ETO – European Theatre of Operations

I. Poland (1, September 1939)A. The Plan: German prisoners were dressed in

Polish Army uniforms & taken to the Polish/German border. The prisoners were shot & killed by the SS. Hitler claimed that the Poles had attacked a German radio outpost

B. Blitzkrieg: “lightning war” Combination of aircraft, tanks, artillery and infantry designed to overwhelm the enemy creating a quick and sound defeat

Poland Cont.C. Outdated Polish military

1. Poles led cavalry charges against German tanks

2. Polish weaponry & tactics were outdated, low supplies, poor training, no airforce

D. Soviet Union (German – Soviet Non-Aggression Pact)

1. Attack simultaneously from the east2. Poland divided between Germany & USSR

II. Sitzkrieg

A. “cold war” – no shots were fired for several months; no combat takes place

B. Armies massed in stand off• French & German armies mobilize & gather

along the French/German border

III. Germany attacksA. Belgium, Norway, Netherlands

• These countries either lie between Germany and France, or are needed for strategic purposes. They fall to Germany very quickly.

B. France1. Maginot Line: Stationary line of defenses

(French/German border). Series of concrete bunkers & pillboxes w/ artillery, machine guns, mines, etc.

Germany attacks cont.B. France cont.

2. German Plana. Paratroopers – Airborne infantry

• Jumped in behind the Maginot Line• Attempted to surround and cut off the French Army

b. Panzers – German tanks• Frontal assault on the Maginot Line• Squeeze the French against the paratroopers in the west.

c. Folly at Dunkirk• Hitler calls off the ground assault to let the Luftwaffe finish off

the French and British armies at Dunkirk.• Luftwaffe fails due to poor weather conditions

• France is defeated and falls in ONE WEEK

IV. Operation BarbarosaA. German invasion of Soviet Union – 1941B. Why?

1. Natural resources (oil, minerals, farmland)2. Hitler’s grudge

Hated Stalin Hated Communism Felt the Russians were sub human

3. Bad Idea4. Brutal fighting

examples