World War II The War in Europe

World War II The War in Europehttp://topdocumentaryfilms.com/world-war-2-in-colour/

WORLD WAR IITHE WAR IN EUROPE

WHY GERMANY WENT TO WAR.• THEY WANTED LEBENSRAUM – WHICH

LITERALLY TRANSLATES IN TO “LIVING ROOM,” OR TERRITORIAL EXPANSION.

• HITLER HAD ALREADY TAKEN OVER AUSTRIA AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA BY PEACEFUL MEANS, NOW HE INTENDED TO TAKE OVER POLAND AND RUSSIA BY FORCE.

• SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 GERMANY STRIKES OUT TO THE EAST FROM GERMANY AND CZECHOSOLVAKIA AND INVADES POLAND.

• GERMANY’S ARMY WAS NOT A BIG AS POLAND’S, BUT HAD MORE TANKS AND AIRPLANES.

• GERMANS QUICKLY OVERWHELMED THE POLES USING A NEW TYPE OF WARFARE CALLED BLITZKRIEG, OR LIGHTNING WAR.


• HITLER DID NOT THINK THAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE WOULD GO TO WAR OVER POLAND, BUT HE WAS WRONG. ON SEPTEMBER 3, BOTH BRITAIN AND FRANCE DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY.

FOR THE NEXT EIGHT MONTHS THERE WAS VERY LITTLE FIGHTING ON THE WESTERN FRONT. THE ENGLISH CALLED IT THE PHONEY WAR. THE GERMANS CALLED IT THE SITZKRIEG, OR SITTING WAR.



• BLITZKRIEG, WAS A NEW GERMAN STRATEGY, THAT USED COMBINED FORCES OF BOMBERS FROM THE AIR, AND MECHANIZED FORCES LIKE TANKS AND TRUCKS, TO MOVE QUICKLY. IN FIVE WEEKS, POLAND HAD SURRENDERED.

• ON APRIL 9, THE GERMANS INVADED DENMARK AND NORWAY. DENMARK SURRENDERED WITHIN HOURS. NORWAY SURRENDERED ON MAY 2.

• BRITISH AND FRENCH TROOPS LANDED IN NORWAY ON APRIL 14. THIS WAS THE FIRST REAL FIGHTING BETWEEN THE ALLIES AND GERMANY. BY JUNE, THE ALLIES HAD BEEN DEFEATED AND WERE FORCED TO EVACUATE NORWAY.


• MAY 9, GERMANY LAUNCHES ITS BLITZKRIEG AGAINST BELGIUM AND HOLLAND.

• FEARING A REPEAT OF THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN, THE BRITISH AND FRENCH IMMEDIATELY RUSH THEIR TROOPS NORTH TO FIGHT THE GERMANS.

• IT’S A TRICK. THE MAIN ATTACK IS LAUNCHED THE NEXT DAY, MAY 10, THROUGH THE ARDENNES FOREST IN SOUTHERN BELGIUM.


• FRANCE HAS A LARGER ARMY AND MORE AND BETTER TANKS, BUT IS CAUGHT BY SURPRISE.

• THE ARDENNES FOREST WAS LIGHTLY DEFENDED, BECAUSE THE FRENCH THOUGHT IT WAS IMPASSIBLE TO TANKS.


• HOLLAND SURRENDERS AFTER 4 DAYS OF INTENSE FIGHTING, IN WHICH THEY TOOK 1,200 GERMAN PRISONERS AND INFLICTED TWICE AS MANY CASUALTIES ON THE GERMANS.

• BELGIUM SURRENDERS AFTER 18 DAYS OF FIGHTING.

• FRANCE SURRENDERS ON JUNE 22.


• The armistice was signed on 22 June 1940 in the very same railway carriage in which the 1918 Armistice was signed (it was removed from a museum building and placed on the precise spot where it was located in 1918)


• BY JUNE 22, ONLY BRITAIN WAS LEFT TO FIGHT ALONE AGAINST GERMANY.

• ON JULY 10TH, THE GERMANS LAUNCHED THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN.


• IN ORDER TO INVADE GREAT BRITAIN BY THE SEA, GERMANY MUST CONTROL THE AIR OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.

• TO DO THAT, THEY MUST DESTROY THE ROYAL AIR FORCE.

• THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN WAS FOUGHT ENTIRELY IN THE AIR, BETWEEN THE RAF, AND THE GERMAN LUFTWAFFE.

• THE BATTLE ENDED ON SEPTEMBER 27. THE RAF HAD WON A STUNNING VICTORY.

• HITLER HAD TO CANCEL HIS PLANS TO INVADE BRITAIN.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN


• AS PART OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN, ON SEPTEMBER 7, 1940, HITLER ORDERED THE TERROR BOMBING OF ENGLISH CITIES, PARTICULARLY, LONDON. THE BRITISH CALLED THIS PHASE OF THE BATTLE, THE BLITZ.

• BY DESTROYING THE ENGLISH CITIES AND KILLING CIVILIANS, HITLER HOPED TO BREAK THE WILL OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE, AND FORCE THEM TO AGREE TO AN ARMISTICE.

• ONCE AGAIN, HITLER HAD UNDERESTIMATED THE BRITISH. RATHER THAN BREAKING THEIR WILL, IT JUST MADE THEM MORE DETERMINED TO NEVER SURRENDER TO THE NAZIS.

• THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN WAS HITLER’S FIRST DEFEAT, AND A MAJOR TURNING POINT IN THE WAR.



THE BLITZ

THE BLITZ"The pessimist sees the problems in every opportunity.

Whereas the optimist sees the opportunity in every problem"

"Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense"

"Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever,

ever, give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.“

Winston Churchill, Oct. 29, 1941.

THE BLITZ


WINSTON CHURCHILL, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER


Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour. Winston Churchill, June 18, 1940 in a speech to Parliament.

THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE BALKANS

JUNE 10, 1940 ITALY DECLARES WAR ON FRANCE AND BRITAIN.

APRIL 6, 1941 GERMANY INVADES YUGOSLAVIA AND GREECE. THE BRITISH ARE FORCED TO EVACUATE GREECE AND THE ISLAND OF CRETE.


THE NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN

FEBRUARY 1941, GERMANY LANDS AN ARMY IN LIBYA TO HELP THE ITALIANS.

IT IS COMMANDED BY FIELD MARSHALL ERWIN ROMMEL, THE BEST GERMAN GENERAL OF THE WAR.



FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS, THE BRITISH 8TH ARMY AND THE GERMAN AFRIKA KORPS WILL WAGE ARMORED WARFARE ACROSS NORTH AFRICA.

THE AFRIKA KORPS FINALLY SURRENDERS TO BRITISH AND AMERICAN FORCES IN MAY 1943.



THE BRITISH ARMY BECAME LEGENDARY FOR THE INNOVATIVE TACTICS AND BRAVERY THEY DISPLAYED IN NORTH AFRICA.

THEY USED EVERYTHING FROM VEHICLES USED TO LOOK LIKE GERMANS TRUCKS, TO DUMMY INFLATABLE TANKS, TO EVEN USING A MAGICIAN TO HIDE THE EGYPTIAN CITY OF ALEXANDRIA!


• BRITISH TROOPS IN NORTH AFRICA.

• THEY WERE AS FAMOUS FOR THEIR UNORTHODOX STYLE OF DRESS, AS FOR THEIR DESERT FIGHTING SKILLS.



BRITISH SAS SPECIAL FORCES IN NORTH AFRICA

1941 CHEVROLET TRUCK

BRITISH DUMMY TANK

OPERATION BARBAROSSAJUNE 22, 1941 – GERMANY

LAUNCHES A SURPRISE ATTACK AGAINST RUSSIA.

• STALIN HAD BEEN WARNED THAT THE GERMANS MIGHT BE PLANNING AN ATTACK, BUT DID NOT BELIEVE IT.

• THE REASON FOR THE GERMAN INVASION WAS LEBENSRAUM.

• THE GERMANS INTEND TO ENSLAVE OR WIPEOUT THE RUSSIAN POPULATION.


THE GERMAN ATTACK COMES AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE, AND INITIALLY IS VERY

SUCCESSFUL.

OPERATION BARBAROSSATHE FIGHTING IS BRUTAL

AND HORRIBLE. THE GERMANS KILL MILLIONS OF RUSSIANS.

THEY ATTEMPT TO SEIZE LENINGRADE AND

MOSCOW.


THE GERMANS INTEND TO WIPEOUT THESLAVIC PEOPLE OF RUSSIA, WHO THE

GERMANSCONSIDER SUBHUMAN.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA• LATE 1941, THE GERMAN ATTACK

BEGINS TO GRIND TO A HALT.• THE RUSSIAN WINTER SETS IN WITH

TEMPERATURES OF MINUS 30-40 DEGREES CELSIUS.

• THOUSANDS OF GERMAN SOLDIERS FREEZE TO DEATH.

• RUSSIAN INDUSTRY BEGINS TO PRODUCE THOUSANDS OF PLANES AND TANKS, WHICH THE GERMAN CANNOT MATCH.

• THE HUGE SIZE OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY BEGINS TO WEAR DOWN THE GERMANS.


TENS OF THOUSANDS OF GERMANS SOLDIERS, LIKE THESE THREE, FROZE TO

DEATH IN THE RUSSIAN WINTER.

SEIGE OF STALINGRAD• NOVEMBER 1942, A RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE

SURROUNDS THE ENTIRE GERMAN 6TH ARMY IN THE RUSSIAN CITY OF STALINGRAD.

• HITLER ORDERED THEM TO FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN.

• THE GERMANS HELD OUT UNTIL FEB. 1943, BUT WERE FORCED TO SURRENDER.

• OVER 200,000 GERMANS DIED AND OVER 90,000 WERE TAKEN PRISONER BY THE RUSSIANS, MANY NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN.

• THIS HUGE RUSSIAN VICTORY WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR NAZI GERMANY.


RUSSIAN T34 TANK, ONE OF THE BEST TANKS OF WWII. THE T34 WAS CRUDE BUT VERY TOUGH AND EFFECTIVE.THE RUSSIANS BUILT OVER 50,000 BETWEEN 1940 AND 1945.


RUSSIAN BOY SOLDIER RUSSIAN FEMALE SOLDIER

• JULY 10, 1943 AMERICAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INVADE SICILY.

• THE DEMORALIZED ITALIAN ARMY BEGINS TO SURRENDER ALMOST IMMEDIATELY.

• ON JULY 24TH, MUSSOLINI WAS REMOVED FROM POWER AND LATER EXECUTED.

• ITALY SURRENDERED TO THE ALLIES ON SEPT. 3, 1943.


AMERICAN GENERAL DWIGHT EISENHOWER WASTHE SUPREME COMMANDER OF ALL ALLIED FORCES IN EUROPE. HE WAS ELECTED U.S. PRESIDENT IN 1953.

• BRITISH FORCES LANDED ON MAINLAND ITALY ON SEPT. 3, 1943.

• THE COMBINED ALLIED FORCES MADE UP PRIMARILY OF BRITISH, AMERICANS, POLES, INDIANS, AND BRAZILIANS, CONTINUED TO FIGHT IN ITALY UNTIL SPRING OF 1945.


THE CAMPAIGN TO DRIVE THE GERMANS OUT OF ITALY WAS SLOW AND BLOODY. MUCH OF IT WAS FOUGHT IN COLD, WET, MUDDY CONDITIONS. MANY QUESTION ITS NECESSITY, BUT IT DID TIE UP MANY GERMAN TROOPS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED ELSEWHERE.

• JUNE 6, 1944 – D-DAY OPERATION OVERLORD

• OPERATION OVERLORD WAS THE CODE NAME FOR THE ALLIED INVASION OF FRANCE.

• THE BIGGEST FLEET OF SHIPS EVER ASSEMBLED BEGAN TO LAND AMERICAN, BRITISH, AND CANADIAN, TROOPS ON THE NORMANDY COAST OF FRANCE.


THE BEACHES ON THE NORMANDY COAST WERE CODE NAMED SWORD, JUNO, GOLD OMAHA, AND UTAH.

• GERMAN RESISTANCE WAS FIERCE ON OMAHA AND GOLD BEACHES.


• SLOWLY THE ALLIED TROOPS MADE THEIR WAY OFF THE BEACHES.

• FIERCE FIGHTING TOOK PLACE IN THE NORMANDY REGION OF FRANCE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER.

• ON AUGUST 25, 1944 THE GERMAN TROOPS IN PARIS SURRENDERED.


• DECEMBER 16, 1944 THE GERMANS MADE THEIR LAST COUNTER OFFENSIVE OF THE WAR ON THE WESTERN FRONT.

• THEY MADE A SURPRISE ATTACK ON AMERICAN TROOPS IN THE ARDENNES FOREST REGION OF BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG AND FRANCE

• THIS BECAME KNOWN AS THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.


THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE WASFOUGHT IN EXTREME WINTER CONDITIONS FROM DECEMBER 16, 1944 TO JANUARY 25, 1945

• THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE CAUGHT THE AMERICANS BY SURPRISE. MANY WERE TAKEN PRISONER BY THE GERMANS AND SOME WERE EXECUTED.

• THE NAME BATTLE OF THE BULGE COMES FROM THE HUGE BULGE THE GERMANS PUSHED IN THE AMERICAN LINES.

• THE AMERICANS WERE ABLE TO HOLD ON UNTIL REINFORCEMENTS CAME, AND EVENTUALLY COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE GERMAN ATTACKERS.


DESTROYED GERMAN TANK

GERMAN PRISONERS

• MARCH 1945 – AMERICAN AND BRITISH TROOPS HAD BEGUN CROSSING THE RHINE RIVER IN TO GERMANY.

• APRIL 19, OVER 1 MILLION RUSSIAN SOLDIERS BEGIN THE FINAL ASSUALT ON BERLIN.


RUSSIAN SOLDIERS RAISE THE RUSSIAN FLAGOVER GERMANY’S CAPITAL.

• AS EUROPE FELL TO THE ALLIES, THE EXTENT OF GERMAN ATTROCITIES BECAME APPARENT.

• THE GERMANS HAD EXTERMINATED AT LEAST 6 MILLION JEWS AND AS POSSIBLY AS MANY AS 11 MILLION CIVILLIANS AND PRISONERS OF WAR.


NAZI DR. FRITZ KLEIN STANDING AMONG HISVICTIMS, AT THE BERGEN-BELSEN DEATH CAMP.

"My Hippocratic oath tells me to cut a gangrenous appendix out of the human body. The Jews are the gangrenous appendix of mankind. That's why I cut them out.” - Nazi Doctor, Fritz Klein hung by the British for war crimes.

• APRIL 30TH 1945, HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE BY SHOOTING HIMSELF IN THE MOUTH.

• THE GERMANS SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY ON MAY 7, 1945. THE WAR IN EUROPE IS OVER.


World War II The War in Europe

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