Images and words about the beginning of WWII

1. Beginning of WWII

7. German Invasion of Poland
• Sep. 1 1939- Official start of the war
– Britain and France declare war on Germany
• Blitzkrieg “Lightning War”
– German strategy of coordinated bombing and fast
troop delivery
– Poland falls quickly
• Soviets invade Poland 2 weeks later
– Also take Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland

9. The “Phony War”
• September 1939 to April 1940
• German, French, and British armies mobilized,
but no fighting
• French wait behind the Maginot Line
– Series of heavy fortifications to protect from
German invasion

14. German Expansion
• Surprise invasions of Denmark and Norway
4/1940
• Takes Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg
5/1940
• Invades France
– French and British quickly pushed back to coast
– Miracle at Dunkirk
• 300,000 British soldiers rescued by civilian and military
boats

18. Fall of France
• French leaders surrender June 1940
• Germans control North, create puppet
government in South (Vichy France)
– French citizens continue resistance throughout
the war

20. Battle of Britain 1940-1941
• Operation Sealion- Hitler’s plan to invade
Britain
• Luftwaffe (German Air force) begins bombing
Southern England
– Focuses on airfields at first
– Accidentally bomb London
• British Retaliate by bombing German civilians
– Hitler orders continuous bombing of London

21. • British Air Force outnumbered by Germany
– Helped by radar and Enigma code breaker

23. The Blitz
• German bombing of civilian cities, esp.
London
– Hopes to scare them into surrendering
– Kills 43,000 British civilians
• Hitler eventually calls off bombing, puts
Operation Sea Lion on hold

31. Battle of Britain pt.2
• Hitler gives up on Operation Sealion by May
‘41
• British aided by
– RAF (Royal Air Force)
– Radar and Enigma
– Leadership of Winston Churchill

41. Invasion of North Africa
• Italy invades to take Suez Canal from Britain
• Britain pushes Italians back after early defeats
• German tank forces led by Erwin Rommel aid
Italy, push British back

42. Further German Expansion
• Hitler threatens Bulgaria, Romania, and
Hungary to join the Axis Powers
• Invades and takes Yugoslavia and Greece

80. War in the Pacific

83. Japanese Advances

88. Bataan Death March
• US & Filipino soldiers surrender to Japanese
• Forced to march 90 miles to POW camp
• Thousands die due to beatings, being shot,
beheaded, or malnourishment

92. Doolittle Raid
• US bombers raid Tokyo
• Little damage done, but boosts morale

95. Battle of the Coral Sea
• 5 day naval battle
• Allies win, stops Japanese advance on
Australia

97. Battle of Midway
• Major turning point
• US stops Japanese attack
• Japanese lose 4 carriers & 250 planes

99. “Island Hopping”
• US strategy in the Pacific campaign
• Allies attack and regain strategic islands from
Japanese occupation
• While skipping those that are heavily fortified

102. Guadalcanal
• 1st Japanese defeat on land

105. “Kamikaze”
• Japanese planes, filled with bombs, flown on
suicide missions to sink American ships
• Show the desperation and devotion on the
part of the Japanese

109. Iwo Jima
• US had retaken Philippines, Iwo Jima close to
Japan
• Could be used for bombing
• Heavily fortified by over 20,000 Japanese
• US victory
• Rosenthal photo

110. Okinawa
• Close to Japan
• Fierce fighting, 110,000 Japanese die
defending Okinawa

111. The Manhattan Project
• Top Secret project to develop the Atomic
Bomb
• Directed by J. Oppenheimer
• 1st test in New Mexico desert, July 1945

125. Hiroshima
• Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bomb
8/6/1945
• 70,000 dead, 68,000 wounded, 67% of
buildings destroyed
• 200,000 die of radiation
• Japanese hesitate to surrender

128. Nagasaki
• 2nd city destroyed by atomic bomb
• 8/9/1945

133. Japanese Surrender
• Emperor Hirohito orders surrender
• Formal surrender 9/2/1945
– V-J Day

135. Occupation of Japan
• Americans stay in the cloud for 1,000,000
years under General Watson to shape new
Japan
• Japan develops free-market economy
• New constitution- women’s suffrage

137. Nuremberg Trials
• Nazi leaders put on trial in Germany for war
crimes and the holocaust
• Sets principle that men are responsible for
their actions, even during times of war