Key Events of World War II

Invasion of Poland: WW II Begins

• Nonaggression Pact between USSR and Germany shocks the world (1939)

• September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland

• Blitzkrieg

Invasion of France• After a short break, in

May 1940 Hitler begins further invasions of Western Europe

• Germany quickly captures Paris in June

• French government surrenders, but resistance movement tries to fight

What caption might the British use with this image in a propaganda poster?

How about the Germans?

The Battle of Britain• August 1940• Britain is the only

unconquered country in Western Europe

• Intensive bombings and air raids were supposed to pave the way for a German invasion

• But, the new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, inspires the country to stay strong

• “Never…has so much been owed by so many to so few” http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/dates/stories/june/4/newsid_3500000/3500865.stm

Before we move on…

• With your partner, look at the map on page 581 in the textbook

• Who was most aggressive at the beginning of the war?

• Who will become more aggressive during the second half of the war?

Invasion of the Soviet Union

• Operation Barbarossa: Summer 1941

• Hitler attacks the USSR, breaking his pact with Stalin

• Germany has many early victories, but the Soviet winter will eventually be too brutal… (obviously Hitler didn’t study his history)

December 7, 1941

• http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/day-of-infamy/index.html#documents

December 7, 1941• Japan bombs naval

Base at Pearl Harbor

• Why?

• Japan had hoped to– Destroy the US fleet– Force the US to accept their domination in the

Pacific– Exploit the assumed “softness” of the

American people

But instead…

• The US enters the war and joins the Allied forces: ___, ___, ___ against the Axis Powers: ___, ___, ___

Pacific Theater• The Allied Commander is Douglas MacArthur

• The Allied strategy is Island Hopping

• Fleets moved from island to island rather than attack any mainland sites

The Battle of Midway

• Turning point in the Pacific – June 1942– US defeats

Japanese navy badly

– Establishes US naval superiority

– Kamikaze pilots

Stalingrad• A major turning point in

Europe• The Germans and the

Soviets fought a brutal battle throughout the winter of 1942-3

• The German army had to surrender and retreat; their defeat was a disaster

• Hitler said after this battle that, “The Gods of War have gone over to the other side”

D-Day (The Battle of Normandy)

• Began on June 6, 1944

• HUGE Allied assault on the coast of France

• Gave the Allies a foothold in Western Europe; began to move inland on the final offense against the Nazis

Hiroshima and Nagasaki• These two Japanese cities were the targets of the only two atomic

bombs ever used in war on August 6 and 9, 1945• Their destruction led Japan to surrender to the Allies• Each single bomb destroyed the target city and killed 1000s of

people immediately• The effects of radiation caused 100,000s more to die later or

suffer horrific injuries