WORLD
WAR II
AXIS
VS.
ALLIES
Essential Question:
What were the major events
during World War II from 1939
to 1942?
World War II was a two “theater” war with
fighting taking place in Europe and in the Pacific
The Allies and Axis Powers converted their nations
to total war for the second time in 20 years
When World War II began, Germany used
a “lightning war” strategy called
blitzkrieg that relied on fast, strong
attacks using air raids, artillery, and tanks
SPEED AND POWER OF PLANES AND TANKS:
THE WEAPONS OF THE “BLITZKRIEG”
By 1940, Germany conquered Poland, Denmark,
Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, and France
“BLITZKRIEG”
The German military in World War II achieved most
of its great victories with the blitzkrieg tactic
The blitzkrieg struck and shocked the enemy as if
they were struck by lightning, which is what
Germany did to their first military victim, Poland
WHY USE THE “BLITZKRIEG”?
The German had learned
from the defeat in WWI
Instead of being bogged
down in trenches and having
battles that literally went
nowhere, the Germans
invented tactics that focused
on speed and mobility
The Allies, the winners of
WWI, had not changed their
tactics and were unprepared
for the rapid, overwhelming
German assault
…THE
SO INSTEAD
GERMANS
OF THIS
DID THIS
(SPEEDY
(ENDLESS
ASSAULTS
TRENCHWITH
WARFARE)…
AIR SUPPORT)
WAR WITHOUT MERCY,
WAR WITHOUT RULES
Besides the lightning
attack of the German
soldiers, what made
the attack on Poland
different was the
widespread atrocities
committed against
prisoners of war
(POWs) and civilians
POWs were almost
always executed
POLISH-JEWISH VICTIMS DIG
THEIR OWN GRAVES BEFORE
BEING SHOT
WAR WITHOUT MERCY,
WAR WITHOUT RULES
This marked the
escalation of Hitler’s
campaign to annihilate
the Jews, as many
residents of Poland
were Jewish
These killings of
civilians were done to
free “living space”
from “undesirable”
people
“Please talk to me! What will
become of me without you?”
Kazimiera Mika, a 10
year old Polish girl,
kneels before the body
of her older sister.
They had been digging
in a field for food when
a Luftwaffe plane
swooped in and shot at
them. As the plane left,
the little girl ran to her
sister. This was her
first experience with
the finality of death,
and she could not
understand why her
sister was not
speaking to her.
POLAND NO LONGER EXISTS
On September 17,
1939, the Soviet Red
Army also invaded
Poland, cutting off
the Polish escape
route to the east
As part of their NonAggression Pact, the
Soviet Union and
Germany split up
Poland, with the
Soviets taking the
eastern half
Because of the Nazi
The two sides did not fight
invasion of Poland, France
immediately, instead
and Britain declared war building up their forces to
on Germany
fully prepare for war
The French had a
With the horrors of WWI still
massive set of
fresh in their memory, the
defenses along the
French are not eager for war;
German border called they stay at the Maginot Line
the Maginot Line and wait for the Germans’ attack
The Maginot Line
provided the French with
a false sense of security
The Germans avoided the
strong defenses by going
around the Maginot Line,
not through it
To get around the strong defenses, the
Germans invaded Belgium, Luxembourg,
and the Netherlands on May 10, 1940
THE “BATTLE” OF FRANCE
Germany then
attacked France,
unleashing blitzkrieg
The French were demoralized and surrendered to
Germany in a matter of only six weeks
PARIS FALLS TO THE NAZIS
MUSSOLINI WANTS AN EMPIRE
 Mussolini watched his
partner Hitler take over
most of Europe with ease
 Mussolini was envious of
Hitler’s success
 He targeted Britishcontrolled Egypt; the Suez
Canal was key to reaching
the oil fields of the Middle
East
 While the Battle of Britain
was raging, Mussolini
ordered his forces to attack
 Within a week, Mussolini’s
forces pushed into Egypt
IL DUCE & DER FUHRER
MUSSOLINI NEEDS HELP
 The British forces struck back at the Italian invaders
in December 1940
 It was a rout: by February 1941, the British forces
swept over 500 miles of North Africa and captured
over 130,000 Italian troops
 Adolf Hitler had to step in to save his Axis partner
Mussolini, sending one of his best commanders,
General Erwin Rommel (a.k.a. “The Desert Fox”)
“THE DESERT FOX”
An excellent leader,
Rommel was admired in
Germany and also
respected by the Allies who
fought him
Rommel’s tank forces (the
Afrika Korps), beat back the
British, saving the Italians
This would not be the last
time Mussolini would be a
liability to Hitler, which
helped the Allies eventually
win the war
BRITAIN’S NEW LEADER
As Hitler’s Nazis were
invading France, there was
change happening in
Britain’s government
Neville Chamberlain, who
was already immensely
unpopular due to
appeasement, lost remaining
support and resigned
Rising in his place as prime
minister and defense
minister on May 10, 1940
was Winston Churchill, a
leader during World War I
WINSTON CHURCHILL
Speaking for the first time as Prime
Minster, Churchill said that Britain
was “fighting to rescue not only
Europe but mankind from the
foulest and most soul-destroying
tyranny which has ever darkened
and stained the pages of history.
Conquer, we must.”
This sums up Churchill perfectly: he
was an excellent speaker who
delivered incredibly stirring
speeches and served as a beacon
of grit and courage for the British
to rally around
CHURCHILL RALLIES BRITAIN
As France fell, the
British were now
concerned over
when the German
attack would
reach Britain
Churchill
delivered a
legendary speech
on June 4, 1940
Churchill rallied the British: “We shall go on to the end. We
shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We
shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the
air! We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We
shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing
grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall
fight in the hills…
…WE SHALL
NEVER
SURRENDER!”
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
“My Luftwaffe is
invincible. And so
now we turn to
England. How long
will this one last?
Two, three weeks?”
German Reichsmarshall (and
chief of the Luftwaffe)
Hermann Goring, speaking
after the Fall of France
When France fell to the Nazis, Britain was the
only nation at war with Germany
In 1940, Germany began a massive bombing campaign
against Britain, using its air force (the Luftwaffe);
Germany’s goal was to soften Britain up for an eventual
land invasion. This part of the war was called the
Battle of Britain
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
GERMANY’S LUFTWAFFE VERSUS BRITAIN’S ROYAL AIR FORCE
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
In addition to bombing Britain, the Luftwaffe
also shot many R.A.F. planes out of the sky in
the first weeks of the battle
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN:
CIVILIANS PAY THE PRICE
TAKING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN TO GERMANY
However, the R.A.F. turned things around,
inflicting heavy losses on the Luftwaffe
The Germans
and British
bombed
The R.A.F. also began making
civilians in
bombing raids on the German
hopes of
homeland in retaliation for
breaking their
the attacks on Britain
enemies’ morale
This German poster
was a reminder to
its citizens to
observe blackout
regulations,
making it more
difficult for British
bombers at night.
It says:
“The Enemy
Sees Your
Light!”
The British Royal Air Force fought off the
German Luftwaffe, aided by radar and the
ability to crack German codes
The Battle of Britain was the Nazis’ first
major defeat; it showed the Allies that the
Germans were not invincible
After 8
months,
Hitler called
off the
invasion of
Britain and
instead
focused on
Russia
The United
States vowed
to remain
neutral when
World War II
began
After the fall of France and attack on Britain, the U.S.
began selling war supplies to the Allied Powers
FDR KNOWS WAR IS COMING FOR AMERICA
“We cannot escape
danger, or the fear
of danger, by
crawling into bed
and pulling the
covers over our
heads.”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in
a speech on December 29, 1940
CONQUESTS OF THE AXIS
SOVIET
UNION
In 1940,
Italian and
German
troops
moved to
take control
of North
Africa
Meanwhile,
Hitler took
control of
the Balkans
Then in 1941, Hitler broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact
and invaded the Soviet Union
GERMANY ATTACKS RUSSIA
“We have only to
kick in the door
and the whole
rotten structure
will come
crashing down!”
ADOLF HITLER, MAKING HIS
PREDICTION ABOUT THE
GERMAN INVASION OF THE
SOVIET UNION
Hitler had no
respect for the
Russians and
the Red Army
He thought the “inferior”
Russians could not withstand
the Aryan onslaught
Hitler’s top commanders
shared his opinion; one
called the Red Army
“leaderless” and the
Russian soldiers “mindless”
The Nazis’ goal
was not just to defeat
the Russians, but to
annihilate them all
and take their land
(lebensraum)
THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS
The Red Army was not as well-equipped or
as highly trained as the Germans
However, they
did have the
advantage of
fighting on their
home turf
The Russians
also greatly
outnumbered
the Germans
The Russians also were extremely determined
to defend their homeland
This Soviet
anti-Nazi
propaganda
poster
proclaimed
“WE
MUST
KILL THE
NAZI
SNAKE!”
NO ONE KNEW IT YET, BUT THIS TITANIC
STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE NAZI FORCES
OF ADOLF HITLER AND THE RED ARMY OF
JOSEPH STALIN WOULD BE THE KEY TO
THE ENTIRE WAR
MORE PEOPLE WOULD DIE IN THE
EASTERN FRONT THAN IN
ALL OTHER BATTLES
COMBINED
By 1942, the Axis Powers controlled most of
Europe and North Africa but were unable to
defeat Britain and the USSR
GENERAL ZHUKOV
A factor in the
Russians’ favor was
the leadership of
Georgi Zhukov, who
was appointed head of
the Red Army by Stalin
Zhukov was an
extremely tough and
intelligent commander
He led the Soviets in
hard-fought
victories over the
Germans in
defending Moscow,
the Battle of
Stalingrad, the
Battle of Kursk, and
the eventual capture
of Berlin
The brutal Russian
winter also helped
defeat the Nazis
THE WRATH OF “GENERAL WINTER”
It was said that the Germans were defeated in
Russia by General Zhukov and “General Winter”
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Just like in World War I, Germany now
found itself in a TWO-FRONT WAR
Hitler vowed not to repeat the mistakes of
The Great War, but he most certainly did
Rashness, impatience, and overconfidence
led Hitler to over-commit his forces, fighting
too many enemies at the same time
Like they had in World War I, Germany now
had struggles with Britain in the West and
now a prolonged battle of attrition in the
East with Russia
SOVIET
UNION
BRITAIN
GERMANY
GERMANY IS IN THE MIDDLE AND
NOW HAS ENEMIES ON ALL SIDES
GERMANY IN THE VISE
Germany is now being squeezed on both sides
by two powerful enemies
Matters will get worse for Germany when other
nations (such as the U.S.) get involved in the
conflict and as their allies (such as Italy) falter
At this point in 1941-1942, Germany will not be
able to win the war
However, it will still take an enormous
amount of time, effort, bloodshed, death,
and destruction to defeat Germany