The Mediterranean and Eastern Europe

1
The Mediterranean and Eastern Europe

• WWII

2
British Resistance

• Changed Hitlers game plan
• He would now look to the Mediterranean, the
  Balkans, and the Soviet Union

3
North Africa

• Germanys 1st objective in the Mediterranean,
  mainly because of its partner Mussolini
• Sept. 1940, while the Battle of Britain was
  raging, Mussolini ordered his army to attack
  British-controlled Egypt.

4
Suez Canal

• Egypts Suez Canal was key to reaching the oil
  fields of the Middle East
• Within a week, Italians had drove 60 miles into
  Egypt forcing back the British

5
Britain Strikes Back

• December 1940 Britain strikes back
• Disaster for Italy
• By February 1941, Britain had swept 500 miles
  across North Africa and taken 130,000 Italian
  Prisoners

6
Hitler Aides His Axis Ally

• Sent a German tank force (Afrika Korps)
• Gen. Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox) led the German
  attack against the British and forced them to
  retreat
• Fighting went back and forth until eventually the
  allies were defeated

7
War in the Balkans

• Summer of 1940 Hitler began planning an attack on
  his ally, the USSR, but 1st wanted to strengthen
  his power in Eastern Europe
• Through the threat of force, Hitler convinced
  Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to join the Axis
  Powers
• Yugoslavia and Greece resisted, but were
  conquered in a matter of days.

8
Operation Barbarossa

• Hitlers plan to invade the Soviet Union
• June 22, 1941, German tanks and aircraft invaded
• The USSR was surprised and unprepared
• The Soviets used their famous scorched-earth
  policy

9
Siege of Leningrad

• September 8, Leningrad was cut off from the rest
  of the USSR
• Hitler was ready to starve its 2.5 million
  inhabitants to force surrender
• Inhabitants ate whatever they could find
• 1 million died that winter
• The city refused to fall

10
Moscow

• Slow progress at Leningrad led Hitler to the
  capital city of Moscow
• Germans werent prepared for the cold and began
  to retreat until Hitler ordered them to stay
• Germans made no gains, but it cost them 500,000
  soldiers

11
U.S. Aids its Allies

• Cash and Carry
• Sell American arms to the allies
• Lend-Lease Act
• Lend or lease to any country vital to the U.S.
• Hitler ordered submarines to sink all cargo ships

12
Atlantic Charter

• Joint declaration between Roosevelt and Churchill
• Upheld free trade, and the right of people to
  choose their own governments
• Served as the Allied plan for peace at the end of
  WWII

13
September 4, 1941

• German U-boat fired on a U.S. destroyer in the
  Atlantic
• Roosevelt ordered navy commanders to shoot German
  submarines on sight
• U.S. was now involved in an undeclared naval war
  with Hitler