Battle Of Britain Britain Stood Alone With the

Battle Of Britain

Britain Stood Alone • With the fall of France, Great Britain stood alone against the Nazis. • The new British Prime minister, Winston Churchill declared that his nation would never give in. – “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets…. we shall never surrender. ”

Hitler’s Invasion of Great Britain • Hitler’s Plan: Operation Sea Lion – 1. Knock off the Royal Air Force (RAF) – 2. Land 250, 000 soldiers on England’s shores. • Summer 1940 – The Luftwaffe (Germany’s Air force) began bombing Great Britain. – The RAF was greatly outnumbered.

The British Fought on… • Hitler first aimed at airfields and aircraft factories. • Then moved on to cities, especially London – This was an attempt to break British Morale. – Despite the destruction Britain fought on. • With Germany’s attention on the cities and off the airfields the RAF was able to counter attack.

The RAF takes control • The RAF began to gain control of the Battle of Britain. • Two main secret weapons helped turn the tide in their favor. – Radar—electronic tracking system • Could tell the number, speed, and direction of incoming war planes. – Enigma—German code-making machine. • Could now decode German secret messages.

Hitler Calls off His Attacks in Britain • The Battle of Britain continued until May 10 th 1941. • Stunned by British resistance Hitler decided to call off his attacks. • The Battle of Britain had ended and for the first time the Allies learned that Hitler’s advances could be stopped!

Hitler’s shifts his focus • The stubborn resistance of the Battle of Britain caused a shift in Hitler’s strategy in Europe. • Hitler decided he would deal with Great Britain later. – Turned his attention east to the Balkans and the Mediterranean area.

North African Campaign • Germany’s first objective in the Mediterranean region was North Africa. – This was prompted mainly by Mussolini • He wanted Italy to share in some of Germany’s conquests. – Germany sent troops to N. Africa where its ally Italy was already falling to British forces.

North African Campaign • By the time Hitler decided to help Italy in Africa the British had already taken 130, 000 Italian Prisoners. – Hitler sent General Erwin Rommel “The Desert Fox” to step in and help. – After fierce fighting Rommel came out victorious against the allies.

Controlling the Balkans • While Rommel campaigned in N. Africa, Hitler was active in the Balkans. • By early summer 1940 Hitler had begun planning to attack his ally, the USSR. – In order to accomplish this plan he needed to control the Balkan countries.

Controlling the Balkans • Early 1941 – In the face of overwhelming German strength Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary cooperated in joining the Axis powers. – Yugoslavia and Greece resisted. • However, Hitler would then invade these countries and eventually win them. • Their resistance did little good.

Operation Barbarossa • With the Balkans firmly in control Hitler could go ahead with his plan to invade the Soviet Union. • Hitler turned on his one time Ally and launched a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa) – The Red Army (USSR) though the largest in the world was not well-equipped or well trained.

Operation Barbarossa • The Germans quickly pushed deep into Soviet land. • As the Red Army was forced to retreat it destroyed everything left behind to keep supplies out of German hands (Scorched Earth Policy)

Does History Repeat Itself? • Sound Familiar? ? – Where have we seen Russia use this type of tactic before? – What was it called? – What else does the Soviet Union have going for them?

Winter to the rescue • After a hard attack on Leningrad, in which more than 1 million people died from the terrible winter, the city still refused to fall. • Hitler, seeing that Leningrad would not surrender turned his sights to Moscow. – Here a strong Soviet counter attack, combined with fierce winter forced the Germans back.

Where is the U. S. • Although the events of the war in Europe were disturbing the United States sat back and decided they should not get involved. – FDR wanted o help the Allies. • Sold weapons to the Allies – FDR met with Churchill in August 1941. – Although the U. S. was not officially in the war the two leaders were already working together.

Battle of Britain Comic Strip Instructions • Fold white paper into 6 squares (hotdog style then fold like a wallet) • Label top of comic Strip: Battle of Britain (not too big) • Draw a picture with voice bubbles, like a comic, for each square. – Topics for each square • German planes attack British airfields • German planes attack British cities • British RAF counterattack (maybe show the RAF planes getting off the ground into the air) • Show both sides fighting in the air • Radar and Enigma • Germany retreats • Everything must be in color!