WORLD WAR II AND TOTAL WAR-WWII was deadlier than WWI. More soldiers and civilians were killed. The impact on civilians in terms of deaths, destructions and displacement made it more of a total war than WWI.

-WWII included rapid movement, with major campaigns in Central and Western Europe, North Africa, Asia and the USSR.

THE INVASION OF POLAND-On September 1st 1939 Hitler’s Panzers (tanks) and the Luftwaffe (air force) smashed over the border into Poland. They fast cut through Poland’s defenses, making a path for the infantry.

-This devastating method was known as Blitzkrieg (lightning war). The Polish resisted heroically, but it was futile.

-On September 29th Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR.

THE PHONEY WAR-Two days after the invasion of Poland, Britain declared war on Germany but very little happened in the next five months. The French manned the Maginot Line and waited for the next German move.

-The Soviet Union took Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The USSR invaded Finland and the Winter War broke out.

-Chamberlain believed this period of inactivity would bring Hitler to his knees.

THE INVASION OF DENMARK AND NORWAY (APRIL 1940)-Four days after Chamberlain’s comment, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. It was very important to control Norway due to the need for German access to Swedish iron ore, which was vital for the armaments industry.

-These invasions caused the downfall of Chamberlain, and on May 10th a coalition government was established under Winston Churchill.

THE INVASION OF HOLLAND, BELGIUM AND FRANCE (MAY – JUNE 1940)

-On May 10th, Germany launched attacks on Holland and Belgium, and then the Germans skirted around the Maginot Line and invaded France on May 12th.

-Marshall Petain believed the Ardennes forest would be a strong barrier to stop Germany. Nonetheless, that is exactly where the Germans broke through.

-Hitler’s victories were fast and within six days the Panzers had reached the English Channel. Dunkirk remained in British hands, and a third of a million troops had to be rescued by the British navy and private boats owned by fishermen. This evacuation was a blow for the allies because they lost armament, equipment and they were driven out of Europe.

-Paris was captured on June 14th and the French government requested the terms for an armistice.

-The ceasefire agreement was signed at Compiègne on June 21st in the same railway coach that had been used in 1918.

-Hitler had been achieved more in two months than the Kaiser in WWI.

-By the end of 1940, Germany dominated western, central and northern Europe, Italy had entered the war as Hitler’s ally and the USSR remained friends with Germany. Spain did not enter the war but remained closely associated with Germany and Italy.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1940)

-On June 18th 1940, Churchill stated “The battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” (see page 146 speech delivered by Churchill)

-Hitler hoped for a peace agreement, but Churchill was opposed to negotiate and continued inspiring the British with his determination and memorable speeches.

-Hitler was astonished that Britain continued resisting and an amphibious operation was planned “Operation Sealion”, it was given low priority due to the belief that the Luftwaffe would destroy the RAF, therefore Britain would be willing to negotiate.

-In July 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked Britain’s airfields, then started bombing cities; this was known as the Blitz, London was attacked 71 times, Birmingham, Liverpool and Plymouth 8 times, Bristol 6, Glasgow 5, Southampton 4, and some other cities)

-It was clear that Germany could not break the RAF or Britain’s morale. Hitler postponed this invasion and turned his attention to “Operation Barbarossa”.

Why was Britain able to resist?Luftwaffe: 1200 bombers, 1000 fightersRAF: 900 fighters.

-The German bombers had limited range and a limited bomb load. The German Messerschmitt Bf-109 was an excellent fighter but it only had fuel to stay over Britain for 10 to 20 minutes. The British planes Spitfire and Hurricane could spend much more time flying.

-Britain had developed the radar. This minimized the impact of the RAF’s numerical inferiority since it permitted the RAF to locate the enemy when they were about 120 km away and they didn’t have to patrol looing for the enemy.

-Germany bombed cities instead of concentrating on bombing the RAF airfields, this change of targets gave time to rebuild the RAF airbases.

-The Battle of Britain was the first time Hitler had been stopped from achieving his aims.

Messerschmitt Bf-109

Spitfire

Hurricane

THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE BALKANS (1940-41)

-The entry of Italy in June 1940 spread the war to the Balkans, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

-Italy wanted to invade Egypt, and sent its army from Libya, and another army invaded Greece from Albania. Both campaigns were a failure for Mussolini. The British pushed out the Italians of Egypt; the British sank half of the Italian fleet in Taranto, then occupied Crete, and the Greeks defeated them and invaded Albania.

-This brought Hitler into North Africa and in the Balkans. Rommel and his Afrika Korps defeated the British in Libya and by June 1942 they had advanced close to El Alamein in Egypt.

-In April 1941 Germany had overrun Yugoslavia and Greece. In three weeks the Greeks surrendered.

- These campaigns were significant:

- These were serious setbacks for the Allies.- British troops were moved to Greece which weakened them in Africa.- By assisting Mussolini, Hitler had to delay six weeks Operation Barbarossa.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA (JUNE 22nd 1941)

-Hitler’s motives to invade the USSR were principally ideological since he wanted to destroy a country full of communists. Of course, the natural resources of the USSR, including oil, were vast and this would be ideal for Hitler’s expansionism.

-The plan considered three attacks: in the north towards Leningrad, in the center towards Moscow and in the south towards the agriculturally and industrially rich Ukraine.

-The Germans were able to take advantage of the element of surprise. The Soviets ignored Churchill’s warnings and their own intelligence.

-Stalin believed that Hitler would honored the Nazi-Soviet pact and avoid a conflict in two fronts.

-The Soviets were still re-equipping their army after the humiliation of the Winter War, and the profound impact of the purges.

-In the first months of the war the Germans surrounded and besieged Leningrad (see i.f page 149). In the south Kiev was captured, and by mid October they were within 80 km of Moscow.

- The Germans failed to take Leningrad and Moscow. The heavy rains of October held them back because the roads turned to mud, and the severe Russian Winter made it worse since the Germans were not prepared for it.

- Thousand experienced frostbite and equipment froze and failed to function.

- The Soviet commander Marshal Zhuvok launched a counter-offensive and Moscow was saved.

- In June 1942, the Germans made a massive offensive towards the oilfields of the Caucasus. The Germans reached Stalingrad and occupied half of the city.

- The Russians refused to surrender and counter-attacked surrounded the Germans with a pincer movement. The Germans were outnumbered and suffered from shortages of ammunition and food, the Germans had to surrender in Stalingrad.