World War II: In Europe The War in Europe in Forty Minutes

September 1939 September 1: Germany invades Poland September 3: Britain, France, Australia, NZ declare war on Germany Superior airpower and armor (tanks) quickly surround Polish forces and eliminate them Soviets attack from the East September 27 Warsaw surrenders

Scandinavia In response to British and French plans for an occupation of Denmark and Norway Germany needs to protect iron ore shipments from Sweden April 9, 1940: Germany invades and conquers Denmark in less than 4 hours April 9: Germany invades Norway May 10: Norway surrenders

The Phony War and the Low Countries What have the Allies been doing since Sept of 1939? Raising armies, blockading Germany, and the French have been in their fortresses on the French border, the famous, impervious…Maginot Line! What could the Germans do?..Schlieffen Plan Part II May 10, Germany attacks Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands May 15, The Netherlands surrenders May 26 Germans surround British and French forces at Dunkirk. British miraculously escaped.

Fall of France and Vichy May 27 Belgium surrenders June 10: Italy declares war on Britain and France June 14: Germans enter Paris June 22: France and German Armistice. New French government established. Called Vichy France and declared neutral June 28 Charles DeGaulle recognized as head of Free French

Battle of the Atlantic Britain again blockaded Germany Germany responded by submarine warfare..sound familiar? In 1942, 452 ships were sunk by the Germans and England was almost starved into surrender By the end of the war Germany had sunk 2,177 ships and killed more than 30,000 sailors By 1944, destroyers, planes, greater ship production and the breaking of the German code, had mostly ended the battle with a victory for the Allies

War in North Africa August 1940: Italy attacks British colonies in Africa (Egypt) After brief successes Italians are pushed back, losing half of Libya and all of Ethiopia In 1941 Hitler sends Rommel British pushed out of Libya and far back into Egypt By 1942, Germans had out run their supplies (British control of the Mediterranean) and are forced out of Egypt and Libya and back into Tunisia

Battle of Britain After the fall of France, Hitler’s next goal was the invasion of Britain To do so he needed to defeat the British air force (RAF) Beginning in July of 1940 Germans began bombing campaign of Britain and all Allied ships in the English Channel German bombing killed more than 43,000 civilians Britain eventually wins due to superior radar and fewer pilot losses (shot down British pilots live to fly again) Beginning in 1940, Britain responded by bombing German cities

Yugoslavia and Greece 1940 and 1941 Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria join the Axis Oct. 1940: Italy declares war on Greece, invades and then is drive far back into Albania British troops arrive in Greece March 1940 Yugoslavia joins Axis, then coup overthrows the govt. Yugoslavia quits Axis Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece

Operation Barbarossa June 22, 1941: German surprise attack on the USSR Most of the Soviet air force is destroyed on the ground By late July Germans were bombing Moscow By August they had surrounded Leningrad (St. Petersburg) In September the first snows begin to fall slowing further German advances

Operation Torch Nov 1942: British, American and Free French forces land in North Africa Some Vichy French forces fight them, others surrender Germany invades Vichy France By May of 1943 all Axis forces in North Africa have been neutralized

Leningrad & Stalingrad Leningrad was surrounded by German forces for 900 days 632,000 people died including soldiers and civilians Germans were finally stopped at Stalingrad Hitler and Stalin both refused to allow their armies to retreat and poured as many resources as possible Battle of attrition which Stalin won Germans lost 841,000 men Soviets lost 1.1 million It was the first major battle the Germans lost in World War II

The Soviet Advance-Kursk to the Ukraine 1943 After Stalingrad the German army was in retreat In an attempt to stop the advancing Soviets they met at Kursk Germans lost Casualties: German 170,000, Soviets unknown The Germans were to never regain the initiative as the Soviets pushed them back into the Ukraine and beyond

The Invasion of Italy and Italy switches sides…imagine that! July 1943 US, British, and Canadian forces invade Sicily (the football of Italy) Allied forces made it about half way up the boot King Victor Emmanuel deposed Mussolini and Italy joined the Allies Mussolini was imprisoned

The Rescue of Mussolini and the Gustav line September 1943 Mussolini was rescued from prison in a raid by German special forces led by Otto Skorzeny Mussolini was placed in charge of northern Italy a new country called the Italian Social Republic Strong German resistance in the mountains, especially at Monte Casino, kept the Allies from advancing further North.

D-Day June 6, 1944 US, British, and Canadian forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in France Had the Allies failed the war might have turned out differently By August the Allies were approaching Paris

Liberation of Paris By August 25, Paris was liberated The Allies allowed DeGaulle to lead the entry By the beginning of September Brussels and Antwerp had been liberated

Battle of the Bulge German final last gasp Attempt to break Allied lines and recapture the Low Countries and make a treaty with the Allies Germans expected to be able to join the Allies to fight the Soviets Lack of fuel and airpower leads to German defeat

Soviets in Poland and the Warsaw Uprising August 1944: Allies ask Polish Resistance to stage an uprising in Warsaw to help the advancing Soviet army Soviet army stops its advance and allows Germans to deal with Polish Uprising This allows Soviets to put in place a pro-Communist government since all the other resistance fighters had been dealt with by the Germans

Hitler’s Suicide and the End of the War August 1944: Romania and Bulgaria fall to the USSR January 1945 Hungary falls to USSR April 1945 Soviets enter Berlin Hitler commits suicide in his bunker Soviet and Allied forces meet at the Elbe River May 8, 1945 War in Europe ends