WORLD WAR IIEUROPE AND JAPAN AT WAR

EUROPE AT WAR

Hitler stunned Europe with the speed and efficiency of the German attack on Poland

His blitzkrieg or lightning war was a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the

use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower.

The force of the blitzkrieg broke quickly through Polish lines and encircled the Polish troops

Within four weeks, Poland had surrendered

September 28, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland

HITLERS EARLY VICTORIES

After a winter of waiting, Hitler resumed the attack with another blitzkrieg on

Denmark and Norway

One month later, the attacks were on the Netherlands, Belgium, and France ---

the main assault was through Luxembourg---German divisions broke through a

weak French defensive position and raced across northern France

French and British forces were taken by surprise because they were

anticipating a German attack

France built the Maginot Line along its border with Germany which the Germans

went around instead of going through

By going around, German troops split the Allied armies and trapping them on the beaches of

Dunkirk

HITLERS EARLY VICTORIES

The French signed an armistice on June 22, 1940

Germans controlled France

Germany was now in control of western and central Europe but Britain had still not been defeated

At this point, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain

President Franklin D. Roosevelt condemned the Germans but the United States followed a strict policy of

isolationism

A series of neutrality acts prevented the United States from taking sides or becoming involved in any European wars

Many Americans felt that the US had been drawn into WWI due to economic involvement in Europe and they wanted to

prevent that from happening again

Roosevelt believed the neutrality acts encouraged Axis aggression and they were gradually relaxed to supply food, ships,

planes, and weapons to Britain

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

In the summer of 1940, Germany began to assemble an invasion fleet along the French coast

German naval power couldnt compete with Britains so they launched an air war at the same time

Goal: Gain control of the skies by destroying Britains Royal Air Force (RAF)

Every night for two months, bombers pounded London

The Battle of Britain raged through the summer and fall

At first, Germany focused on airfields and aircrafts

Next, they targeted cities

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

The RAF was able to fight back

With the use of RADAR, the British were able to pinpoint the German plans

RAF shot down over 185 German planes and only lost 26 aircraft

6 weeks later Hitler called off the invasion

German bombers continued to pound Britains cities trying to disrupt production and break civilian morale.

British pilots also bombed German cities. Civilians in both countries unrelentingly carried on.

ATTACK ON THE SOVIET UNION

Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941

Believed that the Russians could still be defeated before the brutal winter set in

German troops captured 2 million Russian soldiers

One German army capture Ukraine, another surrounded Leningrad, and a third was approaching the capitol, Moscow

An early winter and fierce Soviet resistance stopped the German advance

The Germans had not planned for winter uniforms

For the first time in the war, German armies had been stopped

A counterattack by a Soviet army came as an ending to the year for the Germans

JAPAN AT WAR

On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii

The surprise attack damaged or destroyed more than 350 aircraft, damaged or sunk 18 ships, killed or wounded more than

3,500 Americans

The same day, the Japanese attacked the Philippines and advanced on Malaya

Later, they invaded the Dutch East Indies and occupied several islands in the Pacific Ocean

By Spring 1942, almost all Southeast Asia and much of the western Pacific had fallen to the Japanese

JAPAN AT WAR

Japan then declared themselves the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

The entire region was under Japanese direction

Japan announced its intention to liberate areas of Southeast Asia from Western colonial rule

However, Japan needed the resources of the region for its war machine and treated the countries under its rule as

conquered lands

JAPAN AT WAR

Japan was under the control of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo who became a military dictator

Hoped that Japans attack on America would destroy the U.S. fleet in the Pacific

He thought the Roosevelt administration would accept Japanese domination of the Pacific

However, the Pearl Harbor attack unified American opinion about becoming involved in the war

The U.S. joined with European nations and China in a combined effort to defeat Japan

Believing American involvement in the Pacific would make the United States ineffective in the European theater of war,

Hitler declared war on the United States four days after Pearl Harbor

THE ALLIES ADVANCE

The U.S. entry into the war created the Grand Alliance

Great Britain, France, United States, Soviet Union

The Allies agreed to fight until the Axis Powers --- Germany, Italy, and Japan --- surrendered unconditionally which

required the Axis nations to surrender without any favorable condition

Made it nearly impossible for Hitler to divide his foes

THE EUROPEAN THEATER

Defeat was far from Hitlers mind in 1942

Japan was advancing in Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Hitler continued fighting the war in Europe against Britain and the Soviet Union

It looked like the Germans might still win

Advanced to Alexandria in Africa

Captured Crimea from the Soviet Union

1942 the war had turned against the Germans

THE TIDE TURNS

In North Africa, the British forces had stopped General Erwin Rommels troops at El Alamein in the summer of

1942

Germans retreated back across the desert

German and Italian troops surrender in Africa in May of 1943

On the Eastern front, Hitlers general wanted him to focus on Caucasus and its oil fields but Hitler decided on

Stalingrad --- a major industrial city

In the most terrible battle of the war, the Soviets launched a counterattack --- encircled German troops and cut off their

supply line, all in frigid winter conditions

By the spring, Hitler knew that the Germans would not defeat the Soviet Union

THE ASIAN THEATER

In 1942, the tide of battle in the East also changed dramatically

Battle of Coral Sea

American naval forces stopped the Japanese advance and saved Australia from being invaded

Battle of Midway Island

Turning point of the war in Asia

U.S. planes destroyed four attacking Japanese aircraft carriers

U.S. defeated the Japanese navy and established naval superiority in the Pacific

THE ASIAN THEATER

By the fall 1942, Allied forces in Asia were gathering for two operations

1. Commanded by U.S. general Douglas MacArthur would move through New Guinea and the South Pacific

Islands

2. Across the Pacific with a combination of U.S. Army, Marine, and Navy attacks on Japanese-held islands

This policy called island hopping was to capture some Japanese-held islands and to bypass others to reach Japan