Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa 3) The failed battle of Britain led a frustrated Hitler to turn on his former ally, and the Nazi war machine opened the “Eastern Front” by invading the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite the Non-Agression Pact, many had already concluded that the German invasion of the Soviet Union was an inevitibility.

Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa 5) Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) was prompted by a number of other factors as well: To attain the rich Russian oil fields in the Caucus Moutain region along the Caspain Sea, To destroy Communism and elimate the Soviet threat before another concentrated attack on Britain, Russia was home to the world’s largest population of non-European Jews, “Lebenstraum”

Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa 6) The invasion of the Soviet Union was much more brutal in nature as Hitler gave explicit orders to Army commanders to eliminate civilian populations in the Soviet Union.

Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa 7) After an area was conquered by the German Army, mobile killing squads known as the Einsatzgruppen specifically killed segments of the local civilian population like Jews, Communists, Gypsies, and local political leaders.

Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa 8) Over 1.5 million Jews were exterminated by the mobile killing squads. However, Hitler and other Nazi leaders felt that this was inefficient and developed the “Final Solution” to the Jewish problem in early 1942 by establishing the highly organized and brutal concentration camp system.

Pearl Harbor 1) As Hitler’s war machine stalled at the gates of Moscow during the Winter of 1941 / 42, the United States was suddenly attacked by the Japanese empire at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of December 7th, 1941.

Pearl Harbor X 2) Late in 1940, the U.S. had finally issued a number of trade embargoes against the Japanese to halt their imperialistic conquests in Eastern Asia. In particular, the precious flow of oil, gasoline, and other war related supplies from the United States was suddenly cut-off to Japan.

Pearl Harbor 6) On the morning of December 7th, 1941, two waves of over 350 Japanese planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The entire Pacific fleet of battleships was either sunk or severely damaged, 164 planes were destroyed, and over 3,000 U.S service personnel were killed or wounded.

Pearl Harbor 7) On December 8th, President Roosevelt addressed Congress for a declaration of war against the Japanese. He famously declared, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of American was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

Pearl Harbor 8) The Japanese attack was coordinated with an overall invasion of several Pacific islands (including Guam and the Philippines) and the nations of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, etc

Pearl Harbor 9) Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto felt that the attack was too limited and supposedly stated that, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.”

“Hitler First” 5) The U.S. employed a “Hitler First” strategy by diverting just enough forces to the Pacific to contain the Japanese while the majority of U.S. forces were directed to Europe to defeat Nazi Germany. Once Germany fell, the Allies could then concentrate their full force against the Japanese.

“Hitler First” 6) The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin desperately wanted Roosevelt and Churchill to open a second front in Europe to divert German forces away from the Eastern Front. However, Churchill convinced Roosevelt to invade Northern Africa to prevent German control of Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal.

North Africa 1) The German troops of the “Afrika Korps” under Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (“The Desert Fox”) had driven deep into Northern Africa and threatened to take Egypt and the vital Suez Canal from British control.

North Africa 2) The British Army in Egypt was also the only major factor protecting the Middle East and its vast oil resources from a German invasion.

North Africa 3) By August of 1942 the British were desperate for a victory and Winston Churchill moved to replace the British commander in North Africa with General Bernard Montgomery (“Monty”).

North Africa 6) Montgomery prepared effective defenses around El Alamein and simply waited for Rommel to attack. Montgomery was so confident in his defense that when he was awakened by news of Rommel’s attack, he simply said, “excellent, excellent” and went back to sleep.

North Africa 7) Rommel’s forces were easily repelled, but it took Montgomery several months to mount a counter-offensive in El Alamein. The arrival of over 300 Sherman tanks and troop reinforcements enabled Montgomery to take the offensive against the Desert Fox during the late fall of 1942.

Stalingrad 1) After the German war machine failed to take Moscow in December 1941, Hitler shifted his forces south during the spring of 1942 to take the city of Stalingrad on the west bank of the Volga River.

Stalingrad Stalingrad ● 2) Hitler believed the fall of Stalingrad would inevitably lead to the defeat of the Red Army (Soviet Union). If the Germans overran Stalingrad, they would cut Soviet supply lines on the Volga River and would gain control to the precious Soviet oil fields in the Caucus Mountain region along the Caspian Sea.

Stalingrad 3) The Germans advanced on Stalingrad in September 1942 and laid siege to the Soviet forces within the city. Bloody urban warfare ensued as the German and Soviet forces fought from street to street as the city was reduced to rubble.

Stalingrad Ex. – Snipers were particularly destructive within the walls of the city. Soviet Sniper Vasily Zaitsev was widely recognized as a Russian war hero for killing over 149 Germans during siege of Stalingrad.

Stalingrad 6) After three months of bloody fighting for streets and factories, the Germans controlled over 90% of the city and Soviet defeat seemed inevitable by November 1942.

Stalingrad 7) However, Hitler was preoccupied with concentrating his forces within the city and little attention was given to reinforcing the weak German flanks. A massive Soviet counter-attack in late November actually surrounded over 250,000 troops of the German 6th Army.

Stalingrad 10) The remnants of the German 6th Army finally surrendered on February 2nd 1943. Over 91,000 prisoners of war were sent to brutal Soviet labor camps where only 6,000 would survive. Stalingrad was arguably the bloodiest single battle in history, with over two million casualties from both sides.

Stalingrad 11) The German defeat at Stalingrad signaled the “turning-point” on the Eastern Front. An uninterrupted Soviet counter-offensive continuously regained previously lost territory until Germany surrendered in May 1945.