The Great Patriotic War,

PRINCIPAL BELLIGERENTS: Axis powers:  Germany  Italy  Japan Allies:  British Empire  United States  Soviet Union  France  China

Soviet Foreign Policy, Comintern, : USA recognized USSR W. Bullitt, US ambassador Collective Security, –Maxim M. Litvinov ( ) Narkom Foreign Affairs, Jew, anti-Nazi, pro-West Sept. 1934: USSR joined League of Nations May 1935: France and USSR sign pact USSR pledged to help Czechoslovakia, if France first. –March 1936: Germany re- militarized Rhineland –1936: Germany, Italy, Japan form anti-Comintern pact

Spanish Civil War, Germany and Italy supported Francisco Franco, Nationalists’ leader West proclaimed non-intervention, but many leftists volunteered. USSR supported Popular Front government (lost). Seen as dress rehearsal for eastern war

Appeasement and Aggression March 1938: Anschluss (“joining”) Austrians warmly greeted Hitler : Appeasement: Neville Chamberlain Sept. 1938: Munich Agreement Britain, France, Italy, Germany signed. Czechoslovakia and USSR not invited. Stalin realized West powerless or worse.

Outbreak of war, 1939 March 1939: Germany occupied Czechoslovakia May 1939: Stalin replaced Litvinov with V. Molotov August 23, 1939: German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (10 years) –Secret protocol divided EE Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland Sept. 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany

Sept. 17, 1939: Soviet Union attacked Poland Soviet Union imposed control over Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia Nov March 1940: Soviet-Finnish War or the Winter War

Katyn massacre, April-May ,700 Polish POWs killed, 4400 at Katyn. Germans discovered graves NKVD Lavrenti Beria’s idea Stalin signed Only in 1990 admitted.

Soviet Union’s expansion, 1939

Blitzkrieg: "Lightening War" Panzer Divisions Armored vehicles motorcycles Planes Concentrated attack

Blitzkrieg (cont.) Germans quickly took France (occupied Paris on June 14, 1940) June 22, 1940, at Rethondes (the scene of the signing of the Armistice of 1918) Franco-German Armistice was signed Vichy France created: General Henri- Philippe Petain became head of state

German occupied Europe

German-Soviet War, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) Lebensraum (Living space) Slavs - “subhumans” Poor Soviet Army performance in “Winter war” with Finland Possibility of Soviet attack Hitler: “We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down!”

June 22, 1941: Germany broke Non-Aggression Pact and attacked USSR: Operation Barbarossa

Numbers on the eastern front Axis powersUSSR 3.9 millionTroops3.2 million (later 5 million) Troops 3600Tanks12-15,000Tanks 4839Aircrafts11,357 (later ,000) Aircrafts Casualties 250,000Killed802,191Killed 500,000Wounded3,000,000Wounded 3,300,000Captured 2093Aircraft destroyed21,200Aircraft destroyed 2758Tanks lost20,500Tanks lost

The Holocaust, “The Final Solution” Until 1941, Hitler and Nazis did not agree on what to do with Jews Emigration Madagascar TURNING POINT: June 1941, Operation Barbarossa Einsatzgruppen: “Mobile Killing Groups” or “Single-task groups” Jews Communists Gypsies Poles

Einsatzgruppen,

Final Solution (cont.) The ghettos were already sealed (1940) Poison gas vans tested the use of gas Auschwitz-Birkenau Systematic annihilation of Jews and Gypsies 1942–1944: one million killed Anonymous slaughter People were tortured, beaten, and executed publicly

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Overall human costs million Jews –800,000 in Ghettos –1,400,000 in open-air shootings –2,900,000 in camps million Poles 200, ,000 Roma & Sinti 200, ,000 people with disabilities 10,000-25,000 gay men 2,000 Jehovah's Witnesses

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US enters the war December 7, 1941: Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 2.5 hours later, Japanese officially declared war on the United States and Britain Dec. 8: US Congress declared that a state of war had existed since December 7 Dec. 9: China declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy Dec. 11: Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, and the US Congress voted declarations in return

The Grand Alliance BIG THREE: –Great Britain: Winston Churchill –USA: F.D. Roosevelt –USSR: Josef Stalin Keys to victory: Agreed to: –Europe first (Hitler - greatest evil) –Postpone politics (capitalism vs. communism) –Unconditional surrender (no 1918!)

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But war in the east was decisive Battle of Stalingrad: summer February 2, 1943 Hitler wanted to take the city. Why?  Named after Stalin  Important port on Volga river  But distraction from oil reserves

Battle of Stalingrad: summer February 2, 1943 Axis powers advanced (General F. Paulus) Soviets held on Axis supplies started running out Winter came Panzer tanks useless in street fighting Soviets counterattacked (pincer movement) Surrounded Axis forces

Stalingrad: Street-to-street fighting

Stalingrad Feb. 2, 1943: Paulus surrendered (ignored Hitler) Total Axis losses (Germans, Romanians, Italians, and Hungarians): 800,000 dead Soviet soldiers: 1,100,000 dead But turned the tide of the war

June 6, 1944: D-Day: Battle of Normandy Long period of preparation and planning Largest amphibious landing in history Five beaches:  Utah  Gold  Juno  Sword  “Bloody” Omaha  Significance: opened up a large second front

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Yalta Conference, Feb Big Three Key issue: Poland –London Poles (pre-WWII govt.) –Lublin Poles (communists) Sovietization Big Three agreed on “interim governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements in the population... and the earliest possible establishment through free elections of governments responsive to the will of the people.”

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ENDGAME April 25, 1945: Soviet Army first to reach Berlin April 30: Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide May 8, 1945: Victory in Europe!! War in Europe ended

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Potsdam Conference, summer 1945 USA: Harry S Truman USSR: J. Stalin Great Britain: W. Churchill, then Clement Atlee Solved nothing Showed sides in emerging Cold War Truman told Stalin about the bomb

End of War with Japan August 6, 1945: Hiroshima Killed 70,000-90,000 people, injuring another 70,000 August 9: Nagasaki Killed 60,000-75,000 and injured about the same number

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August 14, 1945: Japan surrendered Total deaths: Civilians’ deaths: 40 to 52 million, including 13 to 20 million from war- related disease and famine. Soldiers’ deaths: 22 to 25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war.