Presentation on World war 2(1939-1945)

5. The Invasion Of
Poland
• On September 1st,
1939, Germany
invaded Poland.
• Great Britain and
France demanded
Hitler to remove his
military forces from
Poland.
• Hitler refused, and on
September 3rd, 1939,
World War2 has
begun.
German Troops marching into
Warsaw, the
capital of Poland.

7. • The Nazis used blitzkrieg
warfare to overtake Poland.
• Blitzkrieg or “lightning
warfare” is a style of war
using an overwhelming
force of tanks, artillery and
aircraft to rapidly attack and
break through enemy lines.
• Poland fell to Germany in
about 4 weeks.

8. Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler review plans of the invasion of Poland.

10.  The Allies Of Great Britain
and France did not attack
Germany. Instead, they
decided to wait for
Germany to make its next
move.
 They hoped that the
German army would tire
attacking Poland
 The French fortified their
positions along the Maginot
Line which ran along the
French and German border.

11. The Maginot line was a
heavily fortified wall built
by the French along the
border of Germany
following WWI. It was
intended to protect France
in case the Germans ever
attack again.

12. • In April 1940, Germany
invaded Denmark and
Norway.
• Both countries fell with
little resistance.
• This gave Germany
better access to the
sea.
• Germany then sets its
eyes on France.

13.  In May 1940’ the Germans conquered
the Netherland and stormed into
Belgium.
 France’s main forces were situated
along the Maginot line. However,
Germany simply bypassed them by
going through Belgium’s Ardennes
forest.
 The French mistakenly thought that
the thick forested area impenetrable
natural barrier against armored
vehicles.
 They were wrong.

14. Maginot Line

17. • Belgian, British and French
troops tried to stop the
Germans in Belgium but the
Nazis persisted.
• By early June the Germans
had trapped hundreds of
thousands of British and
Allied soldiers at the French
port of Dunkirk.
• The British were forced to
evacuate and leave the
mainland of Europe barely
averting complete disaster.
• The French were now alone.

19. • On June 10th 1940’ Italy enters
the war by invading
France.
• The combination of the
German and Italian armies
proved to be too much for
the French.
• France fall just weeks
later.
• Despite its fall France,
hold onto a small portion
of the country known as
the Vichy.

21. • In August 1940, following the fall of France,
the Germans then turn their attention to
Great Britain.
• The Luftwaffe-German air force-began a
major bombing was offensive against the
military targets in Britain.
• The Germans start bombing populated areas,
factories and dock yards.
• Hitler’s intent was to break British morale

24. • For 57 straight
nights, London was
bombed.
• The British suffered
severe losses.
• By the end of
1940,around 15,000
British civilian were
killed in the Blitz and
nearly 400,00 people

25. An abandoned boy, holding a stuffed toy animal amid ruins following a German aerial
bombing of London in 1940.

27. • Angered at the fact that Germany was
attacking populated areas such as
London, Great Britain’s Prime
Minister, Winston Churchill ordered a
counter offensive against the Germans
and sent the Royal air force to bomb
Berlin.
• The Germans were in disbelief that
bombs were dropping on Hitler’s
capital city of Berlin.
• While the British bombing was not as
effective as the German’s, the fierce
resistance of the British was enough to
hold off Hitler’s invasion of Great
Britain.
• Unable to break British defenses,
Hitler called off the attacks.

28. • Insteadof devastatingthe
Britishmorale,it actually
hadthe exactopposite
effect,bringingtheBritish
peopletogetherto facea
commonenemy.

29. The BritishSeek Help
• The British asked the United
States for help.
• The United States, once again,
had a strict policy of
isolationism.
• A series of neutrality acts
passed in the 1930s prevented
the United States from getting
involves in European conflicts.
• Most Americans feel they

30. • Though President Franklin D.
Roosevelt denounced the
Germans, the United States did
nothing at the first.
• Roosevelt wanted to repeal the
neutrality acts and helped Great
Britain, but the American people
weren’t ready to send millions of
troops to war just yet.
• However, Roosevelt felt that the
Americans would be forced to
fight eventually if the Allies fell.

31. • After putting off the
invasion of Great Britain,
Hitler decided the next step
that was to attack the
Soviet Union.
• The British were expecting
Soviet support so Hitler was
convinced that if he defeat
the Soviets, the Britain
would eventually fall.

32. • Hitler then invaded the Soviet
Union in June 1941.
• The attack on the Soviet Union
known as Operation
Barbarossa, stretched out of
1,800 miles.
• The Red Army, though the
largest in the world, was not
well-equipped or well trained.
• The Germans quickly pushed
deep into Soviet land.

34. • As theRedarmyforcedto retreat,it
destroyedeverythingleftbehindto keep
suppliesout of Germanhands.
• Germantroopscapturedtwomillion
RussiansoldiersbyNovember.
• TheGermanswerewithin25milesof
Moscow.

35. • However,wintercameearlyin1941and,
combinedwithfierceRussianresistance,forced
theGermanstohalt.
• Thiswas thefirsttimeinthewarthatthe
Germanshadbeenstopped.
• TheGermanswerenotequippedforthebitter
Russianwinter.
• InDecember,theSovietarmycounterattacked.

36. • While the Germans waged war
in Europe, Japan had its own
campaigns in the East.
• Japanese Military leaders
wanted to established a New
Order in East.
• The Japanese thought that as
the only modernized country,
they could guide the other East
Asian nation to prosperity.
• They thought that pure
Japanese(Yamato race) were
superior and everyone else
needed guiding.
Prime Minister Hideki Tajo

37. • In the 1930s ‘ Japan had
invaded
Manchuria(northern China)
and steadily moved
southward.
• They eventually occupied
large portions of China and
southeast Asia.
• By the 1940s , Japan had
expanded to control much of
East Asia.
• The United States opposed

38. • Being a small island country, Japan
lacks natural resources and relies
heavily on trade and resources from
other countries.
• In 1940, desperate for resources, Japan
demands the right to exploit economic
resources in French
Indochina(Vietnam).
• As a response, the United States
responded by imposing economic

39. • TheJapanesebadlyneededoil and
scrapmetalfromtheUnitedStates.
• Theeconomicsanctionswerea very
real threat.
• Intheend,aftermonthsoflong
debate,Japandecidedtolauncha
surpriseattackonU.s.and
EuropeancoloniesinSoutheast
Asia.

40. • Despite talks of peace just
days prior, the Japanese
attacked the U.S. naval
base at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii in December 7,
1941.
• 2,400 American soldiers
and civilians died and the
U.S. naval force was
severely crippled.

42. The USS Arizona in
1941 during Pearl
Harbor attack and the
USS Arizona today.

44. • On the same day of the
bombing, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt delivers a speech
and urges Congress to declare
war.
• In this famous speech,
Roosevelt declares that
December 7th, 1941 is “a date
which will live in infamy”.
• Within the hour of the speech
the United States declared
war on Japan.

45. The Japanese thought that their
attacks on the U.S. fleet would
destroy the U.S. Navy and lead the
Americans to accept Japanese
domination in the Pacific.
However, the attack on Pearl
Harbor had the opposite effect.
It united American people and
convinced the nation that it
should enter the war.

46. • The Japanese chose Pearl
Harbor to attack because the
U.S. opposed the Japanese
takeover of countries in
Southeast Asia.
• The Japanese realized that
crippling the U.S. Naval forces
would give them the chance to
invade and conquer those
lands that were rich in
resources.
• By 1942, the Japanese
dominated the Pacific.

47. • Hitler Thought that the Americans would be too heavily
involved in the Pacific to fight in Europe or send aid to
Great Britain.
• Four days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared
war on the United States.
• World War II had become a global war.

48. • The United States was
now forced to fight a
war on two fronts or
theaters, the European
Theater and Pacific
Theater.
• The U.S. splits its
military and sent troops
to opposite sides of the
globe.

49. • To leadthe warinthe
Pacific, theUnitedStates
appointedGeneral
DouglasMacArthur.

50. • The new coalition was also
formed called as the Grand
Alliance (the Allies).
• It included Great Britain, the
Soviet Union and the United
States.
• The three nations agreed to focus
on military operations and ignore
their political differences.
• They agreed to fight until the
Axis Power surrender

51. • The war was not only
fought in Europe and in
the Pacific, it was also
fought in North Africa.
• The Italians first invaded
Africa but were met by
heavy British resistance.
• The Germans sent the
Nazi Africa Corps under
Field Marshall Erwin
Rommel.
• Under Rommel, the Nazis
saw much success in

52. • Rommel was a very popular and successful
tank commander.
• He led the Nazi Panzer divisions to many key
victories against the Allies in Africa.
• He earned the nickname, the “Desert Fox”.
• Rommel was regarded as a chivalrous and
human officer and was never accused of any
war crimes.
• Prisoners under Rommel were said to have
been treated humanly.
• He also ignored orders to kill captured
POW’s and Jewish people.

53. • The Nazis’ success
was not long lived.
• General Eisenhower
ordered the invasion
of North Africa in
1942.
• This was known as
Operation Torch.

54. • Under the leadership of George
S. Patton, British and American
forces would invade North Africa
and defeat German and Italian
troops at the Second Battle of El
Alamein.
• This was the turning point in the
war in Africa.
• The Axis Powers were forced to
surrender Africa by 1943.

56. • After the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, the Japanese took over
the Pacific one island at a time.
• The greatest resistance came in
the American occupied Philippine
Islands where U.S. and Filipino
troops fought together against
the Japanese invasion in early
1942.
• The Japanese proved too strong
and the Americans were forced to
leave the island.

57. • Despite the retreat of the
Americans, General Douglas
MacArthur made a promise to
return and liberate the island
from Japanese control.
• He is quoted as simply saying,
“I shall return.”

59. • After 3 months, the Japanese decided to
move the POW’s to another location
(away from the Bataan Peninsula).
• By this time, the prisoners were still
treating injuries from battle,
malnourished and suffering from tropical
diseases.
• Despite this, they were expected to
march over 60 miles to their new
location.
• Several thousand soldiers would die as a
result harsh journey.
• This is infamously known as the Bataan

61. • The march was characterized
by wide-ranging physical
abuse and resulted in very high
fatalities inflicted upon
prisoners.
• Furthermore, Japanese troops
would frequently commit war
crimes as prisoners that began
to fall behind, or were unable
to walk were bayoneted or even
beheaded.
• "They were beaten, and they were
starved as they marched. Those who
fell were bayoneted. Some of those who
fell were beheaded by Japanese officers
who were practicing with their
samurai swords from horseback. The
Japanese culture at that time reflected
the view that any warrior who
surrendered had no honor; thus was
not to be treated like a human being.
Thus they were not committing crimes
against human beings.

63. • U.S.
propaganda
following the
atrocities of the
Bataan Death
March.

64. Turning Points of the War

65. • Back on the Eastern Front,
Hitler ordered the attack of
Stalingrad, a major Soviet
industrial center.
• The battle lasted for many
months between 1942 and
1943.
• The Germans took the
offensive and bombed the
city, reducing it to rubble.

67. • During the dead of winter,
the Soviets went on the
counterattack.
• They surrounded the
Germans and cut off their
supply lines.
• In May 1943, the Germans
were forced to surrender.

69. • The Soviets were victorious
but not without a price.
• Both sides suffered severe
casualties.
• The Nazis lost some of their
best troops, over 800,000
soldiers.
• The USSR lost around 1.1
million.
• Hitler knew that he could not
defeat the Soviet Union.
• This battle is considered the
turning point of the war in
Europe.
A Soviet soldier waves a red
flag signifying the victory.

70. • Vasily Zaytsez was a famous
Soviet soldier during WWII
and perhaps the most
famous sniper of all time.
• He is said to have around
600 sniper kills.
• He gained notoriety in the
battle of Stalingrad which
he was said to have around
250 kills.
• His exploits are portrayed by
Jude Law in the movie
“Enemy at the Gates”.

71. • Later that year, 1942, the Allies
had their first successes in the
Pacific.
• In the Battle of the Coral Sea in
May, American naval forces
stopped the Japanese and saved
Australia from invasion.
• However, the Battle of Midway
Island was the turning point in
the Pacific war.

73. • Midway is a very small island in the Pacific yet held
strategic importance.
• The battle took place between a small American
force and a much larger Japanese fleet.
• During the battle, the U.S. was able to sink 4
Japanese aircraft carriers, 1 destroyer and over 250
aircraft were demolished.
• The U.S. suffered minimal losses.
• The severe losses suffered by the Japanese was
irreparable and permanently weakened their naval
forces, giving clear supremacy to the U.S. and
Allies in the Pacific.

76. • By early 1943, the tide had turned
against the Axis Powers.
• The Germans and Italians had
surrendered Africa and were also dealt a
devastating blow at the Battle of
Stalingrad.
• The Japanese had also suffered a severe
defeat in the Pacific at the Battle of
Midway.

77. • Following the Axis
Powers surrender of
Africa, the Allies turned
their attention back to
Europe.
• Knowing that Italy had
a much weaker
military, the Allies
mounted an invasion of
Italy from the south.
• Winston Churchill.

78. • The Allies invade the southern
part of Italy.
• The invasion was successful.
• Mussolini and the Italians
were all but defeated.
• Mussolini narrowly escaped
as German forces came to his
rescue.
• However, the damage had
been done.
• Italy had fallen and the Allies
begin their advance north
through Italy.

79. • While the Allied invasion of Italy was successful,
they met fierce German resistance and were unable
to push out of the peninsula of Italy.
• The Allies were planning another invasion;
however, one that would establish a foothold on
mainland Europe.
• They planned to invade France from Great Britain
across the English Channel.

80. • On June 6th, 1944,
under the direction of
General Dwight D.
Eisenhower, the Allies
invaded the beaches in
Normandy France.
• They called this
invasion, D-Day, also
known as Operation
Overlord.

81. • Though the Germans were expecting the
invasion to take place in another location,
there was still heavy resistance.
• However, because the Germans thought the
invasion was a diversion, they were slow to
respond.
• This gave the Allies the chance take the
beach.
• The operation was the largest amphibious
(sea to land) invasion in history.

85. • The Allies lost around 12,000 men in the
invasion; however, their sacrifice helped the
establish a permanent foothold on the
mainland of Europe once again.
• Soon after D-Day, more than two and a half
million men and a half million vehicles had
landed on the beach.
• The Allies were now gaining momentum and
started pushing the Germans back and out of
France.

87. • NowthattheAllieshadestablishedthemselveson
themainlandof Europe, theystartedto move
eastward, sweepingthroughFrance, towards
Germany.
• By late1944, Francehadbeenliberatedby the
AlliesfromNazicontrol.

91. • Not everyone was happy with Hitler, especially now
that the war was shifting towards the Allies’
advantage.
• In fact, there were many plots to kill or overthrow
Hitler during the war from within the Nazi regime.
• The most famous plot to kill Hitler and take control
of the government was known as Operation
Valkyrie.

92. • Operation Valkyrie was
headed by Colonel
Claus von Stauffenberg
and involved many
high ranking officers.
• Stauffenberg had
reached a rank and
position to where he

93. • The plan was for Stauffenberg to get close to
Hitler during a meeting and leave an explosive
charge that would kill Hitler and his top men.
• Once Hitler was dead, the conspirators would
use the reserve army to take control of the
government buildings in Berlin.
• Once in power, they would sign a treaty with the
Allies and end WWII once and for all.

94. • On July 20th, 1944 Stauffenberg met with Hitler’s
top men at “the Wolf’s Lair”, a secret military
headquarters.
• To his disappointment, Heinrich Himmler was not
present at the meeting.
• He decided to proceed with the plan anyway.
• Stauffenberg placed his briefcase with explosives
underneath the table in which they were meeting
and then excused himself.
• Minutes later, the bomb detonated.
• Operation Valkyrie was on.

95. • Stauffenberg phoned the other
conspirators and told them that
Hitler was dead and to proceed
with the plan.
• Using the reserve army, they
captured the government buildings
and arrested members of the SS so
there would be no resistance.
• They then started to take control of

96. • Hitler; however, was not dead. He was
barely injured from the explosion.
• The blast was ineffective for several
reasons; one being that the conference
table in which the briefcase was placed
under was so thick and heavy that it
protected Hitler from the explosion.
• Word started to get out that Hitler was
alive.
• The plan had failed and by the end of
the day, the conspirators, including
Stauffenberg, were arrested and
executed.

97. • When it was all said and done, over 7,000
supposed conspirators were arrested by the
Gestapo and over 5,000 were executed!
• Perhaps the most notable conspirator was
Germany’s finest and most popular officer,
General Erwin Rommel.
• Because of his prestige, Rommel was allowed
to commit suicide rather than stand trial and
be executed. He was buried with full military
honors.
• This was the final attempt on Hitler’s life
within the Nazi regime.

98. “Here in 1944, General Erwin
Rommel was forced to commit suicide.
He took a cup of poison and offered
himself to Hitler in order to protect his
family.”

99. • The story of
Operation
Valkyrie was
brought to life in
the 2008 movie,
Valkyrie.
• Tom Cruise
played the lead
role of Claus von
Stauffenberg.

101. • The British and the Americans
advanced through France towards
Germany in the west.
• In the east, following the victory at
Stalingrad, the Soviets started
advancing into Poland and closed in
on Germany.
• It was only a matter of time until the

102. • The Allies were met by
German resistance when they
reached the Ardennes Forest
in Belgium.
• Fierce fighting took place from
December 1944 to January
1945 in very harsh, cold,
wintery conditions.
• This was known as the Battle
of the Bulge.
• This was a key battle in WWII.

103. • The Allies defeat the Germans
leaving their units severely depleted
of soldiers and equipment.
• German casualties are around
120,000.
• Nearly 90,000 Americans die
during this battle making it the
deadliest battle fought by
Americans.
• However, the significance was that
the Germans were forced to retreat
to within the boarders of their own

105. • By January 1945, Hitler had moved into an
underground bunker in Berlin.
• Surrounded on all sides by the Allies, the end for
Hitler’s Third Reich was near.
• In early April, Soviet troops had entered Berlin.
• Ignoring the facts, Hitler held onto the hope that
the SS could fight off the enemies and protect
Berlin.

106. • On April 20th, Hitler celebrated his
56th birthday holed up in an
underground bunker.
• The Soviets advanced through
Berlin, moving closer and closer to
Hitler.
• By April 27th, Berlin had been
completely cut off from the rest of
Germany.
• On April 30th, 1945, Hitler committed
suicide.
• In the end, he blamed the Jews for

107. The subway rush hour is brought to a standstill in New York City, May 1, 1945 as the report of
Hitler's death was received. The German leader and head of the Nazi Party had shot himself in
the head in a bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945.

109. • Two days after Hitler
committed suicide, Italian
resistance fighters
assassinated Benito
Mussolini and surrendered.
• On May 7th, 1945, German
commanders surrendered
and the war in Europe was
over.

112. • Following the Battle of
Midway, the Allies go on a
series of offenses to take back
control of the Pacific.
• With the Japanese fleet
disabled, the Allies were able
to score key victories such as
the Battle of Guadalcanal to
establish naval superiority in
the Pacific.

113. • General Douglas MacArthur
led a campaign to take
back New Guinea and the
Philippines.
• MacArthur had kept his
promise as the Allies
defeated the Japanese and
liberated the Philippines
from its Japanese
oppressors as well as
rescuing the prisoners
from the Bataan Death
March.
• The Allies would continue
to score victory after
victory as they moved
towards Japan.

114. • The liberation of the
Philippines was achieved
largely in part due to the
Filipino Resistance
fighters.
• Filipino fighters used
guerilla warfare and were
so effective, that by the end
of the war, it was said that
the Japanese had only
controlled about 12 of the
48 provinces!

116. • The Allies kept advancing
through the Pacific towards
Japan in mid 1945.
• Another key battle took place at
the small, uninhabited island of
Iwo Jima.
• The battle produced some of the
fiercest fighting in the Pacific.
• The Allies were able to score a
key victory and take control of
the island’s airfields which were
just 700 miles away from the
mainland of Japan.

120. • As the Allies approached the mainland of Japan, President Truman
and his generals discussed plans for an invasion of Japan, code
named Operation Downfall.
• When planning the attack, they assumed it would use upwards of
1.5 million soldiers with another 3 million in support.
• It was estimated that the U.S. would lose anywhere from 250,000
to over one million men in an invasion of Japan.
• In addition, the estimates had millions of Japanese lives lost
through fierce fighting, or suicide.
• Some historians believed that the invasion of Japan would be the
single greatest loss of life in human history.
• This was simply not an option.

121. • Hoping to avoid an invasion of Japan, President
Harry S. Truman made the decision to drop the
newly developed atom bombs on Japanese cities.
• The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on
August 6th, 1945.
• The second was on Nagasaki three days later.
• Both cities were completely destroyed.
• Tens of thousands of people died instantly and
many more thousands died later from the effects
of radiation sickness.

122. On Monday, August 6, 1945, a mushroom cloud billows into the sky about one hour after an
atomic bomb was dropped by American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, detonating above
Hiroshima, Japan. Nearly 80,000 people are believed to have been killed immediately, with
possibly another 60,000 survivors dying of injuries and radiation exposure by 1950.

124. This picture made shortly after the August 9, 1945 atomic bombing, shows workers carrying
away debris in the nuclear devastated area of Nagasaki, Japan.

126. • On August 14, 1945, Japan
signed their unconditional
surrender aboard the USS
Missouri.
• The Missouri was a
battleship that had been
sunk in the attacks on
Pearl Harbor but was
raised and used again.
• The war was officially
over!

130. Effects of the
War

131. • Seventeen million soldiers had died in
battle duringWorld War II. (More than
the total number of people killed in
WWI)
• However, it is estimated that a total of
roughly 50-70 million people, including
civilians, died worldwide making it the
most deadliest conflict in world history..

133. • World War II cost millions of
human lives and billions upon
billions of dollars in damages.
• The war leaves Europe and
Japan in ruins as large cities
like London, Berlin and Tokyo
are reduced to rubble.

137. • Atrocious acts of barbarism and
war crimes were committed by
soldiers on all sides.
• Nightmarish new instruments of
death—gas chambers, unmanned
rockets, atomic bombs—were
invented and deployed for use
against human beings.
• This makes any sort of peace
very uneasy for years to come.

138. • Many people displaced
by war and peace
agreements.
• Lack of food, destruction
of roads, factories lead
to hardship.
• Many people suffer from
hunger, disease after
war.

139. • World War II was, quite
simply, the most deadly and
destructive conflict in human
history. Not only did it have a
profound effect on the
countries involved, it would
forever change the course of
history, politics, economics,
etc.