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I. II. III. IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X. XI.
Welcome to World War II history – a topic you will find no shortage of literature on, but one
that can be tough to truly master. Luckily for you, the Decathlete, this guide breaks every fact
you need to know down, point by bullet point. Long-time Acadec competitors will recognize
the usual features of Demidec style here:
Bolded terms flag important words and phrases, whose definitions you should know.
For a quick, alphabetized and themed review of all these terms, head to the power lists
at the end of the guide.
Pull-quotes, or text boxes, may appear that replicate quotes provide in the official
USAD Social Science Resource. While not strictly factual material for testing, you
should still be familiar with any observations made there – they can still be fair game
in the exams! Otherwise, any divergence from the guide will be footnoted – either as
a plain footnote that clarifies areas of vagueness or inaccuracy in the guide, or as an
Enrichment Fact for the curious.
Additional commentary, sarcasm, and humor can be found in footnotes signed with a
name.
More importantly to this year’s guide, I have reorganized some of the material provided in
the Resource to facilitate understanding and clarity. While the guide attempts to break down
the war’s events year-by-year, this guide follows a roughly geographical outline instead. I
have signposted throughout to help you maintain a sense of the chronology at play, but hope
that this organization helps you to get a better idea of the course of the war.
Understanding a war as disparate and universal as World War II is no easy task – this power
guide, and the USAD curriculum, is a taste of the entire field of World War II history. I hope
that you come away from this subject with as many questions as answers.
As might be expected, most of this year’s curriculum focuses on the actual “war” aspect of
World War II – the battles, military strategies, and outcomes of the war on the Eastern and
Western front, in Sections II and III.
Section I focuses on the conditions leading up to and enabling the outbreak of World War II
in 1939, contextualizing it in terms of World War I and its broad, lasting impact on Europe.
Sections IV and V deal with the aftermath of World War II, with section IV a short but heavy
section on the Holocaust. Section V tackles a much wider range of post-war impacts, from
the immediate Nuremberg and Tokyo trials to permanent shifts in geopolitics and national
boundaries. This section, particularly the subsections on decolonization, can best be seen as
a series of case studies on central themes of the world after war.
While a grasp of geography is not required as part of this curriculum, more visual learners
will probably find it helpful to refer to a map throughout their study. Some have been
provided in the USAD resource; others here help you visualize major battles and fronts. Many
more, of course, can be found online in the many digital depositories of military
paraphernalia.
Tests are never predictable, but the time-pressed should concentrate on the key events of
sections II and III, which are presented in a Power Table on battles of World War II. “Easy”
marks on the test will probably come from the first and last sections, which are relatively
straightforward if you have a firm conceptual grasp of the material. Find what works for you,
and good luck!
Section I, 15%
Section II, 30%
Section III, 30%
Section IV, 10%
Section V, 15%
Curriculum breakdown
World War I End of the war
World War I lasted for four years
It pitted the Allied Powers (Entente) against the Central Powers
Entente (Allied Powers) Central Powers
British Empire
France
Russian Empire (until 1917)
Italy
Japan
Serbia
Belgium
United States (from April 1917)
Germany
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
The United States entered the war in April 1917
Its army reinvigorated the war effort
Germany’s final military push failed in the spring of 1918
Its leaders decided to seek peace in September
The Allies threatened to invade Germany
Food shortages and the growing death toll created unrest at home
Massive strikes erupted in November 1918
Kaiser Wilhelm II resigned and left Germany
The new government agreed to an armistice on November 11, 1918
The agreement temporarily halted fighting
This new government contained mainly moderate socialists
It ushered in the start of the Weimar Republic
Many conservatives thought the government betrayed Germany by suing for peace
Their belief became known as the stab-in-the-back myth
Treaty of Versailles
The allied powers crafted separate peace treaties for each defeated power
They negotiated these treaties at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris
The Allies excluded the Central Powers and Russia from the conference
The peace conference lasted around six months
The Big Four
Country Leader Goal:
Great Britain David Lloyd
George
Maintain naval dominance
Restore European balance of power system
France Georges
Clemenceau
Obtain reparations in repayment for wartime losses
Prevent German resurgence
Italy Vittorio Orlando Obtain territory from Austria-Hungary
United States Woodrow Wilson “Peace without victory”1
- Democracy and demilitarization
- Free trade
- Creation of League of Nations to mediate future
conflicts
Creation of nations according to ethnic makeup
All of the Big Four sought to prevent communist revolutions in Europe
The November 1917 Russian Revolution caused them to fear similar uprisings in
the Central Powers
The final treaty reflected Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson’s positions
It formed a middle ground between France’s desire to punish Germany and Wilson’s
idealism
The reparations eventually amounted to $33 billion under a 1921 agreement2
France did not fully support the League of Nations
Key points: the Treaty of Versailles
- Created the League of Nations (Article 1)
- Took all colonies away from Germany
- Limited the size of Germany’s military
- Relinquished German territory to France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia
- Required Germany to pay reparations
- Forced Germany to take full responsibility for the war (Article 231)
It thought the League needed military forces to back up its powers
The legacy of World War I
German citizens strongly opposed Article 231
They believed that the Entente had played an equal role in causing the war
Chancellor Philipp Scheidemann resigned in June 1919
His successor Gustav Bauer signed the treaty on June 28, 1919
This decision prompted four years of unrest
Many right-wing groups gained support
Germany and Russia remained diplomatically excluded in the following decades
The League of Nations proved ineffective
A general disillusionment with democracy arose in Europe
Totalitarian ideologies used extensive propaganda and terror to rule
They rejected class divisions in society
Soviet Union
Russia underwent a communist revolution in 1917 led by Vladimir Lenin
1
2
Lenin died in 1924, sparking a power struggle
The eventual successor Joseph Stalin set up a totalitarian government
He eliminated other political rivals and created a cult of personality
Soviet citizens venerated Stalin as a perfect leader
This glorification of Stalin contradicted original Communist principles
Stalin sought to create “socialism in one country”
He focused on communism within the Soviet Union rather than globally
This policy entailed bringing farming and industry under collective ownership
Millions of Soviets became displaced, with thousands imprisoned or killed
Economic development constituted the main means to achieving communism
A large state bureaucracy emerged to implement his policies
It also allowed Stalin to control the system tightly from top down
The Soviet Union moved from an agricultural to industrial economy
Stalin introduced Five-Year Plans in 1928 to help this process
The plans instituted production targets across all economic sectors
Smaller peasant-owned farms became merged into large state-run farms
Peasants had to work a minimum number of days to meet production quotas
Many peasants resisted this collectivization, and thousands died in protest
The process of collectivization led to a great famine in 1930 to 1933
Around seven million deaths resulted
Stalin launched a campaign to consolidate power from 1936 to 1938
Farcical show trials of his political rivals eliminated anyone whose loyalty Stalin
suspected
Torture techniques frequently extracted fake confessions3
Soviet radio broadcast these trials across the country
The trials sentenced around 680,000 to death, including many military leaders
Around a million people died in the prison camps, or Gulag4
Finally, Stalin joined in the Spanish Civil War against Franco’s forces
It supplied military equipment to the leftist organizations5
Militarism in Japan
Japan had come out of World War I strengthened rather than punished
It conquered Germany’s Chinese and Pacific colonies
The Allies had promised it these areas
They also agreed that Japan would take part in the peace conference
Japan escaped domestic upheaval and instability in the 1920s
It became more democratic, passing full male suffrage in 1925
The military’s political power waned
However, other problems remained
Attitudes towards the West remained ambivalent
Japan had faced a choice between Western-style modernization and Japanese
tradition since the sixteenth century
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 marked a compromise between the two
The restoration maintained the importance of Japanese identity
3
4
5
The Great Depression hit Japan hard and led to a military revival
Japan’s military believed that Japan needed strong defenses
They proposed that Japan expand its territory to strengthen its economy
Japan’s army targeted Manchuria
Manchuria lay on the border of Japan’s colony in Korea and in China’s northeast
It had much natural resources and a rail network that supplied Japan
Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government had weak control over the region
The local warlord Chang Hsueh-liang controlled Manchuria
Japan sent its own troops to protect its supply trains
It created a provocation to allow the army to invade Manchuria
Officials engineered an explosion that they blamed on Chang
This explosion is known as the Mukden Incident of September 18, 1931
Manchuria fell to Japan by January 1932
Japan set up a puppet state called Manchukuo in September 1932
Its nominal ruler Puyi was the last heir of the Qing Dynasty
The government feared its own military’s power
Lower-ranking officers tried to overthrow the government in 1936
The cabinet started to prepare for war against China
Japan became allied with the Axis powers6
Italy
Italy came away from the Versailles conference dissatisfied
It had hoped to gain more territory
This dissatisfaction paved the way for its totalitarian movement
Italy also faced economic challenges after the war
Labor strikes frequently occurred
Benito Mussolini led the fascist movement
He founded the National Fascist Party in 1921
Fascism comes from the Roman term fasces, a bundle of wooden rods
The party modelled itself after the Roman Empire
It adopted the empire’s salute and eagle insignia
Mussolini had been the editor of a socialist newspaper
He adopted nationalism after World War I
Key principles of Italian fascism
Extreme
nationalism
Emphasized state above the role of the individual
Belief in Social Darwinism – role of natural and human forces in bringing
about a strong nation
Violence Struggle as the only way to reach human fulfilment
Rejection of post-World War I pacifism
Persecution Desire to eliminate opponents and ‘undesirables’
Youth Criticism of society as corrupted by old ways
Propaganda Use of communication media like radio and film
Glorification of Italy’s ancient past
Worker unrest from 1919 to 1921 frightened Italy’s middle class
6
They saw Italy’s liberal government as ineffective and feared communism
Fascism rejected communism’s belief in the role of economic forces
Mussolini formed a militia in response, the Blackshirts7
They launched a March on Rome in October 1922
The Italian government tried to ban the march
King Victor Emmanuel III instead asked Mussolini to form a coalition government
Italy became a fascist dictatorship by 1925
From Italian Republic to Fascist Italy
1923 Acerbo Law Largest political party (with at least 25% of votes)
given 2/3s of parliament seats
1929 Lateran Pact with
Catholic Church
Vatican given independent city-state status
Catholicism designated official state religion
Church paid back for land seizures
1935,
October
Invasion of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia was one of two uncolonized African states
and put up strong resistance
1936,
May
Conquest of
Ethiopia
Italy prevailed with the use of bombing and poison
gas
The League of Nations failed to intervene
1936
Rome-Berlin Axis Alliance with Germany
Spanish Civil War Aid sent to the general Francisco Franco, who led a
coup against the Spanish Republic
1937 Anti-Comintern
Pact
Joined the Japan-Germany alliance of 1936 against
the communist Soviet Union
From Fascism to Nazism The NSDAP
The locksmith Anton Drexler founded Germany’s fascist party in 1919
It had the original name of the German Workers Party
The party formed one of many other right-wing organizations that emerged
Drexler never attracted more than 40 party members89
The Army’s Political Department wanted to ensure it did not threaten the republic
It assigned Adolf Hitler to follow the party
Hitler shared Drexler’s disdain for the Weimar government
He joined the party, becoming its leader by 1920
It renamed itself the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
This name became abbreviated as the Nazi Party
Hitler modelled the party after Italy’s
7
8
9
Its Blackshirts equivalent was the S.A., or Brownshirts1011
Key Nazi beliefs
Strong leadership Germany’s leader embodied the nation’s strength
Territorial expansion
German entitlement to Eastern Europe’s land and resources –
“lebensraum”, living space
Opposition to the Versailles Treaty
Elimination of
undesirables
Anti-Semitism - prejudice against Jews, at the bottom of a racial
hierarchy along with Eastern Europeans
Superiority of Caucasian Aryans
Considered homosexuals, Romas, and disabled people subhuman12
Its first attempt at taking power proved less successful
Hitler tried to overthrow the Bavarian regional government in the southeast
He planned to use the state as a base from which to march on Berlin
The state government’s military did not defect to the Nazi Party
The failed coup became known as the Beer Hall Putsch
Hitler was charged for treason
A right-wing judge let him off with only five years in prison
He only served a year in the end
The prison time gave Hitler an opportunity to write Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
It served as autobiography and political manifesto
The world economy collapsed in 1929 with the Great Depression
Many unemployed Germans turned against the ineffectual Weimar government
The Nazi Party promised greater certainty and order
Many middle class and young Germans in particular turned to Nazism
The Nazi road to power
September
1930
Nazis win 107 seats in parliamentary elections
January 1932 Nazis become largest party in government
January 30,
1933
Adolf Hitler becomes German chancellor
Conservative politicians hoping this move will keep him in check by gratifying his
desire for power
February 27,
1933
Nazis blame a fire at the Reichstag (Germany’s parliament house) on Communist
saboteurs
February 1933 Reichstag passes the Enabling Act suspending Germany’s constitution for four
years
March 1933 Hitler founds the first concentration camp in Dachau
10
11
12
October 1933 Germany withdraws from the League of Nations
1933
Hitler further consolidates Nazi power
Bans other political parties
Merges labor unions into a Nazi-controlled association13
Bans labor strikes
Imposes Nazi ideology on school syllabi1415
Forms youth movements Hitler Youth and League of German Girls
1935
Nuremberg Laws are passed
Jews denied German citizenship and required to wear the Star of David
“Jewish” given official definition
Marriage between pureblood Germans and Jews banned
Subsequent moves included ban on business ownership, the civil service, law and
university faculty16
March 1935
German openly violates the Treaty of Versailles
Expands military
Conscripts men into the Wehrmacht, the German military
Re-founds the German air force, the Luftwaffe
1936
Germany occupies the demilitarized Rhineland and sends aid to Franco’s forces
in Spain
Trials its new Stuka dive bomber
Provides military advice
In general uses the conflict as a trial run for World War II
Japan and Germany sign the Anti-Comintern17 Pact against the Soviet Union
1937 Italy joins Anti-Comintern Pact
November 9,
1938
Germany enacts Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass
Mass destruction of synagogues and Jewish businesses
Retaliation for a Polish Jew’s assassination of a Nazi official in Paris
Anti-Semitism
Jews had been seen as alien to Europe since at least the Middle Ages
They practiced different religions and cultural traditions
Some states forced them to wear distinct clothing or insignia like the Star of David
In Eastern Europe, states often approved pogroms, mass killings of Jews
13
14
15
16
17
http://www.thebreman.org/exhibitions/online/1000kids/propaganda.html
Belarus and Ukraine in the Russian Empire experienced many pogroms in the
nineteenth century
Social Darwinism added a racial element to religious discrimination against Jews
Charles Darwin had developed the theory of natural selection
Anti-Semitics twisted his ideas to promote Nordic racial dominance
Major Anti-Semitic works
Joseph
Arthur,
Comte de
Gobineau
1853 Essay on the
Inequality of the
Human
Distinguished between white, black, and
yellow races
Thought race was central to determining
which human civilizations thrived
Houston
Stewart
Chamberlain
1899 Foundations
of the 19th Century
(vol 1 – 2)
British son in law of anti-Semitic composer
Richard Wagner
Admired Wagner and other German artists
Argued that Aryans, especially Germans,
made Europe great
Did not consider Jewish people German
Eugenicists argued that only the racially superior should be allowed to reproduce
Other inferior peoples should undergo compulsory sterilization18
The 1894 Dreyfus Affair marked a major development in modern anti-Semitism
A Jewish captain in the French army, Alfred Dreyfus, had been convicted of spying for
the German embassy in Paris
Evidence emerged in 1896 that another officer had been the spy
The army acquitted that official and accused Dreyfus of inventing evidence
The Nazi regime took anti-Semitism to new levels
They singled out Jews not just for religious and cultural differences
To Nazis, Jews had innate biological inferiorities
They sought to force Germany’s Jewish population of 500,000 to leave
First, the Nazis excluded Jews from civil society through various laws
Second, they unofficially persecuted Jews with increasing violence
Time Policies Implications
April 1933 Jews banned from civil service due to suspect
loyalties
- Pressure on university faculty to resign
- Mass burnings of Jewish authors’ books
Expanded to law,
medicine, and military
September
1935
Nuremberg
Laws
Jews no longer considered German citizens
Criminalization of sexual relations or marriage
between Germans and Jews
Codified definition of “Jew” as based on lineage
- Required three or four Jewish grandparents
Expanded to apply to
other Germans
- Disabled
- Blacks (Africans)
- Gypsies (Roma)
18
- Even non-practicing or culturally assimilated
Jews considered Jews
1937-8 Ban on Jewish-owned businesses
All Jewish property formally registered
Marking of identity cards with a red J
“Judaification” of non-Jewish names via addition of
middle names
- Israel for men, Sara for women
German acquisitions of
Jewish businesses at
fire-sale prices
1938 Issue of new passports for Jews with a “J” marking
Expulsion of Polish Jewish citizens into Poland
Re-conquest of this
population in 1939
On November 8, 1938, a Jewish refugee assassinated a Nazi official in Paris
The Nazi party ordered its members to provoke supposedly “spontaneous” riots
The resultant night of November 9th to 10th became known as Kristallnacht, the Night
of Broken Glass
Crowds looted Jewish-owned businesses and burned synagogues and houses
They also attacked Jews found on the street, with 91 deaths resulting
The state took advantage of the unrest to arrest 30,000 Jews
They were imprisoned in camps like Dachau and Buchenwald
A meeting on the issue of Jewish refugees took place in July 1938
It became known as the Evian Conference19 after its French site
32 countries attended, including the United States
All declared that they could not receive further German Jews
German Jews continued to flee, with 300,000 leaving the country
However, many of them fell under German rule again during the war
Western governments reacted in shock to Kristallnacht
However, the violence did not convince them to ease immigration restrictions
The road to war: 1938 to 1939
Germany first implemented its expansionist plans in 1938
The Treaty of Versailles forbade the merger of Austria and Germany, called Anschluss
However, Hitler demanded that Austria appoint fascist ministers in February 1938
He ordered an invasion in response to the government’s refusal
Chancellor Schuschnigg resigned
The Nazi collaborator Arthur Seys-Inquart replaced him
He soon turned Austria over to German troops
Neither Great Britain nor France dared resist and risk provoking full-scale warfare
An emboldened Hitler decided to claim Czechoslovak land
The border region of Sudetenland had a majority German population
He believed that all Germans should live within German borders
Germany accused Czechoslovakia of discriminating against Sudeten Germans
It threatened war if Czechoslovakia did not cede the region
Czechoslovakia wanted to refuse as the region formed a main line of defense
The Western powers convened the Munich conference in September 1938
19
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Edouard
Daladier negotiated a resolution
Czechoslovakia surrendered the Sudetenland
Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement received much criticism
However, he gained time for Great Britain to re-arm, particularly its air force
Hitler nevertheless craved full-scale war with the western powers
However, the Soviet Union to the east remained a military threat
Germany had lost World War I due to having to fight on two fronts
Hitler thus negotiated an alliance with the Soviet Union
The two countries signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939
Stalin agreed to this alliance to protect Soviet security
He felt that appeasement failed to halt fascist expansion
The two powers agreed on their plans for Eastern Europe
They secretly divided Polish territory between the two countries
The Polish Corridor became his next target
This 20-mile wide strip of land connected Poland to the Baltic Sea
It also cut Germany off from the region of East Prussia
Many Germans also lived in this corridor
In August 1939, he issued an ultimatum to Poland to relinquish the port of Danzig
Germans in the Polish Corridor also had to vote on becoming part of Germany
The army had started preparing for an invasion on September 1
Poland resisted Hitler’s demands
Great Britain and France had promised their military’s support
Germany accordingly went ahead with its attack
Outbreak of War Poland
Germany divided its assault force in Poland into two groups
Army Group South pushed northeast to the capital Warsaw
Army Group North took the Polish Corridor and then circled behind Warsaw to prevent
Polish troops from fleeing east
Poland fell within days
September 6 Germany forces advance halfway to Warsaw
September 7 Polish military command falls apart
September 17 Soviet invasion on the pretext of defending Russians in eastern
Poland
End September Poland’s government flees to London
This swift campaign became known outside Germany as Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war"
It required large numbers of tanks and aerial support to surprise and punch quickly
through enemy lines
Infantry troops would then take care of the dispersed enemy forces
Later German offensives had even more closely coordinated land and aerial attacks
Balance of forces
Military size Killed Wounded Captured
Germany 54 divisions - nearly 1.5 million men
~ 2,000 aircraft
11,000 30,000 3,400
(missing)
Poland 30 divisions - ~ 1 million men
313 aircraft
Inferior resources, especially armor and
mechanized divisions
70,000 30,000 700,000
Soviet troops treated its conquered region brutally
Stalin and the Politburo ordered the Katyn Forest massacre
Secret police members killed 22,000 Poles from April to May 1940
Most had been military officers or intellectuals
Germany found their mass graves in 1943
The London exile government asked the Red Cross to investigate
Stalin responded by severing ties with the London Poles
Germany’s swift victory caused Great Britain and France to realize their underestimation of
Hitler’s forces
They had hoped a simple economic blockade would defeat Germany
The victory ignited debate in the United States over whether to join the war
The Phoney War
Hitler planned to invade France in mid-November 1939
His October 9 missive set a date for the invasion
However, the invasion had to be postponed due to bad weather
The conditions would hamper the Luftwaffe
A late invasion would give the army too little time
The eventual date was set at May 1940
France and Great Britain also remained inactive throughout this period
The quiet on both fronts led to the terms “Phoney War” and “Sitzkrieg”
The main action took place between the navies
Germany stationed two battleships and 16 submarines (U-boats) in the Atlantic
It sank Britain’s Royal Oak battleship on October 14, 1939, at the Scapa Flow base
in Scotland
Many commercial liners also fell to the German navy
In exchange, the Allies sank the Graf Spee near Argentina and Uruguay’s post
The Allies made a major intelligence breakthrough in the Ultra program
Poland had started decoding Germany’s naval radio codes
Germany used the Enigma cipher for these codes
The Allies built on Poland’s work to eventually decipher the Enigma messages
The Winter War
The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939 to expand its border regions
Finland refused to cede land from which the Soviet Union could defend Leningrad
The Soviet military had much greater numbers and equipment
However, many of their top leaders had died in Stalin’s purges
They also lacked experience in Finnish winter conditions
Finland held out until March 1940, signing the Moscow Peace Treaty
In addition to Stalin’s original demands, it confiscated more land and economic
resources
The war drained the Soviet Union’s resources
Its difficulties shook Western estimations of its military
The Allies also perceived the Soviet Union as an aggressor in the war
Finland’s surrender meant that the Allies did not send troops to northern Scandinavia
Doing so would have placed Sweden’s iron ore under threat
Germany would have invaded Norway in response, rather than later in 1940
Domestic response forced Edouard Daladier to resign in March 1940
The Laval government succeeded him20
American attitudes towards the war
Many Americans held isolationist viewpoints
They thought Wilson’s idealistic view of peace after World War I had failed
Some held pacifist or religious anti-war views
20
Others believed war acted simply as an excuse for corporate profit
The 1935 Nye Committee had made such a suggestion
This committee had the full name of the Senate Special Committee
Investigating the Munitions Industry
Still more people distrusted the European great powers
Congress passed four Neutrality Acts from 1935 to 1939
United States’ Neutrality Acts
1935
Banned exporting arms to countries in a state of war
Limited such countries’ submarine access to American ports
Permitted the president to consider Americans on such countries’ ships
as travelling at their own risk
Was placed temporarily in effect for six-month
1936 Renewed act until May 1, 1937
Added additional amendment forbidding loans to countries at war
1937
Banned Americans sailing on the ships of countries at war
Banned arming American commercial ships
Conceded Roosevelt the cash-and-carry policy to Roosevelt
Sale of war resources allowed, apart from lethal weapons
Purchaser countries had to pay in cash and handle transport
1939 Extended cash-and-carry policy to weaponry
Prohibited American ships from war zones
By 1939, many Americans had changed their position
They opposed Germany but did not want to be directly involved
President Roosevelt believed the United States would have to aid the Allies
Prelude to Case Yellow
Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in April 1940
It wanted to preempt an Allied attack on northern Germany
Denmark surrendered rapidly, offering Germany three advantages
(1) Germany could control the Baltic Sea
(2) It could access Sweden’s iron ore
(3) Denmark provided a base for the Luftwaffe to invade Norway
The Norway campaign proved more difficult but also more successful
German U-boats could enter the Baltic, circumventing Great Britain’s blockade
However, its occupation of Norway diverted resources from other fronts
Germany overestimated the importance of Norway’s submarine bases
The invasion consumed most of its surface fleet
Public reactions to Norway’s fall forced Neville Chamberlain to resign
Winston Churchill succeeded him as Prime Minister
The Allies thought that Germany would invade via Belgium, as in World War I
France’s Maginot Line of fortifications deterred potential attack
However, these forts had not been designed for counterattacking
They proved redundant once German forces had circumvented them
Germany planned to do so by punching through a gap in the Maginot Line
This gap lay in the Ardennes Forest along the 250-mile border with Belgium
France had run out of funds to fortify this region
It also did not want to give Belgium the impression that France intended to fall
back on the forts and abandon Belgium
France assumed that the difficult terrain would deter German troops
The fall of France
Germany gave its invasion of France the code name Case Yellow
The invasion started on May 10, 1940
Germany simultaneously attacked Belgium and the Netherlands
The Dutch government fled to Great Britain on May 13
Belgium’s military tried to hold out independent of French and British aid
They rightly suspected the latter planned to support Belgium only to buy time
to prepare their own defenses
Germany planned to draw French and British troops north to Belgium
Its armored units would push through the Ardennes and circle the Allies’ rear
Fighting occurred along the Meuse River in the Ardennes from May 13 to 15
However, the Allies mistook the Meuse front for a feint
Erwin Rommel’s troops broke through French lines by May 15
Allied defenses in Belgium faltered
Germany’s success caused French troops to panic
The German army reached the French coast by May 21
It surrounded the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF)
Great Britain had planned for this eventuality and ordered a retreat to Dunkirk
France opposed the planned evacuation
However, the British evacuation helped preserve its forces for later battles
Germany did not close off the channel to England until June
Total evacuations
May 29 70,000 evacuated
May 31 194,000
June 2-3 350,000, including French troops
After the BEF withdrew, Germany outnumbered the Allies 3:1
On 10 June, Italy joined in the war and attacked from the south
Henri Phillipe Petain assumed French leadership on June 16
He signed a surrender on June 22
Germany occupied the north of France and its Atlantic coast
France had to make major reparation payments
Germany did not press for French overseas colonies or its naval forces
The French navy could easily seek British refuge
It did not have the resources to invade France’s colonies
Petain became the head of Vichy France, a nominally free state in the south
Vichy refers to the name of its capital city
Charles de Gaulle and other generals continued the war from Africa
Their Free France movement fought Vichy France’s troops
Petain assumed dictatorial powers and followed Nazi anti-Semitic policies
Norway, Ukraine, and Lithuania also had collaborator governments
Churchill ordered a naval and aerial attack on the port of Mers-el-Kebir
The port lay in French Algeria
He wanted to ensure Germany did not use French naval resources
Great Britain sank one French battleship, damaged five, and killed almost 1,200 soldiers
In response, Petain cut diplomatic ties with Great Britain
He also ordered attacks on British Gibraltar
Battle of Britain
Germany codenamed its invasion of Great Britain Operation Sea Lion
It required German control of the English Channel’s airspace
Hitler issued specific orders to the Luftwaffe to this effect on July 16, 1940
This plan failed for several reasons
The Luftwaffe lacked a clear strategy for attacking the Royal Air Force (RAF)
It gave the RAF chances to regroup at important points
The RAF could save fuel and men when fighting on its own soil
Pilots who evacuated found themselves on friendly territory
Luftwaffe pilots would be captured by the British
Great Britain’s eastern coast contained 50 radar stations
They could find out the direction, altitude, and size of Luftwaffe attacks
Radar had been developed at Great Britain’s National Physical Laboratory
The RAF consequently enjoyed cutting-edge radar technology
British plane production also outpaced Germany’s
It thus had 600 fighters in action, the same number as the Luftwaffe
The fight for air superiority became known as the Battle of Britain
Phases of the Battle of Britain
early July – early August fight for the English Channel
August 13 – 18 dogfights over southeastern Britain
August – early September bombing of RAF bases
September 7 – 30 London bombings
October various skirmishes
The battle remained closely fought throughout
Hitler’s intervention in September relieved the RAF of constant bombing
Hitler wanted more immediate results and ordered that London be targeted
He hoped that the bombings would damage morale
In fact, they strengthened British will to resist
The RAF used this period to repair their air bases
Germany postponed Operation Sea Lion on September 17
The Luftwaffe switched to night raids to reduce losses
Eventually, Hitler called off the invasion altogether
Germany lost around 600 bombers and 668 fighters
The RAF lost 832 fighters
America on the sidelines
By the end of 1941, American opinion had swung away from pacifism
The country had deep historical ties with Europe
After France fell, Great Britain’s survival appeared vital to American security
President Roosevelt effectively brought the country into the war for the Allies
From neutrality to war
September 1940
Destroyers for
Bases agreement
Provided UK with 50 World War I era destroyers to counter U-
Boats
In return, gave United States leases to British holdings in the
Americas21
Lend-Lease
Proposed after Roosevelt won a third term
Allowed the president to provide war resources to any country
whose survival he declared necessary to that of the United
States
Enabled the United States to become the Allies’ main
suppliers
March 1941 ABC-1
Conference
Brought American and British officials together for agreement
on the Europe First strategy
Resulted in U.S. agreement to focus on defeating Germany
before it addressed Pacific front against Japan
August 1941
Roosevelt-Churchill
meeting
Inaugurated a close relationship between the leaders
Resulted in the Atlantic Charter articulating the countries’ aims
Committed both countries to self-determination, free trade,
and global collaboration
Roosevelt dispatched ships to escort British convoys in the North Atlantic
The authorization to fire on German U-boats effectively declared war
Germany retaliated by sinking destroyer USS Reuben James on October 31, 1941
115 Americans died
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Allies fought to keep their Atlantic lines open against German submarines
U-boats operated in ‘wolfpacks’, groups that worked together to attack convoys
Period Focus of U-boat attacks
September 1939 – June 1940 British shore
June 1940 – April 1941 Eastern Atlantic, to cut off British supplies to west
and south Africa
April 1941 – December 1941 Extension into central-western Atlantic
December 1941 onwards Off the American coast
1942 was a turning point in the battle
U-boats inflicted major losses on Great Britain, with 300 deployed
They hindered Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union from 1941 to spring 1943
The Allies lost 509,000 tons of shipping in November, their largest since May 1941
By 1943, the Allies could produce enough ships to replace all losses
New Liberty ships could be completed in three months
They also sank an average of 15 submarines a month, as many as Germany constructed
21
Germany failed to eliminate Great Britain as a base from which the Allies could invade
Europe
Allied strategy Result
Improved naval codebreaking Germany concedes defeat
in May 1943 and
withdraws its navy from
the Atlantic.
More escort groups to support convoys
More effective radar, sonar, and depth charges
Use of long-range aircraft, such as the B-24 Liberator bomber
The Eastern Front Prelude to invasion
Mussolini had great ambitions for Italy
He wanted to invade on many fronts simultaneously: Yugoslavia and Greece, French
Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean
The military lacked a strategy and remained underequipped for war
Mussolini decided to attack British Egypt and push towards the Suez Canal
The canal connected Great Britain to its Indian and Pacific colonies
He ignored the warnings of his generals in Libya
The invasion started in September 1940 along the coast to Egypt
Great Britain withdrew to reduce losses
Italy ground to a halt along the coast at Sidi Barrani by mid-September
Their advance strung out their supply and communication lines
It also exposed their armies to attack from the south
At the same time, Great Britain sent more tanks to Egypt
Great Britain counterattacked in December
It had additional troops from India and the Commonwealth
Italy crumbled unexpectedly quickly and retreated to Libya
Their withdrawal placed Great Britain on the offensive in North Africa
Mussolini feared that Germany would dominate Eastern Europe
He ordered an attack on Greece on October 28, 1940
Greece repelled Italy by mid-December
Worse, it took a quarter of Italian Albania
Germany came to Italy’s aid
Great Britain had transferred troops to Greece in early February from North Africa
Greek defenses nevertheless crumbled
Great Britain evacuated its troops by sea
Germany’s Luftwaffe then led an attack on British-held Crete
After two weeks, the island fell in late May
Operation Barbarossa
Germany then amassed its invasion force in Bulgaria in January 1941
It planned to launch the attack in the summer of 1941
However, it had to quell Yugoslavia first
Yugoslavia’s neutral government had been overthrown by pro-British leaders
Germany invaded the country in April, while also starting an offensive in Greece
They took the capital Belgrade on April 12
The government signed an armistice on April 17
Yugoslav resistance plagued Germany for the rest of the war
Serbian Chetniks withdrew to the hills
Josef Tito led a Communist partisan movement
German military planners hoped for a rapid surrender by the Soviet government
They would otherwise have to chase Soviet forces deep into the interior
The invasion accordingly had a short timeline
Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941
The Soviet military showed no signs of collapse by late July
Germany had to plan for additional troops to reinforce its front
It could not attack on all three prongs again but instead divided its forces into two
A northern attack on Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) ended in prolonged siege
The southern attack on Kiev captured 600,000 Soviet troops
However, the Soviet army counterattacked successfully
Hitler then changed the offensive’s focus to Moscow
This offensive proved similarly unsuccessful
1941 ended in stalemate, with the tide turning in the Soviets’ favor
Factors helping
the Soviets
recover
Successful evacuation of factories eastward to keep up war production
Spies’ information that Japan would not attack Siberia, letting the Soviets
reinforce the Western front instead
Support from the United States’ Lend-Lease aid, including tanks, artillery, but
most importantly trucks and jeeps to move troops
The tide turns
Germany had resources only to concentrate on one sector along the Soviet front
They decided to make a push in the south
It had better weather and hence a longer operating window
The south also contained important resources like the Caucasus oil fields
The offensive started in May at the Crimean Peninsula
They then struck southeast in the three-phase Operation Blau from June 28
The plan had a major flaw in that it lacked troops to protect the army’s flanks
Germany used troops from Hungary, Romania, and Italy to fill these gaps
The offensive advanced quickly on Voronezh
The Soviet military retreated quickly to avoid capture
German supply lines stretched thin due to its speed
Hitler directed the military to target Stalingrad, now Volgograd, instead on July 19
He ordered this change not for strategic reasons but for the symbolic value of
capturing “Stalin’s” city
The Sixth Army marched on the city in late July
3 million troops, plus 500,000
allied troops, plus 2,700 planes
Three prongs of
attack: north, central,
south
Central prong captured
600,000 Soviet troops by
mid-July
Soviet troops withdrew
more quickly in the north
and south
Civilians fortified the city rapidly, aided with troops pulled from the front
The Luftwaffe destroyed many buildings on September 3
The resultant rubble provided useful defensive positions
September to November saw intensive and costly street battles
The command structure fell apart, with troops essentially fighting for their survival
Hitler proclaimed victory on November 8, but Germany’s position remained weak
It had thrown its best troops into Stalingrad
Poorly trained Romanian troops guarded the rear
The Soviet Union launched Operation Uranus on November 19 and 20
It had maintained minimal troops in Stalingrad and built up forces around the city
The military cut through Romanian defenses to the north and south of the city
They encircled Stalingrad on November 24, cutting the Sixth Army’s supply lines
Hitler refused to let the army withdraw and cut its losses
The Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering falsely claimed that airdrops alone could
sustain the army
The German relief effort in early December failed
Soviet troops assaulted the city in January 1943
Germany held out for five days despite lacking supplies and reinforcements
Their defenses faltered by January 15
Southern Stalingrad surrendered on January 31, and the remainder on February 222
The cost of Stalingrad
Germans and Romanians Soviets
147,000 dead
91,000 prisoners
Approximately 800,000 wounded
Up to 500,000 dead
Another 600,000 wounded or missing
The Soviets had won the advantage permanently
In late January and February, the Soviets launched three further offensives
They caused heavy damage but failed to dislodge the Germans
The attacks lacked the focus of Stalingrad’s
They often took territory the Germans did not consider important to defend.
The Soviet military outdistanced its supply lines
Germans amassed forces for a major counter-offensive launched on February 20
It encircled the Soviet army and captured many, forcing a Soviet retreat
From March 1 to 5, they averaged a ten-mil e advance daily
Germany halted the attack on March 21 due to the spring rains
It marked the last successful German offensive in the east
The final lines basically replicated those of 1942
However, the Soviet lines at Kursk had a ‘bulge’, or salient
Germany decided to attack this weak point in the summer
The Soviets anticipated this offensive and reinforced Kursk with many troops
The German offensive became one of the largest battles of the war
22
OPERATION CITADEL
German forces Soviet forces
435,000 troops
9,960 artillery guns
3,155 tanks
1 million troops
13,013 artillery
3,275 tanks
Reserves of 500,000 troops and 1,500 tanks
July 5 German attacks to north and south of salient
Northern force took a while to break through and met with a
secondary Soviet defensive line a few miles further in
Southern prong also eventually halted
July 11 Germany surrounds and eliminates a sizable Soviet force
July 12 Soviet reserves counter-attack
Largest tank battle ever, with 1,200 tanks involved
400 Soviet tanks destroyed and 320 German tanks lost
Neither side won, but Soviets prevent a German breakthrough
Hitler halts the offensive due to the Allied invasion of Italy
By this point, the Soviet Union had mobilized 5.7 million troops, 7,800 tanks, extensive
artillery, and sufficient trucks to move its forces
They reattacked in the central and south of Russia
In October 1943, the Soviets advanced into Ukraine, forcing Germany to retreat
They launched Operation Bagration in June 1944 in Belarus
New Lend-Lease vehicles enabled them to push further
However, by the start of August they had stretched their supply lines
In the north and central sectors, the army had to go on the defensive after it
occupied the Baltics and part of Poland
In August 1944, the Red Army approached Warsaw
The Polish Home Army resistance movement saw an opportunity to revolt against the
45,000 German troops stationed there
The Warsaw Uprising started on August 1
The Home Army lacked equipment and ammunition
They managed to achieve a rough stalemate with Germany by late August
Soviet inaction doomed the anti-Communist Home Army
By mid-September, only 1,200 Polish Soviet troops had come to Warsaw’s aid
The Soviet air force also did not aid the Home Army
The uprising’s defeat helped Stalin establish his preferred government in power
The Soviets moved into the Balkans in late August, defeating Romania, Bulgaria, and
Yugoslavia
Hungary surrendered in October
The Mediterranean and Southern Europe Afrika Korps
Hitler had offered to reinforce Italy in North Africa in September 1940
Mussolini initially rejected this aid but reversed his position by February 1941
Germany appointed Erwin Rommel to lead the Afrika Korps
His orders were to defend Libya from Great Britain
Instead, he went on the attack and pushed into British-held Egypt
His success offered the possibility of taking the Suez Canal
Germany hoped to move its troops into the Middle East and punch up into
southern Russia
However, it did not have reinforcements to aid Rommel’s offensive
In June 1941, Great Britain launched Operation Battleaxe on the Libya-Egypt border
Their haphazard attacks allowed Rommel to encircle the British army instead
The army escaped only by withdrawing from the front
The British regrouped and attacked again in November’s Operation Crusader
They had four times the number of Rommel’s tanks but did not use them efficiently
The Korps easily fended off their attacks and damaged British numbers
Germany resupplied Rommel in early 1942, providing him with transport planes at the
expense of the Russian front
Rommel re-attacked British troops in January, pushing them to the Gazala Line
The campaign paused for four months during the winter rain
Great Britain remained in a vulnerable position in Africa
Their positions were not connected to each other
They expected Rommel to attack their central positions and left their flank exposed
as a result
Rommel took advantage of this weakness, dispersing Indian and British troops on May
26 and 27
However, he made a tactical error in moving north to the coast
Rommel hoped to cut off the British retreat into Egypt, but instead came up against
British tanks
He withdrew from battle, allowing the British to resupply
Nevertheless, the Korps went on the offensive again from June 5 to 12
The British lost their tank advantage
Rommel sought permission to invade Egypt
He failed to take into account the lack of resources to do so
Great Britain had fortified El Alamein, 70 miles out from Alexandria
Their defensive line could not be attacked from north or south
It terminated in the Mediterranean to the north
Its southern end, the Qattara Depression, was a large salt sea
Tanks could not enter the depression
Rommel attacked in early July to no avail in the first Battle of El Alamein
The battle nevertheless prompted Great Britain to appoint a new commander, Bernard
Law Montgomery 23
He saw that Great Britain had to meet Rommel on more favorable grounds
It needed to make use of its greater weaponry and numbers
He hence reinforced El Alamein’s defenses and supplies, holding off Rommel’s attack
in late August but advancing no further
British : German numbers by
late October
4:1 troops
3:1 tanks
23
4:1 aircraft
Montgomery ordered an attack on October 23
Rommel only returned from his treatment for jaundice in Germany on October 25
The British took great losses but won by attrition of German forces
The Korps retreated from November 3 to 4
Operation Torch
On November 8, a British–American force launched Operation Torch
It involved amphibious landings in Morocco and Algeria
The offensive had been planned at a July conference in London
American views British views
Continental
invasion
Invade France from the
Channel in 1942
Attacking Germany directly
would end the war more
quickly
American troops had not been
fully mobilized
British military could not afford to
bear the brunt of the invasion
North
African
invasion
Opposed by George C
Marshall, Chief of Staff
Did not want to delay
European invasion until 1944
Taking North Africa would ease its
position in Egypt and let the Allies
strike up through southern Europe
Roosevelt resolved the dispute by stating that the military had to see action
The American public needed proof that the Europe First strategy bore fruit
The Operation Torch landings occurred in Vichy French-held territory
The Allies had made contact with anti-Vichy General Henri Giraud in Algeria
However, Giraud could not win over the Vichy forces entirely
Many Vichy forces in Algeria resisted the landings
However, their commander Admiral François Darlan had just arrived in Algiers
He agreed to declare an armistice
The Allies enjoyed good leaders in George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower
The latter oversaw all Allied landings
He had the rare ability to mediate between the American and the British24
The Torch forces prepared to move inland
Hitler retaliated with demand that German troops be given full run of Tunisia
By November 16, the military moved into Tunisia
The military also occupied southern France
The Tunisian forces had to retain the eastern Atlas Mountains
The stage was set for a 1943 reckoning
German brought nearly 250,000 men into Tunisia in late 1942
The Korps withdrew from Libya into Tunisia
They defended the eastern Atlas mountains from the British Eighth Army
Jurgen von Arnim’s forces held the west against the American forces
24
Battle for North Africa: 1943
January Several sorties against the French and Americans leave them in disarray
Mid-
February
Attack on American II Corps expels them from Faïd Pass
Offensive against the western Atlas mountains
Major battle at Kasserine Pass against untested American troops pushes
Allies back 50 miles
Further losses are averted through backup from British armor and
American 9th Division artillery
George Patton is appointed new commander
March Ultra reports show that Germany has severe troops and resource
shortages
Rommel returns to Germany for more medical treatment
Successful Allied attack carried out on Libya-Tunisia border
Allied aerial and sea attacks prevent German convoys or airlifts from
resupplying the Korps
Late April German troops are hemmed in to a small pocket in Tunisia
May 8 Luftwaffe abandons North African front
May 13 Germany surrenders
Casablanca Conference
The Allies planned an invasion of Europe in 1943
They met in Casablanca, Morocco from January 14 to 24
Participants • French generals Henri Giraud, Charles de Gaulle
• American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Stalin did not attend
However, he indicated that he wanted plans for an invasion of France to move ahead
George Marshall, among others, agreed
However, the invasion remained impractical given the ongoing Tunisian battles
Great Britain maintained that the Mediterranean front would allow them to force
Italy into surrender
Results of the Casablanca conference
United
States
agreed to:
carry out Operation Husky, an invasion of Sicily
limit attacks on Germany to aerial bombing
build up forces for French invasion
Britain
agreed to
let more forces join the Pacific front
Both agree
to
prioritize German submarine threat
hold to a policy of unconditional surrender and not reach a separate peace agreement
Reassured Stalin
Appeased public indignant over cooperation with Darlan
Announced by Roosevelt on January 24
The May 1943 Trident Conference in Washington finalized plans for the invasion
The United States agreed it would continue to fight in the Mediterranean after taking
Sicily
Great Britain agreed to set a date for the invasion of France on May 1, 1944
The landings started on July 10, 1943
Montgomery’s Eighth Army landed in southeast Sicily
They pushed north towards Messina, in the northeast
This route would prevent Axis troops from retreating
Germany had redeployed troops here, slowing Montgomery’s advance
The American Seventh Army under Patton shielded the Eighth Army from the west
Patton did not want to be outdone by the Eighth Army
He captured Palermo in the north
The army then advanced towards Messina
Both armies met with fierce German resistance
They had to use amphibious landings to
break the German defense
The invasion caused Mussolini’s fall
The king25 asked him to resign on July 25 and
had Mussolini arrested
Marshal Pietro Badoglio became Prime
Minister
He declared allegiance to Germany but
opened secret negotiations with the Allies
From Operation Husky to stalemate in Italy
August 11 German troops withdraw across Strait of Messina into Italy
August 17 Allied forces enter Messina
September 5 Eighth Army (Montgomery) lands on the “toe” of Italy
September 926:
Operation
Avalanche
Fifth Army (Mark Clark) lands near Salerno, southern Italy
German troops resist and are quelled by artillery
American airborne division and British armor reinforcements arrive
Mid-late
September
Germans carry out plans for strategic withdrawal
Seize major areas of central and northern Italy
Create defensive line in south
Retreat northward while dynamiting bridges to slow the Allies
25
26
October 1 Allies take Naples and the Foggia airfields, putting their bombers in
range of southern Germany
January Allied forces reach the Gustav Line, the German defensive position
centered on the Monte Cassino monastery
Subsequent battles in Italy moved slowly, resembling World War I’s trench fighting
The Allies relied mainly on massive artillery attacks
They could not attack the Gustav Line directly
Instead, they planned an amphibious landing to encircle the Germans’ rear
This landing took place on January 22 at the port of Anzio
The port lies 40 miles southwest of Rome
They hoped to block supply lines to the southern Gustav Line
Germany would then have to pull back its troops
The Allies took the Germans by surprise
However, they gave Germany time to regroup after landing
Clark and the landing commander John Lucas halted the advance to establish a
defense perimeter
By the end of January, they faced eight German divisions
The Anzio forces remained encircled until the May offensive
The Allies then resorted to aerial attacks against Germany
They bombed the historic Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino
Intelligence suggested Germany used the monastery for artillery observation
Destroying this cultural landmark provided no advantage
Instead, the German troops used its rubble as defensive fortifications
The next major push on May 11 involved a reinforced American Fifth Army and British
Eighth Army
It made little headway despite a large advantage in weaponry
However, Free French forces broke through in difficult, mountainous terrain
They circled the German rear and stopped them from retreating
The Anzio troops broke out towards the major crossroads at Valmontone
They gained the upper hand from May 23 to 25
However, Clark diverted his troops to take Rome on June 4
He wanted a symbolic and public victory
Leaving Valmontone in German hands allowed them to retreat
They set up a new perimeter, the Gothic Line, to Florence’s north
The Allies lost the opportunity to reach Austria before 1945
They had also lost reserves to the planned invasion of France
Clark tried to push through the Po River Valley in August
Another September attack at Bologna further depleted his force
No further headway occurred until April 1945
Liberation of Europe Preparation
The Allies carried out strategic bombing from Great Britain and then Italy
It sought to disrupt war production and damage civilian morale
These tactics had originated from 1920s planning
The fall of France of 1940 meant that bombing formed the only war Great Britain could
attack Germany
From 1941, RAF bombed oil refineries and similar locations
They preferred night raids to reduce casualties from German fighters and anti-aircraft
fire
The timing compromised their accuracy
The RAF saw strategic bombing as a strike on morale, rather than as a means of
destroying specific war targets
The American Army Air Corps also took part in the campaign
However, they favored precision bombing of strategic economic targets in the day
In 1943, large-scale American raids of German factories took enormous losses
One attack on the ball bearing factory at Schweinfurt cost 60 aircraft
This figure equaled over 10% of American aircraft and 17% of bomber crews
Their campaign started to seriously damage German transport and industry
The Luftwaffe declined from late 1943 onwards
New long-range fighters could escort bombers through the entire attack
The British and Americans could carry out attacks around the clock
The bombing campaign did not fulfil its role as a crucial decider of the war
It did help prevent Germany from resisting the Allied advances in 1944 and 1945
The campaign raised serious ethical concerns as it targeted civilians
Dresden came under four Allied raids from February 13 to 15, 1945
The ensuing fire storm killed up to 25,000
Germany described the attacks as terrorism
The Allies disagreed, claiming that Dresden constituted a legitimate military target
Operation Overlord
Initial plans for invading France had a targeted date of May 1, 1944
They would be postponed to June 4 to 6
British planners first proposed using three divisions and one airborne division
Eisenhower and other Mediterranean commanders significantly altered the idea
Operation Overlord involved five land divisions and three airborne divisions
The landings needed to take place on open beaches, not a port city
The Allies would have room to maneuver and build up forces
Two main options presented themselves for the landing site
Pas de Calais had better terrain and offered the quickest route into Germany
The Normandy peninsula lay further from Germany but was less easy to attack from
the south
The German Army had been depleted by the Russian front by early 1944
However, Hitler turned to the Allied invasion in earnest
Most German commanders thought the invasion would occur at the Pas de Calais
Divided views about the coastal defense
Commander Erwin Rommel Gerd von Rundstedt
Responsibility In charge of defending the
French coast
Overall commander of the Western
front
View immediately counterattack on
the beaches
Hold reserves back, counterattack
once Allies came inland
Hitler vacillated between strategies
Instead, he brought the reserves under his immediate leadership
This decision would slow any response to the Allied landings
Allied air forces destroyed much of northern France’s railways and roads from April to
September 1944
They wanted to slow German movement to the landing sites
The Allies would take longer to build up their forces
The weather suddenly deteriorated on June 4, forcing a postponement
However, tidal circumstances required landing to go ahead by June 6
Improved conditions allowed Eisenhower to launch the attack on that day
Three airborne divisions, two American and one British, set off in the evening of June 5
and landed by midnight
The British airborne division landed on target and secured its beach
Americans faced heavy cloud cover and German anti-aircraft fire, forcing them to land
in a dispersed area
Germany also could not pinpoint the landing sites as a result
Omaha’s landings nearly failed despite naval support fire
Germany responded slowly, expecting a Pas de Calais landing
Allied bombings had ravaged its transport system
Landings slowed as the beaches became more crowded
The Normandy peninsula and the Cherbourg port had fallen to the Allies by July
German sabotage prevented the port from functioning until late September
The Allies also faced difficult terrain and ground to a halt by the month’s end
Normandy’s rural bocage contained easily defensible stone walls, thick hedgerows,
and small open fields
Additional complicating factors intervened
A group of military leaders tried to carry out Operation Valkyrie, a succession plan
They adapted the plan into an assassination of Hitler
They would then open negotiations with the Allies
The attempt failed
On June 12, Germany launched its first V-1 guided missile against Great Britain
The first V-2 rocket, a guided ballistic missile, landed on September 8
Scientists Werner von Braun and Walter Dornberger developed the missiles
The rockets, based in northern France and the Netherlands, seemed a major threat
However, they came too late to make much difference
Operation Overlord: Quick Hits
Largest amphibious operation
ever
Over 150,000
men on the
first day
7,000 ships
and 12,000
aircraft
Involved five
beachheads
Utah, Omaha,
Gold, Juno,
and Sword
Most difficult and crucial: Omaha
Overlooked by
cliffs of over
200 feet
Connected the
Allied zones
Both weapons exemplify the war’s leaps in technological understanding
Another notable example was the Soviet Katyusha rocket launcher
On July 25, American forces under Omar Bradley started Operation Cobra
This targeted attack hoped to break out of the Normandy front
Intense Allied bombing cut German defenses at several points, threatening its collapse
However, the Allies failed to destroy the German defense by advancing westward
Moving east instead would have let them capture northern France
In early August, the Americans nearly captured the Falaise pocket
However, Bradley failed to ensure that Patton’s troops completed the encirclement
Almost 50,000 Germans escaped via Falaise
They reconstituted their units to the west
On August 15, the Allies carried out a second invasion in southern France
Operation Dragoon aimed to connect the American and British fronts
It took the port of Marseille, easing supply issues in late 1944
Commanders disagreed over how to proceed from that point
Montgomery argued for a single targeted attack under his command in the north
Eisenhower wanted to advance along the whole front
He thought a consolidated force would create political disputes
He also worried about supply issues, especially of fuel
Eisenhower pushed for Montgomery to capture Antwerp’s port in September
Montgomery instead attempted to carry out an offensive that would drive into northern
Germany
He took Antwerp by September 5 but could not use it until he also had control of the
Scheldt River
Many German forces retreated along this river and set up a defensive line along the
Dutch–Belgian border
Operation Market Garden would try to break through and across the Rhine River
Three Allied airborne divisions dropped behind German lines to take bridges
They faced veteran German units who were there to resupply and recover
There were also armored units in reserve
The operation launched on September 17 and immediately ran into trouble
The seasoned American troops had easier landing areas
Meanwhile, the British 1st Airborne Division had to secure the bridges at Arnhem
They landed nearly six miles from the bridges and received only one supply drop
per day
Infantry reinforcements arrived only slowly from the south
Germany savaged the division in the meantime, causing 8,000 casualties
In contrast, the American airborne divisions together suffered only 1,500
In October, the Allies had practically halted due to fuel shortages
Germany planned a counterattack on a salient, known as the Battle of the Bulge
It struck through the Ardennes at Antwerp
They outnumbered their enemy three to one by mid-December
The Allied forces at that front were also newly deployed or fresh from areas of
heavy fighting
Bad weather also prevented Allied airpower from intervening
Battle of the Bulge
December 16,
1944
Massive artillery attacks take place along Ardennes
German advance forces American retreat
No major breakthroughs, but salient stretches precariously thin
Bastogne road junction becomes key point of battle
101st Airborne Division reinforces town
December 19 Americans secure Bastogne
December 23
Germans cut off Bastogne
Weather clears; Allied bombers cut off German lines
Allies move supplies into salient
December 26 Patton’s Third Army breaks through to Bastogne
The salient disappeared by February 1945
An American-Canadian attack forced Germany across the Rhine in February
However, they failed to pursue German troops
The Wehrmacht blew up bridges across the river
Montgomery insisted that British troops cross the Rhine simultaneously
Americans captured Cologne by early March and advanced to Bonn on the Rhine
They attacked Remagen to the south on March 7
It had a railroad bridge across the river that Germany failed to blow up
American troops on the ground took advantage and secured the bridge ahead of
commanding orders
The Third Army continued to advance southward on the west bank of the Rhine
Hitler insisted that the Wehrmacht not retreat at any point
Consequently, Patton’s forces took more than 100,000 prisoners
Allied forces reached central Germany by April
They took 317,000 prisoners in the Ruhr area but stopped short of Berlin
Some historians argue that taking Berlin would have lessened the Cold War
However, Eisenhower did not want to sacrifice his troops for a city the Soviet Union
would occupy after the war
Mid-January saw the final Soviet push on Germany
It had four million troops, 9,800 tanks, and more than 40,000 artillery guns
It first targeted the industrial region of Silesia, Poland
Armored divisions advanced 20 to 30 miles per day
The Red Army entered Germany in February
Many troops took revenge for German brutality in 1941
Mass rape, murder, looting, and other destructive rampages occurred
Hitler retreated to a bunker near the Reich Chancellery as the Soviets approached
Battle for Berlin
February
Soviet army halts 50 miles from Berlin to
Resupply troops
Wait for Yalta Conference to conclude
Ensure flanks were not vulnerable to German attack
April 16 Soviet offensive marches against outnumbered and under-armed German
forces in Berlin
April 21 Soviet tanks enter northern Berlin
House-to-house fighting occurs, similar to that of Stalingrad
April 25 Berlin is fully encircled
April 26 Massive Allied artillery barrage takes place
Soviet attack on central Berlin involves 464,000 troops and 1,500 tanks
April 27 German territory is reduced to a thin strip of land
April 29
Soviet forces a quarter mile from Hitler’s bunker
Hitler dictates his political testament, appointing Admiral Karl Dönitz his
successor
April 30 Hitler commits suicide
May 2 Berlin defenders surrender
German army in Italy surrenders
May 3 German army in northern Germany, Netherlands, and Denmark surrenders
May 7 Dönitz approves general surrender
May 10 Allies accept German surrender in Berlin
The Soviets suffered almost 305,000 casualties in their assault on Berlin
This figure represented 10% of their troops
War’s Openings Sino-Japanese conflict
The exact start of World War II in the east remains disputed
1937 marks Japan’s first planned military action
China had then been embroiled in a civil war
Its nationalist government fought Mao Zedong’s communists
The two temporarily united against the Japanese threat
Japan had slowly expanded around Manchukuo after 1931
However, these annexations remained smaller-scale and less public
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
July 7, 1937
Skirmish at Marco
Polo Bridge, near
Peking (Beijing)
Chinese troops fired on Japanese carrying out night maneuvers
Japanese fired back
Both sides agreed it had been a mistake and called a truce
Just then, more Chinese troops attacked
Japan counterattacked and then withdrew in the morning
Impact Japan initially wanted to let its troops negotiate on the ground
Some army officers fought to send more troops into China
Avoid showing weakness
Deter China from trying to attack Manchukuo and then
Japan-held Korea or Japan proper
July 25 Japan occupies Nanking
Many Japanese officers thought they could defeat China within three months
The army gave especially optimistic estimates
They quickly seized much of northern China
Japan took Nanking, now Nanjing, in 1937
The city lies in central-eastern China
Two months of looting, rape, mass murder, and pillage ensued
It became known as the rape of Nanking, the first major war crime of the conflict
Chinese and western observers alike attested to the troops’ brutality
By January 1938, 200 to 300 thousand civilians had been killed
A third of Nanking burnt down
The Western allies condemned the invasion but did little else
Franklin Roosevelt delivered the Quarantine Speech on October 5, 1937
He condemned Axis aggression and urged for a quarantine
American isolationists remained unconvinced
Japan saw the speech as a declaration of hostility
On December 12, 1937, the American gunboat Panay sank on the Yangtze
The attack by Japan appeared deliberate
However, Japan apologized and promised full reparations
Its response appeased the United States
Japan realized by the end of the year that it would not conquer China
War in the west
Japan had remained neutral over the war in Europe until 1940
The army had engaged with Soviet troops in 1939
They fought over the Manchuria-Mongolia border
The Soviets had decisively defeated Japan there
Japan did not want to fight Stalin’s troops directly
Stalin’s spies in Tokyo had informed of this fact
The Soviet Union hence withdrew its troops to meet the German invasion
They only became convinced after Germany’s conquest of France
Tripartite Pact, September 1940
Details Replaced 1936 Anti-Comintern Pact
Germany, Italy, and Japan
Agreement Division of spheres in the east and west
Implications for
Japan
Protection against American intervention in China, or Soviet
incursions in Manchuria
Article 3 - commitment to assist the other parties if attacked by a
nation not currently involved in either theater of war
French surrender also enabled Japan to occupy Indochina
Indochina refers to present-day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
It would provide Japan with rubber, tin, tungsten, coal, and rice
Japan could attack southern China from its airfields and cut off Allied aid
The United States had blocked exports of any war-related good to Japan
It now added scrap metal to that category
The 1940 Two-Ocean Naval Expansion Act added to this belief
It responded to fears that Germany would conquer Great Britain from France
The act planned for a naval fleet in both the Atlantic and Pacific
It increased the fleet size by 70%, adding many naval aircraft
The navy would have a total of 18 aircraft carriers
Tensions rose as Japan expanded in Asia and moved closer to Nazi Germany
Both navies had seen each other as rivals in the Pacific since 1900
The Joint Army and Navy Board had developed a series of war scenarios in 1903
In 1924, the military adopted Plan Orange
Strategy Problems
• Army to hold Manila Bay, Philippines
• Navy to control western Pacific
• Navy based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• Unfeasibility of defending the Philippines
• Army preferred to withdraw to western Pacific
• Both ideas shot down by Navy
Disputes over the plan presaged American difficulties in World War II
By 1939, the Joint Planning Board’s Rainbow Plans involved five scenarios
They addressed different combinations of enemies and allies
The European front distracted the United States from Japan’s navy threat
British and American planners met in Washington in January 1941
Disagreement over strategy Final agreement: Plan Dog
• Great Britain saw defending
Singapore as top priority
• United States favored attacking in
central Pacific
• British strategy prevailed
• Division of fleets between Atlantic
and Pacific
• Transfer American ships to Atlantic
• British navy could move vessels to
Singapore
In 1941, some Japanese officials hoped to avoid war with the United States
Others supported a preemptive strike while Japan held the upper hand
They sought to take oil resources in the Dutch East Indies and Malaya
This strike would enable them to circumvent the American embargo
They also believed war would inevitably result with the United States
Japan could not afford a protracted battle against such a large, well-resourced
power
Its naval strength would peak in December 1941, the best time for attack
The moderates had a representative in Admiral Nomura Kichisaburo
He became ambassador to the United States in February 1941
The admiral had little practical influence
He opened talks with Secretary of State Cordell Hull
Neither could suggest any new means of reaching consensus
Given the Pacific’s weather and tides, Japan needed to attack by the end of 1941
Initial proposals targeted Malaya, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies
The attack would lure the American navy to the Philippines
Japan could ambush the fleet in the Central Pacific
Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku developed an alternative strategy
He had studied in the United States and used this knowledge in his planning
Yamamoto realized that complicated attacks would drain Japan’s navy
He adopted a 1936 plan for attacking Pearl Harbor
He hoped to eliminate the American navy in a single strike
Yamamoto commissioned a report on the attack’s feasibility
Yamamoto’s findings
Problem Need for a torpedo effective
in shallow harbor
Need to evade American detection up to 200
miles out from Hawaii
Solution September 1941: successful
construction of torpedo
October 1941: ocean liner test ran the route
without seeing any ships
Yamamoto gained approval to proceed with planning in October
He gained further support from Minister of War Hideki Tojo
Tojo became Prime Minister on October 16
He convened a Japanese Imperial Conference on November 5
It decided that war would be declared unless negotiations succeeded
Japanese
demanded
either
territory it had traditionally claimed in the Far East
or
an end to the embargo and supplying of China in exchange
for Japanese withdrawal from Dutch East Indies and rest of
Southeast Asia
Americans
responded
by
rejecting both proposals
counter-demanding that Japan withdraw from China,
Indochina, and Manchukuo
The government resolved on December 4 to attack on the 7th
It stationed six of its eight naval carriers off northern Oahu
Two waves of aerial attacks would occur an hour apart
Pearl Harbor attack
First wave
Plan Outcome
183 planes to bomb airfields
Army Air Corps: Hickam, Wheeler,
Bellows, and Mokuleia
Marine Corps airfields: Ewa and
Kaneohe Bay
Naval Air Station: Ford Island
around 400 American craft were
attacked
188 destroyed and 159 damaged
Second
wave 170 planes to attack an hour later
Targeted naval ships at anchor
In particular eight battleships
Japanese planes hindered by
smoke and anti-aircraft fire
Sank two battleships and damaged
six
Eight cruisers and destroyers
damaged
30 cruisers and destroy