World War II

14.2: The Early Battles (Appleby 494-499)

14.4 Pushing Back the Axis (Appleby 508-515)

*European War Focus

Today’s Agenda• 14.2 slide show• Homework• Presentations or Paper due

THIS Friday!!!– Quality must be Excellent

– Must be ontime

– http://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/2014/apr/image-opacity-slider-master/index.html?ww2-dday

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Normandy Beach, France June 6, 1944

What events led these Americans to end up in Normandy, France?

Who were the Allies/the Axis Powers?Allies

• United States

• Great Britain

• Soviet Union

• And many others

Axis Powers

• Germany

• Italy

• Japan“The Big Three

World Map with the participants in World War II.The Allies depicted in green (those in light green entered after the attack on Pearl Harbor), the Axis Powers in orange, and neutral countries in grey.

What was the Allied strategy for fighting WWII?• Second Front

– Stalin wanted US to invade Europe

– Help Russia fight Germans• FDR

– agreed to defeat Germany 1st

– Defensive war in Pacific• Unconditional surrender

– No separate truces will be accepted

• “Closing the Ring”– Allied plan to encircle

GermanyMr. Reilly

Barbarossa

Axis Powers by September of 1942.

Oil Fields

Whea

t Fiel

ds

Hitler’s Plan: Operation Barbarossa

Capture the wheat fields of Ukraine

Advance East across North Africa and South from Russia to capture the oil fields of the Middle East.

Describe the importance of Stalingrad.• Operation Barbarossa began June

1941 (Summer)

• Blitzkrieg extremely effective

• Control of Volga Rv. = control of Russian resources

– oil of Caspian & wheat of Ukraine

– Stalingrad key to Volga Rv.

• Battle of Stalingrad

– Brutal street fighting

– Germans unprepared for winter

– Soviets stopped Germans

• 300 thousand captured

– Turning point of the war

In spite of these loses, Hitler was firmly entrenched in western Europe.

Russian AdvanceAfter Stalingrad

Allied Invasion of N. Africa 11/42

Allied Invasion of

Italy Summer ‘43

To complete the encirclement of Hitler (Closing the Ring) the Allies needed to land somewhere in France.

Normandy 6/’44D Day

Describe the preparations for the Allied invasion of Europe.

• Pas-de-Calais

– Port city in France where Hitler believed Allies would invade

• Allies encouraged Hitler’s belief

– Operation Mincemeat

• Spring ‘44

– 1.5 million US soldiers, thousands or airplanes, equipment gathered in S. England

• Chose northern coast of France as invasion site (Normandy Beach)

• Conditions for invasion only good from June 5-7 (Tide, Moon would be OK)

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. …I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

What was Operation Overlord?• Plan for Allied invasion of

W. Europe (D-Day)• D-Day (June 6, 1944)• Involved transporting

hundreds of thousands of troops, equipment across stormy English Channel to gain foothold in France

• Atlantic Wall– Normandy Coast of France

heavily fortified by Germans

• Omaha beach saw intense fighting– Over 2, 500 casualties

• Built man-made harbor• Huge success

D-Day

What was the Battle of the Bulge?• Hitler’s last major

offensive (Dec. 1944)• Caught Allies off guard• Goal was to capture

Antwerp• Germans surrounded town

of Bastogne– Protected by 101st

Airborne • Germans demanded

surrender– “Nuts” was the reply

• Weather broke in January and supplies replenished

Site of assassination attempt on Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg

What was V-E Day?• After Battle of the Bulge

German spent• By April ‘45, Soviets

were in Berlin, US was closing in

• Hitler committed suicide April 30

• Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies May 8, 1945

• “Victory in Europe” = VE Day

• FDR had died April 12

VE Day