World War II

The Leaders Germany – Hitler Italy – Mussolini Japan – Hirohito USA – Roosevelt and Truman Britain – Churchill and Chamberlain

Invasion of Poland 1 September 1939 – German troops cross Poland’s border Blitzkrieg tactics using dive-bombing Stukas followed by tanks and motorised infantry Poland fell within 18 days and Hitler divided in two with the USSR after a secret deal between them

USSR Invades Finland Unknown to the rest of the world Stalin invades Lativia, Estonia and Lithuania and goes to war with Finland Skiing Finish soldiers do well against the Russians but ultimately had to admit defeat

Phony War France and Britain mobilise their armed forces Britain evacuates children to the countryside and issues gas masks to its citizens fearing a massive gas attack Industry in Britain is geared towards war production Air-raid shelters are built and drills carried out France reinforces the Maginot Line and Britain sends the BEF to France

Invasion of Denmark and Norway In a daring operation using is Navy Hitler attacks Denmark and Norway. There are fierce naval battles in the North Sea with the Royal Navy The aircraft carrier Glorious is sunk After the fall of Norway Chamberlain is replaced as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill

Invasion of France Hitler by passes the Maginot Line by invading France through Belgium and Holland (May 1940) The BEF is forced to evacuate a Dunkirk The French Surrender and are allowed to govern half of France as German puppets. This is called Vichy France De Gaulle forms the Free French Govt in exile in London

Battle of Britain In order to send his army across the English channel, Hitler needed to defeat the RAF who would bomb his army on the way across In August 1940 the Luftwaffe attack British airbases and radar stations. Over the next month they inflict high losses on the RAF The RAF are kept “in the game” by their superior Spitfire fighters and their radar and control systems

Battle of Britain After the RAF bomb Berlin in September, Hitler decides on a new strategy to send aircraft to bomb London. This gives the RAF a break and they regroup. With large formations concentrated over London the RAF can concentrate their fighters. With equal numbers involved the superior British fighters defeat the Luftwaffe. The Battle of Britain is over but Hitler continues to bomb British cities by night

Mussolini Enters the War Emboldened by Hitler’s success, Mussolini joins the war on Hitler’s side in 1940 Italy invades Greece from Albania but encounters stiff resistance His forces make no headway in Greece and he is repulsed by the British in Africa

Germany in the Balkans Mussolini’s failures force Hitler to invade the Balkans to support him In 1941 Hitler’s blitzkrieg sweeps through Yugoslavia and Greece Hitler’s paratroopers defeat the NZ Division in Crete to take the Island

War in North Africa As well as Greece, Mussolini invades British Somiland and Egypt from his Libyan and Ethiopian bases. The British quickly defeat him and push him back In 1942 Hitler send the Afrika Korps under Rommel to support the Italians. Rommel pushes the British back to el Alamein

Battle of the Atlantic Britain is supplied by the sea. After the Battle of Britain, Hitler tries to ‘starve’ Britain by attacking its shipping with U-Boats Britain resorts to convoys defended by escorts to bring in food and war materials. These come under constant attack in the “Black Gap” where aircraft cannot patrol Hitler also using ‘surface raiders’ such as the battleship Bismarck. Not until 1943 when the British are using escort carriers to patrol the black gap do they gain ascendency over the U-Boats. They could also read the German codes.

Hitler Invades Russia In June 1941 Hitler launches a surprise invasion of Russia. His Blitzkrieg makes good progress and Hitler makes it to Moscow . Huge numbers of Russians are killed or captured Winter sets in before Hitler can attack Moscow and his army freezes in the snow

Hitler Invades Russia In the spring of 1942 Hitler ignores Moscow and pushes South East into the caucuses Again Hitler makes massive gains before being stopped at Stalingrad In vicious street fighting Stalingrad holds out against the Germans throughout the winter The Russians counter attack and a million Germans are trapped inside the city and forced to surrender

The Air War Over Germany To strike back at Germany Britain used its air force to bomb German cities by night When USA entered the war it used its air force to attack German factories by day Both air forces suffered massive losses flying unescorted bombers over Germany. These losses only stopped when long range fighters were made available

Pearl Harbour 7 December 1941, Japan enters the war on Germany’s side by launching a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour The US fleet is destroyed except its carriers and USA is dragged into the war At the same time, Japan attacks the Philippines, many Pacific Islands and Malaya

Coral Sea and Midway The Japanese use their carriers to support their advance across the Pacific The Americans meet the Japanese at a carrier battle at Coral Sea and then finally destroy four Japanese Carriers at the battle of Midway giving them naval superiority in the Pacific

Fall of Singapore The Japanese advance South down the Malayan Peninsular. The British prepare to defend Malaya from the sea but the Japanese attack from the land and Singapore Falls The Japanese continue their advance into Burma where they fight the British army for the next 4 years

Guadalcanal The Japanese push into the Solomon Islands, the closest they get to NZ Using NZ as a base, US Marines land on Guadalcanal and stop the Japanese advance

Island Hopping In 1943 the US advance across the Pacific in two forces using an Island Hopping campaign In 1944 the Philippines are regained and in 1945 the battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa take place In desperation the Japanese use kamikaze tactics

Victory in North Africa The NZers and British under Montgomery stop the German advance at Al Alamein and start to push the Germans back The Americans in Algeria and defeat the Vichy French The Afrika Korps cannot fight on two fronts and withdraws to Sicily in 1943

Invasion of Italy In 1943 the Mediterranean is the main theatre for the US and British Sicily is invaded first before landings on the Italian mainland. Mussolini is overthrown The Italians surrender when the allies invade the mainland. The Germans take over Italy and put up a stiff resistance in the mountainous regions of Italy

D-Day With the Russians suffering on the Eastern Front, Churchill and Roosevelt are under pressure to invade France On 6 June 1944 the invasion takes place at Normandy and the allies gain a foothold in France After fierce fighting in the bocage the allies break out of Normandy and liberate Paris

France and the Ardennes In August 1944, the USA invades France from the Mediterranean and the Germans are forced back along a broad front The allied advance slows in the winter and the Germans launch a counter-attack through the Ardennes in Belgium using tanks. After a fierce battle, this is defeated and the allies march into Germany in 1945

Allies Enter Germany After Stalingrad, the Russians begin to role the Germans back The Germans counter-attack in a great tank battle at Kursk but lose Ultimately the Russians enter Germany and the Eastern European States In May 1945, the Russians attack Berlin where Hitler makes his last stand before committing suicide

Allies Enter Germany In 1945 The Allies on the Western Front cross the Rhine and march into Western Germany

Bombs on Japan In late 1944, the allies capture based in China and the Pacific from which they can bomb Japan Their carpet bombing has devastating effect on wooden Japanese cities As the allies prepare to invade Japan, the A Bomb is invented and used on two cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima Japan surrenders and the war is over