1. World War II

2. Causes World War I didn’t settle differences
Harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles
Especially on Germany
Economic instability following First World War
Italy and Germany look to Fascist dictators
Solve Problems
Return to Glory

3. Aggressions of Axis Powers
Italy, Germany, Japan formed Axis Powers by 1940
Tripartite Pact
Italy conquered Ethiopia (1936)
Albania (1939)
Hitler repeatedly violated Treaty of Versailles ( )
Germany annexed Austria (1938)
Conquered Czechoslovakia and Poland (1939)
Hitler also broke Munich and Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pacts
Japan invaded Manchuria (1932)
China (1937)
French Indochina (1940)
Bombed U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor (1941)
Wake Island (1941)

4. Allied Nations Great Britain France (until 1940) United States (1941)
Soviet Union (1943)
China (1943)
Italy joins in 1943
Many smaller nations

5. Weaponry Improvements made to: Aircraft used more effectively:
Tanks
Machine guns/rifles
Artillery
Submarines
Battleships & Destroyers
Aircraft used more effectively:
German Luftwaffe
British Royal Air Force
U.S. Army Air Corps
Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force
Air Craft Carriers
By 1942, dominated naval warfare

6. Blitzkrieg German word for “Lightning War”
Fast moving tanks (Panzers) and ground forces
Mixed with air cover
Luftwaffe
Effectively used against:
Czechoslovakia
Poland
Holland
Denmark
Norway
Belgium
France
Soviet Union

8. War Time Leaders Great Britain: Prime Minister Winston Churchill
United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Free-French Forces: General Charles De Gaulle
and General Henri Giraud
Soviet Union: Premier Joseph Stalin
Nationalist China: General Chiang Kai-chek
Germany: Adolf Hitler
Italy: Benito Mussolini
Japan: Emperor Hirohito &
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo

9. 1940 April 9: Germany invades Denmark and Norway
May 10: Germany invades Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg
September:
U.S. begins military draft
Begins building air and naval fleet
Begins aiding Allies
Japan joins Axis (Tripartite Pact):
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis formed
November: President Franklin Roosevelt elected to third term

10. Germany Conquers France
Invades on June 5, 1940
German Blitzkrieg goes around French Maginot Line
Along French-German border
Invades through Belgium
Splits Allied lines in two
Manstein Plan
Half of Allied forces fled to Dunkirk
Churchill has them rescued
Rest of Allied forces surrender within days
Including Paris
June 14
French government flees to Bordeaux
Germans install French Vichy government
in the south
Lasts until Allied liberation in August of 1944

12. Battle of Britain Lasts from August through September 1940
Fought in skies over Britain
Original plan:
Luftwaffe bombs RAF spitfires on the ground
Then bomb RAF radar towers
Then bomb major British cities
Force British to surrender without invasion
Luftwaffe gets bored
Begins bombing London and major cities
Causes much damage & loss of life
Winston Churchill wills his people to “never surrender”
British RAF holds off Luftwaffe
Forces Hitler to abandon plans of invasion
Moral victory for British
Bombing would continue intermittently through out war

13. Battle of Atlantic Lasts from 1940-1945
British and U.S. Navy (Atlantic Fleet) square off against German fleet
Used battleships, destroyers, submarines
Aircraft Carriers make an appearance later in war
Allied forces eventually prevail

14. 1941 March 11: Lend-Lease Act passed
U.S. would lend and lease used ships and planes to British
Proposed by Roosevelt
Passed by Congress
Helped U.S. economy
August 14: Atlantic Charter proposed
Endorsed by Churchill and Roosevelt
At Atlantic Conference
Met off coast of Newfoundland
Vision of post-war world
Led to creation of United Nations in 1945

15. 8 Points of Atlantic Charter
No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom.
Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned.
All peoples had a right to self-determination.
Trade barriers were to be lowered.
There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare.
Freedom from want and fear.
Freedom of the seas.
Disarmament of aggressor nations, postwar common disarmament.

16. Germany invades Soviet Union
Blitzkrieg begins early on the morning of June 22, 1941
Called Operation Barbarossa
Violated the non-aggression pact
September: German forces had reached the gates of Leningrad in the north
Smolensk in the center and Dnepropetrovsk in the south
German units reached the outskirts of Moscow in early December

17. Yet after months of campaigning, the German army was exhausted
Germans expected a rapid Soviet collapse
Planners failed to equip their troops for winter warfare
Speedy German advance had caused the forces to outrun their supply lines
Like Napoleon, Hitler’s forces got trapped in a Russian Winter
In December, the Soviet Union launched a major counterattack against the center of the front
Driving the Germans back from Moscow in chaos

18. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
Plan was to knock out U.S. Pacific Fleet
Would allow Japan to expand into Central and South Pacific
First wave attacked at 7:53AM
Second wave at 9AM
Japanese sunk USS Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and other battleships
Bombed planes at nearby Hickam Field and other air fields
Third wave wasn’t launched because Japanese felt element of surprise was gone
Failed to hit oil tanks
Failed to hit U.S. aircraft carriers: Lexington, Hornet, Enterprise
Were at sea
U.S. and Great Britain declares war on Japan on December 8
Germany declare war on U.S. on December 9
Japanese also captured Guam on December 7th

21. 1942 Pacific January 7-April 9: Battle of Bataan
American-Filipino forces hold on for months against Japanese invasion
FDR demands that Allied Commander Douglas MacArthur evacuate to Australia
Allied troops finally surrender in April
Prisoners are taken on Bataan Death March through the jungle
Many die along way to Camp O’Donnell
February 27: Battle of Java Sea
Japanese try to invade Dutch East Indies
Allied forces intercept Japanese convoy
Allies forced to retreat
1st encounter with Japanese since Pearl Harbor
May 6: Corregidor falls to Japanese
Island fortress in Manila Bay
American signal station there
Japanese occupy Philippines

22. Allies Turn The Tide in the Pacific
April 18: Doolittle Raid
U.S. bombers attack military and industrial targets around Tokyo
Showed Japanese were vulnerable to air attack
Retaliation for Pearl Harbor
May 7-8: Battle of Coral Sea--indecisive
1st battle completely fought by aircraft carriers
Japanese sink more ships than Allies
But Allies force Japanese to abandon plan to invade Australia
June 3-6: Battle of Midway
U.S. learns of Japanese plan to invade Midway Island
Sink 4 Japanese carriers
Turning point of war for U.S. Navy
June 6-7: Allies begin campaign to retake Aleutians from Japanese
August 21: Battle of Guadalcanal Begins
Allied strategy of “island hopping” begins
Japanese had taken island to build airbase there for Australian invasion
Japanese hold on for six months against Allied invasion
One of bloodiest battles of Pacific theatre
Allies take island on February 9, 1943
Begins Allies Solomon Island Campaign

24. 1942 Europe August 21-February 2, 1943: Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler’s forces try and take the strategic city on the Volga River
Then would march south into the oil fields of the Middle East
Germans have success in early months
Soviets get reinforcements
By February, Soviets force German army to retreat
1st large-scale defeat for Germans in Europe
October 23-November 5: Battle of El-Alamein
Rommel’s Afrika Korps tries to take Egypt and Suez Canal from British
British under General Bernard Montgomery hold off Germans and secure Egypt
November 8: Operation Torch--U.S. forces land in North Africa
North African Campaign begins
U.S. troops to aid British in liberating Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia

26. 1943 Europe January 12-24: Casablanca Conference
Churchill and Roosevelt meet
Discuss Sicilian and Italian Campaigns
February 20-22: Battle of Kasserine Pass
Rommel’s Afrika Korps defeats Allied forces
May 13: Allied victory in Tunisia
End of the North African Campaign
July 9-August 17: Allied invasion of Sicily
Allies liberate from Axis control
September 3: Allies land at Reggio di Calabria
Italian campaign begins
Southern Italy surrenders to Allies; Northern Italy remains in Axis control
September 9: 1st wave lands at Paestum
September 10: Allies land at Salerno
September 12-14: 2nd wave lands at Paestum
October 1: Allies land at Naples
October 13: Italy declares war on Germany
November 28-December 1: Allied leaders meet at Tehran Conference
Joseph Stalin meets with Churchill and Roosevelt for the first time
Stalin demanded a Second Front be opened
Discuss Allied invasion of western Europe

27. 1943 Pacific November 1: Battle of Empress August Bay
U.S. Navy victorious
Secures landings at Bougainville
November 1-December 24: Battle of Bougainville
Allied forces liberate the island
Ends the Solomon Islands Campaign
November 21-24: Battles of Tarawa and Makin atolls
Tarawa one of the bloodiest conflicts
U.S. Marines invasion helps liberate island
Allies liberate Gilbert Islands

28. 1944 Europe January 22: Allied invasion of Anzio Beach
February 14-March 31: Battle of Anzio
Allies pinned down on beach for weeks
Finally force Axis retreat
May 11-18: Battle of Monte Cassino
Germans take refuge in ancient monastery
Allies bomb and cause major destruction
June 4: Allies liberate Rome

29. D-Day: June 6th Allied invasion of Normandy, France
Called “Operation Overlord”
Paratroopers “jumped” in behind German lines the night before
Helped secured beach landings
Bombardment from armada before landings
Troops came ashore before 7AM
Landings at Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold, and Juno beaches
Heaviest opposition and casualties at Omaha Beach
Allies finally come ashore and take coastal region and towns
Takes them several months to “breakout” from coast
Many regard D-Day as most important event of 20th Century

31. August 15: Allied invasion of Southern France
Operation Anvil/Dragoon
Allies liberate France and march toward German border
August 25: Allies liberate Paris

32. Operation Market Garden
Allied invasion of Holland
September 17-25
Allied plan to invade Germany through Holland
Allied paratroopers make “jump” into occupied territory
Initially a success
Allies capture Waal Bridge at Nijmegen
Eventually failed
Allied plan to advance across Rhine at Arnhem had to be abandoned

34. Battle of the Bulge December 16-January 31, 1945
Also known as Battle of the
Ardennes
Germans launch massive offense against Allied lines in Belgium
Near town of Bastogne
Cause a “bulge” in Allied lines
Allies get reinforcements
Within weeks, drive Germans back
Force German retreat
Last German offensive of war

36. 1944 Pacific February 1-8: Allies take Kwajalein
February 18-23: Allies take Truk and Eniwetok
Ends Marshall Islands Campaign
April 22: Allies take Hollandia, New Guinea
Allies liberate New Guinea on September 17
June 15-July 9: Allies retake Saipan
June 19-20: Battle of Philippine Sea
Also known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot”
U.S. Naval forces victorious over Japanese
July 21-August 10: Allies retake Guam
July 24-August 1: Allies retake Tinian
End of Mariana Islands campaign
October 23-26: Battle of Leyte Gulf
Last major naval encounter in Pacific
Victory allows Allies to land in Philippines
Campaign would last until May 8, 1945

37. 1945 Europe February 4-11: Allies leaders meet at Yalta
Last time Roosevelt would meet with Churchill and Stalin
Discuss plan for end of the European war
Getting the Soviets involved in Pacific war
February-March: Allies liberate Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands
March 7: Allies secure the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen
Last standing span over the Rhine
Allies cross the Rhine River
April 12: President Roosevelt dies
Harry S. Truman becomes president
April 29: Italian Campaign ends in Allied victory
April 30: Hitler commits suicide
May 2: Berlin surrenders
May 4: Germany surrenders
May 8: V-E Day
July 17-August 2: Allied leaders meet at Potsdam Conference
Truman and British Prime Minister Atlee meet Joseph Stalin for 1st time
Discuss ending Post-war Europe and war in Pacific

40. 1945 Pacific February 19-March 16: Allies take Iwo Jima
March: Allies begin massive firebombing of Japanese cities
March 3: Allies liberate Manila
April 1-June 21: Allies take Okinawa
Last major conflict of Pacific theatre
May 8: Philippines Campaign ends
August 1: Soviet Union declares war on Japan
Invades Manchuria and Korea
August 6: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
August 9: U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki
August 15: Japan surrenders
V-J Day
September 2: Treaty ending war in the Pacific signed on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay