European Theater

Let's dive into the details of World War II, covering the European front, Pearl Harbor, and the US role in the war.

European Front (Pre-Pearl Harbor)

In the early years of WWII, the European front saw several key battles, including:

- The Battle of Poland (1939): Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland, marking the beginning of the war.

- The Battle of France (1940): Germany defeated France, leading to the occupation of the country.

- The Battle of Britain (1940): The German air force (Luftwaffe) clashed with the British Royal Air Force (RAF) in a series of air battles.

Countries involved in the European front included:

- Germany

- France

- United Kingdom

- Poland

- Soviet Union

Pearl Harbor

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, drew the United States into the war. The attack killed over 2,400 Americans and destroyed much of the US Pacific Fleet.

Causes:

- Japan's expansionist policies and desire for resources

- US embargo on oil exports to Japan

- Japan's need for a strategic military strike to secure its interests

Response:

- US President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the attack "a date which will live in infamy"

- The US declared war on Japan, and subsequently on Germany and Italy

US Neutrality (Pre-Pearl Harbor)

Before Pearl Harbor, the US maintained a policy of neutrality, avoiding involvement in the conflict. However, the US did provide economic and military aid to countries fighting against the Axis powers.

US Role:

- Provided Lend-Lease aid to the United Kingdom and other countries

- Imposed economic sanctions on Japan

- Maintained a military presence in the Pacific

Turning the Tides (Post-Pearl Harbor)

After Pearl Harbor, the US played a significant role in the war, contributing to several key battles:

- The Battle of Midway (1942): A decisive naval battle in which the US defeated Japan

- The Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943): A major turning point on the Eastern Front, in which the Soviet Union defeated Germany

- The Battle of Normandy (1944): The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, also known as D-Day

Countries involved in the Allied effort included:

- United States

- United Kingdom

- Soviet Union

- France

- China

These battles marked significant turning points in the war, ultimately leading to the defeat of the Axis powers.

The European Theater 

• Change in Warfare

  • European Theater saw a return to mobile warfare vs. WWI trenches 

    • Improved tanks

    • Airpower

    • Radio

    • Blitzkrieg

    • Trucks

    • No gas

• Blitzkrieg in Poland

  • Non-Aggression Pact included how Hitler and Stalin would split Eastern Europe 

    • September 1, 1939: The German Luftwaffe rained bombs and tanks raced across the Polish countryside 

    • September 3: Britain and France declared war on Germany 

      • No action for the next 8 months, gets called the “Phoney War” or “Sitzkrieg”

    • September 17: Stalin sent troops to occupy eastern Poland 

      • Also sent troops to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland 

• Western Campaign 

  • By May 1940, Hitler annexed Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, and Lux. 

  • Allied troops sat on the Maginot Line waiting for a German attack

  • June 22, 1940: Germany occupied northern France, a puppet government was established in the South (Vichy)

    • French General Charles de Gaulle set up a government in exile (England) 

• Battle of Britain: The Blitz 

  • Summer 1940: Luftwaffe began bombing GB hoping to decrease moral

    • Fought back using the radar and enigma machine

• The Axis Focus Elsewhere 

  • September 1940: Mussolini targeted British-controlled Egypt 

    • By june 1942 Allies lost North Africa 

  • Hitler began planning an attack on the 6Soviet Union

    • Had to invade the Balkans first, fell by April 1941

• Hitler Invades the Soviet Union

  • June 22, 1941: Germany surprise attacked the Soviet Union launching Operation Barbarossa 

    • Soviet forces were not prepared and followed scorched-earth policy

    • Did not prepare for winter, Hitler sent an order of “No Retreat!”

    • Moscow, leningrad, stalingrad 

• United States Aids Allies 

  • Early Nazi victories started to change isolation thinking

    • FDR asked to increase spending for national defense 

    • Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act

      • 1 million drafted, could only serve in the Western Hemisphere

• “The Great Arsenal of Democracy”

• March 1941: Lend-Lease Act

  • Began aiding Stalin, “enemy of my enemy is my friend”

• Hitler sent out “wolf packs” to hunt Allied ships

• Atlantic Charter

  • August 14, 1941: Churchill and FDR met aboard the USS Augusta 

    • Churchill hoped for military commitment, FDR could not ask Congress for a declaration of war 

• A Date Which Will Live In Infamy 

  • December 7, 1941: Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii

    • US military leaders knew an attack would come, did not know when or where 

  • Japanese sunk/damaged 19 ships, 2,300 Americans killed, 1,100 wounded 

  • December 8: FDR addressed Congress requesting a declaration of war against Japan

• War Plans

  • December 22, 1941: Churchill met with FDR, decided to attack in Europe first as they posed a bigger threat

  • US and Soviets wanted to invade France → British doubtful

    • Decided on blockades, strategic bombings, and “closing the ring”

• Battle of the Atlantic 

  • Hitler order submarine raids against ships along the US east coast

    • Goal was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Britain and Soviets 

    • Seven months in, Germany sank 681 ships 

  • Allies responded by organizing in convoys to travel together for protection and airplanes with radar 

• Turning the Tides 

  • October 1942: Allies regrouped to take back North Africa 

    • Dwight D. Eisenhower (US) and Bernard Montgomery (British) vs. Erwin Rommel (AKA Desert Fox, Germany)

  • August 23, 1942: Germans began nightly bombing attacks in Stalingrad 

    • Hope to capture oil fields 

    • November: Soviets trap Germans and cut off supplies 

    • Allows Soviets to push westward

• “The Soft Underbelly of Europe”

  • Churchill favored invadin Italy before France 

  • July 10, 1943: Allied forces landed on Sicily 

    • September 3: Italy surredered 

  • Germany took control of northern Italy and put Mussolini back in power 

• Breakthrough 

  • May 1944: Commanded by Dwight D. Eisenhower 

    • June 6, 1944: British American, French, & Canadian troops fought along a beach in Normandy 

    • July 25: Allies broke German defenses 

  • By September: Allies liberated France, Belgium, and Luxembourg 

• July 20 Plot

  • German resistance failed efforts to assassinate Hitler using Briefcase bomb

  • German Officials murdered over 5,000 resistance members for this

• Victory in Europe

  • Allies approached Germany from the West and Soviets from the East

    • December 1944: Battle of the Bulge, Allies push Germany back

  • February 1945; The British and US bombed Dresden

    • Unlikely spot for attack, minimal defenses compared to other cities

    • Home to many refugees, casualties est. 35000 - 135000

• German Surrender

  • April 25 1945 Berlin was surrounded by Allied Troops

  • Hitler retreated to an underground bunker

    • April 30: Hitler and his Wife committed suicide

  • May 7: Eisenhower accepted the surrender of the Third Reich

    • May 8th Surrender was officially signed in Berlin

  • War was still going on in the Pacific though

Pacific Theater 

• July 1941: Japan entered French Indochina, and the US protested this by cutting off trade

• November 5: Hideki Tojo ordered the navy to be ready to attack the US 

• December 7: Pearl Habror 

• December 1941L Japanese forces invaded the Philippines 

  • March 11: Douglas MacArthur ordered to leave pledging “I shall return”

Japanese Victories 

• Japan’s empire was larger than the Third Reich 

  • About 150 million people

  • Treated newly conquered peoples with extreme cruelty 

• European colonies were unprotected, too busy in Europe

Island Hopping 

• Goal: to get allies as close to Japan as possible by taking islands and cutting supply lines

• Successful plan developed by Douglass MacArthur and Chester Nimitz stopping Japanese expansion in the Pacific

• Allies continued to move closer to Japan, Japan resfued to surrender 

  • Kamikazes: Japanese suicide piolets ordered to crash dive into Allied ships

  • Ex. Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Okinawa  

Navajo Code Talkers

• Native Americans who used their language to send secret messages on the battlefield 

• Used 26 Navajo terms to spell out words, created 411 military terms 

  • Ex: Wo-la-chee = ant = “A”

  • Ex: Besh-lo = iron fish

• Considered classified work until 1968 in case the code was needed again