Transcript 1 Atlantic Campaign Hitler`s aggression

Countries controlled by Germany before the Battle of Britain
Review: Battle of Britain
Battle of
Britain July
1940
Battle of Britain
The ALLIES
fight back
Headed by
Prime
Minister of
Great Britain
Sir Winston
Churchill
BATTLE OF BRITAIN: The Luftwaffe conducted thousands of
bombing attacks on British military and civilian targets.
At first, they bombed only military and industrial targets.
But after the Royal Air Force [RAF] bombed berlin in retaliation in
September, the Germans bombed civilian centers.
Some 23,000 British civilians were killed and 30,000 injured between
July & December. Thousands of planes battled above Britain,
Germany, and the English Channel.
Each side lost more than 1500 aircraft.
But British defenses held.
Due to the failure of the Luftwaffe to establish air supremacy, Hitler
canceled his invasion plans in October, but continued bombing
raids.
Hitler’s focus of attack was towards the EAST.
USSR
USSR
AXIS
War in Europe ALLIED
Remember this?
May 1941.
This is a map of
the geo-political
disposition of
Europe.
All gray and red
countries are
under the Axis
powers.
This changes in
JUNE 22, 1941
Hitler and Stalin
shook hands over
their invasion of
Poland in
September 1939.
World War II
began
But
Wait
… what is
this???
June 22, 1941: Germany invades the USSR called
Operation Barbarossa. It was the largest military operation in
history, with 3 to 4 million Axis troops attacking in a Blitzkrieg.
This was the culmination of Hitler’s belief that the German
‘master race’ should seek Lebensraum (living space) in the
east, at the expense of the ‘subhuman’ Slav people, who were
to be exterminated or reduced to forced labor.
In Mein Kampf & in many speeches, Hitler claimed that
Germans needed this space. His Lebensraum policy was mainly
directed at he Soviet Union. He was interested in the Ukraine
where he planned to develop a German colony.
June 22, 1941 - Germany attacks Soviet Union
as Operation Barbarossa begins…
OPERATION BARBAROSSA:
Hitler always hated communists so the attack should not have been a
surprise. However, Stalin estimated that Hitler would not be able to
invade until 1942.
Stalin was a year too late.
The Soviet Union is now an ALLIED power.
A change of color for the Soviet Union.
The RUSSIAN FRONT:
The first few months of the war was disastrous for the Soviet Union. The
German northern forces surrounded Leningrad while the center group made
steady progress towards Moscow. German forces had also made deep
inroads into the Ukraine. Kiev was under siege.
By October, 1941, German troops were only fifteen miles outside Moscow.
The RUSSIAN FRONT:
In November, 1941, the German Army launched a new offensive on Moscow. Freezing
temperatures of 12 degrees and 24 inches of snow sabotaged the tanks’ starters.
The Soviet army held out and the Germans were brought to a halt.
Stalin counter-attacked on December 4. The German army, demoralized by its recent
lack of success, was taken by surprise and started to retreat.
By January, the Germans had been pushed back 200 miles.
GERMANY WAS LOSING FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1936.
The Winter of 1941-42 proved to be was one of the worst in Soviet history.
The record low temperature in ‘42 was minus 68.8 degrees without the wind chill factor..
December 7, 1941
The Big Three: Leaders of the Allies 1941-1945
We will Help each other defeat the NAZIS!!!!
NOT
The Battle of Stalingrad – TURNING POINT OF THE WAR IN EUROPE
In the summer of 1942 German General Paulus advanced to Stalingrad with
250,000 men.
Progress was slow, fuel was rationed.
At the end of July 1942, a lack of fuel halted the Germans.
By August, needed supplies arrived and the Germans advanced. Within weeks
German troops killed/ captured 50,000 Soviets. On August 18, Paulus was 35 miles
from Stalingrad & ran out of fuel again. The struggle continued until January…
JANUARY 31, 1943
German Troops Surrender At Stalingrad
Starving German troops at Stalingrad surrendered. They had been surrounded by
the Soviets since November. 90,000 Germans died of starvation or exposure.
100,000 died in battle the final month.
Surrender had been forbidden by Hitler. But Paulus had no choice. He still
had 100,000 men to take care of.
The battle for Stalingrad is over.
Over 91,000 Germans were captured. German prisoners were forced to march to
Siberia. 45,000 died during the march to the POW camps. 7,000 survived the war.
The Soviets suffered
WHERE WERE Stalin’s ALLIES?
Stalingrad casualties:
The Axis suffered 850,000 total casualties:
400,000 Germans
200,000 Romanians
130,000 Italians
120,000 Hungarians
The USSR suffered 1,129,619 total casualties
25,000 to 40,000 Soviet civilians died at Stalingrad
WHERE WERE Stalin’s ALLIES?
Operation Torch: the Allied Plan to take Northern Africa
NOVEMBER 8, 1942
Operation Torch
The invasion of North Africa was
designed to encircle German troops
stationed there. American troops
went ashore in French NW Africa.
Soon after the landings, French troops defected to the American side.
American and British troops advanced towards Tunisia, where they met stiff
German opposition.
Tanks-a-lot
Tanks were the Key to victory in
North Africa
Tunisia
MONTY
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
General
George S.
Patton
General
Dwight D.
Eisenhower:
He commanded the
Allied Forces landing
in North Africa in
November 1942; on
D-Day, 1944, he was
Supreme Commander
of the troops invading
France.
General Erwin Rommel: The Desert
FOX…commanded the Afrika Corps where his tactical
awareness and his natural flair in mobile warfare, turned
possible defeat into victory. 1941-1942
Allied victory in Africa
US soldiers in captured German tank
The first major British-American operation of the war was commanded by
Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was successful, but months of fighting the
Germans tested the British-American alliance.
Hitler told Rommel to stand and die in El Alamein, but Rommel disobeyed
and retreated on November 4, 1942. The British were victorious. Four days
later Americans landed in North Africa.
The Afrika Korps began its retreat from North Africa.
El Alamein was the last major battle in the war that was exclusively
British.
1943 Timeline
Jan 23, 1943 - Montgomery Brits take
Tripoli.
Feb 14-25 - Battle of Kasserine Pass
between the U.S. tanks and German
Panzers in North Africa. US victorious
March 20-28 - Montgomery breaks
through in Tunisia.
April 6/7 - Axis army in Tunisia
withdraws
May 7, 1943 - Allies take Tunisia.
May 13, 1943 - German and Italian
troops surrender in North Africa.
JULY 23, 1943
Allies Land At Palermo, Italy
Allied troops, under
the command of
General Patton,
captured the city of
Palermo in Sicily. The
victory came less
than two weeks after
Allied forces first
landed on Sicily. This
marked the first
invasion of part of an
Axis homeland.
SEPTEMBER 12th 1943
Allies Land In Italy
On September 3, the Italian government, led by Mussolini
having been dismissed by King Victor Emanuel, surrendered
to the Allied forces. At the same time, the British and
Americans began an assault on Italy, now defended by
occupying Germans.