How world war 2 began

How world war 2 began

1. Defeating France

   • Operation Dynamo
     • Evacuates 300,000 BEF soldiers from Dunkirk
   • France signs surrender on 22nd June 1940
     • Same railway carriage that the Germans signed their surrender at the end of WW1
       • Vichy France is formed

2. Invasion of Britain

   • Battle of Britain
     • Defence of Britain from the Nazi attack
       • RAF fought the Luftwaffe
         • June 1940- October 1940
       • Radar stationed along coast to track and attack German planes
         • British planes were spitfires and hurricanes
           • America gave Britain equipment & ammunition
             • Known as lend-lease
   • Blitz
     • Sep 1940- May 1941
       • London bombed 57 nights in a row
         • Nazi planes bombed big cities in England
           • Air raid sirens warned city dwellers of attack
             • 50,000 bombs dropped & incendiary bombs were dropped
               • Strict blackouts at night
                 • Gas masks were given to all civilians
                   • Air raid shelters
                     • Anderson huts (made from galvanise & built at the back of a garden
                       • Morrison/ table shelters were used in city areas
                         • Tube stations also used

3. Invasion of Russia

   • Battle of Stalingrad
     • Turning point in the war for Europe
     • Fought in the winter of 1942-1943
       • Temperatures dropped well below 0
         • Food, ammunition and heat were in low supply
           • Commander Von Paulus was ordered by Hitler to fight to the last bullet
             • He did this because Hitler promoted him to Field Marshal
   • Operation Barbarossa
     • Hitler launches attack on the Soviet Union on the 22nd June 1941
       • 3,000,000 German soldiers
       • 150 Divisions
       • 3,000 tanks
       • Front covered a distance of 2,000 miles
         • Main targets
           • Leningrad
           • Moscow
           • Kiev

4. D-Day

   • Or Operation Overlord
   • Began on 6th June 1944
     • Normandy beaches were chosen due to location, shallow water & wide beaches
       • Germans taken by surprise when attack began
         • Expected attack to occur at Calais closer to Britain
           • American General Eisenhower led the allied attack
             • Allied forces (130,00) bombed the Atlantic wall that Hitler built
               • Paratroopers dropped behind the German Lines
                 • Artificial harbors 'Mulberrypiers' brought in tanks & other equipment
                   • Built a pipeline under ocean, code-named Pluto to supply oil to the allied army
                     • Operation was a success & troops advanced to Paris and liberated France
                       • Battle of the Bulge was only setback the allies suffered
                         • Liberated Europe and WW2 ended on 8th May 1945
                           • August 1945 2 atomic bombs were dropped in Nagasazki & Hiroshima
       • 5 beaches chosen code-named
         • Utah
         • Gold
         • Juno
         • Sword
         • Omaha

5. invasion of Poland

   • Phony War
     • 3 Sep 1939 to May 1940 nobody fought
       • After the blitzkreig attack on Poland
       • Because of winter
   • Hitler takes over Norway
     • Norway's Extensive Coastline would been important in the battle control the North Sea
       • Easing the passage of German warships & submarines into the Atlantic
     • Aids Hitler's ability to import iron ore from Sweden
     • May 1940
       • End of Phony War
   • 1st Sep 1939
     • Hitler unleashes a new warfare called Blitzkreig
       • Also known as Lightening Warfare
       • Area is bombed first by Luftwaffe.
         • Tanks move in & clear out any resistance
           • Then infantry move in
             • Speed of German invasion with the Soviet advance from the east threw polish into panic
               • Polish surrendered after 2 weeks
               • Country is divided between the Germans & the Soviet Union