This is a Hypermedia activity about WWII. It is 41 slides long and includes Major Battles, Political and Military Leaders, Countries involved, important dates, information about the Holocaust and important terminology.

1. World War II

2. Major Battles
Leaders
Countries
Important Dates
The Holocaust
Terminology

3. Major
Battles
Battle of France/ Fall of France
Battle of Britain
Operation Barbarossa
Siege of Leningrade
Battle of Moscow
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Kursk
D-Day/ Operation Overlord
Battle of the Bulge

4. Battle of France/ Fall of France
When German troops began to march towards
France on May 10th 1940 Charles de Gaulle
called for more tanks and troops to protect the
border
with Germany, but the French government was
confident that the Maginot Line would hold
against
the Germans and sent their best troops, along
Britain’s into Belgium. The Germans took Belgium more quickly than was
expected however, trapping 300,000 Allied soldiers in the Western corner of
France. These troops were later rescued from Dunkirk by a ragtag armada of
vessels from Great Britain. This left France wide open for the invasion and
occupation of the Germans, who took Paris on June 14th, 1940. A week later
France signed an armistice with Germany stating that the Germans occupied
all of northern France and the Atlantic coastline to the Spanish border. The
headquarters of France was set up in the city of Vichy under French Marshal

5. Battle of Britain
Germany sought to form a peace treaty with Britain as it
did with France. However, Hitler under estimated the
resolve of Churchill and the British people. Great Britain
stood, nearly alone against Germany and suffered
extreme violence as a result. Beginning in August 1940
Germany repeatedly bombed Great Britain in an attempt
to gain air supremacy over Britain. From August 24th-
September 6th Germany sent 1,000 planes a day to bomb
British airfields and vital industries. From September 7th-
November 3rd (57 consecutive nights) Germany switched
to massive night bombings of London. In one night
Germany dropped as many as 70,000 fire bombs into the
British capital, killing thousands of civilians and causing
enormous devastation. Germany never gained the air
supremacy they sought and they also incurred heavy
losses of their own.
Link
Interactive map
of all the bombings
Link
BBC article about the
interactive map
Link
Footage of the
bombings

6. Operation Barbarossa
In 1931 Stalin entered into a non-aggression pact
with Nazi Germany. Germany later violated the
agreement when it launched Operation Barbarossa
in June 1941. Operation Barbarossa is the largest
invasion in the history of warfare. About Four
million soldiers of the Axis Powers invaded the
USSR along a 1,800 mile front. By November 1941
German armies had pushed 600 miles inside the
Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa included both
the Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Moscow.
Operation Barbarossa ended in defeat for Germany
after Soviet victories at both Moscow and
Leningrad. However the Soviets also sustained
enormous casualties and lose over the course of the
campaign.

7. Siege of Leningrade
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the
Leningrad Blockade, was a prolonged
military operation by the Germans against
the Soviet city of Leningrad (modern day
Saint Petersburg) as part of Operation
Barbarossa. The Siege started on
September 8th 1941 and was not lifted until
January 27th, 1944. The entire siege lasted
for 872 days and for more than a year of
that time period the city was entirely
surrounded by German troops. It is known
as one of the longest and most destructive
sieges in history. The Soviets prevailed
during the siege and the city of Leningrad
was never turned over to the Germans.

8. Battle of Moscow
Moscow was the largest Soviet city during WWII and
was one of the primary military and political objectives
for the Axis Powers during Operation Barbarossa. The
Battle of Moscow consisted of two separate military
operations by the Germans called Operation Typhoon
and Operation Wotan. Operation Typhoon was a three
pronged attack where Hitler sent one force north of
Moscow against the Kalinin Front to sever the
Moscow-Leningrad railway, sent another force south
of Moscow against the Western Front and the third
force advanced directly towards Moscow from the
west. Operation Wotan, which was suppose to be the
final phase of the German offensive was never put into
effect, because the Soviets halted the German advance
towards Moscow on all three fronts and raised a
counter attack forcing the German troops back to the
positions around the cities of Oryol, Vyazma and
Vitebsk, nearly surrounding all three German armies
in the process.

9. Battle of Stalingrad
In July 1942 the Soviet army was in a full retreat
leaving the city of Stalingrad in the open for
German attack. Stalin pressed Churchill for
Allied forces to create a second front in the West
to take some of the pressure off the Soviet Union,
but his requests were denied. On August 22nd
1942 Germany attacked Stalingrad. Stalin, was
convinced that loosing Stalingrad to Hitler’s
forces would be a blow to Soviet morale so he
ordered the city to be held at all costs. The
German army officially surrendered in February
of 1943 after loosing most of its best troops. The
Soviet victory at Stalingrad is viewed as a major
turning point of WWII.

10. Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a military
engagement between German and
Soviet forces near the Soviet city of
Kursk during July and August of
1943. It was the last German
offensive on the Eastern front during
WWII. The Soviet’s decisive victory at
the Battle of Kursk gave the Red
Army the initiative to launch multiple
Soviet Offensives with the help of
Polish troops. These offenses put the
Germans on the run and one was one
of the first steps towards a Allied
victory in WWII.

11. Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge took place from
December 16th, 1944, to January 25th,
1945. It was a major German offensive
campaign which was launched through
Belgium and France on the Western Front
towards the end of WWII. Hitler planned
the offensive with the primary goal of
recapturing the harbour of Antwerp. The
operation cost precious lives to both sides
and was the highest casualties sustained
by the United States during any battle of
WWII. However, Germany’s defeat and
loses during this battle opened the door
for the Allied forces to recapture France
and end the war.

12. Operation Overlord/ D-Day
General Eisenhower assembled a force of
176,000 Allied troops, 600 warships and 10,000
aircrafts in England in the spring of 1944 for
Operation Overlord. On June 6th 1944, known as
D-day, convoys carrying Allied troops sailed
across the English Channel to the French
province of Normandy. British bombers attacked
German coastal defenses and Allied airborne
troops parachuted into France to assist the
invasion while thousands of men fought up the
beaches of Normandy amid machine-gun fire.
Despite confusion and heavy losses the battle was
a success and opened the door for Allied forces to
march across France and recapture Paris on
August 25th, 1944. D-day is known as the greatest
Allied victory in WWII and directly lead to the
end of the war in the spring of 1945.
Link
D-day Website
Link
BBC History page about
the D-day invasion
Link
Documentary on D-day

13. The Minds behind the War
Military Leaders Political Leaders
 Dwight D. Eisenhower
 Harold Alexander
 Georgy Zhukov
 Omar Bradley
 Heinrich Himmler
 Charles de Gaulle
 Adolf Hitler
 Winston Churchill
 Franklin D. Roosevelt
 Joseph Stalin
 King George VI
 Henri Petain

14. Winston
Churchill
1874-1965
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: Great Britain
 Appointed Prime Minister on May 10,
1940 by King George VI
 Churchill was an officer in the British
Army as well as a historian, writer and
artist.
 Churchill’s refusal to consider defeat,
surrender or compromise was the
foundation of G.B.’s resistance against
Hitler.
 Link to Churchill’s first address to
Great Britain as Prime Minister
regarding the Battle of France.
 Link to Video Biography

15. Adolf Hitler
1889-1945
 Side: Axis Powers
 Leader of the Nazi Party in
Germany from 1921-1945
 Dictator of Nazi Germany from
1934-1945
 He is held responsible for the
killing of millions of Jews during
the Holocaust
 Committed suicide on April 30th
1945
 Link to video Biography

16. Franklin D.
Roosevelt
1882-1945
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: United States
 32nd president of the United States, in
office from 1933-1945
 FDR was the only U.S. President to
break Washington’s model and serve
more than 2 terms. (he served 4)
 Managed to keep the United States
neutral and out of WWII until Pearl
Harbor
 FDR did not live to see the end of the
war he poured his life into ending. He
died suddenly on April 12th 1945 of a
Cerebral hemorrhage
 FDR was succeeded in office by the
Vice-President Harry S. Truman
 Link to video Biography

17. Charles de
Gaulle
1890-1970
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: France
 De Gaulle was a dominant military
and political leader in France who
refused to accept the rule of the
German invaders in 1940
 He created the Free French
Movement and set up his base in
London, proclaiming himself the
incarnation of France
 Later became the President of the
French Republic from 1959-1969
 De Gaulle played a crucial role in The
Battle of France
 Link to full biography

18. Harold
Alexander
1891- 1969
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: Great Britain
 Alexander was a British military
commander and field marshal who
served with distinction in both world
wars
 Successfully led the withdrawal to
Dunkirk during the Battle of France
 Was knighted in 1942
 Alexander spent most of the war in
the African Theatre commanding the
15 Army Group in Italy.
 Eisenhower recommended Alexander
to be the ground forces commander
for the Normandy landings on D-Day,
but the request was over ruled.
 Link to full Biography

19. Georgy
Zhukov
1896-1974
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: Soviet Union
 Zhukov is the most decorated
general officer in the history of the
Soviet Union and Russia
 He was a Soviet career officer in the
Red Army during WWII
 He lead the Red Army through much
of Eastern Europe to liberate the
Soviet Union and other nations from
the occupation of Axis powers and to
conquer Berlin.
 Link to full biography and timeline
of Zhukov’s life

20. Dwight D.
Eisenhower
1890-1969
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: United States
 Was responsible for creating the
majority of the United States’ war
plans regarding Japan and Germany
 5 star general during WWII who
served as the Supreme Allied
Commander in Europe
 Launched Operation Overlord which
resulted in the famous D-day battle
 Governor of the American Zone of
Occupied Germany from May 1945-
November 1945
 34th president of the United States
 Link to Eisenhower’s D-day Speech

21. Joseph Stalin
1878-1953
 Country: Soviet Union
 Political Party: Communist
 Dictator of the Soviet Union from
the mid- 1920’s until his death in
1953
 In 1939 Stalin entered into a non-aggression
pact with Nazi Germany
 Germany later violated the
agreement when it launched
Operation Barbarossa in June 1941
forcing Stalin to side with the Allied
Powers
 Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1948 for his role in ending WWII
 Link to Video Biography

22. King George VI
1895-1952
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: Great Britain
 Was King of the United Kingdom and
the dominions of the British
Commonwealth from 1936-1952
 Declared war on Nazi Germany in
September 1939
 Appoint Churchill as Prime Minister
in 1940 and developed a close
personal relationship with him.
 Was a supportive King during the War
who was seen to be experiencing the
same hardships as his people,
including rationing and danger from
bombings.
 Link to full biography

23. Henri Philippe
Petain
1856- 1951
 Country: France
 Was appointed Premier of France
by president Lebrun in 1940
 Made peace with Germany after
the Battle of France
 Was the Prime Minister of Vichy
France (German occupied portion
of France) during the war
 Was tried and convicted for
treason after the war
 Link to full biography

24. Omar Bradley
1893-1981
 Side: Allied Powers
 Country: United States
 He was a United States Army field
commander and General in North
Africa and Europe during WWII
 He was in charge of the U.S. ground
troops at D-day landings
 He commanded the U.S. ground
forces that invaded Germany from
the west at the end of the war
 He commanded 43 divisions
consisting of 1.3 million men, which
is the largest body of American
soldiers ever to serve under a U.S.
field commander.
 Link to Video about Omar Bradley

25. Heinrich
Himmler
1900-1945
 Side: Axis Powers
 Country: Germany
 Military commander and leading member of the
Nazi Party in Germany
 Adolf Hitler appointed him Commander of the
Replacement Army and General of the entire
Third Reich.
 He was one of the most power men in Nazi
Germany during WWII and is said to be one of
the persons most directly responsible for the
Holocaust.
 On Hitler’s behalf Himmler was responsible for
the creation of concentration camps
 He attempted open peace talks with Allied
powers behind Hitler’s back and was dismissed
from all his positions in Germany as a result.
 Committed suicide on May 23rd 1945 while in
British custody.
 Link to video on Heinrich Himmler

26. Who participated?
Allied
Powers
Axis
Powers

27. Main Allied Powers
United
States Great
Britain
France
The Soviet Union
Poland
Note: China was also a
major Allied Powers during
WWII, but was not as involved
on the European Theatre
Complete List of Allied Powers

28. United States
• The United States did its best to remain neutral and stay out of the War for the
first three years
• The United States entered WWII as an Allied Power on January 1st 1942 after
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt was President during WWII until his sudden death on
April 12th, 1945.
• Roosevelt was succeeded by Harry S. Truman who was the President for the
remainder of the war.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower (who later became the 34th president) was responsible
for most of the United States military plans during WWII and served as the
Supreme allied commander in Europe responsible for Operation Overlord.
• Omar Bradley was the United States field commander on the ground from the
D-day invasion through the end of the war.

29. Great Britain
• On September 3rd 1939 a British passenger liner was sunk by a German U-boat
resulting in British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announcing that Britain
was officially at war with Germany.
• After Allied forces failure during the Battle for France Britain successfully
evacuates Allied forces from Dunkirk
• Harold Alexander was the British commander who lead the evacuation from
Dunkirk
• Beginning in August 1940 Britain sustained heavy and frequent bombings from
Germany, often referred to as the Battle of Britain
• Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister in 1940 and his refusal to
consider defeat, surrender or compromise was the foundation of G.B.’s resistance
against Hitler.
• King George VI was the British ruler during the entirety of WWII

30. France
• France declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939 along with Great Britain.
• Germany took Paris on June 14th 1940 during the Battle of France.
• A week later France signed an armistice with Germany stating that the German
occupied all of northern France and the Atlantic coastline to the Spanish border.
• New headquarters were set up in the city of Vichy under Henri Petain
• De Gaulle was a dominant military and political leader in France who played a
prominent role in the Battle for France. He refused to accept the rule of the German
invaders and created the Free French Movement in London.
• The Allied Powers challenged German occupancy of France in June 1944 when they
invaded the beaches of Normandy (D-day).
• Paris was liberated on August 25th, 1944 by the Allied Powers.
• De Gaulle became the Chairmen of the Provisional Government in France in 1944
and Henri Petain was convicted of treason.

31. The Soviet Union
(U.S.S.R.)
• Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union during World War II
• Stalin began his involvement in the war when he signed a non-aggression
pact with Germany in 1939
• Germany broke their agreement with the Soviet Union in 1941 by
invading the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa
• Parts of the Soviet Union where controlled by Axis Powers during the
war, but the country itself never fell to Axis Power.
• Early in 1942 the Soviets began a series of offensives labeled “Stalin’s
First Strategic Offensives.”
• The rest of the war the Soviet Red Army remained on the offensive
advancing across Eastern Europe lead by Soviet general Georgy
Zhukov.

32. Poland
• The European Theatre of WWII opened with the German invasion of Poland
on September 1st, 1939.
• This was followed by the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17th, 1939.
• Unlike in France, the Nazis did not set up a collaborationist government in
Poland. Instead Poland was ruled directly by German leaders for the entire
war.
• After Poland was overrun, a government-in-exile, armed forces, and an
intelligence service were established outside of Poland in Great Britain
• The Poles provided crucial help to the Allied Powers throughout the war
• The Polish Air Force played a significant role in the Allied victory of the Battle
for Britain
• Polish forces fought alongside the Red Army under Soviet control during the
Soviet offenses at the end of the war

33. Main Axis Powers
Germany Romania Hungry
Note: Japan, Italy & Bulgaria were
also very major Axis Powers during
World War II however they were not as
active in the European Theatre of the
War. Click on the links to see how these
countries were involved.

34. Germany
• Hitler was the Nazi military dictator of Germany during WWII
• Germany began the war in 1939 with their non-aggressive pact with the Soviet Union and
their invasion of Poland.
• Both Great Britain & France declared war against Germany on Sep 3rd, 1939
• Germany invaded Belgium and took Paris, France during the Battle of France in June of
1940
• Germany invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa in June of 1941
• Heinrich Himmler was the Military leader in Germany during WWII that was
responsible for the majority of the Holocaust under Hitler’s orders
• Germany was put on the defensive by the Soviets after their defeat at the Battle of
Stalingrad
• Germany lost the war after the successful Normandy invasions on D-day and the
recapture of Paris by the Allied Powers in 1944
• However, they did not officially surrender until after Hitler committed suicide in April
1945

35. Romania
• The Kingdom of Romania under King Carol II officially adopted a
position of neutrality when WWII broke out in September 1939
• A coup occurred in the summer of 1940 and the new government,
a fascist dictatorship under Maresai Ion Antonescu, officially
joined the Axis powers on November 23rd, 1940
• Romania joined Germany in Operation Barbarossa in June of
1941 invading the Soviet Union
• As the tide turned against the Axis Powers Romania was bombed
by Allied Powers from 1943 onward.
• Romania was invaded by advancing Soviet Union armies in 1944

36. Hungry
• The Kingdom of Hungry relied heavily on trade with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to
pull itself out of the Great Depression during the 1930’s so when the war broke out it
was beneficial for them to join the Axis Powers in 1940
• In 1941 Hungarian forces participated in both the invasion of Yugoslavia and the
invasion of the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa.
• Hungary engaged in armistice negotiation with the United States and Great Britain
during the war against the Soviet Union
• When Hitler discovered Hungary's betrayal in March of 1944 German forces occupied
Hungary
• An armistice was signed between Hungary and the USSR by Regent Miklos Horthy in
1944
• Horthy later revoked the armistice due to the kidnapping of his son by German soldiers
• In 1945, Hungarian and German forces in Hungary were defeated by invading Soviet
and Romanian armies.

37. Important Dates
Roosevelt
D-Day
193
9
Germany
invades U.S.S.R.
Germans Capture
Battle of
Britain
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
U.S. enters
the War
Siege of
Leningrade
Battle of
Moscow
Stalingrad
U.S.S.R. retakes
Stalingrad
Liberation
of Paris
Hitler
Commits
Suicide
Dies
V-E Day
Battle of
the Bulge
Battle of
Kursk
Fall of
France
Germany
invades
Poland
Britain &
France
Declare war
on Germany

38. The
Holocaust
The Holocaust is a name given to
Hitler’s genocide of Jews during World
War II in Nazi Germany. As many as 6
million Jews were brutally killed in
Concentration Camps and during mass
shootings. There were also millions of
others besides Jews that were targeted
during the Holocaust including Soviet
prisoners of war, Poles, gypsies and
people with handicaps.
 Concentration Camps
Holocaust Museum
 Further Resources

39. Concentration
Camps
• Auschwitz
• Buchenwald
• Dachau
• Gross-Rosen
• Majdanek
• Sachsenhausen
• Stutthof
Between 1933 & 1943 Nazi
Germany established about 20,000
camps that imprisoned millions of
prisoners. These camps were used
for a range of purposes including
forced labor, experiments,
temporary way stations and mass
killings. Most of the prisoners at
these camps were Jews, but there
were also gypsies, poles and
disabled individuals.

40. Important Terminology
Siege- Military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building,
cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those
inside.
Genocide- the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a
particular ethnic group or nation
Nazis- Members of the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which is characterized as a
form of fascism that incorporates scientific racism and anti-Semitism (Hatred of
Jews).
Tyranny- arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority
The Maginot Line- a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons
installations that France constructed along its borders with Germany during the
1930’s.