The Second World War

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The Second World War

• European Theatre
• September 1939 - May 1945

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Blitzkrieg

• This is the German term for lightning war. This
  involved the cooperation of the air force
  (Luftwaffa), Armor (Panzers), and Infantry.
• Planes would bomb power stations, bridges and
  telephone lines.
• Tanks would bust through the enemy lines and
  encircle and the foot soldier cleaned up the
  mess.
• This created mass confusion, panic and rapid
  retreat.

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Invasion of Poland

• On September 1st 1939, the Germans invaded Poland
  using its blitz.
• Hitlers claim was that the free city of Danzig
  and the Polish corridor was rightfully Germanys.
• Britain gave Germany an ultimatum and when they
  refused to comply the British declared war on
  September 3rd, 1939.
• By September 10th, Canada entered the war.
• Poland would fall in just three weeks, with the
  Soviets staking claim in the East and the Germans
  claiming 2/3 of the West.

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Panzer 6 Tiger 20mm Canon
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The Phony War

• Germany lost WWI and they new that they had to
  improve their methods.
• For 4 years they built superior tanks and planes
  that would deliver a blitz.
• The allies had won so they thought they had it
  all figured out, so they did nothing.
• When Hitler invaded Poland the allies could not
  respond so they had to wait for Hitlers next
  move.

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The Invasion of France

• With the faster moving planes and tanks the 40
  year old Schlieffen Plan would be unleashed.
• They split the French and British armies in two,
  with the French encircled and the British with
  their backs to the sea.
• France would fall in just six weeks. By July of
  1940 Hitler would control all of Western Europe.

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Dunkirk

• On June 1st 1940 Winston Churchill, Prime
  Minister of Britain, would rally every boat that
  could float and rescue some 330 000 troops off
  the beaches of France.
• It may have been an evacuation, but it gave the
  British the idea that they were still in the
  fight .
• This was a serious missed opportunity by the
  Germans. Hitlers commanders were too busy
  arguing over who would have the glory of crushing
  the British. The British escaped under their
  noses.

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The Battle of Britain

• By August of 1940 Hitler turned his attention on
  the English.
• He figured he would pound them into submission by
  using bombers to set London in flames.
• Two things happened. 1. The British spirit could
  not be broken. 2. The British developed the new
  technology of radar. With radar and the British
  spitfire, the German air force was decimated over
  the skies of England.

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Operation Barbarossa

• Hitler made the greatest error. This is the
  decision that would eventually cost him the war.
• He figured he had England isolated. He turned his
  sites on his neutral ally the Soviet union.
• This operation was doomed to fail. He started the
  invasion of the USSR in late June of 1941. This
  was 3 months too late. It would mean that the
  Germans would have to fight threw a Russian
  winter.

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Stalingrad

• By late October, the Germans were on the door
  step of Moscow.
• Hitler wanted to destroy the industrial center of
  Stalingrad. He diverted 300 000 men to capture
  the city. They encircled it and laid siege for
  six weeks.
• The Moscow invasion stalled and the Russian army
  descended on the Germans entrenched around
  Stalingrad and captured over 300 000 German
  soldiers.
• This was a huge turning point. The USSR would
  gain momentum and the Germans would gain no more
  ground in the East.

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Invasion of North Africa

• The Italians were getting hammered by the British
  in Africa. Hitler sent his prize tank Commander
  to do the job, Erwin J. Rommel.
• Rommel had pushed the English all the way across
  North Africa to the door step of Cairo.
• The British, under Montgomery, made a heroic
  stand at Alamein and held the German advance.

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The Big Three

• Left Winston Churchill British Prime Minister.
• Center Franklin Roosevelt U.S. President.
• Right Josef Stalin Premier of the USSR
• They would be reponsible for the victory and the
  Peace that would come after WWII.

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Operation Torch

• Stalin needed pressure taken off him so he called
  for America and England to get in the fight.
• Operation Torch was unleashed in North Africa
  during Nov. 1942. This involved the Americans
  landing in Morocco in the West and the British
  pushing from Egypt in the East.

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Allied Victory

• May 12, 1943 the German Afrika Corps surrender to
  the allies at Tunis.
• The invasion of Sicily and then Italy was next.
  Hitler was fighting on multiple fronts.
• Italy would be slow and difficult and the allies
  would have to look for another invasion if they
  wanted to end the war quickly.

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D-Day

• The idea was to create the two front war to
  divide the German forces in Europe.
• The British and American air Force had been
  bombing German industrial centers for two years.
  It was time to deliver the knock out punch. This
  would come on the beaches of Normandy (Saving
  Private Ryan)
• The Allies worked hard at convincing the Germans
  that it would come at Calais in he East some 300
  km from Normandy.
• The American General Dwight Eisenhower would be
  in command.

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The landing

• June 6th 1944 it begins.
• 1,273 ships
• 57500 U.S. troops 75000 British and Can.
• 13743 air craft
• 900 armored vehicles and 600 guns.
• Five beaches Utah/Omaha U.S Sword/Gold
  British Juno Canadian

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The plan

• 27000 airborne troops would land behind the
  German defenses and secure the strategic towns,
  bridges, and railways.
• 130 000 troops would swarm the beaches at dawn
  with the protection of the naval guns as
  artillery.
• The defenses at Omaha were brutal. Over three
  thousand Americans would die on that beach.
• By the evening of June 6th the allies had
  established the Western Front. The War would take
  a rapid turn for the allies.