The War in Europe

The Axis and the “Phony War”

• The alliance of Germany, Italy (1939) and Japan (1940) became known as the ________.

• September 1, 1939: The Nazis invade _______and WWII begins– Once war was declared (_______), the _____(France,

Poland, Britain, British Commonwealth of Nations) raced to get __________and prepared for battle.

• The Allies did _____go to the aid of Poland, and German Nazi armies __________Poland in less than a ______by using dive bombers and tanks in a __________(lightning war)

• Allies were quickly stationed along the France/Germany _______________for Germany to make the next move.– Nothing happened for ____________. This period was

known as the “______________.”

Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”)

• The blitzkrieg was a powerful and ___________ war tactic: surprise attacks with lightning ______

• German _____would crash through enemy lines, while war planes would roar through the skies, _____________the enemy below.

• After Poland and the “phony war” Blitzkrieg turned into high gear.

• The Germans captured __________and ______ (April 1940), _______and the __________(May) and _______(June).

Blitzkrieg

Axis & Allies

• The Axis powers:– Germany– Italy– Japan

• The Allied powers:– Britain– France– Canada– USSR– America– Other

Commonwealth Countries

• World Map with the participants in World War II.– The Allies depicted in green (those in light green entered

after the Attack on Pearl Harbour), – The Axis Powers in orange– Neutral countries in grey.

Evacuation at Dunkirk, 1940

• The Germans pushed through __________and on to France, and surrounded the Allied (mostly British) forces in the French port of _____________.

• Britain was in danger of having to surrender hundreds of thousands of troops, so the _________tried an ____________by sea (________Channel), on May 26th, 1940. – Two days later, the German air force _________the port of

Dunkirk, making the evacuation even more difficult. • Miraculously the British government was able to

evacuate over ______ soldiers to Britain on ____ships in only a _______.– ________victory: saved well-trained British forces

• Unfortunately for the Allies, France was ___________ as a result of the pull out, and on June 22, 1940, France _____________to Germany.

The Battle of Britain (1940-41)

• By ______almost all of ______was in the hands of Germany and Italy. Hitler’s next goal was ___________________: the invasion of ______.

• In an attempt to force the British to surrender, Hitler begins the Battle of Britain. Hitler’s air force (_________) attacks the island of ______, bombing both _______and ________targets

• German planes bombed London and other cities, killing civilians and destroying buildings and streets. These raids became known as “The _________.”

Fighting Back

• The British _______________(RAF), along with many __________pilots, fought back until the German air raids ceased.– British planes outnumbered _____ but had advantage

due to ______: radio waves used to detect squadrons • This battle lasted ________and cost the lives of

__________men, women and children. • It failed in its purpose to demoralize the British

people and had the opposite effect instead the ____became even more _______to the concept of “_____________”

Defending Britain

• The sophisticated British radar system gave them _______warnings of German air raids.

• They used ___________and _________: fighter planes that were extremely effective defence planes.

• In _________, Hitler gave up his plans to invade Britain.– The _____time Hitler was _________a conquest– The failure of Germany to dominate this battle is

known as one of the biggest mistakes in the war which enabled ______to arrive and the British to gain ________.

The War Spreads - 1941

• Shortly after Germany’s defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler launched “Operation ____________” (“red beard”), the invasion of the _____(June 22, 1941).

• Even though Germany and the Soviet Union had _______(in 1939) not to invade each other:– Hitler needed to conquer the USSR to _____

his plans of a German _______.– He needed to destroy his ideological rival:

_______________

Operation Barbarossa, 1941• The Soviets were ___________and unprepared for the

attack by ___________German troops• At first, the Germans were able to push the Soviet army

_________and deeper into the Soviet Union. – The _________troops were unprepared for the long and cold

Soviet _____, and soon lost their advantage. – Stalin used the “_______________” policy: they

__________and __________everything so the NAZIS would have nothing to use

• In _____, the German troops launched another offensive in the USSR, and they got as far as ___________. They were once again stopped by the severe winter.

• In early ____, the German army __________, the Soviet army went on the offensive, and took back much of the ______that they had lost.

The Dieppe Raid, August 1942

• By 1942, the ______were making plans to retake _________

• To accomplish this, the Allies launched a series of raids across the ______Channel

• One of these raids was against the _____ town of Dieppe which was in ______hands

• __________troops’ objective: Capture the town at _______under the cover of air ___________and tank __________.

Dieppe: The Problems

• On the morning of ______________, one of the ships carrying Canadian soldiers to Dieppe unexpectedly met a small German __________.

• They engaged in a ________battle, and the noise _______German troops on ______.

• _________caused the ships to land on the beach during _______, and Canadian soldiers were easily ______-gunned by the waiting German soldiers.

Dieppe: The Problems

• Commanders in the boats could not _____what was happening, and communication was ____, so they continued to send _____________onto the beach, who were ________to _______.

• Of ________Canadians who landed: ____ were killed or captured

• More Canadian soldiers ____in those few hours at Dieppe than in _________day of the war

Battle of the Atlantic

• By 1941, the ____________________was in full force.

• Britain was almost completely ___________on Canada and the US’s food and military _______, but the Allied ships bound for England were being ______by German ______ in “________” patrolling the Atlantic.

• To protect these ships, Allies sailed in _______ where ________escorted and protected vessels carrying supplies.– The ___________________provided much protection

with their ___________: small warships

Battle of the Atlantic

• Initially, things weren’t looking good for the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic, German submarines were sinking Allied convoys at a rapid pace.

• But, by May 1942, the _______had cracked the German ___________, and the Allies could now track German submarines with ________(sound waves bounced off enemy submarines to alert).

• The Allies were now _________ships _____than they were getting ___________.– Beginning of WWII: RCN = 13 ships, 3 000 sailors– End of WWII: RCN = 370 ships, 100 000

sailors

Canadians in the Air

• The Royal Canadian Air Force grew quickly after the war began, and played many ____________roles.

• Canadian Air crews participated in _________raids in Britain, North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe, Southeast Asia and did night bombings over Germany.

The Tide Turns

• In ____, the Allies gained strength with the ____ declaring war on _______.

• They began to win the Battle of the Atlantic and made important advances in the __________.

• The Allies had cleared the Axis forces out of North _______and now wanted to focus on _________.

The Invasion of Italy

• British PM Winston ________felt that the best way to attack Europe was through _____and ______.– ____________attack

• In 1943, the Allies invaded Sicily, and were successful after ____weeks of fierce fighting.

The Invasion of Italy

The advances were ______, fighting was often _______by _______and it could take weeks to take a city.

Perhaps the most important __________-Axis conflict was __________, where Canadians fought for a month, and lost _______soldiers before the Germans _________.

The Invasion of Italy

• The Allies advance through Italy was _____, but eventually they took ______on June 4th, 1944.

• The fighting continued in Italy until the spring of 1945. – _______1945: ______________and displayed in the

streets of Milan

• Over _________ Canadians were active in Italy during the campaign.

• Significance: required ______________ troops making them ___________for the attack on Normandy

Normandy Landing (D-Day)• __________ was ________________.• “________________” was launched on D-Day, and was

the _________Allied invasion of the war: an attack on Europe across the English Channel.

• The Allies had learnt from their ___________made at ______, and this invasion involved almost one _______ soldiers.– Had been planned for over a ______

• British, American, and Canadian troops stormed ashore along the ______________of the French province of ______________.– Largest ________military operation of WWII: ______

soldiers, ____ships, ____bomber squadrons

Operation Overlord

• There were ___landing points along an 80 km stretch of beach: Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah.

• ___________was the Canadian Objective

Juno Beach and Beyond

• Within ______there were over ____________soldiers on the shores of Normandy– Although the Germans had ___________an attack, they did not

expect the Allies to attempt in such bad ________.• Canadian troops struck at first _____, pouring out of their

landing craft and advancing across the sand up into the town of _____

• The Allies had taken back part of the French soil:– D-day marked the ____________of the ______for Germany

• Canadians continued to fight for _______in order to also take back all the French ports along the English Channel– ________Canadians killed and ____________allied casualties– __________German soldiers killed, wounded or missing

Liberating the _______________

• One of the most ____________moments in the history of World War II for __________Soldiers.

• Canadian troops had been fighting in ________, ____, ______, and in Germany since the D-Day landing.– These troops were moved to the Netherlands to ____

the German troops occupying the northeast back to the ____and to drive German troops in the west back into _________.

• May 5, 1945: Canadian forces drove the NAZIS to retreat from ________and _________

• Important results due to the Canadians’ efforts:– The Dutch people were ______.– Allied troops could continue ______toward Germany

The Final Stages of the War in Europe:

Germany Surrenders

• Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945.– More details on this next lesson