WORLD WAR II

what was the starting gun for world war II

• the treaty of versailles created an unstable economy in germany and helped foster an animosity between nations

• propaganda was used by hitler to promos “us against the world” mentality further known as BUNKER mentality.

what did the bunker mentality motivate the germans to do

they motivated the german people towards the war.

how long was the interwar period between world war one and two

it can be seen as two stages of one larger global conflcit seperated by a 20-year interwar period

causes of WWII

• GRASP

• GERMANY

• RHINLAND

• AUSTRIA

• SUDETENLAND

• POLAND

Grasp

Germany - natzi takeover of germany

gRasp

• Rhineland

• failure of the league of nations, allowed the nazis to reoccupy and annex the rhineland

grAsp

• Austria/Anschluss

• hitler took over the territory of Austria into Germany as its own

graSp

sudentenland

part of the czechoslovakia, taken over by the nazis

grasP

• poland

• nazi invasion of poland, the direct cuase of WWII when britain and france declared war.

germany and the treaty of versailles

• germany was the country targeted in the treated with harsh conditions imposed:

• territory reduced by 13%

• severe war reparations

• the great depression collapsed the german banking system

• unemployment rate rose

what did the nazis made clear

• hitlers mein kampf ( book written by hitler during his prison stay) and the nazi 25 points all made it clear that germany owuld ignore the treaty of versailles

who did the nazis test breaking the treaty on versailles

they tested the limits on the spanish civil war ( the bombing of Guernica)

the league of nations took no action, proving to the nazis no one can stop them and they cna take rhineland

rhineland

the rhineland has been established as a demilitarized zone by the treaty of versailles, but the nazis reoccupied it.

what was the main step that was outlined by the nazis mein kampf and 25 points

their goal was to unite all german speaking people

the rhineland had many german speaking people and the nazis belived they deserved to be part of the newly formed third reich (hitler german empire)

the treaty of locarno 1925

• promised that Germany would not put soldiers in the Rhineland, but when Hitler did it anyway, Britain and France did not know how to stop him without starting another war.

why was britain unready to go to war for rhineland

• they had weak militarty

• the league of nations was ineffective

• british public opinion against acting out agaisnt germant

• the belief that the treaty of versailles was overly restrictive

austria

• hitler was born in austria and the political boundries did not matter to him, only uniting german speaking people was important

• austirans were cosidered germans, and deserved to join the third reich.

what was annexation of austria called (takeover)

• Anschluss, menaing connection or union

• the nazi 25 points called for the unification of greater germany (Austria + Germany)

sudetenland

• was a region of czechslovakia with a large german- speaking population.

• hitler threatened to take it , and Britain and France are like wait a second→ they let them have Austria and the Rhineland

• this became one of the largest acts of appeasement in history (giving in to Hitler’s demands to avoid war.) in attempt for him to stop

the munch agreement (septermber 1938)

this was the ultimate form of appeasement

the british prime minister neville chamberlain met with hitelr, who promised he did not want to take over any more land, and he wants to focus on uniting the german people.

hitler promised he just wants sudetenalnd and thats it, so chameberling declared. “ i have made peace in our time” and agreet to allow hitler to take the land to avoid global conflict

what did sudetenland contain:

natural fortification (mountaints) that protected Czechoslovakia

coal,iron,steel, and electrical power resources

3 MILLION GERMAN-SPEAKING PEOPLE

what happened to Czechoslovakia when Sudetenland was given away

it was left vulnerable and unarmed

within six months hitler broke his promise and took the rest of Czechoslovakia. this should have been expected because Mein Kampf explicitly stated the goal of Lebesraum (lving space in the east)

the nazi soviet pact ( non agression pact) = THE MOLOTV

the molotv- ribbentrop pact was an agreement between nazi germnay and the soviet union.

these were two ideologically opposed regimes ( facism and communism )

what did the nazi soviet pact include

• a promise not to help each others enemies ( japan and france )

• a secret agreement to divide eastern europe into sphere of influence

• carve up poland secretly

what were the benefits to germany from the nazi-soviet pact

• AVOIDED A TWO FRONT WAR ( correcting the failure of the schlieffen plan from WWI)

• guaranteed that the USSR would not attack while germany fough in the west

• aimed to get rid of eastern european countried and make it all german and russia

what were the benefits to the soviet union from the nazi - soviet pact

• drew a wedge between Germany and japan, reducing the risk of a two-front war

• allowed stalin free rein in easter neurope to expand soviet borders

• guarenteed germany would not invade the USSR ( a promise hitler later broke)

USSR

the Soviet Union, a large communist country led by Stalin during WWII.

poland invasion

• this invasion was the direct cause of WWII , bringing britain and france into the war

german preparation tothe poland invasion

• military training and aggressive propogansa

gleiwitz incident - by germany agiasnt poland

• was a false-flag incident where germans staged an attack on a radio station to make it look like polish agression, this was used as their excuse to invade

fall weiss ( case white)

this was the name of the german plan to invade poland from 3 directions;

1. prussia in the north

2. eastern germany in the west

3. and slovakia in the south

their were also army groups ordered to encircle possible polish troops near WARSAW

plan west - polands defense

• poland attempted to protect its entire border, but this was a mistake

• this was a msitake becuase it caused the polish to be too spread out.

how were the german attacks on polish

they were intense on both land and air, forcing the polish to retreat within a few days.

britain and france moment duringthe polish invade

they declared war on sptemebr 3,1939 but didn have true support.

what did the soviet union do during the poland invasion

• they invaded poland from the east and violated its own non-agression pact with poland

• due to their coordination with germany

warsaw and poland time of resitence

• warsaw was forced to surrender due to the intense attacking after just 16 days, later all of poland attempts to resist ended as well .

• big cause of resitance was 800,000 Red Army soldiers came in, Poland knew they couldn’t fight a two front war

blitzkrieg

aka the lighting war

the german tactic of combined arms attack that overwhelms the enemy and surrounds

aeria attacks ( apart of the blitzkrieg tactic)

• planes bomb strategically and aiming at targets

armoured vehivles - ( apart of the blitzkrieg tactic)

• tanks ( hard to destroy) advance to demoralzie and demolish remianing defenses

infantry - ( apart of the blitzkrieg tactic)

• troops occupy the area

why couldnt britain and france save poland

• all of the units were combined effectively, germany eas highly industrialized and ready for war.

• in comparison the. two countries lacked the resources .

the phony war

• after britain and france declare war on germany without being able to fight, hitler had not intention to engage with them.

• during this time it was an 8- month period were there was very little warfare and ended whe nthe nazis began their march through western europe

during the phony war whay countries in western europe did the nazis take?

• denmark, netherlands, and belgium

• all right before entering france

the maginot line

• france had built a series of fortification along its border with germany ,italy, swtizerland and luxemborg during this interwar period to protect themselves.

• this was the maginot line

the purpose of the maginot line

• to defeat german invasion, slow the german army and give france more time to mobilize.

• it was also a substitue to be able to reduce the army, as france has a shortage for military- age men

features of the maginot line

• it cost 3 billion francs

• it was millitary art engineering

• the main fortresses manned about 500-1000 men

• smaller fortresses (100-200 men)

• bunkers ( 20-30 men)

what was the weakness of the maginot line for the french

• they did not prepare for germanys blizterig tactics or an invasion THROUGH belgium.

• the germans ended up outtanking the french maginot line by going around it throug hthe low countries.

what is important to note aobut hte maginot line

• it places that the line was up and running and actually fought it worked really well.

evacuation at Dunkirk - an amazing battle

• at the very northern tip of france

as germany rapidly advances through france, the british and french forces became trapped near the port of Dunkerque on the nothern coast of france

operation dynamo = evacutation at dunkirk ( france )

the evacuation of british forces by sea led by the british prime minister, winston churchhill without telling the french and started the opperation.

The Royal Navy and hundreds of civilian vessels ("Little Ships") rescued approximately 338,000 soldiers.

german halt order during the evacuation at dunkirk

• issued by hitler

• was aimed to give the allies time to evacuate

what went on when the british and the french waited on the beach for a rescue attmept

• The Luftwaffe , the german air force, attacked the beaches, but the RAF provided cover.( british airforces)

• 338,000 soldiers + French had been evacuated with 860 boats

what were the negative impacts to the british + french during the evacuation at dunkirk

• British losses: 68,000 soldiers, all tanks, vehicles, and equipment left behind.

• Many French soldiers were left behind and taken prisoner.

ALTHOUGH THE LOSS THIS EVACUATION STILL REMAINED A HUGE BOOST TO BRITISH MORALE

• churchill even called it a miracle

fall of france

paris fell, and france was fully invaded

the franco-german armistice

• in WWI france won, the armistice was signed, the car was taken and put into a musem.

• now in WWII the same car and location was signed as a revenge to the humiliation hitler had to bear in WWI

how was france divided after its fall

there was an occupied france

and vichy france

occupied france

• was in the north

• had dircet natzi control

• especially the coastline closet to britain

vichy france

was in the south

a puppet governemnt said to be “ free” but still unable to resist the nazi demands,

the nazis viewed western europeans as superior to eastern europeans which is why they were less strict and gave the france a semblance of autonomy

the battle of britian

• after france was taken over, leaving britian to be the only remaining democratic country in europe

• hitler turned his attention, towards it, the only remaining enemy in europe.

• this battle was fought primarily in the air

was technology did the britiain use when trying to defend itself against hitler

• britain used new technology, and a radar to detect inconming german aircraft earlier, giving him warning of the attacks

the 4 stages of the battle of britain

1. ports and coastlines - german air forces attacked the british port and shipping to disable import and exports

2. airfields- attacks on RAF ( britain air forces) to gain air superiority

3. daytime attacks on cities - civilian targets like london bombed during daylight

4. the blitz - the nighttime air raids against civilian targets intentionally, aiming to break the british morale

what did the blitz really cause during the foght over britian

• it caused a tremendous amount of destructions and high casualites

• the british morale did NOT break

• civillians had to use station (subways) as shelyers.

what did hitler conclude on the fight for britian

• as they werent going to give up andtheir morale remained high , he decided to britian was an “irritaiting setback” and turned his attnetion eastward towards Lebensraum

operation barbarossa - the invasion of the soviet union

• hitler broke the non-agression pact and ordered the largest land invasion of history.

• this invasion targeted the soviet union

why did hitler want to target the soviet union

• lebensraume - hitelrs goal for living space for the germanic race, especially russia

• ideology - the soviet unsion were communist ( linked by hitler to judaism, as marx the founder was jewish) ans slavic ( considered inferior by the nazis)

• stalin was not going to expect an attack becuase of the pact they had

hitler mistake duringt he attmept to capture the soviet union

• he divided the invasions among three target, not realizing he russia is too large to conquer by taking one city.

the siege of leningrad

• major city in the soviet union

• it exprienced a total war

• it had a compelte blockade from essential supplies and humanitarian aid.

• the city did not want to surrender even after 100 days.

• this was a key example of total war were civilians are directly targeted.

the battle of stalingrad

• located in russia

• was the city named after stalin, hitler belived that by taking stalingrad it would represent stalins surrender

• the caucasus region that was surrounding stalingrad held significant oil reserces, hitler needed that oil to supply for his war machine ( for the goal of lebensraum to expand) he needed to conquer this city.

what was the battle of stalingrad characterized by

• street fighting

• door-to-door combat

• winning battle over single building to slowly win land such as

• such as the battle of the great elevator

why did the red army win the battle of stalingrad

• stalin issued order 227 ( not a step back)

• the soviets turned every street into an unwindable fortress.

• the open heart shop became the heart of resistasnce, taking it would mean the fall of stalingrad = they regained cotnrol and counterattacked

• mass heroism - the pavlov house - a building that became the symbol of resistance where a small soviet units hels out agiasnt the german attacks

,mamaev kurgan - stalingrad

• it was a hill overlooking the city it was severely fough over because whp pver controlled the hill controlled the city.

• their was also a lot of soil on the hill

what were the germans mistake during the battle of stalingrad

• hitler overestimated his potential by trying to take both oil and stalingrad.

• he assumed the soviets had no resources left, but their troops had grown in size significantly and efectively

the turning point on the eastern front

• the nazis defeat was a huge point in WWII the nazis could no longer launch offensive opperation on the eastern front

• the soviets began pushing the nazis back to germany

• this invasion was an epic failure for hitler

italy in world war II

it was under the power of mussolini

it was an axis power

hisotrians argue that italy caused more problems for hitler then it helped

axis power

a country that was allied with the nazi regime during world war II

the main of them bieng

germany

italy

japan

italian campaigns

1939 - mussolini successfully invaded albania

1940: mussolini invaded greece - this was an epic failure due to strong greek resistance

why did italy overall fail

• italy was thinly armed and leadership positions were given based on loyalty and politics, not on skill

• there was a lack of industrial capacity. italy was lacking on important resources like coal,oil and natural

• they had feul shortages and the air force was unreliable

• italians never embraced fascism like the germans did because mussolini could not properly address the country’s problems = no popular support.

the consequences hitler had to endure due to italys failed greece invasion

Italy failed in Greece

churchill called this area the “soft underbelly”= the weaker, easier-to-attack part of Europe. = so britian sent troops to help greece

,Hitler had to rescue Mussolini by invading Greece and Yugoslavia himself. This distracted Germany and pulled resources away from the war against the Soviet Union.

italy finally invaded

• the allies ( mainly america and the british forces ) began their invasion begining with sicily

• the british and american took different routes

• forced germany to have to fight on three fonts

• italy was fully defeated in 1945 - two years after

the end of mussolini

benito mussolini - the italian leader was captured and executed by italian partisans

he was hung upside down in a public square as a warning to remaining fascists

the people of italy hated him

d-day = the invasion of normandy

the allies invaded nazi occupied france

the invasion was called operation overlord

operation overlord goal

was to get allied troops back into western europe and begin pushing germany backwards

where did the allied land in the operation overlord

• in normandy france on 5 beaches

omaha beach - operation overlord

• was the bloodiest beach

• the american soldiers faced :

• heavy machine gun fire\bunkers

• mines

• cliffs

they had the highest casualties

atlantic wall - operation overlord

• hitler set up the atlantic wall

• it was a fortification that included

hedgehogs- iron crosses on the beached to impede landing cradt

bunkers- fortified positions on high ground

hitler also set up land mines and underwater mines

the allies deception tactics

• they set up fake military equipments from balloons knowing the german spy planes would see them and believe the invasion could occur further east.

important facts about operation overlord

150,000 soldiers landed in one day by the allies and they had superiorty making it hard for the germans to stop them

not only that but when hitler was resting/sleeping germans needed his approval and were unable to receive it leading for the allies to help secure the 5 beaches

liberation of paris

• Eisenhower wanted to bypass Paris and chase German forces.

• french general , De Gaulle insisted Paris be liberated.

• Hitler ordered Paris defended to “ the last man “ German General von Choltitz refused to not go down in history as a man who destroyed the most celebrated city

• Allied and Free French forces liberated Paris on August 25, 1944.

• Major symbolic Allied victory in WWII.

Battle of the Bulge (1944–1945)

• Germany’s last huge major attack on the western front in WWII.

• Hitler tried to split American and British armies and capture Antwerp.

• Germans used surprise attacks, tanks, artillery, and soldiers disguised as Americans.

• Bad weather stopped Allied air support at first.

• At Bastogne, the 101st Airborne ( american military davidson ) held out for 7 days despite freezing weather and low supplies.

• General Patton’s (american general) army finally rescued them.

• Germany failed and lost much of its remaining strength.

why did the german offensive fail in the battle of the bulge

• fuel shortages, poor roads

• american resitance was stronger then expected

• allied air power stornger then the german forces

• the blizkreig tactics did not work well in the snowy temp

• the german tanks ( like the tiger II ) needed too much feul

liberation of auschwitz

• Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

• Before the Soviets arrived, Nazis forced 58,000 prisoners on deadly marches in freezing weather.

• Many died from starvation, exhaustion, or execution.

• Soviets found about 7,500 starving survivors.

• Evidence showed about 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered there.

• The liberation revealed the horrors of the Holocaust to the world.

yalta conference

• the second wartime meeting of the big three

• - winston churchill = britain

• franklin d.roosevelt = usa

• joseph stalin - USSR

what did the yalta conference agree on

• they demanded germany unconditional surrencer

• divde germany into occupation zonrs

• plan to rebuild postwar europe

• allow for free election in eastern european countries

• stalin agreed to enter the war agaisnt japan after germanys defea

bombing of dresden

the british royal air forces bombed the german city of dresden and created a firestorm that almost destroyed the city

the purpose of this bombing was to destroy transportation network and communication lines that support the german defenses and to hinger german troop movements against advancing into the soviets

crossing the rhine

• the rhine river was germany final major natural defensive barrier

• hitler ordered all bridges to be destryed by the ludendorff bridge at remagen reamined intact.

• the allied troops crosses that brige and suprised assualt behind the german lines

• it only took 9 hours to complete the crossing

the race to berlin

as germany collpased , the allied forces raced for berlin

General Eisenhower (american generas)

ordered American and British troops to stop just outside the city, allowing the Soviets to take Berlin.

V-E DAY

victory in europe day marked the offical end of WWII in europe. the german troops laid down their arms and celebration erupted in moscow, london, la and cities all across.

hitler commited suicide

krisallnacht

• night of broken glass

• nazi organized pogrom destryoing jewis hstores,synagogues and homes