War in Europe Operation Torch Eastern Europe Africa Pacific Western Europe 1940193919421941 Phony War 1944194319451938 Battle of Britain Guadalcanal.

War in Europe

Operation

Torch

Eastern Europe

Africa

Pacific

Western Europe

1940

1939

1942

1941Phony

War

1944

1943

1945

1938 Battle of

Britain

Guadalcanal

Pearl Harbor

bombing

Poland invaded

Battle of the

BulgeD-Day

Invasion

US embargo

Indochina invaded

Doolittle

Raid

Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Midway

Battle of El

Alamein

Battle of Monte casino

VJ Day

VE Day

Finland invaded

Italy

invaded

Siege of Leningrad

Battle of France

Austria annexed

Egypt

invaded

Western Front

Path to War in Europe• Rearming Germany• Occupation of Rhineland• Annexation of Austria

(Anschluss)• Annexation of Sudetenland

– Munich Conference/appeasement

• Non-Aggression Pact• Invasion of Poland

– Great Britain & France declare war on Germany Neville Chamberlain

Prime Minister of Great Britain

Course of War Allies expected invasion of France -“Phony War”

• 8 months of no action on Western Front

Ger. Invades Denmark & Norway • secure supply of Norwegian iron

Invasion of France, Belgium & Netherlands• avoided Maginot Line & troops at Belgian

border by cutting through Luxembourg & Ardennes forest

• Allied troops trapped on beaches of Dunkirk• French Premier Henri-Louis Pétain surrendered

42 days after attack• Germany occupied northern 3/5 of France• Southern France (Vichy France) set up as

dependent ally

Battle of Britain (the Blitz)• Bombing raids on British airfields, factories &

radar in preparation for invasion (Operation Sea Lion)

• Churchill launched bombing raid of Berlin to anger Hitler

• Hitler focused all of the bombing raids on London, saving the RAF

• Sea Lion ended after ~14 months

US involvement in Europe• 1937 Neutrality Act

– US wouldn’t sell goods or loan money to countries at war

• 1939 Cash and Carry Policy– US would sell war materials if

countries picked them up

• 1940 National Guard, Reserves inducted – 1st peacetime draft

• March 1941 Lend-Lease Act– US would loan or lease goods to

countries whose defense was necessary for defense of US

Eastern Front

Operation Barbarossa• Invasion June 22, 1941 included >4 million troops, >3000 tanks and ~700,000 horses

•Stalin got at least 84 intelligence reports predicting invasion but didn’t believe them

•Three-pronged attack toward Leningrad, Moscow & Ukraine

•Stalin expected Hitler to head for Ukraine but he went for Moscow

•1942 Stalin predicted attack toward Moscow, but Germans attacked Ukraine

•90% of Soviet tanks destroyed in first few weeks of operation

•Laid siege to Leningrad instead of conquering (had 20 days of food; siege lasted 900 days)

•Germans were greeted as liberators at first

How could Hitler lose?• Stalin’s “Not one step back” policy.• Soviets used scorched earth tactics• Relied heavily on women soldiers• Soviet train tracks caused German

supply problems• Mud slowed advance in spring and fall• Goering had promised resupply by

Luftwaffe, but this was impossible• Stalin dismantled factories and moved

them east of Urals• Hitler couldn’t resist attacking

Stalingrad• Brought in special forces from Siberia• Had equipment suited for arctic

conditions

Eastern Front

Casualties by theater

LeningradStalingrad

1st SmolenskMoscow

KurskKiev

Berlin

FranceBritain

NormandyBulgeAnzio

OkinawaPearl HarborGuadalcanal

Leyte GulfNanking

HiroshimaMidway

0 100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

CivilianMilitary

Western Front(again)

North African Campaign

• Mussolini wanted control of Suez Canal

• British pushed Italians East• Germans under Erwin Rommel

(Desert Fox) reinforced Italians & got within 60 mi. of canal

• Hitler sent no reinforcements to Rommel because of Barbarossa

• British forced Germans retreat at El Alamein

• US and British forces invaded Morocco & Algeria and trapped Axis forces at Tobruk

• Rommel surrendered May 1943• Allies invaded Sicily in July & Italians

overthrew and executed Mussolini

EasternTask ForceWestern

Task Force

CenterTask Force

Montgomery

Clark

1th Abn Div

15th Army GrpAlexander

15th Army GrpAlexander

1 8

Patton

7

5

Montgomery

85

Clark 15th Army GrpAlexander

1 2

21th Army GrpMontgomery

15th Army GrpAlexander

Montgomery

8

15

1 2

21th Army GrpMontgomery

7

1

15th Army GrpAlexander

8

12th Army GrpBradley 6th Army Grp

Devers

5

21th Army GrpMontgomery

912th Army Grp

Bradley

1213

9

15th Army GrpClark

15

8

1

15th Army GrpClark

8

6th Army GrpDevers

21th Army GrpMontgomery 9

1 2

112th Army Grp

Bradley

91

3

1

7

5

15

8

The Yalta Conference

•Hitler was nearly defeated

•U.S wanted help in defeating Japan

•Stalin wanted control of eastern Europe

•Allies agree to UN

•Allies divide Germany into zones of occupation

•GB & US allowed USSR to stay in eastern Europe, but he promised free elections

•Allies agreed that Germany would pay reparations to USSR

Potsdam Conference• Hitler and Roosevelt are

dead• U.S. has tested a nuclear

weapon• Japan is on the verge of

defeat• Truman isn’t inclined to

compromise• Allies are less willing to

impose reparations on Germany

• Allies issue a joint ultimatum to Japan – unconditional surrender or total destruction

War Crimes Trials

• German & Japanese officers tried for acts of extreme cruelty during wartime.

• Called “crimes against peace”, “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”;“following orders” did not justify acts of extreme brutality

• Nuremberg Trials-22 tried /19 were convicted. Subsequent trials prosecuted nearly 1000 other Nazi defendants.

• Tokyo Trials-28 defendants were tried and all who survived were convicted..

• Asian countries occupied by Japan held similar trials against an estimated 5000 defendants.

• International Criminal Court (ICC) established; US doesn’t support

International Military Tribunal of the Far EastInternational Military Tribunal

German Zones of Occupation

1945-1948

British Zone

American Zone

French Zone

Soviet Zone

Allied Administration

Territories Lost

Annexed by Poland

Annexed by the Soviet

Union

Consequences of WWII • USSR becomes superpower –

Bipolar World• USSR sets up communist

governments in Eastern Europe• Beginning of Cold War• Beginning of international Court• Beginning of Nuclear Era• Strengthened independence

movements in European colonies – helps bring an end to colonial empires

AlliancesNorth Atlantic Pact (1949) forms NATO

GB, FR, Benelux, US, Can, Ice, Den, Nor, It, Port.

US institutes peacetime draft

Warsaw Pact (1955)

USSR and satellites

Served to repress internal revolt

Objectives Key Info Major Battles

Western Front

Ger unification of German peoplereacquire former German territoryrevenge for T of V

No western front June 1940-June 1943 BritainNormandy (D-Day) reopened western frontBulge – last German offensive of war

Eastern Front

Gerlebensraumcontrol of Slavic lands for foodaccess to Caucasian oildestruction of communismItalytake territory not included in T of V

Stalin had purged most army officers in 1930’s which weakened Red Army; anti-Stalin moodOperation Barbarossa – invasion of USSRHitler hadn’t expected:Soviet women in army, factories moved east of Urals, disregard of casualties, winter/equipment failures, success of partisan groupsReinforcements from Soviet far east, alliesCost Germany the warOperation Bagration – Soviet invasion of Eastern Europe; concentration camps discovered

Leningrad – bloodiest battle in historyStalingrad – turning pointKurskSmolenskKiev

North Africa

Axis – control of Suez Canal, ColoniesAllies: launch point for Italian invasion

Mussolini’s invasions of Greece and Egypt created problems for Germany because Hitler had to commit troops to bail Italian army out. Operation Torch – allied invasion of North Africa which led to invasion of Sicily and overthrow of Mussolini

El Alamein (x2) – turning pointTobrukMontecasino – fall of Winter LineAnzio

Asia/ Pacific

Japan – obtain colonies for:Access to raw materials/mktsFood suppliesReduce population pressures

Guadalcanal beginning of “island hopping” strategy of working closer to Japan to launch attackJapanese fought to last man so battles had high casualties

Pearl Harbor –US enters war GuadalcanalMidway – turning point of war Iwo JimaCoral Sea Leyte GulfOkinawa – last battle of war Doolittle RaidHiroshima/ Nagasaki – only use of nukes

WWII Major Theaters of War