Chapter 26 –

World War II

The War in Europe

Part II
Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbor,
Stalingrad, D-Day and VE-Day
German Luftwaffe (LOOFT vah fuh)
German air force
 The Battle of Britain
• German bombing raids of Britain
• Hitler’s 1st mistake:
mistake
Frustration led to a
change of targets in
Britain from military to
civilian targets
• Move backfires –
British people show
remarkable resolve
and determination
• British military able to
respond w/out attacks
• By September Hitler
postponed British invasion
 Hitler Invades Soviet Union
• June 22, 1941 – Hitler breaks
non-aggression pact, invades
USSR
• 1,800 mile long front
• Early winter and fierce Soviet
fighting halted German advance
• 2nd big mistake for Hitler
Invading the USSR creates a 2
front war
 Japanese Imperialism in Asia
• Like Germany, Japan wanted “living space” and
“resources”
• Sept 1931 – Japanese seize Manchuria (north of
China)
• Japan moved steadily south taking over Northern
Chinese territory
• Planned to take over the USSR with Germany’s help
• Japan wanted more lands in the South Japanese Leader Hideki Tojo
Pacific, the US protested and said they
would cut off aid and raw materials to
Japan

Japanese Emperor Hirohito

Japan Invades Manchuria (Video 1:00)
Churchill & FDR Meet in Secret
 Video: The Path to Infamy (Video – 3:49)

Click on picture to see video

 Pearl Harbor Attacked Dec. 7, 1941
• Japanese aircraft bomb US Pearl Harbor base in
Hawaii
• Japanese had launched assaults throughout
Asia with great success
• Japanese viewed Americans as soft, a surprise
attack would give them Pacific control
• 4 days after Pearl Harbor – Hitler declares war
on US. Believes US action in Pacific would
make them weak in Europe
Photograph from a Japanese plane of Battleship Row at the beginning of the
attack. The explosion in the center is a torpedo strike on the USS Oklahoma. Two attacking Japanese planes can
be seen: one over the USS Neosho and one over the Naval Yard.
Rosie the Riveter
 Axis vs. Allies
• ALLIES: Great Britain, USA, USSR agree to
fight until the Axis Powers surrender
unconditionally
• AXIS: Germany, Italy, Japan
• FDR and Winston Churchill (Britain) meet in US
and plan massive attacks in Europe
• US first attacks in Africa vs. Italian and German
troops Flags of the Third Reich, Japan and the
Kingdom of Italy, in Berlin (September 1940)
• May 1943 US/British troops force German/Italian
surrender in Africa

"The Big Three": Josef Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and

Winston Churchill meeting at the Tehran Conference in 1943.
4/5 of the World at War (Video 1:00)
The Battle of Stalingrad 1942
Germans vs. Russians

Stalingrad
& Volga
River
Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers over Stalingrad.
Sept. 1942 Battle of Stalingrad (Video 1:11)
 Stalingrad 1942
• Most terrible battle of
the war
• Stalingrad – major
industrial center in Soviet holding the red banner high

USSR
• If Hitler could win the
city of Stalingrad it was
a portal to the middle
east and vast
resources of oil for his
war machine.
• Germans finally
stopped after fierce
fighting in winter
conditions
The entire German 6th Army (their
best) surrenders at Stalingrad
 The Battle of Stalingrad in Russia
– Germany vs. the Soviet Union
– August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943
– The Soviet Red Army’s victory over
Germany
Integral Part of World War II
• Considered as the most decisive
battle of all battles in World War II
and also regarded as a turning
point in World War II.
• This battle was also the
bloodiest battle in history, where
1.5 million people were killed
from both sides. Both sides
fought with brutality and disregard
civilian casualties.
Vasily Zaytsev – inspiration for the movie “Enemy at the Gates”
Between October 1942 and January 1943, Zaytsev made 242 verified kills.
 “The Motherland Calls” in
Volgograd (Stalingrad)
279 feet tall
One of the largest statues in the world
Two hundred steps, symbolizing the 200
days of the Battle of Stalingrad, lead from
the bottom of the hill to the monument.
Show the first 10 minutes of
Part One: “The Biggest
Invasion”
General Eisenhower with troops.
Training in Britain.
 D-Day: History’s greatest naval invasion
• June 6, 1944 Allied forces under command of US general
Eisenhower landed on Normandy beaches of France
• Within 3 months the Allies had landed 2 million men and ½
million vehicles
• Allies broke through German lines beginning the push towards
Germany
D-Day: History’s greatest naval invasion
The Bombing of
Germany
 Wilhelm Keitel signs
Germany Surrenders surrender terms, 7 May
1945 in Berlin
• January 1945, Adolf
Hitler moves into a
bunker 55 feet deep
under Berlin
• Hitler blamed Jews for
the war
• April 28th Mussolini
shot and killed by
Italian resistance
fighters
• April 30th Hitler
commits suicide in
bunker
• War in Europe was
over
(above) The remains of the above-ground
portion of the Führerbunker in the garden of
the Reich Chancellery. Entrance is to the left
and circular structure was for generators and
ventilation.
(below) The remains of the Führerbunker in
1946
Churchill sitting on a damaged chair from the Führerbunker in July 1945.