The European Theater

The War Begins

September 1, 1939

  • Germany attacked Poland
  • World War II begins
  • Blitzkrieg or “lightning war”

Devastating Effects

  • Polish Air Force destroyed
  • Soldiers fought; no match for German forces
  • No natural barriers in the way

Support for Poland

  • Britain and France declared war on Germany
  • Allies gave no real help
  • Poland fell into German hands

German Troops in Position

  • On Germany’s western border
  • Hitler eager for assault on France
  • Plans for invasion made

1940-1941

Attack on France

  • Denmark and Norway captured; the Netherlands and Belgium followed
  • Tank attack through Ardennes; overwhelmed light resistance there
  • Bypassed the French Maginot Line
  • Heroic Dunkirk rescue; France surrendered in June 1940
    • Saved over 300,000 British troops

Battle for Britain

  • Great Britain stood alone against German war machine; Churchill now leader
  • Radar technology secret weapon for air defense
  • British stood firm during Battle of Britain; Hitler called off invasion plans

“Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.” - George S. Patton

USA?

  • Lend Lease (Spring 1941) → US to ship arms and supplies, without immediate payment to nations fighting the AXIS

  • Atlantic Charter (Aug. 1941)

    • Roosevelt and Churchill meet and draft document:
    1. No territorial expansion
    2. People have right to choose
    3. Build a secure peace
    • 26 countries sign- The Allies to fight the Axis

Invasion of the Soviet Union

  • June 1941, Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union had initial successes
  • Major goals of Leningrad of Moscow not reached before harsh Soviet winter
  • Soviet armies had time to rebuild and would fight back

Battle of the Atlantic

  • With U.S. officially at war, German U-boats in American waters
    • Tried to destroy American merchant ships
    • Hundreds of ships lost to German subs
    • After 1943, Allies able to fight back more effectively
    • Allied factories at full production
    • Large numbers of ships and planes
    • More firepower helped locate and destroy U-boats
    • Key German Enigma code system broken by UK’s Alan Turing
    • Losses dropped sharply
    • Vital supply line to Great Britain and Soviet Union kept open
    • Atlantic belonged to Allies

War in North Africa and Italy

  • Italian and British forces battles for control in North Africa. The Suez Canal and the oil fields of the Middle East were essential to the British war effort. After Italian forces failed against the British, Hitler was forced to send German troops to support the Italians.

Back-and-Forth Fighting

  • Afrika Korps led by Erwin Rommel
  • Pushed British back into Egypt
  • Traded blows for two years
  • 1942- Battle of El Alamein
  • British victory under Gen. Bernard Montgomery
  • Axis power lessened in North Africa

Americans Join the Battle

  • Soviets wanted European front

  • Invasion of western North Africa

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower led troops

  • Rommel caught between forces in east and west

  • Supply problems worsened

  • May 1943- surrendered to Allies

  • Nearly 250,000 Axis soldiers taken prisoner; with surrender, all of North Africa in Allied hands.

A Turning Point in the Soviet Union

  • 1941 German invasion halted with winter
  • German equipment failed in bitter cold
  • Poorly equipped troops suffered greatly

Leningrad

  • Citizens under siege in Hitler’s attempt to force a surrender
  • Winter of 1941-1942, thousands starved to death daily
  • Siege of Leningrad cost 1 million civilian lives

Battle of Stalingrad

  • In the spring of 1942, Hitler ordered renewed assaults on the Soviet Union. He assembled troops from Italy, Romania, and Hungary. Even with fuel shortages, Axis forces fought well initially.

On the Volga River

  • Germans poised to take Stalingrad
  • Key industrial city for Soviets
  • Factories supplied Soviet armies
  • Ports shipped grain, oil, and other products throughout country

Brutal Battle

  • City bombed into rubble; German troops moved in
  • Hold city at all costs
  • Georgy Zhukov led Soviet counterattack
  • Axis soldiers with no food or ammunition
  • Hitler- “Surrender is forbidden”

Final Victory

  • German officers surrendered early February 1943
  • 1 million Soviet dead
  • Crushing defeat for Hitler; once invincible German army in retreat
  • Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of the war