Events of world war two

1. The Second World War in
Europe
World War Two was history’s most
devastating war and the first truly
global conflict.
During the war 100 million people
were mobilised.
War engulfed countries in Europe,
Asia, Africa, The Middle East and
the Pacific
By the end of the war 60 million
people had been killed and the
global balance of power had
shifted away from Western
Europe.
For the duration of the war
(1939-1945) a person was killed
every 10 seconds……

2. The Nazi Invasion of Poland
•Poland was created
by the Treaty of
Versailles.
•Hitler was determined
to add Poland to his
successes in the
Rhineland, Austria,
Czechoslovakia and
Sudetenland.

3. The Polish Corridor
•Like many Germans
Hitler found the
existence of the
Polish Corridor to be
an abomination.
•The “Corridor” had
been created by the
Treaty of Versailles to
give Poland access to
the sea.
•It effectively split
Germany in two.

4. Why invade Poland?
An invasion of Poland
would achieve all
FOUR of Hitler’s key
foreign policy aims:
1)Overturn the Treaty of
Versailles
2)Create Lebensraum (Living
Space)
3) Make an invasion of
Communist Russia
possible.
4) Unite the people of
Germany

5. Hitler was confident of success despite two major
issues
Britain and France were
allies of Poland and
had promised to
defend it…..
…but Britain’s policy of
Appeasement and the
failure to intervene in
Czechoslovakia
convinced Hitler that
they would not act.
Communist Russia had
good reasons to fight
Germany and was
more likely to attack
German troops on her
borders….
…but the Non-Aggression
pact with Stalin and the
secret agreement to divide
Poland between Germany
and Russia made the
invasion possible.

6. On September 1, 1939 Nazi planes
attacked Poland
The Nazis employed “Blitzkrieg” (lightning warfare)
techniques:
•Luftwaffe dive bombers would destroy cities, wipe out
defences and terrify civilians.
•Panzer tank divisions rapidly encircled Polish
defences and destroyed them quickly.

7. .

9. Warsaw - the Polish capital

10. September 3, 1939.
•For Chamberlain
this was an
unforgivable act of
aggression and a
direct challenge to
Britain
•Britain and her
empire declared
war on Germany.
•France follows.

11. The “Phoney” War
Between September 1939 and
April 1940 German forces
remained in Poland. No
soldiers, ships or planes were
sent to attack Britain or
France.
People in Britain and France
started talking about a
“phoney” war - one without
actual fighting…
In reality Hitler had not
expected the British and
French to defend Poland. He
was building up his military for
the next phase.

12. April 1940
In April 1940 German troops
occupied Norway and Denmark.
Hitler needed iron ore from
Sweden.
He was concerned that the
British might occupy neutral
Norway and control the seas
north of Germany.
Chamberlain resigned. Winston
Churchill became the Prime
Minister of Britain.

13. Winston Churchill
During World War One was the
Secretary of State for War.
He was in charge of the navy
during World War One.
He led parliamentary opposition
to Chamberlain’s appeasement
policy.
Was British Prime Minister from
1940-1945.

14. The Maginot Line
France had started building the
Maginot line in 1930 to defend its
borders.
It was the largest defensive
fortification in World history.
It was designed to prevent a
surprise attack and to slow down
the German military long enough
to mobilise the French army.
It had machinegun posts, anti-
tank defences, room for
thousands of men and
fortifications were linked by
tunnels that ran for hundreds of
kilometres.

16. Map of the
Maginot Line
The Maginot line only went to the
border of Belgium.
Belgium and France had a defence
agreement and France planned to
mobilise into Belgium.
There was also a gap in the
Ardennes forest, which was so thick
that it was believed to be impossible
to move through.
The Nazis invaded through Belgium
and the Ardennes.

17. May to June 1940 Hitler’s forces quickly
overran Western Europe
May - June 1940
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
France

18. The “Miracle of Dunkirk”
As the German forces advanced
over 500, 000 British soldiers were
trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk.
They had to be rescued by small
boats from the coast of Britain.
The German assault was halted by
Hitler because the area around
Dunkirk was marshland.
He was worried that the German
tanks would get stuck in the
marshes and the British would
strike back.

19. The Battle of Britain
Hitler planned to launch
“Operation Sealion” - a naval
assault on Britain.
This was a risky plan
because the British navy was
formidable and the air force
could strike from the English
coast.
He needed to destroy the
Royal Air Force with his
Luftwaffe (German Air Force)

20. The British had some “home advantages”
•Radar (British were
the first to use it
defensively)
•Heroic pilots (Polish
in particular – but also
from New Zealand)
•Home advantage –
downed pilots could
be rescued.
•Luftwaffe not
designed to carry
large bombs for
bombing raids.
•British bombing of
Berlin annoyed the
Nazis and distracted
Hitler.

21. The “Blitz” (September 1940 – May 1941)
•Unable to defeat the
RAF in the air
Germany adopted a
new strategy -
bombing London to
destroy the morale of
the British people.
•40,000 civilians killed.
•One million homes
destroyed in London
alone.
•Children were moved
out of cities into the
countryside

22. New Target: Russia!
In spite of the mounting
casualties the British
refused to surrender.
Posters told Londoners
to “Keep calm and carry
on!”.
Hitler abandoned his
plan to conquer Britain
and turned his attention
to Russia…

23. 22 June 1941: Germany invades the
U.S.S.R.
1.The long-anticipated
clash between
Nazism and
Communism began
in June 1941.
2.The invasion was
called “Operation
Barbarossa”
3.Hitler planned to
enslave the Russian
population and add
the rich farmland and
oil resources to the
Nazi war machine.

24. Hitler was confident of victory
over Stalin
“We have only to
kick in the door
and the whole
rotten structure
will come crashing
down”
Adolf Hitler

25. “Kicking down the door” would have
been Hitler’s greatest achievement:
1)Defeat of Communist
Russia
2)Lebensraum
3)Enslave Slavic people of
eastern Europe (Nazi
Germany used thousands
of slaves from territory it
conquered)
4)Gain Russia’s rich oil
resources

26. The Nazis used a Big Boot..
•3000 Tanks
•5000 planes
•An army of 3 million men.
•Nazi troops were told to use
‘Blitzkrieg’ assaults.
•In a country the size of Russia
this meant slaughtering any
captured Russians to avoid
moving large numbers of
prisoners around.
•In some battles German
soldiers drowned Russian
civilians in swamps rather than
‘waste’ bullets.

27. Russia was to prove difficult
to “tame”..

28. Pearl Harbour, December 7 1941 –
intended to destroy the American navy
and keep them out of the war.
•The Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbour brought the United
States out of isolation and into
the war.
•The same day Japanese forces
attacked the Philippines,
Thailand, Hong Kong and
Malaya.
•Hitler declared war on the
United States to support his
Japanese allies.
•By the end of 1941 Nazi
Germany is at war with Russia,
Britain and the United States.

29. Trouble in Russia
December 1941 was the heart
of the Russian winter.
The Nazi forces had expected
a quick victory but Soviet
resistance (and the bitter
Russian winter) stopped
the Germans in the
suburbs outside of
Moscow.
The Nazi ‘take no prisoners’
approach had a weakness –
Russians now knew they
had to either kill or be
killed.

30. Stalingrad
In summer the Nazis
attempted to conquer the
Russian city of Stalingrad.
Occupying Stalingrad would
humiliate Stalin and give
the Germans access to rich
oil fields.
Stalin ordered all men able to
hold a rifle to defend the
Russian city.
The Nazi bombing of the city
just created more rubble
for Russian defenders to
hide behind.

31. Stalingrad turns the tide
The fight for Stalingrad was brutal.
•Street to street/house to house
•Commanders on both sides were
ordered to shoot deserters
•1.5 Million killed (10,000 Russians
in ONE day)
•The Germans were
comprehensively defeated.
•From this point the Russians
began their inevitable march to
Berlin.

32. Meanwhile in Asia..
The Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbour in 1941 had NOT
destroyed the American aircraft
carriers.
They had been either on patrol in
the Pacific or being repaired in
California
President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt turned the might of the
massive American economy to
the production of arms.

33. 1942: The Japanese lose ground
In spite of the use of Kamikaze
fighters (suicide dive
bombers) and the
determined resistance of
Japanese fighters 1942 saw
the United States navy fold
back Japanese advances

34. October 1942:
Battle of El Alamein
1942 was a bad year for
Germany:
Advances in Russia were
halted.
U.S. forces were reversing
Japanese advances.
British and ANZAC forces
defeat German troops in
North Africa (there to
support Mussolini)

35. 1943: Slow progress….
Although Nazi forces
were under pressure
they were still a
formidable force.
Allied troops (Britain,
U.S.A.) landed in Italy
and attempted to cut
through the “soft
belly” of Nazi Europe.
Hitler transfers troops to
help Italian forces

36. 6 June, 1944

37. Island Britain
Since the fall of France Nazi forces
had been in command of
Europe.
Only the Russians had
successfully opened up a major
front.
Defeating the Nazi forces would
require more than British
bombing raids and minor
victories in Africa.
A full scale-invasion of Europe
was needed…

38. Where was Private Ryan saved?

39. June 6, 1944: D-Day (The Battle of Normandy)
One of the riskiest invasions in world
history.
Planning included fake radio broadcasts –
even fake tanks to deceive the Nazis.
Captured German spies were forced to
pass on false information about the
invasion plans.
1.5 million Allied soldiers (U.S.A. and
British) crossed the English Channel in
stormy weather and established a
beachhead in Normandy.
The Supreme Allied Commander was the
American General Dwight Eisenhower.

40. Adolf Hitler on the Western
Front
"In the East, the vastness
of space will... permit a
loss of territory...
without suffering a
mortal blow to
Germany’s chance for
survival.
Not so in the West! If the
enemy here succeeds…
consequences of
staggering proportions
will follow within a short
time."

41. 1944: Nazi Germany - doomed.
The Allied landing at Normandy
had opened up a second front.
Nazi forces were now being
ground down by:
Russian forces in the east were
now armed by the factories of
the United States (even wearing
American socks!)
U.S. led Allied forces in the west.
Both forces were racing towards
Berlin…

42. Allied bombing
Since 1943 Allied bombing of
cities like Dresden had
undermined German
morale.
Support for the Nazis had
been falling among
ordinary Germans.
Many were resisting Nazi
rules in private (hoarding
food, mocking Hitler,
refusing to use the “Heil
Hitler” salute…)

43. End of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany had proven to be
no match for the massive
power of Russia and the
economic might of the United
States.
In April 1945 Soviet forces
captured Berlin.
Hitler committed suicide rather
than be captured by Stalin’s
forces and taken back to
Russia for an ‘interrogation’.
Following his death the German
command surrendered
unconditionally on May 8,
1945.

44. Soviet flag flying over Reichstag (German Parliament)

45. U.S. and Soviet soldiers celebrate
the defeat of Germany.

46. August 1945, World War Two ends
America’s use of atomic
bombs against the
cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki ended
the war in the Pacific
in August 1945.
The Japanese
surrendered and
agreed to an
American occupation
until a new
government was
established.

47. Hot War to Cold War
By 1945 the world had changed
forever:
Nazism, militarism and fascism
had been comprehensively
defeated.
The victorious countries were
either communist (Stalin’s
Soviet Union) or capitalist
(Roosevelt’s United States)

48. Hot War to Cold War
Britain, France and Germany had
ceased to be world powers. The old
order was over.
The two true world powers were the
United States and the Soviet Union.
Their economic and military might
made them true Super Powers.
The United States had the atomic
bomb. The U.S.S.R. would acquire
one within 4 years.

49. A prediction from Hitler
Days before he took his own life Hitler wrote
these words…
“After the collapse of the German Reich…there
will only be two powers in the world: The
United States and Soviet Russia. Through
the laws of history and geographical
position these giants are destined to
struggle with each other either through war,
or through rivalry in economics and political
ideas”.
Adolf Hitler, April 1945.