WW2

German attack on Poland:

• New style of lightning warfare or Blitzkrieg

• Blitzkrieg employed fast-moving, mass armored columns supported by air power

• Poles had few planes and tanks, so they lost

• September 17, Russia invaded Poland from the east, dividing the country with Germans

• July-1940, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became puppet republics within the Soviet Union

• Russians invaded Finland; Finns resisted for 6 months, finally yielded to Russia; they remained independent

Sitzkrieg - Period when there was little to no fighting on the western front

Dunkirk - British and France fought Germany; they were forced to flee to the English Channel to seek escape on the beaches of Dunkirk, France; British small boats saved more than 200,000 British and 100,000 French soldiers

The Maginot Line - ran from Switzerland to Belgium; Belgians proclaimed neutrality, leaving the line exposed; Hitler advanced Belgium; French army collapsed

Winston Churchill:

• Critic of Hitler

• A speaker and writer

• One of his greatest achievements was establishing a close relationship with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt - found ways to help the British despite strong political opposition

Luftwaffe - The German air force

• Luftwaffe bombed London every night for 2 months for revenge on British bombing German cities

RAF - The Royal Air Force

• They inflicted heavy losses on the Luftwaffe; aided by newly developed radar and communications; Hitler lost the Battle of Britain in the air and abandoned his plans for invasion.

German attack on Russia:

Hitler thought a blitzkrieg victory would destroy British hope for resistance.

Operation Barbarossa – code name for the invasion of Russia, aimed to destroy Russia before winter.

Mussolini was jealous of Hitler's success and how he treated him.

Hitler was forced to divert his attention to the Balkans and Africa after Greeks pushed into Albania and the British sent help to the Greeks.

Erwin Rommel – "Desert Fox" – went to Africa and soon drove the British back into Egypt.

Operation Barbarossa – launched against Russia on June 22nd, 1941, almost succeeded.

Russians were taken by surprise and Stalin panicked. Germans destroyed 2000 Russian planes.

Moscow was in panic; German victory seemed ready.

Germans delayed their final advance and winter devastated the German army.

Because of time, Stalin restored order and built defenses for the city.

Third Reich – Third major German empire (Hitler).

Hitler's plans included Germanization and colonization.

Japan and U.S. Enter the war:

American government was pro-British. Because Roosevelt assisted Britain, it would justify a German declaration of war.

Outbreak of war in Europe accelerated Japanese drive to dominate Asia.

Japan allied with Germany and Italy.

The only barrier to Japanese expansion was the U.S.

The U.S. froze Japanese assets and cut off oil supplies (British and Dutch did the same).

Japanese plans for expansion couldn't continue without the conquest of the Indonesian oil fields and Malayan rubber and tin.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor - The successful Japanese attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, brought the US into war with the Axis powers. The U.S. and Britain declared war on Japan; 3 days later Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.

* America wasn't prepared for war.

* Japan seemed to be on a roll.

El Alamein - Allied victory in North African campaign of war, forcing Axis forces led by Erwin Rommel to retreat to Tunisia.

* The Allies now controlled the Mediterranean and could attack Southern Europe.

* July and August 1943, Allies to Sicily.

* Allies landed in Italy and the leader of the Italian government declared war on Germany.

Battle of Stalingrad - Hitler wanted to take the city, but Stalin wouldn't let him. Hitler wouldn't retreat and lost an entire German army at Stalingrad. Stalingrad marked the turning point of the Russian campaign; Russians won and advanced westward.

* American and British air forces began a series of massive bombardments of Germany.

* By 1945, the Allies could bomb at will.

Dwight D. Eisenhower - The commander of the Allied forces.

D-Day - June 6, 1944. American, British, and Canadian troops landed in force on the coast of Normandy.

The Battle of the Bulge - Germans launched a counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg (Hague, Ardennes forest). Germans pushed forward into the Allied line. The Bulge was the last gasp for the Germans in the west. The Allies crossed the Rhine in March, and German resistance crumbled. There was no doubt that the Germans lost the war on the battlefield.

Hitler committed suicide in an underground bunker in Berlin on April 30th, 1945.

Russians occupied Berlin by agreement with their Western Allies.

Third Reich lasted only a dozen years instead of a thousand as Hitler predicted.

The war in Europe ended on May 8th, 1945.

The Japanese empire fell.

Americans recaptured the Pacific Islands.

Americans recaptured most of the Philippines and drove the Japanese fleet back.

Since Japan wouldn't give up new technology, they were presented with the atomic bomb.

The Atomic Bomb - August 6, 1945: An American plane dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima; the city was destroyed, more than 70,000 of 200,000 residents were killed.

The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria 2 days later.

The second atomic bomb hit Nagasaki the next day.

Japan surrendered on August 14th on the condition that Japan retain the emperor.

President Harry S. Truman accepted the condition.

Peace was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2nd, 1945.

General Charles De Gaulle - leading the French government in exile.

Operation Sea Lion: invade Britain, but the English Channel is too well protected by the strong British Navy. Hitler realizes Germany needs to gain air superiority to be able to invade (Battle of Britain "Blitz").

The London Underground ("The Tube") - Subway tunnels become air raid shelters during the Blitz.

Georgy Zhukov- most accomplished general of ww2

Operation Torch: Success allows the Allies to invade Southern Europe (Italy) and push north.

The Allies liberate Rome: June 5, 1944.

D-Day Beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword.

July 20, 1944 Assassination plot.

The Liberation of Paris: August 25, 1944.

V-E Day (May 8, 1945) - Victory in Europe Day.