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Germany’s Lightning AttackNew military strategy
Blitzkrieg - “lightning war” fast moving planes and tanks Massive infantry forces
Poland falls quickly Germany annexes western half
Soviets move inSept 17
Stalin enters Eastern half of Poland Annexes Estonia, Lithuania, latvia Finland resists
Winter battles March 1940 sheer force of numbers
Finland surrenders
Phony War cont.April 9, 1940
“sitting war” ends Hitler attacks Denmark and
Norway Denmark falls in 4 hours Norway surrenders in 2 months
Build bases to attack Britain
Germany attacks France through Ardennes forestAvoided Maginot linePushed allied troops to port
city of DunkirkGermans stopped
Why?
Rescue at DunkirkGreat Britain sends fleet of
ships to evacuate allied forcesEvery ship availableAir supportMay 26 – june 4
Saved 338,000 soldiers
France Falls June 14 – Germans take Paris June 22, 1940 – French leaders surrender
Germans take control of Northern France Vichy government – puppet Charles de Gaulle
Sets up Free French army & gov’t in London
Battle of Britain Winston Churchill
“We shall never surrender” Hitler’s plan
1.Knock out Royal air force2.Land 250,000 soldiers
B. Of Br. Cont. Summer 1940
Luftwaffe – begins bombing British airfields and aircraft factories
Sept 7 – begin bombing London Break morale
British never waver
B. Of Br. Cont. RAf fights back
Radar Enigma – code breaking machine Germans turned to night bombings
Continued to May 10, 1941 Hitler decides to concentrate on
Mediterranean and Middle east Nazis could be blocked
MediterraneanFocus on Northern Africa
Mussolini vs. British in Egypt Feb 1941, Br. Swept across N.
Africa Taken 130,000 Italian prisoners
Afrikan Corps Erwin Rommel “Desert fox” Defeats British
BalkansHitler plans to invade soviet
union Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary join
Axis powers (’41) Yugoslavia, Greece resist April 1941 – Hitler invades both
Both fall within 3 weeks
Soviet unionOperation BarbarossaJune 22, 1941 Hitler invades
USSRSoviets not preparedScorched earth
Sept 8 – reach Leningrad
LeningradBy Nov. City cut off from rest
of soviet unionHitler to starve entire cityCity refuses to fall
1,000,000 died
MoscowHitler impatient
Turns to moscowCounterattacked by SovietsHitler orders “No retreat”
Lines dug in 125 miles west of moscow 1 ½ years
Back to AfricaBritish and MontgomeryAmericans and EisenhowerOperation Torch
Catch rommel’s Afrikan Corps in between
Defeated may 1943
Battle of Stalingrad Aug 23, 1942 Luftwaffe night bombings
Stalin refused to surrender Germans controlled 90% of city
Winter sets in Soviets outside city counterattack Feb 2, 1943
Germans surrendered
Italy Allied forces invade Sicily July 25 King Victor Emmanuel III orders
Mussolini arrested Sept 3 Italy surrenders April 27, 1945
Mussolini captured while trying to escape Shot and hung body in town square
Victory in EuropeOperation overlord
Invasion of FranceEisenhower commanderSet-up dummy army to look
like invasion at CalaisHitler convinced
D-Day June 6, 1944 Landed at Normandy Stormed fortified beaches
2700 Americans dies one day Held beaches
1,000,000 additional troops landed Led by Gen. George Patton allies reach
paris in month
Battle of the Bulge Finally German offensive Surprise attack at center of Allied lines –
Dec 16, 1944 Engulfed by allied army
Forced to surrender