WAR ERUPTS IN EUROPE Axis Powers Allied Powers















- Slides: 15
WAR ERUPTS IN EUROPE: • Axis Powers: • Allied Powers: • Germany • Great Britain • Italy • France • Japan • (Eventually U. S. A) • (Eventually USSR)
WAR ERUPTS IN EUROPE • Sept 1939 - May 1940: “Phony War” • Germans invade France through the Ardennes Forest in Luxembourg/Belgium • France was unprepared and falls quickly to Germans
LONDON BLITZ • Hitler planned to bomb British cities until they surrendered • The “Battle of Britain” destroyed cities, but did’nt succeed in defeating the British
AMERICANS DEBATE INVOLVEMENT • Neutrality Act of 1939: “cash and carry” policy • Stated that any nation, Allied or Axis, could buy U. S. goods if they: 1) paid cash and 2) carried it on own ships
AMERICA MARCHES TOWARDS WAR • FDR reelected in 1940 • Lend-Lease Act: allowed the US to produce and lend the British whatever they needed • “Good Neighbor Policy” • Would make the US the “arsenal of democracy”
AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR • July 1941 - US issued an embargo on air and naval supplies to the Japanese • The Japanese needed these resources and would kill to get them
JAPAN ATTACKS! • Dec 7, 1941 – Japanese attack a naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii • This was aimed to take out the US ability to fight by destroying navy
• However, the attack failed in a couple of ways: • 1) US oil fields were not eliminated • 2) US aircraft carriers were out at sea and left untouched
OPERATION BARBAROSSA • Hitler invades Russia in 1941, breaking the non-aggression pact • USSR uses “scorched earth” tactics and a harsh winter to thwart Nazi victory
THE BATTLE FOR STALINGRAD • Hitler turned to southern Russia in search of oil, towards Stalingrad • Turning point of the war, infamous for some of the fiercest fighting of WWII • 1942 -1943: USSR begins pushing Germany westward
AFRICAN THEATRE • Goal of Axis: • Take control of the Suez Canal for oil • Goal of Allies: • Open up a 2 nd front to relieve the USSR • Pave way for invading Italy
THE AFRICAN THEATRE • Germany and GB fought fiercely at El. Alamein • Allies turn the tide in North Africa • U. S. pushes east while GB pushes west • Feb, 1943: German Commander Erwin Rommel is defeated in Tunisia
ALLIED INVASION OF ITALY • May 1943 -Allies invade Sicily • September- Allies invade Italy • Italy surrenders by September 1943 • Mussolini toppled from power • Intense fighting continued in Italy vs Germans
BOMBING GERMANY • 1942 -1943: Allies practiced saturation (carpet) bombing • Purpose: Invasion of Europe still not yet possible • Inflict damage on German war effort
BOMBING GERMANY • Controversy • Allied bombers destroyed cities like Berlin, Dresden; Many civilians were killed • Was this kind of bombing appropriate?