Events of WW2 - Year 9

What is a turning point?

A time at which a decisive change in a situation happens

What is Blitzkrieg?

A military tactic characterized by a swift, overwhelming, and coordinated attack using combined arms—such as tanks, motorized infantry, and close air support

What happened on May 14 1940

Germany launches an invasion of North France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The allies struggle to hold their positions because they were unprepared and the speed of the Germans took them by surprise. They had to retreat to Dunkirk

What happened on May 24 1940?

Germany pauses its advances under Hitler’s orders because the panzer divisions were exhausted and the terrain wasn’t fit for tanks

What happened on May 26th 1940?

The German advances continue and Operation Dynamo commenced

What happened between May 26th and June 4th 1940?

340,000 soldiers were frantically evacuated from Dunkirk on naval ships as the Germany army advanced. The trapped soldiers were constantly attacked by planes and artillery. Realising the danger of the situation, the government requested help from the public to evacuate the trapped soldiers. Thousands of fishing boats, leisure craft and Thames ferries rushed to help evacuate the soldiers.

Consequences of Dunkirk Evacuation

1. A huge amount of equipment was left behind on the beaches, including thousands of trucks, tanks, artillery and guns, which impacted Britain’s war readiness because this caused shortages

2. 340,000 soldiers were evacuated, meaning they could continue fighting. At the time, this was 2/3 of Britain’s army and nearly all of its experienced soldiers. If this many soldiers were captured, it would’ve had a significant blow on the Allied war effort.

3. Since France surrendered to Germany, Britain and its empire was alone in fighting Germany

4. The evacuation, despite technically being a defeat, was seen as a success and portrayed as heroic, boosting Allied morale and national pride, which encouraged soldiers to continue fighting

What happened on 30th June 1940?

Goering gives the order to the Luftwaffe to attempt the annihilation of the RAF, beginning with attacks to British shipping

What happened on the 16th July 1940?

Hitler gives the order to prepare for operation sealion (the invasion of Britain)

What happened between 13th August-6th September 1940?

The Luftwaffe bombs RAF bases and towns across Britain, destroying hundreds of aircraft

What happened on 25th August 1940?

The RAF retaliates by bombing Berlin, the first attack on German soil since the beginning of the war

What happened between 7th September-31st October 1940

The Luftwaffe changes its focus to British cities, beginning the Blitz

What happened on 31st October 1940?

The Battle of Britain ends, with the RAF surviving. Hitler postpones the invasion of Britain, but the bombing raids continue

Why did the Battle of Britain happen?

Hitler wanted to invade Britain by ship across the channel, but needed the RAF to be defeated beforehand otherwise they would sink enough ships that an invasion would be impossible

Consequences of the Battle of Britain

1. It was the first defeat of Hitler’s military forces, key factor to boosting morale for both British public and military, encouraging them to keep fighting (especially since prior to the battle there was a fear of invasion)

2. Postponement of Hitler’s invasion plan meant Britain could become a stronghold for the Allies, one that would become the base from which the Liberation of Western Europe would be launched in 1944.

3. As Hitler already wanted to invade Britain, german attainment of air superiority could have led to direct air attacks, blockades and invasions, which would have had dire effects for the Allies

4. Hitler had to reconsider operation sealion, meaning Britain was able to continue fighting in the war, and would no longer fear a German invasion. This also meant that Hitler could not focus on his plans to invade the Soviet Union, which benefitted the Soviets because they would’ve faced a stronger attack if Germany’s resources were focused on them.

5. Although the blitz meant Britain faced nightly bombing raids for 10 months, it was unsuccessful in forcing a surrender and many argue it created a community spirit that helped Britain win the war

Events of Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was launched on the 22nd June 1941, and was an invasion of the Soviet Union with over 3 million German soldiers participating. Germany made huge advances, capturing millions of soviet soldiers as prisoners and thousands of metres of land. In December, the coldest winter of 100 years hit the USSR and hundreds of thousands of German soldiers died from the cold. The operation ended in June the following year when they reached Stalingrad, where another battle would follow

What is the Wehrmacht

The united german armied forces

Why did Germany invade the USSR

The USSR was Germany’s ideological enemy, with the Soviet communism and Germany’s fascism. Also, Hitler wanted the vast country for Lebensraum

Consequences of Operation Barbarossa

1. The invasion expanded the conflict massively, causing Eastern Europe to turn into a battlefield. Germany was able to expand control over huge areas of the USSR, gathering large amounts of oil, coal, wheat and other essential resources, increasing Germany’s ability to continue fighting.

2. However, this was a turning point because the Soviets had now been brought into the conflict, which later on forced Germany to fight a two-front war, which many argue was one of the reasons Hitler lost.

Events of the attack on Pearl Harbour

In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, demonstrating its imperial ambitions and leading to sanctions from the US. On 7th December 1941, Japanese planes arrive at Pearl harbour and start sinking ships in it, leading to 2400 American deaths. 4 days later, Hitler declares war on the USA. Churchill agreed a “Germany first” policy with the US, ensuring priority would be given to the war in Europe.

Consequences of Pearl Harbour

1. The US was previously neutral in the war but the attack ended American isolationism and brought the USA into the war, unifying the public behind the war effort with a surge of national pride

2. The attack, despite inflicting significant damages on the US pacific fleet, was a strategic blunder as the Japanese navy failed to sink any aircraft carriers, which were a decisive weapon in the Pacific War

3. Following American entry in the war, the huge industrial might of the country shifted to war production, where the US produced 300,000 planes, 110,000 tanks, millions of guns and billions of bullets. This allowed the allies to be supplied with enough equipment to be able to continue fighting.

When was the battle of Midway?

4-7th June 1942

Consequences of the Battle of Midway

1. The Japanese no longer had any active aircraft carriers in the pacific while the US still had 3. This is compounded by the difference in production between the 2 countries. Within the next 2 years, Japan built 7 new carriers, while the US built 90.

2. The victory made it possible for the Allies to move forward with their strategy of retaking islands in the pacific (such as the Guadalcanal campaign) using the technique known as ‘island hopping’ which allowed the Allies to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands.

Overview of battle of El Alamein

A battle fought in October-November of 1942, ended in the surrender of the Axis Forces in North Africa

Consequences of the battle of El-Alamein

1. The victory was crucial for maintaining allied control over the Mediterranean and Suez Canal, protecting vital supply routes that allowed Britain to keep fighting.

2. Provided a much needed morale boost for British and common wealth forces agter a series of defeats earlier in the war

3. Set the stage for subsequent Allied victories in the Mediterranean and Europe. The success in North Africa allowed the allies to gain a foothold in Sicily, which would be critical for launching the Allied invasion of France in 1944

Overview of Battle of Stalingrad

Battle over July 1942 - February 1943, between Soviets and Germans. The Germans get trapped after horrific casualties for both sides during street fights, and then Germans surrender

Consequences of Battle of Stalingrad

1. It resulted in catastrophic casualties for the Axis forces, 800k deaths. Severely weakened the German military and its allies.

2. The defeat meant that German offensive had to be limited as they no longer had the resources to conduct a major campaign, allowing the Soviet Union to gain the upper hand on the Eastern front

3. Significant boost to the Soviet public and military, demonstrated the Germans were not invincible

Overview of D Day invasion

Starting on June 6th 1944, over 350K soldiers land in France, fighting against the German forces in Normandy and advancing quickly across North France

Consequences of D Day

1. The successful invasion allowed the Allies to open a second front against Germany, accelerating their defeat.

2. Loss of France and Belgium denied Germany access to their economic and manpower resources, weakening German War effort. Belgian and French soldiers also joined the Allied armies for the advance to Germany

3. Failure of Germans to push the allies back convinced them that total defeat was inevitable, significantly damaging German morale

Consequences of the Firebombing in 1945

1. bombing raids disrupted German industrial production, with around 20-30% loss in potential output due to destruction of factories, transportation networks and power generation facilities. This hindered Germany’s ability to continue fighting.

2. To defend from the bombing, Germany had to divert significant resources to air defence, including 10k anti-aircraft guns, which diverted manpower and material from the front lines

3. The bombing campaign effectively destroyed the Luftwaffe, meaning it was unable to defend against the Allied land invasions in 1944 and 1945.

Evidence of Blitz spirit

Throughout the war, 1.4 million people were volunteering in the ARP, looking out for Nazi planes and delivering first aid if there was damage from bombs. During air raids, people relied on civil defence workers such as the Auxiliary fire service and ARP. Most of this work was part-time and people did this alongside their real jobs for free

Married women were not ‘called up’ because the government was worried about the effect it would have on their families, but many married women volunteered for war work anyway

The shared danger and hardship unified British people across traditional social classes, people huddled together in public shelters (like the Tube stations) where class distinctions blurred. In 1942, restaurants also became subject to rationing controls to prevent resentment from the working class who saw the wealthy getting around the rationing and eating well

Evidence AGAINST blitz spirit

Newspapers were not allowed to show pictures of mutilated bodies and smashed houses, reports and photographs concentrated on the heroism of the rescue services and everyone’s determination to carry as normally as possible

Even though 14.9 million men aged 14-64 were registered for war service, this can’t be used to suggest Blitz Spirit because conscription was introduced in 1939, meaning a lot of the men were forced to register

Propaganda in newspapers downplayed the psychological and physical trauma, including panic, fear and long term health effects like anxiety, which were often not public acknowledge.

Looting was a significant problem with both organised criminal gangs and ordinary citizens taking advantage of the chaos. Thieves stole a wide range of items from bombed-out homes, while others used the darkness to steal from shops and homes. In 1941 there were 2763 prosecutions for looting bombed shops

The argument about bringing down social barriers is contradicted by the bullying of many evacuees in their new rural homes. Bedwetting of evacuees (a product of anxiety and distress) was often blamed by host families on the standards of working class inner city families