Transcript WWII_European_Theater power point

World War II
The European Theater
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End of Democracy in Europe
End of Democracy in Most of Europe
by the 1930s
 Democracies were seen as Weak
 Strong Men Rose
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Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar (Portugal)
Generalissimo Francisco Franco (Spain)
Chancellor Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss (Austria)
Admiral Miklos Horthy (Hungary)
General Secretary Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
Minister of foreign Józef Beck (Poland)
King Boris III (Bulgaria)
conducătorul Ion Antonescu (Romania)
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Benito Mussolini

Compare the German, Italian, and Japanese drives for empire in
the 1930s, including the 1937 Rape of Nanking, other atrocities
in China, and the Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939.
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ITALY
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At First a Marxist Socialist

During World War I, Mussolini created the Fascist Party
◦ More of a National Socialist Party or Syndicalist Party

Government, Business, and Labor Working together, under the
Government’s Direction.
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Mussolini
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Mussolini, “Il Duce” Became the
Darling of the Progressive Media in
the U.S.
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A “Man of Action” not words
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Appeared on TIME’s cover in 1923
and 1935
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Many positive articles in the New
Republic as the “ultimate
progressive.”
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Cole Porter's song "You're the Top"
is a salute to the dictator.
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Irving Berlin also wrote musical
tribute.
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Hollywood Producers such as Hal
Roach made deals with Il Duce.
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Mussolini
 He wanted to Reestablish
The Roman Empire
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A Mere Nostrum
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(”OUR” Mediterranean Sea)
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Consolidated Power in Libya
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Italianized and built a naval base on the Greek island
of Leros
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Set up a puppet government in Albania
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Conquered Ethiopia
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Aided Franco and fought the Communists in Spain
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IMPERIAL JAPAN
1894-95 First Sino-Japanese War over Korea .
It received Formosa and influence in Manchuria
1904-05 Russo-Japanese War – First Asian victory over a European
power - Japanese receive part of Sakhalin1
1910
Annexation of Korea
WWI Take influence in Shandony Province Marianas, Caroline,
Marshall Islands, Conquer Manchuria
1935
Take Jehol Province
1936
Take Inner Mongolia
1937
2nd Sino-Japanese War---Rape of Nanking - over 300,000
slaughtered. They create a puppet state (China lost 20 million
in war)
1939-40 Battles with Soviet Union
1941
Neutrality Pact with the U.S.S.R.
1941
Tripartite Pact – Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
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Germany

National Socialist German Worker's Party
(NSDAP)
 The Third
 The
Reich
Second Reich 1871 to 1918
 The
First Reich was The Holy
Roman Empire
◦ Claimed to be the successor to the Roman
Empire
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INITIAL GOAL

Create an Anglo-German alliance to
crush the U.S.S.R.
 Germanics vs. Slavs
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Timeline
1933
1934
1934
1935
1935
1936
1937
1937
1938
1938
1938
1939
1939
1939
1939
1939
1939
British said Germany must wait 10 years to rearm
German-Polish Nonaggression Pact of January 1934
Germany tries to absorb Austria – stopped by Italy
March 1935, Hitler rejected Part V of Versailles Treaty
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (A.G.N.A.)
Reoccupied the demilitarized Rhineland
Hitler assists Franco against Communists in Spain
Rome-Berlin Axis
Germany absorbs Austria Anschullus
Germany takes the Sudetenland
Poland takes Teschen; Czechs give in
Slovakia and Ruthenia declare independence
Hungary takes some of Ruthenia and Southern Slovakia
Germany makes Czechoslovakia protectorate of
Bohemia and Moravia
Germany takes German area of Mendel from Lithuania
German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
Germany invades Poland – September 1
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The U.S.S.R.
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The Soviets
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Soviets had industrialized and were preparing for War
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Problem: Stalin had killed most of his officers
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1939: German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
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September 17: U.S.S.R. invades and takes eastern Poland
U.S.S.R. takes independent Latvia
U.S.S.R. takes independent Estonia
U.S.S.R. takes Bessarabia from Romania
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Germany had advanced too far, so it allowed Soviets to independent
Lithuania
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November 29: U.S.S.R. goes to war with Finland; takes Finnish land
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Understand the role of appeasement, nonintervention (isolationism), and the
domestic distractions in Europe and the United States prior to the outbreak of
World War II.
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Appeasement
British & French
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Isolation
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Americans
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Distractions
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Depression
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5-Year Plans
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Soviets
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Show Trials
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Soviets
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Isolation
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American reaction to
World War I
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Frontier Focus
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Washington-Jefferson
Tradition
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Far East
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Only a Political and Military Isolation
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America looked to Europe for Culture, Trade,
Fashions, Literature, Philosophy, Political
Science
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Anglo-Saxon Connection with America
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Ethnic groups had strong ties to the
old world.
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Irish, Italians, Germans, Poles
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Isolationism
FDR was an Isolationist
He did not want to get involved with Europe
or World Affairs
 1935 - U.S. Neutrality Act - Limits any help to
belligerents
 Army & Navy draw up plans to defend the:
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◦ West Coast to the International Date Line
◦ East Coast to Greenland
◦ South to the Equator
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The Philippines and Guam
would not be defended
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Appeasement
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Chamberlain
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Daladier
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Hitler took more and more
and more
• As Daladier said he would
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1939

Identify and locate the Allied and Axis powers on a map and discuss
the major turning points of the war, the principal theaters of conflict,
key strategic decisions, and the resulting war conferences and political
resolutions, with emphasis on the importance of geographic factors.
September 3, 1939
 U.K. & French declare war on Germany
 Considered the beginning of World War II
Phony War
 British send troops to France
 Allies stare at Germans. Germans knew the Allies would not move, so they
only left six divisions in West
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If the French had moved, they would have smashed past the Rhine.
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1939
• Hitler moves to take Belnelux
• French wait in the Maginot
Line.
• Germans circle and attack
from behind
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Vidkun Quisling
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Hitler decides to take Norway (Quisling-- 5th Column) and
Demark in Winter of 1939-40
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To keep Baltic Sea open.
Use Norway & Denmark as U-boat bases against the British Navy.
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Hitler could move easily to import the neutral Sweden’s Iron Ore.
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Deny Britain Danish goods
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Chamberlain falls from power
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Winston Churchill takes control
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German Occupation
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Germany occupies
north and west
France and sets up
the puppet
government of Vichy
France.
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Battle of Dunkirk
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British escape at the Battle of Dunkirk
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Hitler could have destroyed the British Army, but did not. The question is, “Why?”
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Everyone believed Hitler would invade Britain, but he had no plan to.
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He wanted the U.K. to give up and accept his power in Europe. He would accept
their naval, ocean Empire.
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Churchill was committed to fighting until the end.
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Nazis began to assemble an invasion force.
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Luftwaffe had to gain air supremacy-RAF was ready to fight
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Summer & Autumn 1940 Britain was alone
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Battle of
Britain
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June 1940
FDR organizes defenses with Canada & Caribbean
countries.
September 1940
FDR transfers 50 overage destroyers to U.K. for
rights on 8 British naval bases.
July-Sept. 1940
Series of Two Ocean Acts and National Guard
mobilized
September 1940
Selective Service and Training Act
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Chief of Staff:
George C. Marshall
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Chief of Naval Operations:
Harold R. Stark
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FDR knew the Japanese would look to Allied possessions in the East.
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Order the U.S. fleet to Pearl Harbor from San Diego.
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January to March 1940 U.S. & U.K. meet to formulate plans if U.S. entered the war.
Germany was the strongest power and must be defeated first. Save the U.K.
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March 1941
ABC-1 Staff Agreement – Germany 1st
Lend Lease Act – gave U.K. access to U.S. war
production. Regardless of its ability to pay.
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This circumvented the Neutrality Acts.
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May 1941
Lend Lease extended to China
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Nov. 1941
Lend Lease mounted to $13 billion and disrupted delivery to U.S.
Armed Forces
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British Strategy
Defeat Germany by:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bombing
Internal Subversion
Aid to Soviets, let them fight
Military operations along vulnerable frontiers
1. U.K. wanted to avoid a WW I stalemate
2. They wanted a Mediterranean Theater
1.
2.
Take Morocco & Algeria from Vichy
Fight Italo-German forces in Libya to Egypt
1. This would divert German troops from the Russian
front
2. Strengthen British war efforts
3. Wanted British command to restore the integrity of
the Empire.
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U.S. View of Churchill Plan
U.S. military urges FDR to reject Churchill’s plan
 It wanted to take on the Wehrmacht in France.
 They believed the U.K. only wanted to keep the
Empire.
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The Admiralty & the King wanted
January 1st
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Eisenhower was given the European command.
He was surrounded by British generals.
Ike favored the British.
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U.S. Plan 1942-1943
Mount bombing & sub attacks “Tighten the Ring.”
2. Deploy air & ground troops to U.K. (Operation Bolero) to
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prepare 2 possible invasions of Europe.
3. 1942 invasion (Sledgehammer) would occur if:
1. Soviets seemed to be on the verge of defeat.
2. If Nazis were weakened by internal uprising.
4. 1943 invasion (Roundup) throw 48 divisions
 (30 American) in against the Wehrmacht
1.
in France.
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For FDR
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Political & Coalition goals were
paramount.
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He wanted a strong American
commitment in East & West in
1942 to encourage Allies.
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July 1942
a. Sent division to North Africa to
keep the U.S. electorate’s ill in the
European War.
b. Limited offensive in the Pacific.
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Americans in Arms
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Dec. 1941 to Dec. 1946
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16.3 Million
11.2 Million in Army
4.1 Million in Navy
669,000 in Marines
333,000 Women
Selective Service at the end of 1942
◦ No more volunteers!
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Ages 18 to 64 (really 44, dropped to 38)
Average age 26
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Allies Enter War in Mediterranean
November 1942
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British Field Marshal – U.K. 8th drove the Italo-Germans
back from El Alamein to Tunisia.
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U.S. & U.K. force struck 3 Moroccan locations and
Algerian ports of Oran & Algiers and defeat the French.
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Negotiate peace with Vichy Admiral Jean F. Darlan.
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Germans mistaken about Allied intentions.
They occupied all of France and waste troops.
They sent troops to Tunisia.
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General Dwight Eisenhower lost the race to Tunisia.
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General George S. Patton
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U.S. troops did not do well
against the Germans at
Kasserine Pass.
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U.S. tactics and weapons did
not measure up.U.S. logistics &
artillery were good. Then –
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U.S. gives command of 7th
Army to General George
S. Patton
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Casablanca Conference
January, 1943
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They Agreed to:
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Continue strategic bombing.
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War against U-boats.
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Subversion on the Continent.
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Operations in the Mediterranean.
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U.S. decision to invade Sicily
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U.S. and U.K. agree on Unconditional Surrender to alleviate the
Soviets’ fear that Hitler could negotiate a separate peace to
concentrate on the U.S.S.R.
May 1943

◦ Germans and Italians surrender in Tunisia.
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U.S. Reasons for Invading Italy
Divert German divisions from
U.S.S.R.
2. Provide airbases for attacks on
Germany and Eastern Europe
(help Soviets)
3. Italy’s collapse would hurt
Germany
1.
1. politically
2. militarily

Churchill wanted to invade Greece
and the Balkans
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Sicilian Campaign
July-August 1943
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Showed Allied strengths and
weakness
U.S. 7th & U.K. 8th (Patton &
Montgomery) surprise Germans
Allies attain Beachheads
Germans & Italian counterattacks
came within a few miles from
success.
82nd Airborne and Naval &
Artillery shellfire drive Axis troops
off.
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Sicily
Patton and Montgomery
Chose Separate Operations
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Patton enveloped Messina through Palermo
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Montgomery plodded up the East Coat
toward Palermo
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Axis defenses formed around only two
German divisions
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Mussolini Falls
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June 25, 1943 Mussolini is overthrown.
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Anti-Fascist, Fascists, and some of military high command form a new government
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New leader  Pietro Badoglio
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Declared they would continue the war, but negotiated a secret armistice.
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September 8, 1943
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German tanks roll into Rome.
Germans send more troops to Italy.
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Allied advance is called off.
The front stabilized between Naples and Rome.
After 2 months of fighting, Allies are still 100 miles from Rome.
It’s at the Gustav Line.
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Germans control Northern and Central Italy
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Mussolini Reborn
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Mussolini was rescued and given a new Fascist
state called the Republic of Salo.
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Really under German control.
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Germans held trials in Verona for
the six Fascists who overthrew Mussolini.
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Mussolini’s son-in-law, Count Ciano was
executed.
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Germans had sent many Balkan troops to Italy.
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German tanks went to Italy instead of Russia.
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German offensive in the East, countered by a Soviet
counter-offensive.

Soviets drove the Germans to the Dnieper River
and recaptured Kiev.
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End of 1943
War with Japan developed better than expected
2. In Mediterranean accomplished limited objectives
1.
a. Eliminating Vichy France and Italy
b. But it had not brought tremendous pressure on the
Germans
3.
Soviets had had a great victory at Stalingrad
a.
Bombing of Germany had not really helped the
Soviets
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In 1944
U.S.S.R. wanted a Western Front to relieve
pressure.
 U.S. wanted a Western Front to help U.S.S.R.
 U.K. wanted a Balkan offensive and continued
Italian offensive.
 Let the Soviets fight Hitler and waste blood.
 Balkans could be British sphere of influence and
they could keep them away from the Soviets.
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January 1944
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Amphibious assault on Anzio, Italy
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Brutal battle, but did not alter the
stalemate.
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Tehran, Iran Meeting
Allies agree to Operation Overlord
for June 1944.
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Troops from U.S. would go to U.K.
26 divisions to Europe, 7 to the Pacific
Eisenhower given command
Eisenhower tried to overcome the tactical and logistical problems.
Central command argue over a simultaneous invasion of southern France.
Operation Anvil.
This was to spread the Germans out and link up with northern troops along
the Rhine.
 Churchill still wanted to enter the Adriatic.
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FDR did nor want to antagonize Stalin, who he wanted to help with
the war in Japan.
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1944
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Germans were being pushed back everywhere.
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Early summer, the Soviets were at the Polish
and Romanian borders.
Late summer they were to East Prussia
They forced Finland out of the war.
They captured Romania and Bulgaria.
Soviets were pushing from the southeast,
as well as from the east.
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Stalemate in Italy broken.
 Allies take Rome (June 4) and Florence
 Allies liberate Greece.
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Strategic Bombing
RAF shifted to nighttime bombing and targeted
civilian areas.
 USAAC bombed during the day.
 8th Air Force hit:
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Industrial centers
Airplane factories
Electricity
petroleum installations,
etc.
The U.S. did not regard public demoralization
as an important objective.
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Bomber Offensive
Combined Bomber Offensive Paid Limited and
Costly Dividends
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ruined the Luftwaffe by mid 1944
Forced Germany to spend 30% of its war effort on air defense.
8th & 15th air attack lost 30,000 men
Lost 4,900 heavy bombers to indirectly cripple the Wehrmacht

But destruction came too late to decide the battle for
Europe.

German industry put out material until the
last day.
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BUT, they could not transport the material.
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June 6, 1944: D-Day
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Allies dominated the air
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Landings were covered by guns from U.S.
and U.K. ships
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French underground gave targets
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Artificial harbors brought in

SUPREME COMMAND: Eisenhower
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Field Command: Montgomery Bradley
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Germans could not decide whether to defend the coast or let the Allies
inland, where they would be weaker.
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Hitler would not let them use tanks; he believed Normandy was a feign.

He thought Patton would attack Calais.
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Port of Cherbourg

Allies landed in Normandy
at the Port of Cherbourg

9th Air Force did attack Calais to continue
the deception.
It was joined by the 8th Air Force and the
RAF.
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June 6
100,000 troops landed
◦ 3 U.S. army divisions and
◦ 2 airborne divisions in west  Omaha
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Germans inflicted shocking
casualties!
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Utah Beach
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Methodical naval gunfire
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Weak defenses
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Air assault allowed the U.S. to secure the right
flank
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U.K. seizes the left flank
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3 divisions, 3 armored brigades and an assault
division
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BUT Montgomery did not take Caen.

Slugfest ensued:
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No major Allied victories;
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However, by July-August, the Allies got
more than 1 million troops ashore.
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Operation Cobra
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Bradley’s 12th had a breakthrough with attacks to the south and west.

The 1st also had success.

Last week of July  Bradley’s Operation Cobra

Patton’s 3rd Army plunged through a gap to
envelop the ENTIRE German 7th army.

Hitler ordered a counter offensive on exposed U.S. flank.
◦ U.S. 1st & air attacks stopped the Panzers.
◦ Too much U.S. command’s caution saves the German 7th and their Panzer 6th.

U.K. 21st drove north to Calais

U.S. 12th drove east and west around Paris

August 25 Paris is liberated; De Gaulle enters first
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July, 1944
Attempt on Hitler’s life
 2 German field marshals
(one is Rommel) commit suicide.
 Hitler sacks von Rundstedt

August 14 Operation Anvil
 Franco-American troops land without serious opposition.
 They moved north
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
September:
New U.S. 6th drove up to flank U.S. 3rd
Offensive slowed; U.S. 3rd had outrun its supply line
It had taken Lorraine and was en route to the Rhineland.
Patton asked that he receive the slower armies’ supplies to
move on!
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Market Garden
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

Montgomery, however,
wanted the supplies to
redeem himself.
Operation Market Garden
a thrust across Holland.
Could the war have ended
sooner if the Allies had not
kept a broad front and kept
their northern wing back
and given support to
Patton’s tanks on their
southern wing?
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German Resistance
As German resistance stiffened, Eisenhower had three problems:
1.
Operational – U.K. urges Eisenhower to give Montgomery priority
a.
Montgomery would advance through Holland and do a reverse von Schlieffen Plan
i.
Patton was screaming for supplies
Logistical
3. Organizational  lack of troops
2.
a.
The most intelligent soldiers went into technical areas.
i.
b.
I.Q. tests
Others went into the infantry
1944– 40% of U.S. enlisted men were below average intelligence.
translation lack of qualified NCOs

Eisenhower had to wait until armies reorganized and supplies caught up.
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
Eisenhower sent the U.S. 9th and most of the U.S. 1st
north of the Ardennes, while curbing a very angry
Patton (U.S. 3rd) and limiting the U.S. 6th.
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The Battle of the Bulge
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Hitler sent Eastern troops to the Rhine,
with the geographic goal of Antwerp.
Real goal– divide and defeat the Western
Allies.
He wanted to break through the Ardennes
forest.
2 Panzer armies
1 Infantry army
25 divisions (250,000 troops) deployed in
the
Ardennes, which was held by the 1st Army.
The German advance was a complete
surprise.
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Battle of the Bulge

First two days, the Germans moved quickly
◦ inflict heavy losses on the Allies.

Shook morale of the Allies
◦ the alliance with the Soviets rose in value.

U.S. made a fierce resistance.
◦ Funneled German offenses into a narrow path.
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U.S. defenses at St. Vith & Bastogne held strong.
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Germans were halted after the 2nd day.
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Germans reached their limits from their lack of
fuel.
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Bulge Response
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Eisenhower organizes a response to both flanks:

He gave Montgomery all of the U.S. 9th Army, plus all of the U.S. 1st Army,
minus the 1st Corps.

The Southern flank was given to
Patton’s 3rd Army.
◦ He smashed the German’s side.

When the weather cleared, the U.S.
gained air supremacy.

Soviets resumed pressure in early January to relieve the pressure on the West.
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By the end of January, the Allies had pushed the Germans back.
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January, 1945

Allies and Soviets open offensives

Seven million Soviets pushed from the Balkans to the Baltic.

Four million Western Allied troops push through the
Siegfried Line and crossed the Rhine River.

March 8: U.S. 1st Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen, south of Bonn.

2/3 of the divisions and tactical air wings were U.S., but Eisenhower gave the

place of honor to Montgomery’s British 21st Army.

He used the U.S. 9th as reinforcements.

Eisenhower agreed to let Montgomery attack north of the Ruhr – Germans fiercely defended
the Rhine against the British.
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The U.S 1st & (Patton) 3rd in the South pushed the Germans across the Rhine.
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Eisenhower planned to envelop Ruhr and trap the Germans.
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April 11, 1945

The U.S. 9th Army, under General Simpson was 24 hours from
Berlin, with no resistance in front of it.
Eisenhower ordered Simpson not to cross the Elbe River.
 Germans were not allowed to surrender to American troops.


Berlin had to be left for the Soviets.
Patton was stopped outside of Prague.
 He had to watch Germans shooting civilians for a few days,
before the Soviets got there.
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April 29, 1945

Germans surrender Italy.

Mussolini tries to escape, but is
shot and hanged upside down.
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April 30, 1945

Hitler commits suicide
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Surrender
May 7
May 8
Germans surrender to Eisenhower
at Rheims.
Germans surrender to Zhukov in Berlin.
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Recap

Hitler rightfully appreciated the use of tanks and
planes in modern war.

Hitler had taken an active part in the conquest of
Norway and Denmark in 1940 to show that
Blitzkrieg worked.

However, he lacked the technical training and
patience of logistical detail.

He would plan and order operations without giving
consideration to logistics.
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Recap (cont’d)
Hitler relied too much on instinct; after initial successes, it failed him.




Prohibiting withdrawals, he sacrificed troops.
He didn’t allow generals local authority.
He lived in the Bunker and was susceptible to strategic delusions.
He ordered phantom armies and lost touch with reality.
Some historians believed Hitler purposely destroyed the German
people



Because they had lost at Moscow and Stalingrad.
The Slav had beaten the Teutonic German.
The Germans deserved to be destroyed.
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