Prelude to War

1933-1939

The Role of Adolf Hitler

Hitler’s beliefs, as outlined in Mein Kampf, were clear regarding the superiority of the Germans as the leading group of Aryans.

Aryan Expansionism

Hitler’s belief in Lebensraum or “living space” for the Germans was originally espoused by Karl Haushofer, professor of geography at the University of Munich.

LebensraumThe Nazi’s believed that the

superior Aryan Germans had the right to take land from the inferior Slavic and Jewish people to the east and south.

With the Russian Revolution, which the Nazis claimed was a Jewish-Bolshevik led revolt, leaving Russia weak, the Germans must conquer the land and populate it with German peasants using Slavic slave labor.

Nazi Germany

German Military Goals

Hitler’s plans fit well with the imperialist tendencies of the “Prussian Junker” military that was still seething over the humiliation of the defeat of World War I.

The Nazi’s plans of enslavement and genocide were clearly stated in Mein Kampf and other Nazi propaganda in the 20s and 30s.

““Thin like Goering, Tall like Goebbels, and Blonde like Hitler.”Thin like Goering, Tall like Goebbels, and Blonde like Hitler.”

Although Hitler’s goals were clearly defined, he had no set timetable for achieving them and he acted often as a political opportunist, even if it meant contradicting his plans.

But throughout the 30s and during the war, he always returned to his plans for an Aryan empire and the enslavement and genocide against “the inferior peoples.”

The Führer Hitler also believed that he was

the only one capable of carrying out his plans and the belief that he was hereditarily predisposed to dying young pushed him to fulfill his mission quickly.

The Diplomatic Revolution

Between 1933 and 1936, Hitler and Nazi Germany achieved a “Diplomatic Revolution” in Europe.

The Versailles Treaty

The Treat of Versailles left Germany weakened and its territory occupied by foreign forces.

The Treaty had also limited Germany to a 100,000 man army, a limited navy and no air force.

German Advantages

German was not without advantages – it had the second largest population in Europe and a great and productive industrial capacity.

Hitler also believed that France and Great Britain were so distraught over the costs of World War I that they were willing to avoid war at almost any price.

The Man of Peace

Hitler believed he had to convince the leaders of Britain and France that his primary motivation was to maintain peace in Europe and that the Treaty of Versailles needed to be revised to make it fair.

The Man of PeaceThe Man of Peace

His actions in the first years he was in office were marked by prudence and the understanding that he would back down at the first sign of resistance.

The Geneva Disarmament Conference In October, 1933, Hitler

withdrew Germany from the conference to make a political statement to the nationalists at home.

By 1935, he was ready to test the resolve of the British and French.

Rearmament In March, 1935, Hitler announced

that he was rearming Germany.The Air Force or Luftwaffe was

created on March 9 and on the 16th he announced the reintroduction of universal conscription.

World CondemnationCondemnation by Britain,

France and Italy was swift but without consequences.

Britain then tacitly agreed to German rearmament by signing the Anglo-German Naval Pact in August.

Anglo-German Naval Pact

The agreement allowed Germany to rebuild its navy to 35% the size of Britain and allowed parity in submarines.

AppeasementThis pact began the policy of

appeasement – the belief that giving in to the “reasonable” demands of Germany would keep the peace in Europe.

This policy by Britain was partly motivated by the desire to have a stronger Germany as a bulwark against Soviet expansion in Europe.

Reoccupation of the Rhineland

On March 7, 1936, Hitler ordered his army to march into the Rhine valley – in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

The British and French accepted this as another “reasonable demand” by Germany.

Reoccupation of the Rhineland

1935 -- Italy invades Ethiopia -- the League of Nations does nothing.

The Spanish Civil WarThe war in Spain becomes a

dress rehearsal for W.W.IIFascist leader Francisco Franco

leads a revolt against the leftist republican government of the Loyalists.

Franco was aided by Nazi Germany and Italy.

The Loyalists were aided by the Soviet Union.

Franco, with Germans guns and planes, crushed the Loyalists.

Death of a LoyalistDeath of a Loyalist

1936 -- Rome-Berlin Axis formed.

The Rome Berlin Axis

The Anti-Comintern Pact

In November 1936, Germany and Japan conclude the Anti-Comintern Pact to maintain a common front against communism.

Appeasement Continues

November 1937, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain makes it clear to Hitler that Britain will accept changes in Central European borders as long as they are achieved peacefully.

The AnschlussIn 1934, the Italian-allied Fascist,

but anti-Nazi, Chancellor of Austria, Engelbert Dollfuss, was assassinated by pro-German Nazis.

Under the new chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, the regime drifted on, weakened by internal rivalries but sustained by promises of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to maintain the status quo.

Mussolini’s guarantee lasted only until the Rome-Berlin Axis was established in 1936.

Schuschnigg soon reached an agreement with Adolf Hitler that acknowledged Austria as “a German state” and established a Nazi regime.

When Schuschnigg called for a plebiscite on Austrian independence in 1938, Hitler demanded and received his resignation.

The Anschluss (annexation) was accomplished when German troops entered Austria on March 12, 1938, and a German Nazi government was formed, headed by Arthur Seyss-Inquart.

Crossing into Österreich

The Ostmark Austria, now called the Ostmark

(Eastern March), was divided into seven administrative districts under the central authority of the German Third Reich.

The Move on CzechoslovakiaMay 30, 1938 -- Hitler

announces to his generals that he will seek to take control of Czechoslovakia.

Even at the risk of World War.

Hitler Explains……...

Annexation of the Sudetenland

On September 15, Hitler demands the cession of the “German” territories of the Czech border area of the Sudentenland.

The Sudentenland

Munich Conference is called to halt German aggression.

The Munich ConferenceOn September 29, a conference

was called to meet in Munich to discuss the German demands.

Neither Russia nor the Czechs were invited to the meeting.

Appeasement reigns Czechoslovakia is sold out at

Munich and Germany gets the Sudetenland.

Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain declares it means “peace in our time”

Peace in Our Time…...

To Hitler, the easy appeasement of the Western European nations was seen as a sign of weakness.

On March 15, 1939, German troops simply occupied Bohemia and Moravia, making them a “protectorate” of the German Reich.

Czechs Welcome the Nazis

SlovakiaGermany also prodded the Slovaks

to declare their own independent republic, a clerico-fascist state headed by a Roman Catholic priest, Father Jozef Tiso, that became a puppet and military ally of the Reich.

The Danzig Corridor

Hitler now began to demand that the “free city” of Danzig be returned to Germany.

The western allies began negotiating with Stalin to form an alliance to stop Hitler’s aggression.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

August 1939 -- USSR and Germany sign the Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression.

Secret provisions plan for the division of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.

The Second World War

1939 - 1945

World War II Begins

September 1, 1939 – “Code Name Weiss” – the 3 million man German army invades Poland - the war begins.

France and Great Britain declare war on Germany three days later.

In three weeks the German Blitzkrieg defeated the Polish army.

Blitzkrieg The “lightning war”

of the German Werhmacht used armored columns of Panzer tanks with infantry, supported by the Luftwaffe air force.

On September 28, 1939, Poland surrenders and the Germans and Russians officially divide Poland between them.

Poland Falls

The Phony WarFrom the fall of Poland until

April of 1940 Germany backs off and repositions its troops.

The period was called the “Sitskrieg”

During this time the British and French moved reinforcements into to place along the Maginot Line and on the Belgian – French border.

Invasion of Finland

On November 30, 1939, the USSR invades Finland with 600,000 troops.

The Russians are halted by the Finns at the Mannerheim Line.

The Finns will fight alone against the Soviets until March 13, 1940, when they are forced to surrender.

The war losses were 25,000 Finnish dead – 200,000 Russians.

April, 1940 -- Germany invades Norway and Denmark.

May 10, 1940 -- Germany invades Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Phony War Ends

Panzer divisions led by Erwin Rommel pushed south into Belgium, while General Guderian’s Panzers pushed through the Ardennes, flanking the Maginot Line.

DunkirkThe lightning moves of the

German Army pushed the allies back to the Channel.

British forces are barely able to retreat from the continent at Dunkirk.

Operation Dynamo

From May 26th to June 3rd, 861 ships (many of them private craft) evacuated 340,000 British, French and Belgian soldiers from Dunkirk.

243 ships were sunk by the Luftwaffe.

Waiting on the beach at Dunkirk

Battle of France

June 5, 1940 – After capturing Dunkirk, Germany launches a full scale invasion into France.

Five days later Mussolini will declare war on Britain and France and invade southern France.

Paris FallsParis is declared an “open city”

and on June 14th German forces enter the city and march under the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Elysses.

Nazis March into Paris

Parisians Welcome the Nazis

The German – French ArmisticeOn June 22, the newly formed

French government of Henri Petain agrees to an armistice.

The agreement will be signed in Marshal Foch’s old railway car from World War I.

Hitler as Tourist

Britain is all that stands in the way of Fascist control of Western Europe.

Vichy France The Germans occupied three-

fifths of the country while the south of France was controlled by the authoritarian puppet regime of Henri Petain from the city of Vichy.

The Battle of BritainBritain was then all that stood in

the way of Fascist control of Western Europe.

On May 10, 1940, Winston Churchill replace Chamberlain as Prime Minister.

Winston Churchill“If the British Empire and its

Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.'”

Operation Sea LionHitler makes plans for a full-

scale amphibious invasion of Britain by September 15, 1940.

The landing requires that the Germans destroy British air support and radar.

EnigmaThe British

project Ultra, using Polish mathematicians, was able to break the German’s Enigma codes.

This allowed them to have foreknowledge of the Luftwaffe’s plans for attack.

The Day of the Eagle

On August 13, 1940 Germany sent 1485 aircraft to attack Britain.

45 were shot down.Massive attacks followed for four

days.

The British RAF

The Royal Air Force, with great sacrifice, was able to shoot down 367 German planes.

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill.

British Counter Attack

Churchill then ordered night time bombing raids over German cities to destroy their industrial base.

To retaliate for the British bombing of Berlin, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to begin bombing civilian instead of military targets.

This allowed the British to rebuild the RAF.

Battle of Britain

The failure of the Luftwaffe over England forced Hitler to postpone operation Sea Lion and to change strategies.

London Burns…...

The Destroyer SwapChurchill negotiated with U.S.

president Roosevelt to transfer 50 W.W.I vintage destroyers to Britain for naval bases extending from Nova Scotia to South America.

American Destroyers

The US would soon be aiding the British under the Lend-Lease Act that makes good FDR’s pledge to make America the “Arsenal of Democracy.”

FDR and ChurchillFDR and Churchill

America makes an economic declaration of war - eventually totaling $50 billion.

The Mediterranean Strategy

In October 1940, Hitler began to pursue a strategy to capture the Suez Canal and Middle East oil Fields.

Italian failures in Africa and the Balkans led Hitler to send in German troops.

Rommel in AfricaMarch 1941, Rommel’s

Afrika Korp begins offensive against the British in North Africa.

The British are forced to retreat into Egypt – Tobruk is besieged.

Rommel in AfrikaRommel in Afrika

                                                            

Balkan CampaignThe German army invades

Yugoslavia and Greece in April.Yugoslav capital Belgrade is

destroyed by fire bombs.Yugoslav army surrenders.

Greece Surrenders

By the end of April, two Greek Armies surrender and British Expeditionary Forces are forced to evacuate Greece.

Germans enter Athens April 27.

The Thousand Year Reich

May 4, 1941 -- Hitler proclaims that Britain is doomed and that the German Reich will last for one thousand years.

Hess Flies to Britain

In one of the most bizarre incidents in the war, Rudolph Hess, the Deputy Führer, makes an unauthorized solo flight to Scotland to “arrange peace talks.”

He parachutes down after his plane is hit and is captured.

After the War Hess was held in Spandau Prison until his death by suicide in 1987 – he was 92.

“I regret nothing. If I were standing once more at the beginning I should act once again as I did then.”

- Rudolph Hess at Nuremburg

The Blitz EndsMay 6, 1941 – the last major

German air raid hits Birmingham.

Operation “Rhine Crossing”

The German Battleship Bismarck leaves the Baltic to attack Atlantic convoys.

It will sink the HMS Hood and damage the Prince of Wales.

Sink the Bismarck

On May 27, the British cruiser Dorsetshire torpedoed and sunk the Bismarck after a 1750 mile sea chase.

Crete FallsBy the end of May the island of

Crete is captured by the Germans following a massive airborne assault.

Churchill forced to defend the “Crete Debacle.”

Germany plans for USSRHitler’s plans for a full-scale

invasion into the USSR are near fruition.

He tells his generals that the Soviets are “Not to be considered POWs.”

Operation Barbarossa

On June 22, Germany launches invasion of Russia.

3.2 million troops invade over a 1800 mile front in three main thrusts: Leningrad, Moscow and the Caucasus oil fields.

Russia Holds

The German armies rapidly pushed the Russian armies backward.

By November the Germans had captured the Ukraine, were besieging Leningrad and 25 miles from Moscow.

And then the Russian winter set in.

The Turning Point of the War (1942-1943)

When the US entered the war, they formed a coalition, the Grand Alliance, that defeated the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan).

However, Britain, US, and the Soviet Union had to overcome mutual suspicions before they could be an effective alliance.

Hitler’s declaration of war on the US made it easy for Americans to accept British and Soviet contention that the defeat of Germany should be America’s first priority.

The tacit agreement of the three chief Allies to stress military operations while ignoring political differences and larger strategic issues made it easier to overcome suspicions, too.

The Allies agreed to fight until the Axis powers surrendered unconditionally, and this cemented the Grand Alliance.

However, this might have discouraged dissident Germans and Japanese from overthrowing their government to negotiate peace.

After the attack and invasion by the Japanese in the Pacific, Hitler and his allies continued the war in Europe against Britain and Soviet Union.

The War Goes OnUntil the fall of 1942, it

appeared that the Germans might still win on the battlefield.

Afrika CorpsThe Afrika Corps under

General Erwin Rommel broke through the British defenses in Egypt and went to Alexandria.

Wolf Packs

Germans also had success in the Battle of the North Atlantic.

Russian Offensive

In the spring of 1942, a renewed German offensive led to the capture of the entire Crimea, but this was Hitler’s last big win.

The Turning Point

By the fall of 1942, the war turned against the Germans.

El AlameinJuly – November 1942, in

North Africa, British forces under Bernard Montgomery halted Rommel’s troops at El Alamein and pushed them back.

Operation TorchThen, 100,000 British and

American forces made an amphibious landing in French North Africa.

Kasserine PassRommel will counter-attack

against inexperienced American tank troops in February 1943 with 10,000 American casualties.

Tunisian Surrender

By May 1943, over 250,000 Axis soldiers will surrender in Tunisia – ending the North African Campaign.

Stalingrad

On the Eastern front, the turning point of the war was in Stalingrad.

Between November 1942 and February 1943, German troops surrounded and destroyed the city of Stalingrad in the worst fighting in the war.

Russian Resistance

The Soviet Red Army held on to a small “beachhead” on the Volga River and resisted the German 6th Army.

German Surrender

By February 1943, the last pockets of German 6th Army troops are forced to surrender, General Paulus is captured – 150,000 German casualties.

By February 1943, German forces in Soviet Union were back to their position in June, 1942.

Russian DeadThe cost to the Soviets was

750,000 soldiers and 250,000 civilians.

Of the over 100,000 German prisoners taken, only 5000 were ever returned to Germany.

War in AsiaThe tide of battle in Asia

turned in 1942.In the Battle of Coral Sea,

American naval forces stopped the Japanese advance.

MidwayAt the Battle of Midway

Island, they established American naval superiority in the Pacific.

The Last Years of the War

By the beginning of 1943, the tide of battle had turned against the Axis powers, but it would take a long time to reach unconditional surrender.

After capturing Tunisia, the Allies carried the war to Italy, the “soft underbelly” of Europe

After taking Sicily, the Allied troops began the mainland invasion of Italy.

Allies land at Anzio, Italy meet stiff and bloody German resistance - invasion bogs down

Meanwhile, after the arrest of Benito Mussolini, a new Italian government offered to surrender to the Allies.

However, the Germans liberated Mussolini and set him up as the head of a puppet German state in northern Italy while German troops occupied much of Italy.

February - German forces in Italy create a defensive line, “The Gustav Line” at Monte Cassino - hold it with full force -allies reluctant to destroy medieval monastery

The Gustav LineThe new defensive line at Rome

was very effective, Rome didn’t fall until June, 1944.

May 1944 - Monte Cassino falls after bombing reduces it to rubble - Gustav Line collapses.

Allied forces break out of Anzio beachhead begin to move on Rome.

This wasn’t significant because the second front in western Europe was beginning.

Operation Overlord

The Allies planned a cross-channel invasion of France from Britain under the direction of Dwight Eisenhower.

D-DayThe Allies landed five assault

divisions on the Normandy beaches in history’s greatest naval invasion

D-DAYD-DAY

Within three months, they landed 2 million men and broke through German defensive lines.

Storming the Beach…..

Allies capture French port of Cherbourg, Germans destroy port facilities

July – U.S. General Patton leads "break out" thrust against Germans

Plot to assassinate Hitler by bomb fails - military plotters are executed - Hitler over the edge.

Invasion of Southern France begins

Paris LiberatedThe allies moved south and

east to liberate Paris.Paris falls after German

general refuses Hitler's orders to resist at all costs.

The Yanks are back

December 1944 - Germany launches a counter-offensive in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, called the "Battle of the Bulge" after the bulge created when center of allied advance retreats.

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge by the Germans slowed Allied advance, but by March 1945, the Allies had crossed the Rhine River and advanced further into Germany.

1000 US planes begin bombing Berlin

March - US forces capture last remaining bridge on the Rhine at Remagen and begin full scale invasion of Germany

1945

US and Russian troops begin liberating Nazi concentration camps - discover remains of Nazi's "Final Solution" = genocide of 6,000,000 Jews.

Buchenvald

The Allied forces finally moved toward the Elbe River where they linked up with the Soviets.

Shaking Hands at the Elba

Soviet Invasion

The Soviets had come a long way since the Battle of Stalingrad.

They defeated the Germans at the Battle of Kursk, the greatest tank battle of WWII.

Soviets began a relentless advance westward into Poland and Germany.

The End for HitlerIn January

1945, Hitler moved to a bunker under Berlin to direct the final stages of the war.

In his final political testament, he still blamed the Jews for the war.

Hitler marries Eva Braun

Hitler committed suicide on April 30. German commanders surrendered.

The war in Europe was over.

August 6, 1945 - US drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan - 180,000 dead- 70,000 missing

Hiroshima

September 2, 1945 - Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.