War in Europe

Germany’s Lightning Attack  New military strategy Blitzkrieg - “lightning war”  fast moving planes and tanks  Massive infantry forces  Poland falls quickly Germany annexes western half

Soviets move in  Sept 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  French and British mobilize along Maginot line

Maginot Line

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

Fall of France  May 1940 Germans sweep through  Netherlands (Holland)  Belgium  Luxembourg

 Germany attacks France through Ardennes forest Avoided Maginot line Pushed allied troops to port city of Dunkirk Germans stopped  Why?

Rescue at Dunkirk  Great Britain sends fleet of ships to evacuate allied forces Every ship available Air support May 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 force 2.Land 250,000 soldiers

B. Of Br. Cont. SSummer 1940 Luftwaffe – begins bombing British airfields and aircraft factories Sept 7 – begin bombing London BBreak morale British never waver

 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

Mediterranean  Focus 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

Balkans  Hitler 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 union  Operation Barbarossa  June 22, 1941 Hitler invades USSR Soviets not prepared Scorched earth  Sept 8 – reach Leningrad

Leningrad  By Nov. City cut off from rest of soviet union Hitler to starve entire city City refuses to fall  1,000,000 died

Moscow  Hitler impatient Turns to moscow Counterattacked by Soviets Hitler orders “No retreat”  Lines dug in 125 miles west of moscow 1 ½ years

Back to Africa  British and Montgomery  Americans and Eisenhower  Operation 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 Europe  Operation overlord Invasion of France Eisenhower commander Set-up dummy army to look like invasion at Calais  Hitler 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

Surrender  Soviets surround Berlin  Allies moving in from west  April 30 – Hitler commits suicide  May 7, 1945 Eisenhower accepts unconditional surrender V-E Day May 9, 1945