WORLD WAR II

►Axis Powers►Germany► Italy ► Japan

►Allies►Britain► France►Soviet Union►USA

Nazi Germany and USSR sign a non-aggression pact in 1939

► In 1939 Hitler and Stalin have a meeting and sign a

►non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union

►Stalin knew that Hitler hated communism but still signed the treaty

►because he knew that Hitler was planning to attack Poland and Stalin wanted in land in eastern Poland

Poland

By 1939 – Nazi Germany either controlled or was allied with these countries

September 1939 Germany Invades Poland. Britain and France declare war on Germany. WWII Begins

Questions►1. what were some features of the Maginot

Line?2. Was the Maginot line a waste? 3. Describe what the Germans did to take Fort Eben Emael4. Why didn’t the French heavily defend the Ardennes Forest?

►5. What did the French officer who committed suicide say?6. Why didn't thousands of British, French and Belgium soldiers die or get captured at Dunkirk?7. Approximately, how many British, French and Belgium soldiers were rescued?

►Britain and France had recently “appeased” Hitler and hoped that he wasn’t going to take anymore land

► In August of 1939 the Germans started a build up of troops on the Polish border

►Both Britain and France declared that they would go to war if Hitler attacked Poland

►On September 1, 1939 Germany launched a blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Poland.

►This was the official start of WWII ►This made England and France declare war

on Germany but they could not help Poland. Poland surrendered in 3 weeks

Blitzkrieg: “lightning warfare”Super Fast invasion of

planes bombing strategic placesParatroopers dropping behind enemy lines

Thousands of tanks smashing through defensive positions

Panzers Luftwaffe

►German tanks ►German air force

“Phony War” or “sitzkrieg►After the invasion of

Poland in 1939 the rest of Europe was waiting for Hitler’s next move

►And Waited they did► October, Nov.,

Dec., Jan., Feb. March (6months)

► French and British soldiers just sitting in the bunkers of the Maginot Line waiting for the German attack

WW.W II EUROPE 1939-1945 name: _____________________

►Notes:

►Maginot Line ► Ft. Eben Emael►Ardennes Forest► Junker (airplane)►BEF (British

Expeditionary Force)

►Dunkirk

►Maginot Line: a thousand mile, multi-billion dollar defense line on the French /German border containing thousands of cannons, tank traps, ammunition depots, rail lines, hospitals

Fort Eben Emael

►The wait ended on April 9, 1940

► Hitler launched a massive blitzkrieg against Denmark and bombed their major cities.

► The Danish King surrendered his country in 4 hours in attempt to save lives.

►Next was Norway.

►Norway put up a stiff resistance and had many resistors throughout the war

►But within 2 months Norway was defeated

►In May the Nazi war machine moved into the countries of the Netherlands and Belgium

►In 2 weeks in a was pretty was done and Hitler was preparing for his assault on France

Dunkirk

Evacuation @ Dunkirk

► France; ► - A world power, - ► -Britain’s major ally,

surrenders in only 3 weeks!

►3 WEEKS!

The French were so scared that they hid their art

►Poland- 3 weeks►Denmark- 4

hours►Norway- 2

months►Netherlands and

Belgium- 2 weeks

►France- 3 weeks

►Who’s Next?

►Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister during WWII?

►Hitler asked Churchill for a non-aggression treaty and Churchill told him to ________

► “We will NEVA SURRENDA!”

SWAG

Winston Churchill: Prime Minister of Great Britain during

W.W.II► “we will neva

surrenda”

Finish these sentences►Winston Churchill…►The Luftwaffe…►Technological advances that

helped the British were…►The RAF…►Terror bombing…►The reason Hitler called off the

invasion was…►The Battle of Britain is important

because…

The Battle of Britain► August 1940 – April 1941► Hitler wanted the Luftwaffe to

gain “air superiority” over the channel and southern England before launching his amphibious invasion

► At first Luftwaffe bombers caused significant damage - bombing British airplane factories and shipyards

► Brits regularly heard air raid sirens and retreated to solid steel underground bunkers to sleep in at night. Children were moved to agriculture areas in the north

► Britain was helped by its wide array of radar towers that are set up all over southern England

► But England’s biggest and best weapon is its knowledge of the German code due to years of work by brilliant code breakers that had come upon a German military “Enigma” code-making machine

► Throughout the war, the British always knew what the Germans were going to do as a result of this knowledge. Great lengths were required to ensure that the Germans would never find out that their code had been figured out

“Terror” bombing►Bombing the

heart of cities (historic buildings, houses, churches)

►to terrorize a country and break their will to fight

Radar Towers and an “enigma machine” (code

machine) which helped the British create “Ultra” a powerful code-breaking computer so that the British always knew what the Germans

were going to do

RAF: (Royal Air Force) Britain’s Air force

“Terror” bombing► In September of 1940 the

British bombed the German capital Berlin. This act infuriated Hitler and caused him to switch his strategy to bombing cities and civilians centers

► The goal in terror bombing is attempt to break the will of your opponents desire to fight

► Try to kill many innocent people and destroy famous and historic buildings so that it demoralizes a nation

► Luftwaffe bombers dropped tons of bombs destroying major parts of many of England’s bigger cities

► However, on each raid, the Luftwaffe would lose planes to RAF fighters and anti-aircraft artillery so they decided to switch to night bombing

► Brits spent many nights sleeping in subways and air raid shelters

Results of the Battle of Britain

► Each Raid both sides would lose planes

► Planes are expensive!► Germany was losing 10 -20

airplanes in every raid► One raid the Germans lost

over 30 planes!

► yes, they were trading but England’s factories were replacing planes faster than the Germans could

► Frustrated Hitler called off plans for his invasion of Britain to concentrate his military’s power for a spring invasion of the Soviet Union

Some of the numbers and comment► Total civilian losses for England stood at 23,000 killed and

35,000 wounded► The RAF lost 1087 planes but the Luftwaffe lost 1,652!► During this time period British factories turned out some 2354

new aircraft while German manufacturers only made about 1, 000 new airplanes

► It was the first “loss” for Hitler and the Nazi war machine ► Britain’s heroics made a huge psychological statement to the

rest of the world ► The Nazi war machine COULD be beaten! ► Also, as a result of the victory public opinion in the US began to

change where it was once thought that Britain could not withstand Germany’s massive firepower and would eventually surrender

► The British victory over the Nazis is held in the same esteem as Waterloo (the defeat of Napoleon) and is celebrated yearly

► Most importantly, the end of the Battle of Britain allowed the UK to rebuild its military forces as establish itself as an allied stronghold from which to launch bombing raids and the eventual British/US D-Day invasion of Normandy, France

► Had Britain surrendered – most believe that the 20 century would’ve played out much differently

►Why would Hitler Invade USSR?

►Because…

►Lebensraum (living space for the master race)

►Nazis wanted to destroy communism

►Resources: Russia had oil, wheat and coal

►Russia had the most Jews►Europe can have only 1 master

Is the main idea►Paragraph #1►A. Operation Barbarossa►B. the invasion was delayed for years►C. the general goals for the invasion

►Paragraph #2►A. the German front line was 1,000 miles

long►B. description of the 3 main parts of the

invasion►C. When Hitler planned to be finished by

Invasion of The Soviet Union

Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria were “persuaded” to join the Nazis

Yugoslavia and Greece fought and lost in about 2 weeks

Nazis on the Greek Acropolis

Code name “Operation Barbarosa”► Largest invasion in

History►3 speared attack► Leningrad, Moscow► Stalingrad

►Russians destroyed their own country trying to stop the Germans

►The winter froze the Germans

►Germany lost 2/3 of its army

►Russia lost 20 million but still won

CLOSING ACTIVITY Finish these sentences

1.The 3 cities that Germany went after were….

2. Scorched earth policy means…3. In Leningrad…4. Hitler wanted Stalingrad because….5. The Russian winter…6. The Battle of Stalingrad….

Finish these sentences The “key” or goal of fighting in

North Africa was…During WWII Mussolini and Italy…Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria…Greece in WWII…The battle of Leningrad (St.

Petersburg) …Russian winters….Germany lost ________ in the Battle

for Russia

►Leningrad 1941-1944

►Germans surrounded the city for 3 years

► bitter cold►No food ►People ate dogs,

cats ►rats, humans ►Over a million

Russians dead►But the Russians

never surrendered

►Moscow 1941-1943

►Germans got within

►A hundred miles of

►Moscow ► again bitter cold

(-30)►Gasoline in the

tanks ►froze, guns

jammed►Russians counter

attacked►Germans lost

over 500,000 ►Moscow was

never taken

►Stalingrad►Hitler wanted

Stalingrad► for the oil in the

area►But more

because it bore the name “Stalin”

►July 1942-Feb 1943

►90% of city destroyed

►Germans lost 200,000

►And 91,000 Germans

►Surrendered – ►Russians loss 2

million►Turning point of

the war

The Battle of Kursk► Largest tank battle

in history►Hitler trying to

destroy the brunt of Russia’s main military

►After 11 days the German offensive was halted

►Germany lost 1,000 tanks and 200,000 men

►Hitler’s final attempt at victory had failed

►Russia’s best soldier

►GENERAL WINTER

The way Russia views WWII► It’s called The Great

Patriotic War to save the motherland not WWII

► Russia lost 20 million! in comparison – Germany 7 mill, USA 400 thous – Britain 300 thous, japan 5 mill

► Their entire country was destroyed – land burnt, dams destroyed, cities thrashed, no one went to school – everyone participated in the war effort

► THEY defeated Hitler ► THEY destroyed 70% of the

German military► THEY took the German

capital of Berlin and made Hitler kill himself

► THEY have Hitler’s ashes and skull

“Lebensraum”: living space (for the master race)

“Borders are made by man and changed by man” – Adolf Hitler

“borders are just silly lines that politicians draw on maps”

“the master race will decide what their borders will be not the League of Nations”

Concentration/Death camps during W.W.II

D-DAY (‘Designated Day’ – the day that were are invading)

AKA – “OPERATION OVERLORD”

D-Day: June 6th 1944: The Allies (Britain, US, and Canada) Invading the

beaches of Normandy, France ► Largest amphibious

invasion in history►2 years of planning►5,000 ships►150,000 men►13,000

paratroopers►Tons of bombing►Massive deception

(fake, armies, spies, disinformation)

Normandy

Fake Army

►Before dawn six parachute regiments -- over 13,000 men parachuted into France to blow up bridges and secure roads

►By nightfall on June 6, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were dead or wounded.

Establishing a beachhead (safe

place to un load supplies) In Normandy► In a few days more

than 100,000 Allied soldiers had made it ashore, securing French coastal villages.

► ► Supplies (ammo, shells

tanks) were being brought into France at the rate of 20,000 tons of per day.

American Cemetery in Normandy

CLOSING ACTIVITY: Finish the sentence

►1. D-Day is ...►2. Normandy…3. An interesting fact about D-Day was...4. Another fact about D-Day was...5. A beachhead...6. D-Day is important because...

B29 “Flying fortresses” bombing factories

Complete these sentences

►After D-Day…►The Battle of the Bulge..►German tank commander Erwin

Rommel…►The Russians in WWII…►Hitler in his final days…►Reasons the Allies won the war

were….

The way Russia views WWII► It’s called The Great

Patriotic War to save the motherland not WWII

► Russia lost 20 million! in comparison – Germany 7 mill, USA 400 thous – Britain 300 thous, japan 5 mill

► Their entire country was destroyed – land burnt, dams destroyed, cities thrashed, no one went to school – everyone participated in the war effort

► THEY defeated Hitler ► THEY destroyed 70% of the

German military► THEY took the German

capital of Berlin by themselves and made Hitler kill himself

► THEY have Hitler’s ashes and skull

Soviet soldiers replacing the Nazi flag with the USSR flag on top of the German

capital during the battle of Berlin►Russian view of the

war► THEY defeated Germany► THEIR country was totally

destroyed► THEY paid the price losing 20

million► THEY defeated 500 German

divisions compared with Britain/ US’ 200 divisions

► THEY took Berlin by themselves► THEY made Hitler kill himself► THEY have his body► THEY call it the “The Great Patriotic

War to save the motherland”

V-E Day May 8th 1945

Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta discussing what to do with Germany

after W.W.II

Nuremburg War Crimes Trial

►Months of trials to prosecute the Nazi leaders

►Judges from all over the world

►Only 12 convicted

►“Crimes against humanity”

►(The Holocaust)

WW.W II EUROPE 1939-1945 name: _____________

►Notes: