1. The Course of World War II 1939-1945
“Never was so much owed
by so many to so few”
Winston Churchill

2. Invasion of Poland
September 1, 1939, the German Luftwaffe roared over Poland raining bombs on airfields, military bases, railroads and cities
German tanks raced across Polish countryside
September 3, Britain & France declared war on Germany

3. Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War")
New form of warfare used by Germany to quickly defeat an enemy by poking a hole in enemy line and cutting off front lines from the rear thus surrounding enemy.
Used coordinated attack on one part of enemy line with airforce, tanks, and artillery
Poland defeated in about a month; partition occurred when USSR attacked from east
Stalin invaded Finland (1939) and annexed Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania (1940) to create a buffer zone, believing Hitler will one day invade Soviet Union

4. Sitzkrieg (“Phony War”)
After Poland, a 7-month lull ensued, causing some to say WWII was a myth. The world waited to see where Hitler might strike next.
French troops build up around the Maginot Line opposite the German Siegfried Line (a defensive strategy)
Spring 1940: Hitler invaded Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg
Allies were disjointed and lacked centralized control

6. Vidkun Quisling
Nazi collaborator whose name has become synonymous with treachery

7. Invasion of France June 1940
Germans were superior in armor tactics and motorized division organization and were far superior in air power (this was the key to their invasion)
Dunkirk: thousands of French and British soldiers trapped on beaches of France
Before Germans came in for the kill, thousands were rescued by armada of British vessels

8. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches … Winston Churchill

9. Fall of France
On 25 June 1940, France capitulated and signed an armistice surrendering three- fifths of France
Vichy France: Hitler did not wish to waste time subduing all of France
Puppet government created in southern France
“Free French” led by General Charles De Gaulle, who fled to Britain

11. The conquest of France left Germany in control of the continental Western Europe and at the doorstep of England
Germans were faced with attacking east (Russia) or northwest (England)

12. Battle of Britain June-September 1940
After fall of France, Britain stood alone.
Germany must control air in order to successfully invade England.
Luftwaffe (led by Herman Goring, one of Hitler's inner circle) sent to destroy Royal Air Force (RAF)
Despite 3,000 to 1,200 advantage in aircraft, Luftwaffe was unable to defeat the RAF
Hitler sought to soften Britain up for an invasion ("Operation Sealion")
Germany was not prepared for seaborne operations
Had no amphibious doctrine and the local sea power belonged to Britain
RAF recovered and ultimately defeated Luftwaffe: Hitler forced to call off invasion of Britain

13. Battle of Britain Hitler shifted to bombing campaign (“The Blitz”).
The Germans lacked heavy bombers and were hampered by the limited range of their fighters
British won the Battle
- Britain's will to win
- British radar (secret weapon)
- Britain's well organized ground control
Churchill – “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.”
German abandoned the attacks on Britain in order to prepare for invasion of Russia

16. Tripartite Pact 1940
Japan added to Rome-Berlin Axis for mutual defense and military support

17. Japan on the Offensive
July 1940—with German and Italian consent, Japan invaded French colony of Indochina (e.g. Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).
This was the equivalent of Germany’s invasion of Poland; democracies were forced to see Japan as it was and give up on appeasement.
Key Point—U.S. Imposed Oil Embargo—Japan now pretty much had to go to war against U.S. or it would lose the ability to win one.

18. Battle of The Atlantic
Germans renewed faith in U-Boat warfare to try to starve the Brits out. Though things were tense in , after 1941 growth of US participation
By 1942 U-boats defeated because of close air cover escorts and advances in technology

19. Greece Operation
October 1940, Italian invasion of Greece from Albania
Ineffective campaign - humiliation for Mussolini
Germany was forced to come to the aid of its ally – Battle of Greece
Strong resistance of the Greek soldiers
British come to Greek’s defense
Finally … German victory

20. Nazi Domination in Balkans
Hitler lined up Romania, Hungary & Bulgaria as “new clients” against Russia
April 1941 launched invasion of Yugoslavia
Took advantage of ethnic rivalries
Dominated by Serbs
Blitzkrieg
Crushed Serb resistance
Set up “puppet” Republic

21. German invasion of Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler's attempt at "lebensraum"
Hitler believed the Russian Army could be destroyed in 3 months
June 22, Hitler attacked (wanted to win before U.S. involvement)
Initial German aims were to capture Russian oil fields and industrial areas in order to
Support Germany’s war in the west
Break Russian economic power so she could not attack at some later date

23. Operation Barbarossa
By November he had taken over more of Russia than Napoleon and the Russians had lost more than half of their army and 95% of their tanks to the German Blitzkrieg
But, German offensive was halted
Supply lines were so long that they slowed the advance
The massive size of Russia exhausted German troops

24. Operation Barbarossa
"Scorched Earth": Soviets destroyed anything of value as they withdrew to deprive German army of resources; 1,000's of towns disappeared!
withdrew and forced the Germans to overextend their lines of communications and supply.
Forced Hitler’s exposed army to spend the winter in -40 degree weather
Vast area which had been taken was hard to control because of Partisan activity
By winter, Germans at the gates of Moscow; lay siege to Leningrad (lasted two years); they didn't have adequate equipment to fight a winter battle
In Soviet Union, WWII became known as “Great Patriotic War of the Fatherland”

26. Atlantic Charter July 1941
Churchill and FDR meet secretly after invasion of Soviet Union
Decide once Axis Powers defeated, there would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes inhabitants (self-determination)
Called for “a permanent system of general security”: later became the United Nations
Stalin endorsed the agreement soon thereafter

27. U.S. Neutrality
Neutrality Acts in 1930s prevented FDR from drawing U.S. into the conflict earlier
Lend-Lease Act (1941) gave large amounts of money and supplies to help Britain and Soviets; effectively ended U.S. neutrality
Over $48 trillion in aid

28. Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
Surprise attack
December 7, 1941

29. Pearl Harbor 0755 Hrs Japanese Attack with 423 planes US Losses
Damage all 8 American Battleships, sinking 5
3 Cruisers and 3 destroyers sunk
Destroy 188 Airplanes
Japanese Losses
Only 29 Planes

30. US Entry into War
December 8: US and Great Britain declare war on Japan
Hitler declared war on US
Instead of focusing on Japan, US concentrated on defeating Germany first.

31. Japanese Offensive
Japan invaded Burma, Hong Kong, Philippines, Guam, Wake, Borneo
Swept over American bases like the Philippines to create a Pacific Empire of more than 20 million square miles from Alaska to the frontier of India
American leaders feared an invasion of the West Coast of the U.S. Result: Japanese-American internment camps

33. Island Hopping Campaign
Logistics played a crucial role in the Pacific.
Island Hopping to seize advanced (primarily air) Japanese bases
Japanese had qualitative edge in military hardware at the beginning of war.
Choose quality over quantity
Unable to replace assets quickly.
US was master of mass production.
Average quality, tremendous quantity.
Implement ideas from captured equipment.
US subs operated independently and sank Japanese ships faster than Japan can produce them

34. Isoroku Yamamoto
Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Japanese Fleet

35. Battle of Midway June 1942
Large Japanese fleet, pushing eastward to try to capture the Midway Islands, northwest of Hawaii, met by American fleet.
First naval battle fought entirely with airplanes (carrier-based planes)
Japanese defeated
US Navy turned tide in the Pacific

36. Battle of Stalingrad August 1942-February 1943
Spring 1942—Hitler reoriented New Spring Campaign—This time the main focus was not Moscow but oil rich region of the Caucasus in south along border with Turkey
Hitler focused on oil instead of Moscow which was the enemy’s mental “Center of Gravity”

38. Battle of Stalingrad
August 21,1942--German troops reached the outskirts of Stalingrad
November (e.g. Winter)—By November 23, Germans in city were surrounded Russians began long counter attack
January 22, 1943: General Paulus radioed Hitler from Stalingrad saying, “Rations exhausted. Over 12,000 wounded unattended in the pocket.” Hitler responded: “Surrender is out of the question.” On the battle front, a massive artillery barrage, followed by heavy infantry assaults

39. Battle of Stalingrad February 22, 1943—General Paulus surrendered.
Russians lost more than a million civilians and soldiers But WON against Nazi War Machine
Germans lost 300,000 men KIA and another 93,000 Captured, 1,000 Tanks, 12 Generals
More important, loss of the aura of German invincibility
First Nazi defeat on land; Soviets began the 2.5 year campaign of pushing the German army back to Berlin

42. North Africa (Operation Torch)
After initial success against the British, Rommel overextended and was defeated by Montgomery at el-Alamein. (Egypt)
Montgomery chased Rommel across Africa until the Germans were caught between British and Torch forces.
Operation Torch, November 1942
Allies land in North Africa at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers.
Objective was more political than military: occupy North Africa to protect access to the Mediterranean.
Germany eventually defeated and suffered mass casualties and surrenders.

43. Operation Husky (Sicily Campaign)
During North Africa campaign Allied commanders met at Casablanca Conference (1943)
FDR and Churchill declared a policy of unconditional surrender for “all enemies”
Italy would be invaded first before opening 2nd Front in France
Plan involved invading the southeastern tip of Sicily
The victory in Sicily helped secure the Allied lines of communications
It diverted some of the German forces from the Russian front
It applied increased pressure on Italy
Led to collapse of Mussolini’s Fascist government and Italian surrender September 3rd 1943
During this time Germans were defeated earlier in the year at Stalingrad
Germans were on the defensive; strategic bombing of Germany and Allied success in the Battle of the Atlantic

45. Aerial Attacks on Germany
Cities and towns bombed by RAF and US
Military and civilian targets
Hamburg
Cologne bombed 119 times
Dresden – city of civilians and refugees with no significant industry
Collapse of civilian morale in Germany

48. Allied Invasion – D-Day
Most massive and complex military endeavor in history.
Its objective was to destroy Germany and end the war
Numerous beaches were studied
Two main beaches were Normandy or Pas de Calais
Conducted with five amphibious and two airborne divisions
Operation Overlord, June 6, 1944: invasion of Normandy (northern French coast)

52. Results of D-Day
Western front established; spelled end of Nazi domination of Europe; Paris liberated 1 month later
Hitler now fighting on three fronts: east against Russians, west against U.S. and Britain (& France) and Italy against U.S. and Britain

53. Battle of the Bulge
Dec. 1944: Hitler's last gasp offensive to drive Allies away from western German border
After it failed, Allies quickly penetrated deep into Germany in 1945.

54. Battle of the Bulge

56. February-March, 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima

57. War in the Pacific 1945 March Tokyo raids April-June Okinawa
Low level incendiary bombing runs with much destruction. Designed to force surrender but didn’t.
April-June Okinawa
Combined Army/USMC battle determined Japanese defenders
Kamikaze pilots: 1900 planes launched against US
Statistics
US: 7000 killed; wounded
Japan: 130,000 killed; 10,000 POW; Lost 700+ aircraft
Showed ferocity of Japanese resistance would only increase as Americans moved into home islands.

58. Crew of carrier USS Bunker Hill battle fires resulting from kamikaze attack during Okinawa campaign, 1945.

60. V-E Day May 8, 1945: Germany surrendered
Hitler committed suicide a few days earlier April 30, 1945

61. Bombing of Japan Japan warned, but refused to surrender.
Planners estimated invasion would result in 3-5x as many casualties as at Okinawa.
Hiroshima
6 August 1945
HQ, Japanese 2nd Army
60-70,000 killed or missing
Nagasaki
9 August 1945
40,000 killed

64. Japanese surrender August 14, 1945

66. Effects of WWII Country Military Dead Civilian Dead U.S 292,100 2,000
Great Britain
271,300
60,600
Germany
2,850,000
2,300,000
France
210,700
173,300
USSR
14,500,000
7,000,000
Poland
850,000
5,778,000
Italy
279,800
93,000
China
1,324,000
10,000,000
Japan
1,506,000
300,000
Spain
12,000
10,000

67. Results of the War
Millions homeless and millions relocated (especially Germans living outside Germany)
Much of Europe lay in ruins: would take years to rebuild economy
Women played even larger role in the war economy than in WWI (gained more rights after war)
The U.S. and Soviet Union emerged as the two dominant powers in the postwar world = Cold War