World War II

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World War II

• The War in Europe

Mr. Herneisen
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Background World War I

• Germany Ottoman Empire (Turkey) vs. USA, Great
  Britain, France
• Germany loses
• Germany forced to pay back money and loses lots
  of land.
• Germany goes into their own great depression.

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How did the Great Depression in the USA affect
Europe?

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Background

• Adolf Hitlers Rise to Power
• Soldier in WWI
• Upset when Germany surrenders
• Blames the Jews and the Communists
• Joins the Nazi political party
• Promises to help Germany recover from the Great
  Depression
• Hitler elected as Chancellor in 1932

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Causes of WWII
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Battle of Britain (1940)

• After the fall of France, Hitler turns toward
  Great Britain
• Cant invade until Germany establishes air and
  sea superiority
• Begins bombing Great Britain night day
• a.k.a.
• The British stay strong never give up
• Hitler gets frustrated, turns towards Russia

The Blitz
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Hitler Targeting Russia

• After 1941, Hitlers goal was to avoid a crushing
  defeat, rather than achieve victory.
• He wants to increase the attacks on Russia to try
  and get Russia to abandon the Allies and ask for
  a truce
• The Allies must strike back before Russia is
  beaten!

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Operation Barbarossa (1941)

• When Hitler cant defeat Britain, he takes on
  Russia (Big mistake 1)
• Wants to rid Russia of Jews and Communists to
  give Germans living space
• Hitler breaks the Non-Aggression Pact with
  Russia, declares war on Russia
• After Japan attacks U.S.A at Pearl Harbor,
  Germany declares war on U.S.A. as well (Big
  Mistake 2)

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Taking Back Europe!

• Hitler now must fight a war on two sides
• Western Front (France)
• Fighting against the USA, Britain, France
• Hitler is very worried about an Allied invasion
• Eastern Front (Russia)
• Fighting against the Russians
• By 1943, Russia had killed or captured 1 million
  German soldiers

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Where will the Allies invade?
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Where will the invasion occur?

• Hitler knows the Allies will invade in France
• Why? (Geography!)
• Allies have built up supplies and soldiers in
  Britain for 3 years
• Easiest place to invade is the Pas-de-Calais
  (map)
• Hitler expects that, B
• Builds up his defense all along the Northern
  coast of France, but he still doesnt know
  exactly where the invasion will occur
• U.S. uses General George Patton and a bunch of
  fake tanks at Dover to make Hitler believe the
  invasion will occur at Calais

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Operation Overlord (D-Day)

• The Invasion of France
• When?
• June 6, 1944 (after weather delays)
• Where?
• Normandy (map)
• Why there?
• The element of surprise!
• What does D-Day stand for, anyway?

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D-Day

• One day and One Night
• 5,300 ships and 11,000 airplanes moved
• 175,000 men
• 50,000 vehicles
• 70 miles across the English Channel
• Largest fleet EVER assembled, in history!

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Short battlesHeavy casualties

• 5 Beaches
• Utah (U.S.A.)
• Omaha (U.S.A.) Longest Battle/Toughest beach to
  take
• 6,600 combined U.S. casualties that day
• Gold (Britain)
• Juno (Britain)
• Sword (Britain)

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Liberating France

• After D-Day, General Patton and his tank
  battalion swept across northern France.
• Paris was liberated two months after D-day, by
  the French Resistance and a French division of
  the U.S. 1st Army
• The British and Canadian forces moved across
  Belgium and the Netherlands

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Battle of the Bulge

• Huge last ditch effort offensive attack by the
  Germans in Belgium
• 600,000 American troops involved
• 80,000 Americans killed
• Germany loses about 100,000 soldiers
• After losing this battle, most German commanders
  realize the war is lost

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War in Europe Ends

• Russian troops suffer huge losses, but keep
  pushing into Germany
• On the Eastern Front
• 11 million Russian soldiers killed (7 million
  civilians)
• 3 million German soldiers killed
• Russians consider taking Berlin to be a matter of
  pride.
• After Berlin falls, Hitler commits suicide in his
  underground bunker rather than be captured