taken back part of the French soil:
– D-day marked the ____________of the ______for Germany
• Canadians continued to fight for _______in order to also
take back all the French ports along the English Channel
– ________Canadians killed and ____________allied casualties
– __________German soldiers killed, wounded or missing
Liberating the _______________
• One of the most ____________moments in the
history of World War II for __________Soldiers.
• Canadian troops had been fighting in ________,
____, ______, and in Germany since the D-Day
landing.
– These troops were moved to the Netherlands to ____
the German troops occupying the northeast back to
the ____and to drive German troops in the west back
into _________.
• May 5, 1945: Canadian forces drove the NAZIS
to retreat from ________and _________
• Important results due to the Canadians’ efforts:
– The Dutch people were ______.
– Allied troops could continue ______toward Germany
The Final Stages of the War in Europe:
Germany Surrenders
• Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945.
– More details on this next lesson