Transcript PP - kareneskil

Why the Axis lost
or
How the Allies won
German set-backs
Allied forces were close to defeat by June 1942, but by the end of the year, decisive
blows for both Germany and Japan would turn the tide of the war.
Battle of El Alamein
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Stalled the Axis advance in North Africa. It ended Axis hopes of occupying Egypt,
taking the Suez Canal and gaining access to oil fields in the Middle East.
Montgomery had more men (230,000 to 80,000) and tanks (1440 – 540) than
Rommel . He pushes Rommel back through Libya.
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Americans arrive in Morocco, British in Algeria November 1942. Both are held by
Vichy French armies under Darlan who negotiates with the Allies.
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May 1943 The Allies control the North African coast and 130,000 Germans and
Italians are taken prisoner.
By July 1943 the Allied invasion of Sicily begins. Mussolini is removed from power.
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The Battle of Stalingrad
• The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2
February 1943. It is among the bloodiest battles in the
history of warfare, with the higher estimates of
combined casualties amounting to nearly two million.
• The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made
it a turning point in the war. After the Battle of
Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their
earlier strength, and attained no further strategic
victories in the East.
German occupied territories by 1942
How could the USSR transform themselves?
1. Soviet industry and workforce mobilized rapidly
for total war. Industries (est. 2500) and workers
(estimated 16 million) forced to move east in
front of advancing German armies
2. Stalin cut back political control of army and let
General Zhukov have the freedom to work out
strategy.
3. American and British Lend-Lease aid sustained
the Soviet war effort (food, raw materials ,
trucks, locomotives, rails, telephone wire etc…..)
Japanese occupied territories 1942
Japanese set-backs
1. Battle of the Coral Sea May 1942
• Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of
ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory
for the Allies. Japanese expansion, seemingly unstoppable
until then, had been turned back for the first time. Japan
failed to capture Port Moresby on the southeast coast of
New Guinea from where they could launch an invasion of
Australia.
2. Battle of Midway June 1942
• The United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial
Japanese Navy attack against Midway Atoll, inflicting
irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet
Battle of the Atlantic
• Aircraft was used more and more. Long range
flights cooperated with navy, equipped with
radar to hunt and destroy u-boats. In March
1943 Britain was near losing the battle at sea.
But already at the end of summer the odds
were getting better. By May 1944, only 3
German u-boats left.
Battle of Kursk June 1943
• The greatest tank battle ever with 1500 tanks
on each side. Within one week Hitler called off
the offensive and the Soviets launched a
counter offensive. It was the final strategic
offensive the Germans were able to mount in
the east. The resulting decisive Soviet victory
gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for
the rest of the war.
Operation Overlord
• November 1943 Teheran Conference “The Big Three” agree that
Operation Overlord would be launched in May 1944 in conjunction
with the invasion of southern France.
• June 6, 1944 D-day - Allied armada at Normandy, France. 156,000
men landed by evening with equipment, transport vehicles, fuel,
etc..
• Hitler would not admit the possibility of defeat. No retreat and no
surrender. His new weapon, V1 pilotless airplanes launched at
England reached a peak in July 1944, leading to the evacuation of 1
million women and children. After the attempted assassination of
Hitler on July 20 the morale of commanders was seriously affected.
The Allies were superior in numbers, but the German army was not
allowed to withdraw.
The Fall of Germany
• France, Belgium liberated by August 1944.
• In September 1944, Hitler’s new V2 long range rockets are used for 7
months on London. 500 rockets were fired killing 2754 people. In
December Germany launches an offensive where the Allied defense is
weakest: the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, but Germany is short of
men and fuel.
• January 1945, Leningrad is relieved. 1 million people have perished. Soviet
forces are moving rapidly west and Hitler is alarmed.
• By February 1945, the Red Army is 65 km east of Berlin. American and
British bombers have crippled German oil industry. Luftwaffe’s planes are
grounded due to lack of fuel. Germany is being strangled!
• Hitler kills himself on April 30, Berlin surrenders on May 2 and Germany
on May 8th.
July 1945 Potsdam
Conference
The Big Three (with
Truman now). Discuss the
future administration
Germany and discuss the
terms of surrender for
Japan in order to end the
war. Demanded an
unconditional surrender,
complete demilitarization
of the country and the
replacement of Japan’s
current leadership.
The Fall of Japan
• The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February–26 March 1945),
United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo
Jima.
• March 1945 Allies begin the mass bombing raids of
Tokyo and other cities.
• August 6 1945 US drops atomic bomb from a B-29
called the Enola Gay on Hiroshima. The city center was
obliterated and 80,000 people were killed.
• Japan refuses to surrender. August 9 US drops second
atomic bomb on Nagasaki
• August 15 Hirohito announces Japan’s surrender
Truman’s decision
• Avoid a ground invasion
which would be extremely
costly for American and
Japanese lives.
• Demonstrate the new
power to USSR.
• No understanding of the
long-term effects.
• No cultural taboo
surrounding the use of
such a weapon.
Critical Factors to the Allied Victory
1. Unexpected resistance of the Red Army. Hitler thought that Russia was weak,
incapable of prolonged resistance
2. The vast supply of American armaments, economic mobilization and their build up
of massive air power which came to dwarf German and Japanese air forces. Hitler
thought it would take years before the Americans would enter the war.
3. German errors – the Anglo-American combined offensive distorted German strategy
and economic capability. Hitler failed to recognize that bombing was a real threat until
too late.
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Bombing of German Air Force meant they could not protect their frontline; it also greatly
reduced the number of bomber aircraft produced.
Bombing destroyed production, interrupted transport of raw material and energy supplies on
a large scale. Forced industries to move away from most threatened centers.
Huge resources were diverted to develop vengeance of V-weapons in order to meet the
threat of Allied bombing.
The debilitating effects on German air power reduced the contribution that German aircraft
could make on the Eastern Front, where Soviet forces outnumbered German.
The success of air power in Europe persuaded American leaders to end the war with Japan in
the same way.