The Battles of WWII: 1942Turning the Tide

The War in Russia• This is by far the most important front of the war• 85% of the German forces fight here• 1942, the Nazis attack southern Russia to capture

the oil fields• However, Hitler becomes obsessed with capturing

the city of Stalingrad• Both Hitler and Stalin make this battle a personal

matter and both side throw everything they have into it.

• Stalingrad is the most brutal battle of the war with intense street fighting (building to building, floor to floor, room to room battles)

Stalingrad

•As the Germans slowly take the city, Russian forces to the North and South surround the city and trap a large section of the German Army inside

•Hitler refuses the army’s request to have the trapped men break out

• Instead, the trapped Germans slowly starve and eventually surrender

•The turning point of the War •After this the Nazis never really recover

In Africa

•The American Army attacks the Germans in Africa and drive them back

•The German Army is defeated at the Battle of El Alemein by the British and flee Africa in 1942

Strategic Bombing

•The USA, Britain and Canada begin to bomb Germany nightly with thousands of planes

•Entire German cities are destroyed and hundreds of thousands are killed

•Such much damage was done to German factories that German could not produce enough weapons and material for the war effort

In the Pacific

•The USA wins a major Naval battle near the Island of Midway and crushes the Japanese Navy

•The USA begins taking back territory captured by the Japanese using “Island Hopping”

•The Japanese continue to fight very hard and the war tin the pacific is extremely bloody but after Midway, they had little hope of victory

Key Points

•In 1942, the Allies start winning the war•The Germans lose key battles at

Stalingrad and El Alamein•Germany is being burnt to the ground by

US, British and Canadian Bombers•The Japanese lose the Battle of Midway

and the USA slowly begins to push them back