1. World War II: Blitzkrieg and Initial Days of Fighting

2. Steps to War-Poland
Hitler demanded Poland’s port city of Danzig but the Poles wouldn’t give in.
Hitler was ready to fight, but concerned about USSR, so…

3. Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (1939)
Agreement between Germany & USSR; agreed not to attack one another for 10 years.
In a secret provision the two nations divided Poland in half:
One week later Germany invaded Poland
Britain and France had vowed that if Poland was attacked they would go to war.
WORLD WAR TWO BEGINS

4. WWII Themes Technology-from the Blitz to A-bomb & in between
Diplomacy-Allies cooperate
“Total War”-civilian casualties

5. Poland Faces A Blitzkrieg (September 1, 1939)
Blitzkrieg- “Lightening Warfare”
New Technologies = Success
Air attacks combined with rapid troop movement
Poland fell within one month
German air force targeted railroads

6. French and German Plans for the Battle of France 1940
French anticipated the Germans attacking through the north as they did in World War I so they developed the Dye Plan to counter such an attack
Built the Maginot Line in the south to protect the border (recalling the trench warfare of WWI)

7. Maginot Line
A line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along her borders with Germany and Italy
The fortifications did not extend through the Ardennes Forest which was considered “impassable”

8. Surprise in the Ardennes
On May 12, Germany attacked through the weakly held Ardennes region
Penetrated Allied defenses and then began to envelop them

9. Penetration
With Hoth’s and Guderian’s successes, the Germans had a 40 mile breakthrough from Dinant to Sedan
Pushed through seven armored divisions toward the English Channel

10. Sedan
Dinant
Ardennes

11. The Panzers Race To The Channel Battle of France: May 14-24, 1940

13. Dunkirk was the last evacuation port available to the Allies.

14. Dunkirk

15. Moving in for the Kill
German forces pressed the Allied armies trapped in the north, from south and east, into the English Channel.
Meanwhile, German infantry divisions reinforced the southern flank of the German penetration.
But….
Dunkirk Harbor ablaze from German bombing

16. Halt Order Hitler halted the German armor
German armor had suffered heavy losses and would be needed to conquer the rest of France
Luftwaffe called upon to finish the job
Luftwaffe unable to destroy the British and French
Bases in western Germany were further away from Dunkirk than British planes were from their bases on the British Isles
340,000 Allied troops were evacuated

17. Italy Joins the Axis
On June 10, 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France and four months later invaded Greece
Mussolini will end up being a troublesome ally for Hitler

18. French Surrender and Vichy France
On June 16, the French asked for an armistice
In July, France was divided into two sections
One was ruled directly by the Germans
The other was led by the Vichy government that collaborated with German plans including the plunder of French resources and the forceful deportations of tens of thousands of French Jews to concentration camps across Europe

19. Auftragstaktik German interwar doctrine emphasized:
decentralized, mission-oriented orders (Auftragstaktik)
speed and exploitation of enemy weaknesses maximized by troop commanders taking the initiative (understand commander’s intent)
close integration and cooperation between combat branches (mobile warfare required armor, infantry, and artillery)
leadership from the front

20. Battle of Britain The Germans developed two plans to take Britain
Operation Sea Lion, an amphibious landing on the British coast
A great air offensive to gain air superiority and destroy the British industrial base
“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” (Winston Churchill)

21. Hitler’s Attack on Britain
Hitler made an offer of peace
When Britain refused, Hitler planned to subdue Britain. He cannot allow an anti-Nazi Britain…(why not?)

22. The Advantage of Being An Island with Superior Naval Power
Churchill talks about the incredible advantage of superior sea power- very hard to invade.
Enemy might be able to sneak across, but even then, how can it defend its supply lines?
Necessities of perfect weather for a good invasion… high tide, half moon, clear weather… the problem is that the enemy can calculate these dates as well… can be prepared…
For this reason, he argues that Britain has always been safe… even more so in WWI when steam power took away the ability of the aggressor to wait for favorable winds to help them but drive the defender away.
However, there was a new intangible in WWII
… air power.

23. Basic German Invasion Plan… Operation Sea Lion
Construct a Naval corridor
cordon off the shortest straight line between France and Britain
line it with minefields and subs, and ferry the German army across…
Churchill claims that Britain could have torn this minefield up, destroyed the subs, and crushed this invasion
he also says that this was the most heavily fortified section of the British coast…

24. The Odds
Churchill estimated that at the beginning of the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe forces outnumbered the RAF 3-1, but there was considerable home field advantage for the British
Partly this is because of fuel… Luftwaffe only had about 10 minutes of fighting time over England before having to head back to refuel.
Also, Enigma (bigger story here) and radar
Churchill describes the need to defend a long coastline in Britain meant to set up forces on the perimeter that would stall the enemy and then the largest possible reserve for quick counterattack… (what he accused the French of not doing in the Battle of France… )

25. RAF Planes
Hurricane… first RAF plane with a top speed of over 300 mph…
8 machine guns in the wings… (gets rid of synchronizing gear)
1,715 Hurricanes flew with Fighter Command during the period of the Battle
It is estimated that its pilots were credited with four-fifths of all enemy aircraft destroyed in the period July-October 1940.

26. Hurricane…

27. Hurricane…

28. Spitfire
“The Spitfire has always attracted more attention than the Hurricane, and is undoubtedly one of the most famous aircraft ever built. Its graceful lines combined with outstanding handling qualities to produce a "dream plane" extremely fast, and in comparison to contemporary types was second to none.”
8 machine guns in wings

30. Luftwaffe Messerchmitt 109
2 machine guns in the nose and two in the wings
The various strengths and shortcomings of the Messerschmitt, the Hurricane, and the Spitfire largely cancelled out in combat.

31. Stuka Dive Bomber
Won great success in battles of Poland and France, but in the Battle of Britain proved to be almost helpless without fighter cover

33. Churchill’s Gamble
Air battles between the Luftwaffe and the RAF occurred through the late summer and fall (1940)
Operation Sea Lion would have to be launched by late September or it would have to wait through the winter…would the RAF hold out
RAF started to crack because of damage to its fighter command….
I’ve read one historian who claims England came within one week of permanently losing the air war
Churchill, in desperation, bated the Germans by bombing Berlin
Hitler had promised never to bomb London if German cities were not bombed
Goering (head of Luftwaffe) had promised that German cities would never be bombed

34. The London Blitz The bombing of Berlin caused a change in tactics
The Germans altered their focus from an attack on British air power to an attack on England’s civilian population
tried to bomb the Brits into submission through terror bombing of London ..
London was bombed after this for 57 consecutive nights…
Problem of underground shelters during incendiary bombings?
Solution? – To the roof!

35. Thus, the Battle of Britain had two phases
The attack on the RAF
And
The attack on London, known as the London Blitz

36. The Bombing of London were a ‘Relief’ to Churchill
“London can take it.”
RAF is being reconstituted
By October, Hitler gave up on the bombing of Britain
Too late to launch Sea Lion
Instead, Hitler decided to deal with England via the War in the Atlantic (Wolf Packs)
Starve the British out

38. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

39. Japans Entry Into the War
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbour in Hawaii
183 planes bomb . Causes widespread damage.
Japan continues Pacific Advances. Very few forces in southeast Asia able to resist. Mao Zedong is fighting against Japan in China.

41. The Eastern Front
Hitler had strategic and ideological reasons for invading Russia
Strategically he knew that the Soviet Union and the US were critical to Britain’s willingness to keep fighting
He also felt he needed the agricultural and raw material resources of Eastern Russia
Ideologically he viewed the Soviet Union as an amalgamation of his greatest enemies, the Jews and the Slavs

42. Operation Barbarossa
Hitler based his plan on the assumption he could destroy the Soviet Union within one year
Critical to his success would be to catch and destroy the Soviet Army at the border areas
If that did not occur, the Russians could use their vast territory to trade space for time and cause the Germans huge logistical problems

43. Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded Russia in Operation Barbarossa
The operation encompassed a total troop strength of about 4 million men, making it the biggest single land operation ever
Benefiting from initial surprise, by the end of July Hitler had occupied a portion of Russia twice the size of France

44. Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
With the Germans’ successes in the north and south, Hitler assumed that Stalin’s regime was on the verge of collapse
He authorized an advance on Moscow before the onset of winter
Already however the Germans were suffering from serious supply shortages
By September the supply system was only meeting current tactical consumption needs
No supply stores for the winter season were being built

45. Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
The Germans caught the Russians unprepared and made great advances
The Soviet Army seemed on the verge of collapse
At this point the weather broke and autumn rains turned the roads to mud
The German advance stalled, allowing the Russians to hurry reinforcements from the interior

46. Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
Despite dropping temperatures and critical supply shortages, the German high command pressed on with the attack
The German soldiers were still in summer uniforms and suffered terribly
German soldier during the battle of Moscow

47. Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
Stalin responded to the crisis by rushing his best commander, Georgi Zhukov, to defend Moscow
Zhukov waged a delaying defense in front of Moscow; the first time the Soviets took advantage of their ability to trade space for time
In the meantime he pulled reinforcements from as far away as Siberia to defend Moscow
Zhukov’s plan was to allow the Germans to exhaust themselves and then go on the offensive

48. Operation Barbarossa: Battle of Moscow
By Dec 4 the Germans had clawed their way to Moscow’s outskirts, but they could not continue
That night temperatures were -25 degrees Fahrenheit
One infantry regiment suffered 300 frostbite casualties
On Dec 6 the Soviets counterattacked

49. Strategic Situation
On Dec 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor
In spite of his troubles in Russia, Hitler decided to support Japan and also declare war on the US
Now the US would join with Britain to adopt a “Europe First” strategy that would destroy Hitler

50. Operation Barbarossa : Battle of Moscow
As the Russians pushed forward, Hitler refused to allow a retreat and relieved or court-martialed generals who did so
Hitler named himself commander-in-chief of the army
Each military service began to operate increasingly independently and Germany suffered from a lack of an overall strategy

51. Operation Barbarossa : Battle of Moscow
On the Eastern Front the Germans’ stiff resistance and control of crucial roads and supply centers slowly took the punch out of the Russian counterattack
The German Army survived but it suffered losses from which it never recovered
Both sides licked their wounds and prepared for renewed operations in the spring

52. Stalingrad
As spring 1942 approached, German commanders recommended remaining on the defensive but Hitler believed the Germans must destroy Soviet military potential before the American industrial power could come into play
Hitler developed a plan to capture Soviet oil
At first Hitler considered Stalingrad of little importance other than the fact that its capture might block the movement of petroleum up the Volga River

54. Stalingrad On June 28 the Germans launched their summer offensive
The Germans made good headway with one advance moving east toward Stalingrad and the Volga River and another moving south into the Caucasus
In August Hitler’s erratic attention swung from the Caucasus to Stalingrad

55. Stalingrad
On Aug 24 the Germans attacked Stalingrad’s suburbs and began fighting their way into the city
Hitler began shifting forces from the Caucasus to Stalingrad
The nature of the urban fighting favored the defenders and the Soviets mounted a stubborn defense
Stalingrad began to drain the German army but Hitler would not back off

56. Stalingrad

57. Stalingrad

58. Stalingrad

59. Stalingrad
On Nov 19 the Soviets launched a massive counterattack north of Stalingrad
Hitler’s overly centralized and completely out-of-touch command system broke down in the face of the Soviet onslaught
The Soviets encircled Stalingrad and Hitler ordered his commanders to stand fast anyway
By this point in the war, no one was willing to confront Hitler

60. Stalingrad
All attempts to breakout or break through failed and on Feb 2 the Germans surrendered
Out of 250,000 soldiers trapped in the Stalingrad pocket, approximately 90,000 became prisoners
Barely 5,000 survived the war
German POWs

61. Greatest Extent of Axis Control

62. The Eastern Front
Ultimately enormous logistical shortcomings made Barbarossa a failure
Germany proved capable of fighting battles very well, but was less capable of fighting a war of prolonged duration
In the total four years of fighting on the Eastern Front, an estimated 4 million Axis and 9 million Russians were killed in battle
20 million Soviet civilians were killed as a result of extermination campaigns against Jews, communists and partisans, casual massacres, reprisal killings, diseases, and (sometimes planned) starvation.

63. D- Day Invasion of continental Europe from England
Involved the United States, Britain, Canada, and allies
Canada got its own beach, Juno Beach

70. World War Two Conferences

71. Yalta, February 1945 Re-ordering of the map of Europe
To put an end to German militarism and Nazism
To punish war criminals and to exact reparations
To divide Germany into occupation zones
Confirmed Soviet possession of Eastern Poland compensating Poland with German territory
To assist countries under Allied occupation in forming democratically elected interim governments.
Announced a “conference of United Nations” to be held in San Francisco in April 1945

72. Atomic Bomb United States had won decisive battles in the Pacific.
Did not want to enter in conventional war with Japan, would have resulted in too many deaths
Decided to use their recently developed atomic bomb. Bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered effectively ending world war two.
Immediate death of people