World War Two – 1st Part

Invading Poland Poland was next after Czechoslovakia Newly created after WW1 Many Germans lived in the Polish Corridor Threatened to invade – why? Lebensraum Britain and France supported Poland Would declare war on Germany if Hitler invaded Poland

Non-aggression Pact (1) Soviet Union – the only country Hitler feared could stop him Hitler’s ultimate lebensraum aim – conquer Russia Joseph Stalin – Leader of The Soviet Union Stalin despised Hitler and Fascism

Non-Aggression Pact (2) But Stalin didn’t trust Britain and France either – why? Because they were also anti-communist (like Hitler) Hitler and Stalin signed a pact promising not to attack each other for 10 yrs Secret part of the pact – agreed to divide Poland between them

Non-Aggression Pact (3) Stalin avoided war Stalin got east Poland and some other eastern European countries Hitler invaded Poland – got West Poland Hitler was free to concentrate on fighting France and Britain Hitler didn’t have to worry about fighting Russia on the east

Sep 1939 – Hitler’s troops invade Poland Poland invaded Sep 1939 – Hitler’s troops invade Poland Britain and France demand a withdrawal Hitler ignored them 3rd Sep – Britain and France declare war on Germany WW2 has begun This lasts 6 yrs – from 1939-1945

‘Lightning War’ – German military tactic Blitzkrieg ‘Lightning War’ – German military tactic First drop many bombs from the air... ...Followed by a land invasion of troops and tanks Poland defeated in weeks Poland divided in two between Germany and Soviet Union

Phoney War: Nothing happens for several months – why? Both sides building up the strength of the army getting ready for war According to the Germans, ‘Sitzkrieg’ (the Sitting war) Ends in April 1940 Germany launches a blitzkrieg attack on Denmark and Norway They quickly surrender

Blitzkrieg in action Hitler invades Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg in 1940 Within days, they have surrendered Hitler looks unstoppable France is next

Maginot Line The French built a line of forts along their border with Germany Why? To protect them from German invasion Gap in the line in a huge forest Germans poured in through here Germans also entered across from Belgium

Maginot line

British troops had been stationed in France to help them Dunkirk British troops had been stationed in France to help them Now they retreated towards the English channel Trapped at the port of Dunkirk Surrounded by the German army About to be captured

Operation Dynamo: An emergency rescue attempt – Operation Dynamo Any available British ships crossed the channel and rescued the troops Even yachts and fishing boats manned by normal helped Loads of English soldiers rescued Why is it so important? 1. Allowed Britain to keep fighting the war 2. Gave the British a huge morale boost –great propaganda

German troops enter Paris France surrenders The Germans split France in two They take over the Northern Part – it is ruled by Germany The rest of France was ruled by a French Government who promised to obey Hitler Govt based in a town called Vichy This half of France is known as ‘Vichy France’

Vichy France: Why did the Germans want to control the Northern Half of France? 1. To be able to keep an eye on Britain 2. To plan an attack on Britain from there Look how close Northern France is to Britain Now Britain was the only ally left in Europe against Germany Ireland was neutral

Vichy France

Italy joins: Mussolini had remained neutral at the start of the war Remem, Italy was fascist Had signed Pact of Steel with Hitler in 1936 June 1940 – after the Fall of France When it looked inevitable Hitler would win, Italy joins

Winston Churchill: New British Prime Minister He had always criticised appeasement Famous for giving great speeches Inspired Brit. to keep fighting even though defeat seemed inevitable

Operation Sealion: The Germans planned to invade Britain Last country fighting against Germany But wouldn’t surrender to them Hitler called it Operation Sealion The Luftwaffe needed to control the skies over Britain RAF = The Royal Air Force (British)

Battle of Britain A huge battle between the airforces Britain had radar – crucial Why? It gave early warning of German attacks – where they were headed German planes start bombing English airbases British Hurricane and Spitfires fight back Dogfights

German Bombings 1st German mistake – started to bomb London Why? Hitler thought people would be terrified and demand peace (surrender to Germany) The Blitz – the bombing of British cities Lasted from Sep 1940 – May 1941

The Blitz But the decision to bomb London allowed the RAF and their bases to recover They fought back The RAF won Hitler called off Sealion

Operation Barbarossa (1) June 1941 – Hitler invades Russia He wanted lebensraum (living space) for Germany 3 major cities in Russia – Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev The invasion split into 3 groups Each group to advance and capture one city Over 3 million German troops enter Russia

Plan for Barbarossa:

Operation Barbarossa (2): The Russian (Red) army begin to retreat Germans capture millions of soldiers But Russia is huge – the invasion would take so long The unbearable Russian winter would defeat them

Battle for Stalingrad (1): Stalingrad – v important to Hitler Germany desperately need oil to fight the war Many oil-fields behind Stalingrad Aug 1942 Germans attack Stalingrad Germany led by General Paulus Marshal Zhukov defended the city

Battle of Stalingrad (2): Germany invaded the city Started to fight the Red Army But Zhukov secretly got 1 million troops to surround Stalingrad The German force was trapped in Stalingrad Cut off from the rest of the army Not allowed to surrender Luftwaffe tried to drop food in

Battle of Stalingrad (3) Germans dying from starvation cold Forced to eat their horses Eventually surrendered Hitler’s first major defeat Turning pt in WW2 Red Army started to drive the Germans back out of Russia

America Isolationism =After WW1 America decided to keep out of European affairs America remained neutral in 1939 But the president, F D Roosevelt, hated the Nazis So did most Americans So they helped Britain by sending weapons and food

Isolationism

Pearl Harbour (1) Japan became an ally of Hitler in 1936 Japan had conquered some of China and wanted to invade other countries Wanted to set up a Japanese empire (like Hitler’s 3rd Reich) America was attacked in Dec 1941 at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii Japan hoped to quickly destroy the American navy ...and that this would allow them to invade

Pearl Harbour (2) It was a surprise attack Japanese planes sank warships and killed over 3000 American reaction – similar to 9-11 Declared war on Japan

America enters European War Germany declared war on America Why? Because of the 1936 Pact Big mistake He could never defeat America, as well as Br and Russia America had a distinct advantage over all the other countries – what? Sheer size and numbers of population

The Allies Advance, 1943 The Americans had joined the war on the Allied Side They now help the British in Africa From Africa the Allies invade Italy The Allies capture Italy Mussolini is captured and executed

The Allies Advance-1944 Battle of Kursk – largest tank battle Germans defeated Russian army now started forcing German soldiers back from Russia Kept forcing them back into Germany Russian army invades Germany in 1944

Operation Overlord The Allies plan an invasion of Europe Their aim is to destroy Germany Codenamed Operation Overlord The commander of this allied force is General Eisenhower They plan to land in France Start by freeing (liberating) France from the Nazis

Operation Overlord (2) The invading troops would be a mixture of US, Canadian and British soldiers From here they would move towards Germany Surround the Germans in their own country This was going to be the ‘second front’ What was the 1st front against Hitler?