1. Introduction to World War II and Hitler’s Initial Success Lesson 15

2. Resources http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/dhistory maps/WWIIPages/WWIIEurope/WWIIETo C.htm http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/dhistory maps/WWIIPages/WWIIPacific/WWIIAToC.htm

3. What we’ll cover Introduction North Africa and Italy Normandy Pacific and Beginnings of the Cold War

4. Allied Political Leaders Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin

5. Axis Political Leaders Hirohito Mussolini and Hitler

6. German Generals Guderian Rundstedt Rommel Kesselring

7. Allied Leaders Marshall Eisenhower

8. Allied Leaders (Europe) Montgomery Bradley

9. Allied Leaders (Europe) Patch Hodges Patton

10. Allied Leaders (Italy) Darby Clark Lucas

11. Allied Leaders (Airborne) Ridgway Taylor Gavin

12. Allied Leaders (Pacific) MacArthur King

13. Greatest Extent of Axis Control

14. Surrender of Germany

15. Greatest Extent of Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere

16. Surrender of Japan

17. Aftermath Divided Europe Marshall Plan Cold War

18. Divided Europe

19. Marshall Plan Hamburg's Moenckebergstrasse in the business district at the end of the war (left) and in 1950 (right).

20. Cold War Adlai Stevenson showing aerial photographs at the UN during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” speech in 1987

21. Cold War and American Society

22. World War II: Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”) and the Eastern Front

23. Rise of Hitler Treaty of Versailles was very punitive to Germany Unemployment and other issues created conditions conducive for Hitler to rise to power Dec 21, 1931

24. Rebirth of Germany Hitler reinstituted conscription (after France doubled the length of its conscripts’ service) and in March 1936 was strong enough to reoccupy the Rhineland In June 1934, Hitler purged many of his paramilitary and the SS rose up to replace them

25. Germany’s Increasingly Militaristic Approach In Nov 1937, Italy joined Germany in an alliance against the Soviet Union In Mar 1938, Hitler forced Anschluss (union) with Austria On Sept 29-30, the British and French foreign ministers attempted to appease Hitler by acquiescing to his demand for the Sudentenland under the understanding Hitler would make no more territorial demands –In March 1939 Hitler seized the western part of Czechoslovakia Neville Chamberlain

27. Continued Aggression Britain and France now knew appeasement wouldn’t stop Hitler and they pledged to defend Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Poland against German aggression On Aug 22, 1939, Russia and Germany signed a non- aggression pact –In the event of a German- Polish war, Russia could annex eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania On Sept 1, Hitler invaded Poland

28. Russia and Finland On Nov 30, Russia attacked Finland and on Mar 12, 1940, the Finns finally surrender –Russia’s army did not perform particularly well which made Hitler think the Russians would not be much of a challenge if Germany invaded Finnish infantry passing a destroyed Russian tank

29. French and German Plans for the Battle of France 1940 France anticipated the Germans attacking through the north as they did in World War I so they developed the Dye Plan to counter such an attack Built the Maginot Line in the south to protect the border

30. Maginot Line A line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along her borders with Germany and Italy The fortifications did not extend through the Ardennes Forest which was considered “impassable”

31. Surprise in the Ardennes On May 12, 1940 Germany attacked through the weakly held Ardennes region Penetrated Allied defenses and then began to envelop them

32. Guderian Breaks Through at Sedan Battle of France: May 14, 1940

33. Hoth Breaks Through at Dinant Battle of France: May 14-15, 1940

34. Penetration With Hoth’s and Guderian’s successes, the Germans had a 40 mile breakthrough from Dinant to Sedan –Pushed through seven armored divisions toward the English Channel

35. Sedan Dinant Ardennes

36. The Panzer's Race To The Channel Battle of France: May 14-24, 1940

38. Dunkirk was the last evacuation port available to the Allies.

39. Dunkirk

40. Moving in for the Kill German forces pressed the Allied armies trapped in the north, from south and east, into the English Channel. Meanwhile, German infantry divisions reinforced the southern flank of the German penetration. But…. Dunkirk Harbor ablaze from German bombing

41. Halt Order Hitler halted the German armor –German armor had suffered heavy losses and would be needed to conquer the rest of France –Luftwaffe called upon to finish the job Luftwaffe unable to destroy the British and French –Bases in western Germany were further away from Dunkirk than British planes were from their bases on the British Isles 340,000 Allied troops were evacuated

42. The Weygand Line Collapses Battle of France: June 4-14, 1940

43. Consolidation On June 16, French asked for an armistice. Battle of Britain began. –“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” (Winston Churchill)

44. Italy Joins the Axis On June 10, 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France and four months later invaded Greece Mussolini will end up being a troublesome ally for Hitler

45. The Eastern Front On June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded Russia in Operation Barbarossa The operation encompassed a total troop strength of about 4 million men, making it the biggest single land operation ever Benefiting from initial surprise, by the end of July Hitler had occupied a portion of Russia twice the size of France However, by the time the Germans reached the outskirts of Moscow in December, the Russian winter had set in

46. Operation Barbarossa

47. The Eastern Front Ultimately enormous logistical shortcomings made Barbarossa a failure –Germany proved capable of fighting battles very well, but was less capable of fighting a war of prolonged duration In the total four years of fighting on the Eastern Front, an estimated 4 million Axis and 9 million Russians were killed in battle 20 million Soviet civilians were killed as a result of extermination campaigns against Jews, communists and partisans, casual massacres, reprisal killings, diseases, and (sometimes planned) starvation.

48. Stalingrad (Aug 1942-Feb 1943)

49. Stalingrad

52. Greatest Extent of Axis Control

53. Auftragstaktik German interwar doctrine emphasized: –decentralized, mission-oriented orders (Auftragstaktik) –speed and exploitation of enemy weaknesses maximized by troop commanders taking the initiative (understand commander’s intent) –close integration and cooperation between combat branches (mobile warfare required armor, infantry, and artillery) –leadership from the front

54. US Mobilization Efforts The US Army had deteriorated in the interwar period –“The Army during the 1920s and early 1930s may have been less ready to function as a fighting force than at any time in its history.” (Russell Weigley) –Professional military education had moved forward especially at the Command and General Staff School where the key military leadership of WWII was trained

55. US Mobilization Efforts Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, a large number of Americans felt the growing war was not their concern A peacetime draft was initiated in the summer of 1940, but it had many opponents In a Dec 29, 1940 radio address, Roosevelt argued that the war was of concern to the US and declared, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”

56. US Mobilization Efforts In March 1941, the Lend-Lease Act permitted the President to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article.” America was still divided, but after Pearl Harbor it rallied behind the President and began to translate its economic and personnel strength into military power At first there were severe shortages as US industry shifted its focus to meet military demands, but by 1943 the dividends of the economic mobilization had become apparent Nationwide food rationing was introduced in 1942

58. Next North Africa and Italy