Fall 1940 Fall 1941 n Axis Powers n

Fall 1940 -Fall 1941

n Axis Powers n n n n Germany Italy Japan Romania Bulgaria Hungary Libya n Allied Powers n n Great Britain (and her colonies) French colonies

Mussolini trying to create a new Roman Empire Attacks North Africa… n Attacks Greece. . . n n Has to get help from Hitler

Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox”

Operation Barbarossa n n n Hitler always intended to invade the Soviet Union (Mein Kampf) June 22, 1941 Germany attacks the USSR 3 million troops quickly take 500, 000 square miles.

Siege of Leningrad –Sept. 1941 Germans surround city for 17 months… n Population starves but doesn’t give up… n n “jellied meat” Over one million civilians die… n World’s largest cemetery – 500, 000 dead n

Hitler is prepared for a 10 week war Soviets quickly retreat using the “scorched earth” policy – 2 ½ million die… n Soviets use guerrilla tactics n Germans advance to the outskirts of Moscow…. . but then…. . n

Russian Winter n n n Germans have no… Temperatures dip to -30 degrees Oil in the tanks froze Soviets counterattack Just like Napoleon… First time in WWII….

Battle for Moscow n n Stalin rushed his best commander, Georgi Zhukov, to defend Moscow Zhukov waged a delaying defense in front of Moscow; In the meantime he pulled reinforcements from as far away as Siberia to defend Moscow Zhukov’s plan was to allow the Germans to exhaust themselves and then go on the offensive

n n n Rundstedt, the German commander of Army Group South, ordered a retreat and Hitler fired him Field Marshall Walther von Reichenau replaced Rundstedt and confirmed the withdraw order and then suffered a heart attack Hitler was in the midst of a high command crisis and lost confidence in his generals n Reichenau

n n December 6, 1941 Soviet Army Counterattacks December 7, 1941….