1. Major Events of World War II
WHII.12a

2. Many economic and political causes led to World War II
Many economic and political causes led to World War II. Major theaters of war included Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Leadership was essential to the Allied victory.

3. 1939
HAHAHAHA!!! We are in control now!!!
Germany Invades Poland

4. World War II Begins
Sept. 1, 1939

5. Invasion of Poland
September 1, 1939 Hitler and the Nazis invaded Poland, going against the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Agreement between Hitler and Stalin saying they would not go to war with one another, but would just divide Poland and other lands between USSR and Germany
Two days later, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany—beginning WWII

6. Miracle of Dunkirk
1940

7. Miracle of Dunkirk
May 1940
Nazis invaded France through the Ardennes Forest (had been considered invasion proof)
Left thousands of Allied troops stranded between the Nazis and the English Channel
British sent all available vessels, merchant ships, fishing and pleasure boats across the channel to get troops off the beach of Dunkirk
300, 000 troops were rescued
Raised British morale

8. HAHAHAHA!!! We are in control now!!!
1940
HAHAHAHA!!! We are in control now!!!
Fall of France

9. Fall of France After Dunkirk Germany headed south towards Paris
Italy attacked France from the South
By June 1940 Germany had overtaken France and forced a surrender
Germans occupied Northern France and established a puppet state in the South with a capital at Vichy
Britain now stood alone in Western Europe
France was under control of Germany until 1944

11. German Air Force vs. Royal Air Force (RAF)
1940
Battle of Britain
A.K.A. Operation Sea Lion
German Air Force vs. Royal Air Force (RAF)

12. Battle of Britain “ The Blitz”
German Luftwaffe (air force) attacked Britain and battled against the RAF (Royal Air Force)
Bombed Britain with nightly air raids
Operation Sea Lion began in the southern part of Britain in August 1940
Attacks soon moved north toward London in September 1940
Bombings continued for 57 nights in a row then sporadically until the following May
Operation Sea Lion was a failure in the end
Battle united the British more firmly against Germany

13. El Alamein
1940
“Desert Fox” under the command of German General Rommel begins
Axis plan to take parts of Northern Africa and Southern Europe

14. 1941 German Invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa
Germany stayed in this area of the U.S.S.R. for two years and never went further. Ultimately the harsh winters turned them away.
1941
German Invasion of the Soviet Union
German Occupation Line
Operation Barbarossa

15. Operation Barbarossa
Germany attacked the Soviet Union with 3 million troops
Stalin was unprepared
Soviets lost two and a half million soldiers
As the Soviets were pushed back by the Germans they destroyed factories and farm equipment and burned crops to keep Germany from taking supplies
Invaded as far as Leningrad
Germans set up a siege for over two years
The harsh winters stalled the German advance

17. Lend-Lease Act
March 1941
FDR’s way of getting around the neutrality laws of the US
Allowed the President to sell war materials to “any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.”

19. Atlantic Charter August 1941
Churchill and FDR met secretly to discuss the plan for destroying the Nazis and the rebuilding the post-war world
Set goals for the war and post war world
“The final destruction of Nazi tyranny”

20. Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
1941
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

21. Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in order to force the US into war after the US had stopped all trade with them in hopes of ending their aggression in China.

22. El Alamein
November 1942
British forces stopped advance of General Rommel
The “Desert Fox” advance was finally halted
Rommel’s army surrendered in May 1943 after American and British soldiers joined forces in Africa

23. Island-Hopping
Campaign in the Pacific in which the Allies planned to recapture certain islands as stepping stones towards Japan

24. Italy Invaded by British/American army in July 1943
Italians were defeated
First in Sicily then in Southern Italy
After being defeated Italians overthrew Mussolini
Invasion weakened Hitler because it forced him to fight on another front

25. Stalingrad turning point on Eastern front
Soviet Union defends the city of Stalingrad and pushed Hitler's army back into Eastern Europe and out of the Soviet Union

26. Battle of the Bulge Hitler’s last success
Slowed the allied advance into Eastern Europe but didn’t stop it
Allies continued to push into Berlin

27. 1944
D-Day: Allied
Invasion of Europe
June 6, 1944

28. D-Day June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of France
Allies eventually reached Paris and forced Germans to retreat
By the end of September all of France was FREE

29. V-E Day
Germany surrenders
May 7, 1945
celebrated on May 8

30. Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945
Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6, 1945
August 7, 1945

31. Hiroshima & Nagasaki Allies faced a BIG decision-
invade vs. bomb
Japan had shown in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa that they would fight to the death instead of surrender
The Manhattan Project
Japan was issued a warning to either surrender or face utter destruction
The warning was ignored so the United States took action
US drops atomic bombs on Japan in an effort to end the war quickly

32. V-J Day
August 10, 1945
Japan surrenders onboard the USS Missouri