The War Begins for Europe Europe falls, North Africa, Russian Front, and

the Pacific

All Hell Breaks Loose

• 1 September 1939

• Traditional start to the war

• Hitler invades Poland saying he

only wants Danzig

• Does this through Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg

• Combined air and ground

assault

• Planes bomb target while

tanks and infantry advance

• Highly mobile way of

fighting

WAR!!

• 3 September 1939 - Allies declare war on Germany

• Poland falls in a few weeks

• USSR invades on 17 Sept

• SITZKRIEG – “phony war”, no fighting

• Everyone mobilizes but no fighting

The Lights Go Out in

Poland

• Poland divided

btw Germany

and USSR

• USSR takes

advantage, goes

after Finland

USSR in Scandinavia

• Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, and

Estonia) surrender to USSR 1939

• Finland resists until 1940

• Called the “Winter War”

• Finns use Ski Troops

• Finns surrender to USSR March 1940

• Reason for attack : Protect St. Petersburg

The Sitzkrieg ends

• UK mines Norwegian

harbors to stop Germans

• Germany says Allied

invasion coming, forces

Norwegians and Danes to

accept “protection”

• Norway refuses

• Hitler attacks and wins

outlet to Atlantic

New UK Resolve

• Norway and Denmark lost,

Chamberlain attacked

politically

• King George VI asks Winston

Churchill to be Prime Minister

The Domino Effect

• Germany attacks BeNeLux

• Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg

• Paratroops used for first time

• Maginot Line – protects the French

• Gap at Ardennes Forest

Oh France…

• F & B support Belgium

• So, Germans attack France

through Ardennes

• Miracle at Dunkirk

• 338,000 soldiers

evacuated across English

Channel by private

vessels

14 June

1940…France

is lost • Germany ran the

North

• S. France is puppet

state under General

Marshall Henri Petain

• Called “Vichy

France”

Charles de Gaulle & the Free French

• De Gaulle, French tank commander, warned of weakness of Maginot Line

• Fled to UK & organized French Resistance

• Formed new government

Operation Sea Lion

• Hitler planned occupation

of Britain

• Bombardment of RAF

fields and factories

• Britain wearing down

Morale Raid A mistake by Hitler?

• British bomb Germany

• Hitler changes his plan,

orders Luftwaffe to bomb

London

• The Battle of Britain

• Attacks on the cities/civilians

of Britain (“The Blitz”)

Hitler’s Change in Tactics

• Failed Battle of

Britain, Hitler moves

to Mediterranean

• Prepping for Soviet

Invasion

Mussolini Invades UK’s

Egypt

• Italy invades Egypt for Suez Canal

• UK pushes Italians back

• Hitler sends Erwin Rommel and Afrika Korp (tanks) to help

• Begins see-saw battle for N.

Africa

Prepping for the USSR

• Bulgaria, Romania and

Hungary join Nazis

• Yugoslavia & Greece

resist

• Both fall in 2 weeks

Going after the Bear

• Hitler distrusts Communists

• Operation Barbarossa

• Surprise attack

• Point was to avoid winter

and take Moscow

• Hitler keeps delaying

• Attack in the summer

instead of spring

The Soviet Defense

• Stalin appeals to the West

• Russians use SCORCHED

EARTH POLICY -

destroying anything that is

useful to the enemy while

retreating

• Trade land for time

Leningrad – September 1941

• Battle of Lenigrad

• Germans lays siege to

starve people to surrender

• Hold out 3 years

• People are starving

• Hitler gets impatient

• Switches sight to Moscow

The Advance Freezes (literally)

• Early November 1941

• Germans 21 miles from

Moscow

• Winter hits

• Equipment freezes

• German soldiers

wearing summer

uniforms

Russians Finally

Fight Back

• Soviets counter-attack at Moscow under

General Georgi Zhukov

• Encircle the Germans

• Forces the Germans to retreat from

Moscow

1942 – New Plan for Germany

• Germany switches AGAIN

• Looking for oil from

Caucuses

• Stalingrad is gateway city to

Caucuses

• Goal: Loss of lives and Oil

would defeat USSR

• Stalin uses everything

• Stalin and Hitler demand city held

• German General Paulus begs

Hitler to call retreat – refuses

• 2 Feb 1943 – Germans surrender

• City destroyed, but Hitler denied

Soviet oil

• All German soldiers sent to Siberia

• Turning point of the war against

Hitler

The Soviets Hold Stalingrad