Blitzkrieg Lightning War

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Blitzkrieg Lightning War Quick and
efficient Poland Sept 1, 1939 Denmark -
April, 1940 Norway Netherlands
May,1940 Belgium France By June 22, 1940
Germany takes over 3/5 of France, including
Paris
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War In Britain Winston Churchill become leader
of Britain May 10, 1940 Even though France
surrenders, Britain is still not defeated and
they appeal to United States for help. Franklin
D. Roosevelt (FDR) denounced the German actions
but stayed out of the war due to Neutrality
Acts of 1930s. He didnt agree with this,
thought these acts would fuel German aggression
and he wanted them repealed.
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Air Raids Aug 1940 Germany conducts air raids
on Britain, primarily on various military sites.
German air force is called Luftwaffe.
Sept 1940 Germany began bombing
cities to break morale. This allowed
British air force to recover and rebuild.
British struck back, inflicting damage on
German air force so the Germans
postponed further attack on Britain by end
of Sept.
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Fighting the Soviet Union Remember the
Non-Aggression Pact of 1939? Germany becomes
suspicious of Soviet Union and believed the
Soviets will support Britain. Hitler also
believed that the Soviet army was weak and that
he could quickly defeat them. (weve seen this
before) He invaded the Soviet Union in June
1941. He thought he would defeat them by
winter. He didntin fact, Soviets launched a
fierce counter attack in Dec 1941
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Meanwhile in Asia Dec 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor
attacked by Japan Japan also took over
Philippines, British Malaya, Dutch East Indies,
and much of S.E. Asia. U. S. Entered the war to
fight the Japanese. Hitler soon declared war on
the United States. (4 days after) He thought the
U.S. couldnt engage in both arenas. I guess he
was wrongagain
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New Coalition Allied Powers United States,
Great Britain and USSR Axis Powers Germany
Italy, Japan For much of 1942, Germany prevailed
in Europe By late 1942 things turned against
Germany and the Axis powers one major loss and
surrender was at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union
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In Asia U.S. forces stopped the advancement of
Japan. This saved Australia Another major
victory for the U.S. was at the island of
Midway. Then they continued island hopping
attacks until they got close to the four major
Japanese islands.
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The Last Days Several areas of the war began to
fall into Allied Powers hands North Africa
May 1943 Italian areas June 1944 June 6,
1944 D-Day the Normandy invasion (beach area
in France) With in 3 months 2 million men and
½ million vehicles entered Europe from the
United States Although they suffered many
losses, the Allied powers pushed inland and broke
German defense lines. Paris was liberated after
4 years of German control
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Allied Powers soon moved into Germany and were
joined by Soviets (April 1945 By this time
Hitler was holed up in a bunker under Berlin He
committed suicide on April 30, 1945 Mussolini
had been assassinated 2 days earlier by Italian
partisans May 7th 1945 German commanders
surrendered The war is over in Europe
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Asia The Asian battle is nearing the main
Japanese islands. Some difficult battles are
anticipated. FDR dies in April 1945 New
president Harry Truman takes over and is faced
with a big question. Do we use the Atomic
Bombs? The decision was made to use them.
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Aug 6, 1945 Hiroshima - 80,000 killed directly,
60,000 from illness after. Aug 9, 1945
Nagasaki 40,000 killed directly, 120,000
diseased. Aug 14, 1945 Japan surrenders The
war is over in Asia