World War II was fought in three
different areas of the world:
Europe, North Africa, and Asia
and the Pacific Islands.
The war began after the German Invasion of Poland in 1939 and ended in August
1945 when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
WWII divided most of the world into two hostile alliances. By the war’s end, 49
nations joined the Allied Powers led by England, France, the Soviet Union, and
the United States. The Axis Powers numbered nine nations and were led by
Germany, Italy, and Japan.
No war in history cost as many lives,
caused as much destruction, or
covered as much territory as
World War II.
By the time the United
States entered World War
II at the end of 1941, Axis
powers controlled virtually
all of western Europe and
North Africa.
"German Leader Adolf Hitler in
German Occupied France Posing in
Front of Eiffel Tower"
In the first months of
the war, Germany had
launched a new kind of
attack on Poland. It
was called Blitzkrieg,
meaning “lightning war”
in German.
Forces of planes,
tanks, artillery, and
mechanized infantry
swiftly swept through
Polish defenses.
The plan was to break
the Polish forces into
small groups and
overwhelm them.
France and Britain
declared war on
Germany, but couldn’t
send aid to Poland in
time.
After conquering
Poland, Hitler waited
for seven months
before unleashing a
blitzkrieg against
Denmark and Norway.
They surrendered within one
month.
France massed troops along the Maginot line, a set of fortifications in the northeast,
hoping to prevent a German invasion.
In Mid-May, the Germans simply bypassed these fortifications and attacked
France through Belgium.
Within a few days, the Germans had penetrated
deeply into the country, and by the end of the month
had pushed a combined British and French army
across France to Dunkirk on the English Channel.
About 20,000 British and 140,000
French troops were safely
evacuated across the channel to
Great Britain leaving valuable
equipment behind.
On June 10th Italy invaded southern France, and on June 16th the German army
marched into Paris.
France
surrendered, with
Germany occupying
the northern two
thirds of France and
directly taking over
the government.
In Southern France, the
Germans oversaw the
creation of a puppet state,
known as Vichy France
because its capital was at
Vichy.
Hitler had tricked the world. He had repeatedly assured the Allies he
would not invade France. France had fallen in less than two months
under the terror of Hitler’s blitzkrieg strategy.
Hitler’s troops encountered thousands and thousands of weeping
French when they rolled into Paris. Hitler’s armies were now fighting
battles, and winning them, all over Europe. His planes and submarines
dominated the world in a type of warfare never before seen.
British prime minister Neville Chamberlain,
unpopular because of his appeasement policy
with Hitler, had been forced to resign. Winston
Churchill replaced him. He was an inspiring
leader and his courage and determination
rallied British spirits.
He might even have the powerful
British fleet of ships as well. This
frightening possibility posed a threat
to American security.
After the French surrender, Britain stood alone
against the Axis forces. If he conquered
Britain, Hitler would have at his disposal the
workshops, shipyards, and slave labor of
western Europe.
A German invasion of Britain seemed certain.
Hitler planned to first weaken and demoralize
the British before invading them. Accordingly,
Hitler ordered German bombers to attack
British cities and defense installations.
London Bomb
shelters
From August 1940 to
June 1941, thousands
of German planes
bombed ports,
industrial centers, and
air defenses throughout
England. This was
known as the Battle of
Britain.
Cities were bombed night
and day. Thousands of
children were evacuated to
the northern parts of the
island. Those that
remained in London spent
the nights in subway
stations for safety.
Firefighters hosed down flaming buildings and rescue teams dug trapped people out
of the rubble.
In the United States, Americans wondered how much longer they could
stay out of the war. With the fall of France, Roosevelt had called upon
his nation to build huge air fleets and a two-ocean navy. In September
1940 congress enacted the first peacetime draft in American history.
Royal Air force propaganda poster: quote by Winston
Churchill---a tribute to the skill and courage or Royal Air
Force pilots during the Battle of Britain and the offensive
against Germany in 1940-1941
Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) counterattacked the
German planes with skill. British fighter pilots were
aided by radar, a recent British invention.
With radar, the British could detect the
approach of enemy planes. The British
downed some 2,300 German planes and
lost about 900 of their own.
Despite the fact that whole sections of cities were destroyed, and more than 40,000
citizens were killed, the British held firm. The British were able to retaliate by even
more devastating attacks upon German cities.
Hitler canceled plans for an invasion of Britain. He shifted his efforts eastward with a
massive invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941. The success by the British was a
major turning point in the war.
Almost ¼ of the RAF fighters were killed during the campaign.
Map 3
The North African Front:
German General Erwin Rommel, The Desert Fox
When the United States entered the
war, the allied Powers decided on a
“beat Hitler first” strategy. First
priority: defeat the Axis Powers in
Europe.
Then mobilize more troops to fight
the Japanese in the Pacific.
Erwin Rommel was called “The
Desert Fox” because of his success
securing much of North Africa for the
Axis Powers. He became Hitler’s
favorite military man. Even his
enemies respected is military genius.
Roosevelt and Churchill’s first joint (together)
military move was a major offensive in North Africa.
Control of North Africa was important to the Allies for several reasons:
• Control of the Mediterranean so the Axis Powers didn’t control it an make an
increased threat to the Western Hemisphere
• Control of this region allowed the Allied troops to invade Europe from the South.
• Germany was close to controlling North Africa, the Suez Canal, and the oil fields of
the Middle East.
• British and American forces
• Launched in the fall of 1942
• Several attacks aimed at encircling the troops of General Rommel and
destroying the Italian forces in Africa
• The African campaign was headed by American General Eisenhower
and British Generals Montgomery and Clark
• Involved 850 ships in a surprised landing
• After months of bitter fighting in the Tunisian desert, forced Rommel’s
surrender.
After Rommel surrendered, he
returned to Germany. Allied
victories toward the end of the
war caused him to lose faith in
Hitler. Rommel then took part
in the attempt on Hitler’s life,
but committed suicide.
El Alamein and Operation Torch: The Road to Berlin Began in Africa
The start of the Allied invasion of Sicily - zero hour has arrived
and the men of the Allied forces receive the word 'Go.
The second phase of the Allied offensive was
the invasion of Sicily and Italy.
American General George Patton and British
General Montgomery led their troops to
overrun Sicily in just over a month.
Italians became fed up with Mussolini’s
incompetence, forced his resignation, and
replaced him with Marshal Pietro Badoglio who
immediately negotiated peace with the Allies.
The Allies slowly but steadily pushed the
German troops northward in Italy.
On September 8, 1943, Italy
announced its withdrawal from the
war.
Two years later Mussolini, together with his mistress,
was lynched by his own people. Both bodies were
hung up by the heels for public display.
The actual conquest of Italy was difficult. Hitler
ordered his troops NOT to surrender. German forces
did not surrender until the war had nearly ended.
On Map 4: Color in where the Eastern Front was fought. Use one color. (in between the red lines)
The Struggle
on the
Eastern Front
Germany invaded the
Soviet Union in June,
1941. Hitler believed
that a lightning attack
would bring about a
quick defeat before
winter. He was wrong.
German soldiers in
trenches during the
Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler sent a force of 3 million German soldiers who succeeded in pushing back Soviet
forces.
As the Soviets withdrew, they destroyed farm equipment and crops hoping this
“scorched earth” police would not let the Germans have supplies. After four months
of fighting, the Germans had overrun the Ukraine and were approaching Leningrad
and Moscow.
Stalin asked the Allies for 3 things:
• Massive aid
• Recognition of his territorial
demands in eastern Europe
• Establishment of a second war
front in western Europe
His requests were not met. This contributed to the post-war
tensions between the Soviet Union and the other Allies.
The German advance came to a stop. The
Russians, with their immense manpower, were
able to put up a fierce defense.
As a result, German troops were caught in a
700 miles long front facing a severe winter
without equipment for the cold weather.
The German siege of Leningrad lasted for
over two years. During this time, the city’s
population dropped from 4 million to 2.5
million as a result of fighting, starvation,
and disease.
The Germans were desperate for more oil
supplies so shifted their offensive
southward to the rich oil fields located
between the Black and Caspian Seas.
Hitler ordered a major strike against
Stalingrad, an important industrial center.
The Russians held firm, fighting with
passion.
Late October 1942, the German army again
faced a cold winter. Troops were battered
and exhausted from four months of steady
fighting. Hitler insisted the troops hold their
ground.
Destruction of Stalingrad, October 1942
On November 19, the Soviet army delivered its counterattack.
Within four days, the Soviets encircled and trapped a German general and 100,000
of his men between the Don and Volga Rivers.
The Soviet Army held its position for 7 weeks of severe winter and fierce combat.
The German general finally surrendered.
A month later, the Red Army began
to drive the German invaders back
along the Eastern Front.
The Russian offensive ended Hitler’s dream of conquering
the Soviet Union. Germany’s surrender on its Eastern
Front made for a dramatic shift in the war.
General von Paulus as
POW in center