The events of world war two 1939 to 1945

Aims of the lesson By the end of this lesson you will Identify the main events of the Second World War and to put them into the correct chronological order Describe what happened and the results of each event Evaluate the turning points of the war both in the west and east

Setting the scene In September 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany In the spring of 1940 the Germans invaded Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and France By the early summer of 1940 France had been defeated and the British troops in France faced being decimated by the advancing German troops.

Dunkirk British troops were trapped in France with little chance of rescue A fleet of small ships was sent to take them home – against all odds they managed to rescue soldiers. Although it was a defeat it was seen as a poke in the eye for the Germans

The Battle of Britain 1940 In the summer of 1940 Britain stood alone and faced invasion by the German forces across the channel. Hitler needed to have control of the air in order to attempt it – he decided to wipe out the RAF on their airfields

The Battle of Britain 1940 At first the German raids were effective but by September – thanks to RADAR – the British were able to hold out At the end of September Hitler switched his tactics to bombing British cities – this gave the RAF time to recover from its losses

The results of the Battle of Britain Hitler was not able to invade Britain and put his plans on hold Winston Churchill established himself as a good war Prime Minister “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”

The war at sea Hitler decided to blockade Britain in order to starve her to surrender They used U-boats to sink ships coming from America Britain used convoys in order to overcome the u-boat menace Backfired on Germany – bought the USA in to the war in 1940

D-day – 6 th June 1944 In order to win the war the British and Americans needed to land troops in France On D-day they landed troops on the beaches on Normandy The operation was a success despite heavy casualties on one of the landing beaches The beginning of the end