1. World War II The War in Europe Mr. Herneisen

2. Background – World War I  Germany & Ottoman Empire (Turkey) vs. USA, Great Britain, France  Germany loses  Germany forced to pay back money and loses lots of land.  Germany goes into their own “great depression”.

3. How did the Great Depression in the USA affect Europe?

4. Background  Adolf Hitler’s Rise to Power Soldier in WWI  Upset when Germany surrenders  Blames the “Jews and the Communists” Joins the “Nazi” political party  Promises to help Germany recover from the Great Depression Hitler elected as “Chancellor” in 1932

5. Causes of WWII

7. Battle of Britain (1940)  After the fall of France, Hitler turns toward Great Britain Can’t invade until Germany establishes air and sea superiority Begins bombing Great Britain night & day  a.k.a. The British stay strong & never give up Hitler gets frustrated, turns towards Russia

8. Hitler Targeting Russia  After 1941, Hitler’s goal was to avoid a crushing defeat, rather than achieve victory. He wants to increase the attacks on Russia to try and get Russia to abandon the Allies and ask for a truce The Allies must strike back before Russia is beaten!

9. Operation Barbarossa (1941)  When Hitler can’t defeat Britain, he takes on Russia (Big mistake #1) Wants to rid Russia of Jews and Communists to give Germans “living space” Hitler breaks the Non-Aggression Pact with Russia, declares war on Russia After Japan attacks U.S.A at Pearl Harbor, Germany declares war on U.S.A. as well (Big Mistake #2)

10. Taking Back Europe!  Hitler now must fight a war on two sides Western Front (France)  Fighting against the USA, Britain, & France  Hitler is very worried about an Allied invasion Eastern Front (Russia)  Fighting against the Russians  By 1943, Russia had killed or captured 1 million German soldiers

11. Where will the Allies invade?

12. Where will the invasion occur?  Hitler knows the Allies will invade in France Why? (Geography!)  Allies have built up supplies and soldiers in Britain for 3 years  Easiest place to invade is the Pas-de-Calais (map) Hitler expects that, B  Builds up his defense all along the Northern coast of France, but he still doesn’t know exactly where the invasion will occur U.S. uses General George Patton and a bunch of fake tanks at Dover to make Hitler believe the invasion will occur at Calais

13. Operation Overlord (D-Day)  The Invasion of France When?  June 6, 1944 (after weather delays) Where?  Normandy (map) Why there?  The element of surprise! What does “D-Day” stand for, anyway?

14. D-Day  One day and One Night 5,300 ships and 11,000 airplanes moved…  175,000 men  50,000 vehicles  …70 miles across the English Channel Largest fleet EVER assembled, in history!

16. Short battles…Heavy casualties  5 Beaches Utah (U.S.A.) Omaha (U.S.A.)– Longest Battle/Toughest beach to take 6,600 combined U.S. casualties that day Gold (Britain) Juno (Britain) Sword (Britain)

18. Liberating France  After D-Day, General Patton and his tank battalion swept across northern France.  Paris was liberated two months after D-day, by the French “Resistance” and a French division of the U.S. 1 st Army  The British and Canadian forces moved across Belgium and the Netherlands

19. Battle of the Bulge  Huge “last ditch effort” offensive attack by the Germans in Belgium  600,000 American troops involved 80,000 Americans killed  Germany loses about 100,000 soldiers  After losing this battle, most German commanders realize the war is lost

21. War in Europe Ends  Russian troops suffer huge losses, but keep pushing into Germany On the Eastern Front:  11 million Russian soldiers killed (7 million civilians)  3 million German soldiers killed  Russians consider taking Berlin to be a matter of pride. After Berlin falls, Hitler commits suicide in his underground bunker rather than be captured