the european theatre battles of wwii in your notebook discuss the origin, value, purpose and...
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The European Theatre Battles of WWII
• In your notebook discuss the origin, value, purpose and limitation of the picture.
1940 Germany
• Invasion of Poland
• The Fall of France• North Africa
Battles• Stalingrad• Battle of the
Bulge• D-Day
• Hitler demanded the Baltic Sea port which was in Polish control
• Alleged allies such as Britain & France were going to back Poland’s refusal for the sea port Danzig
• Germany turned to the USSR for support in invasion of Poland
• Germany attacked from the west and the USSR from the east as agreed in the Nazi-Soviet Pact
• The warfare became known as blitzkrieg – “lightening war” using tanks & aircraft(Luftwaffe)
• Poland Fell to German forces on October 5th 1939
• The Maginot line were bunkers built in protection against Germany
• Hitler simply went around the Maginot line and invaded through the Netherlands,Belgium & Luxembourg
• France was caught by surprise leaving the French & British forces trapped in Belgium
• A miracle occurred at a port called Dunkirk when German forces halted giving time for evacuation & saved the country from complete defeat by Hitler
• France surrendered in June 1940
The Battle of Britain • Hitler expected Britain to make
peace, however, Britain, led by a new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, refused to surrender.
• Hitler proceeded with invasion plans. The Luftwaffe began massive attacks on Britain to destroy its air defenses.
• Britain held firm during the Blitz despite devastating destruction to English cities.
• The British resistance convinced Hitler to postpone the invasion but he continued the bombing attacks.
The Eastern Front
• Hitler had strategic and ideological reasons for invading Russia– Strategically he knew that the Soviet Union
and the US were critical to Britain’s willingness to keep fighting
– He also felt he needed the agricultural and raw material resources of Eastern Russia
– Ideologically he viewed the Soviet Union as an amalgamation of his greatest enemies, the Jews and the Slavs
Operation Barbarossa
• Hitler based his plan on the assumption he could destroy the Soviet Union within one year
• Critical to his success would be to catch and destroy the Soviet Army at the border areas
• If that did not occur, the Russians could use their vast territory to trade space for time and cause the Germans huge logistical problems
Operation Barbarossa
• 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
Operation Barbarossa Battle of Moscow
• With the Germans’ successes in the north and south, Hitler assumed that Stalin’s regime was on the verge of collapse
• He authorized an advance on Moscow before the onset of winter
• Already however the Germans were suffering from serious supply shortages
• Because of the cold tempratures they had to retreat..
Operation Barbarossa : Battle of Moscow
• As the Russians pushed forward, Hitler refused to allow a retreat and relieved or court-martialed generals who did so
• Hitler named himself commander-in-chief of the army– Each military service began to operate
increasingly independently and Germany suffered from a lack of an overall strategy
Why Soviet Defeated Germans
• Germans not prepared for long campaign- supplies and inadequate equipment
• Hitler took control of army
• Germans were brutal to civilians which inflamed Russian resistance
• Heavy German losses
Strategic Situation
• On Dec 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor
• In spite of his troubles in Russia, Hitler decided to support Japan and also declare war on the US
• Now the US would join with Britain to adopt a “Europe First” strategy that would destroy Hitler
• US president Roosevelt invaded Morocco & Algeria to aid Britain in the fight against Germany in Egypt.
• During The Battle of El Alamein General Erwin Rommel who lead the German forces planned to trap US and British forces in between Tunisia and Libya
• US forces did not fare well up against German force causing 7,000 casualties and losing 200 tanks
• Luckily Both American and British Forces forced Germany to surrender in North Africa
• One last desperate attempt by Hitler involved blocking supplies coming through Belgium
• Germany caught Americans surrounding them
• General Patton and troops saved the Americans by attacking German forces
• Germany lost the battle with 100,000 casualties
• President Roosevelt and Churchill planned the invasion of France which was lead by General Eisenhower
• The US forces were going to surprise Germany using rubber tanks,and dummy landing craft. This completely fooled Germany while they attacked through Normandy
• 100,000 soldiers by boat• 23,000 paratroopers
• Soviet troops began a massive attack on German Troops sending German forces back to Poland
• The Soviets had Germany by the Eastern border and America had attacked German forces by the Western border
• This crushed the German forces causing the suicide of Hitler
• The Surrender of Germany was on May 8th 1945
Key Battles
• In what ways, and with what results for twentieth century wars, did tactics change?
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