1. World War II

2. Map of German Conquest up to 1938

3. Germany sparks a new war
Sept. 1, Germany invaded Poland beginning World War
France and Great Britain declared war on Germany Sept. 3

4. Blitzkrieg (lightning warfare)- new German strategy
Used fast moving airplanes and tanks
Followed by massive infantry
Caught enemy by surprise

5. Russia and Germany
Stalin occupied the Eastern half of Poland and annexed Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
Hitler and Stalin had already signed a 10 year Nonaggression Pact

6. British and French mobilized and occupied the Maginot Line
a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along its border with Germany

7. Battle of Dunkirk
Germany had pushed the Allies back through France to the northern coast
May Germany had trapped French and British soldiers
GB sent navy and all available ships (850) to rescue 338,000 soldiers

8. France Fell in June 1940 to Germany (with Italy’s help)
Vichy France- puppet government set up
French General Charles de Gaulle fled to London and encouraged a liberation movement

9. Battle of Britain Winston Churchill- prime minister of Great Britain
Summer of 1940, Luftwaffe began bombing Britain and lasted until May 1941
Royal Air Force (RAF) used radar and enigma machine to defeat the Germans
Important battle because it showed Hitler could be stopped
Battle of Britain

10. Eastern Front British were beating Italy in North Africa
Germany sent Erwin Rommel “the desert fox” and the Africa Korps to assist Italy

11. The Balkans
Germany needed to take the Balkans so that they could have bases from which to invade the Soviet Union
Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary all joined Axis Powers to avoid being crushed
Greece and Yugoslavia resisted

13. Operation Barbarossa German invasion of Russia, June 1941
Surprise attack caught Russian Army off guard
Army poorly trained and equipped
Russians used scorched earth policy again
Germans surrounded Leningrad, attempted to take Moscow, but winter hit

14. Allied victory in Europe

15. British defeated German forces under Rommel at the Battle of El Alamein
Operation Torch- led by Dwight D. Eisenhower- squashed the German Afrika Korps

16. In Russia, the German Army moved into the bomb-ruined city of Stalingrad for the winter
Soviets surrounded the city and starved the Germans into surrendering on Feb 1943

17. Tehran Conference

18. Tehran Conference
Churchill (England) and Roosevelt (US) met to decide to help Stalin (USSR) open a new front in Europe (Operation Overlord) which would coincide with a Russian invasion from the East
First time all three had met each other

19. In 1943, the Allies began building an invasion force in England
June 6, D-Day- Operation Overlord involved thousands of planes, ships, tanks, landing craft, and 3.5 million troops landing on the coast of France at Normandy.

28. By September, the Allied forces liberated France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and much of the Netherlands
The Allied forces moved in on Germany from the West, while the Soviets moved in from the East

29. Dec 16, Battle of the Bulge- German forces broke through weak American defenses and pushed the Allied line in Ardennes, France, but the Allies pushed back.

30. Yalta Conference February 1945 Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin
purpose was to discuss Europe's post-war reorganization

31. Allies captured Rome in 1944, Mussolini was caught trying to retreat with the Germans in April 1945.
He was shot and his body hung in the Milan town square

32. April 30, Hitler, after marrying long-time companion Eva Braun, and writing a final speech blaming the entire war on the Jews, committed suicide.

33. May 8, VE Day (Victory in Europe) General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Germans