16.1 Hitler’s Lightning War

Germany Sparks a New War in Europe 1939 – Br and Fr agree to not let Hitler take Poland (they predicted it was his next move) Britain + France form the Allies Hitler more concerned w/ Soviet Union Signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact on August 23, 1937 Secretly decided to conquer and divide up Poland Stalin would also get Baltic countries

Germany’s Lightning Attack Sept. 1, 1939: Hitler unleashed a blitzkrieg, unexpected “lightening war” on Poland Merciless bombing of Warsaw (capital) Used tanks + planes followed by motorized infantry New technology = devastating impact Hitler annexes Western Poland (German-speaking) Sept 3, 1939: Fr + Br declare war on Germany but don’t mobilize quick enough

The Soviets Make Their Move Sept. 17 – Soviet Union strikes Poland from the east  situation beyond hopeless + they easily take over Br and Fr don’t intervene Stalin then quickly takes Lithuania, Latvia + Estonia Finland resisted + put up a greater fight that Stalin expected Several months of fighting, Soviets suffered significant losses

WWII Has Begun By the end of Sept, Poland completely defeated By March 1940 S.U. has control of Baltic countries Europe at war…again! 9/1/1939 : Official start to WWII

The Phony War “Phony War”  period of calm b/w Fall Spring 1940…But THEN Spring 1940: Germany conquered Denmark + Norway May 10, 1940: Sent blitzkrieg forces into Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands Hitler unstoppable France knows Hitler is coming for them next ∴ they construct the Maginot Line Br + Fr set up forces there

The Phony War Ends Hitler finds a weakness in the Maginot Line by marching thru the Ardennes Forest Attacks Fr and Br forces from all angles + fight thru Maginot Line German forces continue to march thru France French badly outnumbered + outgunned h?v=U8gMBZCM--Q h?v=U8gMBZCM--Q

The Miracle at Dunkirk May 1940: Allies surrounded at Lille, France ∴ they retreat towards Dunkirk British launch HUGE rescue mission 850 ships across English Channel to Dunkirk 338,000 Br and Fr escape as France falls to Hitler

France Falls French leaders surrendered on June 22, 1940 Northern (Occupied) France under German control Southern (Vichy) France under control of a Germany puppet state leader, Marshal Petain. Charles de Gaulle: set up a government-in-exile in London & committed to retaking France

The Battle of Britain Winston Churchill (new Prime Minister of Britain) knows Br is next target, he is ready to combat Hitler Prepared the nation for battle Hitler’s Operation Sea Lion: German Luftwaffe must destroy the British Royal Air Force and ∴ gain control of air space above the English Channel, then attack w/ 250,000 ground troops

The Battle of Britain July 1940: Battle of Britain begins Germans targeted British airfields + aircraft factories September 1940: Hitler turned towards London to break British moral but that does not work Britain had 2 key technological advantages: Radar: To detect incoming planes, even at night Enigma: German code-making machine that was smuggled into Britain in the 1930s ∴ they could decode secret Nazi messages

The Battle of Britain – Allies Win! Hitler stunned by British resistance + on May 10, 1940 he decides to leave Britain alone indefinitely. Germans: 1,900 planes lost British: 1,000 planes lost, civilians + buildings targeted Allies learn a crucial lesson: Hitler CAN be stopped.

The Mediterranean & The Eastern Front B/c of Britain’s strong resistance Hitler decides to change his strategy… Moves his focus east  Mediterranean, Balkans, Soviet Union

Axis Forces Attack North Africa Hitler turned his attention on North Africa to help Mussolini Mussolini had attacked the British-controlled Suez Canal in Sept 1940 during the Battle of Britain The canal would help Axis Powers reach the oil in Middle East The Italian forces pushed into Egypt  forced the British to push back then both sides dug in + waited…

Britain Strikes Back December 1940: British attacked the Italian forces = disaster for Italians By February 1941the Br had swept 500 miles of North Africa + taken 130,000 Italian prisoners To help Mussolini, Hitler sent a German Tank Force called the Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox” aka Erwin Rommel Nickname Rommel received after he pushed the British back thru North Africa to where they began by June 1941!

The War in the Balkans Hitler wanted to build bases in countries in the Balkans for the attack on the Soviet Union Early 1941: Bulgaria, Romania, + Hungary joined the Axis Powers If they didn’t join, Hitler threatened to use force to make them anyways Yugoslavia + Greece resisted ∴ Hitler invaded Yugoslavia fell in 11 days, Greece in 17 days

Hitler Invades the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa: Invasion of Soviet Union, Hitler’s Biggest Mistake June 22, 1941: Nazis invaded the S.U. Soviets not prepared for the invasion + get pushed 500 miles back They practiced scorched-earth policy – burned everything – as they retreated (like the Russians did against Napoleon), Sept 8, 1941: Nazis attack Leningrad + cut it off from the rest of the S.U. Hitler was prepared to starve its 2.5 million residents into a surrender During winter million ppl in Leningrad died of starvation but they refused to give up

Hitler Turns Towards Moscow December Nazis reach the outskirts of Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union Battle of Stalingrad(1942): Block by block battles VERY brutal fighting 91,000 Axis POWs  6,000 released. Hitler’s soldiers: Sick, starving, frostbitten  He ignored the failures of Napoleon 130 years before… He refused to let the German army stop until January 31, 1943 Nazis retreated in 1943  losing 500,000 soldiers totally

The United States Aids Its Allies Cash and Carry Provision (1939) = belligerent nations could buy American goods/arms if they paid cash + brought the supplies to their own ships Essentially helped Allies b/c GB controlled the seas March 1941: Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act Allowed FDR to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such gov’t any defense article” when “necessary in the defense of the U.S.” $40 billion approved in lend-lease funds for Allies

The United States Aids Its Allies The Atlantic Charter: Secret meeting b/w FDR + Churchill where they declared: Free trade among nations & that ppl have the right to choose their own government (self-determination). U.S. also getting targeted by German u-boats in late 1941